Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Happenings as of late...

So a lot has happend since I last published a post. (I would at least hope SOMETHING has happend in 3 months!) I did begin my Au pair job the first week of June. I have been living half the week with the de Boer family in Roosendaal. I help with the kids and do some cleaning. They are a GREAT family and I enjoy my time with them. They are very helpful and a big blessing to my immigration situation! I don't have any pictures of them yet, but I feel like they will be long time friends anyway.

June was a very busy month for Richard because he had to finish up his school year and it was a short and demanding semester which determined whether or not he received all the credit he needed to move on in his program. He worked really hard, and since I also work away from home now we didn't really have a lot of time for each other. As soon as he finished his semester, I would be going to the USA for 3.5 weeks for vacation. So the weekend before I left we wanted to do something special and nice together. So he said "Lets just go to Paris for a day." Of course I was ok with that :D
So we went to Paris, unintentionally parked in the center of the city, and began our mini-tour. We started at the Arc de Triomphe and took some pictures there. Then we got some help from a group of other tourists and caught the metro to the Eiffel Tower. It was soooo busy! It would have been a 2-3 hour wait to go to the top. So, we decided that if we wanted to see all the sites we had intended on seeing, we would just have to come back another time and spend a night in Paris and take time to go to the top of the tower. At this point we were pretty hungry as well, so we decided to grab something and take lunch in the park just beneath the tower. It was a beautiful day, and we had a nice time sitting in the park. We finished what we were eating and Richard wanted to just sit a little longer in the park before we continued. As we were sitting and enjoying each other's company, he began to act a little strange/nervous. It was so cute (but at the time kinda awkward). He was talking around the details of proposing. Then he just hugged me and got a little teared up... Told me to stand up, then got on his knees and said how much he loved me and, asked me to marry him! Then he fumbled for the ring and asked me which finger to put it on heehee. Of course I said yes! So we finished the day in Paris and saw Notre Dame, the Louvre, and a couple other things. It was a nice surprise, but didn't really settle in until the next day when everyone was congratulating and asking about it. It was a long drive home that night, but over all a VERY nice weekend together.

The following Wednesday I headed out to the USA! Unfortunately Richard didn't have holiday from work yet so he couldn't come with me. I was a 27 hour trip from house to house! Talk about TIRED! It was a nice trip. I really love most seeing my family again! I got to play with the kids, and enjoy the holiday. Erin and I did some wedding shopping/planning and got some good ideas on some of the details. I went hiking and spent some time with my old roommates and friends, visited my old ward (which was AWESOME as always, I love the spirit, feeling, and friends there). We did some fun stuff as a family, then after 2 weeks I went to Oregon.

In Oregon I spent some time with the Bukers and got to ride with them in their new motor cycle family gang! It was so good to hang out with them again for a time!! I got to see Oma Winnie and she made some delicious indo-food (as always) and we had a good time visiting. I spoke a bit of dutch with her and Dad found that so strange haha. I spent a majority of the time with my best friend ever, MANDY and the Gibbs family. I got to see Jessica Hutson (another of my best friends) and spend some time with her again. She will be going for her PHD in psychology next year! Amazing! I also went hiking with Mom at Eagle Creek! The weather in Oregon was as usual... a bit cold in the morning, and burned off by later in the day. Kinda like weather in Holland only not AS humid. The time was fun, but when it was over I was ready to come home and be with Richard again. My vacation was an experience that was very positive. I am so happy with Richard and (though it may sound cliché) I can't even begin to put into words how much I love him. My family is awesome in supporting us too! Thanks everyone for the good times!! There will be more to come in my blog... but you all know how fast I am at posting things... I am still needing to post the blog I was refering to in my "under construction" blog! Well... Tot volgende keer! Enjoy the few pictures that make a sorry attempt to recount the events written in the, even more sorry, account you just read!