Finally :)

"I have found the one whom my soul loves." Song of Solomon 3:4

 

After knowing each other as kids, "meeting again" over 6 years ago, and dating for 5 1/2 years, We are engaged!

 

It has been a long, long, LONG, hard wait.

I won't lie.

I cried.

I may have cursed in my mind (and/or outloud).

I may have cried some more.

Did I mention that I may have cursed?

I also may have whined to him. ALOT.

 

I am hands down the most impatient person. EVER.
However, it was all about the Lord's timing. Not mine. Just last week, I posted a picture of my daily devotional on instagram that read:

"With God, there is no 'Plan B' or 'second best'. It's always 'Plan A'. And if we let Him, He'll make something beautiful of our lives."

"For it is God who is working among you both the willing and the working for His good purpose."
-Philippians 2:13

I simply wrote when I uploaded the picture: His plan is better than mine.

And it is.

If I had it my way, Ty and I would probably be on baby #2 by now. We would have gotten married right when he graduated college. That was all MY plan though. I always knew that God's plan was better but you don't like hearing it when you're not getting what you want, right? Would we have been ok if that was the case? Of course. But that's not how God wanted it. I may not ever know why I had to wait 5 1/2 years to get engaged but I do know that God has made me stronger, more independent, and a heck of a lot more patient than I ever thought I could be. And for that, I am grateful.

ok ok, now onto the good stuff!!!!

Monday I had gone to visit a friend in the hospital and then ran some errands with my cousin Emily afterwards. I told Ty I would be home around 2:30 and made it up the driveway around 3:45. Oops. He had tried for a few days to propose but he wanted to do it during the day and I have been SO busy running around that it never worked out. Well, when I got to his parents house, I spilled coffee all over me and I was ILL. I was standing in his mom's kitchen in a tank top when he says "let's go for a walk and go let Emma run around." My response went something like this:

What? Go for a walk? Now??
It's freaking freezing outside.
Its 39 degrees!!!
And we have to leave soon to go to my cousin's house to make cookies.
I DON'T want to go on a walk...why did you not take her earlier when I was gone?

Basically I was being a brat, but it was cold.

Well, he made me feel bad so I put on a new shirt, got my gloves and jacket and got in the car to drive to the park. I may or may not have been cursing under my breath like Harry off of Home Alone every time he gets hurt.

When we got to the park, he made me think he was training Emma. I WAS CLUELESS. Emma went to fetch a bumper and came back with a basket that had the ring in it!! It never hit me, even as Emma ran over with the basket, until I saw the ring box. The first thing I said was "Shut up!".

Classy, I know.

So, that's the story. Oh, and his sister got it all on video!!!
It was so sweet, so thought out, and absolutely perfect. He got me good and I was totally eating my "you're never going to surprise me, I expect it everywhere we go!!!" words.

 



 

And now I'm officially on cloud nine. I cannot wait to marry this hunk!

 

 

the ring :) He did good!!

 

 

Last week, a SWEET friend of mine sent me this and it is absolutely perfect for Ty and I.

 

 

This is OUR journey.

 

 

Off to dreaming about dresses and cakes and venues.....

 

 





Disney on Ice

Last Sunday mom, Christen, and I took Aubrey to Disney on Ice in Birmingham! 

As soon as it started my inner child was beaming. 

I was giddy! 

Mickey, Minnie, all the princesses & princes. What more could a girl ask for?

We had so much fun! If it ever comes to your town, I highly recommend going to see it, whether you have kids or not!! :) 

Bama/LSU

My oh my I've had a fun weekend!!!! 

Babysitting the kids Friday afternoon!!!

My friend Melissa came into town Thursday and we went to Christmas Village (an arts and crafts show) with my sister Christen! We stocked up on our Christmas presents. I only have a few more to get! 

Friday, Melissa got to come to my classroom for the afternoon and meet my kids! They loved having a special guest. :)

Mom & dad got me tickets to the Bama/lsu game for my birthday back in August and yesterday, I finally got to use them. :) Since Melissa was in town and she has never been to a Bama game, she went to the game with me!! I was so excited for her to finally experience a game. :)

On our way to ttown!!

Strolling the girls around campus...stopped in for some ice cream on the strip! 

Aubrey got to be a football player! 

Tailgating with my sweet friends! 

Before the game! 

Roll tide! 

I even ran into my sweet friends, Amanda and Kristin! 

We had so much fun yesterday. I think mom & dad did a pretty good job on the birthday gift this year. It will be hard to top ;)

Oh, and the Bama victory over lsu was icing on the cake. What an awesome game!!!!

1 mile down...

