It started with a question...

Grand Haven, Pier, Sunset....perfect setting for the only question I've ever wanted to be asked to be asked!!  Sunday, August 28, 2011 at around 8:30 p.m. Lucas proposed!!  It was a perfect setting and it was very fitting for us!  Here's the story:

We spent the weekend at our boat in Grand Haven to have a last hurrah before we went back to work.  It was a very typical weekend.  Saturday we drove around looking at some houses then went to dinner at Dee-Lite in downtown Grand Haven.  Of course, I had to bring up marriage while we were walking to the restaurant.  I simply wanted to know if he was really going to marry me someday and let me live in one of these houses that we were looking at or if he was just letting me get my hopes up!!  Of course he says nothing after I said this, but that was a typical response :)  So Sunday we get up and go to our favorite breakfast spot, Jeanne's Cafe.  We eat breakfast, drive around and look at more houses and then head back to the boat.  Nothing out of the ordinary is going on.  We spent the day on the boat out in Spring Lake floating around with some friends and just enjoying the sunshine.  Sunday evening we head back into Grand Haven for dinner.  We went to Porto Bello and had a nice dinner out on the patio.  After dinner we took a walk on the boardwalk and pier to watch the sunset.  We find a spot to sit down and watch the sunset, none of this is out of the ordinary for us.  I love watching the sunset and walking the boardwalk and pier, Lucas doesn't mind it so we do this often.  So the sun sets and he says, "That was a really beautiful sunset."  I agreed. Then he says to me, "Hey."  I leaned forward and he says, "You know I'm not really the romantic type."  I bit my tongue from saying, yes, after five years i know that there is not a romantic bone in your body, but i restrained myself and just said, yes, I know.  Then he looked at me and simply said, "Will you marry me?"  I responded with, "Are you joking?!?!"  He said no and showed me the ring box.  Obviously, I said yes!  Then I asked him if he asked my Dad.  Then he proceeded to tell me that he talked to my dad way back in June, and that he talked to my mom, too, and she actually kept a secret!!!  So it was a very perfect day, everything about it was perfect, and even though he says he's not romantic, I couldn't have imagined any more romantic way for him to propose to me than exactly how he did it!!  Let the planning begin!!

I plan on using this blog to keep everyone updated on all the details of wedding planning so make sure you check back often!!

Here's a picture of the sunset right before he proposed and then there is a picture of my ring!!  Right now my ring is being sized so I'm very impatiently waiting for it to be ready so I can go pick it up and put it on my finger where it belongs!!!

I can't get it to turn the right way, but you can get an idea of it!!

February 10, 2011

Oh snow!  That's really all I have to say right now.  Last week we had a full blown blizzard that dumped around 19" of snow all over West Michigan.  That brought 2 snow days!!  Oh yes, we all know how much I love those :)
This is what I woke up to on the morning of Wednesday, February 2.  This my balcony!



This is the parking lot, check out the size of the snow drifts between the cars in the lot!





So now that we're defrosting and digging out, there really isn't anything exciting going on!  Classes have started so that is occupying my nights on Tuesday and Thursday. Now my nights of curling up on the couch with a good book equal me curling up on the couch with a textbook!  So, here's to more blizzards that bring snow days, or to spring arriving early so I can read good books on the back of the boat!!

Happy Valentine's Day! <3

brrrrrr......

I'm laying here on my couch in my living room and I can hear the sound of the freezing rain hitting my sliding doors...brrrr!!  Wasn't I just listening to the waves crashing on the shore just 10 days ago???  Ugh!  I miss Hawaii desperately! I miss the warmth, the sunshine, the laid back way of life, the total disregard to driving the posted speed limit, which was usually 45 and no one went slower than 55!!  I miss the moisture in the air and how wonderful my skin looked and felt!!  I hate this cold, dry air that is making my skin look like it has scales on it!  I even miss being so close to my family, although living in the same house for 10 days was starting to take its toll....maybe Hawaii will be in my future when I finish my degree....2 classes this semester and then 5 next semester....finally!!!

Whale Watching Video

Here's the video from whale watching on January 5, 2011

January 6-8, 2011

Well, our vacation came to an end :(  The last two days (Thursday and Friday) were rainy days, so we did what any other person on vacation would do when the rain comes, we went shopping!!  We shopped all over Kihei on Thursday.  On Friday, Chase, Anna, Blake, Grandma, Erma and I went into Wailea and did some more shopping.  We went to The Shops at Wailea and hit the jackpot!  It was an open air style mall and they had some great stores.  We shopped til we dropped and then headed home.  It was still kind of rainy so most of us started the dreaded job of packing.  The sun did manage to come out late afternoon so we were able to catch one last great sunset.  We got all packed and all the suitcases squeezed into the cars and headed for the airport around 9:00 p.m.  The cars were returned, luggage was checked (and one of us had to unload some things from our suitcase and add to another because it was overweight...), security was gone through and to our gate we went to wait for our plane.  We boarded and took off at 11:50 p.m. and said goodbye to Hawaii and hello to a looooooong day of travel.  We landed in Los Angeles around 7 a.m. (LA time) and had a few hours until our next flight.  We got some breakfast and chilled for a bit.  We boarded our plane bound for Chicago and started the next leg of our trek home.  We arrived in Chicago and had about an hour and a half until our next flight.  So we got some food and sat in the terminal and watched the NFL playoffs.  We boarded our flight for Grand Rapids and 35 minutes later we were on the ground, which was covered in this white, powdery, cold stuff...snow.  Brrrr!  It was cold!!  We got our luggage and waited for Tom Najar and Dan Melpoder to arrive to take the family home.  It was a wonderful vacation, filled with many memories!  Thanks, Mom and Dad, for the trip of a lifetime!!

