This Is Why Kyle And I Are Different

We found a cat turd in our bedroom the other day. Lovely. But what can you do other than sigh, clean it up and move on. I volunteered to bring Kyle a paper towel if he would pick it up. He agreed but asked if I would bring him some toilet paper instead so that he could just flush it. My husband is a genius. I love him. So I leave and bring him back a box of tissues to use. Upon receiving the tissue box he stares blankly at me and asks what happened to the toilet paper. To which I reply that the tissue box was easier to grab and what difference does it make??

Him: Well, can you flush tissue?
Me: Ummm, duh. Have you never flushed a tissue before?
Him: No.
Me: Seriously?? So, like, when you run out of toilet paper, and you have to use a tissue, do you just throw it away???
Him: I've never run out of toilet paper before.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why my husband and I are very, VERY different people.

Pool!!!!

Kyle has been dying to "torpedo" Barrett pretty much since the day he was born. (I think he's looking for some sort of cosmic revenge or something for his parents "torpedo-ing" HIM when he was just a wee little baby.) What is torpedo-ing you ask? Well, it's when one parent takes the baby in the pool, yells "Torpedo!!!", dunks the child, and then fires him at the other parent like an underwater torpedo. I have to be honest... this sounds like borderline child abuse to me. But Kyle's parents are generally great people, and Kyle doesn't seem to have suffered much for all his being torpedoed, so I guess it's ok. I guess.

A friend of ours told us about a really nice, indoor pool not far from our house, so we decided to check it out today. We schlepped ourselves and B and all our crap over to the pool, parked, walked (in the rain) for 2 1/2 blocks, and then paid our $5 to enter the pool. It was supposed to be $11, but they only took cash, and they didn't have any change, so they let us in for $5. ($11 seemed a bit steep to me.... I was sorta glad we only had 5 singles on us) Anyway, we got B all dressed up in his swim diaper (which was just one of his regular pocket diapers without the insert - p.s. have I mentioned we use cloth diapers?? Remind me to write a post about them later. They rule!) ANYway - B got all swim-diapered up, and Kyle and I donned our bathing suits (and I added a tank top, because "the girls" are still WAY TOO big to be flaunted about in pulic (thankyouverymuch breastfeeding... ) and my belly is just plain yuck. So we got all ready and then we went out to the pool and we had SUCH high hopes of traumatizing, errrr, I mean torpedoing our dear son... and we got in the water. And... well. It was darn cold. :\ Too cold, really. B was NOT a fan. Cold water, lots of other (older) kids splashing about, people WHOOSHING into the pool on the waterslide. (p.s. I can't believe they have a waterslide!) Frankly, it was all a bit too much for him. He lasted about 2 minutes and then started crying. :( I actually didn't even realy get in the water. (Was too busy snapping pics.) We decided that maybe we had traumatized the B-man enough for one day, so we got out and got dressed again, and schlepped back home. Oh well. Torpedoing will have to wait.

When we got home we gave B a nice warm bath. He kicked and splashed and seemed to appreciate it a little bit extra. So there's that. :)


Ready to swim! (Good gracious, look at those chunky legs!!! Gah!)


"Nevermind! Get me out of here!!"


"Uhhhh, you're not going to send me down that slide, are you???"

Inching Ever Closer

Another milestone... Kyle and I signed (about eleventy-million) loan and homeowner documents at the title company today. Eeeee! Man, they make you sign for EVERYTHING. We even had to sign a piece of paper that said, in the event of a clerical error, we promise to come back in and RE-SIGN everything. Ugh. And they took fingerprints. And made photo copies of our drivers licences. It was intense and took almost a whole hour. A WHOLE HOUR of signing my name over and over and over again. And I couldn't just do my normal signature that consists of my first initial and a few letters of my last name. No, no. I had to write out Courtney A. NewLastName. 9 million times. My hand was cramping by the end of it. But we got through it!

