Well it's official! After 5 years of dating John and I are finally engaged. :) For those of you who have asked for the story here it is...

I knew it was going to happen last night because the ring came in yesterday and I figured he wouldn't wait. He also had told me that he had plans for us and wanted me to dress up. But... he called before he got here and said, in a sad voice "Liv...can we go on our date tomorrow?". So I decided he didn't get the ring and, to say the least, I was NOT happy. I told him fine and that I didn't want to do anything if we weren't going on a date because I had a lot to do for preschool. He somehow convinced me that we should still go to dinner because he had reservations. So we went to the Bluebird (where my parents got engaged) which was cute. As we were eating our salads he pulled out a ring he had made out of a $2 bill. The $2 bill was one that I had given him when we first started dating and he had told me that he wouldn't spend it because he was going to keep it and give it to me when we got engaged. So at that point I knew he was going to do it that night! I kept waiting and waiting but nothing happened at dinner. After dinner we started driving home and he pulled off into Merlin Olsen Park. We walked to our favorite bridge and sat down. Then he ran to his car and brought back some roses. He gave me 2 roses for every year we've been together and told me some memories he had of each year. Then he just knelt down, pulled out the ring and said "This is for all the rest of the years we'll have together". It was very sweet and made me cry, which surprised me. Here are some pictures of the happy event :)


So there's the story. I'm so happy! We are shooting for September 3rd. I had hoped for October 9th, which is my grandparents' anniversary but my parents will be out of the country. September is great though. So now comes the fun part of PLANNING! :)

One more final!

One more final left and I am FREE! I finished my STAT 1040 final and I'm waiting for my Physics one to begin. I don't know where the time went! I swear this semester just started. I'm not complaining though! Last weekend was a fun one. John and I went on our first REAL date in a long time. Most weekends consist of eating at Bajio's and watching movies at my house. This time he planned out a date for us which was really fun for me. I'd missed that. He told me to wear long socks but no coat so I was pretty confused about what we were doing. He also said that we were doing something semi-active and that there would be other people there but some of them would not be participating in our activity. I was confused. Anyway, we ended up going roller blading at the Fun Park which was great. I hadn't been skating there since I was little. I hadn't been skating PERIOD since I was little. Aside from a couple of bruised ribs from slamming into the brick wall I did pretty good. We also played arcades and won a slap bracelet and a little green popper thing. Then we had dinner at El Sol and played a board game with Ester and Scott. Turned out to be a great night. :)

Preschool graduation is coming up which I'm excited for. The kids have been practicing so hard on their songs and sign language for the program. I hope all goes as planned but that isn't exactly likely with 16 hyper 4 year olds :) I'm really going to miss these kids this year. For some reason I have grown a lot more attached with this class than my classes in the past. They are definitely a handful, but lots of fun. Hopefully some of them will come back for summer camps!
I also got a cute new headband form my sister that I had to post a picture of because I love it so much! .... John likes it too :)

Update

Not a ton has happened since my last post but I thought I'd post about my Spring Break Part 2 trip to Saint George. Since my Spring Break was at a different time from everyone else in my family AND preschool, I got to celebrate twice. John and I had class all week so we drove down Friday afternoon and met Ester, Scott, my dad, Chris, Jen and their kids. We stayed at a condo belonging to Scott's grandparents which was really fun. We didn't do a whole lot except eat and sleep but that's exactly what I needed! My favorite part of the trip, aside from the food and company, was going to the Sand Dunes. We had a blast! Though my 2+ hours of vacuuming my car proved in vain since we were all covered with red sand on the drive home. Overall it was a great trip!

Oakstream Photography!

Yay for Oakstream! Enter to win a Visa giftcard with this fun contest and make sure to check out her blog! SO amazing!

http://oakstreamphotography.com/blog/?p=3647

Enjoy!

Princess

John and I spent a great weekend in Centerville this week. We saw "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" with Ruth and Forrest at the Hale Center Theater Orem which was hilarious! I was so impressed with the quality of the production and actors. I was also very impressed with the way in which it was directed. I can't imagine directing (or performing in) a show with such little stage space. They definitely are pro's down there!

We also got to babysit John's cute nieces Ruby and Lola. I had fun watching Snow White, brushing doll hair, getting my own hair brushed and playing with princess toys with Lola while John watched the Jazz. She even did a little princess concert for us. Even more impressive than the Hale Center Performers :) What a doll!


I'm prepping tonight for a LONG week of study, study and more study. I am taking my Praxis test this Saturday which I have to pass to be able to apply for the Elementary Education program at USU. If I don't pass it will mean I will have to take a semester off of school this fall which I REALLY don't want to do. So...no pressure. I'm excited that the semester is winding down and the finish line is in sight though. I'm definitely looking forward to doing what I love this summer at the Opera and running some summer camps for my mom. Life will be much more relaxed once I get this Praxis and all my finals out of the way. Other than that though, I couldn't ask for more. :)

New York and DC

Back to the blog! Life has been hectic since Spring Break and I haven't had a chance, until now, to post about my trip. Aside from the rough start of having my flight out of SLC canceled and missing 4 Broadway shows because of it, I had a great time!

First stop...Popover Cafe! One of our favorite NYC destinations. If you like popovers (and who doesn't) you'd LOVE this place! They serve popovers with every dish (like frenchfries). Sandwich with a popover on the side, soup with a popover, salad with a popover etc. So fun! We just ordered hot chocolate and two baskets of popovers with strawberry butter :)

We had fun seeing shows and eating LOTS of good food during our few days in New York. I saw South Pacific, West Side Story, and A Little Night Music (starring Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta Jones!)

Then we headed to DC to visit Nick and Adele. We had lots of fun hanging out, watching the NCAA tourney and eating more good food. The first night we were there Nick and Adele took us to a fun Middle Eastern restaurant with delicious falafel. We also ate at a Crepes-A-Go-Go which was really fun. We spent one night driving around DC seeing the monuments in the moonlight which was beautiful. Vaness, Stefan and I took a tour of the Bureau of Printing and Engraving which was pretty interesting as well. We had lots of fun walking around the historic city and did pretty well figuring out the metro system!

Dad took us to see a production of Little Shop of Horrors at Ford's Theater which was really fun! Cute show and even more neat because of the venue! On our last day there we visited the DC temple. Such a beautiful, majestic building! Overall it was a great trip but mostly fun just to spend time with my brothers and sisters!

Farewell Teenage Years!

This is my last week as a teenager. Pretty insane! I don't feel like I am almost 20 at all! I still feel like a little kid selling lemonade and catching grasshoppers (back before I was afraid of them). How does time move so quickly? I find it exciting, but more than that, scary!

The idea that it is time for me to "grow up" and make grown-up decisions is pretty intimidating. I have always liked to be independent and take on responsibilities...but some of the responsibilities facing me in life are a little too extreme for me. I just found out that my best girlfriend is pregnant. Wow! I am SO excited for her and yet I can't imagine being anywhere NEAR that stage in my own life. I guess she has always been 10 steps ahead of me though since we were little.

As I approach the time in my life where people start asking when I'll be getting married I start to wonder...how do you know?! If I THINK I am supposed to marry someone is that good enough? Do I really think... or do I know? Is it a "still small voice" kind of thing or will it be like a lightning and thunder answer? I am the type of person to wait for the thunder and lightening before I would make that big of a decision. But am I right? What if I'm wrong? AGH! See what I mean... too much pressure! And no one can really help you decide because no one KNOWS what YOU feel. Even if you tell them...they still don't know.