We are engaged!!!

Note:  We got engaged 5/20 but I waited to post this so we could get a hold of friends/family before they read it on here!

Wow -- what a day!  Adam started things off with a bang this morning!  He woke me up from a dead sleep at 7am to pop the question!  I said... YES! :)

Let's back up... Tuesday was Adam's 28th birthday.  We had plans to go to dinner pretty much right after work at PF Changs (his fav).  He got home before I did to let Henderson out and then we were going to head on once I got home (a few minutes later).  I was getting off our exit and he calls to tell me he's going to FedEx (quite a ways away and towards the restaurant) to pick up his new "mouse" for his computer.  I was like I'm almost home?!  Why don't we just get it after dinner?!  So he reluctantly agreed.  I'm thinking we've lived at our house for over a year and had probably 50 packages delivered and they've never required a signature -- this must be some computer mouse!  Little did I know, the ring was what we picked up! 

After we finished dinner, our fortune cookies came!  They could not have been more perfect! 

Adam's said:

"You are about to embark on a most delightful journey!"

Mine said:

"An exciting opportunity lies ahead of you."

Pretty good fortunes!  Actually, mine was reversed when I opened it and it said "moustache" in Chinese and I was like what kind of fortune is this?!?

So, we finished up, grabbed some blizzards from DQ for dessert and headed to the FedEx pick up center.  He ran in, got the package and we headed home.  

Fast forward to Thursday... Adam hadn't said anything about this super-duper mouse that had to be signed for so I'm like how's your new mouse?!  Why did you need a new one?!  You just got one a month ago!  He gave me some story about how the new computer game needed a new mouse and blah blah blah... so I bought it.  Then, I was in the basement putting something away and I look over at his computer and I'm like well that's strange.. looks like the old mouse to me!  

My parents and grandma came down to see us Friday.  We had a nice weekend hanging out around the house, going to some yard sales, eattin' some good meals, chatting with the neighbors, etc.  While mom, grandma and I were out at the yard sales Saturday morning, Adam and my dad had gone to the shooting range.  After they finished up, Adam asked my dad for his blessing for us to marry.  We've had fun teasing Adam about asking my dad while they were at a shooting range!  I guess they were back home though and Adam said he said to my dad "Since you're out of ammo, I wanted to ask you something..."

We went to dinner last night, came home, watched some TV and headed to bed.  Fast forward to this morning...

Adam always gets up early with Henderson to take him out, feed him, etc while I'm still sleeping.  I heard Adam come back in the room and then heard him brushing his teeth and fixing his hair in the bathroom.  I thought well that's weird, why is he getting ready so early in the morning...usually he comes back to snuggle me until I wake up.  Then, he shut the bedroom door (which we NEVER do because the cats don't like to be shut out!  Trixie was on the bed and Mason was shut out when this happened so Mason proceeded to rattle the door the whole time).  He said "I have to talk to you."  In my half asleep state, my first thought was Wow.. he's really serious.  Then, I thought, oh no, he's going to tell me my Japanese maple is dead out front!  (It's been looking pretty rough all weekend and it's kinda become a joke because Adam confessed to spraying it with weed killer, so I assumed he was preparing me for what I was going to see when I did get up.)  He kept asking me if I was awake and then proceeded to tell me how much he loves me, that he always wants to see me happy, that he wants to have a family with me and that he wants to marry me!  

I was so caught off guard (not to mention looking like what the cat drug out of the woods probably!) the first words out of my mouth were.... Are you serious?!  Followed up with .... "Did you ask my dad..."  Adam goes... Are you going to say yes or not?!  I said of course I will marry you!!  

Such a great way to start the day :)  

Our first call was to his mom and then we ran upstairs to wake up my parents and grandma.  They are all so excited and happy for us.  It took a while to call all of Adam's siblings and the rest of our friends/family but everyone has been so excited for us.  We don't have a clue when -- I'm thinking Spring 2013 at this point.  