Now all we need is for the seller to sign the 2 inch stack of papers and to find some freakin homeowners insurance (which, p.s. is turning out to be another nightmare in and of itself because in addition to finding coverage for our unit, we also have to find coverage for the entire building and the HOA. Since this place JUST became a condo there never was an HOA before so there was never an HOA to insure. They just had one policy covering the entire 3 unit building. Now we need insurance for each unit AND insurance for the building/HOA. Ugh. And of course our credit union won't even consider funding our loan until we have all the insurance policies in place. Booooo.)

Close of escrow has officially been set for July 17. Fingers crossed that we make it.

In other, less frustrating, news check out how cute we are at the escrow office signing our house papers:
(thank goodness our escrow lady was awesome enough to take our picture... I can't imagine not having this moment on film SD Memory Card.... hmmm, doesn't have quite the same ring to it, huh? Oh well)

:)

Oh, and that beard that Kyle's sporting in the picture (his "Christmas Beard" that he likes grow every December...) is now gone. Gone! I came home from work this afternoon to find a naked faced man standing in my bathroom wearing nothing but socks and boxer shorts (b/c apparently hair was getting everywhere! Oh dear! I didn't ask for too many details...) holding a razor and inspecting his neck for stragglers. It caught me quite off guard. I love Kyle with a beard, but I'll admit I've missed snuggling up to his freshly shaved cheek. I was starting to worry that he was getting an early start on next Christmas! So yeah. He's all baby faced again. I'm enjoying it immensely.

Never Trust A Bug

Yesterday, as I was shutting the lights off in the bathroom, running late for work as usual, I came a across a rather large spider crawling on the wall near the light switch. Normally, in a situation such as this, I drop whatever it is I'm doing, run flailing to the kitchen, grab a cup, run flailing back to the spider (the flailing is key, mind you), scoop/will the creepy crawly into the cup, and then take him outside and gently deposit him on a bush or on the ground... and sometimes, if he's especially icky (or if it's cold out), I just just fling him as far as I can from my front door.

But yesterday, running late, I stopped, looked the spider, pointed my finger in his general direction, and said, "Hey Buddy! Normally I'd fling you but today I'm running late. You look like an upstanding spider, maybe we can work out a deal. I'll let you stay if you promise to eat those darn ants that keep infiltrating my bathroom. WHAT COULD THEY POSSIBLY WANT IN THE BATHROOM!? You're a pretty big spider, I bet you can also keep the other smaller, riff-raff spiders away. Keep it a one spider bathroom, you know? You don't bother me, I won't bother you. Each of us will let the other go about their business. But I don't want to be running into you like this on my wall next to my light switch. You stay outta sight. You hear me? Oh and I can't make any promises about the cats... if they catch you they'll eat you, and that's between you and them. But I promise that if you stay outta my way, I won't fling you, Deal?"

And he shook his creepy crawly fangs at me and I THOUGHT we had an understanding.

Boy was I wrong.

This morning... standing in the bathroom, brushing my teeth, wearing nothing but my undies, I felt a tickle on the small of my back. I assumed a hair had fallen from my head and was just sort of dancing there on its way down. But then it tickled again. I wonder what that is, I thought as I spit toothpaste into the sink and then turned to catch a glimpse of my back in the mirror.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Apparently, what *I* thought was an understanding, *Mr Spider* thought was a date! And I think he was headed for 2nd base.

In a bold move, I brushed him off me, WITH MY BARE HAND (ick!) And I continued to shriek. Kyle came in to make sure I wasn't dying, and I, still shrieking, showed him the beast that dared to set his grimy spider-feet on me. I then ran flailing off to the kitchen.

Kyle calmly called after me, "Sweetie, don't forget you're naked... and we have neighbors... and windows... and you're screaming, loudly."

EEK! I crouched down and then scuttled back to the bathroom, cup in hand.

With puppy dog eyes I asked, "Kyle, will you fling him outside for me? He broke his promise, but I'm too naked to do anything about it."

Reason Enough To Marry Him

My fiancé is the most wonderful man I know.

