Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Memo to Trenton Bowen: In the words of Stevie Wonder "Signed, sealed, delivered...I'm yours."


Trent and I were officially engaged on Saturday February 28th. To say that I am excited is an understatement. I have been so happy in our relationship and look forward to continuing our friendship and love.


I love to hear about the engagement details so I will give you ours. Last week I received an email from Trent suggesting that he take me out shopping for my birthday. How could I turn that offer down? I happily agreed to spend my Saturday afternoon with him in downtown Alexandria, Va. The night before the shopping trip I told him that we needed finish early enough for me to pick up my friend Mary from the Baltimore airport. Trent told me that he had gotten dinner reservations and they could not be moved back. He then started to call and ask our friends if they might pick up Mary. The ever-so-wonderful Melanie Beal gladly agreed to pick up Mary. I thought that they must be some reservations but dismissed the idea that it was more than a birthday celebration.


On Saturday we did the usual things: exercised, bought our groceries for the week, and took a nap. Around four o'clock we started our shopping trip. I went to many stores and tried on some dresses but none seemed to work. He told me that he had heard about a quaint clothing store a few blocks down. We walked around the store but I did not find anything. After leaving the store, he received a text message from "his mom" saying that she had made it to her destination. (Turns out this was our friend Wayne setting up the proposal scene.) Then he suggested that we go to another store that was on the other side of the square. By this point I was very impressed with his knowledge of clothing stores in old town. He lead us up to through the square. We had breakfast together on our third date in this square. We had also gone back there a few times while dating.


As we walked, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a path made of rose petals that lead to the benches were we ate on our third date. I was giddy and not at all nervous. We stood at the base of the bench and he said some wonderful things to me about our relationship and our future. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes and then gave him a huge hug. The tourists had noticed what was happening and they began to cheer for us. We gave them a little wave and then I put on my wedding ring. In the bushes there were cards with quotes of things that we had said to each other during our courtship. As we read them we laughed and I cried.


We called our families and reported to them the exciting news. My parents cheered and my dad teared up. Both of our parents said "I love you guys." We are so blessed to have such loving parents that are excited to welcome the other as their own. I called my grandmother and she was more cautious and wanted to make sure that Trent treats me well enough. I assured her and she said "Well tell Trent that I think I love him too." That was pretty good for her.


We celebrated with a Delicious dinner at The Grill at Morrison House. We had a delectable 5 course meal.


Since the engagement, I have to remind myself that this is all real. I have to keep saying to myself and Trent "You are my fiance" and "we are getting married." When I really think about it, I become somewhat emotional due to the level of gratitude that I feel towards Trent and the relationship that we have built together. He was worth the wait. I look forward to you all getting to know him and "us".

The scene
The bench were he proposed.

Grill at Morrison House

Valentine's Day/ President's Day

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day has been officially saved. Last year I wrote about how my mother called me a few days before V-day and said, "Well, your worst day of the year is coming soon." I had a few bad experiences on V-day that tainted the day for me. Last year's v-day was wonderful with my valentine Trent. Of course, this year was fantastic. I made Trent waffles for breakfast and then took a nap. After waking up from a nap, Trent and I went to a tiny art gallery in DC. The art gallery had set up a valentine making station. We cut, glued, and glittered our valentines for each other. We got some lunch and then took nap number 2. For dinner Trent served my favorite Thai takeout over candlelight. It was a great evening with my wonderful valentine. I am also glad to report that my mother did not make a call of warning this year.

President's Day

President's Day was perfect for a small day trip to Annapolis. Annapolis is a quaint city with cobblestone streets, brick row homes, and a scenic harbor. We set out with friends Wayne, Mary, and Meredith. We started with a visit to the Maryland State House. It was once used as a U.S. capitol.

Our next destination was to the Naval Academy. We toured some of the campus and went to the visitor's center. My favorite part of the whole day was visiting the harbor at the Naval Academy. It was peaceful and beautiful.

