Engagement Party

It was a Sunday afternoon and we all met up at the Carroll home…or I guess I should say, “The Focker’s” This is a picture of my future parents in law, Char on the left and Bruce on the right. They thought it would be a clever way to break the ice and have a chuckle.


We spent most of the day swimming and eating EXCELENT food! If you know Mike (or the Carroll’s) a day of swimming and excellent food is not uncommon. Below is a picture of Mike BBQ-ing.



My sisters and brother did our usual “Recite every line from every funny movie we’ve seen.” Today the funny movie was “Borat.” Here is a picture of my sisters and I. Mallory and Brittany, and a picture of my brother Jeffery.





My future brother and sister in law, Steve and Becky spent the day sharing their child Allyson with my family who adores her. Here is a picture of Steve, Becky and their daughter Allyson in the pool.





Bruce and Char were so kind to have bought us a gift. They got us Bride and Groom champagne glasses for the weeding. Of course we will be using these for the wedding and the many toasts. The bride champagne glass is shaped like a wedding dress and the groom champagne glass is shaped like a tuxedo. It’s really starting to dawn on me that I’m getting married. It’s crazy!!



We weren’t the only ones enjoying the pool!! The (second) love of my life Cooper took advantage of all the new people and played ‘Fetch’ in the pool for hours. Here is a picture of him pouting because no one wanted to play any more.



While everyone mingled and got to know one another, I thought it would be a good opportunity to listen in on the conversation. As I walked past my mom and future mom in law I heard comments like, “I always knew they would end up together” and “I will never forget the look on their faces when they told us the news!” Below is a picture of Char, me, and my mom Sabrina.



As I walked by Mike and his brother I hear, “Mini Sirloin Burger!” An inside joke between those who were on the Van Dame camping trip. The clever Jack in the Box Mini Sirloin Burger jingle caught on (thanks to me and my obnoxiousness) and to make a long story short became the anthem that weekend in Mendocino. Below is a picture of Mike and his brother.



That pretty much sums it up. It was a great day and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family.



CHEERS!

Patrick Swayze...

Patrick Swayze stared in my ALL time favorite movie, Dirty Dancing. The film was released in 1987 and I was a whopping 4 years old. I don’t recall watching the movie as a 4 year old, however at one point in my early childhood my sisters and I got a hold of the movie. To say the least, we watched the movie repeatedly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the movie, and how it NEVER gets old. We would stop and rewind all the dance scenes and learn the moves, including our favorite, ‘The Lift.’ Every summer, and I mean EVERY summer, we would do ‘The Lift’ in whoever’s swimming pool we were in. When we wore dresses we would spin in circle so the bottom would flare up like they did in the movie. And I can’t tell you the times I’ve utter the words, ‘Nobody puts baby in the corner.’ The sound track is one of a kind, ‘Time of my life’ and ‘She’s like the wind.’ As a child, you don’t completely understand certain aspects of movies, especially if they are rated PG 13. But as I grew older and continue to grow older, I watch the movie and it seems different every time. I’m sad to know that Patrick Swayze died, but glad that the movie gave me so many great memories. Below are some of my favorite quotes:

Well, it looks like I picked the wrong sister. That’s okay, Baby, I went slummin’ too.

Look, spaghetti arms. This is my dance space. This is your dance space. I don't go into yours, you don't go into mine. You gotta hold the frame.

Me? I'm scared of everything. I'm scared of what I saw, I'm scared of what I did, of who I am, and most of all I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I'm with you.

I'm gonna do my kind of dancin' with a great partner, who's not only a terrific dancer; somebody who's taught me that there are people willing to stand up for other people no matter what it costs them; somebody who's taught me about the kind of person I wanna be.

The proposal!

After discussing marriage for a year or so, Mike told me to start giving him ideas of rings I might be interested in. I wanted to look at rings together, however Mike is pretty old fashion and wasn’t interested in my non tradition approach to our engagement. In the end we compromised and agreed that I would choose a few rings and he would make the final choice. I decided to go ‘browsing’ for potential engagement rings with my sis and one of Mike’s friends. After looking at a few jewelers it became very apparent what style I was interested in. With all the excitement I was able to convince Mike to come look at rings with me. In the end, we agreed on a ring and he picked out the diamond. Mike was still concerned the proposal would lose the element of surprise since we practically chose the ring together.


A few days later, at the end of my work day, Mike IMed me and asked if I wanted to get Mini Sirloin Burgers from Jack in the Box for dinner. Mike and I have a sort of inside joke about these Mini Sirloin Burgers. We went on a camping trip to Van Dame earlier in the year and the catchy jingle caught on (thanks to my obnoxiousness) while we drank and sang around the camp fire. To make a long story short, the jingle became the anthem that weekend in Mendocino.



By the time I got home from work, dinner was there and ready. I opened the bag and started pulling out food, and as I opened the box I found my ring perfectly placed in the bun of one of the burgers.



I was certainly shocked to find this sparkling piece of jewelry in a burger bun, however it was it was exactly our style, creative, unique, and funny as hell!! I was extremely surprised and had no idea he was planning on doing it so soon. He told me he knew I would never expect a proposal out of dinner at Jack in the Box and he was right. All he wanted was for me to be surprised…and I was!