well, another 4 day weekend has slipped on by... it's rough being a teacher these days. real rough.
:-)
on saturday erica, laura & i went on a wedding dress shopping excursion. it was so fun to hang out with both of them together for the first time! they are dear, sweet, wonderful, funny friends. i'm glad for them in my life.

i wish i could show you some of the dresses i tried on, but then nick would see them and that would just be the end of the world as we know it.
you'll have to use your imagination.

i discovered that no matter what the dress looked like, by adding a veil, it instantly made it look like the perfect dress.
it was so surreal to be wearing a WEDDING dress!! and a veil! despite the flourescent lights and throngs of other brides, it was very fun.

here's a rundown of things we know so far. (for all you girls who want to know)
date: june 28
time: 6:30
place: harvest e. free church
reception: fellowship hall downstairs
colors: chocolate brown & green
bridesmaids: erica, laura & allison
groomsmen: tim, patrick & mike (i know that means nothing to you...)
theme: circus fun time!

just kidding.
no dancing bears will show up, that i know of. nick likes them a lot though, so don't be surprised.

i received my new teacher's certificate in the mail the other day and it affected me much more than i expected. you can't see in this picture, but the expiration date is 2106! that's 99 years away!!! i'm certified to teach until i'm 128 years old!
it conveys much more of a lifetime commitment than that first 4 year certificate ever could have (obviously) and it's kind of strange to think about.
but also amazing. to think i've been so lucky as to find myself in a job that i would be perfectly happy doing for the rest of my needing-to-have-a-job years. that's a rare thing. some people never figure out what they want to do with themselves, their entire life long.
i'm not saying, 'i'm so cool, i figured it out', but i sure am grateful for the way god arranged my circumstances to bring me to this place that fits so well.

in other news, looks like we're getting another ice storm tomorrow & friday. i've almost forgotten how to be in school for an entire week at a time. all these snow days are totally spoiling my idea of good work ethic. i wake up in the morning and look out the window to see if we might just get to stay home.
this beautiful snowfall is what surprised me yesterday morning.

i hadn't heard watched the news so i was shocked to wake up to a lovely magical wonderland. light and fluffy but not sticking to the roads so off to school we went.
i may sound hypocritical after just rejoicing in the way god's put me in the perfect job... but really, who wouldn't mind a 4 day weekend? every week?

diverse weekend fun

here's some quick blurbs about what went on this weekend in my sphere of people.

one night casey cooked us a dinner that included the best apple pie EVER...

erica & nick had (a little TOO much) fun...

then another night we went to a place with a cool bluegrassy rock kind of band and these four guys went to TOWN with the hippy dancing! the amish guy got it all started and pretty soon there were 10-15 people dancing away in this tiny little space in front of the band between the tables. this guy was crazy! and what made him even more crazy was that he was drinking beer and cussing a blue streak while dancing his heart out. sort of knocks my perspective of the amish right out of the water...

and mohinder had a good time hunting, stalking, then pouncing upon the totally immobile seashells. this cat cracks me up.

unphotographed, but equally as valid, the weekend also included finishing registering with nick (for our WEDDING!!!), babysitting my favorite large family, and spending a truly delightful time with my friend allison (it's been way too long!).

i feel so thankful for my life these days. it's very full of good people.

an engagement story

first of all, i'm sorry to have made all of you wait almost an entire week since the memorable event to hear the full story!
at long last, here it is.

friday night, the 8th, was nick & i's date night, and nick had already said he'd like to try again at planning our evening activities. the 'again' part comes from a few weeks ago when i was in an indecisive mood and had asked him to just plan our date for us. he really had a hard time with that -- he wanted to do something i would enjoy, but was insecure about just randomly planning something -- what if i hated it?!
silly boy.
i ended up giving in and offering some input into our evening.

so when he told me he wanted to give it another shot, i was excited at the prospect of being surprised -- there's something great about the guy planning the whole date. it makes the girl feel taken care of.
i like that.
so he came to pick me up at my house with a dozen white roses that were incredibly gorgeous. he'd only brought me flowers one time before in the last 13 months, so i was suitably impressed. and might i add that i've been enjoying them immensely this whole last week as they open and bloom bigger and creamier and more splendid.
white flowers of any sort are my favorite. he did good.

he then took me to dinner at a greek pizza restaurant called arris pizza. it was incredible. you might think this sounds less than appetizing, but we had a combination of both of our favorite flavors -- hawaiian & bleu cheese & garlic! it was very tasty.

nick had been pretty keyed up the whole drive to springfield so he had a beer to help him relax a little. he said it was from having a hectic day at work, but he told me later that it had a lot more to do with pre-proposal nerves.

we had an hour or so between dinner and the next activity, so we hung out at barnes and noble for a bit. we could spend hours in bookstores.

then around 9 p.m., we headed over to the jordan valley ice rink and went ice skating! i've only attempted the sport once before and it was on a pond on a ranch with rough ice and i had on skates that were about 3 sizes too small. it was not a pleasant experience.

