rescued.

this is josh.

he rescued me from the horrible snow-caused parking lot traffic that was West End on Wednesday afternoon.  It took me 1.5hours to go half a mile.  if you are familiar with my need to be in control you can understand why I may have had a few break downs during this time.

Josh was able to park his car at the gas station at West End and Murphy Road.  We decided to park my car at J. Alexanders.  The cars were not moving, it was like a scene from a movie, and here comes Josh, running down the turn lane on west end to meet me at my car.  It took less than 10 minutes to walk what took me 1.5hours in my car.  Clearly I should have just pulled off and parked it a lot sooner.

I'm thankful to be marrying a man who will get out of his warm house to brave the traffic and weather to come and find me and bring me home.  I'm typically an "I can do it myself" kind of gal...but I'll admit, it was a nice feeling knowing Josh would take care of me.

did you get stuck in the snow traffic?!

a year ago today

A year ago today, Josh had a stroke.

CRAZY.

it was an odd feeling standing there helpless as he slowly lost the use of his legs...then arms...then he couldn't talk, or focus his eyes. i knew it was serious but there was nothing i could do to stop it or help him.  it was an odd feeling knowing that my mom and could not get him to the car ourselves to take him to the hospital so we had to call 911.  it was an odd feeling sitting there waiting for the ambulance.  i would tell him everything would be ok and he couldn't respond.  he would try and talk and nothing would come out.  i remember seeing the frustration and worry in his eyes as we waiting.

i don't know if any of you have ever ridden in an ambulance.  i always thought that meant you ride in the back with the person that is hurt.  that wasn't the case for me.  i road up front in the passenger seat, in the bouncy seat constantly turning back to look through the window and look at josh.  i wanted him to know i was there, he didn't.

we got the hospital and though josh was able to talk again, he still had trouble forming sentences and remembering information.  it was up to me to provide his date of birth, address, full name, etc.  Apparently the only thing he was able to tell the EMT in the ambulance was that he was going to marry me.  We'd been dating 5 months at this point.  That's not very long for most standards.  Though I knew a lot earlier than I ever admitted that I would marry this man, it was on this day, in the emergency room, praying that he would be ok that I knew I'd be with him forever.

After his family came and tests were run, finally...about 4 hours after the episode he was back to normal and could have conversation with full sentences and remember facts.  They never found an exact cause but all his tests came back normal.  hopefully it was a freak moment and he won't have one ever again!

here's to another year stroke free!

my little Ron

The word on the street is that red heads are a dying breed.  As one lady told me a few years ago when I was very single, "it's because no one seems to be marrying red heads."  I was fully aware...thanks lady.  What she meant to say is that red heads aren't marrying red heads, making the gene more and more recessive.  sad.

As you know, I have red hair.  My mother has red hair.  My grandmother has red hair. and so on and so on.  Naturally I would LOVE to have a daughter and for her to have red hair (and thanks to friends and my mother, she already has a name and trip to Disney World lined up).  Sadly Josh has normal brown hair...UNTIL (dramatic music) he grows a beard (which I really love)...RED people.  There is red in the beard.

and now that Josh has proved has he is willing to risk his life for his friends playing wizard chess..

(or help me with a photo shoot...either one)

We may just end up with some Ron or Jenny Weasley's after all!

the perfect pumpkin

To me, it was the perfect fall activity and would be something fun to do together and give me a chance to take some fun pictures.  To him, it was a project...his new mission - we would get the perfect pumpkin.

Josh and I went out to Gentry's Farm on Saturday to buy "the perfect pumpkin"...aka a pretty large pumpkin great for carving, and see what other fun things we could find. 

very proud he found his perfect pumpkin!

one year ago today...

One year ago today I met these boys...

and my life was forever changed.

It was my mom's birthday and I was at the mall with her.  Lele was at a goodbye party for Ben and Erin.  She'd briefly mentioned meeting a guy to me earlier that week but that Friday night I got a text saying I should come to the party because I needed to really meet him.  Instead, I hung out at the mall with my parents...because I'm cool...and a good daughter.

In my mind I thought it would be another "oh you should meet my friend" that never really happens.  But it got scheduled to happen. WHAT?! How did that happen.  I was really being set up? with a guy?! No.  YES! 

It was Caitlin's birthday now.  We had a fun party.  Somehow this set up became the topic of group conversation.  Before I knew it my friends were planning our wedding...to a guy I had never even met!  silly.  (and people wonder why girls always get their hopes up and jump ahead in relationships!) I tried to blow it off.  It wouldn't work out.  We'd have dinner, I'd think he was nice. End of Story. WRONG! The beginning of the story...actually.

We met for dinner with Lele and Eric.  It was going well until he suggested going to Bobbie's Dairy Dip for dessert.  Then I just kind of knew.  I have a STRONG love for the dairy dip.  That summer I'm pretty sure I went at least once a week.  I knew it had potential from that point on.  I've talked to Josh everyday since that first meeting...and looks like I'll be talking to him everyday for the rest of my life!  I'm so excited to marry him!

sometimes these dating anniversaries seem silly to me...especially when you are months away from from a wedding ...none the less.  Today, I've been dating Josh for a year.  and it's been absolutely wonderful.

birthday go karts

I asked Josh what he wanted to do for his birthday...he wanted to go ride go karts with all his friends.
so that's what we did!

we met up at las palmas for dinner...

and then...the go karts...there are lots of pictures.  sorry.  there was lots of fun...

let me introduce you to all the drivers...

Jonathan: maintained the lead the entire time

Brian: if he hadn't been hit...maybe he could have won

Josh: Birthday Boy and trouble maker

(but clearly having the time of his life from the very beginning)

Joe: he had the fast car

Phil: it wasn't a corvette so he didn't know how to drive it

Do you see how happy Josh is .... the ENTIRE time?!

the wreck - josh hit brian.  brian got in trouble for it. 

Thank you so much to everyone for helping Josh's birthday dreams come true!!! He had so much fun!

more pictures here!

fall fun

josh

this is the new boyfriend...



this is a story about the hilarious things he says. I have no doubt there will be many more to come!