Ice Age 3: Home Edition

Pray specifically! That's what i've always thought. But sometimes a more general request is better. For example, when i prayed last spring and told God that there is NO WAY i could ever handle dealing with rats in my home again, he listened. However, i should have prayed that i never have to deal with any rodents ever again.

Yesterday morning i woke up at 5 a.m. to strange sounds above my bed. In my drowsy, grumpy state, i chalked it up to the landlord's dogs upstairs, moved to a different room, and finished my sleep. But even then, i honestly thought to myself that it sounded like a golf ball, but lighter. Maybe a nut in the shell. Like an acorn.

Last night i turned off my light just before 11 p.m. Almost immediately i heard the same noise. What the freak!? Can't the noise be there only during the day, when i'm at work?! It was the same knocking sound above my bed, but then it was like the objects were being dropped down beside my bed, behind the wall. THEN, i heard a knocking sound in the far corner of my room, near the door that leads to my 'shed' (storage room).

I flicked on the light and as my eyes adjusted, i saw the "tail end" of a critter disappear under the door. (For some strange reason, there is a 1 inch gap between the door and floor). I called my mom, then called my landlord. After asking me if i would be alright for the night, he promised to take care of it the next day.

I moved my hope chest away from the wall and found... dun, dun, dun... an acorn! No joke! While we were still talking, Gus (you know, like the chubsy mouse from Cinderella) poked his head out from under the door. I SCREAMED! and jumped up on my bed. And squealed some more.

Every time he stuck his head out of the closet, i screamed and he tucked it back inside. We repeated this painful process two or three times. I started laughing, imagining that Gus was thinking, "Geez lady! I just want my freakin' acorn!" I didn't see him escape, but he must have because he was no longer in the closet.

I quickly stole his acorns. (Both the one behind my hope chest and the one stuck under the door-- hence the 'thumping' sound as he tried repeatedly to push it under the door!) Then i grabbed my friend Darlene's wedding gown she had brought over that night and strung it up from the ceiling in my kitchen, away from little furry creatures.

I barricaded the whole in the drywall that hadn't been remudded yet (and i saw Gus run into) and turned on all the lights in my bedroom, shed (where i found Gus' evil twin), and laundry room. Then i closed all the doors and went and slept in the front room, as far away from the evil critters as i could get.

This morning my landlord said he will set traps when i get home. No, no... i told him to let himself in and set traps right away. So he said he would and that he would check them a couple of times today. I asked him to give me a call when he caught at least two of them. Then i will think about coming home!

I was having a hard time letting go of my new home and following my man to Edmonton. Perhaps this is God showing his funny side and helping me let go of the things that don't matter so much.

Dear God, Please protect me, and all my future homes, from rodents and pests of all kinds. Thank you. Amen.

i like planning...

...OTHER people's weddings.

You see, when it's someone else's wedding, you can make suggestions, but they make all the decisions and you can just do the fun coordinating part.

Today's annoyance:
Having multiple people tell me to just choose a color (i have been having troubles with every single detail). So i go ahead and choose a color. Apparently (according to the very same people) it's the wrong color.

HOW CAN THERE BE A WRONG COLOR?! Aren't all colors created equal?!

"it's too dark" "it's too light" "it's not enough contrast to the scenery" "it doesn't match the [ugly] church" "it's more of a winter-wedding color"

Sheesh.

the ring

I'm sorry for posting three of the exact same thing, but i actually am practicing restraint; i have like 100 shots of my ring. Good thing it's not camera shy!

Oh, and i apologize for my finger looking a little mutated, i haven't been able to part with my ring long enough to get it sized yet. :)

I had no idea what kind of ring i wanted, but JM picked the perfect one-- all by himself! I am so proud of my man. And so happy that i have him. -sigh-

ceremony songs

Last night I was asking JM about music for the ceremony. I'd kinda decided to walk down the aisle to Pachelbel's Canon, because it's just so beautiful. JM thought we should find something a litte more original, which i think would be good too. So i was thinking along the lines of Louis Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World', or Nat King Cole's 'Unforgettable'. Nice, no?

Well, any suggestions you have would be appreciated. For any part of the ceremony. We need all the help we can get; last night JM's winner for the recessional included him bursting into song: "You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain..."

Heeeelp, i do not want 'Great Balls of Fire' playing during my ceremony. lol. Code red! Code red!

