Isn't She Lovely?

Jeff and I went out a couple of weeks ago and designed and ordered my engagement ring. I told him not to get me anything big for Christmas since the ring was more than enough present for me :) He agreed and told me that he would still get me something to open Christmas morning and I was fine with that as he usually gets me my favorite lotion or a gift certificate every year.

Um, he broke my rule. After he opened his presents and I opened my lotion AND gift certificate he went and got a heavy box and plopped it down in front of me. After my initial protesting and mild chastising for spending more money on me, I tore off the paper to find this beauty.




A gorgeous shiny Kitchenaid Artisan stand mixer. I have been dreaming about one of these since I was about ten or so, but because of the price and space limitations, I could never bring myself to splurge on one. It was always on my dream list of items for the future when we had more space/money. Well, I made the space. This thing is AWESOME! I made an initial batch of chocolate chip cookies (those are Jeff's favorite and well, since he got me the mixer, it only seemed right) and the next night I used it to make pizza crust for some awesome homemade pizza! I am most excited about being able to make bread. I am getting arthritis in my hands (yes, at 26. Genetics are fun...) and the few times I have attempted to make bread the kneading has always been painful. I thought about a bread machine but the loaves are always the same and I love the look of hand shaped artisan loaves and having that chewy top crust on every slice. You just don't get that out of a bread machine. I can't wait to slice into my first loaf!

Unfortunately most of my spare time now will be spent getting my mom's new house ready for my sister who will be visiting next week. Not that I'm not ecstatic about my sister (and my precious sweet niece) coming to see us, but my baby will just be sitting there in the kitchen, all alone, quiet, and still. Patiently waiting to cream butter and sugar, or knead some warm dough, or mix up a meringue. Soon, my dear, soon we will be together in all of our baking glory....

Archery Tournament

Just thought I'd share this picture I took of Jeff shooting in an archery tournament earlier this month. He is third from the left in the bright red Hoyt shirt. They have to shoot x's the size of a dime from (I honestly can't remember how many) yards away. That's hard enough on it's own, much less with a person just a few inches away on either side of you. It's even worse when a left-hander is next in line, because then you are face to face. I don't think I have the concentration required for this hobby.

Changes

I know I haven't posted in a long time, it just seemed for a while that nothing very noteworthy was happening. Well the month of November sure took care of that! Lots of changes came about and they seemed to come one right after another!
The first change was the addition of my beautiful new niece, Alexandra Grace.

She is so perfect and sweet and wonderful! I was so lucky to spend the first week with her and just enjoy holding her and snuggling her and having her fall asleep in my arms. There is absolutely nothing better in the world than rocking a baby to sleep. I am looking forward to seeing her grow and learn but I hope she stays tiny and snuggly for just a little while longer.

The second big change happened while I was gone visiting Ali. My mom bought a new house! This one will be much better suited to her and her needs. It's a little bittersweet, since it means saying goodbye to my childhood home, and that Mom will have to say goodbye to the home that she and my dad spent 30 years building together, but overall it's a good change, and we'll get through the hard parts together and enjoy the good parts!

Finally, the biggest change is that Jeff and I are ENGAGED!! We went to lunch together the day before Thanksgiving and the topic sort of came up in conversation (okay okay, so I might have brought it up, ever so subtly...) and we ended up deciding that we were going to aim for September. So that set the planning into motion and the official date is now September 18th 2010! I can't wait! We have spent four years building our relationship and it's exciting to take it to the next level and commit our lives to each other.

So lots of changes in November. So far, December has proven to be a little calmer. I am enjoying this time of just being able to enjoy being engaged, because come January things will really kick into high gear. We will begin getting my mom's new house ready for her to move in, and begin getting the old one ready to sell, I'll begin looking for a wedding gown (yay!) and sorting out all of the details that will go into making our day.

Phew, that makes me tired just thinking about it! I'd better go take a nap in preparation..