As of July 8th...

As many of you may know about a week and a half ago Brian proposed. It was a pretty intense moment for me. I felt really overwhelmed and honestly didn't know if I should believe what was happening. I kept asking if he was for real and if he was serious. I forgot to say yes right away and started bawling my eyes out. Needless to say, he got me pretty good. I had no idea it was coming and was shocked to say the least.

After the initial shock, we both got on the phone to call those close to us. It was great hearing everyone's happy reactions. It was also great to post on Facebook and hear from people I haven't heard from in years (freshman year RA?) that they were happy too.

The weekend after we went to Burlington, Vermont. It was a wonderful relaxing weekend which was made all the more relaxing knowing we were engaged. Brian and I didn't really do that much there other than drink some good beer, eat some great food and walk around looking at the beautiful views.

This past weekend I took my first teacher certification test. I had a really dumb moment and forgot my IDs in the car Brian dropped me off in. Thankfully they still let me start the test while he brought them over and everything was ok. The test went pretty well I think but its only the first of three. Those plus all the other things I need to fulfill to receive my teacher certification (to be a school librarian you need one) will probably end up setting me back around $1000. Pretty annoying, like grad school isn't expensive.

I also won tickets again from the same site that I won the DMB tickets from (I'm never this lucky something bad must be coming soon!). Brian and I were able to go see the NYC Ballet at SPAC on Saturday. We were both pleasantly surprised to really enjoy our first ballet. One of the principle dancers we saw was even from my hometown of Grand Rapids, MI.

Bucket (of chicken) List

Brian and I have been thinking about all the things we have always wanted to do this summer and then we have been trying to make them happen. I have always wanted to try some Popeye's chicken so we finally got some. It was really good and Brian was pretty surprised to enjoy the experience as much as I did. He actually liked the side of mashed potatoes and gravy more than me.

This past weekend we got to house/dog sit for a family friend of Brian's. Brian and I both like dogs, but I love dogs and I really like springer spaniels. Coincidentally Brian and my families both have springers as our family pets. Brian's dog Molly had puppies a long time ago and the dog we sat for was one of her puppies. The now 11 year-old the dog Jackson was the spitting image of his mom. Just like him mom he likes his front paw held and howls for attention. I took Jackson for walks and tried to get him out from under the bed when that fireworks started to go off (5 hours later he emerged). It was nice hanging out with a dog again all weekend and I found myself a little sad when I had to leave.

The heat wave going on here is no joke. If you know me well you know I hate to sweat so this isn't a good time for me. I had to break down and get an air conditioner since our second floor apartment is above 100 degrees even at night. My un-air conditioned car rides still are pretty brutal though.

With my Spanish finally over thought my schedule would feel a lot more open but the summer weekends are already filling up fast! Hopefully I get to do everything I want to during my last school break (as a student anyway).