Health & Free Living

Walter and I have gotten some more accompolished for our wedding. This past Friday, we chose the tuxes and got him all measured, etc. Now it's his responsibility to get all the guys in to get measured. I'm not worried at all -- he reminded me about the tuxes! On Saturday, we went and picked out our wedding bands! We decided on mine right away, but he is still debating on his ring. We got them at the same place Walter got my engagement ring (Merry Richards in Oakbrook, IL). Yesterday, Walter booked our first night! How exciting! No, I am not telling you where -- there are some people that I don't trust with this information. ;) We still need to find a DJ and videographer. It is taking us forever to do this part. We just need to make a decision. By the way, (this has nothing to do with the wedding) I just found out that Wheaton College is playing Northwestern University in basketball on Thursday, December 14th! NCAA Div. 3 vs. Div 1. It should be interesting.

For those of you wondering, I am still watching Dancing With the Stars . What an exciting season! There are some really phenomenal dancers. In case you're not watching, Joey Lawrence (from Blossom -- "Whoa!"), Mario Lopez (Slater on Saved By the Bell ), and Emmitt Smith (one of the best running backs in NFL history) made it to the semi-finals. All three of the dancers are awesome and I've never seen a season with three such amazing dancers at the end. The biggest surprise to people is probably Emmitt Smith, but he is unbelieveable -- incredibly smooth, light on his feet, and able to move those hips! The semi-finals was Tuesday and all of the dancers did great. The results show, however, was last night and someone had to go. Unfortunately, it was time for Joey to go. You could tell that everyone was upset he had to leave (Mario looked a little choked up). I really wish they could have all won. It was that close. Hey, you want to hear something really cool!! Dancing Wi...

This engagement thing is going by WAY too slow. For those of you who say it goes fast, what did you do to make the time go by? We feel like time is just standing still. Hopefully, the holidays will make time go by faster. Walter and I made our honeymoon reservations last week!!! :) How fun! We have our first pre-marital counseling session this Saturday. We'll probably go look at tuxes that day as well. I still need to get a videographer for the ceremony and a DJ. I think because everyone I've talked to has been available, I've just been slacking. Pretty soon I think I'll start cake-tasting. :) mmm... I can't wait till our wedding and we get to spend the rest of our lives together. We are having so much fun decorating the house, etc. (I'm selling my townhouse and moving into Walter's house after we're married). I know these are just a bunch of random thoughts, but I need to give you some type of update.

Well, maybe you should give up on me! :) Things are going well. My LASIK surgery was great and it is such a blessing to see without the help of glasses or contacts. I mean, I open my eyes in the morning and can see perfect! Yea! My friends threw Walter and me an engagement party this past Saturday. I was so much fun and we really felt loved and encouraged by our friends. What a treat! It was incredibly humbling. God has really blessed us with sojme amazing friends. I'm sure my sister has pictures posted on her blog, so use the Nate and Kara link to get to her blog. Don't know what to say about wedding plans. Still moving along...Still crazy about Walter and very impatient for March 2nd. :) I pray it comes soon!

Okay, okay, I've started to slack again. I'm sorry Amanda. It's a good thing I have Walter -- HE reminded me to write on the blog. Ha! So, I was told that it would take 12 weeks for my wedding dress to arrive. One week later, I get a phone call that my dress is in! Wow! So, I have the dress...can we just go ahead and get married? :) Anyway, in order to prepare for my wedding, I felt that it was finally time to spend the money and get LASIK. This past Tuesday, I got my eyes examined to see if I am a candidate and...I am! So, on Friday of next week (9/15), I'm getting LASIK! Yea!!! I'll let you know how it goes. Still need to find a photographer, videographer, and DJ (Walter's in charge of finding the DJ). We've also begun to look for someone to do invitations. Less than six months till my wedding! If I think of more to add, I'll let you know!

So, Saturday I found and bought my wedding dress (no, I am not posting any pictures). Monday, I found my bridesmaids' dresses. Yea! It's all coming together. I still don't have any pictures to post. I tried to post one, but it didn't work. So, I have to find a different picture. I'll try to do it soon. Sorry!

The wedding date is set: Friday, March 2. I've already booked our church, our pastor, and the reception hall. Whew. I've been busy. Luckily, I already knew where I wanted the reception to be held and since I'm doing a Friday evening, it was easier to book the reception hall. My mom, Kara (my sister and matron-of-honor), and I are looking at dresses this Saturday. How fun! I already found one that I REALLY like online at David's Bridal. So, we are heading there first on Saturday. Jess bought me a wedding planning book -- wow! I had no idea that there were so many things to do! Plus, most people start almost a year in advance and I'm doing it in six months. Oh well. The work is well worth the short wait. So, how am I doing with posting so far? Look, Amanda, two blogs in one week! You must be proud of me. Still no pictures as Walter has been out of town and I don't have a camera. Hopefully, I will have some for you soon.

Saturday night, on top of the John Hancock building in downtown Chicago, Walter asked me to marry him! I said, "Of course I will." The ring is absolutely gorgeous!! It's exactly what I wanted. (We didn't go ring shopping, but I gave him hints of what I wanted). It's a platinum solitare princess (square) cut one carat diamond. I'll take a picture of it and try to post it for you. It looks like our wedding date is Friday, March 2. I have to double check on some things, but most likely, that is the date. Here's the story: Walter was really low key about everything. We had already planned to go to Chicago that day to the Lincoln Park Zoo. I had never been there and we have a list of things we want to do. So, he picked me up at 11:30am on Saturday. He surprised me with a dozen+ (actually 14) red roses. We headed to Chicago and the zoo. Afterwards, we went to Frontera Grill where I have really wanted to go. It's incredibly difficult to get in, so he had call...

