Finally! (Says all of you)

Well, it finally happened.

I'M ENGAGED!

After all of the comments of "When are you guys getting married?" and "Why aren't you engaged yet?!", Kyle proposed. (:

And it's a beauty!

What's funny is Kyle's had this ring for about a year and a half. (I asked him to tell me the whole story after he had proposed.) I had a feeling that he had it, but I was never sure. Every time I would bring up the ring he'd brush it off and say, "What ring?" 

Here's how we came upon this ring in particular.

Kyle's mom and I were talking a looooooooooooong time ago about what kind of rings I liked. I pulled up just google images of rings and stumble upon this ring

source
and my jaw hit the floor. 

I found Verragio's website and spent a good hour and a half looking at rings. I told Kyle that if I got to pick out the engagement ring, I'd like it to be a Verragio one because they were so unique and pretty.

Fast forward a while.

Kyle was walking around the mall one day and went into Shubach Jewelers and asked they had any rings by Verragio. They showed Kyle a few styles and then he came home and told me he had found some. There isn't a store in Utah, so I thought we'd have to go do Idaho or something to look at rings. Kyle asked if we wanted to go look at them just for fun. So we went. 

I tried on a ring that was VERY similar to the one above, but when I tried it on, it just didn't look very good on my finger. Then the associate pulled out the first one, I tried it on and just kept going back to it. It just looked good on my finger. I told Kyle that it was the one. 

Shubach ended up having a sale in December of 2010 and the associate told us to come back for a deal on the ring. We went and took Kyle's mom, his stepdad, and his two little brothers with us. 

I'll be honest; I didn't think this ring was going to happen. They said it was the last ring they had like this one and Verragio wasn't making this style anymore. (Trust me, I don't think they do. I've looked on their website a few hundred times for something similar)

I guess in January of 2011 the associate that showed us the ring called Kyle and said they were having a sale. Kyle went in and put a down payment on the ring.

He's been hiding it in sneaky places since then.

Fast forward about a year.

Kyle brings up the idea for us to go on a road trip to California. It had been a rough year for the both of us (2011) with family stuff going on so we thought the vacation would do some good for us. 

I suggest while we're on our way to California, why don't we take the Reno way to Cali and go see my mom. Kyle decided that was a good idea.

Kyle also decided while we were in Nevada he was going to ask permission from my mom to marry me.

So we get to Nevada, get settled in for the night and I go to get in the shower. 

While I'm in the shower, Kyle pulls out the ring, shows it to my mom, and asks if he can marry. 

From what I heard from her and Kyle, her eyes almost fell out of her head, she gave Kyle a hug, told him yes, and then took the ring in to show my sister. 

So now the day he proposes comes along. . . . 

We got up and got ready after spending the night at Kyle's uncle's house.

While we were filling up at the gas station Kyle said that he wanted to take Highway 1 some of the way because it goes right along the coast. I sighed a little because I just didn't want to be in the car for the extra some odd hours that it would take us to go that way instead of the 101. But I submitted.

I fell asleep on the way and woke up and we were close to the ocean!

Little did we know that Highway 101 meets up with Highway 1 and goes right along the coast.

Kyle decides to pull off at Pismo Beach. 

We parked the car, took off our shoes, and walked along the beach.

Kyle suggested that we go up to the pier and walk on it.

So we headed up, stopping along the way to watch the waves break and to watch the surfers try to catch the waves.

Then we walked to the end of the pier and just snuggled and listened to the ocean. 

I was STARVING and there was a little farmer's market going on at the start of the pier so I started to say after some time of snuggling, "Okay, let's go."

Kyle then said, "Destinee? (Got down on his knee) Will you marry me?"

I got a little teary eyed, didn't even say yes, just nodded my head like a deranged bobble head and hugged him. 

We started to head back to the beginning of the pier and then realized I hadn't taken any pictures of afterward!!! So we ran back and took this 

We walked back to the pier. I wasn't hungry anymore, but there was a car show in town! 

So we walked around the car show. Kyle looked at all the shiny cars, I was too busy looking at the shiny rock. 

We got back in the car, I called my mom and left her a voicemail that was mostly me screaming.

Texted all my friends and family, and then updated my status on the faceplace with the answer to everyone's question: We got engaged today.

My phone continued to blow up with posts and texts for the next 2 days.

No date has been set, we're not really in any hurry. I'm going to start saving and buying things that are on sale so when we do decide to really start planning we're not overwhelmed with things to buy.

