As I approach my third trimester it seems like I am either at my doctors office or the ultrasound office at least once a week. It’s crazy to think that from here out we will see either the doctor or the ultrasound tech every week until they get here. It’s so weird to think that the boys are considered high-risk even though I feel great and they are both right on track. High risk equals lots of attention and I will never complain about extra attention!

Last Friday, we had our 23 week growth check for the boys and cervix check for me. I was under the impression that I was done being probed for ultrasounds but apparently the state of your cervix is very important for high risk births and mine will have to be routinely checked from here on out, lucky me! I am happy to report that I have a “beautiful cervix” which basically means it is long and closed which is a good sign that I will not go into early labor. Ideally, they want the cervix to measure at or above 2.5 cm and I measure at 4 so the ultrasound tech was really impressed. I wonder if I could become a cervix model? Prior to this ultrasound, the boys were in kind of yin-yang positioning with one head facing down and the other up in my ribs, but baby B did a complete 180 and now they are both downward facing which explains the extra pressure I feel on my bladder and why I had to get up 6 times in one night to use the restroom. This positioning is a step in the right direction for me to have a natural birth so that is all good news!

After I was done being violated, while my husband watched no less, we got to see the boys! And OMF-ingG they look completely different at 22.5 weeks than they did at 19.5. Not gonna lie, at 19.5 weeks they were a little creepy looking – all skin and bones, no chubby cheeks or distinguishing features. Now they look like little boys with fat cheeks and little button noses. I may actually have a couple little chunkers on my hands as they both measured almost a week ahead in their growth and weight! I love fat babies. Like there is nothing cuter than a baby who’s fat rolls spill over themselves but I would prefer to not have to birth fat babies – you know just get healthy while you’re in me and then blossom into the cutest chunk ever  when you get to the outside world, be nice to your mom’s insides please!

Here’s the two best pictures from the ultrasound. Of course baby B would not sit still so his picture is a little blurry but I promise you he is perfection! Luke thinks baby A looks like a Prudence while baby B looks like a Leonard and I’m just relieved they look like babies!!

 

 

 

 

We go back in 4 weeks for another fancy ultrasound / growth check and I can’t wait to see how much they change between now and then!!

This week Luke has been busy preparing for a big presentation at work. He’s been waking up early to practice, practicing in his car on the way to work and the other night while I was at a happy hour with my girlfriends he made Jak & Zeus listen to his presentation. From the looks on their faces, Zeus thinks there’s room for improvement and Jak thinks it’s a home run! I can’t believe they just sat there without falling asleep while Luke talked about phasing on building an intersection for 15 minutes!

 

Here I am at 21 weeks, that belly is getting huge! I feel lucky that through over half my pregnancy I haven’t really felt pregnant yet. I haven’t had any morning sickness, I am still sleeping well, and for the most part my range of motion is still in tact. At my 20 week appointment my doctor told me that my blood test came back showing that I was borderline anemic so she prescribed me an iron supplement and said that it might help with my energy levels. Lack of energy is the only thing I am full on experiencing so hopefully the iron helps. I am expecting the not-feeling-only-looking-pregnant state I am in to come crashing down when I start my third trimester in April but am going to enjoy it while it lasts and hope it lasts through our vacation to Hawaii in 2 weeks!

I haven’t had any super weird cravings either. I ate an avocado a day the entire month of February and often crave cottage cheese with peaches. Those are both on the healthy side which I happily accept. On the other side of the spectrum, I would happily make my entire diet pizza, vanilla ice cream and potato based but I know that I have to fight the urge! I wish moderation were an option when it comes to these cravings but if there’s a pizza, gallon of ice cream or bag of potatoes in our house I will devour them as soon as they can be prepared.

OMG. I totally forgot (momentarily) that today is Zeus’s third birthday!! The goose and my dad share the same birthday, how cool is that? My dad and mom celebrated my dad’s birthday in Marsall Islands yesterday because they are a day and a half ahead of us, weird right?

