A Proposal...

Today, May 18th, marks the 14th anniversary of the day Mike proposed to me. We celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary 10 days ago, and while discussing all that has changed in our lives since, I was reminded of how much fun Mike made the engagement for me and also realized that many of our friends and family don't actually know how he did it!

It all started as a multi-media, 10 Stage Multi with a diamond ring being the final cache. Yes, Mike was way ahead of his time creating this event a full 2 years before Geocaching was born and became another important part of our lives....

I was working part-time at a law firm in downtown Grand Rapids and had just finished my Junior year at Grand Valley State University. I left work as usual and reached my locked car, parked in the adjacent ramp, only to find that something looked awfully fishy. When I went to get into the car, there was my portable CD player sitting on the seat, a map, a pencil, a piece of paper with an anagram on it, and a CD with a note reading, "Play Me".

I truly had no idea what was going on but thought it would be fun to play along! So, I popped the CD into the player, turned up the volume on my old stereo, and heard Mike's voice come on (how did he manage that?!), telling me that a clue to solve the game could be found at the intersection of Plymouth St. and the unscrambled street on the piece of paper. So, I worked out the anagram, which was Michigan Ave., and headed over there. Once there, I found a piece of paper with another anagram nailed to a pole and the voice on the CD gave me another street. Off to another intersection I went! This continued on for quite some time, with me crisscrossing all over town, until I reached a particular intersection in Kentwood, where I checked every pole on every corner and there was...nothing. Nada. Zip. We had no cell phones at the time so I was completely lost as to what to do next!

All of a sudden, this old couple pulls up along side my car and they roll down their windows while motioning for me to do the same. I was baffled but did as they indicated anyway. I did not know these people but the little, elderly lady leans out of her window and says, "The clue you are seeking has sailed away with the breeze. The next clue that you are looking for is "East Beltline". Good luck!". Then, they drove away. I was dumbfounded. This was crazy....

So, I traveled to the last intersection, the East Beltline and Lake Eastbrook (given to me on the CD) only to find another piece of paper, but this one was different. It was a puzzle where I had to take certain letters from the anagrams I had solved and put it into the puzzle in order to reveal a secret message. It read, "Mountain Jacks". That's it. I was so confused but I then realized that Mike must be taking me out for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and wanted to surprise me! It was a full 2 hours since I had started this process and frankly, I was starving! My only reservation about heading straight over to this restaurant was that it was a pretty nice place and I wasn't exactly dressed in my Sunday best. Oh well, I was hungry and I definitely didn't want to go all the way home and back at this point, so I drove over, went inside and headed to the hostess stand.

The hostess was expecting me and showed me to my seat, where Mike was patiently waiting with a huge grin on his face. No sooner had I sat down, when up pops Mike, gets down on one knee, presents the ring and asks me to marry him. I was shocked, surprised and giddy! Of course I said yes! Then, I glance over and realize that there is a person literally hiding under the next table, in the dark, with a video camera....our friend, Justin. These 2 goons had been recording my every move the entire day without me having the slightest idea! So, this entire episode is on a VCR tape somewhere...I'll have to make a concerted effort to find it one day.

All in all, I've heard of some pretty great proposals, in some pretty great locations, but I think mine takes the cake. Thanks to my creative hubby, it's a day that I will definitely never forget! 

Snapshots of life...

We have been making progress on the new house but not enough to post any real before/after pictures. We've painted the living room, kitchen, hall and foyer thus far, with the dining room, library/office and master bath not too far on the horizon. We've painted almost all of the trim on the main floor, changed out all of the light switches, upgraded most of the lighting, replaced all of the bathroom fixtures, added window treatments to all bedroom windows and numerous other small projects. It's starting to feel more like home as we continue to add our own personal touches.

One of my favorite ways to personalize our space is adding photos. Mike gave me a wonderful photo-collage frame set for Mother's Day last year and I finally had an opportunity to use it! I decided to add photos that depicted many of the places that we have traveled to as a family in the past 3-4 years. I'm very happy with how it turned out!

How many different U.S. States are on display here?

I also have been admiring the picture ledges that I have been seeing in many catalogs and online. I figured that instead of spending the money that I could make them myself. With Mike's help, we made 2 - 4ft wooden picture ledges, painted them to match the trim and installed them above our piano. Love seeing our friends and family from virtually every spot on the main floor!