But we'll just tackle the wedding planning just like we have our relationship; when we're ready. 

Brag Time

This morning I was thinking about how much I love the new house we live in, and why I love it here so much.

1. First of all, look at how adorable my room is.

2. Hardwood floors throughout; they are the original floors. This house was built in the 1920s.

3. We can have the dishwasher, washing machine, sprinklers, one of us showering, and the downstairs neighbors washing their dishes and one of them taking a shower at the same time and EVERYONE still has enough hot water and water pressure.

When we lived in the other house, if the upstairs neighbors flushed the toilet while one of us was in the shower, the water pressure would go to a trickle and the person in the shower would receive 3rd degree burns from the hot water.

4. We have a dishwasher. *cue the sounds of a celebration*

5. We're literally right across the street from Allen's Grocery Store and Family Dollar. If there's an emergency in the house while cooking or something, we're saved.

6. Big. Windows. Samson gets to bird watch all day. He's the happiest cat in the world.

7. We're the upstairs neighbors this time. When we lived in the basement apartment it wasn't fun for any of us. First of all, the upstairs neighbors were a little heavy set, and with the old squeaky floors in that house, the neighbors sounded like dinosaurs. No, seriously,  T-rex. They also had a Great Dane for a pet and occasionally they would play fetch with their Great Dane in the house. I'm sure you can imagine what that probably sounded like. The noisiest spots in the house just happened to be right over Rachael's head in her bedroom, and the upstairs neighbors had a baby last summer so they were up and down all night long, making for a long night for Rachael since she's a light sleeper. Since we moved, Rachael's been sleeping like a baby, and I hope for the sake of our downstairs neighbors we don't sound like T-rex's, too. 

8. More room for everyone. My room is a little smaller, but I honestly don't mind. The living room, kitchen, bathroom, and the rest of the house has more room for everyone. And we actually have a little "dining room". 

9. The lawn is mowed, we have a garden, and an adorable patio. Our previous landlord didn't supply us with a lawn mower, or a person to mow it either so our front and backyard looked like a jungle.

10. Everyone is really happy. And that might be the most important thing. We all went through a pretty awful 2011, friends died, people left, relationships went sour, houses flooded, fleas intruded. It was a nightmare. But 2012 greeted us with a smile. We ate LOTS of black-eyed peas for good luck and since then things have been really wonderful for all of us. And part of it is because of this beautiful house we live in. 

Life of a Destinee

Weekends for me are usually a thing of awesomeness.

Fridays are usually spent hanging out with friends,

Saturdays are spent at the Rio Tinto Stadium,

And Sundays are spent doing whatever I please. I LOVE not working on Sundays.

Here's a peek into what this weekend was like, because it was awesome.

Saturday was a PERFECT day for a bike ride; so Brad, Rachael and I strapped the bikes to the bike rack and headed up the canyon.

I'm so cool in my kid's helmet. 

Rachael had no choice but to go for the wind-blown look. :p It was super windy!

                           

Seriously, if you ever get the chance to go up the bike trail in Provo Canyon, I suggest you do. It's so pretty up there. Every time I go up there, I feel like I'm walking through the shire. Don't ask me why.

                                                       Ye Ol' Rio Tinto Stadium

My other favorite Kyle came with us to the game again (:

The boys, they are dorks.

Oh, the flags. We're going to make one, too.

Small glimpse into a wonderful weekend, and if any of you are ever interested in going to a Real Salt Lake game, let us know! Since we're both season ticket holders we can get tickets for DIRT CHEAP. Just a cautionary note, though, we sit with the supporters and their mouths (and sometimes ours, too) can get a little. . . . foul. If that doesn't make you comfortable, you can sit somewhere else or not come with us! Haha

Am I Really 22?!

I don't care what any of you say, I have the best friends in the world. Yours aren't and never will be as great as mine. 

END OF STORY.

Before I go into why your friends will never match up to the true wonderfullness of mine, I need to start with a little statement.

I need to start taking pictures like I used to.

I used to carry my camera with me wherever I went, and I always took lots of pictures.

Then for some reason I stopped.

I think the last time I used my camera was when I went to Holi Fest in 2011. Eek!

So starting today I'm going to charge my camera and start taking more pictures of life so I can show you how wonderful my birthday was instead of just telling you.

Also, I would like to acknowledge that it's been many moons since I've made a blog post. I swear on my life that up until April 18 there hasn't been much of anything to post about.

ANYHOO

Let's start with a timeline, shall we?