I can’t believe that the sweet peanut below:

 

Turned into the wild goose he is today! In dog years, Zeus turns 21 today which explains his recent interest in drinking all things alcoholic. I imagine his 21st birthday will go something like this:

 

Drink until he passes out and then spend the next day recovering in his favorite pillow:

It’s no surprise that Zeus and my dad have a special kinship being born on the same day and all. The first time they met they both fell asleep on the couch. Zeus was woken by my dad’s snoring and instead of moving to a quieter spot he snuggled closer and looked adoringly at my dad like, “you are my soul mate.” Every time my dad is in town they have a snuggle session / snore-off on the couch and subject the rest of us to their concert. I will admit, though, that they are getting pretty close to harmonizing!

 

I’m thinking Friday the 13th can’t be that bad if two of my favorite guys will be celebrating their birthdays! Happy Friday to all of you and I hope you have an amazing weekend, we sure plan to!

 

I posted this dresser in my WIWW post about nurseries stated that it was wayyyyyyyyyyyyy over our budget. Luke had the idea to find one on Craig’s list to refinish so I set out on the search to find the perfect cheap jewel in the rough. In the mean time, Luke went searching for DIY plans online. At about the same time I haggled down a dresser to a reasonable price on CL, Luke had found plans online and called his dad to schedule a build date. When I told Luke I got the CL dresser down to $125 from $250 he got excited but then realized he had gotten himself and his dad way more excited about building their own dresser to change plans. I happily obliged as I wanted to see if the Leonard men were as handy as I heard. On a Friday morning I left for work with nothing but a stack of wood and Rich & Luke strategizing then came home 8 hours later to this:

 

I couldn’t believe they actually did it! And in only a day! I was impressed and so were the neighbors. On a walk with Zeus later that week one neighbor stopped me to introduce himself and then asked me, “so did your husband build or refinish that dresser?” When I told him Luke built it, he was immediately impressed and I was beyond proud. At that moment I realized I had married myself a real life Ron Swanson.

It turns out that building the dresser was the easy part – it took the next month to find time to prime, paint and stain the dresser. One weekend Luke had to work so no progress was made. The next weekend it was supposed to rain so we didn’t want to move the dresser into the open only to get rained on, but of course it didn’t rain at all. Valentines weekend we managed a little bit of work but then my parents came into town so having fun won out over work. Last weekend Luke finally had the time to put all the pieces together and it came out amazing, definitely worth the wait!

Here’s a few pictures from the journey. Let me note, though, that Luke gets all the credit for this masterpiece even though I am the one in the pictures!

 

I spent Valentine’s morning filling and sanding the frame of the dresser getting it ready for paint while Luke stained the drawer fronts. This was the only day and activity I was allowed to partake in because Luke didn’t want me inhaling the fumes from the stain and paint. I don’t know if I’m actually supposed to stay away from that stuff but any time Luke gives me an out I take it! It was a beautiful day so between coats I sat in the grass in the front yard, read a book and watched Luke work. It was splendid!

 

This is proof of me working and also proof of pregnancy brain in full effect. I can’t even put my shirts on right side out. Oh well, at least I could still bend over at this point!

 

There aren’t many things in life that Zeus hates, but the air compressor and impact drill are in the top 5. Luke had to use both to finish painting and attach the drawer fronts to the dresser which is why Zeus looks so terrified. We figured that the boys would be pulling the drawers out in a few years to climb to the top of the dresser so we used Zeus as a tilt test and the dresser passed! Luke built, Zeus approved!

 

It took us a long time to decided on which kind of knobs to use for the dresser but then one magical morning while drinking coffee and trolling the internet in bed, Luke stumbled across these sleeping fox knobs from Anthropologie and we instantly knew they were meant to be. Our nursery theme is woodland so these are the perfect subtle accent to tie the dresser into the rest of the room. Anthropologie, as everyone knows, does not run cheap so Luke made sure to point out that the hardware cost as much as the rest of the raw materials. I made sure to point out that he was the one who found them so it was his fault! Either way, the knobs are the icing on the cake.