My running buddy Melissa and I have decided to do another half marathon together!! We are going to do the Mercedes again in February!! I am pretty excited but I haven't run outside since August so I have got to get back in the groove! I ran outside on Saturday and it felt pretty good. I absolutely loving running in the fall! It's so pretty and feels amazing outside. 

I made my own training program & am pretty much doing an extra mile each weekend until race day. There are a few weeks I only bumped it up a half a mile because I had a few extra weeks. I am going to continue working out 3-4 days a week at the gym like I have already been doing. Strength training will help with my runs on the weekends!!

Crossing that finish line back in February was the best feeling ever and I can't wait to accomplish it again! Hopefully beating my time last year too. :) 

I'm also going to do #55milesinnovember with @hausofgirls on Instagram! I took a break in August & September and didn't record it in October (even though I probably met the 48 mile goal from running on the treadmill at the gym) so I'm excited to jump back into these challenges! 

What goals are you planning for the next few months?

November already?

November has some exciting things in store for me! 

1. Christmas village is this week!!! It's a huge arts & crafts show that I go to every year with my sister. I take off work and we make a whole day out of it. 

2. Melissa comes in this week to go to Christmas village with us! I am ready for some girl time! 

3. LSU comes to ttown next weekend to play BAMA and mom & dad got me tickets to the game for my birthday! 

4. Thanksgiving break is in a few weeks!!

5. Black Friday shopping!!

6. Auburn/Alabama game! 

Here's some pics from the end of October! We had fun last weekend going home for Hagen's 1st birthday! I can't believe he is already 1! 

And of course Thursday was Halloween!! Our sweet Emma turned into a frog. 

Ribbit Ribbit!

New phone!

This is my first post on my new phone!! Here's what I've been up to since I got my new phone...

Allison & I waiting for the homecoming parade! I love working in a small town for many different reasons but this day every year just may be my favorite. I absolutely love that the high school homecoming parade comes to the elementary school and loops through our parking lot so our sweet babies can see the parade! Our kids think it's the best thing ever and love gathering candy from the big kids on the trucks! 

2 Saturdays ago 2 of my sisters and my mom & I spent ALL day in the kitchen making apple butter, apple sauce and apple  pie! We had FOUR crockpots going! It smelled like fall for sure :)

My little sister Jeri with baby Kate! That hair. 

I was sick all last week and even missed a day of school. Emma and Ty came over to tend to me and Emma thought getting as close as possible to me would make it all better... :) 

I absolutely love that dogs know when something is wrong. Emma always knows when I'm sick or upset about something & always tries to cuddle to make it better! 

Molly checked up on me Thursday to see if I was feeling better. This picture came along with the text "are you feeling better? If not, this face should make you feel better!" :) oh how I love that sweet face!!!!!!

This past Saturday we supported Ty's cousin Laurie (2nd one from the right) in walking in the race for the cure! Laurie was diagnosed with breast cancer in June just 10 weeks after losing her husband to cancer in April. She is officially in remission but still continuing her chemo to make sure no horrible cancer cells are left!!! I was so honored to walk with her on Saturday! I look up to her in so many ways! What a strong, Godly woman she is. Her team raised over $11,000 and came in 2nd place!!

Monday morning therapy on my drive into work!

Hope your week is going great!! It's almost huuummmp daaaayyy! Whoop whoop! 

Boston day 2 - finally!

I'm finally posting about my second day in Boston. This no Internet thing makes me forget to post! 

On Sunday, we woke up and Brian and I walked to a cute little cafe and got breakfast! It was packed so I knew it must be good! 

After breakfast, Molly & Brian got ready to go on an afternoon date! I got to stay with Charlie Grace and I loved every second of it. 

I loved studying her sweet face, listening to & learning all her cute little noises! I knew from the minute I got there that it would be awhile before I got to see her again so I wanted to soak up every second. 

My favorite part of holding any baby is the moment they fall asleep and you can feel their body mold on you. I love that dead weight feeling when they fall asleep and are completely relaxed. 

How sweet is that face?

And those toes... ;)

"Hiii Aunt Kat!"

I loved getting to be one on one with her and I loved that her momma and daddy got to go on a date! 

After Molly & Brian got back, we got ready and went to explore Boston! I have done most of the "tourist" things on multiple occasions so I really just wanted to walk around and take the city in. We went to Georgetown Cupcakes & to see where the Boston marathon bombings took place. 

Walking around....

Boylston street is where the bombings took place. 

After walking around, we went back to their apartment to eat & watch some football. 

I had SUCH an amazing weekend and I cannot wait to go back! 

I wish my coaxing Ty into moving to Boston for a year was working....I would totally do it in a heartbeat! 

Can't wait to see my best friend and her family again!!!