I think I've figured out a way. . .

to blog more often.

I downloaded an app on my phone! (I'm trying to remember how I lived without a smart phone. So ironic considering I was adamantly against getting one. . . ) Now I just click the icon and I am writing a post. Much more convenient. . . :)

Work
I am working at the Clarion this summer and it's nothing like last summer was. I am only working around 40 to 50 hours and told Dave (the manager) that I *won't* work more than 60.

I have too many other, more important, things to be doing with my time.

It's also different from the aspect of the stress level. I'm doing the same job, but Dave runs the hotel is much different than anywhere else I have worked. It's much calmer and low stress.

Class
That's right. I'm taking a class again. In the summer. I need my head examined.

I'm taking a class for my EMT Basic certification. I've talked about and thought about doing it since I got into the fire service, and I finally decided it was what I wanted to do.

So now I spend at least 8 hours a week in class, plus study time and soon I'll be doing clinicals too. *sigh*

But, it will all be over in August.

Then I'll be on call with the ambulance.

And shortly after that we'll have the

Wedding
Wedding planning is going well. I'm freaking out about it but I think I'm actually pretty on top of things.

I have my dress. The girl's dresses are ordered. The cake is paid for. The flowers are set up. We have an officiant, reception hall, ceremony site and photographer. The flower girl and ringbearer items are at the house. The DJ and caterer are set. I have the invitations being made. And my super awesome cake topper is here.

I am most worried about the decorations and favors because I am doing them (with the assistance of my awesome nieces). Other than that, I need to figure out who is doing our hair, get the bar set, order the tuxes, buy gifts, get the dress altered and write vows. Just a few things. ;-)

Spare Time
I have none!!

Other exciting news: John and I are planning on building an addition to our tiny house. VERY exciting!!

Well, that's all for now. I'll be writing soon!
♥ Sara

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Jabruary.

I know, I've gone missing again. . . .

Here's what I've decided. I'm not going to worry about blogging about every detail I missed since the last time I posted (unless it's significant). I seem to worry about posting a lot of information or details, which stresses me out because I get to far behind, so I put it off, then I get further behind and it is a vicious, vicious cycle.

Since the last time I posted about life. . . here are a few highlights:
January 30 - My mom, Tierney and I went dress shopping in Gaylord. The dress-shop-lady was willing to accept my old dress for a credit on a new dress. I guess that means I won't be able to have a million adventures in my old dress. (See this post for what I'm talking about. . . :) ) But I am very excited about my new dress. It is gorgeous! (And it was the first one I tried on. . . WHY does it always happen that way?! I can try on 500 dresses and always end up with the first one.)

January 31 - We signed the contract for our reception hall!

February 9-13 - John went to Canada. Now, I had a million and one plans of things I was going to do while he was gone: things I wanted to do around the house, wedding plans I wanted to work on, etc. He should have been gone a month. . .lol. Instead I ended up spending quite a bit of time with my family and his family, more his than mine. I had dinner with family every night, and made it to one of Tier's games. I might not have gotten my stuff done, but I was certainly happy to see him when he got home. :)

February 21 - Krissi and Seth stopped in on their way from Cedarville to Kalamazoo, it was so good to see them! :)

February 26 - We had the 7th Annual Cheboygan County Dinner Dance and Auction. Remember last year? I made 1107 jello shots? This year, I cut it back to 900, thinking that I just made too many last year. Well, this year I was sold out by 930, and I started selling at 7!! The party was definitely fun, and better than last year because I was able to relax more, we made more money, and I had John with me. :)

Other highlights: snowmobiling, ice fishing, playing cards with Nate and Melissa, a couple fire runs (nothing too exciting), John shaved my cat (yes you read that right), spending time with Ricky, having dinners with each set of parents, taking Rickers and spending a day with my mom, working on other wedding plans, cuddling on the couch watching movies once in a while. . . just life. :)

Now that I feel "caught up" hopefully I can start posting more.
♥ Sara

"Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know
too much to learn something new."
-Og Mandino

We will make it.

