Christmas 2005 & an announcement
So Christmas started out nice enough We were all up by about 7
simply because we were so excited to see Joey open all of his
presents. Dad and Jean got over around 8am and we finally got to
get started.
Joey was so cute, but he got tired after only unwrapping about half of his presents, so then the grownups got to start in. Chris got me a really nice mirror ball that sits in a dragon's claw and a beautiful dragon figurine with it's wings spread. There's a painting on it's open wings. He was in shock over his 360 so much that he had to go upstairs. I got him tickets to see Elvis impersonators at the Keswick too, and he really enjoyed that as well.
Here's some pictues of Joey from Christams morning:
I swear this kid can read. This is what he does everytime he gets a DVD or a video, he sits there and acts like he's trying to read the back.
Wrapping paper hanging off of his little butt.
Bobbles and the tool belt my Dad got him.
I'm not really sure how we're planning on moving around anywhere, seeing as Joey got so much. I lost track of everything, but it definitely reminded me of the great Christmases we had when we were kids.
I got a bunch of random stuff like DVD's, a cook book and new hoodie, a chia pet (it grows cat grass for Ozzy) and some Paul Mitchell stuff and perfume from my family. My Dad gave each of the kids $75 in card, so I picked up some CD's and the Killswitch Engage DVD today.
This is where the fun starts. We left my house after breakfast to go over Chris' house. The whole way, he was saying how he was nervous because now he definitely had to get me a ring. (We had made a deal one night that when he got a 360, I'd get a ring.) Then he decides to be an idiot and make all of these suggestions of when he could do it. So I hit him and told him to shut up so I could still be surprised when the time came.
We opened our gifts then took a quick break so we could start the scavenger hunt. This is a tradition in Chris' house. His Mom made him and his brother and sister go wait upstairs while she hid their clues. When they found their gifts, me and his brother's girlfriend Lisa had to wait. Finally, Mrs. Jones came up and said Lisa had to go first because the boys each wanted to see us open our gifts. For a split second, I was like, "I wonder if I'm getting a ring" then it went right out of my head because I knew Chris didn't have the money for it.
Lisa found her gift, then it was my turn. I went around finding all 5 of my clues. My last one (on the spare tire in his Mom's SUV) was "go in the livng room and stand next to the love of your life." I had the though again, then I was like, na, maybe Zack and Mrs. Jones gave us a gift certificate for a vacation or something.
So I go in and Chris stands up and pulls a gift bag off of this (mine's cherry, not oak):
He had spent all morning telling me how badly he felt that he couldn't spend a lot on me and that he got this, but it was broken and they didn't have more in stock.
So I open up the top, and there's a gift box inside. Then Chris says, "you know those diamond earrings I said I couldn't get you?" so then I start screaming, "are you kidding me?". As he's opening the box, he gets down on one knee and says, "Janet Whyte, I love you, will you marry me?". Well I thought I had seen the ring in the box, but I wasn't sure until his knee hit the floor. I was in shock! I proceeded to scream, "Shut up! Holy shit!", which is this picture: (best reaction shot ever, by the way, excuse the red eye.)
Then I proceeded to tackle Chris with the biggest hug ever, while he was asking me if I said yes or not:
Man, of course I said yes. I was sobbing hysterically like a little bitch! I never believed this would happen to me, ever. It's the first time one of my dreams has actually come true. He played it up so well too, I was totally convinced that there was no way it was happening this Christmas.
This is me, saying I almost peed myself, apologizing to his family for the hysterics and realizing I said "shit" in front of his mom:
I'm so lucky to have him. The way he proposed could NOT have been more perfect if it was written in a book or in a movie, and the ring is more beautiful than I ever imagined a ring could be.
Speaking of:
And since my camera isn't that good at taking close up shots, this is almost exactly what ring it is:
The only difference, pretty much is that my center stone is the same size as the others and I don't have engraving on mine.
My Mom and sister and Joe were all in shock. My Dad knew, because Chris actually asked his permission. I thought that was so sweet and old fashioned of him. It turns out that Jackie and Nancy were his partners in crime. He told me a few times last month that he was working late, but he was actually out shopping with them. They were digging for my ring size, what kind I wanted, etc. and I never thought twice about it. He came up with how to give it to me all on his own, though.
I spent a good part of yesterday and today just looking at the stones sparkle in different lights. Joey M's made it look pretty cool, and right now, it's got nice little rainbows coming from it's facets.
I am just beyond happy and still sort of in shock. I'm looking at it thinking, "it's my engagement ring" and it just sounds so wonderfully bizarre.
We have no idea what the date will be yet, but we're hoping for sometime in the next two years. I thought it was going to be longer, so we could save for a house and what not, but my Dad told us to save for the wedding and do it and just stay here. I guess it won't be so bad once Sarah and Joe move out (we can make it more our own), but he had a good point. We're going to take care of my Mom anyway, since Joe's Mom has MS and Sarah and Joe will have to take care of her. My Mom will wind up getting killed somehow if she stays in the house by herself. It makes more sense to do it in a house with the mortgage paid off then to get a new house and go into debt already. We can save money while we're here too, so that eventually, we can move out and get our own house. We were thinking about maybe asking for furniture and home depot gift certificates instead of towels and plates, but we'll see what happens, nothing is definite yet. We don't even have our whole bridal party picked out yet. I'm having a matron and a maid of honor, because I couldn't decide between my two best friends, so that's Jackie and Vicky and Sarah will be in it too. Chris' best friend Jenny will be a bridesmaid too, since he wants her in the wedding somewhere. Chris asked Scott and Pat to be his best men.