The finished product! I still can’t believe Luke and his dad built this, it’s absolutely stunning and exactly what I wanted. What makes it even more special is that someday the boys will appreciate that their dad and grandpa built that dresser with their own hands! However, Luke and Rich have opened a can of worms they may soon regret. Now that the family knows they can build furniture nicer and cheaper than anything found in a store they are going to be really busy fulfilling all of the orders. Luke’s “build the wife stuff” list tripled after this dresser came out so perfectly!

 

 

In this What I Want Wednesday post I listed the pottery barn grey rocker as inspiration for our nursery, but at $1100 (before it went on sale) plus a couple hundred more for the ottoman I couldn’t quite justify the purchase. I kept imagining the twins puking, pooping, peeing and slobbering all over it as babies and then using it as some sort of catapult when they got older. I also had the hubbyboo in my ear insisting I was crazy for even thinking of spending that kind of money on a chair while also insisting he could probably build one for $10. Then one magical day while Luke was trolling the internet he found this rocker on sale for almost half off along with a matching ottoman. At that price we of course had to buy two more swivel gliders for the front room. All in we bought 4 pieces of furniture for less than the original rocker I wanted which is a total steal! I couldn’t argue with that bargain and was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the items when they arrived. Zeus, as you can imagine, thinks we bought him 4 new chairs and can’t decide which one he likes best. We’ve been practicing rocking in the nursery and he has decided that he needs the ottoman more than my legs do. We’ll see how long he sticks around the nursery when crying babies are inserted into the picture.

I don’t know who I am anymore. Usually nothing stands in the way of something that I decide I want. I will lie, cheat and steal (or most likely work really hard and save) to obtain the material possessions I so desire. But then I married Luke, got knocked up and turned into a compromising, bargain hunting, thrifty breeding machine. It’s wild! I am very proud of myself for choosing the bargain over the splurge and have told myself that I have a splurge saved up since I made the practical choice in this situation!

On Wednesday, Luke organized a happy hour with his cousins so when I got home from work I realized I had about 1.5 hours of solitude before he would get home. Then I realized I didn’t have anything pressing to do, I could do whatever I wanted. This scenario never happens and I know it will happen even less when the boys get here. I decided to full advantage of my circumstances by taking a bath, reading a book I’ve been trying to finish since Christmas and enjoying the peace and quiet while I could. Zeus had other ideas:

http://youtu.be/6D2T8942UFg

Zeusy couldn’t fathom that I could come home from work and promptly ignore him for another hour. He needs pets and love and your undivided attention even if he’s sitting on your lap to play with Jak. Poor deprived Zeusy. The video looks like I am making him be obnoxious but I promise for the 10 minutes before the video he would take a lap around the house, run in the bathroom, bark at me and repeat. I regained the peace and quiet by giving him the cap to the shaving cream to chew on. I’m going to be a great parent – hey kid you’re bothering the crap out of me right now but I’m too lazy to discipline you so here’s something shiny to distract you while mom reevaluates her life decisions! When I showed the video to Luke he was proud of Zeus because he thought Zeus was trying to get me out of the bath because I was over cooking the twins. I can’t win with those two!

Not a whole lot else happened this week but we did receive some furniture we ordered for the nursery & play area. We have this big empty area in front of our fire place that we’ve been debating how to fill. Originally, we were going to make it a “sophisticated” seating area with leather club chairs and a bearskin rug or something really really cool like that but then I got knocked up and plans, of course, change. I noticed that from the kitchen I could see straight through to this area so I thought a nice rug, a window seat with storage for toys and a glider would make a nice play area where I can be in the kitchen and watch the boys at the same time. It will also be nice to be able to rock the boys in the living room and not always have to go to their room. That’s my thought process anyway. I’ll post some pictures of the progress – it’s so exciting that our house is coming together.