I HAVE A GOWN!

Okay, so maybe iiiii don't have a gown, but my beautiful, gracious, generous cousin does. And she is willing to let me wear it for my wedding!!! YAAAAYYY!!

I am seriously ecstatic. I have coveted (but not in a creepy bad way) her dress since the moment i saw her in it. She was an absolute vision on her wedding day. I have never seen another dress like it. It's very simple, but stunning. I scanned a few pics from her wedding, but due to my inabilities as a photographer and scanner, they aren't stellar quality.





Oh yes, and this last one, as you may have guessed, is the cake my mommy made for their wedding. I really like it too. Haha. I think real flowers look beautiful on wedding cakes.

Luckily for me their wedding was 6 years ago, so she is happy to share everything with me. So sweet. I love you Julia, thank you SO much!

wheeee!

i'm so happy i simply cannot sleep! somebody should have warned me that being engaged would be this exciting! i only slept for three hours on monday night. i slept soundly yesterday, but am still a bit dazed. it's so wonderful. la-la-la-la-la-la-la!

more pics...

Here we have my knight in shining armour. And a bear's butt in the background. Sorry hun, i'm not a good photographer! Haha. I needed a lot of coaching to get the lighting right, and by that time the bear was wandering off!JM, on the other hand, is a good photographer.

The view from the Observatory. Except it's even better than that, because our table in the restaurant was right over the balcony, so no umbrellas or tram wires blocked our fantastic view of the city and the harbour.I feel very chubsy in this pic, but JM told me enough times that i looked so beautiful, so i will trust his judgement and post away! :)

There it is, friends, the very place he knelt down and asked me the question!

The Details

Ok, friends, here we go.

Although JM managed to keep his plans a secret, i did suspect this would be the weekend. But then i would tell myself not to get my hopes up in case i was disappointed. But then i would think, this has to be the weekend... etc, etc, you get the picture. My hamster was running in circles.

Monday afternoon JM and I drove into Vancouver for dinner. He said we had to go to the seabus, which i thought would be fun, but i suspected i was being tricked, because why would we have to take the seabus when we could just drive? Anyway, after bypassing the ticket dispensers and seeing the sign that read Seabus/Helijet i knew that we weren't going on the seabus. Yep, my crazy man was taking me up into the air.

Vancouver is behind us, sprawled out in all it's glory. We saw the whole city and the gorgeous coastal mountains. It was absolutely breathtaking. I have a zillion pictures, but will try to limit myself! Actually, i'll just post more later, haha. JM was literally leaning out the helicopter window, taking pictures. He's such a nut.
















We landed on Grouse Mountain, enjoyed the view, visited the grizzlies, and sat down for dinner at The Observatory.

As we were waiting for dessert, i asked JM if he was having a great day. He told me that this was his best birthday ever. Then he reached into his pocket while he gazed into my eyes and said, "The only thing that could make it better is if you'll agree to be my wife." Right then and there, he bent down on his knee and asked, "Will you marry me, Janie Annette?"

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! My plan all along was to hum and haw and make him sweat a bit. But instead i paused... and then squealed, "YES" and gave him a big smooch!! Haha.

To be continued...

it's official!

WE'RE ENGAGED!!

Yep, JM proposed to me on Thanksgiving, his 30th birthday. It was the most amazing extravagant spectacular night ever. I will post a detailed account (with pictures!) tomorrow, but for now, let your imagination run wild... please include a helicopter ride, dinner on top of Grouse mountain, a gorgeous ring, and a limo ride home... -SIGH- I am so in love.

excitement x2

how boring to only post once a week. sheesh.

the only thing more boring than that (or 'boringer' if you will) is posting when i have absolutely nothing interesting to write about. haha.

oooh! something exciting did happen this week. my dad's wife bought all new christmas lights this year-- so i got all their old ones! yippee skippy! i seriously love christmas so much and am tempted to start decorating already. but alas, i will keep with tradition and refrain until after remembrance day. (such amazing self-discipline, i know!)

and the other shining light in my cave of work and sore muscles is: JM is coming home for Thanksgiving!! (which, for us northerners, is this weekend!) It also happens to be his birthday-- the big 3-0! of course, being four years younger than him, this is quite hilarious to me. and devastating to him. teehee