this time was definitely the opposite -- i loved it so much!!! it was so glidey and smooth! like we were skimming along the bare surface of the earth. and it helped that i'm a rollerskating enthusiast. the body movements are pretty similar.
nick didn't love it quite so much, but he was such a good sport about it. he would go a few rounds and then take a break and let me go around as fast as i wanted. it was very fun.


that's our reflection, in case you're wondering why i took a picture of the employee entrance.

now to give you a little background into the reasoning behind the activity selection. nick was basically just trying to get us over to the jordan valley park area since that's where we had our 6 month anniversary date. if you don't remember, that was the date when nick first told me that he loved me. on that date, we had wandered around the park for a while, then taken the pathway over to founder's park for the outdoor movie. on the way back to the car afterward, he stopped me by the bridge and told me those three magic words for the first time (along with some other choice words, of course).

so after ice skating for a while, nick asked if i wanted to go for a walk back on that pathway that was so close to our hearts.
on this particular walk, i was trying really hard not to get too caught up in expectations so i wouldn't miss out on enjoying just being with nick. i kept finding myself thinking, 'is this it? will he ask me?' but then i'd remind myself to just relax and have fun.
and it really was fun. we reminisced about what we had said to each other, remembered what it had been like, etc...
but then as we were walking, he stopped me under one of the street lamps and said, 'well i have something to tell you again.'
i said, 'what is it?'
and he said, 'kate corley, i love you so much. you're my best friend, and i want to spend the rest of my life with you. will you marry me?' as he said that, he took out a ring box and got down on one knee.
of course i said, 'yes!!'
in the box was a wooden ring that he had carved out of walnut for me. he wanted to get me a diamond ring, but just hadn't been able to afford one.
after he put that ring on my finger, he said, 'i made this ring for you to show you how much i love you. but there's another part to the story.'
turns out, on wednesday (two days before our date), a man from our church GAVE him a diamond ring to give to me!! he's one of the men that meets with nick & a couple other men weekly, and they've developed a fun friendship. nick felt so honored that he would just give him the ring! i think maybe he and his wife were upgrading or something, after being married for a while.

so nick pulled that ring out of his pocket, and i was just amazed at how delicately perfect it was! for neither one of us to have had anything to do with picking it out, it's genuinely amazing that it fits my finger and is so perfect in every way.

(here's a slightly cornball picture. it's better than some of the attempts though, trust me. who knew how hard it'd be to take a picture of rings??)

i feel like the ring nick made me affirms his personality -- the strong, manly, providing, resourceful personality, and the diamond ring affirms my personality -- wanting to be beautiful and feminine. and for god to bring his community into our story is so affirming, like he created the perfect twist for us, because he loves us and approves of our love for each other.

anyways, so then we were able to kiss on the lips for the first time in our 13 months of dating! we've kissed on many other places (cheek, nose, forehead), but to be able to kiss on the lips was suddenly very amusing. i couldn't stop cracking up every time we gave it a try. i'm sure my giddiness in general wasn't helping any, but we kept giving it our best shot. but don't worry about us, we're getting the hang of it.

after walking around our pathway and finding some spots to stand on and shout out cheesy, sentimental things like, 'we're getting married!!!' and 'i love this woman!!!', we then circled back to document the event with some timer shots.




then we drove back to branson, calling our parents along the way.
nick did an amazing job planning a perfect proposal. he didn't even seem all that nervous to me. he told me later that he almost threw up at one point. he's a pretty good actor.

WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!!!!

temporary newsflash...

just as a little teaser of a more detailed post to come, i wanted to tell anyone who hasn't heard yet that nick and i are now officially engaged!!!
friday night he proposed and i said yes. :-)
we've both been so excited ever since.
we've had ice storms coming through the area so school's been cancelled today & yesterday and that's where my camera cable is. i'll save the whole story until i can get back there and post the pictures along with it.

but don't worry, there will indeed be a story!

kitties & inspiration

mohinder's favorite haunts include the front window, where he's mesmerized for hours by the complete lack of activity going on out there...

...and the bathroom, where he's intent on learning how to walk around the edge of the tub without falling off. so far he hasn't mastered the skill.

my favorite of his efforts includes trying to balance on the top of the dining room chairs. they're ladder-back style with a 1/4" thin strip of wood on the top. he's very determined.
i recently watched an episode of the office where jim keeps squirting dwight in the face with a water bottle to keep him from falling asleep when he's got a concussion. that enlightening episode combined with my disciplining tactics with mohinder have caused me to have a classroom management epiphany.
i'm seriously considering implementing the squirt bottle approach with my high schoolers.
they get disrespectful, i just squirt them in the face. they ignore me, a little watery reminder of my presence should do the trick.
what do you think?
creative and effective!

leapin' lizards

yes, it's true, i videoed my cat.
you may think me odd, perhaps a bit pathetic, but i'm not ashamed. the mohinder love runs deep, as any cat love should, and i refuse to squelch my emotions!