I couldn't be happier to spend my life with Adam and I love him more than I ever thought possible.  Not only am I marrying my best friend, I am gaining so many wonderful family members.  I love his siblings like they are my own and feel like I'm getting the sisters I never had and didn't know I wanted :)

Now, let's talk about the ring!!!  We literally ring shopped from Louisiana to Michigan over the past 14ish months.  As you may have come to realize, I'm a pretty picky girl!  When we first started looking, I thought I wanted the rings that have "wavy bands" but then I never liked the way the band and engagement ring "fit" together.  Then, I was really liking halo mounted rings... then.. around October I saw MY ring.  I think it was love at first sight (kinda like with Adam!!).  It's a round solitaire with 6 shared prong diamonds mounted on either side of the band.  It's such a classic and the diamond he got is BIG and GORGEOUS!!!  I remember he told one of the jewelers somewhere that I was too beautiful to have a simple mounting (how sweet is he?!).  I can't stop staring at the ring!  I told him I'm going to have such an unproductive week!  We are heading to his parents house this weekend for Memorial Day and are looking forward to celebrating with everyone.  I guess next up, we will have to figure out this whole wedding planning thing!  We all know there's going to be lots of pink!!!

And now.. some pictures!!   

First time I've been early to work in a while!  So excited to share the good news with my co-workers and friends!

12 Days 8 States

After Easter, life got crazy again.  We drove back from WV Sunday evening and I left bright and early the next morning for Oxford, MS.  Talk about a long, boring drive!  I was invited by Winchester, another division of Olin, to participate in some training at one of their new locations.  It was neat to see another branch of the business but it made for a long drive in a short amount of time.  Oxford is a cute, quaint town.  It's also the home of Mississippi State so there were tons of college kids roaming around.  The old downtown has a lot of character and charm and I'm sure I could have done some damage at the boutiques lining the streets had I had more time (and energy)!

I got back Tuesday night, worked Wednesday and Thursday, then flew to Pittsburgh for a weekend in Morgantown!  I was a guest speaker at an engineering conference at WVU Saturday morning (wow, that makes me sound old!!) so I invited Jen & Lauren to come stay at the hotel with me and we had a reunion with Jaime.  It was so much fun being together and having girl time!!!



Love how this picture turned out (no, we didn't plan to match!).  This was taken in front of Woodburn Hall on the downtown campus.  Lots of memories in that town!



I flew back to TN Sunday, did laundry and re-packed!!!  Thursday, Adam and I were up BRIGHT & EARLY to drive to Atlanta to catch a flight to San Francisco for a long-weekend together (along with 3/4s of his family).  We had been counting down since February for our trip to Cali and San Fran has always been on my "bucket list" (ok - mainly Alcatraz) but San Francisco just looks so beautiful in all the pictures!  That being said, CA deserves it's own post (or two) so more to come!   

Hippity Hop -- Right thru April

 

It’s hard to believe that this was the 3^rd year Adam has gone home for Easter with me (Henderson’s second).  It’s funny to compare the past 3 years of Easters – see below.  I guess we haven’t really changed that much, the biggest change has been our zip codes over the last 3 years!  I love that Adam tolerates my need for us to match on Easter Sunday J

 

 

Adam was wearing my grandpa's tie in the middle picture and one of his white dress shirts this year (bottom pic).  Funny thing is, he didn't try on the shirt prior to Easter morning and the sleeves were a little on the short side!  Lesson learned about not trying things on in advance!

 

We had a nice visit at home and got to spend time with Abs.  That little tyke has soooo much energy!  She can wear out 5 adults and still keep going and going and going!  She loves to wrestle Adam.

 

   

Telling Adam what to do - wonder who she learned that from??

 

 

We also celebrated Granny, Chip and my birthday while we were all there together.  I can't believe I'm 26!  When did I get this old?!?  I still feel like I'm 18.



