Lake Weekend Recap

In all the engagement excitement, I missed posting pictures from our recent family lake trip.  We had a lovely time on a perfect summer day at the lake.  Lots of swimming and skiing, only minimal sunburns, and no major injuries.  Win, win, win.  There were two minor incidents involving Little Brian losing a paddle and he and Cousin Whitney managing to strand me in the middle of the lake when the boat got blown into some rocks.  Eh, live and learn, I say.

Here are some photos from the day!

Right before that paddle got lost.

Cousin Whitney

That's me

Me again

Right before he dunked me in the water.

Posing with the ol' boat.  1974 model, still runs like a charm.

Dad and Little Brian

Cousin Whitney's crew.

My dad.

Uncle Rusty

Traditional father/daughters photo

Two of my favorite guys

29 Years Ago.....

....this guy was born.

 

 

 

I'm pretty dang glad that happened. 

 

Happy Birthday to The Boy from Texas.

 

I love you!

Fourth of July Weekend

Well here we are, back in the real world after a lovely three day weekend.  Sigh.  How is it that time off always goes by SO dang fast?  Here is a photo recap of the weekend around these parts.

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Let's start off with the amazing engagement gift that sweet ND Friend and Super Mom had delivered, piping hot to my door on Wednesday evening.  My friends are better than yours.  No question.

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On Thursday, Teacher Friend called and said I had to get to Hob Lob right away...50% off sale on burlap wedding décor.  Off I went on my lunch hour.  Here are a few of my finds.  Act surprised when you see them at the wedding.

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The Boy from Texas and I spent Friday afternoon at two stores, a couple of wedding gift checklists, a scanning gun, a few Dosaritas....but we survived registering for gifts!  He was quite the trooper.  I have to admit, that as someone who hates shopping, I was not real excited about this.  But it was really fun to get to think about what our life together will look like and pick out stuff for our future house.....for about an hour.  And then it got a bit tedious. 

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The aftermath of said Friday afternoon.

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We checked out the fireworks at the George Bush Presidential Library and were quite impressed.  Yay, 'Merica!

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On Saturday, we had lunch at the mecca of all things good....J.Cody's.  This bbq joint has a "side bar" rather than a salad bar, so all of their amazingly yummy, butter soaked sides are all you can eat.  Why do I ever eat anywhere else?

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I had planned a little surprise road trip for The Boy from Texas since his birthday is coming up next week.  I wouldn't tell him where we were going or what we were doing, but we ended up in Gruene where we met up with one of his best friends and his family, along with "the ring guy" who helped The Boy from Texas put this shiny rock on my finger and his family, for dinner at Gristmill.  This place is amazing....the best food, on the Guadalupe River, seats 1,000 people, tons of fun.

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Saturday we spent lots of time (but took no pictures) cuddling with Baby Liam and hanging out.  We also bought ourselves a new memory foam, some other fancy words, mattress for when we are finally married and living in the same zip code. Not gonna lie, I thought about seeing if I could smuggle it home with me right now because it's so dang comfy!  We then stuffed our faces with amazing burgers.  (Anyone sensing a pattern here?  I'm never gonna fit into a wedding dress!)

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Then I dropped The Boy from Texas off at the airport to go back home.  I'm going to start a countdown of how many more times we have to do that...hands down my least favorite part of distance is having to say goodbye at the airport on Sundays.

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I am going to get back on a workout/eating right/not being a pig routine if it kills me!  That's not really related, but I feel as though I should end with 10 rather than 9 and maybe if I say this out loud, it will happen.

What Lasts Forever

"I have found the one whom my soul loves."  ~Song of Solomon 3:4

I tried on wedding dresses last week.  I was comparing two dresses and the girl kept saying, "Choose the one you really like, these pictures will last forever" and "Think about your pictures, they will last forever."

It was all I could do to keep from yelling at her.  I just kept thinking, "It's not the pictures that should last forever....it's the marriage!"

Somehow, society has managed to get so caught up in the wedding hoopla--the dresses and flowers and Pinterest projects and cake toppers--that we forget the point of all this.  It's not about perfectly posed photos or fancy appetizers or hand beaded veils.  It's not about the wedding, it's about the marriage.  Perhaps because we have forgotten this truth is why people go into crazy debt planning a wedding and the divorce rate in this country is through the roof.  We are focused on the wrong thing.