Luke and his dad are going to start working on the nursery this weekend and I am going to bake something delicious. Those are my only plans so I’m hoping a whole lot of nothing also takes place!

Believe it or not but I can’t think of an entire post of things I want for this Wednesday so I figured I’d give the people what they want – bump pictures!

I can’t believe that by the end of this week I will be halfway through this pregnancy! Thank god it has flown by because I am otherwise pretty unimpressed with pregnancy. I don’t feel like a goddess experiencing the growth of life within. I feel like my body is a vessel being held hostage to procreate and carry on the human race.

The good news is that my belly finally “popped” so I look legit pregnant. Before, it really was just a beer belly and when I would bend over I would just have rolls on rolls on rolls but now it’s just a big bubble. One big bubble of boys bending over, lying down, trying to function as a normal human being. Luke is obsessed with tracking the disappearance of my belly button and he’s happy to report that it’s almost gone. I am glad one of us is getting a kick out of all of this. I am still horrible at taking pictures but here are the few that I have.

16 Weeks: This picture is a repeat but surprise surprise I didn’t take any solo bump pics during the gender reveal party. At the gender reveal is the first time I really felt I looked pregnant and that dress really emphasized the bump!

 

17 weeks: I almost actually like how I look in this picture. Like, the bags under my eyes have almost subsided which means I must be close to obtaining that second trimester glow? I won’t mention that those pants used to be boyfriend style slouchy pants but are now my skinny jeans, but at least they’re not maternity pants! They’re my last pair of non-maternity jeans that fit! I finally found a benefit to my lack of energy – fewer showers! When I used to work out 4-5 times a week I had to shower AND wash my hair almost everyday, but now that my workouts consist of sometimes walking to the end of the street and back my showers have drastically reduced and I only have to wash my hair once a week as it’s not getting sweaty and greasy. Finally an upside to pregnancy!

 

18 weeks: Poor Luke, as simple as this picture is this it’s the 10,000,000th variation of it. I think we notice different things when it comes to pictures of me. I focus on the number of chins I have (it should only be one), shadows on my face, and how my body looks while I think he focuses on the background and lighting. I don’t really care about the background and lighting if I look like a gremlin. We are working through our creative differences and I think we’ll have a good model / photographer relationship soon!

19 Weeks: This is a perfect example of a self timed portrait gone wrong, but it’s the best picture we have of the two of us on valentines and the only picture we have during week 19 so I opted to share. Luke was so sweet to me on valentines day! He knew I was struggling with buying maternity clothes so he bought me a whole bunch of casual tops and comfy stuff to wear around the house. He even bought all of it before my What I Want Wednesday Post on maternity clothes, what a guy. Our day  was perfect, we had coffee in bed while scouring pinterest for nursery ideas, opened our presents, took our furry children for a long walk, I made him a waffle breakfast fit for a king and then we worked on a project for the boys all day outside in the sun. That night Luke took me out for Italian because he knows I’m a carbaholic and we ended the night sharing a nice bottle of wine with my parents who came into town to say their goodbyes before flying out to the islands that following Monday. I loved that we did all of the things we love doing together on Valentines as it was our last valentines before parenthood and next year we’ll have two chunky nuggets tagging along.