Family pic for my birthday minus the cats



The April Birthday Babies and our official "candle blower outer"

  

 

 

We ended Easter weekend with what's becoming our traditional Easter egg hunt with Miss Abbie.  I remember in 2009, when we "hid" the eggs for her by laying them in the grass.  Now, she will race you to get them in her basket before you can and loves to decorate them ahead of time with paint, stickers, dye, markers and sometimes even rocks.  

 

     

Tornadoes Part II

March 2^nd, less than a year after the horrific tornadoes swept through the region, we got slammed again.  This time, the storms hit even closer to home.  Friday afternoon a co-worker and I headed to lunch in Cleveland before a meeting at the Division office.  It had started raining on the way to lunch and by the time we left, the sky was sooo dark and strange looking.  We pulled into the office parking lot and the admin was yelling for us to GET INSIDE!  We all huddled in the back of the building away from the windows/doors until the “all clear.”  The storm didn’t come that close to us but once it passed, another co-worker called and said Ooltewah had been hit and the road to our subdivision was closed.  I think I had a mini heart attack. Adam had left a little early to go pick Henderson up at daycare and was down near Chattanooga/Ooltewah.  I called him and he was getting off our exit.  He was able to make it to our house and luckily, we had no damage!  Our power was knocked out for about 6-7 hours but we will take that over damage any day.  About 3 miles north of our subdivision houses were completely flattened.  The tornado had come up over the hill and just left a huge path of destruction.  I made it home about an hour later and right after I went by they closed the Ooltewah exit.  There were cops and ambulances everywhere.  We had tickets to the Brad Paisley concert in Knoxville and I really wanted to still go.  We were still under severe tornado watch until about 10pm that evening but my theory was whether we were there or not, a tornado was still going to come if it was coming.

So I talked a disgruntled Adam into leaving and we made the trip to Knoxville, which was also under a tornado watch.  The concert was great!!  Scotty McCreary opened for the Band Perry who opened for BRAD PAISLEY!! I also like to go to Brad’s concert when I can, nice to support my fellow West Virginians.  Carrie Underwood also made a surprise appearance, it made my night!  She is so pretty and I love their duets. 

While we were at the concert, another tornado did come through the Ooltewah area though, again no damage to our house.  By the time we got back home, around midnight, the power was back on.  

Saturday morning we drove around the town and it is so sickening to see the damage that was done.  It is truly a miracle that no one was killed – had the storm been 2 hours later, kids would have been home from school and parents from work. 

Video of damages on street to our subdivision

Where did Ashley go???

Disclaimer: I had FINALLY taken the time to catch up my blog, well thru New Year's Eve anyway, and went to post the blog and somehow it was all deleted!!!  So, while it was funny and detailed the first time.. I can't make any guarantees the second time around!!!

So yes, I have been MIA.  I thought after all the crazy travel slowed down in September I would take the time to get back into the swing of blogging, well, then the holidays hit!  I've actually missed blogging.  As a lifelong journal keeper, blogging just makes sense to me.  My journals have always been more of "what I'm doing" vs the deep dark secrets and with blogging, I can add in pictures, which are the key to my heart.  So, it's a win win.

How many of you thought I disappeared because we didn't survive Thanksgiving at our house with both families?? Just kidding.  We actually had a great time, even though it was exhausting!!  I don't think I've ever spent so much time in the kitchen in my life.  I probably sat a record for the most times the dishwasher was run in a 4-day period.  All joking aside, the meeting of the fams went way better than we could have imagined.  I look forward to many more years of family-togetherness.  Mom and I even managed to sneak away for some shopping!  We hit up Michael's Thursday evening (which is becoming a tradition for us) I wanted to get the new Cricut II which was on an awesome sale.  I'm not sure I really like it though, could have to do with not having the time to really learn all about it yet though.  Then, we caved and went to Wal-Mart for the sale that started at 10pm and ended up not getting home till about 1am!  We had a blast though and I have to say, the shoppers at the Ooltewah Wal-Mart were 100x more pleasant than the shoppers we usually encounter in WV!  I think it has to be because there's a lot more options for people to go shopping here than in WV so the crowd is a lot more spread out.  Here's some pictures from our Thanksgiving weekend:



My pretty new dining room table all ready for Thanksgiving!  (That's my WVU tree in the corner!)