I really do suck at this blogging thing. I don't know how the rest of you post so often. I'm lucky to find time to spend updating my blog. Of course, that is because I spend all of my spare time with Walter. :) What can I say? I'm in love! This past weekend I was in DC working a booth for Livingstone at the DCLA 2006 conference. I had a wonderful time. I always enjoy working the booths. We travel to the DCLA conference in Anaheim, CA in August. My youth group was there as well, so I got to spend some time with them. I have the most phenomenal group and I wish I could have spent more time with them. I'm thankful for the little time I did spend with the group. I'm heading to Denver this Sunday-Wednesday for the CBA (Christian Booksellers Association) convention for work. It should be fun, although I will miss Walter a lot. I should post pictures, but that requires me to do even more work, so for right now, you'll just have to enjoy the writing part only. Oh! I alm...

I can't believe that it has been a month since I last wrote. Time just flies by! So, I've been at my job for two months now and I still love it. It is great to have a job that really seems to have a purpose. Things continue to go well with Walter. We've gone to two other Cubs games this past month. They won one of them! Speaking of the Cubs...I am incredibly depressed right now. I try not to hope, but I always do. I can't seem to let go. My days have been spent in agony. :) I'll try to update some more later!

This past Saturday Walter took me to the Faith Hill/Tim McGraw Soul 2 Soul tour. It was wonderful. I really enjoyed the concert and even Walter liked it! The show was fantastic (and romantic) and I'm glad that I got the opportunity to go. Walter was going to surprise me, but I found out accidently a few days earlier. Whoops!

It really hasn't been that long, but so much has happened. I started work at Livingstone and absolutely LOVE it. I enjoy the people and everything that I am doing. They give me a variety of work and I am staying busy. Things with Walter are going really well and I spend almost all of my free time with him. Last Saturday, he came with me to my parents' house to color Easter eggs with my family. We really had a lot of fun. Little did he know that my family has a hard core egg coloring competition. (Nate always wins). Walter and I went to the Chicago Cubs home opener and saw an almost perfect game played. It was awesome. Last year, every game I went to the Cubs lost, so things are looking better for this year. I am in a little bit of a phunck now that Derrick Lee is hurt. Note to the wise, don't talk about it. I just get depressed. After talking about the Cubs, you're gonna be a little shocked, but Walter and I (along with our friends Lauren and Bryan) went to a Chicago Wh...

Yes, it's true. After patiently waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting, I have a job! I am working full-time for the Livingstone Corporation (my dad's company) as Assistant Project Manager. I'm so excited for the position and I officially start on Monday. However, I am going into the office tomorrow to get things set up, etc. God has been so faithful and I have been so blessed. I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to work with this company and it has come in God's perfect timing. As some of you know, I have been working on several projects for Livingstone over the past few months to help pay bills, etc. Through all of that work, it has made me realize more and more how much I want to work with Livingstone. In those four months, I believe that God was preparing me for this position, so that I could enter knowing it is something I enjoy and a place I desire to work. Thank you all for your prayers and thanks be to God! I'll try to keep you all updated.

As promised, here are some picture from Arizona and the World Baseball Classic game.

This past weekend (Thursday - Sunday), I got to spend the weekend in sunny Phoenix, AZ to watch some baseball -- except, it wasn't that sunny. Walter and I traveled to AZ where we met up with our friends, the Romers. Keith Romer is the Assistant Coach of the Wheaton College baseball team and he and the fam were down there with the team. I stayed with Jess and the kids in one room and Walter and Keith shared another. On Thursday, we got to watch Wheaton baseball beat Concordia College 22-4. The weather was perfect. On Friday, we headed to the World Baseball Classic game with the USA playing South Africa. USA won 17-0 and the game was called after the 5th inning by mercy rule. It was slightly cooler, but incredibly windy! Walter and I had tickets to the Cubs spring training game against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday, but the game got rained out. The Phoenix area had gone 143 days without rain and it decided to rain ALL DAY when we were supposed to go to the Cubs game. Go figure!...

Yes, Drew Lachey won Dancing With the Stars !! Wooooooo! As you can tell, I'm a little excited. His freestyle dance on Thursday night was awesome. Anyways, I love this show and wanted to celebrate his win! Way to go, Drew!

I had an absolutely wonderful Valentine's Day. It's actually the first Valentine's I've ever really celebrated. To celebrate, Walter surprised me and took me to TangoChicago where we had a group tango lesson and ate dinner. It was sooooo much fun and the food was delicious (yes, there was food that I liked!). I love to dance, so it was an incredible treat. Plus, it adds to the ballroom dancing lessons that we are already taking right now -- watch out "Dancing With the Stars"! Afterwards, we went to Ethel's Chocolate Lounge in Chicago for chocolate fondue. I can never resist chocolate. I hope that all of you had a terrific Valentine's Day. Remember, the ultimate love is God's love for us. That alone gives us reason to celebrate!

I know, I know, it has been a long time since I have posted anything. I apologize. I feel like nothing new has happened, but I guess a lot has happened since December. First of all, I have a boyfriend. Those of you who know me have fallen over in shock, but yes, it is true. If you have any questions, you can contact me on your own time -- I'm not about to share about my relationship on my blog. However, I will let you know that we are taking ballroom dancing lessons. I know that I wrote some time ago that I really wanted to take lessons after seeing "Dancing With the Stars" (still one of my favorite shows). Now that I have a dance partner, I'm able to take lessons. It is soooo much fun! By the way, speaking of "Dancing With the Stars"...vote for Drew! I am still on my adventure of faith concerning my job. I have been doing a variety of work for my dad, trusting God to make ends meet, and patiently waiting for a full-time position. The good news, it looks lik...