All of the details are beans compared to the fact that in 4 months, The Boy from Texas and I will be making vows--a covenant with each other and with God--that our relationship will last forever.  That we will love each other, even when we might not feel like it.  That we will honor each other, even when one of us (probably me) is being a jerk.  That we will support each other even when one (probably me) of us has a crazy idea.  That we will help each other follow God's calling for our lives.  That we will help the other get to Heaven.

That's the part that matters.  That's what's supposed to last forever.  It's not the pictures, it's the marriage.

The Much Anticipated Proposal Story

Thank you for your (lack of) patience.  Here is the proposal story, in our favorite He Said/She Said format.  As usual, my thoughts are in orange, The Boy from Texas writes in blue.

Preface

 

You people are a little pushy.  I've had numerous text messages, blog comments, and Facebook comments from unhappy readers waiting for this story.  Some of you threated to boycott the blog.  Some threatened physical violence.  I mean, seriously, it happened!

Just for the record, I don't really think that this should all be public knowledge so they should feel privileged to read it.

The Background

The Boy from Texas and I had been talking about marriage for a while.  So while I knew a proposal was coming sometime, I did not have any clue it would be the weekend that he asked me.  Honestly, I thought it would have been Memorial Day weekend, so when that didn't happen, I pretty much decided that I put the cart before the horse and it would be a couple of months down the road.

We had been talking about getting married, and I knew when I was going to propose and when I planned to do it.  Tiff kept asking me questions trying to figure out when I was going to do it.  I knew when I was going to do it and where I wanted to do it, but kept telling her answers that would throw her off.

The Day Of

We spent all day on Sunday helping my parents at the farm.  We mowed the lawn (well, I mowed most of it until after I ran over two pipes and got stuck in a ditch The Boy from Texas kicked me off the mower and finished it himself).  We worked on the swather so that we could cut hay.  We moved some sheep around.  If you know my father, this is actually quite fitting.  Ever since I was a kid if anyone (especially a boy) came over to my house, my dad automatically put them to work.  It was kind of a running joke at school--people would say, "Don't go to Tiffany's house, you'll have to help Dallas with something!"  I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary....The Boy from Texas didn't seem nervous or anything to me.

I woke up that morning and put the ring in my pocket with every intention of speaking to her dad that morning.  I couldn't ever get everyone do disappear long enough for me to talk to him. 

About 2:00 in the afternoon, my dad, The Boy from Texas, and I all went down to the hay field to test out our swather repair skills.  While my dad was on the swather, The Boy from Texas said, "Your dad sure is hard to corner."  I took this to mean that he still hadn't even asked my dad yet, which confirmed my thought that a proposal was probably still a couple of months away.  Once my dad had cut the ends out of the field, I headed home on the four wheeler while The Boy from Texas and my dad rode home in the pickup.

So we finally ended up down in the hay field.  Tiff and I were riding around in the four wheeler taking pictures of the hay and the swather.  I thought Tiff was going to turn it over on us, so I made her let me drive.  I didn't want her to get us hurt on the four wheeler and me have to propose in the hospital!  So, when Tiff was on the four wheeler and we were taking the pick up back.

Then Tiff took the four wheeler back home and me and her dad rode back in the pick up.  Since I had him alone, I told him I had a question and I asked him if I could marry his daughter.  He said that sounds like a great idea.  I told him I felt like I need to ask him even though we had all been talking about it.  He said he appreciated that and said, "Get after it."  So I did.

At this point, we were getting ready to head back to Amarillo, but were sweaty and dirty and gross, so we wanted to take showers first.  The Boy from Texas won rock, paper, scissors and got to take the first shower.  Then I took one. 

So after I took a shower and got dressed, Tiff was taking a shower, so I went outside to tell her mom I talked to her dad and I was planning on doing it.  She offered to get the camera and take pictures if I did it in the front yard.  I told her I had another idea where no one else would be around.

I was nervous and I walked inside and Tiff was already outside of the shower and I really hoped that Tiff didn't see me and her mom talking because I had showed her the ring.

When I got out of the shower, I figured it was hot, we were just driving back to his house, and I didn't really care what I looked like.  I put on flip flops, pink and black running shorts, a turquoise t-shirt, and didn't even dry my hair.  When I came out of the bathroom, my mom said, "Don't you want to, like, dry your hair a little?"  I said, "No.  It's hot.  That's stupid."  I now understand why she wanted me to dry my dang hair!

