10 Years Later....

Tonight is the ten year anniversary of the night that Ryan proposed to me.  Our story doesn't begin there of course, and maybe I'll cover the beginning another time, but for now, I would like to reminisce about the moment I became Mrs. Wall-to-be.  Ryan and I had been dating for about a year and a half (minus a few months where "we were on a break"--no copy girl involved for you Friends fans).  I had a feeling that it was coming for a while.  I knew that it wouldn't happen at Christmas, because we spent it with family, both his and mine, and proposing around a lot of people we know just isn't Ryan's style.  So, New Year's seemed like the perfect time.  New beginnings, romantic dinner, perfect...right?  Well, so I thought. 

Aren't we fancy?  We look so young!!!

We went to dinner at Top of the Rock in Branson (Remember it?  It was great!)  We were all dressed up and feeling like we were such mature adults, as we were at 21 and 22.  (HA!)  The restaurant already had an intimate feel, but Ryan also had us seated at a table with an excellent view of the lake.  Gorgeous view, semi-private location, seemed like a good spot to me.  I don't remember what we ate, but I do remember we had creme brulee for dessert.  Not surprising that I remember dessert, I know.  Dessert would have been a nice time to propose, no?  No.    I remember we even walked out onto the balcony after we ate even though it was ridiculously freezing!  Perfect opportunity, so I thought.  Nope.  I was starting to get mildly annoyed, but didn't want my future husband to see that, because frankly until I got the ring on my finger, I was a little bit afraid of letting him see my crazy side.  Not that he hadn't seen hints, but really what girl wants to go all crazypants pre-engagement.  So, I kept my cool, because that feeling in my gut told me to just be patient, it was coming.  We walked back inside the restaurant before the frostbite kicked in and enjoyed the view a few more moments so that he could pull at that ring and pop the question.  Or not.  So we finished up got in the car and drove back to Springfield to Ryan's apartment. 

"Mind if we just hang out at home and watch the ball drop?", he says.  "No, of course not" (you big jerkface), I reply,  I know he hadn't done anything wrong, I was just so sure of the fact that it was the night.  So sure that when my cousin Kristi offered to pay me double to babysit on New Year's Eve, I had told her no, because I knew that it would have been worth it.  I thought it would have anyway.  We get back to Ryan's apartment, and I'm thinking "Hey, forget this, I'm not staying all fancy to sit on the couch for the next three hours and watch some old geezer count down to the new year."  So, I followed Ryan's lead and changed into sweats and threw my hair up in a ponytail (just to be clear, he didn't have a ponytail, if he had, I wouldn't have been hoping for a proposal from him).  It was a fine evening once we got there and got comfy, just not anything fabulous.  We sat and cuddled on the same couches that sit on our living room now (four moves later).  We drank hot chocolate, and we watched Dick Clark.  Let's see it was 2001, so who was on?  Probably Jessica Simpson or Pink or some other artist that was not too memorable, but then again, I may have been thinking about something else. 

About 10 minutes to midnight, Ryan says that he has to go to the bathroom really bad.  Wow, can this night get any more romantic?  He's back in the bathroom forever, and pretty soon I'm thinking that he better at least hurry up enough to get out here and kiss me as we ring in 2002.  So, I tell him to hurry up, they're already counting.  Could I get more annoyed at this point?  Well, I hear the door open and there are only 3 seconds left as he walks down the hallway and comes around the corner in his white Saturday Night Fever tuxedo holding a dozen roses and drops to his knee as the clock strikes midnight, and I hear the best words I had ever heard in my life, "Marry me, please, be my wife."  YES!!!!  The fireworks blasting across the television had nothing on the ones that were going off in my heart.  He asked me!  I knew he would!  It couldn't have been more like him in any other way.  It was just for us, it was special, and it is our story forever.  I could never have foreseen the ups and downs that would follow, but the answer I gave him was the most certain answer I've ever given, and I would say yes again a million times over.  I am a very lucky girl!

Merry Christmas, Darlings

For all those friends and family who don't make the "cut" to have me spend money on stamps, I thought I wanted to post our Christmas letter for this year so that you can also read my end-of-the-year wrap-up. 

Christmas 2011

Dear Family & Friends,

          Merry Christmas!  We hope this letter finds you happy, peaceful, and ready for Christmas!  It seems like each year we think we’ll be done with everything by this time, but it just doesn’t quite happen that way.  That doesn’t mean we aren’t enjoying every minute of this season, just that we have learned to savor the season, even with a handful of craziness mixed in. 

          This year has flown by!  Brennon is 4½ & Gavin is 2½, and they are on the go all the time!  In the fall, Brennon started going to pre-k three days a week at Grace Academy Preschool.  He has made some great friends there, and we are so proud of his hard work.  He also played soccer for the first time, which may have been even more fun for us to watch than it was for him to play!  Brennon loves Batman, Legos, doing art projects, and playing Wii.  Gavin loves Disney Cars, singing and dancing, and playing outside.  Gavin also likes to spend most of this time going from Brennon’s best friend to worst enemy and back again about one thousand times a day.  I guess that’s brothers being brothers. 