Lately, I have heard numerous comments like "If you [they] make it" (depending on if I was hearing it first or second hand). And I've had a ghost from my past come back in my life [again], the same ghost that has made me doubt nearly every relationship I have been in. But this time, it was different. This time he just made me realize how happy I really am. How sure I really am. How definite this really is.

How do I know? I never thought you would ask. ;)

(Mind you this is not a comprehensive list, and there are some reasons that just cannot be put into words.)

I don't think "what if?"

If you know me well, you know I *always* wonder what if, about everything. That is, everything except my relationship with John. I don't wonder what if it hadn't *finally* happened. I don't wonder what if I had dated someone else. I can't imagine my life without him now.

I don't like having a guy flirt with me.

In every other relationship I have been in I still appreciated it when a guy tried hitting on me or picking me up. I liked knowing that if (when) it ended I had other options (I realize how bad that makes me sound). Now I just find it annoying.

I have everything I want, and no other guy has a shot with me.

I have no desire to do things I used to.

I don't drink. I don't go to the bars. I don't go to parties.

I don't miss it.

I am content with my life right now (minus the job situation).

Most of my life I have wanted to change something. I've wanted to run. I've wanted to be somewhere else. I have felt trapped in many of my life situations. And when I didn't feel trapped I felt like something is missing.

I don't want to leave.

We have had a few fights, fights that in the past would have made me run. I am good at running. I am good at not caring.

Just not when it comes to him.

I cry.

Now I know this sounds odd to you, random reader, but you, close friend of mine, completely understand this. I don't cry. Correction - I didn't cry. I used to say that the reason I didn't cry was because I didn't care enough to cry. I think I was right. Rather than getting angry, I cry. Rather than yelling, I cry. Rather than leaving, I cry.

And I am no longer ashamed to admit it. I have feelings.

I love him.

It's not a blind love. I have my faults, he has his. Like I already stated, we do argue. We do get crabby. But, I still love him. I still want to be with him. I still want to marry him. And, it's incredibly difficult to stay mad at him for any length of time.

Moral of the story: You may not have confidence in us but I do. And that's all that matters. So, talk away, you're the one who looks bad by doing so. But, it would probably be a better idea to invest that time and energy in your own relationships rather than talking shit about mine, you might be happier that way.

♥ Sara

"Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life. . . You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore." -Neil Gaiman

Getting There!

In Progress - 12. Read and review 50 books.
P.S. I Love You
This book took far longer than I would have liked to read. I kept getting too busy to read, so it was set aside far too many times. It was *so* good though.

I saw the movie before I read the book, which I hate doing. Although I feel both of them were good, I think I liked the ending of the book better. ;) The book was a tearjerker, I managed to keep my emotions under control for most of it, but I know I shed a couple tears in reading Holly's journey. I would definitely recommend it to anyone, although I'm sure most guys wouldn't even give it a chance. . .

The Notebook
When I went to my cousin's wedding last weekend, John drove and when I ride, I have to do something or I will sleep. So, I chose to read. In fact, I read the entire book "The Notebook" before we made it to Dundee.

Once again, I saw the movie before reading the book. (Ugh.) I definitely liked the book more. It focused more on their reunion and life "now" than on their summer romance. It was harder than hell to make it through that book without shedding a tear. Once again, I would recommend it. . . .but I think it's time for Stephen King and I to reunite. ;)

In Progress - 14. Watch 101 New Movies.
Saints and Soldiers.
Miracle at Santa Anna.
Get Smart.

I LOVED the first two, and honestly, missed the last 1/4 of the movie because I fell asleep. But I am still listing it because I WILL watch it sometime in the next week or so. :)

In Progress - 19. Complete a cross-stitch project.
It's bought and started!! I am going to cross-stitch and apron for myself. And I also bought John's stocking for next year, felt applique. I'm also hoping to get mine done by Christmas, but won't be buying it until I finish his. Now, with the wedding to plan, wedding crafts to do and all that fun stuff, I'm not so sure that I will be getting the stockings done this year. . . .we'll see.