Lately, I've been lamenting my general bah-hum-bugginess to him. I didn't dress up or carve pumpkins for Halloween. I didn't put up my fun harvest/fall/Thanksgiving decorations. And, travesty of all travesties, I didn't get a Christmas tree this year. Anyone who knows me understands what a big deal this is. I LIVE FOR my yearly Christmas Tree. I delight in purchasing a new ornament every year and placing it gently on fresh pine scented branches. As I lovingly remove each old ornament from my ornament box, I remember when or why I bought it and why it's special to me. The smell of the tree and glow of twinkly lights reminds me of my childhood and of all things good in this world. It is one of my most favorite traditions.

And this year I just skipped it.

:(

Too busy. Never home. Work pressures. Wedding pressures. Family pressures.

I was just spread too thin.

"Next year." I thought to myself. Even though I realized what a cop out that is. Do I really think next year is going to be any different?? It's always like this. I'm always running around like a chicken with my head cut off - especially at this time of year.

Yuck. I've just been in such a funk.

That is, until I got home last night... while I was at work till 9 pm, my darling, amazing, wonderful, future husband went out and got us a little tree. Our VERY FIRST Christmas tree together. It's tiny, because we're going out of town this weekend then again next Thursday and won't be back till after Christmas... so basically, we'll only have like 5 days to enjoy the little ever-green, but I ADORE it. It's the most perfect tree I have ever had the pleasure of decorating. AND! He also got us a little wreath to hang and some mistletoe, which I promptly kissed him beneath as soon as I got home and saw all that he had done for me.

He makes me feel like the most loved girl on the planet. He reminds me to stop and think about what's really important. He supports me, and knows me, and understands when I need someone to reach out to me and say, "Hey! Take a deep breath and enjoy what going on around you!" I love him so much.


Our tree!


Too small to support the (giant) star I normally place on top... so I had to tie a little angle ornament in place


My favorite person in the whole world addressing some of our Save the Date/Holiday Cards

My funk is officially over!

Photos From The Tahoe

A photo post... because I'm the perfect combination of narsisitic and lazy today.

We arrived in Lake Tahoe on Wednesday evening. There were two families: my mom and stepdad and me and my sister (and our men, and my man's brother) and my stepdad's brother, his wife, and their two kids. (This cabin renting thing has become somewhat of a tradition for our families at Thanksgiving time. Much easier than having everyone at one person's house for the entire long weekend. )

So anyway, Kyle, Kelsey, and I show up Wednesday night, eat some amazing ribs, and then the drinking beings. By the time Sunday rolled around, everyone sobered up and went home. The following pictures were taken sometime in between.


Drew, my sister's boyfriend, doing the turkey brine thing.


Mmmmm... Nothing says yummy like raw poultry in a bucket.


Uncle Lance and Jessica - playing some serious Ping Pong


Moving on to (Beer) Pong


Pong Tournament - Action Shot. (And yes, Kyle's shirt definitely says "Michelangelo is a Party Dude")


Kelsey and Jessica, kicking butt, taking names, and cheesin it up for the camera


Jessica, me, Caitlin - more cheese


Me and the Caits - WORST PONG PLAYERS EVER!!!!!


Seriously, Just.Terrible.


I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard.


Thanksgiving day - My sis lookin all beautiful


Look mom! I can make Brussel Sprouts!


Pumpkin Spice Bread Turkey - YUM! (And so cute!)


Mom, Aunt Nina, and Jes (and yummy sweet potatoes!!!!)


Keith and my stepdad, being manly on the couch watching football while the women-folk cook


Drew, the master carver with Turkey #1


We were a little concerned about Turkey #2... it appears to have been deep fried to a crisp!


Luckily, it's gorgeous on the inside. (And isn't that what really matters?)


After dinner couch time


Bundeled up for a night time walk


On Friday, there was much hiking at Squaw - must burn off that 4th helping of pie!


Kelsey and Kyle bundled up - It was cold!


Men in the woods - I love this picture!



Squaw is pretty ugly


Me and Kyle - FINALLY at the Summit - Hiking at altitude was REALLY HARD! (There were several occasions where I thought we'd need to be airlifted out...)


All of us at the top! (I swear I'm not short! I just hang with tall peeps.)