         

         Ryan and I have been very blessed to be able to be the ones raising our kids full-time this year.  I’m still teaching second grade here in Coffeyville, but what I mean by that is that our sons very rarely have to go to a sitter.  We have been able to coordinate our schedules so that Brennon and Gavin are home with us most days, except when Brennon is at school.  Ryan is Super-Dad, and he stays home with the boys during the day, and then he is able to work in the evenings so that I can be home with them.  This has been quite a transition for us, but we are so thankful that we are not only saving money, but raising our children ourselves.  We get to enjoy all the little joys and make use of all the teachable moments that crop up day to day. 

As I said earlier, we are enjoying our life, albeit a little crazy.  After all, the craziness doesn’t matter.  It’s all about living in the moment.  I’m not trying to be profound, and I’m certainly not saying anything new.  In fact, we see the same thing in the Bible when Jesus visits Mary and Martha.  Mary sits with Jesus and takes in the moment, while Martha is the Type A hostess who is making sure that the ornaments are spaced correctly on the tree or that the wreath is hanging straight on the door.  I’m comfortable saying this, because I am a Martha.  I work on it constantly, but it’s true, I have to remind myself to be more like Mary.  She wasn’t stressed.  I think that if she was here today, she would be having a very merry Christmas, and as the song says, she would ‘let her heart be light’.  She didn’t miss the blessing that came from stopping everything to sit and take in the presence of her Savior.  Isn’t that truly what this season is all about, after all?  May you get all you wish for in this season of miracles.  We pray peace and blessings for all of you in the New Year.  Merry Christmas!

Christmas Traditions

Merry Christmas!

When I was growing up, we had a lot of special Christmas traditions in our home, and even now that I haven't lived at home in well over a decade, I still think of them this time of year. I love that these traditions were so important and unique to our life and they weren't about anything other than our family being together, enjoying the season, and making memories.

Here's my dad and I before we moved from Pennsylvania (and before he lost all his hair...notice when I was the only child, he had plenty of hair.  I blame it all on my siblings!)

 I was so excited to get my first kitchen! 

My cousins Karri and Krista only made it more fun to play with!

This is my first Christmas as a big sister.  Check out that awesome boombox!

One of those traditions was that my brother, Kyle, sister, Shannon, and I used to cut out snowflakes to decorate the large picture window in the living room of our parents' home. We would try to create the most intricate snowflake and were so happy to have them hanging up, they may not have been fancy, but we made them and when it really did snow, it looked magical as the light hit our magnified slowflakes.

Yes, my eyes are closed, but other than that it's a picture of Christmas morning....and you can see our snowflakes hanging in the background!

I always loved decorating our tree. My parents made us feel as if the decorating we did was just as important as the decorating they did. I love that it was always a family affair, although it usually ended up being my mom and us kids, because after becoming thoroughly disgusted with trying to find that one lightbulb that was causing the whole strand of lights problems, he would mumble about the ridiculousness of the situation and then retire to the family room to watch.....wait for it.....football. (Shocker!) I still have my favorite ornaments on my parents tree. My parents gave many of the ornaments from their tree to myself and my siblings to hang on our own trees now, but there are a few that are still on the tree at my mom & dad's house that I just love. I don't know what it is about them, but they make me smile. There's one that is a pink and white crocheted mailbox that is so cute--I just love it! Then there's the one made by my grandmother, Esther, who I will not have the chance to meet until I meet her in heaven. I love the intricacy of the beads and knowing that her hands made it. I can tell it was made with love, just as I can see from the lives of her four children that she poured love into all she did in her too-brief life her on earth. I love that the traditions of the tree have carried into my own home, as the Christmas music plays and I allow my boys to hang the ornaments wherever they choose. You want to put a candy cane on that branch that already has six ornaments? Sure, go ahead! Great job, sweetie! And somehow magically, those ornaments are spaced out the next morning.....must be those mischevious elves!

I loved Christmas Eve. We would have an amazing meal, and then do the most important thing of the season. We would sit in front of the fire and read the Christmas story. We would say a prayer afterwards, and then we would each open one gift. A little precursor of the joy to come in the morning. Then Kyle and Shannon would always have a sleepover in my room and we would watch Home Alone and drink hot chocolate. I think of them every time I see the movie now, and I cannot let a Christmas season goes by without watching it. I remember waking up early, so, so early in the morning and begging our parents to get out of bed because SANTA CAME!!!! Even when I was in high school, I still remember feeling so excited to wake up on Christmas morning. I think I might have been too cool to act like it, so I probably pretended to have an attitude and be annoyed by my siblings waking up early, but inside I was doing cartwheels and singing "Joy To The World" at the top of my lungs. We would always open presents and then have a good breakfast together. It was magical.



My dad used to dress up as Santa for the younger cousins.  Have you been naughty or nice?

The best thing about these traditions are that they are all focused on our single family unit. Although I love seeing my aunts, uncles, and cousins, these traditions were centered around our family. They may seem silly or trivial to an outsider, but as someone who lived it, these are memories that I wouldn't trade for the world. As much joy as I feel in my heart as I recount these traditions, it makes me so excited for Christmas with my own family. We have started traditions ourselves already, but I wonder what kind of traditions we will have in the years to come. I can only imagine how the two most special little boys I know will choose to make the most important day of the year even more special to me. Whatever it is, I know there will be smiles, laughter, love, and plenty of hot chocolate for us all.