12 Months of Me

Because it’s the last day of 2007, I thought I’d do this little “Year in Review” survey I stole from Patti’s blog. Nothing like blogging while you’re watching bowl games on New Year’s Eve, right?

♥JANUARY♥
1. Who kissed you on New Years? If any one did, it was Ryan—but having a 2 week old baby, I think I was sleeping long before midnight.
2. Did you have a New Year’s Resolution this year? Nope. I actually don’t see a point to New Year’s Resolutions…
3. Does it snow where you live? Yep
4. Do you like hot chocolate? Love it! (Especially the Steven’s brand!)
5. Have you ever been to Times Square to watch the ball drop? Nope—don’t ever want to either.

♥FEBRUARY♥
1. Who was your Valentine? Ryan!
2. When you were little did you buy Valentine’s for the whole class? Yep. I think I would have felt badly if someone was left out.
3. Do you care if the groundhog sees its shadow or not? Definitely! It may not mean much, but I think it’s fun anyway.
4. What did you receive for Valentines Day? Flowers and other things I’m not writing on here.
5. What did you give for Valentine’s Day? Same as the last…minus the flowers.

♥MARCH♥
1. Are you Irish? Nope.
2. Do you like corned beef and cabbage? Yep.
3. What did you do for St. Patty’s Day in 2007? I think we ate dinner with my family.
4. Are you happy when winter is pretty much over? Yeah—by the time each season comes to an end, I’m ready for the next one.

♥APRIL♥
1. Do you like the rain? Yes!
2. Did you play an April fool’s joke on anyone this year? Nope.
3. Do you get tons of candy for Easter? Nope.
4. Do you celebrate 4/20? I don’t. When I was a missionary, though, we were “grounded” on that day one year. Apparently, there were some interesting issues going on in Eastern Europe.
5. Do you love the month of April? Sure—why not?

♥MAY♥
1. What is your favorite flower? Gerbera daisies
What happened to 2 ?????
3. Finish the phrase “April showers…” …Bring May flowers!
4. Do you celebrate May 16th: National Piercing Day? Haven’t even heard of this day until doing this survey. So, I guess that’s a no.
5. Is May anything special to you? TONS of special things! Kallie’s birthday, Mother’s Day, our anniversary.

♥JUNE♥
1. What year did/will you graduate from high school? 1996
2. Did you do anything fun during this month? Moved to our current apartment, started our summer trip to Seattle.
3. Have a favorite baseball team? Hmmm…I’d have to go with the Diamondbacks.

♥JULY♥
1. What did you do on the 4th of July? Had a big picnic with Ryan’s family, then headed down to Puget Sound to watch fireworks—which was an incredible experience.
2. Did you go to the fireworks? Of course! Fireworks are my favorite!
3. Did you blast the A/C all day? Nope. We were at the park next to the Hood Canal. The weather was absolutely gorgeous!

♥AUGUST♥
1. Did you do anything special at the end of your summer? Not that I can recall.
2. What was your favorite summer memory of ‘07? Probably our Seattle trip.
3. Did you have a sunburn? Nope. I slather on sunscreen because I HATE sunburns. I’ve had enough to last me for the rest of my life!
4. Did you go to the pool a lot? Nope…just once or twice.

♥SEPTEMBER♥
1. Will you be attending college/school? Nope—graduated from BYU in 2000. But, Ryan’s still in school for another year, (or more).
2. Do you like fall better than summer? Fall is my favorite season!
3. Plan on anything to happen this month? Ummm…nope.

♥OCTOBER♥
1. What was your last Halloween costume? Ryan and I were janitors.
2. What is your favorite candy? Take 5
3. What was your favorite thing(s) about this month? My birthday!

♥NOVEMBER♥
1. Whose house do you go to for Thanksgiving? Depends on what’s going on—but this year, we went to my parents’ house.
2. What are you thankful for? My husband, my kids, my testimony…
3. Do you love stuffing? Yes! Especially after I started making it with apples this year.

