The Ring!

We picked up the ring last night from the jeweler. We had to take it to be sized and so I haven't been able to actually wear it since the night Jereme proposed. Now I can't stop looking at it! I feel like a giddy teenager again LOL!

My summer, it seems, is going to become complicated. Hopefully it will work itself all out though. There are so many changes going on it my life, and other people's lives that directly effect me. I have a feeling it's going to be a challenging summer as a result of school + all the changes going on.

More to follow!

We Got the Hall!

So we reserved the hall for the wedding reception on Monday. After a weekend long dialogue between Jereme and I, trying to decide if we should cut the guest list or just get the bigger hall, we opted for the bigger hall. So, we decided to rent the Winter Park Garden Club building that is in Mead Gardens. The hall is actually beautiful and it overlooks the gardens. I love it. So I am secretly happy that Jereme won the dialogue and we're just ending up over budget for the hall.

So, the main part of the hall has a stage, and a white sash that stays on the ceiling at all times. It has long windows but they have shutters that close from the inside to block out sun if you want. the lights are dimmable, and globe shaped. They include tables in the rental, and chairs as well, which is cool, but it does not include linens or plates or anything (which the smaller hall did).

The hall also comes with a smaller room which is going to be used as the "buffet" room. It is a fairly good sized room with a kitchen off of it, and a place for the bar to be set up. The kitchen is small, but plenty big enough for our mother's to get to work in it for the food! LOL!

We have six hours with our rental fee, and just over $70/hr for any additional time that we need. The cost has me a bit on edge about the budget, but I'm going to have faith that it will work itself all out. Jereme and I will be paying for this wedding all on our own, since my family has no money to put into a second wedding for me.

now that the question of the hall is all squared away we can get to more fun little things. Of course there are still a few big things we need to get (photographer anyone?) but most of the rest of the things we have to plan can be done over time instead of needing an earlier reservation time.

School is winding down, and we only have two weeks left. I'm so excited to have yet another semester behind me, and I am doing so great! I can't wait to be a junior and have to be in Gainesville less often.

More updates to follow!

Bridal Party Bouquets

So Jereme convinced me (it actually wasn't too hard, though I do still have some misgivings about it) that fresh flowers is the way to go for a spring time wedding. I made all the Bridal party bouquets for my first wedding, and I wasn't even really very intimidated by it, though I knew nothing about making such bouquets, and I had never attempted anything like it before. I also, I might add, am not a crafty person. At my first wedding the bride's bouquet ended up costing me around $15 and each bridesmade bouquet cost me between $10 and $12 (the maid of honor's was a little different and so cost a few dollars more). I was determined to not spend more than that this time around, even though I'm using real flowers this time.

Our theme for this wedding is gardens, and even though we're having the actual ceremony in the Church (not in a garden LOL!) the reception will be held at a gardens, with an inside hall and an outside we'll be able to use.

My favorite flowers are lilies, especially Easter lilies, but really any lilies. I love the smell of them, I love the beauty of them. So we definitely wanted to incorporate a lot of lilies into our floral arrangements for the wedding. So, I set about at my first trial of making the bouquets for the wedding. I have a year, so it may seem like I'm starting way too early considering we'll be using alive flowers and can't make them months ahead of time, but the intimidation level was high so I wanted to practice, and lilies are more expensive when they aren't in season. Since it's April now, and they're in perfect season, now is the time to try! Plus it gives me a variety of flowers I'll be likely to find next year at this same time as well.

While Jereme and I were at Publix, we saw a small bunch of flowers, with Lilies in them. They were pink and purple and white and pretty. We went ahead and picked up a small bunch ($4) and then went to walmart and got some floral tape and ribbons and pearl headed pins. A few nights ago I set about to work on attempting to make my first live floral bouquet and this is what we ended up with:

So, it is still a little rough around the edges, but I think I did a pretty good job for a first attempt! I want the Bride bouquet to have more flowers though, probably by twice. at least one more stem of lilies, and possibly incorporating a few small calla lilies in it as well. I am thinking the guy's boutonnieres are going to be mini calla lilies so we need to have some in the bridesmades as well. Also we may try to go with a different color flower, depending on what's available next year. I think we've narrowed the wedding color down to a soft light purple (think lilac). The total cost of this bouquet that I made was less than $5.

sick, sick, SICK!

I am so sick of being sick. We have pretty much had at least one person sick non stop in my household since October of last year. I have started completely disinfecting my house wondering if there is some hidden bacteria or something in here making all of us sick. I don't know what the cause of our crippled immune systems is, but I know that it stinks.

On another note, my semester is winding down. I have only two weeks of school left (three more trips to Gainesville left) in the semester and I can't *wait* for summer break. I have so much to do during summer break that it's not even funny, but I'm aiming for at least one trip to the beach as well in there somewhere.

