In a relationship, single & engaged...all in 30min!

Phew! What a day! And it's only just a couple hours into it!

Before I forget...HAPPY NEW YEAR! :) May 2013 be a blessed year for all!

There's this THING that happened tonight...it's kind of a big deal! :) After 4.5 years, Beasman is FINALLY engaged!! :) We enjoyed a fun evening with friends, watched the ball drop, I kissed him & said "see ya"! I, like the last couple years, had told him that if the ring wasn't there before the end of the year, I was gone. :) So, we are leaving, I kick him to the curb & start to drive off...he jumps in & says you can't do that or I wouldn't be able to give you this!!! :) And that's the humorous proposal for Beasman. :) The cool part is today is my parents 31st wedding anniversary. :)

p.s. I hope everyone else knows how to plan a wedding cuz I'm not girly girly enough to plan it! :)

Christmas! Mixed emotions bring about positive response!

So Thanksgiving, surprisingly, went really well...on both sides. So, being the Realist Rachel that I am...I start to anticipate the reality of what goes up must come down. Started out with last minute shopping (on a budget) for the boyfriend. The Eve of Christmas Eve, in the rain, right before work. Nothing says icky & last minute as that! I put on my thinking cap & really thought about what Mr Beasley would like. I think I did ok. I hope I did ok?!
After working, not sleeping, it's family time! Yippee! 😁 As I'm getting ready, I hear that my cousin Andy had just passed away. Now, Realist Rachel is really in rare form...
We arrive at the grandparents & things surprisingly go really well. Somber but not depressing. I think we all realize that none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. There was no bickering. There was no yelling. There was no crying. There were no hurt feelings. Everyone's gifts were heart felt. On a side note, the best gift...a laser pointer for cats. Yes, a normal person would think that was silly. But I am an experienced mother with an infant unlike any of my other children. This laser pointer wears out my infant so that she does not scratch, bite or claw at me (or her older, not as active siblings) when we all want to be sleeping! Score!!! It's like baby Benadryl without the harmful side effects! 😁
Joey & I spend the last few hours before I go back into work driving around looking at Christmas lights (and collecting Waze points). Don't ask about the second part. Some houses weren't decorated, some were nicely decorated. And others were just plum obnoxious! I'm gonna start looking at my friends & predicting what kind of Christmas decorator they are...don't think I'm kidding!!! Can you guess what kind of decorator I am?! 😉
The best part of Christmas wasn't the awesome pink ribbon rain boots I got. The years worth of Omaha Steaks. The money/gift cards. The thermos that looks like a camera lens. My brand new Keurig. The "baby Benadryl". Or the countless other heart-felt gifts. The best gift was being around family. Not bickering. Not being scorned (or as they call it, "loving you enough to want the best for you"). Not being told I'm fat (hey, dodo, I look in the mirror EVERY day...I know what I look like). Watching "brothers" smile. Watching the kids (big & small) play with a brand new train set.
Your health is a blessing. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Love the ones that make you crazy.

Birthday Week 2012

Had a great week with family, friends & the dentist. Yes, the dentist. I'm pretty sure I'm paying his way to Haiti. Seriously! Anyway. My favorite part of the week was bringing Christmas a couple weeks early to kids at Big Creek Elementary School.

There was a few guidelines for the gifts. They had to fit in a shoebox (and not rain boot size shoe box). Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap & washcloths needed to go in the box. And then we put toys in the box. Oh. And only spend $30.

Joey & I picked preschool age boy & girl. Being the pink loving princess that I am, I go all out with a tiara, princess skirt, princess wand, makeup & lipgloss. Got some other small toys. And managed to stay pretty close to that $30 limit. Although I had followed the rules, I felt like I was jipping my girl! All she was getting was a few small toys!

Fast forward a couple weeks...

I had the privilege of going to the preschool room to deliver presents. As I was playing with some kids, my group starts to pass out gifts. I look up & there's this cute little girl with my box. She LOVES everything in the box! She was a mini Diva! :) She definitely got the box she was supposed to! Seriously brought tears to me eyes to see this little doll, going through a shoebox with toiletries & small toys and finding sincere delight in all of it!

All the kids were thrilled with their gifts! Even the girl that got a boy box. Even the girls who had to wait 5-10 min to open their boxes because we didn't have enough originally. Me, I'm in the corner balling my eyes out.

For most of us, we will get several boxes of gifts. And they will most likely be more than $30 in value. And I'm gonna go out on a limb and bet you won't get toiletries in your boxes, either (unless you have a DD that puts soap on a rope in your stocking along with a SpinBrush).

For most of us, we have everything we need. And we have a lot of what we want. We have more stuff in our homes than we know what to do with.

Bringing love & joy to others was the highlight of my holiday season. I will give & receive gifts next week but what I will remember months from now is my experience just a couple hours away from home.