♥DECEMBER♥
1. Do you celebrate Christmas? Oh yes!
2. Have you ever been kissed under the mistletoe? YES. J
3. Get anything special this year? Our “family gift” was a digital SLR camera. I’m looking forward to learning more about using it!

I've lost track...

It always seems to happen when I'm on vacation...I lose track of the days. Every morning this week, I've been surprised when I realized what day it was. You would think that with this happening every single day, I might be catching on--but no--I still wake up surprised. It's nice to not have to worry about being anywhere by a certain day or time and we're enjoying the flexibility.

As part of this relaxed mode, my SIL and I have been spending a lot of time playing "Zoo Tycoon 2". The kids are keeping each other entertained, so that frees us up to create our little zoos and complete the challenges associated with them. It has seriously been so fun! (Especially when our animals have their little babies...) In fact, we have had so much fun that I now want to buy Zoo Tycoon 2 so I can play it at home. But, I'm torn. Here's the dilemma: When I get home, there will be deadlines, no other kids for mine to play with, and I have to take care of all of the housecleaning and child development duties--which would mean that playing Zoo Tycoon could be a wonderful waste of time, most likely when something else was calling for my attention. On the other hand, it could be a great little distraction when Ryan is buried in home work, or an "incentive" for me to play once my normal duties and projects are done. Hmm...maybe I'll have to think about this a little more. It seems I have plenty of time to think for now.

I had to do it

I have never been one to go ga-ga over some movie star or even join any kind of fan club for anyone. But, today, I sent an e-mail to Josh Groban. As you know from this post, Kallie is currently obssessed with Josh, and I thought I might enjoy receiving such a letter if I were a famous singer. Here's what I sent:

Dear Mr. Groban,

I am writing on behalf of my 2 1/2 year old daughter, Kallie, since she has recently become your youngest fan. When the radio stations in our area began playing Christmas music at the beginning of November, songs from your beautiful Christmas album were among the mix. One afternoon while we were running errands, your version of "Little Drummer Boy" came on the radio and I mentioned to Kallie that Josh Groban was singing this song. Since then, she has become obsessed with all things Josh Groban.

Whenever she hears your music, within 5 seconds of hearing your voice, she yells, "Mom! This is Josh Groban!" (In fact, other singers don't have names to her, they are simply referred to as "Not Josh Groban.") When the song finishes, she will beg for more--which has prompted us to purchase one of your CDs. Kallie saw you on Oprah's Favorite Things as well as on Target commercials and pointed out that Josh Groban was on TV. She has even started pointing out young men she sees in pictures or at stores who look like you--and is a bit disappointed when I tell her it's not Josh. We are quite entertained by her new-found obsession and hope that you are entertained by it as well. Thank you for making wonderful music!

Sincerely,

Amanda (& Kallie) Segeberg

Paperless?

Tonight, since Ryan had a few hours of free time, he decided to mine in the office and see if he still had a desk in there. While he was sorting, filing, and tossing papers from the stacks living where his desk should be, he made what I thought was a profound comment. He said, "You know, people keep saying we're going to be a paperless society, but I think computers and printers have made it worse." I thought about it for a second...and then I had to agree. How many people will print up an entire piece of paper for something small at the top? How many businesses now use full page receipts when a 6-inch slip of paper used to do? Maybe it's because I don't remember much about pre-computer times, but when is paperless really going to start? Maybe some day, instead of receipts, businesses will just enter your e-mail address and send you a receipt instead. Until then, all of the paper in our home will somehow find at least a temporary home on Ryan's desk in the office. (Which, by the way, was eventally rediscovered under the mountains and mounds of papers, magazines, and other random things.)

All by myself...

Since Kallie had croup over the weekend, Ryan and I decided that I would stay home from chuch on Sunday while he took Whitney to church. Well, Sunday morning came and Ryan wasn't feeling too hot, so we decided that I would go to church instead. When the time came to go, Whitney was ready for a nap--so I got to leave her home, too--and I went to church with only my scripture bag. It was a weird feeling!