Are you on our wall? Still space for more photos!

I've always wanted to hang a collage of frames down the wall of our stairs. I was a little intimidated by the process but I found some great frames for a great price at IKEA and my idea started to take shape. I wanted to use some of my favorite photos that I've snapped during our travels and them get them printed to size. Here is the result....

Palm trees, sunsets and the bluest waters...

We have high ceilings in the new house and when we installed our bookcases in the office, the area above it just seemed so empty. I decided to use some old maps that we had laying around, cut them up and put them in frames. I used 5 different maps: a US map of Michigan to Florida (a favorite route), a aeronautical chart of Grand Rapids, MI, a collection of Caribbean islands, a road map of Eastern Iowa and a map of Barbados.

Everything has been coming together and the more we accomplish, the better I feel about the house and the space. The pictures and artwork really help! Just one more shot of the front foyer and hall so you can see how it's all coming together...

Ta-Da!

House for Sale!

Daddy & His Daughters

 The girls have been missing Daddy a lot while he's been away in Iowa. I was perusing some old pictures the other day and I thought that maybe I could grab some of just Mike with the girls. That way, I could create a little slideshow for not only the girls, but Mike as well. Enjoy!

Root, root, root for the TIGERS!

When it comes to sports, I grew up with a father who is addicted to them. Golf, hockey, bowling, football...you name it, my dad is knowledgeable enough about just about any sport to amaze the socks off of me. There is no way I would ever consider myself a "sports person"...

However, watching football and baseball, along with many other sporting contests on TV, with my dad, afforded me the opportunity to learn about the games, the rules, the players, etc. If I had to pick only one thing to take away from that experience, it would be my love of the Detroit Tigers.

I can remember my parents taking me to my very first game at Tiger Stadium. Seeing the field for the first time live and being enveloped by thousands of fans all there to share in the excitement of the game. We went several times while I was a kid and it had such a lasting impression on me. I can still remember one game where we were sitting out in right field, in the upper box seats, and the Tigers were playing the Oakland A's. Jose Canseco was standing on the field right below us and my Dad yells out, "Hey Jose!" and he turned around and looked up at us! I also remember going to have Alan Trammell autograph one of his baseball cards for me when he was in town for a special appearance and thinking it was the coolest thing ever...

So....Friday night the Tigers were on TV and Verlander was pitching, so I wanted to watch the game. The girls decided to watch it with me and were really into the game. Lauren asked me when they were going to get to see the Tigers play "for real" and I thought, why not? Tickets were still available for Saturday's game @ 4pm, and with a quick check-in with Mike, I bought us tickets and parking. I was over-the-moon thinking about taking my children to see the Tigers play for the first time....

The drive was uneventful, the parking a breeze and getting into Comerica Park was trouble free. We got drinks, found our seats, and settled into them for a great game of ball. Did I mention it was 95 degrees out? In Michigan? In September? We were a little warm but kept cool with plenty of drinks, several well placed clouds and a light breeze. The Tigers evidently forgot that we were coming though, because they were down 8-1 by the 5th inning. It was so bad that at one point, I yelled at Tigers Pitcher, Brad Penny, that his pitching was pathetic. Lauren then politely leaned over and asked, "Mom, what does it mean to be "pathetic"?"...oh boy. 

The Tigers rallied a bit but by the 7th inning, things weren't looking good. Not the team, but the weather. All the stadium lights were on and the sky was black. Lightning was flashing all around us and the wind started to really smash us. Trash was flying everywhere and hitting us in the face and eyes, sheets of rain were falling and they forced us out of the stands and onto the concourse level to wait out the crazy weather. Most people left. Like, over 90% of the people, but Mike said that we were sticking it out and I was secretly very proud of him for making that decision. We stood there with the other die-hards, dripping and disheveled.

After about 30 min, they allowed us to go back to our seats but since almost everyone had left, we grabbed the front row in our section, straddling 3rd base. Great seats, especially for the amazing plays that were to come. Needless to say, after 2 home runs in the 9th inning, the Tigers made a huge comeback and beat the Chicago White Sox in a game that I will never forget. It was AWESOME! And seeing the girls jumping up and down, cheering for the home team...PRICELESS!

 GO TIGERS!

A time of transition...

In my short 34 years, I have never even once thought of living in Iowa. Iowa? No. What's in Iowa? Corn, of course, and not much else. At least, that's what I've always thought. When aviation giant Rockwell Collins came calling though, we couldn't help but answer...