Yeah, we bought hot chocolate and took the Gondola back down the mountain - we're hard core, but not THAT hard core.


View from the bottom looking back up - Woah - that was quite a hike!



On Saturday we took a boat tour of Lake Tahoe - Very relaxing and pretty

On Sunday, having had our fill of beer, and wine, and Pong, and turkey, and beautiful things to see, we went home, thankful for the amazing weekend.

:)

As Heard In My Apartment

Flipping through yet another bridal magazine, I came across yet another article that made me want to throw in the towel, hop a plane to Vegas, and vow to love, honor, and cherish with no one but a half-naked Britney Spears impersonator and a few sequin clad Elvises as my witnesses.

"Seriously, Kyle, let's elope."

Kyle put down his magazine, stared deeply into my eyes, and said, "My darling, I love you like the sweetest melon, but we cantaloupe." All with a straight face.

Gotta Go

Yikes! The family is totally waiting for me. 'What family' you ask? Kyle's. Oh. Didn't I mention? I'm in Michigan, with Kyle's fam right now? (Hey it's NABloPoMo, I gotta dole the information out slowly or risk having nothing to post about!) But anyway, they are TOTALLY waiting for me. Like in the car and everything. And we are LATE for a wedding. And I'm blogging. Awesome.
More updates tomorrow - I gotta go.

Well If ALL The Cool Kids Are Doing It...

I can't believe I've been blogging long enough to have seen 2 whole NaBloPoMos come and go. Time... It flies... Whoosh.

This year I'm REALLY REALLY gonna try to participate... so here goes. Today is November 1st. And, as November is National Blog Posting Month, (created by Fussy, YAY Fussy!!!) I will be pumping out a post a day EVERY day (including weekends!! Yikes!) for the next 30 days.

Join me. Won't you?



(Yes I realize that this is a total cheater post, but hey, it''s THIRTY posts in a row... cut me some slack, will ya?)

In other news... Kyle and I totally skipped Halloween this year. Boo. He went home sick from work and I stayed late so I could take off early on Friday to hang with his grandparents. As a result we just decided to save our AWESOME* costume idea for next year.

Speaking of Halloween, I'm considering writing a strongly worded letter to someone somewhere about my new neighborhood being shut down and transformed into a veritable trick-or-treating free for all last night. The streets were closed to cars just before dark as hundreds upon hundreds of little ghosts, and goblins, and princesses, and pirates, and creatures from every children's movie you can imagine descended upon our block. It was adorable but we were TOTALLY unprepared!! I think a little note saying, "Hello and welcome to your new home! Please be advised that you are now living in a trick-or-treat hot spot. GET SOME CANDY AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT DRIVING YOUR CAR DOWN YOUR OWN STREET. Thanks!" would have been nice. Don't you? I haven't lived in a real neighborhood with little kids and stuff since I left for college. So it didn't even occur to me to buy candy this year. And I certainly didn't expect to have to hide from forty-zillion disappointed children as they walked past my dark doorstep to the amazingly decorated haunted house next door. I totally looked like the mean old lady on the block with her blinds drawn and her lights off. Yikes! Oh well. Next year I'll know. (p.s. will one of you please remind me to buy candy next year, thanks!)

-----
*With the in-laws and the cleaning and the whatnot, Kyle and I decided to dress up using stuff we already had around the house.... well it just so happens that Kyle owns a bee hat and I own deer antlers (don't ask why)... so he was going to wear his bee hat and I was going to wear my deer antlers and his t-shirt was going to say "Yes Deer" and mine was going to say "OK Honey" ...Did I mention we've had a lot going on lately? Maybe it's for the best that we skipped the festivities this year.

Visit From The In-Laws, Take 1

A call from my mother today:
So… the in-laws? … the apartment? How did it go!? You didn’t paint did you?

No. I didn’t paint. I also didn’t buy all new furniture. Although I was *theees* close to buying a new chocolate leather ottoman to be used as a coffee table in my living room. If I had had another day, I very well might have. But I DID finally finally finally get my place in order (Courtney's house: now without cardboard boxes!). And it is LOVELY. I’ve actually never felt so proud to call a place home.

