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Our "Little House"

Yesterday, I obtained the key to the house that we will be renting. How exciting!

It is unreal that in just a few short weeks, Jordan and I will be the little keepers of our own "little house", as our new landlords like to call it. I was too excited to wait for the weekend to start moving the shower gifts in, so Jillian and I made a trip there today to just drop off a few things. :) I don't have many, but I thought I'd post a few pictures just for fun.

This is a before picture of the kitchen. It has recently been renovated and now looks like this:

I love all the windows. :) Natural light is my friend!

Behind this wall is the stairwell to the basement. This used to be a second bedroom, but they put a staircase in so you don't have to go outside to get downstairs.

This is the basement and off the right is another room with the washer/dryer/water heater, etc.

Yay! So excited about this. Can't wait to post more pics when we're moved in and decorated. March 12th is coming quickly! :)

Is it bedtime yet?

We got the Perfect bed! :) Oh, how happy am I. Jordan's parents are AMAZING and as a wedding gift from them and their family they are getting us this:

THE DREAM BED. :)

I couldn't be happier. Or more excited about bedtime now...not to say that I wasn't excited before ;)

So... after two emotional breakdowns already (yes, I had another one), the rest of the week is definitely looking brighter. Besides the fact that "Purchase [the perfect] bed" is now crossed off the to-do list and Punxsutawney Phil has declared an early Spring, I have also had a great coffee date with a friend this morning, small-group tonight, a meeting with our caterer tomorrow, and Joel's birthday on Friday. Productive AND fun. My kind of week. :)

Tough decisions...

So Jordan and I went to look at bed-sets this weekend and I pretty much had an emotional break down... NOT the reaction I thought I was going to have. Don't get me wrong, shopping for furniture for our new house is exciting and fun...but for an indecisive person like myself, this weekend resulted in a dilemma of Head Vs. Heart.

The issue is this:

Roomstore has the PERFECT bed. I mean perfect. It's like, what I've always pictured without knowing I was picturing it. I love it in every way...except the price - $750 for the bed alone, $600 for a mattress, $900 for a dresser and mirror, & $350 for one nightstand. Throw in a package discount and the total rings up somewhere around $2,450.

THEN - the discount store down the street is selling the non-perfect bed. And the dresser, mirror, chest, 2 nightstands, AND the mattress all for just under $2000.

Obviously, my head is telling me to be thrifty and wise and go with the better deal. But for some reason, my heart has latched on to this other dream of a bedroom set - thus the waterfall of tears last night.

Someone PLEASE tell me this is just wedding stress leaking out and I'm not going crazy...

I've been arguing with myself non-stop since last night trying to tell myself that:

• Getting married is expensive and we will be glad we saved the money.
• We could use the extra chest from the discount store to store off season clothes since there's not a ton of closet space
• It's just a smart decision - more for less, who wouldn't make that choice?

But my heart always argues back:

• We don't have to get all the pieces right now - we can save and buy as we need them
• The dream bed has some storage built in so we might not really need a whole extra chest
• We don't even have room for that much furniture right now anyway - half the discount furniture would end up in the basement.

I'm trying to think for the future too.... Which will we be the happiest with down the road? When money's tight will we wish we had saved a little more? Or will I never like the other bed after seeing the first one and always wish we'd gotten the dream bed?

Am I overanalyzing this? After all, it's just a bed...

...but it's our FIRST bed. And we'll probably be stuck with it for a while. And this dream bed, I don't know... I just love it. I can't even explain it... I can just see it in our house. I can picture late nights on it watching a movie. And lazy Saturday mornings just enjoying not having to go to work. I can picture children climbing in it after a bad dream at night (someday...wayyyy in the future :p) ...and the other bed? Well, I can't even remember what it looks like. And we just saw it this weekend. I'm sure I'd get used to it. I'm sure I'd forget about the other bed eventually, someday...maybe?

*sigh*... the indecisiveness could go on forever.