January 2-5, 2011

January 2 - Well, this day was another typical Hawaiian day!  Get up, eat breakfast, put on bathing suit, grab book and go to the pool!  We spent a good part of this day perfecting our pool jumping skills!  We played some paddle ball in the yard, Chase tried to fly his kite and I splashed around in the ocean!  It was another perfect vacation day!

January 3 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHASE!!!  Dad, Blake and Chase decided that the best way to celebrate Chase's birthday was to go golfing!  While the boys were out chasing a little ball around, Mom took Grandma and Erma to get their hairs did and Anna and I ate some breakfast and watched some television.  Mom stopped at the store to get all the fixings for Chase's birthday dinner and, of course, an ice cream cake!  We spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging around the pool.  After dinner we all turned in early for bed.  Tuesday morning required us to wake up at 3:00 a.m. so that we could get ready to leave the house at 4:00 a.m.  We were heading to the island of Oahu to visit Pearl Harbor...

January 4 - 3:00 a.m. is not a fabulous time to wake up!!  We all got up and at 'em and were out the door by 4:00 a.m.  We were told that we needed to be at the airport 2 hours before our flight...we arrived at the airport at 4:30 a.m., the airport didn't even open until 5:00 a.m.!!  So we sat outside of the airport while we waited for it to open.  The good thing is that as soon as it opened, we went through security and didn't have to wait in any line!!  We boarded our flight and headed to Oahu.  We landed in Oahu and Mom, Chase and Anna grabbed a taxi and headed to the USS Arizona Memorial to get our tickets while Dad, Blake, Grandma, Erma and I went to the rental car place to grab a car for the day.  The 5 of us got a lovely tour of Pearl City on our way to the USS Arizona Memorial...did I mention that Pearl City was NOT on the way to the memorial?  We eventually made it to the memorial and got ready to spend our day at this historic site.  We boarded the boat that took us out to the USS Arizona Memorial.  It was very surreal and somber to be above the ship where so many people lost their lives.  It was even more frustrating and sad that so many people that were there visiting the site didn't take it seriously.  I thought it was very rude for people to be so loud in their conversations with each other and to be talking on their cell phones in a place where respect was to be displayed.  I am still amazed that after almost 70 years there is still oil that seeps up to the surface.  After we visited the Arizone, we watched a video about the day that Pearl Harbor was attacked, toured the museums at the site, walked through the USS Bowfin, walked through the USS Missouri, ate some Dippin' Dots, got stuck in traffic and headed back to the airport.  We were very fortunate that we were able to get our flight switched to an earlier flight.  We ate some dinner at the airport, boarded a plane and headed back to Maui.  We got home, sat in the hot tub for a little bit and then went to bed!  It had been a very long day filled with lots of walking so we were beat!

January 5 - Another beautiful Hawaiian day!  Most of us slept a little later than normal today.  We were pretty worn out from yesterday.  This afternoon we went whale watching and snorkeling.  We took a large boat about 10 miles out into the ocean to a small island called Moolikini.  We saw quite a few whales on the way out to the island.  Once we reached the island we tied off and into the water we went.  Dad, Chase and Anna did Snuba, which is like scuba diving, but you don't have to carry your own tank.  The tank floats in a little raft on the surface, but you can swim down farther than if you were just snorkeling.  It looked pretty cool.  Mom, Blake and I just stuck to snorkeling.  We thought it was pretty funny that the boat crew considered the water to be cold since it was only 74 degrees...we thought that was pretty comfortable considering we swim in Lake Michigan and it's usually only in the 60's!  We swam around for a bit, jumped back on the boat, ate some lunch and headed back to port.  On our way we saw some more whales.  We spent a lot of time watching a mama whale and her baby swim by.  That was really cool!  After we got back to port, we jumped in our cars and headed home.  Dad and the boys and I played some paddle ball until it was too dark to see the little ball, then came inside and had some dinner.  After dinner we just all relaxed.  It's been awfully tiring being outside all day!  Only 2 days of vacation left :(

A little behind...

Well, I'm a few days behing, but since I've been up since 3 a.m. and can hardly tell my right hand from my left, I figure a quick note to say that a big long blog catching up will come tomorrow!!  Must....sleep...now!!