It was close though. I was definitely frantically arranging fresh flowers in my kitchen, and placing picture frames on shelves and wiping last minute crumbs off counters and lighting candles like a mad woman just seconds before Kyle walked in the front door with his parents. (I sent him to the airport without me so I could finish up the house… luckily our exit off the freeway was closed for construction on his way back, which bought me a few extra minutes… every once in a while the world is actually on my side. Amazing.)

So anyway, the ‘rents-in-law walked in and were absolutely FLOORED by how great the place looked. His mom was speechless. I kid you not! It was maybe the best feeling I’ve had all year. Except of course for the whole engagement thing, and the nephew being born thing… Ok, it was maybe the third best feeling I’ve had all year! Still, it was up there. So they oohed- and ahhhed a bit and then we all went to bed (it was almost midnight!)

Saturday morning we got up at 6am (yikes!) to drive down to the South Bay to watch Kyle and his bro compete in a soccer tournament. They kicked butt and took names. It was fun. Afterwards we took Kyle’s parents to see our reception location. They loved it! (Which, again, sent me over the moon… it makes me feel so much better to know that other people like the site we’ve chosen… hopefully now I’ll stop having nightmares that we somehow picked the wrong place… oh the nightmares… that’s a whole other post!)

So after the soccer, and the reception site seeing, we went out to lunch and then home to watch some football. Cal lost and that’s all I say about my sorry excuse for a football team, total head cases ever since the stupid quarterback forgot to throw the stupid ball like 3 whole weeks ago! Get over guys. Get your heads out of your butts. STOP LOSING! But right, we’re not talking about them.

Saturday night we went out to dinner and then Kyle and I were supposed to go to a Halloween party. But we were so full from the yummy dinner, and so tired from the getting up early, and so content to just stay home and hang out with the parents that we never made it out. To be honest, I’m not even really bummed. Oh there definitely would have been a time in the not so distant past that I would have been all sad-faced at the thought of missing a party. But not so much any more. I mean it definitely would have been nice to see all my friends, but I just didn’t have that *NEED* to be not missing out on stuff like I used to have. I guess this is that whole growing up and settling down thing that everyone keeps talking about. It’s quite nice.

So Sunday, we spent the whole day in Monterey, at the aquarium and hanging out with Kyle’s mom’s aunt and uncle (Good golly this boy has SO MUCH FAMILY!) They were a riot! AND they told Kyle that I’m a “total keeper.” So I officially love them now. Monday I went to work and Kyle stayed home to be with his parents a bit more, and then we all went out to dinner (so much eating when guests are in town!), and we drove them to the airport, and then they left.

It was definitely an amazing weekend. The house looked great. Kyle’s parents seemed to have a good time. All things were right in the world. Yay. Now, if I can just make it through NEXT weekend (p.s. his GRANDPARENTS are staying with us!!!!! GAH! And oh by the way, they’re not too keen on the whole me and Kyle living in sin thing. Lovely.) I think I might actually start to like this whole in-law thing. No promises though.

Why Yes I Am Flipping Out, Thanks For Asking

Hits a smidge close to home...

Kyle's parents are coming to visit in exactly 83 hours. And they are STAYING WITH US. In our house! With all of the yet to be completely unpacked and put away crap EVERYWHERE. For a WHOLE WEEKEND!!! This is not ok. This is not ok at all.

I know they don't care if our house is messy. I know they love me no matter what. Blah blah blah. My brain gets that (mostly)... I just can't seem to make the rest of me get it too.

I do not like house guests.

Mostly because I'm insecure.

Which I hate admitting.

But hating it doesn't make it any less true.

So there I said it. I'm insecure.

Yuck.

I don't like the thought of people seeing my stuff. My personal, private, stuff... you know like the living room couch... and the coffee table. VERY intimate stuff! I don't like them seeing it and judging it and picturing it again later and judging more. (I'm starting to perspire a bit just thinking about it. Ugh.)