this frantic leaping is not always directed at a convenient dangly toy -- it's usually directed at my passing feet.
mercifully, he's got no claws, but i think all four sets of his claws were just repositioned into his mouth. he has the sharpest galldang teeth of any cat i know!

sledding love

sledding love 2

sledding love 3

unsuccessful sumo lifters

snowman kamakaze

guess that movie!

the move, etc.

so there's been some crazy rearranging of lives happening lately -- mostly maren's life, but it's rubbed off on erica & i, naturally.
after christmas, maren decided she was ready for a change. there were several options of what kind of change, but it quickly boiled down to her favorite idea of moving to california. she has family over there and has wanted to live there eventually, so what better time than now?

here's the three of us for the last couch-shot of our year as roomates.







maren had been planning a little visit already, so it turned into being a good time to scope out the job scene, get a feel for the lay of the land, etc.
the plan was to go hang out for a few days, come back and spend a couple weeks packing up, then move out there for good.





upon returning from her visit (wednesday) she informs us there's been a change of plan. her mom had booked a flight to come help her drive out with her stuff on friday. yes, that's right, leaving her only 1 1/2 days to pack.

i'm sure there's no way to convey the magnitude of what that meant without knowing maren and without realizing how much of maren there is. not that she's a large person, by no means. she's just got a LOT of stuff!

her plan included shipping boxes to california instead of lugging them in a truck or something (her last job she just quit was with fedex) and then leaving some things that she'd return for later in the summer.
sounds like a feasible plan, until taking into account that fedex doesn't come to this particular location to pick up boxes so they'll have to be carted over to the nearest location.

there are 17 boxes.
they're still under my carport.
maren's going to ship the labels at which point i'll do the carting.








i won't go into any more graphic details of all that was involved in the moving and the cleaning and the organizing that ensued, but let's just say that it was monumental. thankfully, erica & i had thursday & friday snow days so we could help. i don't know how she would have done it otherwise.



after one last breakfast together and a lot of stuffing of items into nooks & crannies of maren's car, it's back to just the two of us.








the effects of this epic move are two-fold:

#1 i got in such a cleaning/organizing mode that i went through every room in my house sorting things for our yard sale (to be hosted later in the spring -- anyone and everyone can come throw their stuff in -- it's a free-for-all!), making piles of things for the trash, and organizing things that just needed to be re-compiled and made tidy.
i got so driven and focused with it that i made nick feel like he was so much flotsam in my one-track minded goal of scouring the entire house bare.
we had a good heart-to-heart about it last night and practiced out communication skills.

#2 i am now roomate-less. a delightful place to be in if i were independently wealthy.
this point is just one among many of the things to consider regarding the future of my house. the real estate market is reportedly bad these days or else i would just love to sell it before june (for unannounced reasons).
the maddening thing about it is there's no way of knowing if it will sell.
oh, for one of those shiny fortune-telling balls.

you're thinking, 'why would you want to sell your perfectly cute little house??' to which i would reply, you're right, it's the cutest of all... but there are several contributing factors.
it would be nice to not have to worry about finding renters and maintaining the property and all after we get married.
it would also be nice to have a little boost in income.
and nick & i don't really want to live there after we're married. it's not all that suitable for various reasons (no shower (just a tub), loft-ceiling bedroom with a 2 foot swath of upright walking space, etc.)

i go through seasons of extreme anxiety about the whole situation to be followed by seasons of drifting in blissful empty-headed ignoring it all. neither extreme is preferable, of course. if only i could find that tenuous balance of staying present with the dilemma while continually bringing my worries before the lord, trusting in his faithful lovingkindness.
that would be nice.

so there's the skinny.
let me know if you're in the market for a house!

snow day, take 3

after having 2 duds of snow days (rain is not snow, even in the ozarks) we finally had real live snow!!!
granted, 3-5 inches isn't much compared to some places in the world, but it was enough to get us two days off of school and the funnest day EVER playing our little hearts out.
























you may find this hard to believe, but i had never made a snow angel, enjoyed sledding down a hill, or made a snowman before! it was the best day of my entire winter, by far.
of course it didn't start out that way -- there will be another post devoted to thursday morning and the move from hell, but we're staying in a happy place for now.




nick procured some inflato-sleds and we were off to a rather mild slope. it was enough to get us zooming though. i took some videos throughout the day but i lost my camera cable (!!) so they're irretrievable for the moment. hopefully the cable's not rolled up into the middle of one of our snowmen.

we were SO excited to be sledding!!
























and speaking of which, look at those gigantic guys! my knees were bruised, but it was worth it. after making our individual masterpieces (and posing as many different ways as we could imagine) we kamakazied three of them with great gusto.
















































in search of snowmen arms, nick & i wandered into the magical winter woods and were astonished by perfect snowy bliss. after finishing our snowmen, the four of us headed back over to properly enjoy the beauty. there was even a little narnia magic in that wood, that's how enchanted it was. after snowball cavorting, we took some minutes to sit and listen to the silence of the snow.










all in all, there was not a single minute of the day that i would change.
it was perfect.