I decided to sit next to the 1st Counselor's wife, Elisabeth--who has 3 darling boys, including a baby she usually needs to take out and feed during the meeting. So, I thought I'd help out with her cute boys. Between answering questions and keeping track of both of them, I honestly didn't hear a word of sacrament meeting. And then, when there were about 10 minutes left, the 2 daughters of a girl I visit teach, (who are also friends with the little boys), came back to sit with us. So, by the end of the meeting, Elisabeth and I were keeping 5 kids quiet and busy.

I really don't mind at all that I don't remember much from sacrament meeting. I figure that I usually get to listen, so on days like that, I can help someone else enjoy the meeting. And, next time I go alone, I'm taking a fully-stocked diaper bag--just in case.

Mission Memories

As I was thinking about the fun times and incidents from college, thoughts of the craziness on my mission crept in, so I decided to make a post for those experiences.

Matching super-stripe soccer shorts; convincing the elders that we really couldn't play futbol americanski; Rita's; Lido; sugar day; hot, fresh cheese bread; leaving home in a hurry...and managing to forget a few VERY important things; Sister Pettit...and Sister Pettit; bathing out of pots (or the toilet, ewww!); Taaaaape; Ligo; Reenok (avoiding the elders at the reenok); watching the slippery spot in front of the Tallinn hotel; riding the glass elevator in Riga; wearing pajama pants under our tights; "Excuse me, but you are speaking very bad Russian"; matching slippers; stay off manhole covers!; don't eat ice cream on a hot day; our little stationary shop; pabkas; the motorcycle accident; the cyclist getting hit by a car; the man with 3 holes in his head; hidden valley in Vilnius; the creepy funeral in the creepy building; missionary vacation; alphabet scones; pauser/leaner; laughing too hard to finish the district leader call; couch cushions on the floor; double doors; morning study in strange places; the night the discoteque came to us; nakoma pietura; getting jaked by the bus; men in underwear--at the door and at baptisms; baptisms in the river; Jurmala; packed busses; roaches and banana bread; Bobs on the Tide; remonting; pulling the drunk out from under a train; Smints; listov; pillow room; Saturday night dates; Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's in the MTC; Pampers; Girls' camp at the dacha; Stockmann's; Minima, Media, Maxima; the man pooping at the clock tower in Riga; Statdogs; Estrella chips; Cido juices; yogurt and cornflakes; mouse cheese; Karunas; Kalev chocolate; The Compressor--(Oh, how I MISS this place!); Old Hansa; The Garlic Restaurant; harvesting; rose-mint tea; "Clayzer-blazer"; Texicana & smetana; Baltic tacos; New Year's at the Rigby's; sitting in the sauna; Christmas mass...in Estonian...with strange lit-up rocks...at a little church in the middle of nowhere; Romeo and Juliet on Valentine's Day; zephyrs; coat from Nina Adams; little yellow and dancing ducks; ...and there are more, but I'm out of time for the moment.

**OK--here are a few more: FLEAS, FLEAS, FLEAS!; the man pooping by the clock tower in Riga--so shocking and gross!; little boy pooping on the chapel floor in the middle of sacrament meeting in Vilnius; kids with green owies; mesh shirts/dresses to church...

The Good Ol' Days, Part II

(If you're interested, Part I is here.)

In the past few weeks, I have remembered a few more things that I wanted to write down here. So...here they are...hiking up Bridal Veil falls--not the path, the falls; Wingers trips; hanging out and helping Rog in the deJong; the KBYU lobby; apartment dates; blowdrying the freezer; YAY! hugs; walking to Storehouse for groceries; Sarah Lee Gibb, Chair & Maxwell, Table; bridal shower strippers; Betty Crocker; Muriel's fuzzy ketchup; carbon monoxide; the trash pile; near-death experience in the Land Rover behind Rock Canyon; camping in the rain with just the girls; learning to change a tire--thanks to a scenic drive; leopards in Alpine; finding random trails to hike; driving the Loop; BUBBA!; Fish, Leo, Rach & Amanda on a "Stormy Day"; Gwynethardo DiCaprio...SCOTT BAIO; 27's Heaven; Hunting Licenses...