And now Kyle's parents are coming. And they will be LIVING with my stuff for 3 whole days! What if they don't like my sheets? I should buy new sheets. And maybe a new comforter. And probably a whole new bedroom set. And paint. We should definitely paint before they get here (in 82 hours and 46 minutes) so that the walls match the new sheets. It is VERY important that the walls and sheets be coordinated!!

And what if they open a drawer in the kitchen. My silverware - it doesn't all match! What if we're sitting at dinner (which we are TOTALLY ordering in, because the stress of cooking might actually send me over the edge) and they realize that the knives are from a totally different set than the spoons. Then what will we do?!?!?!

My girlfriends were amazing enough to come over last night (which, p.s. was crazy difficult for me to let happen - because hello! My house? It's a disaster. Remember? And I am not comfortable with other people knowing about my disaster. Gah!) But over they came. And I took a few deep breaths (Actually I hyperventilated for several minutes before they got there, but it was a soothing, calming, hyperventilation, I swear) and it was ok. They stepped over the piles of unfolded laundry, pushed aside the dirty dishes in the sink, helped me go through and THROW AWAY! box after box of toiletries. (I'm slightly addicted to buying new shampoo, and lotion, and face stuff, and random creams, and gels, and products that I don't even know the use for.) They even ironed my curtains! (Yes, when future in-laws stay with me the curtains get ironed, darn it!) It was shockingly, amazingly, wonderfully ok. (Note: This is a *big* deal for me!)

But still... the in-laws. They are coming. And while I may have survived letting my girlfriends see my scuffed baseboards and my desperately needing to be swept entryway, I am NO WHERE close to being ok with Kyle's mom and dad knowing that I'm not secretly the long lost daughter of Martha Stewart.

It's Gonna Be A Long Year

While flipping through a wedding magazine the other day, I saw a really pretty pink and green bouquet for a pink and green themed wedding. I was suddenly sad.

"Kyle," I said, holding up the glossy page filled with hydrangeas and peonies and moss colored ribbon, "look how pretty this pink and green bouquet is."

"It's lovely," he replied and then went back to reading his own book.

*dramatic sigh*... "I'm never gonna get to have a pink and green wedding," I whimpered.

"What??" He looked up again, concerned at my dramatic sigh and whimper (I've trained him well) "What's wrong? We can have a pink and green wedding if you want one, sweetie."

"But then I'll never get to have my 'various shades of red' wedding! And what about the plum and burnt orange wedding that I've been dreaming of on the side?! It makes me so sad that I can't have them ALL."

"Interesting... Do I really have a whole year of this to look forward to?"

"Yes!" I grinned, "Aren't you excited!"

Hello Stress, So Nice Of You To Vist

Two nights ago I picked a sizable fight with Kyle about the meaning of Urban vs. Suburban. Yep. I'm that crazy. I'd recreate the dialouge here just to prove to you all how batty I am - but it was so off the wall that even *I* can't remember what the heck my point was or why making said point required a raised voice, not one but TWO hands placed firmly on my hips, and a highly uncalled for amount of hyperbole. Ask anyone who knows me - sometimes I'm... let's just call it *special*. Kyle is a brave man. When I finally calmed down I apologized to him. And he accepted. And he told me loved me. He is such a keeper.

I think I might be a bit stressed about the new apartment - we STILL haven't unpacked and it's a disaster area... and about the wedding - DO NOT ask me where we're having it or when because *I*DON'T*FREAKIN*KNOW*AND*ALL*THE*SITES*I*LIKE*ARE*ALEADY*
BOOKED*EVEN*THOUGH*ITS*A*YEAR*OUT*OR*ARE*WAY*TOO*EXPENSIVE*AND
DARN*IT*WE*ARE*TRYING*TO*PLAN*THIS*THING*AROUND*THREE*
COUNT*EM*THREE*OTHER*WEDDINGS*THAT*OUR*FRIENDS*ARE PLANNING*AT*THE*SAME*FREAKIN*TIME*GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

Ugh.

The Proposal

Gah! I've been in LA - meeting my new nephew, who's ADORABLE by the way - with NO internet connection!! Sorry for the delay!