 

Adam with his turkey!  I was so proud of him for taking on the turkey and it turned out so yummy!!



All 14 of us!

In other exciting news, I become a Scentsy consultant in October!  I have always been business minded and love the idea of one day having my own business, so for now, this is the perfect opportunity for me.  I fell in love with the idea of Scentsy (flameless/wickless/sootless warmers that are safe alternatives to candles) before I even smelled the first sample and signed up to be a consultant.  I've REALLY enjoyed my time as a Scentsy consultant so far even if Adam says I'm spending everything that I make in buying more Scentsy for us!  You can check out my Scentsy website here http://www.ashleykidd.scentsy.us/

I had a booth at a show around Christmas at a church in Ooltewah.  The turn out was way low and I ended up with a lot of inventory because I had ordered extra hoping for a big turnout.  Oh well, live and learn!  Wasn't my display cute though?!

   

 That same evening, Adam and I had to go to his work Christmas party in Cleveland.  (Which is yes where I also work but since I'm a division employee and he's plant, the party was only for plant employees but alas I was his date)  It was semi-awkward for a couple reasons (1) everyone by this point pretty much knows we are together (hello-- it's no surprise it's been over 3 years) but they still were gawking when we walked in.  (2)  We were overdressed.  My theory is better to be overdressed than under!  We weren't even that dressed up!  People were there in jeans!  The party was at a nice museum downtown so I was thinking semi-Cocktail but I guess others just donned their best jeans...  Oh well, we were good looking!



Our pretty tree!  Now I can't remember if it was 9 or 10 feet?  I love seeing trees with all the pretty presents around them.  Too bad Mason ate a lot of my bows!



The weekend before Christmas we headed to Michigan for Adam's brother's wedding.  It was on a Friday so we had to leave right after work Wednesday to get there for the rehearsal and whatnot Thursday.  Somewhere along the way I picked up a cold and didn't feel too hot due to that.  The night of the wedding someone dropped my camera after taking the first pic of us all dressed up so I was cameraless all evening.  I felt naked without a camera on my wrist!  My sweetheart took me to get a new one the next day though!  Here we are at the wedding:

   

Adam was staying in Michigan through Christmas so I flew back to TN to pick up the cats and head to WV to be with my family.  I was super sad to leave Adam!  Hopefully that will be our last Christmas apart.  We had to get a picture of Henderson in his new monkey sweater before I flew back, he is such a big boy!

 

Christmas was different this year.  Of course it was the first Christmas without the Grandpas and that was hard on everyone.  I did enjoy my time with my parents and Grandma, and LOVE getting to play with Abbie - she is changing so much/so fast.  We had a little family drama that I really could do without but I guess it's not the holidays without the drama.  I think that's why I enjoyed Thanksgiving so much, no drama!  

We also had a mini-crisis Christmas night.  Mason accidentally got outside (during some drama nonetheless).  I about had a heart attack/panic attack all in one.  It was so dark and cold out and all I could hear were dogs barking in the distance.  He was probably only out 10 minutes but I was a mess.  I couldn't imagine how we were ever going to find him, plus, he was in uncharted water!  He eventually jumped up on the deck and came strolling over like he was the king of the castle. 

Adam and I came back to TN after Christmas and spent New Year's together.  We had a nice dinner at Outback and then watched the ball drop from the comfort of our couch, surrounded by our furbabies, a perfect start to 2012!

Happy New Year!

 

Catch up

So I haven’t done very well at keeping up with my blog lately.  Ever since I was gone for September it seems like life has been a blur.  Now, here we are almost at Thanksgiving and Black Friday!!