20 weeks: Yes, I realize there is a baby in the way of my bump, however, he is the cutest baby ever so I have to constantly work him into my blog. All you need to know is that at 20 weeks my bump is the size of real life 3 month old hoe-tie named Harrison. I got some quality time with HBomb and his parents this weekend and I enjoyed every minute of it. Kiel and Sydney were excited to be able to get ready at the same time on Sunday before breakfast so I was on full time Harrison duty. He was quite the fussy mess when Kiel handed him over and the only thing that would keep him quiet was me walking up and down Kiel’s street. After the first lap,  I noticed the kid was cold so I went inside to wrap him up. He screamed his head off the entire time so I only managed to get pants on him and skipped the socks and jacket. The minute we stepped back outside he was quiet. On the fourth lap, a neighbor said to me “your baby is cold.” Thank you captain obvious child expert! I said “yeah but is he asleep?” and the neighbor replied, “well yeah, he’s completely out.” Score! I managed to get Harrison asleep! At the same time Kiel came out of the house looking for his kid wondering if his psycho sister had run off with his baby. I was so proud of myself I had Kiel take the above picture. Kiel also taught me how to change a diaper and give a bath this weekend which means I am an expert now!

So that’s where I am at on the bump progress. I wish being the size of a normal 7 month pregnant lady would equate to me giving birth in 2 months rather than 4 but I think I’ll have to wait it out and give birth in the middle of a beautiful Arizona summer!

There’s not a lot to report on Zeus this week as he’s been hitting the bottle pretty hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIza50PyECk

So I’ll give you ultrasound news and pictures instead!

On Thursday we had our 20 week fancy ultrasound appointment so we got to see the boys for 2 hours! At this appointment they reviewed all of the anatomy to make sure everything is functioning as designed. I’m happy to report that our boys, at this point, will not be getting a recall from the manufacturer – they are perfection! We saw their eyes, ears, mouth and toes as well as brains, hearts, bladders and kidneys. I’m still so impressed anyone can tell the difference in the ultrasound images but hey if you tell me my kids are perfect I’m going to believe you!

True to form, baby AA was sweet as can be, peaceful and still – we got his images done in record time but his counterpart BB was a wild man and it took us 15 – 20 minutes longer to get his images because he was a wiggle worm. I think it’s fascinating at each of our appointments how the boys’ dispositions during the ultrasound have remained consistent. I’m curious to see how much of each of their personalities displayed will translate to life outside my uterus. The technician referred to AA as an over achiever and that’s how I know Luke is the father of my babies!

Another crazy thing is how much closer they are to each other now. At the 12 week ultrasound they were clearly separate and appeared to have a lot of space to stretch out and do their own thing. Now they are on top of each other. I’m sure they can smell each other’s breath and farts and that there’s not much room to be discreet. I have no idea where they’re going to get the room to finish their growing…they don’t even weigh a pound each yet! My poor body, I look like I’m 6-7 months pregnant and I’m actually just finishing up my fourth month! I know I’m huge because when my 7 months pregnant sister in law, Bri, sent us a recent belly picture my jaw hit the floor when I saw that we were pretty much the same size. Bri, though, has figured out how not to turn into a house during pregnancy and Erin over here is just eating her way through life while growing twins. I try not to compare or put myself on a scale of where I think I should be or what I should look like, I clearly have no reference point, but it is really hard not to.

Ok so here as some pictures of the boys. Yes, I know the 4D ones are creepy, but I’m their mom so I have to say “OMG, aren’t they the cutest things in the world?! At 20 weeks they are mostly penis and nose. They’re so skinny and look like little bony alien salamanders (but cute ones?) which means I probably need to eat more carbs and ice cream right?

First up, baby AA:

And now, Baby BB. His images are a little less clear as the kid can’t sit still:

Luke has to work all weekend so I am going down to Tucson to love on Harrison (and his parents) and I’m also going to drop by the grandparents house to show off the belly and give them a big hug and thank you for our stroller. It’s been a weird week knowing my parents are half way across the world now but I’m super grateful the rest of my family is still a short drive away in Tucson – I just need to train them to spoil me like my mom does!

…I totally thought today was Wednesday but good news it’s Thursday!