I have never lived anywhere but Michigan. Mike has the same story. Although we have both been through the state, I know that I have never personally gone to Iowa just for the sake of visiting. We'll now be calling Cedar Rapids home, which sounds odd to my ears, mostly because it's so similar to "Grand" Rapids.

 Grand Rapids Panorama

Like my hometown of Grand Rapids, MI, Cedar Rapids is the 2nd largest city in Iowa. It sits on the banks of the Cedar River and is a manufacturing hub, not only for the state, but the United States in general. While Grand Rapids is known as the "Furniture Capital", Cedar Rapids is the largest corn-processing city in the world. They are also:

• The second largest producer of wind energy in the United States
• One of the leading manufacturing regions in the United States
• One of the leading bio-processing and food ingredient centers in North America 

 Cedar Rapids, IA

Cedar Rapids is home to Rockwell Collins (one of the largest providers of aviation and information systems & services to governmental agencies and aircraft manufacturers), General Mills, Quaker Oats, Cargill and Nordstroms. They value technology and Midwestern values such as a strong work ethic, quality family time and an honest life. The schools are top notch and their parks and recreation options are pretty great too!

Like Grand Rapids, Cedar Rapids is a city with that small-town feel. And compared to the city of my birth, it is small. In the 2010 Census, the city population of Grand Rapids, MI was 188,040, the metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, (Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland) population of 1,321,557. Compare that to Cedar Rapids, IA where the city population was to 126,326 and the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor had an estimated population of 423,353. It's a big difference but not big enough that I feel like I'll be living in the boonies.

 Grand Rapids

It will certainly take some getting used to and some major adjustments in my mind, but I think that this new adventure will be good for our family and help us to appreciate what we have now and what could be in the future. I plan on writing here much more frequently to keep everyone updated! Stay tuned!

 

Cedar Rapids

The Top 5 Regrets That People Have When Dying

I ran across this article when a friend posted a link to it on Facebook. It really struck me. I get it. I need to be true to myself, let people know how I really feel, play harder than I work, treasure my friends and family and most of all, just allow myself to be happy. 

This really is what life is all about, or at least it should be....

Original Article on The Next Web

When Ms. Bronnie Ware, a woman who worked for years with the dying, wrote a list of the top 5 regrets people say aloud on their deathbed, we teared up a little bit here at TNW.
She posted the top 5 regrets along with her commentary on her website, and we’ve recopied them for you here below. But instead of just the grandmotherly bits of advice about dreams having gone unfulfilled, we’ve supplemented each regret with some rockstar advice on how to not have these regrets in the digital age.

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people have had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.
It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

TNW Advice: We interview so many entrepreneurs here at The Next Web, some of whom will succeed, most of whom will fail. But it’s about going out and creating a reality out of what was once just an idea in your head. Today, due to the Internet’s accessibility, smart people are discovering that instead of getting the next big paying cog-in-a-machine job that they are able to start their own company and they’re receiving a lot of satisfaction from doing so.

“Yesterday, I had an epiphany that for the first time in my life, who I am and who I want to be are virtually one in the same. It’s so much more effective to be yourself than to pretend to be something your not because doing the latter is so emotionally taxing, you’ll never be someone that is fully committed. Being yourself pays dividends.”
-Brett Martin, the CEO and Founder of Sonar, a hot new social, location-based mobile application.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.
By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

TNW Advice: We are really hard workers here at The Next Web, in fact, I am pretty sure that @Zee hasn’t slept in the past 36 hours. But being a Dutch-based company, our roots are in relaxation. We know how to unwind after hard days.

If you need some literary inspiration, read up on How To Disconnect, A Primer and The value in jumping off the social media train.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.
We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

TNW Advice: Expressing your feelings to loved ones and blogging or tweeting your thoughts are two different things. People often use Twitter as a soap box to express their anger or resentment over things they can not control. We’d like to take this time to remind you that as much as we love living in the virtual world, sometimes a hug, a long chat over a glass of wine or a phone call to a loved one far away is more valuable than any social media valuation, no matter how ludicrous.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.
It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

TNW Advice: At first glance, this is a relatively easy problem to tackle as social networks, namely Facebook, have allowed us to keep up with too many friends and social connections. My best friends always say, “Thank god for Facebook, because I know you’re alive.” And this is slightly concerning. My best friends have to follow me on Facebook to know I’m alive? Use Facebook to keep in quick contact with friends, but defer to real life for those that matter. Pokes, Likes and Comments are not the same as ladies’ lunches, beach trips and dinner parties. Make the time.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.
When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

TNW Advice: If you’re reading this, chances are you have a long way to go before you die. So, please, allow yourself to be happy. Smile in the sunshine, kick the ball around with your son, have a glass of wine with your wife in the afternoon, move to Argentina, buy yourself a Kindle for the love of reading; whatever it is, be good to yourself.

