Can you say BUSY?!?!

Yup…that’s been me the past week!!  I’ve been BEYOND swamped!  At work…at home…all over! 

Too much has happened to go over it all right now…but I will fill you all in soon.

I would like to get your opinion on something however…a gown!

I’ve found a beautiful gown and I thought that I’d give you a sneak peek at it. 

AND…it’s within our budget!! That’s the good thing!  I like the ruby top…that color looks very good on me…and I also like the fact that it only has a sweep train.  The model looks a little bit like me…so that was helpful as well.

So…what do you think?

I hope you all are doing well and that your week is going wonderfully!!  I miss visiting all of you and I hope that I’ll get a chance to do it soon.

Take care m’dears!!

~Maria

You may notice on my main page that this picture is in my side module…it is linked to mine and Jason’s wedding site.  I thought that it would be a good way to keep you all updated on how things are progressing…besides on here that is.

Anyway, we are still deciding on where we are going to have the ceremony…Vegas is still an option, but I’ve checked into a few other places here in Colorado as well…such as the Royal Gorge.  That is a beautiful place and would be incredible for a wedding…and unique.  So, when we actually finalize a location, I’ll let you know.

But wouldn’t you like to get married in a place like this?

That would definitely make for some really cool wedding photos eh? hehe

So…how was your Easter???  Ours was delightful!! We took my Mom and all of the kids out to the baseball game…and the Rockies even won!!  How about that?

The kids had a really good time and it was beautiful outside…so it made for a very nice way to spend our Easter Sunday.

Okay…that’s all I have time for today…back to work for me.

Take care m’dears!!

~Maria

I didn’t get a chance to post this yesterday…but in lue of Good Friday here it is.

Please…if you have time, listen to this song. Here are the lyrics…

Watch The Lamb
Ray Boltz

Walking on the road to Jerusalem
The time had come to sacrifice again
My two small sons they walked beside me on the road
The reason that they came, was to watch the lamb

“Daddy, daddy what will we see there
There’s so much that we don’t understand”
So I told them of Moses and Father Abraham
Then I said, “Dear children watch the lamb”

“There will be so many in Jerusalem today
We must be sure the little lamb doesn’t run away”
And I told them of Moses and Father Abraham
Then I said, “Dear children watch the lamb”

When we reached the city, I knew something must be wrong
There were no joyful worshipors there were no joyful worship songs
 I stood there with my children in the midst of angry men
Then I heard the crowd cry out,
“Crucify Him”

We tried to leave the city, but we could not get away
Forced to play in this drama a part I did not wish to play
Why upon this day were men condemned to die
Why were we standing here where soon they would pass by

I look and said, “Even now they come”
The first one cried for mercy, the people gave him none
The second one was violent, he was arrogant and loud
I still can hear his angry voice, screaming at the crowd

Then someone said “there’s Jesus” and I scarce believed my eyes
A man so badly beaten, He barely looked alive
Blood poured from His body, from the thorns upon His brow
Running down the cross, and falling to the ground
I watched Him as He struggled, I watched Him as He fell
The cross came down upon His back, the crowd began to yell
In that moment I felt such agony, in that moment I felt such loss

‘Til a Roman soldier grabbed my arm and screamed “YOU carry His cross”

At first I tried to resist him, but his hand reached for his sword
So I knelt and I took, the cross from the Lord
I placed it on my shoulders, we started down the street
The blood that He’d been shedding, was running down my cheek

They led us to Galgotha they drove nails deep in His feet and hands
Yet upon the cross I heard Him pray “Father forgive them”
Oh never have I seen such love in any other eyes
“Into Thy hands I commit My spirit” He prayed, then He died

I stood for what seemed like years, I lost all sense of time
Until I felt two tiny hands, holding tight to mine
Children stood there weeping, I heard the oldest say
“Father please forgive us, the lamb ran away”

“Daddy, daddy what have we seen here
There’s so much that we don’t understand”
So I took them in my arms, we turned and faced the cross
Then I said, “Dear children Watch the Lamb”

Here comes Peter Cottontail…hoppin’ down the bunny trail…

 

Okay…I had to do that!! hehe  In all seriousness though…I hope that you all have a VERY

 

 

Happy Easter!!

 

~Maria

Ask & You Shall Receive…

Wow…thanks to you all for the advice!!

