Really?

As everyone knows, I am picky. Really picky. There are few things I love when it comes to food (all of which are not good for me at all.) When there is nothing on a menu I like, I revert to the Chicken Fingers. Do I love them? No. Are they decent? Sure. Unless I am at Chili's. Their Chicken Crispers are a tiny bit of heaven (ignore creepy hand and really old looking corn).

Tonight Kate, Carolyn and I went dress shopping for Kate. She is getting married too! So fun! After that, we went to Chili's. I was looking forward to the deliciousness that are the Chicken Crispers.  When they came to the table, I was perplexed. I know there are a variety of chicken crispers now, but there have always been the original ones, my favorites.  As I looked down on my plate I questioned if the waitress wrote the order wrong. Had she given me the crispy ones (crispier than the normal "crispers"). When she came back I asked her and she said, "No, those are the original. We changed the recipe and make it with soda water now so they are not as fluffy." Seriously?!  The fluffy is what made them delicious and juicy. These are not the ORIGINAL ones, these are "new and improved" which are NOT better. I am so angry I want to write them a letter. Yes, I get emotional about things like this. Remember when they changed Coke to the "new formula?" Ew. I am still fuming about this. Although I ate almost all of the dinner (I WAS hungry and a girl has to eat) she took it off the receipt for me. That was nice, but I am still angry.

On another note, Bryan is in Portland and I don't like it. I am so used to seeing him everyday and it is weird not having him around. I am meeting him in Seattle on Thursday but I still don't like it. I miss him, which is weird because I just saw him this morning. The dogs are stalking me. Every step I move, Corona is right there with me. It is just bizarre not seeing him or the boys.

Off to watch American Idol!

Am I really getting married?

Every time I look down at my ring or I see "Engaged to Bryan Forrest" on Facebook, I am still in awe that it is ME that is engaged. Really?! How did this happen? How was I wedding dress shopping yesterday?  Sure, people think I am going a little nuts on planning already but I want to not be too overwhelmed, even though I already am. It is going to be hard not having hands on control of the planning since it is out of state, so I am working on the things I can control, like dresses.

Yesterday my mom and I went to David's Bridal. I was not planning on finding anything, or even liking the store since I heard it was trashy. I was pleasantly surprised. My girl was Amelia and I thought hey, I loved Amelia Bedelia as a kid, so I might like her. She was sweet and I really did like her. I tried on about 15 dresses, all which were so so. Nothing wowed me for a long time. I did find one I loved but worried it was too plain. I loved that it was under $450 but I was not ready to commit to it. It was funny because everything I thought I would love did not look good on me. Although I DID cry when they first put a veil on me. How am I getting married?!  It is all so surreal to me.

I stayed away from pricier dresses but then I saw one that was over budget but was calling to me. I tried it on and fell in LOVE. It is strapless which I was totally against but it is beautiful. It is in the catalog but looks NOTHING like the picture. I was shocked and in love. This surprised me because I did not think I would find one this quick. The hard part is David's Bridal is having a sale that was supposed to end on the 31st. It had been extended but they did not know for how long. The pressure of getting $200-$300 off was stressing me out. Plus, I needed my go to honest friend Carolyn to see it. She would tell me the truth. I called her and she could not come over but agreed to meet me that night.

When I told Amelia I still wanted to look around, she said to me, "Listen, when you met your fiance you just knew he was the one right? You did not go searching for other people did you?" I said, "No, but I dated a million people before him, and buying the first dress I love it like marrying my first boyfriend."  I told her I would be back with Carolyn that night.

In between appointment 1 and 2, my mom found out the sale is on until the 22nd. I then knew I had to go other places although I am pretty sure this is the "one." Carolyn still came with me and I am so glad she did. She thoughts of things I never would have, such as how it felt to sit down in it. How did it feel to dance in it (Thank you Carolyn for pretending to be Bryan and slow dancing with me in the store.) I tried on a few more dresses, she picked one that she thought would look good on me, and it did not. I did the same thing that day. Saw one in the catalog and thought it would be it, but it did not look good at all.  The last dress I tried on for her was the one I loved. Thankfully she liked it too, thought it was gorgeous and very pretty. So happy! We are going shopping more tomorrow just to see but I have a feeling I found "the one." We shall see!

The Funny Things They Say

At 5, Camden is very intelligent. He thinks of things most kids would not. Prime example: The day after we got engaged, Bryan left the room for a few minutes. Camden came up to me and the conversation went something like this:

Camden: "Dani, are you really going to marry us?"
Me: "Yes Camden, I am going to marry you."
Camden: "Well, I have a surprise for you then. It is something I have been wanting to give you. Wait here."