The Proposal

So at this point, The Boy from Texas tells me we need to go pick up my dad who had taken the tractor to the other farm before we left.  We loaded up into his pick up and headed that way.  On the way, he said we had to run over to one of our barns because he thought he left the door open when we had been over there looking for water skis on Friday night.  This made no sense to me.  I told him I was sure that he closed the door.  He said that he just wanted to double check because I was busy freaking out about all the nasty bugs flying at our heads when we opened the door on Friday and he might have forgotten to close the door.  I still thought this was dumb, but said okay.  This place on the farm is what we call the White House, because there is an old white house in the pasture (we're creative like that).  There are some big, old trees, red corrals, a windmill, old barns, and a hay barn. 

So I told Tiff that we had to run over and pick up her dad from the other farm and we had to run by one of the barns to be sure we closed a door on Friday.  I told her I thought I left it open.  She said I didn't.  So anyways, we went over there to check and be sure the door was shut. 

We got over to the barn and sure enough, I was right, the door was closed.  We got out of the pick up, looked in the barn, re-closed the door.  I headed back to get in the pick up, but The Boy from Texas sort of ambles off under the two big trees.  I didn't think too much at that point because, well, country boys do that--the often get distracted looking at grass or crops or trees.  For example, frequently my father drives off into the bar ditch because he's looking at someone's field. 

So I walked over to The Boy from Texas and he grabbed my hand and said, "I'm going to ask you to marry me."  I said, "You are huh?"  He said, "Yes.  Right now."  Next thing I know, he's down on one knee with a ring in his hand. 

The door was shut and then I talked to her about how it would be really neat if we could get married there, but we couldn't because there was no electricity.  We had talked about that before.  So I told her "I'm going to ask you to marry me."  She said, "Oh really?"  I said, "I am and I'm going to do it right now."  I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me and she said yes.

Honestly, everything after that is kind of a blur.  Obviously he asked and I said yes.  I remember he just kept laughing.  I remember I said he was sneaky.  I also remember perhaps my favorite part of the entire proposal was shortly after he asked when he said, "What do we do now?"  I said, "I don't know, I guess we go get my dad off the tractor?"  And so we did just that.

I said we better go get your dad who we stranded on the tractor for like an hour in the middle of the summer with no air conditioner.  So we went and got him.

Because I didn't want to look like some dang bum in my pictures, I went home and changed, dried my hair, and we went back over to the White House place to take some pictures.  My mom served as photographer and did an outstanding job, if I do say so myself.

Final Thoughts

Perfect.  That's really the only word I have to describe the whole proposal.  The fact that he asked me on my parents ranch was perfect.  The fact that it was just a normal day that we spent dirty and sweaty working on farm equipment was perfect.  The fact that I get to spend the rest of my life with this guy is perfect. 

It was the happiest day of my life.  So far.

I Thank God

48 Hours Worth of Thoughts from a Fiance

Now that I've been a fiancé for 48 hours....I have some insight to share on my experience.

(For those of you who are upset right now that I don't have a proposal story blog ready to go, just be patient.  I'm working on it!)

Here are my thoughts.

1.  On Monday, I was headed to meet The Boy from Texas, his mom, and his sister for lunch.  My ring was all shiny on the steering wheel and I got distracted looking at it and almost rear ended someone.  Oopsy!

2.  The first thing people ask you is when and where your wedding will be.  You do not know the answer to that an hour after the ring is put on your finger.  Don't be annoyed when the response you get is, "I have no clue!"

3.  When you get 500 likes and 168 comments on Facebook, your phone will revolt and hold a charge for about 10 minutes.

4.  I just about poked my eye out when I went to wipe my eye yesterday and realized there's a big honking ring there.  The struggle is real. :)

5.  Just because someone is having a short engagement (4 months), does not mean that they are pregnant.  Multiple people asked that.  No lie.

6.  The fact that my farmer father spent yesterday morning talking wedding venues, table cloths, and arches makes my heart really happy.  He says that he is now over wedding planning.  His part is done!

7.  I have the best family and friends in the world.  Seriously, I've just about gotten an entire wedding planned just by people saying, "I'll help you with flowers" or "I'll take pictures" or "You can have my leftover decorations."  It's amazing.  I'm so blessed!