April 18

-Woke up and went to school early to take a test. Got an 82% on it! (Nailed it!)

-Got sung "Happy Birthday" in my ASL class. 

-Came home and was greeted with a smiling boyfriend with beautiful flowers.

-Got ready to go to Color Me Mine and out to dinner, but for some reason Rachael was taking FOREVER to get ready (;

-SURPRISE! My mom shows up at the door with my aunt and cousin!

I bawled like a baby, I was so happy to see her. I've been missing her lots since about 4 weeks ago. So the fact that she flew out to see me made me so happy.

-Went out to dinner with my mom, aunt, cousin, Kyle, Rachael, and Brad.

They had been hiding and sneaking my mom flying out for a couple of weeks. What wonderful people they are.

April 19

-Got some new jeans with my gift card to Forever 21 (Thanks, Fer!)

-Went out to dinner with Sam and Kella (:

-Had a blast. I love spending time with them. 

April 21

-Went to Hobby Lobby and bought cute things for my room with birthday money and spent the afternoon with my mom (: 

April 22

-Went on a bike ride

-Went to Costco because we were having friends come over for ANOTHER birthday celebration. (Kyle, Brad, and Rachael went over board this year on my birthday. In a good way!)

-Came home to the whole house decorated in a Luau theme! It was adorable!!!

-Went to the bar with friends

-Came home and played Killer Uno and ate the cake that we made on Wednesday but didn't have time to eat until Sunday :p

April 23

-Got my monster that I painted at Color Me Mine

Meet Stephen (Pronounced STEVEN)

April 24

-Got my birthday present in the mail from Kyle 

It's a necklace that has the handshape for "I love you" in ASL.
I've been lusting over it for about 4 months, I screamed when I got it. (:

So many surprises and wonderful people came together for my birthday. 

Thanks to all of you for showing me love, you guys are so loved: Kyle, Rachael, Brad, Mom, Kuma, Jill, Patty Cake, Chris, Andrew, Shallise, Sam, Kella, and anyone and everyone else that did anything in regards to my wonderful birthday almost-week!

The Benefits of Exercise

I never thought I'd become that person that thrives off physical activity. I'm actually one of the biggest couch potatoes in all the land. And for the longest time I was okay with that. 
But then I started in on Zumba and I changed. I was a dancer from the time I was 3 until I was 13, and then dancing became drill team and I didn't want to do that in high school. It faded out of my life but would trickle back in on occasion when I was in musicals.
In my intuitive eating book, it says that through intuitive eating your body and mindset will change without you really noticing. This was so true for me. Before I had even read that part of the book, I was itching to exercise, was drinking more water just because it made me feel less bloated than soda did, and I was making better decisions in my diet. Then I read that part of the book and my socks almost flew off at my surprise. It was right! I wanted to improve myself and it wasn't because I felt like I needed to, it just felt really good.
Since I've been going to Zumba classes, I feel a lot better. I get to dance, which I LOVE.
I get to express myself in a new way, I've run out of crafts to do,so this is helping.
Last week I didn't get to go to Zumba, I had wayyyy too much going on and I picked up extra shifts at work. I felt off all week. I was sad, I felt like I had a lot of pent up energy that I couldn't get out.
The weather has been pretty nasty or perhaps I would have gone on a bike ride or something. I just felt really sad and like I was trapped in all of the creativity I didn't know how to let out. It was really frustrating for me.
I love that I love to exercise now. I'm not doing it to lose weight, and that feels wonderful.
Through intuitive eating and exercise I fit into my clothes better.
I secretly love the feel of sore muscles.
And my endorphine levels are up. I feel a lot better and I feel like I can handle stress a lot better.
It's a wonderful thing.
Since getting in on an exercise routine (and one I like for that matter) I've been a lot less of a couch potato.
I've been a lot more social.
And I get to dance!
I think it's safe to say my lack of exercise days are over. And I think I'm okay with that.

(source)

Intuitive Eating Update

I realized it's been a really long time since I've done an intuitive eating blog post.

It's been pretty tough lately. I've been wanting to over eat a lot. 

I've acknowledged that I am over eating. 

But I'm noticing that it's taking a negative effect on me.

I'm pretty sluggish.

I haven't been able to go to Zumba since last Friday, and that's been taking its toll on me in my feeling of sluggish-ness. BUT the good news is I get to go on Friday morning.That will help my mood.

I'm starting to take notice of the things that don't make my body feel very good.