I wait as Camden goes to one of his MANY drawers filled with things Camden loves. We are not sure how many he has in the house, but these drawers are important to him as they are a way to hide things from his little brother.

He comes back and says, "Dani. Close your eyes, and stick out your hand."  As a former teacher, this request does not usually result in something pleasant. I was a bit nervous.

As I am standing there with my hand open, he places something cold in my hand. I open my eyes to see this:

He then says, "I know weddings are expensive, so I wanted to pay for our wedding. This should cover it."

So sweet, so naive, yet so very thoughtful!

 

The House That I Built

When Bryan went to his Dad's house in Ft. Collins awhile back, he got a huge tub of Legos from when he was a kid. Camden and I tend to build with them from time to time. I usually work on a "police station" but I felt like building an ordinary, basic house last week. Camden was ok with this, so here is the final masterpiece of fancy architecture (keep in mind 2 year old Torrin tossed it around a few times, hence the missing Legos)

When it was time for bed, Camden came over and looked at this masterpiece and was highly impressed (it does not take much to impress a 5 year old. Get a balloon from Red Robin and they think they won the lotto!) He then told me to wait a minute, he needed to get something. He came back with 4 Legos. He put one Lego in and said, "This is Daddy." Then he put another Lego in and said, "This is Dani." Then he put the third Lego in and said, "This is Camden" and then the last one went in as he said, "This is Torrin." After the Legos were in there he said, "This is my family." He hugged me and started to head to bed. I cried. I thought that was so sweet and I love that he thinks we are a family. Here is the picture of our "family" in our "house."  I think Torrin throw in some more Legos. Maybe he thought the dogs needed a Lego too.

On another note, when we picked Camden up from school we heard him tell his friend, "My Mom and Dad are here to pick me up." Although I am not his biological mother, I will love him and Torrin as if they are my own. On the way out of school, there is a tub of lollipops. He got 4 of them and told me he got 4 so there is 1 for each member of his family. Love that kid!

He liked it so he put a ring on it....

On January 22nd the most amazing man asked me to marry him! I am still in shock! Bryan and I had looked at rings but I had no idea it would be happening this quick. He had me fooled and I was totally surprised. A few days before last Friday, Bryan informed me that my Mom called him and said she owed him a slight belated birthday dinner. I thought nothing of this, plus my Aunt was in town so I thought it would be a nice place for her to go. Bryan decided on Trappers, a nice steak place in Parker. My mom has mentioned she liked when Bryan dresses up so he said if I wore a dress, he would dress up too. I love wearing dresses so I was in!  On Friday night, we got ready and went to dinner. We took a few pictures beforehand since the boys were dressed up. The Forrest men were looking quite handsome.

As we were going to dinner, Bryan told me my sister was coming down. I was excited to see her but I was wondering why my brother was not coming too. I chalked it up to the place being really expensive and my sister was coming since it was on her way down from Ft. Collins. When we got there I asked my mom when she was coming and she told me Quinn was sick so she would not be here. We got to the table and there were a lot of chairs. I thought nothing of it since my sister was supposed to come with my nephews. We took chairs away, and my mom told the waiter we needed 9. I said um, no, we need only 7. Again, I thought she was just confused.

We sat down and after our drinks arrived, Bryan said he needed to go to the bathroom and he was going to take the kids to get some candy. They were gone about 10 minutes and I began to wonder where they were. A few minutes later, I am sitting there, and the boys and Bryan come over to me. They have wrapped brown boxes in their hands, and I think, "Wow! This place is fancy! Wrapped Godiva chocolates!" Bryan and Camden get down on a knee and I am thinking nothing of it, just that they were bending down to show me something. I hear my mom say, "Oh, and she does not have her camera." I think she wants a picture of her and her sister, so I tell her I do have it and I turn around to get it. Bryan stops me, and the next thing you know, Bryan shows me a ring box, tells me that him and the boys love me, and asked me to marry them. (Still not registering that he is proposing to me.)

It sort of hits me and all I can do is say, "Oh my God! Oh my God!" Probably because the diamond is huge ;)

Camden is down on his knee too and he gives me a ring.

Then Torrin hands me a ring box. I am sobbing and in total shock (see unflattering photo). I am STILL in shock a week later.Are you getting the point that I was in shock?

My Dad came over and asked if I said yes, and I thought, you know, I probably did not answer in the midst of my shock. So here I am telling Bryan yes!

Camden was so excited and he came up to me. He would not let me go!