O, Christmas Tree

O, Christmas Tree,

O, Christmas Tree,

You're laying on the floo-oor.

O, Christmas Tree,

O, Christmas Tree,

You're on the floor once moo-oore.

Right around the time that we put up the Christmas tree this year, Ryan and I acknowledged that, between the 2 kids, it was bound to topple at least once before the season was over. In fact, we purposefully decorated the tree with soft, unbreakable ornaments to avoid injury (and a huge mess) when the inevitable happened. As one week and then another passed and it hadn't come down, we started to think we just might avoid such an incident. Then, Thursday morning happened.

I was laying in our bed with Kallie and Ryan had just returned from running. He got Whitney out of bed and put her on the floor to play while he made a bottle for her. All of a sudden, I heard a muffled *crash* and Whitney started complaning. Yep--the tree was on top of her. Ryan and I laughed about it, I straightened the lower branches out, and rehung a few ornaments.

About an hour later, Kallie decided she wanted to play with her Little People ornament, and went to pull it off the tree. This time, I not only heard the muffled *crash*, but managed to see the whole thing as it happened. We stood the tree back up and I decided I should wait for a bit to straighten the branches and rehang the ornaments again, just in case of another mishap.

I'm happy to report that I straightned the branches that evening and it hasn't come down since. Although, since the incidents, it does look a little more lopsided and homely--the ornaments are clumped and the bottom is completely ornament free, thanks to the decorating skills of Kallie and Whitney. (Whitney pulls an ornament off and Kallie puts it back on--out of Whitney's reach.) Oh--there was one casualty, though. The only thing on our tree that was breakable, our star, won't light up anymore. Oh well...

One more thing...

A few days ago, I wrote about my attempts to simplify the Christmas season this year. It sure is a good thing I did! In the past few days, Kallie has come down with croup. It came on pretty suddenly, and I ended up taking her to Urgent Care last night because she was having a hard time breathing. They gave her a steriod shot to reduce the swelling of her windpipe and trachea. When it took effect, she was finally able to go to sleep without as much raspiness in her breathing. Needless to say, I didn't sleep too well last night! But, today, I'm really glad that I don't have a million and one things to get done and I can focus on comforting and snuggling my child.

My baby is ONE!

Today is Whitney's first birthday, and like every mother, I will eternally remember the day she was born. She was so tiny--much smaller and just a different build than Kallie was--and she was so healthy! (Because of my usual complications, that's always a concern.) She has been such a calm, mellow child right from the start--quite a balance to her energetic, demanding sister. I don't usually post pics on my blog, (as they are all on our family website), but this post seems to warrant a couple of "Then" and "Now". It's been a great year and I am grateful to have such a wonderful daughter in our home!

Then:

Now:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WHITNEY!

Opting Out

The weeks from Thanksgiving to sometime around the beginning of January really are the most wonderful time of the year. There is nothing like that Christmas feeling in the air. But, along with all of the wonderful things, it also seems that Christmas is the most stressful time of year--and we make it this way! Between Christmas cards, Christmas parties, preparing goodies for neighbors, shopping for gifts, wrapping the gifts, traveling, decorating, and all of the other fun and wonderful things we traditionally do each year, we kill ourselves off during the most beautiful and meaningful time of the year.

This year, I started December with a load of stress. My list included:

• Decorating the house
• Taking pictures
• Sending Christmas cards/letter
• Taking treats to neighbors
• Christmas shopping
• Wrapping gifts
• Celebrating Whitney's birthday
• Preparing to leave for Seattle
• Family Time

And, on top of all of this, I still have to do the daily/weekly tasks of cleaning the house, doing the laundry, caring for the kids, preparing meals, etc.