Adam and I had a nice October at home (for the most part).  We had free tickets to the UT/LSU football game in Knoxville so we made our first trip to the UT campus to watch the game.  I was so impressed with the stadium and fans.  The campus is really pretty as well.  We had decent seats (again, Free!) in the end zone that were covered and had padded cushions.  Unfortunately, LSU beat the Volunteers, just like they did the Mountaineers.  Nonetheless, we had a good time.  Check us out in our orange gear.  (Disclaimer:  I will always be a WV girl and Mountaineer fan, but if I’m going to live in TN I can cheer for the Volunteers as long as there’s not a conflict of interest) :p

I had to go to Baton Rouge for a week for a division wide HR meeting.  It feels so weird to be back down there.  After being around the people and the traffic for a week, I’m reminded again how happy I am to be out of that place!

In other big news, we finally got a dining room table!  It took me soo long to pick one but then we finally ended up with one from Ashley (great name!).  It has a big leaf so we can add it or not depending on how many people we’re having over.  We got 2 arm chairs and 6 side chairs.  I love it J  Only thing I’m concerned about is I don’t know if I’m going to have room for a china cabinet now.. and I can definitely use the extra storage space as the kitchen doesn’t have a pantry or many cabinets.  We got the table just in time for our HUGE first family Thanksgiving dinner.  We are having my parents, both grandmas, Adam’s parents, his sisters and their husbands, his 2 nieces, and his dog nephew which is also Henderson’s brother.  Full house!!  Everyone is staying with us except his parents and they are staying at a very nearby hotel.  This will be the first time our families have met, so we are hoping for the best and are excited for everyone to finally meet.

The biggest news of all though is my NEW car.  After almost 10 years and 105k miles, I finally traded my car for a 2012 Limited Highlander.  I just got it Friday and so far I love it.  It’s black with black leather interior and has Navigation, 4 wheel drive, and lots of other bells and whistles.  I’m sure I will love it as much as my Escape.

I also broke tradition and did something I said I’d never do (never say never, right?).  We bought a new 9’ Christmas tree over the weekend and I decorated it last night.  (As well as a 6’ tree for the dining room that’s all decked out in WVU ornaments.)  I just thought with everyone coming it’d be nice for them to see my trees because let’s face it, it’s a lot of work!!  So, there’s still a ton to do before Wednesday when everyone comes here, so Happy Thanksgiving to all!  Enjoy your families and hope you get lots of great deals on Black Friday/Thursday.    



September Travels

The month of September was a blur.  It started out with FINALLY a trip to West Virginia for Labor Day.  I thought that by living 10 hours closer to home I would get to actually go home more often.. so far, that hasn’t been the case.  We headed to Princeton Friday after work with Mr. Henderson in tow.  It was a nice, somewhat relaxing and low key weekend with my parents, grandma and Miss Abbie.  I was super-excited to have tickets to the WVU/Marshall game in Morgantown that Sunday for several reasons but was really excited to get to take Adam to Morgantown for the first time and his first WVU home football game.  We went to the WVU/LSU game in Baton Rouge last September but it was just not the same thing as being at Mountaineer Stadium. 

We got up early and set out for Morgantown for the 3:30pm game.  All day they were calling for severe storms but up to halftime, the sky looked overcast but decent.  About 10 minutes into the 3^rd quarter, they called for an evacuation of the stadium due to seeing lighting in the distance.  About the time all 65k fans got out of the stadium, a massive rain and lightning storm hit the stadium area.  Lightning was ALL around.. pretty crazy.  The rain was coming down so hard it looked like a monsoon.  We stayed huddled beneath the stadium for about an hour and then looked up at the sky and saw a break in the storm clouds and made the decision to run for the car.  About halfway to the car, the monsoon hit again and we got drenched.  I figured by the time we got to the car they would be ready to start the game again.  No such luck.  We actually listened to the game broadcasters the whole way back to Princeton and when we pulled in the driveway around 10:30pm, the 2 coaches had agreed to call the game.. Luckily, WV was stomping Marshall J   

Monday we headed back to TN and had the pleasure of driving thru the lovely storm produced from Tropical Storm Lee.  Chattanooga actually set a record for the most amount of rain received in a 24-hour period – about 13”.  It was enough rain to earn us a 2-hour delay in going to work the next morning… which we needed after all our driving!!