8.  I could not be more excited about the fact that I get to marry The Boy from Texas.  I still kinda pinch myself every time I think about spending my life with him.

That One Time We Looked at Rings...

It's possible that I had kept a pretty awesome story kinda quiet from you blog readers and most of the people in my life.  Well, today, I'm fessing up.  Last October, The Boy from Texas and I may have gone into a jewelry store and did a bit of looking around.  Here's how it all went down.

We had met for the weekend in Ft. Worth.  Just the two of us.  Oh, well and one of the kids who works for him, but he only stayed the first day to pick up a truck and then drove that home.  On Saturday we took the kid to get the truck, had lunch with my Aunt Delta Dawn, and then decided to do a little driving and walking around before going to Joe T's in the Stockyards for dinner.

Picture from that weekend

So we headed to the area down by where the Ft. Worth Stock Show is held and started walking around. We went into a western store where we looked at some clothes and bought me an awesome cross air freshener for my pickup.  When we walked out of the western store and The Boy from Texas said, "Let's go across the street."  I looked up and saw a Gelato shop.  Being the chubby kid I am, I said, "Oooo, for gelato??"  He simply said, "Nope, one over."  It was a jewelry store.

At this point I kinda forgot about my desire for my fav Italian dessert and was trying to be sure I kept breathing as we walked across the street into the store.  Once inside, we looked at rings.  Aggie football was on tv.  The sports fan in me remembers that detail. The Boy from Texas asked what I liked.  I tried to remember how to form words.  Seriously, I was so in shock and excited that I think I might have been able to utter about seven words the whole ten minutes we were in the store.  "Yes."  "No."  "That one."  Square."  "Too expensive."

But I did find one ring that I fell in love with.  So he had me try it on.  It was perfect.   Later my girlfriends would scream at me for failing to take a picture or get the collection name or any information.  I explained that it was all I could do to stay upright and continue to inhale and exhale at that moment, so they just had to give me a break.  Luckily, Mrs. Arizona played sleuth on the computer and tracked it down for me to show everyone at my birthday party a couple of weeks later.

As we left the store and walked outside, The Boy from Texas squeezed my hand and said, "Well, I bet you didn't expect to do that today did ya?"  "Um, not hardly," I responded, "so can we get some gelato now?"

The chubby girl got her gelato and that little ring browsing session turned into one of my favorite memories with The Boy from Texas.

Oh, what did the ring look like, you ask?  Well.....it was the one he put on my finger over the weekend.

 

That's right kids.  Someone book the billboard.  This girl is getting married!

 

Family Farm Friday #91: A Comparison

My dad said it pretty much perfectly on Facebook, so I'll let him do the talking here too.

"I don't know if the worst drought in 100 year history is over, but it's definitely taking a break. The top picture was taken May 15, the bottom June 14. What a difference 4.5'' of rain and a little irrigation water can make."  - Dad

A Low Key Weekend

The Boy from Texas and I don't really do low key.  You know me, I'm always on the go.  And he cannot sit still and just do nothing.  But last weekend we ended up being able to sort of just hang out and have some downtime.  We went to my parents and just helped with a few things on the farm, checked on some show lambs we sold to some kiddos, went to church, and just generally hung out.  It was pretty awesome.  Here's the photo recap.

We'll start with this beautiful West Texas sunset.  I mean, seriously. 

Praise God for the irrigation water that is currently flowing down our ditches and watering our fields!  This, kids, is a very pretty sight!

Here is a photo of a sorghum field on our farm.

I absolutely love this picture.  I asked my dad to get a picture of The Boy from Texas and I having a romantic Saturday night irrigating.  The fact that I have managed to find a boy that is game to spend Saturday doing that and even grins about it in a picture?  I'm a lucky girl.

Speaking of The Boy from Texas....he has a birthday coming up in a few weeks!  I had been working on a surprise for him for a few months.  His horse died about a year ago and I wanted to get a painting done of the horse for The Boy.  Luckily, my parents' super awesome neighbor is an amazing artist and this is what she was able to do based on a picture of said horse that I stole off of The Boy's wall.  He was pretty excited about his present and I loved being able to surprise him!

 

And now, a couple of shots of the parentals.

This was 9:00 in the morning.  Breakfast apparently wore him out.

My mom had been at a wedding shower and said, "I'm cute, take my picture."