I did talk with my Mom a bit yesterday…and she’d seemed to calm down a great deal about the whole situation.  In fact, she said that after having some time to think it all over…she understood where I was coming from and she would stay home and watch the kids for us while we went to Vegas.

Now…Vegas isn’t FINAL…BUT, it is the leading possibility at the moment.  We talked about going to the Justice of the Peace/Courthouse and all…neither one of us really wants to do that.  We would like something simple…YES…but we’d also like to have a ceremony that is elegant and romantic.  The courthouse scene just doesn’t really give off that kind of ambiance.  So…we definitely decided not to go that route.

We did discuss going out to Indiana or Tennessee…or even Georgia at one point…but the only problem with all of that is the fact that it would still be more expensive that what we can afford.  I’ve done a great deal of researching different locations and options…but the fact remains that those options would be over our budget.

Jason is the one that really would like the wedding to be just he and I (with the exception of Wil, IF he can make it )…and I must say that I think it’s a fabulous idea.  A great deal of stress goes into not only planning…but orchestrating a wedding…no matter how big or small it is.  I’ve helped many of my friends with planning their weddings…in fact, I’ve even made bouquets, decorations and helped arrange ceremonies for some of them.  So I do know how much goes into all of this…which is also why I like the idea of just going out to a place that pretty much does it all for you.  Ya know?

I mean, if we go to Vegas…the chapel that we have tentatively picked has a complimentary limo that will pick us up and take us to the chapel…they provide my bouquet and his boutinere…the photographer and photos (including developing)…music (unless we bring our own CD)…and they throw in a leather bound marriage certificate holder (hey…it’s cheesy but free…)…then the limo brings us back to our hotel.  All we need to do is show up!  I like that idea…I don’t have to kill myself is planning every detail, I’ll let them do it.  Btw…they even give the option of having the wedding broadcasted on the internet…for a small fee.  So…maybe you all can watch?! 

Besides, it leaves me more time to decide upon what gown I’d like to wear and how I want my hair…and things like that.  I know…I probably sound lazy…but to be honest, I have enough stress in my life…I really don’t want to add more to it if I don’t have to.  The good thing about all of this is…it was Jason’s idea.

So, I would say that we are definitely leaning towards Vegas…we even looked at hotels last night online.  Jason wants to stay somewhat in the middle of the strip…so we’re looking at the Aladdin (which coincidentally is one of the only hotels that has a Starbucks located inside AND a Ben & Jerry’s…hehe ).

Anyway…I need to get back to work now…but I’ll keep you updated.

Thanks again for your help!!

~Maria

I’m FRUSTRATED!!

Okay…here’s the deal.  Jason and I talked about what we’d like to do for the wedding over the weekend.  We tossed around many different ideas.  Of course, no matter what we decide…we have to keep one thing in mind, this wedding must be INEXPENSIVE! 

We just can’t afford to have a wedding that’s going to cost over $2000 right now…not with him going back to school soon and the bills and car payments that we are putting money out for right now.  Not to mention raising 4 children…that alone drains the pocket book like a sink without plumbing….FAST!!

So…we decided that we’d like to have a ceremony that is simple…yet elegant…but fun…and we’ll have to combine our wedding with our honeymoon because we won’t have much time or money to do all of this.  We talked about maybe going on a cruise…but, that’s a hassle with the marriage license situation and it’s a bit out of budget range.  I looked up ceremony sites here in Colorado (there are TONS)…but, even for a simple wedding…it’s expensive and it wouldn’t include any honeymoon time.

We want to have a simple intimate wedding now…and then once we get things to where they need to be (and we are living back in Indiana where we belong) then we will have a larger ceremony for a renewal of vows with friends and family.  That’s the plan anyway.

My oldest daughter, Dora, stated that she’d like to attend…but, she understands what we are attempting to do and that if we travel out of state for the ceremony, that it would be more expensive to take her with…let alone the rest of the kids and it would defeat the purpose of having a honeymoon if they were all there.

We looked at Las Vegas as an option…it’s a good option.  Jason has never been there…AND they have the most inexpensive (and downright cheap) ceremony packages available in the U.S.!!  It would also solve the problem of having a honeymoon included…BUT, there’s one big problem…my MOM!!! 