It’s finally time to start decorating the nursery and I couldn’t be more excited. However, of course, there is some boring work like dry wall, painting, and electrical to be done before the fun begins . The people we bought our house from added a closet to the room we are using as the nursery but failed to finish the inside of the closet so there’s exposed electrical and beams which is against code and knowing that our nuggets will be curious like their dad the less exposed electrical the better! I tried my hand at dry-walling when Luke and I ( I add I to this sentence very loosely) built a walk-in closet in our last home. My job was to hold the dry wall in place while Luke screwed it in – that ish is heavy and my little noodle arms are not that strong! Then there’s the endless process of covering the seams and sanding down and covering the seams and sanding down – they make it seem so less time consuming on tv. After that experience, I am happy to have my father in law help with the dry walling while we are in Hawaii. He’s also going to paint and do a few other to-dos for us while we’re gone. I sure hit the jack pot when it comes to in laws -and, no, we are not willing to share him!!

Girls, boys or one of each, Luke and I agreed we wanted a rustic vibe to the nursery. That gradually evolved into a woodland theme to complement the rustic finishes but then recently we have been getting into the mid-mod look of furniture and accessories. Combining those three elements ought to turn out interesting but definitely unique. Thankfully, babies don’t know any better when it comes to style so if the nursery completely bombs no one will care but us me.

1. Mid-mod two tone dresser: Originally, I was going to use the 6 drawer white Ikea dresser we currently have in our bedroom but when we measured the amount of space the dresser plus to cribs was going to take up we quickly decided we needed something a little smaller. Mid mod isn’t something I would have even considered before but I like how the white frame would tie in with the cribs we plan on getting and the wood drawers will tie in with the other rustic finishes I have up my sleeve. However, this is 100% over our budget of $0 so I’m on the hunt for something a little cheaper.

2. Campfire Night Light: I mean come on, how cute is this? No night light should cost $60 but unless I can find a cheaper alternative this might be a little splurge. I mean who can say they change diapers by the light of a campfire every night?

3: Rocker: Love this over priced rocker from Pottery Barn Kids. Not sure how it will go with dresser but I’ll figure out how to tie the two together. And again with the price point! Why is everything kid related at least a 125% mark up?

4. Mobile: So precious. I wish I had the skills to make myself but I can barely use a hot glue gun without burning myself or gluing something to my work surface. I think I will leave it to the experts.

5. Deer head: We already have this from a gallery wall we had out our old house so I will re-purpose it in the boys room. However, how awesome would this be covered in gold glitter if we ended up having a girl?

6: Ikat area rug: Budget restraints are keeping me from replacing the carpet in the boys room so I figure I’ll just get an area rug to cover it up. I am feeling the Ikat print and just need to find the right print / color to bring the room together. This will probably be one of the last pieces I get.

Do any of you have suggestions on other must haves for a nursery or any cheaper alternatives to the over price items I’ve picked out above? I’d love to hear so leave a comment!

The twins  Zeus received a lot of gifts this week and so far he approves of all of them. Kiel and Sydney got me one of those magical body pillows for Christmas and I just started using it this week! Now that I have been sleeping with it, I wonder why I waited so long. At first Zeus was apprehensive but by week’s end the pillow was his.

We also received a b.o.b double jogging stroller from my grandparents and it is amazing. While Luke was assembling the stroller Zeus was stand offish and a little freaked out – he probably thought we got another monster (vacuum). Once assembled, I had Luke place Zeus in one of the seats totally expecting him to jump right out. Instead he did a little turn and plopped down. He then let me roll him in circles around the living room. I called my grandpa and told him we should have ordered a triple stroller because now one of the twins is out of luck!

Next week we have our 20 week fancy ultrasound AND our 20 week check up with our doctor which means we get to see the boys twice in one week! I promise to do a bump pic update and a baby growth progress update – hopefully with a couple really creepy detailed ultrasound pictures.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and that your valentine remembers it’s Valentines day!! ❤

More so than ever I have been finding myself wondering “how did we get here?” I day dream a lot, especially at work when my options are working on an account reconciliation or remembering my wedding day.I think it’s because Luke and I are entering a new chapter of our lives into unknown territory where we have no control and are forced to have a little faith. This is hard for us because we like control and feel like we can create the outcome we want from taking control from planning to execution. Babies don’t operate like that. Anyways, when I’m not trying to get control back I find myself thinking about all of things that had to align to put Luke and I in the position we are today.