 

Since I was crying, he kept hugging me. I took him aside and told him I was crying because I was happy. He kissed me and told me he loved me. I told him this means I am going to be with him, Daddy and Torrin forever, and I was never going to leave him. He kept hugging me but took a minute to look down my dress :)

As the proposal was happening, I saw flashes going off. I thought people from the bar were taking pictures of us. I thought WHO are those people and would they email me those pictures? Eventually I saw it was Bryan's friends Chad and Carly. Bryan knows how important it is for me to have pictures of everything so he was sweet to have his friends to come take pictures. I love that there is a picture of him before going to dinner putting the rings in the car.

Here are some other pictures from that night. My Dad was actually happy although he looks highly annoyed.

                                                                                                                                                                       

It was SO great my Aunt was there to share it with us!

 

I loved having my parents there too!

 

But the best part was Bryan and the boys asking me to marry them. I am one lucky lady! I love them all so much! I can't wait to be Mrs. Forrest!

                        

It's 2010 and I am way behind!

Happy New Year 19 days late!  Time flies by the older I get, and I can't believe it is 2010. 2009 was an amazing year and I am hoping 2010 is even better! So far, so good!

Right now I am home with Torrin who is really sick. Pink eye and an ear infection. Poor little guy. I had to give him ear drops and antibiotics. You would think I killed a puppy with the screaming that ensued. So hard to hear him scream like that. He screamed when the doctor looked in his ears too. Broke my heart. Right now he is taking a nap which he desperately needs.

Some other things that are happening: I am on day 19 of no regular soda. It has been hard, but thankfully Diet Dr. Pepper is not all that bad. I crave a regular Coke and Sprite all the time but I am determined. With working out and not drinking regular soda I was hoping I would drop about 20 pounds so far, but unfortunately nothing has happened. Sadness. Bryan added me to his gym membership and I feel obligated to go which is a good thing. I need to be in better shape and fit into smaller pants. That would be nice.

The gym is an interesting place. There are the perfect bodies, dressed fabulously with their makeup on. I envy those people. There are the large people who I give props to for getting out there and doing something. The weird thing is there does not seem to be the in between people like me. The ones who don't have the best clothes, who are average in size (hopefully I am that). Maybe one day I will be the stylish in shape one. I am always in awe in the dressing room. That sounds like a perv but I mean I am in awe of the people who walk around naked. No, not at their bodies, but how free they are. No towel, but naked, AND having full on conversations with other people. Weird. One thing I do love about the gym I just discovered? The swimsuit dryer! 10 seconds and your suit is almost dry. Fabulous!

In other news, we had a great Christmas. 3 of them actually. We had Christmas Eve at Bryan's house. My parents came over, we had dinner and then Bryan, Megan, Tyler and I opened some presents. It is a Forrest tradition that you get pajamas on Christmas Eve. This year we got matching ones. Too funny!

Of course they are Disney ones! The next day we got up and had Christmas with the boys and opened their presents from us and "Santa." We then went to my parent's house for the craziest Christmas we ever had. 7 kids and 8 adults (although I don't consider myself an adult).  I have no idea what anyone got. I barely remembered what I got. Presents were being ripped open, paper was everywhere. One of the things I love about Christmas in my family is we have to make a gift for the person we picked out of a hat. This year my brother had Bryan. I wanted a Snuggie and Bryan said there is no way I should get one. My brother was aware of this fact and so he hand stitched patches on it for Bryan. One is a Camaro patch and the other is one with Forrest embroidered on it. So funny! Ethan got a fedora so Bryan put it on with his Snuggie. We look at this picture and we think Monk.

We had a great time at my parent's house. The kids did too! It was so much fun having my nephews, niece and the boys all together. I love Christmas! Of course getting Mikaya and Torrin together, there is often a sharing issue when it comes to 2 years old.

The day after Christmas, Grandpa and Susan came down and there were lots more presents! Even more matching outfits!

The boys got a lot of things and had so much fun! They LOVE their new slide!

New Years Eve was good. During the day we met my parents for lunch. Torrin loves his Nana and Papa!

We did not have the boys that night so we went to my friend Carolyn's house. Elliott has grown so much. She is such a sweet girl!

After Carolyn's we went to Bryan's friend's house for dinner. Bryan enjoyed playing Wii with the kids.

I had a great time just being with Bryan :)

We came home at 11 and were in bed when 2010 arrived. Perfect ending to a perfect year!

More later!

Note to Self....

UPDATE THIS BLOG. Seriously, way behind.

I Am Alive

Hi All- Sorry for the no blog posts in the past several weeks. Between the holidays, sickness, multiple Christmas celebrations, New Years Eve, and other eventful things that have happened, I have not had the chance to sit down and blog. Yes, I know I do not have a job and I should have ample time to do this, I just have not been able to. Hopefully soon!  I of course have tons of pictures to post and stories to share so more to come in the near future. For now, goodnight!

Disneyland!