Here's the story:

Let me just start by saying that Kyle is so sneaky! A week or so ago he casually mentioned taking a trip to Napa sometime in the near future. We have a friend who works at a winery up there and we’ve been meaning to go forever. “We’ll stay at a bed and breakfast or something and make a whole weekend out of it,” he says to me. Of course, upon hearing this, the MPRS (marriage proposal radar system) in my brain sounded off every available alarm. It was all I could do to keep from jumping up and down and screaming in the restaurant. But I played it cool.

As soon as I got home, I wrote the following email to two of my best girlfriends:

Casually, over dinner tonight, Kyle mentioned that, "gee, wouldn't it be nice to take a trip up to Napa... take a day or two off work, stay at a bed and breakfast, maybe in like 2 weeks or so."

Am I crazy for thinking that this might be "it"?

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Love you both!
C

I also called my mom and told her all about it. “It won’t really be a surprise, because Hello, why else would we be going to Napa? but whatever.”

So there I was, all primed and ready to feign surprise when he popped the question in wine country.

P.s. I was also working 96 hours a week at the time – it was terrible by the way, never try it.

Well, on Wednesday (8/8) night at 11 pm I FINALLY (finally finally FINALLY!!!) finished up with my project at work. GLORY GLORY HALLELUIAH!! I told them I’d be taking Thursday and Friday (and the weekend) off. YAY!

So Kyle decides to take Thursday off too – a.) he’d finally to get to see me and b.) his little bro was in town to look at apartments (he's moving here!!)… how could he not take the day off? We decide to go out for brunch at a place called Sam’s in Tiburon that I’ve been DYING to check out.

I’ll admit – for a moment it occurred to me… hmmm brunch at a restaurant that I’ve been dying to check out – a nice place, overlooking the water – could this be *it*??? But then I remember that his brother would be with us… huh, kinda kills the romance don’tcha think? (p.s. I’ve pretty much wondered “could this be *it*” every single day for like the last 6 months… out to dinner, at the movies, doing laundry, cleaning… anytime Kyle and I’ve been alone I’ve thought to myself – COULD THIS BE IT! I’m a little crazy, by the way.)

So anyway, I get all cute-ed up for breakfast and then Kyle comes to pick me up. I answer the door and there he is wearing grungy tennis shoes, old pants, and a sweatshirt.

"Huh, you’re kinda grubby for brunch, aren’t you? "

"Huh, you’re kinda fancy for hiking, aren’t you?"

"Hiking!?! I thought we were going to breakfast – I’m starving!"

"We are… and then we’re going hiking. Remember?"

"Ummm, no."

"Ummm, yes. I asked you yesterday."

"What? You BARELY mentioned hiking yesterday, I thought it was a fleeting thing. Besides, I thought your brother had to look at apartments today. "

"Yes, that’s why we’re taking two cars."

"We’re taking two cars??!! That’s so annoying. And I don’t have any hiking clothes that aren’t packed away. (Remember I JUST moved.) And we’re already running late."

"Just grab some clothes – it’ll be fine."

So I dig through my boxes and manage to find some hiking attire and then we drive off to breakfast.

For the record, I think Kyle was hoping for a beautiful day. And for the record, mother nature did not appear to be down with that plan. It was SOOOO FOGGY! And windy. And cold. AND Sam’s was closed. Ugh.

So we end up at another restaurant and have a lovely breakfast. And then Kelsey (Kyle’s bro) takes off back to the city to look at apartments and Kyle and I are left in Tiburon.

“Want to walk around a bit?” he asks.

In the freezing-ness? I think. But I answer, “Sure.”

So we walk. And walk. And it’s an adorable little town. And we walk down near the water. And we can see San Francisco. And Angle Island. And there are birds flying over the open water and occasionally one will dive down after a tasty fish. And it’s all really quite beautiful. We walk to a lookout spot that juts out from the shore and stare, across the water, at the beautiful city we both now call home. I have Kyle point out the different buildings and neighborhoods as he wraps his arms around me to keep us both warm. He tells me how beautiful I am and how lucky he is to have me in his life. So picturesque.