So this is a series I am going to start to fill in the gaps between all the big baby news. Kind of like an in-depth throw back Thursday starting with our engagement on June 15,2013 working our way to present day Erin getting as big as a house….here we go:

How Did We Get Here: The Engagement

I had been wondering for awhile when Luke was going to propose. I mean we had talked about marriage and agreed that we were end game, I showed him what kind of ring I wanted, we were already living together and had a baby together (Zeus) so it was just a matter of making it official and green lighting the wedding planning. There were a few times when I thought it was going to happen but then nothing transpired so I tried my best to let it go.

Then one week in the middle of June 2013 he started acting all weird. He was super clingy and constantly professing his love to me which I was used to during the first part of our relationship when he was on the road but I thought we had gotten used to the situation so it was a little unexpected and a lot annoying. I kinda thought he was going to blindside me with something like he got the bar maid in Safford pregnant but I just went with it and told myself I was being an ungrateful beeyotch. June is hot in Phoenix so Luke suggested we go hiking up North that weekend to get out of the heat and explore. It sounded great to me and I excitedly invited my cousin, Dani, who was living with us for the summer. When I told Luke I invited Dani he said “oh really, I was hoping it would just be us…” That was really out of character for him – he’s usually a more the merrier type of guy so I had to figure out how to un-invite my sister-cousin-roommate.

The Friday before we were set to hike it was my best friend, Shaina’s, birthday so we went out with her and a few friends for margaritas. As soon as we sat down Luke ordered a pitcher of margaritas and a round of patron shots. Luke and I play this game where whoever gets drunk first doesn’t have to drive. I always win, but that night Luke was drunk before I could even order a drink. It was especially odd since I thought that I should be celebrating with my friend but instead I was on the sidelines watching Luke get hammered with my bestie. On the drive home Luke started rambling and then looked at me and said, “what do you want from me? You know I’ll give you anything.” He then proceeded to empty his wallet out on the floor of my car, giving me everything he had. I for sure thought there was no way we were getting up at 6 am to go hiking as planned.

6 am sharp Saturday morning Luke sat up in bed, shook me awake and told me to hurry up because we were already running late. I was shocked he was alive much less functioning at such a high level. I still technically hadn’t told Dani she was uninvited so I left the house without saying anything to her. I justified it in my head by saying “there’s no way she wanted to get up that early to go hiking since she got home from work so late…” What a jerk move. Luke drove us north along the beeline highway to Barnhardt trail head which is about 20 minutes south of Payson. The trail was beautiful and we were the only people on it. However, I was nursing a foot injury from the week before when riding my bike home from happy hour with Dani and Luke I mistook a curb for a driveway, plowed into the curb and flew off my bike. I was wearing sandals and somehow managed to gouge a big chunk out of my foot. I hobbled along the best I could to keep up with Luke who seemed to be on a mission. At the top of the trail there was this beautiful waterfall and it was actually green and shady. I was looking forward to a break but Luke was insistent that we get going back before it got too hot. OK boss!

On the way down, Luke took off way ahead of me and left me hobbling all by myself down the mountain. I was about to yell at him when he turned back and started walking toward me. He looked terrified. Like he had just made eye contact with a ferocious mountain lion terrified. I asked him what was wrong and that’s when he got down on one knee. My mind went blank. I remember pulling his sunglasses off his face and then mine so we could look into each other’s eyes but far as what he said I only remember bits and pieces. I’m pretty sure “you’re my lobster,” “you make me happy,” and “will you be my wife” were in there somewhere. I said “YES!!!” and then Luke attempted to put the ring on, but my fingers were so swollen from hiking that he could barely manage. No squishy fingers were going to get in the way of me and my ring though so I finally jammed it on successfully. I walked the entire rest of the way down the mountain staring at my ring and marveling at how many things I could make its shiny-ness reflect off.