Anyhow, if your Christmas was even an eighth as good as mine, (and I hope it was) it was terrific. I believed for so long that this would never happen to me and now that it has, I couldn't be happier.
Joey was so cute, but he got tired after only unwrapping about half of his presents, so then the grownups got to start in. Chris got me a really nice mirror ball that sits in a dragon's claw and a beautiful dragon figurine with it's wings spread. There's a painting on it's open wings. He was in shock over his 360 so much that he had to go upstairs. I got him tickets to see Elvis impersonators at the Keswick too, and he really enjoyed that as well.
Here's some pictues of Joey from Christams morning:
I swear this kid can read. This is what he does everytime he gets a DVD or a video, he sits there and acts like he's trying to read the back.
Wrapping paper hanging off of his little butt.
Bobbles and the tool belt my Dad got him.
I'm not really sure how we're planning on moving around anywhere, seeing as Joey got so much. I lost track of everything, but it definitely reminded me of the great Christmases we had when we were kids.
I got a bunch of random stuff like DVD's, a cook book and new hoodie, a chia pet (it grows cat grass for Ozzy) and some Paul Mitchell stuff and perfume from my family. My Dad gave each of the kids $75 in card, so I picked up some CD's and the Killswitch Engage DVD today.
This is where the fun starts. We left my house after breakfast to go over Chris' house. The whole way, he was saying how he was nervous because now he definitely had to get me a ring. (We had made a deal one night that when he got a 360, I'd get a ring.) Then he decides to be an idiot and make all of these suggestions of when he could do it. So I hit him and told him to shut up so I could still be surprised when the time came.
We opened our gifts then took a quick break so we could start the scavenger hunt. This is a tradition in Chris' house. His Mom made him and his brother and sister go wait upstairs while she hid their clues. When they found their gifts, me and his brother's girlfriend Lisa had to wait. Finally, Mrs. Jones came up and said Lisa had to go first because the boys each wanted to see us open our gifts. For a split second, I was like, "I wonder if I'm getting a ring" then it went right out of my head because I knew Chris didn't have the money for it.
Lisa found her gift, then it was my turn. I went around finding all 5 of my clues. My last one (on the spare tire in his Mom's SUV) was "go in the livng room and stand next to the love of your life." I had the though again, then I was like, na, maybe Zack and Mrs. Jones gave us a gift certificate for a vacation or something.
So I go in and Chris stands up and pulls a gift bag off of this (mine's cherry, not oak):
He had spent all morning telling me how badly he felt that he couldn't spend a lot on me and that he got this, but it was broken and they didn't have more in stock.
So I open up the top, and there's a gift box inside. Then Chris says, "you know those diamond earrings I said I couldn't get you?" so then I start screaming, "are you kidding me?". As he's opening the box, he gets down on one knee and says, "Janet Whyte, I love you, will you marry me?". Well I thought I had seen the ring in the box, but I wasn't sure until his knee hit the floor. I was in shock! I proceeded to scream, "Shut up! Holy shit!", which is this picture: (best reaction shot ever, by the way, excuse the red eye.)
Then I proceeded to tackle Chris with the biggest hug ever, while he was asking me if I said yes or not:
Man, of course I said yes. I was sobbing hysterically like a little bitch! I never believed this would happen to me, ever. It's the first time one of my dreams has actually come true. He played it up so well too, I was totally convinced that there was no way it was happening this Christmas.
This is me, saying I almost peed myself, apologizing to his family for the hysterics and realizing I said "shit" in front of his mom:
I'm so lucky to have him. The way he proposed could NOT have been more perfect if it was written in a book or in a movie, and the ring is more beautiful than I ever imagined a ring could be.
Speaking of:
And since my camera isn't that good at taking close up shots, this is almost exactly what ring it is:
The only difference, pretty much is that my center stone is the same size as the others and I don't have engraving on mine.
My Mom and sister and Joe were all in shock. My Dad knew, because Chris actually asked his permission. I thought that was so sweet and old fashioned of him. It turns out that Jackie and Nancy were his partners in crime. He told me a few times last month that he was working late, but he was actually out shopping with them. They were digging for my ring size, what kind I wanted, etc. and I never thought twice about it. He came up with how to give it to me all on his own, though.
I spent a good part of yesterday and today just looking at the stones sparkle in different lights. Joey M's made it look pretty cool, and right now, it's got nice little rainbows coming from it's facets.
I am just beyond happy and still sort of in shock. I'm looking at it thinking, "it's my engagement ring" and it just sounds so wonderfully bizarre.
We have no idea what the date will be yet, but we're hoping for sometime in the next two years. I thought it was going to be longer, so we could save for a house and what not, but my Dad told us to save for the wedding and do it and just stay here. I guess it won't be so bad once Sarah and Joe move out (we can make it more our own), but he had a good point. We're going to take care of my Mom anyway, since Joe's Mom has MS and Sarah and Joe will have to take care of her. My Mom will wind up getting killed somehow if she stays in the house by herself. It makes more sense to do it in a house with the mortgage paid off then to get a new house and go into debt already. We can save money while we're here too, so that eventually, we can move out and get our own house. We were thinking about maybe asking for furniture and home depot gift certificates instead of towels and plates, but we'll see what happens, nothing is definite yet. We don't even have our whole bridal party picked out yet. I'm having a matron and a maid of honor, because I couldn't decide between my two best friends, so that's Jackie and Vicky and Sarah will be in it too. Chris' best friend Jenny will be a bridesmaid too, since he wants her in the wedding somewhere. Chris asked Scott and Pat to be his best men.
Anyhow, if your Christmas was even an eighth as good as mine, (and I hope it was) it was terrific. I believed for so long that this would never happen to me and now that it has, I couldn't be happier.