I think I'm gonna go look at the Roomstore website for the 12,000th time today...maybe it will be on sale this time.

...a still, small voice...

Proverbs 25:2
It is God's privilege to conceal things, and the kings privilage to discover them.

But you must [discover]. You must search and seek and find out.
You must be untiring in your pursuit.

Come after me.

Desire me as you would your lover. Don't relent in your search.
For what you find will be a treasure BEYOND COMPARE. A priceless giftthat none can fathom.

It will cost [all you have], but what you gain you will never lose.

Come away. With me.

You are my one [love].
Let me be yours...

The Proposal

It all started one lovely Saturday morning on August 28th, 2010...

...but first, I guess I should give you a little of the back story...

I had had a pretty rough week the week before and was disappointed that I wouldn't be seeing Jordan at all the next week either due to a business trip he had and a trip to Canada that I was going on for some friends' wedding. We had been talking about it earlier that week and he suggested that I take the coming Saturday off for a "mini-vacation" with him to de-stress and spend some quality time together before our trips. Honestly, it all seemed very spontaneous and it never crossed my mind that he might propose that day... but that's part of the reason this is such a good story. :)

The only things he told me about our "trip" on Saturday was that:

1. We'd be outdoors,
2. We needed to try to beat traffic to wherever it was we were goingand
3. It was going to be good weather for a picnic

Well, somehow my phone died in the middle of the night which meant my alarm didn't go off in time... so much for beating traffic. I managed to only put us about half an hour behind "schedule" and Jordan got time to bond some more with my dad while he waited :) So funny - looking back now I realize how excited my dad was. He was up so early to see us off and stood there and waved while we drove away :)

Once in the car he told me that he'd originally planned something else for the day, but he just wanted to make this day really special so he changed plans last minute and decided to take us to DC for the day.

Side note: DC is where we had our first date and where Jordan told me he loved me for the first time. So it's a really special place for us. We hadn't been back there together since then.

Now.... I know somewhere in the back of my mind I wanted to think, "Huh, I always thought we'd come back here when he's going to propose or something." BUT... I didn't. :) I was so happy to just be with him and on this "vacation" - getting engaged just never crossed my mind that day.

On the way to the metro he also mentioned that he just found out there was some rally with Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin going on today, but it was at the Lincoln Memorial and hopefully it wouldn't be too crowded if we just steered clear of there. (Hence the need to beat traffic).

Well... we were wrong - there were like a million people there Haha. They stretched all across the mall as far as you could see. I didn't mind though - I was still with my boyfriend and there was even room by the fountains for us to sit and talk. And that's just what we did :) We sat and reminisced for a bit, but Jordan seemed a little bit quiet to me. I was wondering if maybe he was upset about there being so many people there that day or something.

Later he told me that he was just really anxious to get on with the day so he could propose haha!

After a while, he asked if I was ready for our picnic lunch. Since I hadn't eaten breakfast, I was definitely ready! We started walking and looking for a nice, shady place that was away from the crowds. Jordan said something about not bringing a blanket so we would need to find a bench to sit on. (Really he did that on purpose so he could get on one knee when he proposed :P tricky man!) I was too hungry to really care about a bench and definitely got hungrier each time we passed a picnic spot up simply because it had no bench. Somewhere along our "ten-mile hike for a picnic bench" (Ok, not really haha) he ever so casually mentions, "Oh yea, I have a surprise for you at lunch." So I'm thinking... he has a diamond in his pocket, right? NO. Haha, I thought maybe he brought cheesecake for dessert... yep... just thinking about the food! :P

We finally wander over towards the Jefferson Memorial. To me, it looked like the perfect picnic spot. We were a little bit off the normal trail so there weren't too many people around and the view was great. The monument to the left, a pretty bridge over the water, and shady trees all around. But of course - no bench. I could tell Jordan was about to keep walking, but I was so hungry. I just wanted to eat already! Haha! I suggested we just sit on the grass, but he kept making these funny excuses like he didn't want to get my pants dirty or "What about the bugs?". I finally talked him out of the bench - poor guy - and we sat on the grass while he unpacked delicious sandwiches and fruit and pasta salad and for dessert...candy bars? Where's the cheesecake surprise, I wondered? Haha - little did I know!