In Progress - 34. Eat 5 things I have never tried before.
When we went down to the wedding, we ate at Olive Garden. Now, I love Olive Garden and ate there quite a bit when I was in Kalamazoo. But John ordered some seafood thing and it had mussels in it. I've never had mussels, nor had any desire to try them. He wanted me to though. . .

So I did.

I don't recommend them.

I would eat them if they were served to me, but I would never order them.

In Progress - 40. Try 101 new recipes.
We had dinner at Jason and Shawnia's and I was told to bring dessert. So, I tried two new recipes.

Kiss Pies.
These were very easy to make, very cute, and very yummy. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of them. Oh well, next time.

I made them with the Mint Truffle Kisses and the Chocolate Meltaway Kisses. My favorite were the mint truffle ones but I *LOVE* mint chocolate. (John's not a fan.)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip.
My whole family loves chocolate chip cookie dough. So when I found a recipe for a DIP, I had to try it. It was delicious. I used Nila wafers to dip in it and they were perfect. Warning though: the dip is very sweet and very addictive. (I left the batch at Jason and Shawnia's to save my waistline. :) )

In Progress - 42. Try 10 New Restaurants.
Denny's.
When we went down for Dan's wedding, we got there on Thursday night and ate with Dan, Leah and Rachel at Denny's. Believe it or not, I had never been to a Denny's. Bob Evans, yes. Denny's, no. And we ended up eating there with Mom and Dad for breakfast on Sunday too!

El Ranchero
Last Sunday, when I got out of work, Tierney, Mom and I went dress shopping. After dress shopping, we were all starving, so we went to El Ranchero for dinner. As you can probably assume it's a mexican restaurant. The food was pretty good, and the fried ice cream was amazing!! :D

Completed - 44. Become an organ donor.
A couple weeks ago I got my enhanced driver's licence so I can go to Canada, or Mexico, or the Caribbean. When I got my new license, I also signed up to become an organ donor.

In Progress - 52. Send or give 101 cards.
I've been slacking here! But I have given three more.
One was to John, just because.
Another was for Dan and Leah for their wedding gift.
And the last was for Tierney, asking her to be a bridesmaid. (I failed to take a picture. . . my bad, I was in a hurry, she was walking in the door as I was finishing it!)

Completed - 82. Have a Successful New Year's Celebration.
Our New Year's celebration was nothing "special." We didn't go out. We didn't do anything special. But it was special to me. I have a horrible track record with New Year's. For some reason it always ends up in a fight over something ridiculous or one of the people involved being mad. So successful just meant happy to me. And I don't think I could have been happier.

We stayed in, watched TV and cuddled. Then after the ball dropped we went to bed. I had to be lame because I had to work at 7 am the next day.

Completed - 95. Go fishing.
Ice fishing counts, right? John has been asking me to go fishing with him for weeks, no months, now. I've always been working, or busy, or it's too cold, or. . . .or. . . . or. . .

Well on Wednesday, it was GORGEOUS out. So when John texted me and asked me if I wanted to go ice fishing, I said yes. Now, he didn't believe me at first. . . but I was serious. So, he got stuff together and when I got home I changed my clothes and put warm clothes on then we headed out.

I thought it was great! (And even caught a fish, even though it wasn't big enough to keep. . .) That is, until the sun went down and we all instantly froze. But I think I'll go again!! :)
--------------------------

Sorry it took so long to update. . . my life has been so crazy in the past month or so (see other blogs for those stories!).

♥ Sara

We're Getting Married!

I guess John took me catching the bouquet as a good omen. . . he proposed on Tuesday!

Since a lot of people have asked for the story, here it is. . . :)

Welllll. . . I ruined it.

We had a fire association meeting last night. (Remember, that's where we met. . .) So we dropped his son off at his parents' house. I made plans with my future niece, Tierney, to come over and hang out with Ricky and I when we got back from the meeting. He shares custody 50/50 and she hadn't gotten to see him on this visit yet. . .