My daughter's First Holy Communion is next month, on the 21st of May. Her dress just arrived from Ohio where it was being made. My grandma's best friend Jeanne made the dress out of my wedding dress from when I married the children's father. Tori looks so beautiful in the dress and now she has something special, a part of me and her father from the days when we loved each other, to keep forever as part of her history. I have many other things to do (and get) for her First Communion, and so I look forward to the break in school so that I can appropriately prepare her for her big day!!


Speaking of big days, Jereme and I have gone and spoken to the priest at Good Shepherd about our planned marriage. We've gotten the paperwork started for it, and reserved a date with the priest. So our official date is April 14, 2012! We've started the beginnings of planning for the big day. I have given myself quite a challenge, as our official budget for this even is a mere $3000. I managed to have my last wedding for a mere $2000 but there were not nearly as many people invited, nor expected, at that wedding. This time we are planning to invite just over 200 people, and expect around 150 to actually come. So I am going to have to come up with many ways to be super frugal. I have many projects and ideas that I am working on, and I will update on the blog as I develop them!

Finals this week are Female Sexuality class and Midwifery Practicum class. We'll see how it goes!!

Yes!! I will!!

So, the kids are with their dad for spring break this week. We dropped them off to him on Friday, had a wonderful evening in with home cooked salmon and broccoli for dinner, and enjoyed a quiet evening. The next day we headed to New Smyrna Beach for our weekend get away. My spring break was a few weeks ago, so this really is the only break I get from it all. Of course I have a microbiology exam Tuesday and two papers due in a week, but that's a whole different story.

So we get here (lilies that he bought me in tow, I couldn't possibly leave them at home!) and go walking on the beach. It was so beautiful. There were dolphins swimming so close to shore we could almost touch them, and pelicans flying over head. It was a little chilly, and the water was too cold to swim in, but it was still beautiful. I found several awesome finds of shells for my kids too!!

He asked that I bring something for a nice dinner, so I packed black strap heels and a new black dress he bought just for the occassion, so we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. Driving out to dinner, he stops by the Ponce Inlet lighthouse. It's dark outside and the lighthouse is all lit up, it was just beautiful. He gets down on one knee, opens a little black box, and proposes!! Of course I said yes!!

More to follow, off to climb a lighthouse!!

It's Been How Long?

okay, so I am a total slacker. Let's just say that life + midwifery school = misty's butt being kicked. Not only have we been sick (and I mean *SICK*) three (going on FOUR now that Bobby has a fever and belly ache tonight) times in the two semesters I've been at FSTM, but I also attempted to apprentice in Sarasota again, which turned out to be way too much for my family to handle, and I started a job birth assisting with a local midwife, and there is that addition of a boyfriend (and two dogs) to the equation. Soooo.... I've neglected almost everything else in my life. My blog (so sorry), my written journals (how sad!), my friends (I miss you guys!), and sometimes even sleep (welcome to my life). What's the big news this semester? I might fail my first class *EVER*! W-T-F? Yeah, so that sucks. Turns out microbiology is kicking my butt. But at least it isn't kicking only my butt. Pretty much the whole class is failing. Defect on my part? I think not. We'll see how final grades turn out.

So this week is spring break. I am using my time with cleaning, and playing. I should be studying that awful microbiology. But I'm not - yet. As I sit here typing and trying to keep my eyes open, Jereme is telling me to save and shut down to go to sleep LOL! Anyway, guess I better wrap up this update, probably won't write another one for a long time once again :( Maybe I will. Who knows. If I could get my phone set back up to mobile blogger, then I would update more often. Will have to fiddle with it.

When Harry Met Sally

Or Rather..When Jereme Met Misty: the beginning

I was given some birthday money this year, and so I decided to make the most of it. The week of my birthday I received an email from eHarmony letting me know that they had a special going on, 4 months for the price of one. I had gotten so many "matches" on eHarmony (but of course, could not communicate with any of them except during free communication weekends) that I decided to go on and put my birthday money into four months of eHarmony. A week after I signed up for a full account I was matched up with several people and communicated with a handful of them, including Jereme. At first I was unsure, as I had been weeding out all military from my matches (no offense to our nation's military, I just didn't think my life would easily match a man who had to deploy often) but I noticed we had a lot in common, and was impressed with how important family seemed to be to him. We made it to email communication and he asked me to meet him for coffee. I asked him how he felt about kids, and he replied that he was apprehensive about it. Well, I figured, I might as well meet him for coffee but I bet nothing will come of it since he seems to not like the idea of being a step father.