For those of you who know me, you know I love Disney. The parks make my heart race (and not just when I am on Space Mountain!) I remember when I was 3 and we went there. My Dad bought me an orange juice that was in the shape of an orange. It had a Mickey Mouse imprint on the side. That is the only memory I have but I think that trip sparked something in me. Check out my cool Pooh belt. Awww yeah.

For as long as I can remember the parks have thrilled me. Seeing the characters make me giddy (just ask Bryan and how I almost gave him a heart attack when I saw them!) Walking down Main Street makes me teary. Sad, but true. It is my happy place!

When Bryan and I first started talking, we knew we both loved Disney. He is probably the only person in this world that is jealous of the fact I drove the monorail, and I love that. To meet someone who shares my love of the mouse and the park he resides in is nothing short of amazing. I am a big goofball and I am so happy to be with someone else just as goofy (no pun intended) as me. He is the cheese to my macaroni, an amazing Dad and boyfriend, and someone who has brought so much happiness into my life. He works so hard so I wanted to do something nice for his birthday. I decided to dip into my savings account and plan a trip to Disneyland. As my parents said to me and him, I have never done anything like this for anyone. Very true, but he is worth it :)

It took everything in my power not to tell him ASAP. I had bought the plane tickets and park tickets awhile back and I wanted to blurt it out. Eventually he learned about it and last week we headed to California. The lady at the ticket counter thought we were "too old" to go to Disneyland. I would have punched her if I knew they would have still let me on the plane. We ignored her obvious lack of coolness and left on the plane.

We stayed at the hotel I used to stay at when traveling for work. Bryan is a Marriott man so I was worried he would not love the hotel. I had great experiences there so I knew I would be happy, and fortunately he was too! We were planning on getting up early the next day and debated going to bed but came to our senses and headed to Downtown Disney. Bryan's Dad had told him you could make your own remote control cars there and when you say "cars" to Bryan, his eyes light up. Kind of like me when Hobby Lobby is mentioned. Bryan made a car for each of the boys and he made one for himself as well. I love the look on his face as he drove his car. Pure happiness!

The next morning we got up really early and headed to the parks. We were at the gate at 7:55 eagerly awaiting the 8am opening. So much fun! We rushed over to Space Mountain but it was not open. I asked a cast member why and she said, "I don't know. I am not a ride operator." She was ruining the magic, but that did not stop us. We went to Buzz Lightyear (where I beat Bryan) and then went on the Matterhorn. We raced all over the park, getting on everything we could (kind of like Tiger Woods ;) and managed to make it on all of the big rides with little or no wait. We even got character pics (like I could pass that up!) Here are some of my favorite pics from the first part of the day. FYI-we did not intentionally dress the same.

 

 

 

We went over to California Adventure and I was so excited to see "Santa" and the cool tree with even cooler Mickey decorations on it. I of course had to get us in front of the ferris wheel so it looked like WE had the mouse ears.

 

Then I had to share the awesomeness that is Toy Story Mania with Bryan. This has to be one of my favorite pics although the person who took it cut off Mr. Potato Head.

We were ready to rock!

 

I look a little TOO excited!

As the day went on, we could feel ourselves getting a wee bit tired. We thought we would make it until park closing but even before dinner, we were wiped out. We barely sat down for lunch. We were on a mission. A mission we accomplished in possible record time. We felt weird as we headed to dinner at Steakhouse 55. Dinner was great, service was great, we saw another Santa, and then went back to Disneyland. Bryan was not aware you could ride in the front of the monorail. I asked and we received. Unfortunately there were no "co-pilot" licenses given although they give them at Disney World. Darn economy. I think Bryan still had a good time. Love this picture!

 

Bryan was excited for me to see everything lit up. The decorations were amazing and I was in love with the entire park. Yes, I always love it but this time of year is just incredible!

As I was taking this picture, the guy next to us got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend in front of the castle-my dream proposal! She was so excited and kept asking him, "Are you serious?!"  I love seeing happy moments in people's lives, even if they are strangers! I was excited for them. Congratulations people I never met nor will I ever see again!

We lucked out that day with no rain. It DID rain but while we were having dinner. We were planning on waiting to see Fantasmic and then watching the fireworks but we were tired. I think if I had put a pillow on a park bench, Bryan would have easily fell asleep. I struggled with leaving because my gut told me that there would be rain the next day (well, my gut and the weather channel) and the entertainment would be canceled. But we made the decision to go back to the hotel and we sat in the jacuzzi. Note to self: find out what the difference is between a hot tub and a jacuzzi!

It was an exhausting but amazing day. We had a lot of fun and I am so grateful Bryan did not throw my camera in the water around the castle. I know it is a lot to handle but I appreciate it!

That is the round up of Day 1. I will write about Days 2 and a half soon!