We got back from the meeting and rather than going to his mom's to pick him up, he turned on our road. I asked what he was doing, he said he had to pee. I told him to hold it, his mom lives less than a mile away. He said he couldn't. We get to the house and he told me to take my stuff in and I was upset. I said we aren't picking him up are we? And he said no my mom wants him for the night. I was really upset then. So I go in the house and start cleaning.

We eventually hash out the changing plans without telling me issue and he apologizes, all was well. Then he tells me he asked his mom to keep the kid because he had a surprise for me but it was ruined now. I *hate* surprises and even more than surprises I *hate* knowing about them but not knowing what they are.

So after much begging and pouting he told me he loves me and asked me if I was sure I wanted to be with him forever. I said of course. (This is normal conversation.) Then he pulls the ring out and asks me if I would marry him. Thing is I didn't see the ring. . . and I said you know I will. Followed by oh shit, you're serious. Then I said yes. :)

It was a long night of calls, texting and discussing plans!

I guess this means you, blog reader, need to be prepared to hear about this wedding planning adventure. ;)

♥ Sara

"Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that." -Michael Leunig

Goodbye 2010. Hello 2011.

Well hello there! I'm back, for now. . . ;)

Since Christmas we have been pretty busy.

Some of the highlights:

We've had dinner with my family a couple times, once my parents came here and we went to my brother and sister in law's for dinner once. I love having dinner with the family. And I really love spending time with my niece and nephew. I don't see them nearly enough anymore. When I still lived with my mom and dad full time I saw them almost daily, now I see them maybe twice a month. And living 45 minutes away doesn't help that. . . Oh well, part of growing up I guess. . . .

Shawnia and the kids came up to go to the water park. The hotel I work at has a water park connected to it, so we spent a few hours there and then had dinner with them.

Katie and Justin came up here on vacation for New Years so one night John, Ricky and I went to Petoskey to have dinner with them. It was. . . different. I wish I could say our relationship was completely repaired and back to normal. But, regrettably, I can't. It was somewhat awkward for me (and it takes a lot to make me awkward). I was very happy to see them though. Justin got a job in Chicago and they have moved there, so I don't know when I'll see them again. I do wish that Katie and I talked more. . . maybe with time.

John and I stayed in and didn't do anything special for New Year's Eve. Just spent the night together. Perfection in my eyes. :)

On the 4th and 5th, John and I pulled up our carpet in the living room and put down laminate wood flooring. I *love* it. It's so much easier to clean and looks so much nicer!

Old Floor. . .

New Floor!

Also on the 5th we had our first fire together. Well, by the time we got there it wasn't a fire anymore, but rather just overhauling. It was still enjoyable, and definitely a long night. (Why is it that the majority of fire calls seem to happen in the middle of the effing night?!?)

I'll be writing another post about my cousin's lovely wedding! :D

♥ Sara

"Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us."
-Hal Borland

Merry Christmas! (two days late!)

I spent most of this week baking and making candies in order to prepare for the day after Christmas. I made roughly 20 dozen cookies and over 20 dozen candies. Every year I say I'm not doing it again. . . but I always do. . .

December 23rd I not only baked and made candy, but I also finished wrapping my gifts and made a gingerbread house. We had Ricky, so of course I had help doing all of the above. :) He is so adorable.

[I find it so ironic that one of the reasons I was hesitant to date John was because he had a son. I had a list of reasons why that would bother me, and now that little boy has me wrapped right around his finger.]

I had bought a gingerbread house to make for my 101/1001 project back at the beginning of the season. With the move and settling into the house I hadn't had an opportunity to make it. And I kept telling John he was going to help me, he kept telling me he wasn't. I cheated, I got the kid involved. ;) So, the three of us decorated the gingerbread house. Quite possibly the most pathetic one I have ever seen, and I'm pretty sure that was due to the adults. But we had fun, and that's all that matters.