After thinking about all of these things for quite a while, I decided that I'm opting out. I am rebelling against the stress of the season by eliminating the unnecessaries this year.
Instead of worrying about how the decorations look, I did what I could and didn't worry about the rest. I decided that we're not taking pictures for now, (although I did decide on what I'd like us to wear). Christmas cards were also tossed onto the chopping block. Taking treats to neighbors was also done away with for now. Wrapping hasn't even started yet...and will most likely wait until we're in Seattle so I don't have to worry about damage in-transit. Next week is when I have slated to finish up preparations to leave for Seattle. Some things you just can't do weeks in advance...and this is one of them!

Obviously, there are some things that still have to be done--but by eliminating most of the higher-stress tasks, I am enjoying a much more peaceful Christmas season. I realize that I'm probably just too much of a perfectionist, so it's kind of an all or nothing thing with me. But, honestly, if doing "nothing" is what it takes for me to truly enjoy this holiday season, then so be it!

Go Figure!

Since being called to be a Relief Society teacher in my ward, I have given 4 lessons. The first 3, I read about a month in advance, thought about for a few weeks, and then wrote the lesson on the Sunday before I was to teach. Throughout the week, I would review my lesson and cut out or add to it as I felt was necessary. Doing this allowed me to feel like I had a great command of the lesson material and would be able to refer to any of it in response to a question, or if the lesson took a different slant than I intended. I would get occasional comments about how good these lessons were, but nothing major.

The 4th lesson, I taught yesterday. Between having a sick child, Christmas shopping, and all of the other random things that popped up in the past few weeks, I did not have as much time to focus on my lesson as I had hoped. One week before my lesson, instead of putting all of my thoughts together and writing the lesson, I was reading it for the first time--and I only got halfway through! During the course of the week, I once again found there were no decent chunks of time to read much of the lesson or to start organizing the thoughts that I did have into any sort of order. Friday night, I was able to read the other half of the lesson--but it was only after the errands and Christmas celebrations on Saturday that I was able to return to my lesson and get it down on paper. Normally, I would at least have Sunday morning to sit down and review it, but we had an earlier and longer choir practice and Ryan had a meeting, so I wasn't even able to review it until I was sitting in Sunday School. Thank goodness it looked alright at that point! During the lesson, I was a little nervous about how things were going, as there were several girls who looked totally bored or disinterested and only a few main people were making any comments at all. I was also concerned because I didn't feel like I knew the material as well as I should have.

Now, knowing all of this, it would make sense that this lesson would not be one of the best--that it wouldn't be the lesson to receive the most comments. Amazingly enough, the opposite was actually true! I think I've had more positive comments on this lesson than on any of the others I've given in the past 4 months. Of course, I think it's a fluke and I'll be starting my January lesson this next week.

Kallie's Christmas Cards

Several weeks ago, I posted about the Kids' Craft Weekly Card Swap and how fun it was going to be. And, so far it has been great! A few weeks ago, we made our cards--I did all of the cutting/folding and Kallie did the pasting. Here's how they turned out, (thanks to FamilyFun Magazine for the cute idea!):

When we got our list of families on Monday, I was excited to see that we were to send them to Australia, Singapore, and Dominican Republic, as well as several states in the U.S. We mailed them out on Tuesday--and now we're just waiting for our cards to arrive over the next few weeks. I put up little maps of the world and the U.S. so we can see where our cards come from. I'll post pics of the cards on my blog as we receive them.

Random-ness

Kallie has been picking up on so much more lately...and she's been totally hilarious...so I had to post about a few of the things to remember.