She doesn’t understand that Jason and I would like to have a ceremony with just us…(and maybe Wil if he can make it).  See…Jason would like to have his best friend there to stand up with him…and that’s fine, and in fact…I totally understand that and I think that’s great.  But, to have my Mom there (who has already witnessed me getting married) is just not what we want. 

I don’t want to sound crude or disrespectful, it’s just that she lives with us…and we see her EVERYDAY…and we’d like for this (being that it’s going to be small and intimate) to be just us…no kids, no Mom.  Does that make sense?

Anyway…she doesn’t get it…and she is looking at her going out there as a vacation of sorts…but she wants to bring my daughters with her.  Yes, both of them!!  How can that be a vacation?  She’s always stating that she needs to get AWAY from the kids for a few days (understandably so)…but taking them out there isn’t going to give her time away…they will drive her nuts!  AND it would cost well over $600 more for them all to fly out and stay for 3 days…and that’s not including meals, which would put us well over budget.  Besides, Vegas isn’t exactly a town that I’d like my kids to go to for a vacation.  I mean, it isn’t called “Sin City” for nothing ya know.

So…now I’m frustrated. 

Jason says that if she’s dead set on going with us then we will have to come up with a different plan.  I understand that…and a part of me feels the same way…but I like the idea of going to Vegas…it’d be fun and exciting.  Not if my kids are there though…I’d spend my whole time there worrying about them and if they’re okay OR we’d wind up having them with us the entire time…which is the one thing that we don’t want.

So…what do I do now?

HELP ME!!!  Please??

~Maria

Thank you!!

Thank you all for the well wishes and lovely comments!! 

Jason and I are VERY HAPPY…and to be honest, I think I’m still in a bit of shock.  We’re both having to get used to referring to each other as a fiancèe instead of boyfriend/girlfriend…but, we’re adjusting.

He is just too sweet…and I think a lot of you ladies agree.  I still can’t believe that he picked his birthday of all days to propose to me…but that is just the way he is, and I wouldn’t change him for the world!!

I hope that you all are enjoying your weekend so far…not too much going on around here, just watching the hockey playoffs praying that my teams win. 

I know that some of you would like to be updated on the progression of the wedding plans and such…and I more than likely will post updates as things evolve.  So no worries…I wouldn’t keep you all completely out of it…besides, if I felt it was important to share this news with all of you, you can bet I feel it’s important to share the rest with you as well.

Well…I’m off to finish watching my game…and to check on the boys since they’ve now wondered off somewhere. YIKES!!

~Maria

First off…let me just put a few minds at ease…

NO…I’m not pregnant!!!! (bite your tongue Morgane!! see what you started??)

Good grief…I have 4 children already…what were you thinking?!  

Okay…here are the events that occured Tuesday (not necessarily in order)…

Anyway…Jason and I went out to breakfast that morning and then headed into downtown Denver to the 16th Street Mall (which is a street that is dedicated to stores and restaurants primarily, in the middle of lower downtown).  We walked around (a LOT) and went into several stores and of course a Starbucks (had to ya know and Jason also got a cool Denver coffee mug while we were there). 

We finally went into the Rockies Dug Out store (which is directly run by the ballpark, Coors Field) and bought Jason’s birthday gift from me.

Yup…we just had to get this!  This is the official jacket for the Rockies team…the same one that the players and coaching staff wear. We also bought chrome licesnse plate holders for Jason’s new car…they are pretty!

Well, the store was also having a promotion for tickets that day.  So we wound up getting 10 tickets for only a dollar a piece!!  Yup…TEN tickets!!  These are tickets for seats that are in the midfield and would normally cost $31 a piece…so we saved roughly $300!!  Cool huh? 

After purchasing Jason’s gift, we walked back out to our car (which was parked about 2 blocks from Coors Field…and quite a few blocks from the store we were just in).  We did stop along the way and just sit and talk and simply enjoy the freedom and each other for a few moments.

Once we’d dropped off our purchases…we then decided to have lunch, well a snack anyway…at The ESPN Zone.  Neither one of us had ever been there…so it was a new experience for us both.  It was a pretty cool place!  There were t.v. monitors everywhere…in the bathrooms (one above every stall and every urinal…well, according Jason), in every booth…and a HUGE screen in the front of the restaurant with smaller screens surrounding it and trivia questions flashed on and off to the left side and updates and scores on the right side.  Of course there were also reclining chairs right in front of the t.v. screen wall with individual tables attached to them.  It was too cool!!