 

Side story 1 about my ring: I just looked down to marvel at my rings and their perfection and they weren’t there! I always wear my rings because my mom and Luke told me I was too forgetful to do otherwise…. but oh yeah, I took them off yesterday to pull weeds. Life after marriage is not so glamorous!

Side story 2 about my ring: When I told Luke about the type of ring I wanted, I had a vision but no actual reference. He scoured the internet and finally told me, “you know that ring doesn’t exist right?” I said, “it has to, it’s what I want.” Fast forward 6 months and we’re in New York in January 2014 for a wedding when Luke asks me if I want to run an errand with him. I couldn’t imagine what kind of errand he had to run in New York but I agreed. He took me to a walk up apartment in what appeared to be the ghetto only to find a custom jewelry designer who could make the exact ring I wanted! When I asked Luke about her he said “I know you’ve always dreamed of living in New York and whether or not that dream comes true, I want you to always have a piece of New York with you.” Swoon. If that’s not romantic I don’t know what is. After that trip to New York I was sure that we were getting engaged any minute. Fast forward 3 months to when Luke was ready to buy the ring but when he emailed the jeweler he got an automatic reply “Am on vacation for the next 2 months.” Can’t even be mad at someone who can vacation for two months and still afford to live in NYC.So fast forward another 3 months to when Luke was finally able to get a hold of her, pick out a diamond and design the ring and  we’re back on top of the mountain newly engaged!

When we got back to the car I asked Luke if we could call my mom first. This is how the conversation went:

Me: Hi mom guess What????!!!

Mom: What?

Me: We’re engaged!!!!

Mom: What are you doing in Paige?

Me: No, mom, we’re engaged.

Mom: I know you’re in Paige but why?

Me: Mommmmmmmmmmm, Luke asked me to marry him and I said yes!

Mom: Are you sure that’s what he asked you?

Me: Yes, mom, god act excited.

Mom: I am but I am so confused. Did he give you a ring, is this for real?

Me: OK, well we got a million other people to call so I’ll call you back.

Talk about not getting the reaction you were expecting. I think we blindsided her and she was in complete shock.We were expecting crying, shouting, and pure joy and my poor mom couldn’t say a word. She called back later after everything registered and settled in and she was excited then, but from her initial reaction I really thought she didn’t want me marrying Luke!

We called everyone else and got the reactions we were expecting and then we set off to enjoy the day!

When we got home I went to find Dani and found her in bed still asleep from the night before – oh to be 22 and able to party until 3 and sleep past noon. I shook her awake, and she said with a confused frown “I thought I was going hiking with you?” I didn’t say anything just jammed my ring in her face. She jolted awake, sitting straight up and gave me the biggest hug. I was so happy she understood. Had I come home ring-less I would still be the biggest jerk on the face of the planet.

Luke and I were scheduled to go to his cousin’s birthday pool party. Luke said we could ditch it and continue our celebration but I knew Shaina was going to be there so I insisted we go so I  could show off my ring.

 

Later that night we went to Citizens Public House for dinner to celebrate and had one of the best meals of our lives. Who knows if the food was actually good but they gave us a free bottle of champagne and every one in the restaurant was genuinely excited for us. Before our waiter knew we were celebrating our engagement I asked him to take our picture. I placed my hand on the table to show off my ring and the waiter moved a bottle of water in front of my hand to get it out of  my face. I picked my hand up and waved it for the picture and then the waiter got the idea. He disappeared and returned with champagne. They were so nice to us that night that we took both sets of parents back there in the following weeks to celebrate.

The next day Luke took me to Tucson to celebrate with my mom and of course more Champagne was consumed. The engagement triggered a whirlwind year of wedding events and celebrating that we fully enjoyed and totally didn’t expect.