Case in point, soda is bad news. I feel so bloated for like 4 days after drinking soda.

I've been trying to eat more fruits and vegetables and that's been making me feel bloated, too. 

I'm overall just trying to readjust my whole eating habits. 

I've probably saved $50 a month from not eating out and not buying soda. 

I feel good on the inside, but I still feel bloated. 

It's rubbing off on my self confidence, but I'm trying not to let it.

In with all of the negative emotions I've been feeling, I've had some pretty great things happen to my body.

I've noticed my calf muscles are getting more definition. I haven't seen them take a shape since Guys & Dolls. My stomach (when it's not bloated) is getting flatter.

One of the best things about intuitive eating is the outcome it's had on my wardrobe.

I wore a skirt to school a couple of weeks ago because I had a presentation in class. 

About this time last year I wore the same skirt. 

It was tight and SUPER uncomfortable. If I wore it around my waist it was too tight, if I wore it around my hips it was too tight and gave me love handles.

When I put it on for school it fit nicely around my waist.

And the best part was I pulled it down around my hips and there were no love handles! Yay!

It's not all about the inches I've lost. 

But the inches I have lost has made me feel a lot better about myself. 

My new year's resolution was to improve my self image through intuitive eating and self talk.

It's not the easiest thing I've done. By any means.

I still have to go back to the basics of intuitive eating quite often.

But the things I've learned about my body, what food does to and for me, and how I feel when I eat, I could never not intuitively eat. It's a wonderful feeling to feel like I'm in control of myself.

I love it.

(source)

Getting Better all the Time

Life moves faster than I expect it to sometimes.

If you would have asked me 2 1/2 weeks ago if I saw myself where I am right now, I would have rolled my eyes in disbelief. 

In the last 2 1/2 weeks, we moved into a new apartment!

It's BEAUTIFUL.

Hardwood floors throughout, big windows for the kitty to look out of, upstairs instead of downstairs, and more room. We've got more room all over. A bigger bathroom, kitchen, living room, you name it. 

(Hi Wicket!)

Samson LOVES the big windows to look out. He looks out them most of the day and watches cars go by, watches the snow fall, and barks (yes,barks) at bugs outside. He's one happy cat. 

(This is just a small glimpse into the bathroom.)

One of the best things about our house now is we can all have our own space. Unlike the last place; the living room was the only place we could sit down. Now we've all got room to sit wherever we like. Our kitchen is in a totally different room from the living room, which isn't something we had before. We can be in the kitchen, bathroom, living room our our rooms and not be on top of each other. Everyone's pretty happy about that.

The house stays a lot warmer now because we're not in a basement, and now the light from the sun warms the rest of the house. 

Best of all, for Rachael, she's now got a shop all to herself. Before she just had a little corner in the living room/kitchen/hallway that had all of her stuff. It was cramped and she couldn't really be in there. It was more  of a place for her to keep her shop stuff. Now she's got her own little room (that Samson cant'get into) that holds all of her stuff AND she can paint, knit, sew, and do a little happy dance in. It's perfect for her.

Then we also said our goodbye's to the little corgi that lived in the house, yesterday.

Charlie hasn't been the happiest dog in the world lately, he's been in his kennel moping a lot. The floors are older, so the wood is softer and he's been scratching it up.  His nails (even after trimming them) are too loud on the floor. He's getting hair EVERYWHERE in the house, and he's overall just a little sad dog. So Rachael put an ad up yesterday on KSL for Charlie and within 4 hours we had found him a new home.
He lives with a couple that recently lost their dog, and the next dog on their list was a Corgi. 

They've had dogs for 30 years, so they know how to take care of them.

Rachael said Charlie walked right up to the lady and layed in her lap and just looked up at her. She was in love. 

Charlie jumped into their van without a glance back. 

I'm happy for him, he deserves someone that can give him a lot of attention. 

It's been a wild ride with how quickly things worked out. We found out we got the apartment on Friday, moved out and showed our apartment at the same time, and sold our old contract within 24 hours. CRAZY! Sometimes the cosmos just works like that though. I'm glad it did. The day we put the house up on Craigslist we had 9 people come to look at in just on that Friday. It was nuts! A cute little married couple absolutely loved the house and got the contract, and were able to move into the house the following Tuesday. It was pretty awesome. 

After the year we've all had, it's nice to have a feeling of the universe working in our favor again. I hope it keeps up (:

Also, thanks to Rachael for letting me borrow the pictures for my blog post (: