Engaged!!!

Yep, Natalie is engaged! All of this happened last week, and I'm just now taking time to blog about it. Ready for the details???

Nat and Brandon met during band rehearsals before the first week of school at ETBU last year. I remember her calling me to tell me that she had a date with a great guy one of the first weekends she was in school. She was incredibly excited about it...more excited than she had been about anything in a while. They continued to date, and spent time with us and with his family in Baytown through their first year at school. It was pretty obvious from the start that Brandon and Natalie had a special relationship, so we weren't at all surprised when Brandon asked for time to talk to Chris and me a couple of months ago. He was incredibly nervous and very sweet when he asked our permission to marry Natalie. It was obvious that he put a lot of prayer and thought into his decision to marry her. The hardest part was keeping it a secret for two months!

Natalie flew to Houston to spend some time with Brandon the week before Christmas. Brandon's plan was to take her to Galveston to spend some time on the beach and then to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Nothing about that was unusual or surprising for Nat. What she didn't know was that he was going to propose on the beach around sunset. How romantic!!! He asked and of course she said yes. I don't think the smile has left her face since Wednesday!

Here's the cool part for us - Not only were Nat and Brandon having dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, but his parents, his sister and her husband, and Chris and I met them at the restaurant. Nat and Brandon got to the restaurant just before we did (our flight was over an hour late), and they were at the door getting ready to go in when we arrived. Nat saw the truck drive up, but she had no idea we were with Brandon's parents. She couldn't believe we were there. It was a great surprise for her, and we were thrilled to be with her on this special night. Dinner was great, and we spent time on the beach taking pictures as Nat and Brandon recreated the whole proposal. It was a wonderful night.

Merry Christmas!

What a great Christmas morning! Chris and I slept late (Nat is STILL in bed!) and I made us a really good breakfast. We're watching the Disney Christmas parade while Chris is reading the paper and I'm updating blogs. Our plans for the day include going to the movies later today and maybe even taking in a double-feature. I'm making taco soup later and that's about it. What a great way to spend the day!

We went to Christmas Eve candlelight service at church last night. It was a very nice service with lots of wonderful music, scripture, and the traditional lighting of the Advent wreath. I always enjoy Christmas Eve services to focus my mind on the true reason for celebrating Christmas. It's not all about the presents...it's all about the ultimate present - the birth of Jesus Christ.

We're looking forward to Thursday when we'll entertain my family for Christmas. We usually try to get together before Christmas Day, but we just couldn't do it this year. We'll probably have 20 people or so including 5 boys under 10 years old. Ethan will be so excited to see his cousins and to run and play with them all afternoon. What fun! We're not planning anything elaborate at all; we're just looking forward to time to spend together.

We were in El Dorado with Chris's mom for his birthday. Nick, Angela, and Ethan got to join us, and we had a great time. Ethan entertained us the whole time, and Boo Boo really enjoyed playing with him. It was lots of fun. Here's a pic of Ethan with Nick and Boo Boo.

Enjoy your day, and I hope you get to spend it with family and friends. Merry Christmas everyone!

Back to Work

My "vacation" officially ends tomorrow morning. I've been resting and taking care of myself since surgery on the 16th, so it's time to go back to work. According to the doctor, everything is healing well, but I'm still to take it easy especially at work. No lifting or moving books or carts for a long time. I still tire very easily and I'm having some discomfort when I'm out and about, so I'll really have to watch it. My brain is SO ready to be out of the house!

So...what did I do for two weeks? I don't remember the first week (Thanksgiving week) very well. My sister brought me home from the hospital on Sunday, and Nat and Brandon stopped by on their way back to Marshall. Mother came over on Monday and took care of things while lots of friends stopped by with food and to visit. I was home alone most of the day on Tuesday with a few friends stopping by. Nat and Brandon came in Tuesday night although he had to leave Wednesday to go to Plano to spend Thanksgiving with his family. Nick, Angela, and Ethan got here in the wee hours of Wednesday morning and stayed until Thursday night. Brandon was back Saturday night before he and Natalie went back to Marshall Sunday evening. WHEW! Busy week! The girls took care of cooking for Thanksgiving, we worked a couple of jigsaw puzzles, and we had a blast watching Ethan perform. I took a nap every day and tried to focus on getting the plumbing working again.

Last week was much quieter. I got up when I wanted to, I read two books, I tried to work on School Law stuff, I went to lunch with Frances, and I went to class in Mt. Pleasant on Wednesday. I ventured out on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to do a little Christmas shopping, get my hair done, and to go to church. I didn't do anything for very long...I get tired and uncomfortable really quickly.

But all that changes tomorrow. I'll be back in the library taking care of all the library business that awaits me. There are reports to do, bills to pay, websites to update, and books to process. I'm planning to take my time and find the most comfortable chair in the library. I'll have my pillow which I hope will help. I'll probably take a long lunch and come home to rest for a little while. We'll see. I just know that I'm ready to get back into the swing of things for a couple of weeks until Christmas break when I can rest some more.

Be sure to check my reading blog to see what I've been reading. I hope to get it updated tonight.