We spent about an hour and half just sitting…talking…watching sports, munching on chili-cheese fries (hey…it was his birthday!)…and sipping on beer (which Jason got a collectors beer glass with as well).  It was great!! 

After we were done stuffing ourselves, we decided to work a bit of it off by playing some games over in their gameroom.  They had a pretty good selection of games and such…and I got the chance to beat Jason in a round of air-hockey…final score 7-2 (YES…finally!!).

Then, once our funds were depleated for that, we wondered back to our car to collect our jackets and such before heading over to the ballpark.  About halfway over to Coors Field, it dawned on us that we’d forgotten our mits…but, neither one of us was up to going back to the car after walking around for over 5 hours. So we decided to go on without them.

Once inside Coors Field, we got Rockies beach towels (free) and walked around a bit and went over to the main store and looked at the items there.  We didn’t purchase anything…but we’d done enough buying by that point.

We finally made our way to our seats after stopping one last time to purchase something to drink (and cotton candy of course).  The game was fun…but it lasted quite a few hours more than what we had anticipated.  It went to 13 innings…and neither team scored a single run from the 8th inning to the top of the 13th inning, which by that point…it was well after midnight and COLD!!

The Rockies gave up a 5 run lead and wound up losing to the Cardinals 15-12.  Oh well…we had a blast and we get to go back 2 more times before the end of the month!! 

Now…what I haven’t already told you is that right after we’d left the house that morning, we had to make a quick stop.  I went to get something out of the glove box for Jason and a card fell out with MY name on it. 

So I asked him, “what’s this?”

He replied, “I think it’s for you” then he smiled.

Confused I asked, “It’s your birthday and you got me a card?”

He simply replied, “uh huh”

“Should I open it now?” I asked, “or do you want me to wait until later?”

“It’s up to you honey…you may open it now if you’d like”, says he with a grin.

So I look down at the envelope and I see this…

“My Dearest Maria…the best birthday present I could ever ask for is for you to be mine forever…”

So I open the envelope and inside there is this beautiful card with the title of “All I Want is To Love You Forever”.  The card went on to tell many reasons as to why he loves me so much.  Now, by this point I am crying…and he says to me, “make sure that you read it all”. 

I open up the inside flap of the card and at the bottom it says, “So will you be mine forever?”  And there, just below that question, taped to the card is a gorgeous 2ct blue diamond white gold solitaire ring …with the writing just below simply stating, “I love you…Jason“.  (click on picture of the ring to see it up close)

Well…then the tears really start streaming down my face  and I look over at him and say, “I love you”.

He smiles and says, “So…will you?”

“Yes” I said, and then he smiled and kissed me.  

So there you go…THAT’s the BIG NEWS!!  We’re are now officially engaged to be married!!

We haven’t set a date yet…we’re still discussing that one.  But we have talked a bit about having an Autumn wedding…so we’ll see.

Okay…I’m off now…have a wonderful weekend and thanks for letting me share my happy news with all of you!

~Maria

I know…I know, I didn’t even post the lovey-dovey, mushy birthday post to my man that I said I would!    btw…did you go wish him a happy birthday yesterday??

You’ll just have to trust me when I tell you that he had a birthday that he will NEVER forget!!!

And with that, I need to go…I will give you a bit more detail on the birthday events as soon as I can, but until then…I’ll just say that I have some VERY BIG news to share with all of you!!

~Maria

OH MY!!!

Normally, I’d be completely THRILLED that it’s Friday…but OH NO...I’ve got homework to do this weekend!!! Yup, you heard me right!! I said “homework”!!!!

I had to bring home a stack of tests that I need to grade that is about a foot and a half high!!! (I WISH that I were exaggerating…but unfortunatley I’m not ).

I don’t think that I’ll be visiting all that much this weekend…(or anytime soon for that matter) and I know that I haven’t even BEGUN to visit half of you as of yet from last weekend…but I’ve been SWAMPED!!!

So…I guess that I won’t be around much until I can get caught up on things here in the real world!   ‘Tis not fair I tell you!!!

Just know that I’m thinking of you all and I wish you all well and I will be back as soon as I can!

In the meantime…take care of yourselves…and play nice!!!

~Maria