A Night to Remember

Well... do I have some news for you......



                                                          we will get to that later ;)


ok, FINE... Ill do it now!


So... Mike told me a few days ago that we were going to have a date night on Friday and that he was going to go in early to work so he could get up here early ( I didn't have school or work so it worked out really well)

I was pretty excited, this was our second dinner date (we are a home-ly couple lol) and I love seeing him dressed up :) We went out to RendezVous Bistro and had a fabulous dinner and a yummy frozen crepe (ice cream, oreo, chocolate and caramel. sooooooooo gooooood)

After we went for a little stroll down town and the whole time Mike is looking around and texting his Dan... I ask him what's up and he says he is people watching and his brother was being a twirp and bugging him lol.

We finally sit down on a bench and cuddle because I am a girl and didn't bring a coat. He asks me if I want his coat and I said yes, so he gets up and makes me stand up so he can put the coat on me ( genius in retrospect) once the coat is on he gives me a super long kiss, backs up and goes on one knee. At this point I jump a foot back and turn a fresh tomato red :)

look! off in the distance... he is on one knee!

I was in such shock I don't remember exactly what he said, but "marry me" was somewhere in there and through my shocked laughter/ trying to catch my breath I somehow got a " YES!"out!  I see flashes and all I think is : "awwww he really does love me... he has someone taking pictures!!!" We had a few... um... "conversations" about this. :)

We kiss again and Dan and Jackie come out of the bushes and congratulate us and make us re-enact the proposal because they were too far away to get any good photos. ( I will post when I get them)

attack kissie!

Now the calling begins.....
1. First off, we call the Athey home and tell Mom and Dad :)
2. We decided to hold off and tell my parents in person on Sunday night. PLEASE HELP US KEEP IT HUSH-HUSH UNTIL THEN! AKA NO FACEBOOK POSTS! :)
3. Then I called my friend Justin (who is like a brother to me) and wake him up to tell him. :)
4. My roommate- best reaction ever! literally left her speechless... she needed a few minutes to process!
The rest we will tell Saturday and Sunday! Sorry, we didn't want to wake the kids. It was rather late.


We have set a date for October 15th, 2011 at the Oakland Temple. Reception is TBD

5 months 22 days... it can be done right?  :)

Katherine Athey... it has a good ring too it..... I wonder why ;) hehe

re-enactment 

so shocked I couldnt look at the camera!

                      I AM SO EXCITED!  WOOHOO!  :D

With every challenge there is a reward...

This weekend was a wild one. :)

I went down to Dublin to stay with my loving boyfriend and his family. ( I dont know why I wrote it that way.... I have only Athey followers ;)

On Saturday we went to the SFSU campus so we could look at the campus, program, and look at housing. It was one of those days where you step out of the hypothetical and dip your toes in to the " this is real" waters. Thankfully, we had positive answers to our questions and standing there looking at the housing... felt perfect. Its that feeling that you know everything will be alright and this is where you belong. There are plenty of obstacles in our way.. but I know that it will work out... the how is the mystery. It was a great moment to share with him :)

Later that day we went to play nerf gun wars at the Danville Stake center (AMAZING IDEA!) The event was great! Then Mike decided to Tango with one of the round table-barriers... and lost. I was about to shoot him with my little nerf gun and he walks past me holding his hand and I can see blood on his pants.. OH NO! I rush behind him and help him clean the wound ( and his other hand - probably the cutest moment of that sequence) and get him to the ER. Sitting with him in the ER was another " real moment" but this was more of a dive into the realism... this wasnt - and wont be his last rodeo in the ER. I cant explain what happened but for me it "sealed the deal" I love this man and after this weekend, I know with assurance we can get through anything. :)

Temple

I love the temple!

Every time I go into the temple I wonder: "How did I live my life before this?"
I love the calmness, the simple beauty, and works that are done in the temple.
Simply put: I feel at home and at ease in the temple.

I ( excuse the pun) religiously go every other Thursday, and am working on trying to go every week. I love taking the 3 hours- hour drive down, hour inside the temple and an hour drive home- to do a self check of my spiritual being.  It truly refreshes my spirit and that in turn, helps with my emotional, physical and mental states.  I also love seeing and talking to my favorite temple workers! ;)

I have noticed so many blessings coming from going to the temple regularly. I have also noticed that when things go wrong, I feel more prepared to deal with the issue.

I hope that I can start going every week. :)
yay!

Faults

I have a huge faults.
edit: one is going on tangents... beware
I have trouble taking compliments and positive reviews This may seem silly but it is an actual problem. I know that it frustrates those around me. Although I am better at taking compliments than I used too, I most of the time don't BELIEVE them. It isn't that I have a low self esteem or that I put myself down.... I just always strive to be better, to grow and I see my personal progress different than an outsider.

This fault came out this week because we had to do presentations in class. I did mine on stress management and in the "credibility statement" I talked about a medical fiasco that happened to me a few years ago. The "cliff notes" version: My body almost completely broke down, every organ system started to loose function , the most noticeably was my neurological system: I could barely walk. I spent 6 months in this state, saw 9 different doctors and none of them knew what was happening. Through a LOT of prayer and massage I regained motor function, taught myself how to walk, and everything fell back into place. I understand that it is a powerful story, but honestly, I just did what I could to get through it. It was one of a few really dark times in my life... a side I dont let show day-to-day. That experience that almost killed me physically and emotionally but saved me spiritually. I am forever grateful that Heavenly Father knew me well enough to give me this challenge. I am thankful because the things that I learned, I couldn't have learned anywhere else.

After my presentation people came up to me and told me numerous compliments on everything from my dress to my presence as a teacher. I graciously thanked them but pointed out other good speeches. I felt like there were plenty of people that did better than me.

When I got my grade  it was a 62 out of 63. I missed ONE POINT. I looked at what it was.. and it was on my credibility statement. I went to talk to the evaluator ( not to argue the one point) I wanted to make sure that what I said was appropriate, and if not, what I could do to change it. My teacher kept saying it was the best speech and that she wants me to be a teacher/ tutor. I asked her again about the credibility statement and she said that I could have " hit the audience harder" with the severeness of what had happened to me to establish myself more.

ironic. One of the things I learned from the experience is not to dwell in the past pain. The last thing I want to do is shove it in peoples faces.. Im not the " look at this horrible thing that happened to me- give me your pitty" type person. I understand how severe it was and that a lot of people wouldnt look at it as a positive experience as I do, but to have people tell me I need to dwell on it to make people listen to what I have to say... just seems wrong. But thats just me.