When we finished eating, he asked if I was ready for my surprise. :) He said since next week was gonna be hard since we'd be away from each other that he really just wanted to do something special... so he thought today would be a good day to show me... THE LIST.

The List:

This is a list that Jordan has been making practically since we met. Anytime one of us thinks of something we want to do together (see a sunset on the beach, go skydiving, learn Spanish, go to the Zoo, etc.) he would add it to this List. BUT he would never, ever show me this list, no matter how much I begged or pouted Haha.

So, today he decides is the right day to show me :) Now... IKNOW somewhere in the back of my mind I thought, "Funny... I kinda thought he would propose with this list someday..." But lucky for Jordan, someone took her "Clueless and Oblivious" pills that morning.

It was fun reading through the whole list. We took our time and reminisced on the ones we'd already checked off and he explained some of the new ones that I had never heard him talk about before. We finally read through the whole thing... all SEVEN pages of it! :) And as I started to fold it up he says that there should be one more page and starts looking for it like he can't find the last page or something. I can't quite figure out how he could have lost the last page, but as I'm asking him if he's sure there another one, he pulls one more piece of paper out of a different pocket. Now I'm thoroughly confused about how that one got separated from the others, but he just gives it to me to read and says, "It's the list for things to do today."

That didn't quite fit with the other list, but my clueless pills were still going strong, so I unfolded it and began to read... as Jordan starts to fiddle with something in yet ANOTHER pocket...

"The List for August 28, 2010 :)" (Sounds so formal)

• Get up early (check)
• Drive to metro (check... why are these things on the list?)
• Go to first date spot
• Picnic lunch
• Present list (Check, check, check)

• Ask Jessica Danae Woo to marry me and be with me forever :) (WHAT?!?!?)

Oh my gosh, did my heart start pounding! It's pounding again even as I write this and remember :)

For one quick second I thought (this is a REALLY cruel joke!). But he didn't give time for that thought to linger. He popped up on one knee(even without the bench) :) and ... well... neither of us can really remember exactly what he said. I was thinking (Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!) And he was thinking, (Don't mess up! Just get to the question!) Haha! But I do remember the question. :)

"Will you be my wife?"

"YES! Oh my gosh, YES!!!!" :)

It was the most beautiful, wonderful moment of my life. :)

I think it took me the rest of the day to come out of shock. I couldn't believe he surprised me so completely. I always thought I'd suspect it to some degree, but I had no idea until the very moment he pulled out the ring.

Which, by the way, IS GORGEOUS!

Absolutely stunning.

I never told him anything about what I wanted in a ring -mostly because I didn't know myself. But even if I had, he couldn't have picked a more perfect ring. I still can't stop looking at it to this day.

AH! We're engaged! :) :) :)

Two months later, and I think I'm still on Cloud 9. :)

So the wedding plans are now well underway. The date is set for March 12, 2011. And yes, I'm counting down the days already. :) Already in double digits!

I can't wait to be your wife, Jordan Smith. You are my best friend and I love you with all my heart!

Thought this was funny...

Office Manager

The manager of a large office noticed a new man one day and told him to come into his office. "What's your name?" he asked the new guy.

"John," the new guy replied.

The manager scowled, "Look... I don't know what kind of a namby-pamby place you worked before, but I don't call anyone by their first name. It breeds familiarity and that leads to a breakdown in authority. I refer to my employees by their last name only ... Smith, Jones, Baker ... That's all. I am to be referred to only as Mr. Robertson. Now that we got that straight, what is your last name?"

The new guy sighed, "Darling. My name is John Darling."

"Okay John, the next thing I want to tell you is . . . "