First of all, Kallie has imaginary friends. A few weeks ago, she started playing with the "Einsteins" (of Little Einsteins fame) and at any moment, Quincy, June, Annie, or Leo may be anywhere in our house. A few days ago, they were living in our pantry and Kallie had to keep going in and out to get them out or put them back. Oh--and as a side note--all of the Einsteins are miniature people. They fit in the palm of Kallie's hand, so hard to avoid stepping on them, throwing them away, or leaving them in a room, (all of which I have been accused of doing recently). Probably my favorite Einsteins "oops" I've been in trouble for lately happened yesterday. We have this pitcher-looking machine called a "Cocomotion" that we use to make hot chocolate. It was sitting on our counter after being washed and I was putting it together to put away. As I carried it to the storage location in our office, Kallie started yelling frantically, "No, mommy! Come back! Leo's in there, mommy!" Apparently, Leo had somehow crawled into the Cocomotion while it was in the kitchen. I walked back to the table, and "poured" Leo into Kallie's hand. Before went to put it away, I double checked with Kallie to make sure he had really come out and wasn't going to sit in the Cocomotion for days all alone.

I recently posted about Kallie's interest in perfect pronunciation...and I'm happy to say that she still doesn't have all of her words right! Today, while I was doing the dishes, Kallie came and asked me if I had the "pick-ups," her word for hiccups. I was so happy to hear that she wasn't saying it right! I love seeing my kids grow, but I love that they're still little and I hope they stay that way for a while!

One more story on that subject: Tonight, we had spaghetti for dinner. Kallie announced that she was eating her basketti--and then shouted, "I said it right!" I laughed and, even though I knew she hadn't said it right, I said, "Good job," (At this point, Whitney started clapping), "You did say spaghetti!" And, two seconds later, she tried again and actually said spaghetti! I was impressed. I don't think I've ever heard a little kid pronounce that word correctly. I'm sure there are quite a few who do--but I'm almost positive it's one of the words most mispronounced by children.

Kallie's Latest Interest

Last Saturday, despite the terrible weather, I decided to run errands and took my sisters and Kallie with me. And, as everyone knows, you cannot run Christmas errands in the middle of a snowstorm without listening to Christmas music on the radio. (Thanks to the 3 all-Christmas stations here, we're never at a loss for holiday tunes in the car.) So, after finishing up at one store, we were leaving the parking lot when Kallie shouted, "Mom! It's Josh Groban!" And, surely enough, he was belting some Christmas tune on the radio. I'm really not sure how her mini-obsession with Josh began, but every time she hears him, she makes sure that I know who is singing. When the song ends, she never fails to request more Josh Groban and is just a little disappointed when I tell her that we don't have any of his music to play on demand. Who knew that a 2-year old could even have an affinity for one particular musician's music--let alone even recognizing him by voice?

Show Me A Sign

All of my hard work is paying off once again...Whitney has started signing! She actually started picking up on it almost 2 weeks ago, but then got incredibly sick and did nothing but sleep and barf for a week, so that slowed it down a little. But, now that she's back to being her sweet little self, she's started signing "eat," "milk," and sometimes "daddy." And, she started waving bye-bye about the same time. Oh--my other favorite thing she does is clap her tiny little hands. Any time I say "Yay!" or "Good job!"--even if I'm talking to Kallie, Whitney claps. It is incredibly cute! I love watching her start to put two and two together and show me what she knows.

December 5, 2003

This morning, I was thinking about December 5...and remembered that it's David Smith's birthday. To anyone else, this is not a big deal, (nor should it be), but I always remember because of what happened on this day in 2003.

My former mission companion, (and roommate), Elizabeth, started dating David several weeks before I started dating Ryan. When David's birthday rolled around, she wanted to decorate his office, but wasn't sure how to go about getting it done. Since Ryan and David worked at the same place, things worked out for Ryan and I to go decorate David's office together while Elizabeth kept him out of the office for a while.

