Turkey and Buddy the Elf

The "whirlwind" that is my life continues to carry on in gail force.

Made it through losing a job and planning a wedding, loosing a family member and having my mother under-go tests for her heart. And there's more. But to much to think through right now. Putting these thoughts and feelings into comprehensible thoughts comprised of complete sentences and paragraph seems too much of a challenge these days. The mountains to big and I left my climbing gear in the car. I'll look for a safe pretty path around it for now.

Despite the gloom, I AM excited about today. "Why?" you ask. Well I'll tell you. Today I drag out the Christmas crap and turn it into something glorious. I love being creative and this is just another opportunity in which I get to make something ordinary into extraordinary. As my husband left for class this morning I told him what was on the agenda and he just looked at me and said, Don't get carried away!" He has this fear that he will return to an apartment decked to the nines with Christmas stuff. In fact I think he quoted something from the movie "Elf" as he walked out the door. Cracking himself up I'm sure with the mental image of his wife becoming Buddy the elf. You know the scene. The one where Buddy turns the kids mall area into a winter wonderland with thousands of paper snowflakes and all that biz.




On another note. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I have not one but two Thanksgivings to attend. Man have I got a lot to learn about the art of eating. I don't know how I'm going to survive. Back home in Virginia, my mom cooked one meal and we pigged out on the turkey and all the fixings once. I'm beginning to think that my husbands family are what some little old Itialian ladies would say, "good eaters!" Soooo don't be surprised if I post a family picture and you see me with some "real nice" sweatpants on...

Nothing more to talk about now. I've got some things as I alluded to rattling around in my brain. So hopefully I'll be blogging more these days.

Anyway...I'm spying my Christmas tub full of wonderful sparkly things...Muawwww hahahahah!


Time to decorate!

Morphing

I woke up this morning is the strangest mood.

I feel like so much is changing...and I'm not paranoid because my life is morphing at warp speed into something I don't recognize. It's kinda like being in a episode of the body snatchers! I'm on the outside looking in and thinking, "Man...who is this person?" "Wake-up!"

For those of you that don't know, Jim and I are renting an apartment. He's still staying at his old place until we are officially hitched but we are in the process of making this tiny apartment a home. The new couch came Monday and has really given the place a more homey feel. Now if I can manage to get some new shelving up on the walls without making them look like swiss cheese with all the holes that are starting to appear I will have conquered the world of Bob Villa, Ty Pennington, and the likes of countless home-fix-er-up-er-er's"...let's just hope I have enough patience and sanity to go around for the job!

Looking forward to the wedding though...I've grown tired of tired of this business of planning and waiting. I know marriage will bring its challenges but I feel like you can only work on so much without actually being married. Plus, Jim coming home and staying home will be a delightful and welcomed change.

On a more random note, I'm really missing the beach. I had a dream about the ocean last night and I woke up homesick. This is one of the first summer's I have not spent some time at the beach since 1984! It's in my blood and right now I feel like there isn't much life in these bones. There's just something about the smell of salty air that opens up the heart, body and soul. The constant sound of waves crashing on the shore is like an ancient melody that connects me to the past. And nothing beats a steady ocean breeze to balance the stickiness of a hot summer's day.

To narrow it down...I woke up this morning feeling somehow misplaced. Things aren't "fitting" like I thought they would. But I'm a believer in hope.

I know that life is full of figuring some things out and watching them fall into place. It's about being patient, finding peace in becoming known, and finding and enjoying the beauty that surrounds us.

The Proposal

I have been busy.
My world has shifted in many ways.

Most notably on May 9, 2009 Mr. James William Roach proposed to me =) (<---BIG SMILE)

The evening started earlier that afternoon when Jim invited me over for a late dinner.
When I arrived to his place he had flowers waiting for me and the kitchen was flooded with the aroma of a favorite meal that Jim sometimes makes for me. It's a wonderful pasta dish made with heavy whipping cream, lemon, sausage, etc. Soooo delicious!

After dinner Jim asked if I wanted to sit out on the porch. It was a clear beautiful night so we headed out. However, once we were outside I felt the longness of my day hit me and I looked at Jim and asked if it would be ok for me to take a short nap. (Little did I know he was planning to propose! Poor guy he had to "sweat it out" while I snoozed for a bit!)

After about 20 or 30 minutes Jim came to wake me up and suggested that we head back down to the porch. Once outside again we both spent a few minutes gazing up at the stars when I looked at him and suggested we head to our spot. (Jim had planned to propose on the porch that evening but when I suggested that we head out of the city to our spot he literally jumped at the idea.) I was still a bit groggy but decided that getting out of the city on such a beautiful crisp night would be a change of pace for us.

So minutes later we headed out to our spot (a little wooded area where you can see the stars shine, hear the frogs and crickets, and running water from a nearby stream). During the car ride, Jim showed no signs of being nervous. We talked and listened to music, probably singing along which we often do.

After a nice car ride we arrived to our spot, parked off to the side of the road and spent the next 20 minutes just talking and looking up at the brilliant star filled sky. 10 minutes into our little excursion I noticed that Jim was sighing quite a bit...but I thought nothing of it. At one point I think Jim tried to propose but stopped. Somehow I just got a feeling that Jim was going to propose right there...sure enough minutes later, after many deep breaths and sighs. Jim looked at me and grabbed my arm as he got down on one knee, upon which I said (out loud), "NO WAY!"...but the "no way" didn't stop him. Jim just kept going and once upon his knee he said a few wonderful things and then asked me to be his bride forever! Of course I said, "YES!!!!"...

We spent a few more minutes out in the cool crisp air just taking the moment in and then headed home.

So this story is way over due...but WELL worth the wait. I honestly feel like the luckiest woman in the world. Jim is a wonderful man and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him.

...(up above is the first "family" photo taken at my graduation last week from Covenant Seminary) This was the first time our families met. My dad couldn't make it but I know he was there in spirit that evening.

Storyboard

So today I "officially" graduate. I have a dear friend in town and my mom is on her way. I'm about to head to the airport. Saw this video and feel inspired. I love how creative it is.

Other exciting news to come ;-)

Firekites - AUTUMN STORY - chalk animation from Lucinda Schreiber on Vimeo.

Have a wonderful weekend!