Suddenly it occurs to me… “IS THIS *IT*!?!?!” I close my eyes and prepare myself for the most important question I will ever hear.

And then Kyle says, “So, you wanna get outta here and go hiking?”

If music had been playing, here is where the record would have screeched and the room would have gone silent.

“Huh? Oh, yes, hiking, right, ok, yes, let’s go.”

I decide that Kyle must be trying to fake me out before the Napa trip. Jerk.

So we get in the car and drive through the thick fog towards Mount Tamalpias. A few minutes before we get to the trail head we (miraculously) broke through the gray mist. Suddenly we were at the top of a mountain and the whole world beneath us was all clouds. It was as if we had been given our own secret playground – with warm blue skies and green trees and golden hills and not another soul for miles. It was breathtaking. I take about a zillion pictures, change into my hiking clothes, and then we start our hike.

And we hike and we hike and we hike. And I am SO GLAD to be out of the office, and away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and disarray of my (still) unpacked apartment. I feel totally happy and refreshed. And finally we come out of the woodsy part of the hike and end up in a clearing on the side of a hill. We follow the trail and end up at the very top of the mountain (p.s. yes, I was totally huffing and puffing and sweaty by the time we got to the top – lovely.)

“This better be a loop,” I inform Kyle, “because we’ve been hiking forever and I am not going all the way back the way we came.”

“I think it’s a loop.”

“You think? Are we lost?”

“No! We’re not lost! Will you just enjoy the view, please?”

So we enjoy. And I take a zillion more pictures. And then there’s that awkward pause where I get the “IS THIS **IT**” feeling. And we enjoy the view some more. And by now we are fully rested. And yet we’re still not leaving. And it’s starting to feel like the lookout over the ocean in Tiburon. And I decide that this is another fake out. So I say, “Alright, well, let’s leave then.” Because, darn it, I am not gonna get all excited all over again just to have him not propose.

But he insists that we stay for a bit longer.

And then… THEN!… he says, “Ok, close your eyes.”

And then my stomach hits the floor because I realize that Yes! this IS ***IT***!!!

And I close my eyes, and when I open them again, he’s on one knee, and he’s holding up the most beautiful ring I have ever seen.

He tells me how much he loves me and asks me to run away with him forever. My knees go weak and I take a step back as my eyes fill with tears and my hands cover most of my shocked and thoroughly elated face. I tremble and, to be honest, sort of hyperventilate as he slips the ring on my left hand. A perfect fit.

He then pulls a chilled bottle of champagne and two champagne glasses out of his backpack. We drink to us and I shout at the top of my lungs how in love I am. There wasn’t another soul on the mountain with us, but I’m pretty sure the whole world heard me.

We enjoy the next hour or so (and the rest of the champagne!) in a shady spot on the trail – feeling like the only two people on earth. Then, hand in hand, we make our way down the mountain, back to the real world, back to our cell phones, to inform our friends and family of the awesome news. On the drive home we crank up the radio and dance and sing along to the music in a state pure and total bliss.

:)

Loose ends:
The trip to Napa? A total decoy! But we’ve decided to go up sometime in October to celebrate our engagement.
The walk around Tiburon? Turns out Kyle was trying to kill time to let the fog burn off so we wouldn’t freeze/have no view on our hike.
The ring? Kyle had it for 3 weeks before he gave it to me! My horrid work schedule made it all but impossible to have a simple meal with each other, let alone get engaged! Poor thing had to just patiently wait until I had a day off.
My mom? Knew all along! When we drove to LA for my cousin’s wedding a few weeks ago, Kyle talked to both my mom and my stepdad and got their blessings.
The exact location for the proposal? Kyle had his bother scout out several locations the day before to be sure we ended up at the most picturesque spot.

I’ve literally never been happier.


Above the clouds.


Kyles "I'm the King of the World!" pose JUST BEFORE he prosed. He's got the ring in his right hand. Sneaky!


Just after the proposal.


Wiping away tears.


Showing off my new bling.


The happy couple.


Champagne!


Celebrating.


Happy Courtney.


Happy Kyle.


ENGAGED!


:)