-space water-

It happened to be restaurant week in Annapolis. We found a small french restaurant that was serving a three course meal. We asked how long it would be to get into the restaurant. The host said that we would be in and out in 45 minutes. We sat down and ordered our meals. Trent had a premonition that his order would be mixed up. His premonition was correct and he was freaked out. Our 45 minute dinner took about 2 hours. At the end of our meal, we were the last diners in the restaurant. Even the waiting staff was out of site for the end of the meal.

Mary and Wayne called each other to discuss their outfits for the day.

Inauguration

Monday night Trent, Kim, Wayne, and I made our way into DC. Where we stayed the night in order to prepare for an early awake time to attend the inauguration. My friend Wayne, whom got us our tickets to the big event, has a co-worker that lives in DC and allowed us to camp out at her apartment. We found out that the very same apartment was President Obama's apartment when he was in the senate!! So yes, I stayed at Pres. Obama's old apartment on the eve of his inauguration.

Us at President Obama's old apartment

We left the apartment at 6:30 am, walked through the Interstate 395 underpass, and made our way to get into the SLOWEST MOVING LINE IN HISTORY!!!! I believe that we moved one city block in three and a half hours. We were all standing shoulder to shoulder and back to back. Soon we stopped moving all together. People were getting antsy so they climbed on top of their friend's shoulders and on to light poles to get a better view of what way to go. Every time we would move a few feet the crowd would cheer. The crowd was pretty polite. They even started to chant "LET US IN..... PLEASE." Then we could go no further. We were stuck behind a cement barrier, a metal fence, and two plastic fences. We were all frustrated that there was so much room in the section that we were supposed to be in but we could not get there. Then it happened. The people would be heard. The crowd started to chant, "Tear it down, tear it down." Then the gate and fences went down and people started to rush into the open area near the capitol. Police tried to hold us back but soon stopped when they realized that we were not running over the barriers but were being pushed over them from the people behind us. I will be honest...this scared me. I was sure I would be trampled. We got over the barrier and had a pretty good spot. Once we were in our spot things seemed to be more cheery.

The inauguration itself was a momentous occasion. It was a wonderful opportunity to be present during the inauguration of the first black president. I found his speech hopeful yet honest about what America is facing economically, nationally, and world wide. The prayers were heartfelt and full of hope and praise. Throughout the inauguration a woman behind me was crying. She was a young black woman that was overcome, I am sure, by the historic occasion that she was witnessing. I wonder what it meant to her to have someone from her race that has been historically kept out of such positions in America. I wonder how this will change America. I hope it will be for the better. As I handed her a tissue, I felt connect to not only her but to all mankind. It was a wonderful moment that I will not forget.

MLK Weekend

A few months ago, Mary called me and shouted, "I want to go to Paris for my birthday." We got really excited about going to Paris and then realized how cold it would be in January. That idea was out. Then Mary called and said "Lets go to Florida." We got excited and then again threw it out. Third times the charm. Mary called with the idea of a "chocolate covered birthday weekend." She suggested that we spend her birthday at the Hershey Spa. I jumped at the chance to pampered for the day and we made a weekend out of it.

The first day were joined by some friends. I had read about this hill where if you put your car in neutral it would take your car up the hill. The legend is that a bus full of school children ran off the hill and died, and now the ghost children push the cars up the hill. Well, I had to try this out. Freaky enough, it actually worked. We were all delighted by this find.

The goal for our trip was to eat chocolate at every meal. It was met through cake, milkshakes, cookies, hot chocolate, and all kinds of Hershey products. To set a precedence we started off our day at the Hershey Factory. We took their Disneyland type ride through the factory were we saw singing cows and lots and lots of chocolate. Later that evening it was time for dinner, more chocolate, and hot tubbing.

So Much Candy!!!

Sunday we made our way to Harrisburg, PA where we visited the capitol building. We walked around Harrisburg (which looks lovelier in the pictures than it really is in person.) Monday was Mary's birthday, and we spent most of the day in the Hershey Spa. The spa treatments were relaxing especially when I got to eat chocolate in the milk and honey soak. Oh, it was heaven....audible sigh.

It was a great weekend. Happy Birthday Mary!