I remember Ryan went to the temple and I went to the MTC to help the missionaries learning Russian--and we met up in the Provo Temple parking lot when we were both done. We drove to Ryan's office so he could start the weekly computer back up. When we got there, he opened my car door and I headed toward the door of the building. When I turned around, he had a rose and a card for me to congratulate me on my new job. (I had just been hired either that morning or the day before to be the office manager at KBYU.) It was so sweet--and honestly, exactly what I had hoped for. I know--I'm a silly girl. :)

After Ryan started the backup, he told me he was going to take me to dinner to further celebrate my employment. I remember telling Ryan that I didn't care where we went to dinner...and then he said he wasn't going to pull out of the parking lot until I chose a place. So, I chose one of my favorite places, Winger's. When we walked in the door of the restaurant, the hostess looked up and said, "Are you two together?" When I said yes, the hostess replied, "Good because you're standing under the mistletoe--and you get a dollar off each meal if you kiss." Not really knowing what to do, I said, "OK," and kissed Ryan on the cheek. We were both so twitterpated that evening that we totally forgot to remind our server about the discount.

After dinner, we went over to David's office, (he usually works later in the evenings), and decorated up a storm. I don't remember much about that part of the evening--only that we had fun "trashing" his office together.

When we finished the decorating, we went back to my parents' house to wait for Elizabeth and David to show up for cake and ice cream. We had little strawberry shortcakes and then went downstairs to watch, "Maid in Manhattan." I really don't rememeber much about the movie, but that was the first time Ryan and I held hands. I knew before then that our relationship was probably going somewhere more permanent, so it was extra exciting for me.

The next day, (Saturday), I had a date with a guy who had asked me out six weeks previous. As much as I did NOT want to go on that date now, I felt like I couldn't back out the day of the event--especially when the guy had asked David and Elizabeth to double with us at my suggestion. Before Ryan went home on Friday, I made sure he knew where I stood so that he wouldn't wonder about what was going on. The date was OK--but the entire evening, I was thinking about and wishing I was there with Ryan. I'm sure my date probably didn't understand why I wasn't into the whole thing.

Sunday rolled around and I was anxious to see Ryan again. After holding hands on Friday night, I wondered what was going to happen at church in our singles ward. I came in a little late and grabbed the first empty bench I could find. Elizabeth and David had arrived earlier and were motioning for me to come sit by them, where Ryan, who was passing the sacrament, had put his things. I didn't want to cause more of a distraction than I had already caused, though, so I stayed put. I was a little bummed that I wouldn't get to sit next to Ryan, but figured it would be fine. Well, much to my delight, when the sacrament portion of the meeting was over, Ryan picked his things up and came to sit by me. Honestly--that made me feel so important to him. He wasn't afraid of what other people would think--he wanted to make sure I knew where I stood with him. I loved it!

The next day, I received an e-mail from the guy I went out with on Saturday night. He explained that he wanted to talk to me about a few things and would throw in dinner and bowling for fun. I wrote back and said that I was willing to talk to him, but would have to decline the invitation for dinner and bowling because I was dating someone. In his next e-mail, he said that I had answered his question and he hoped I would let him know if I was ever available again. When I read that, I turned to Elizabeth, (who was also checking her e-mail), and said, "I don't think I'm ever going to be available again!"

And, I was right. A week or two after David's birthday, Ryan and I sat in the living room, lit only by colored lights on the Christmas tree, and started talking. Even a week or two later, neither of us remembered how it came up, but in vague terms, we discussed our future together. We knew that we were going somewhere--although neither one of us was ready to say it yet. When Ryan left for the Christmas break and we talked on the phone and IMed every day. I remember telling Ryan that I hated him not being there and I was never doing that again! He replied, "Next time I come to Seattle, you're coming with me." He was definitely right! Later in that conversation, we talked in very specific terms about getting married. We went ring shopping for the first time on New Year's day and were engaged 3 weeks later. (Which, for those who are interested, was about 8-9 weeks from our first date.)

From the time I realized my interest in boys, I had always hoped that I would have a boyfriend around Christmas time. As I got older and started dating, I dated a few guys, but was never "lucky" enough to have it happen during the Christmas season. That year, I certainly was lucky enough! The memories of that magical time have enhanced my Christmas season every year since then--and I enjoy falling in love with Ryan all over again each year as I remember.