Christmas Eve I had to work until 4, but after that we had our Christmas with Rickers (he was at his mom's for Christmas Day). He opened his presents and we ate dinner. Then we played with his toys for a bit before going home and watching a movie until it was time for him to leave.

After his mom picked him up, John and I our gifts since I wouldn't be around on Christmas Day. He got me a gorgeous necklace, tools and a toolbox. :) When we were done exchanging gifts we walked over to his sister and brother-in-law's for a little bit before I had to be lame and go to bed.

my necklace. :)

tools and box. :)

I was scheduled to work 7 am until 2 am on Christmas Day, but two of my co-workers, Andy and Wesley, love me and worked it out so I could leave at 7 pm. *insert big smiles here* I got out of work and snuck over to John's parents' house. I didn't even bother stopping at our house to change. It was Christmas and I wanted to spend it with people I care about. We were at his family gathering for a while before we headed home for the night.

Baking still wasn't finished. I made my eclairs and called it a night. I was exhausted and knew I needed sleep in order to make it through yesterday.

Yesterday, we got up in the morning and I finished the eclairs and my last batch of chocolates, got ready and headed to my parents' house. We opened gifts with them, then open gifts with Jason and Shawnia and had dinner. Later in the evening some of my dad's family came over for cookies and candies.

Of course, just as we were sitting down for dinner, I got a call from work asking me to come in because someone else was a no-show. I initially told them I would come in right after dinner. John and the family exploded. They are all sick of me being willing to go in at the drop of a hat, no matter what other plans I have, no matter what I am doing, no matter who I am with, no matter how I feel.

They stole my keys.

So I told work I would be in when I could, and only ended up working for like three hours. In that time, John took down our tree and cleaned the living room.

I know. . . I'm lucky.

Merry Christmas ya'll!!

John couldn't find any gift tags. . .

neither could Dad. . . .

SCARY!

♥ Sara

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy
family all wrapped up in each other."
-Burton Hillis

Gingerbread.

Completed - 2. Build a gingerbread house.
Now, when I wrote this list, I wasn't exactly planning on building a gingerbread house with a three year old. So, I'm happy I didn't specify that it had to look a certain way or be a difficult-to-build gingerbread house. And, honestly, making it with John and his son was much more fun than building it on my own anyhow. So, here are a couple pictures of our gingerbread house. . . John is currently in the process of plotting its destruction.

5. Complete a coloring book, cover to cover.

Well, I finally found one I liked, so I bought it! But because of the holidays I haven't had a chance to color at all. I can't wait until my life calms back down.

20. Complete a fill-it-in book without dad taking it over.

I love fill-it-in books, as does my daddio. I have bought many over the years that dad somehow ends up filling most of them. (Not that I mind.) So, the whole "without dad taking it over" was written to get a laugh out of him. It's a little bit more difficult for him to steal them now that I no longer live there and don't even stay the night when I visit.

Well, for Christmas dad bought me my own fill it in and wrote a note on the front of it to remind himself and everyone else that it is all mine. :) One of my favorite gifts this year.

40. Try 101 new recipes.

Thanks to Christmas I had the opportunity to try eleven new recipes! I only had one repeat cookie and one repeat candy this year. And most of my family complained because they didn't get any "normal" cookies. Well guess what, maybe they should have baked them! (Not that we needed another cookie in the house, but I don't particularly enjoy it when my family complains about stuff that I make when I don't ever see them doing it!) When I get home I'll find the websites that I got my recipes from and include them as well. :)

Blackberry Ribbons

They were supposed to be raspberry but I made them blackberry for John. And they looked much nicer once i took them off of the paper that I spilled so much icing on.

Cowboy Chip Cookies

I replaced the nuts with butterscotch chips.

Chippy Cookies (the ones in the back. . . the ones in the front weren't new.)

Chocolate Covered Caramel Cookies

Candy Cane Chocolate Fudge

Snowballs

Oreo Truffles

Peanut Butter Balls

Cookie Dough Truffles

Sugar Free Eclairs

Well, that's all the progress I have made this week on the 101 project.