Christmas Highlights

I had a wonderful Christmas break that lasted three weeks long. It started out right by visiting Disneyland. From California, Trent and I flew to SLC where I spent a few days with him and his family. To be honest, I was a little nervous since this was the first time to meet them. The nervousness quickly melted away by Trent's mother's warmth and kindness. Thanks Ruthann and Dakota for making my time in SLC comfortable and enjoyable. The trip was complete with a Bowen family Christmas party where we had a white elephant gift exchange and I was interrogated about my intentions with Trent from his uncles. I ensured them that my intentions were honorable. The last night in SLC my mom, brothers Justin and Eric, Kami, and Collin joined the Bowens and I at the SLC temple to see the lights. Dakota and Collin had a great time together by jumping in the snow and throwing snow into the fountains. They are such cute boys!

Trent and his little brother Dakota

Then I was off to home sweet home Arco, Idaho. The days leading up to Christmas were full of baking, watching movies, and having sleepovers with my nephew Collin. On New Years Eve, we had our annual Brewer Christmas party. I had a wonderful time spent with my whole Brewer extended family and our adopted family Rhonda and Joe! The picture below is of my mother after she jumped out of our car and chased down the FedEx truck in hopes that he was bringing her the grand kids present. No such luck but I thought the picture was funny.
We woke up early Christmas morning to find 15 inches of freshly fallen snow. It was beautiful. My parents had to plow their way through the snow to get to my brothers home to watch the grand kids open gifts. Once they got there, my cute father shoveled a pathway to the door for my mom.
The kids had a great Christmas. Santa seemed to think that they were good this year because they got all of the presents they asked for. Collin even got his "rock and roll guitar." My favorite gift that I gave was to my father. He loves McDonald's and loves to tease me about how I should eat there more instead of real restaurants. After all his teasing, I decided to give him some gift certificates. Well, he seemed to have the same idea because he gave me a McDonald's gift card. We all laughed pretty hard.

A few days after Christmas Trent and his family came to visit!!!! I was excited to show them the sites of Moore and Arco. The tour lasted about an hour and then ended with a visit to "The Deli." The next night my entire Brewer side of the family plus some friends got together for dinner and games and a chance to meet the Bowens. I believe that we all had a good time playing Scum and Guitar Hero World Tour.

Then Trent and I were back in DC before we knew it. We landed just in time to attend Mary's New Years Eve party.
Happy New Year dear friends!!! This has been a wonderful year for me and it lived up to its motto: Everything will be Great in '08. This years motto is yet to unfold but I am sure all will be fine in '09.

The Happiest Place on Earth

So it turns out that Disneyland is in fact the happiest place on Earth. It takes a special place for me to remain happy through wind and rain. Trent and I met Derek and Joni for a two day Disneyland trip. We had been looking forward to this trip for a few months. Trent and Joni are the biggest Disneyland fans that I know so it was great to experience it with them. They knew all the good places to eat, stay dry, and shortcuts through the park.Our first day in the park it rained the entire day. I think the rain let up for about an hour but then continued to fall. We took the rain as a blessing because there was hardly anyone in the park and we walked on to all the rides!!! However, we did make a bad decision going on Splash Mountain. We had thought that it would be okay since we were already a little wet. We were loving the ride until the water came in over the sides and soaked us. After the ride, we were all very wet. It was worth it! For dinner we at The Blue Bayou, which is the restaurant that is at the beginning of the ride The Pirates of the Caribbean. The restaurant had the ambiance of eating outdoors yet is not outdoors. It was perfect for a rainy night. The first night there we also had a chance to meet up with my friends Leah and Jon and their 2 children. It was wonderful to catch up with them even for just a little bit of time.

The castle decorated for Christmas

After Splash Mountain
A Small World

The next day was warmer so we wandered outside and went on the big roller coaster. We had yummy food, churros, and anything covered in chocolate. We spent some time with Joni's sister Janna. She is a cast member at Disneyland and graciously got us in the park for a very low fare. Plus, she is quite the cute Gingerbread Man in the Christmas parade. My favorite parts of Disneyland has always been the parade and the fireworks. After the fireworks, it started to snow...fake snow made of small suds. It was perfect!! That night we were able to meet up with our friends Jane and Seth that now live in LA. With so many friends to see it makes me think that it really is a smal world after all.

Our reaction on the roller coaster