Last Tuesday, I flew down to Baton Rouge for college recruiting festivities at LSU.  That was my first time going back since I moved… it was really strange to be back in LA.  I definitely do not miss the scorching heat and miserable humidity.  I drove around our old neighborhood and they are still building houses like crazy in there.  I saw 2 guys working in the yard at my house, I hope they have better luck with the flowers than I did, hah.  After I finished up interviewing on Friday, I flew to Atlanta to meet Adam.  We arranged to be on the same evening flight to Phoenix.  I had to be in AZ anyway that next week and his older brother Jason lives in Phoenix so he decided to go spend the weekend out there with him and it gave us some time away together too.  We got into Phoenix late Friday night and it felt even later with the 3-hour time change. 

Saturday we had lunch at a very authentic Mexican restaurant and then drove around some of the million dollar neighborhoods in the mountains/valleys.  We hung around the house Saturday and then went to the Cheesecake Factory Saturday evening.  Sunday, Adam, Jason and I went for a “hike” on Camelback Mountain.  The name is derived from its shape, which resembles the hump and head of a kneeling camel.  I wasn’t quite prepared for Camelback!!  There are two hiking trails which ascend 1,280 feet to the peak of Camelback Mountain. The Echo Canyon Trail is 1.2 miles and the Cholla Trail is 1.4 mi.  Both trails are considered strenuous with steep grades. The hiking path has dirt, gravel, boulders and some handrail-assisted sections.  We attempted to get an early start before it got too hot but ended up getting there around 10am.  I explained to Adam that this hike is something you do on a first date when you’re trying to impress the other person.. but after 3 years of dating... I was way beyond ready to get off that mountain pretty soon after I saw how steep parts of it were!!! 

Lunch Saturday

Dinner at the Cheescake Factory

Camelback Mountain

Adam had to fly back Monday and then I headed to my hotel which was closer to Arizona State to catch up on some work.  Tuesday started the Career Fair and then Wednesday was interviews.  One of the engineers from the Charleston plant was out there with me to help with interviews; we went to some unique places for dinner and took a scenic drive and… I saw my first roadrunner!!  He was so TINY and fast!  We ended up eating dinner at this place called Rustler’s Roost which I would highly recommend to anyone that’s in the area.  It even had live country music for entertainment – much to my surprise – at one point I heard Country Roads playing!!  The restaurant had a great view over the city as well.

Thursday morning I flew back to Chattanooga.  After a quick unpack/repack stopover in Chattanooga, I flew back out Friday morning.  This time to Pittsburgh!  I had dinner with Jen and her new boyfriend in Pittsburgh before making my way down the interstate to stay the night with Jaime.  We scored tickets to the WVU/LSU game on Saturday.  That was the first time since Lauren’s wedding that Jen, Jaime, Lauren and I were all together.  It was so good to be reunited!  As an added bonus, I got to see Will!  We had not seen each other since Christmas 2009!  How does that happen?!  At least we do a decent job at staying in touch.   Even though WVU got their first loss of the season it was still a great time. 

Since I was already in WV, I was able to make it to my Grandma K's birthday lunch/party.  It was nice to get to spend a few days in WV; I don't think I've spent that much time there in a while.  It was extra fun because Abbie was there as well.  She is sooo much fun right now, she says the cutest stuff!  Tuesday-Thursday I had to go an Engineering Career Fair at WVU.  I think that was the first time I had been in the Engineering School.  I was pleasantly surprised at the competency level of the WVU Engineers.  I don't know what I was expecting.. :)

I got to visit with so many old friends; it was a great week in WV and very much needed.