Merry Christmas!!

♥ Sara

Two Movies. One Postcard. And Long Hair?

Welp, I've been working on a couple of my 101 in 1001 tasks.

16. Watch 101 new movies.
I've watched two this week! I was wrapping gifts and working on stuffing my Christmas cards so I decided to take advantage of my Netflix on demand and watched The Bounty Hunter and Nothing Like the Holidays. Two very different movies. . .

I liked the Bounty Hunter just because it wasn't as predictable as I expected. Plus I like both Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. I knew nothing about Nothing Like the Holidays but it was the only Christmas type movie that I could find on there. It has a lot going on in it and a star-packed cast for being an indie film. I really enjoyed that one as well, although I did have to rewind it a couple times when I got distracted and missed parts.

63. Grow my hair with trims for 1001 days. Donate it when I cut it.
Surprisingly, I'm not having much trouble with this yet. I still have days where I want to chop it all off, but I'm beginning to like the long hair. . .We'll see how long that lasts though!

84. Join postcrossing.com. Send and receive 10 postcards.
I sent my first postcard to a girl (woman?) in the Netherlands this week! :)

Here's a picture of the postcard:

I'm hoping to get my gingerbread house built this week sometime. And there are some of the tasks (such as not eating fast food, or wearing my hair down every day) that I have completed or partially completed but as far as I am concerned it doesn't count unless I am intentionally (not) doing it for the project. :)
♥ Sara

Pre-Christmas Blog.

There's just something about writing at work that is so much more. . . convenient. . . than writing at home. In my defense it has been a busy week!!

Work, of course, took up it's normal forty or so hours. Nothing worth writing about there, as usual.

Home life has been pretty busy as well. . .

I got my Christmas cards out finally!! I was going to write a "Christmas letter" of sorts on here, but have decided to wait until January 1st and look back at the year, like I usually do. :)

my finished cards, waiting to be mailed. :)

I also have all but two gifts that are at the house wrapped. Neither of which are from me. I beg my parents to let me wrap their gifts because I love wrapping so much. And I have most of my shopping done. I just need to pick up a couple more things. . .but that involves finding time to run to town without John. Maybe this week one of the days that he's at work and I'm off. Oh wait, better be this week!!! Christmas is one week away! I have no idea where this year went. Wait, yes, yes I do. Work. >_<

This week I also got everything of mine put away and the house is all cleaned. There's just something about having a clean house that puts me in a very good mood. John is learning to deal with my organizational issues (I think). He was (playfully) upset when he came home and realized his clothes were almost as organized as mine. But hey, I do the laundry and put the clothes away, so I get to keep them organized, right?

Ooh! I never talked about the crazy snow we got here did I?! Last week I came into work and it took me 10 minutes to get from our house to work (usually takes 2) and fifteen to rock my baby back and forth to get her though the snow in the driveway. She's not made for snow that is deeper than her bumper is tall. Haha!

This is right after I pulled in the driveway. The windows were already not seeable.

Covering my lens so it didn't get covered in snow.

You can see where I plowed the snow with the bottom of my car. Bah!

Let's see, what else is going on. I guess just prepping for Christmas.

I offered to work Christmas Day back before John and I were together. I knew there was no way I would be lucky enough to get the entire day off. And the likelihood that I would be able to go to my parents' for any length of time would be slim. So I figured I might as well work and let everyone else have the day off. Well, I got my schedule for next week. And I work from 7 til 2 on Christmas. I know, you're thinking "that's not bad." Now let me put the actual times in there 7:00 AM until 2:00 AM. Yes, NINETEEN hours. *shakes head* I asked for it.

But on the bright side. . . We're having a family get together with my Dad's family on the 26th and I will be spending the 24th with John and his family (or at least Rickers). AND I get three days off to spend baking! :D Well, I'll be updating on Christmas if not before!

♥ Sara

"Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves."
-Eric Sevareid