What's Happening?

I know that I haven't been doing a very good job of keeping up with my blog...it's sad. One of my favorite parts about blogging is being able to go back in time and read about what was happening at that time in our lives. Nothing to read if I don't write anything....

Life has been lazier than normal and although I've enjoyed it while it was here, I'm ready to get back into the swing of life. The girls have their first school Carnival this Saturday, which should be a lot of fun for the whole family! I have a new niece set to arrive any day now-so exciting- and we are traveling to Milwaukee soon to celebrate with my cousin, Kelsey, as she weds her handsome Brit.

Once April hits, life really starts to speed up. Spring break, Caribbean Cruise, Easter...and May is always crazy! I am honestly looking forward to all of it, especially the weather warming up, sunshine and the outdoors coming to life again. Winter is so dark and dreary that the brightness of Spring is like walking into a rainbow-too bad that pot of gold is never around! :-)

I'll leave you with a pic of the girls from Easter last year...it certainly makes me long for the brighter days ahead!

Keeping the Fairy Busy

The girls have been losing teeth faster than I even thought possible! Lauren currently stands at 6 and Tara is at 5. Their 2 permanent bottom teeth have come in but the ones on either side are still missing. Lauren's top 2 permanent teeth are just starting to poke through and I think that they will be in soon! And, on top of that, they are just starting to get their 6 year molars popping up as well!

Now, Daddy has had the "pleasure" of pulling or removing all the girls teeth for them. Honestly, I think the girls are super brave and have personally asked Mike to pull each tooth when it got too bothersome for them or painful while eating.

However, while I was helping Tara remove her sweater on Monday, her upper lip got stuck on her loose tooth and yanked it upwards. I don't think it felt very good...poor thing! So, I had the tremendous task of pulling it out for her. Yay. Not.

Those who know me know that I am not a "blood" person. I usually feel like fainting (and I have) or throwing-up (that too) at the sight of blood. I think I handled the tooth removal pretty well but the blood almost did me in...blah.

So, The Tooth Fairy has been making frequent stops to the house to exchange those little, white nuggets for gold, shiny ones. The Fairy leaves a $1 golden coin and a Chuck E. Cheese token each time. Who would have thought? I remember getting a big, silvery .50 cent piece from The Tooth Fairy when I was little and I thought it was the coolest thing!

What did The Tooth Fairy leave under your pillow?

Wordless Wednesday: Daddy/Daughter Dance 2011

My three blue-eyed babes...

Another Project Completed!

Kitchen as it looked when we bought it... (2009)

Kitchen in May 2010 after just about everything had been replaced...

Kitchen after this past week!

No more drop ceiling or florescent shop lights for us!

Projects, projects, projects...there's always more "projects" to be completed than we have the time, money or energy for. The kitchen, in particular, was pretty much complete after we gutted it back in '09. We finally added the mosaic stone and glass backsplash in the middle of last year but there was still one main thing left to do. It was really bugging us that the kitchen still had the original lighting and drop ceiling look of the early 80's. 

So....it was "Good Bye!" to the transparent light tiles, the drop-ceiling tracks, the ugly fluorescent shop lights and the bulkhead that separated the kitchen from the eating area (which was the most work). We had a lot of demo, even more drywall and patching work, new electrical, a couple gallons of paint and primer, and a lot of measuring! We installed new recessed lighting fixtures and a new light bar with pendants over the island and sink. We also replaced the outdated gold & tulip ceiling fan above the kitchen table, which was immediately more soothing to the eyes...at least mine anyway!

I'm so happy with how it all turned out and that we can now cross off one of the "big" items from "The List". I also have to say that without my handy hubby, none of this would be possible. I'm so grateful for his know-how, willingness to learn to do something new and be patient with me as I change my mind 10x before settling on the final option. I think we make a great team.... :-)