I set up to meet him for coffee on a Thursday, and I arrived a bit early. I sat at the coffee shop and fiddled with my phone, texting one of my friends while trying not to become nervous about meeting someone basically blindly off the internet. a few minutes after I arrived, I spotted him. At first I thought, is that really him? It didn't really look like him in his picture...but then I'm pretty bad at remembering names and faces and thought maybe I was just remembering wrong. Well, he's wearing the same color clothes he said he'd wear so it must be him. I waited for him to approach me, which he did, nervously. He sat down and we started talking, I think about work first, and then Church, and then we broached the subject of my kids. We had been there for over an hour when I decided I really wanted to go walking outside, it was such a beautiful day. I asked if he'd mind joining me, and he of course wanted to. We walked around until the very last moment I could stay before I had to get my kids. We could talk so easily, and I was so comfortable with him right from the beginning. He said he'd like to see me again, and asked for my phone number. We exchanged numbers and I hurried home, giddy with excitement over this sweet many I met.

A few days later he called me, and I tried to act as if I wasn't ecstatic to get his phone call, so I let it go to voicemail the first time, and I called him back a little while later. We talked that night until both of our phones went dead, about everything in our lives. We also set up to see each other again, Wednesday night after school.

So, Wednesday night after school I met him at Oviedo Marketplace and we went to Chili's for dinner. After dinner we walked around for awhile talking, but ended up deciding to drive around as it was dark out and there wasn't much to walk around. After hours of driving and talking, we decided to head to City Walk so we could walk around again. We dropped my van off at my house and he drove us out to City Walk. We stayed there until they closed, and then decided to go to Steak and Shake after ice cream. When we got there and I was sitting down, I finally started winding down and becoming tired. We left to take me home, and ended up sitting in his truck in front of my house for another hour or so just trying to say goodbye. This was the first time we had any contact, when he reached over to hold my hand. I was walking on clouds. He asked to see me again, and I said we could see each other Friday, but it ended up being a drill weekend, and so we went out again Monday during the school day.

That Monday we went to Moss park for a picnic and day hike. We spent all this time talking more and getting to know each other better. It was at Moss park that he kissed me the first time. I was pretty nervous at this time, wondering what I was getting myself into. Was I ready for this again? Was I ready to have my heart broken again? Was it worth the risk of a broken heart to find out if it would end happily ever after instead? I decided to go with the flow, and try to relax. I had such a good time, and was living in the moment. He asked when he could see me again, and I told him we could go out Wednesday after school. He invited me to his place, but I was hesitant, I told him we should go out somewhere instead.

By Wednesday, however, he had convinced me to come to his place. So, I did. I had such a great time at his place, and ended up spending the night. A week after this he met my kids, and has been around all the time since then. When I'm home and he's home, we're together. My kids adore him, and he is great with my kids. My family all love him, and most importantly, I am completely in love with him. I have never felt like this before, and I'm so glad that I put myself out there again. My life is truly blessed.

Ready or Not, Here We Go!

So many things to update, I have gotten so behind on my blog. I completed my first term at FSTM successfully with a fairly decent GPA, and I am content with that. This week I start Year 1 Term 2, and my apprenticeship is once again underway. I am excited to be moving along in this journey!!

We went to get our stuff from Tennessee a few weeks ago. Though we didn't fit it all in the trailer we did get most of the big stuff. My boys are now sleeping in their own beds and we have places to put all the clothes!! I am happy to have most of our stuff here, but feeling overwhelmed with a lack of space to put it all. I am in the process of downsizing and minimizing, and have a feeling a garage sale is in my near future.

We went to Ohio for Christmas, the weather was very cold and snowy but we had a good time. My children were of course spoiled, though more spoiled by Jereme than by my family this year.

Speaking of Jereme, so now we've been dating nearly 4 months, I can't believe it. I went ahead and canceled my eHarmony account, as I don't think I am going to need that anymore.

What Misty Found

Back in March I took a risk. I put what I want out there, in my prayers, spoke it out loud to the universe, and posted it here on my blog. I was in a different place then. A place of disappointment, of heartbreak, of irreconcilable differences. But I put it out there anyway. And then, when I felt I was ready, I put myself out there too. Sheltering my fragile heart, fearing it would be broken again, but knowing that I am called to be a companion to someone, to be a wife. I put myself out there, and here is what I found.

I found that I can still love passionately, and found someone who loves me equally passionately. I found happiness, a real, whole, and complete happiness. I found understanding and an opportunity to understand in return. I found myself loved and not judged. I found an amazing male role model for my boys and the possibilities of a healthy marriage in the future for my daughter to be molded by. I found someone I can respect, and who respects me. I found someone who finds passion in his life. Someone who cherishes me. Someone who happily sits between two of my kids at Mass so that there is an adult separating all three. Someone who goes to Mass with me whenever I want to, even if its not a Sunday or Holy day of Obligation. Someone who will be my pillar of strength when I feel I haven't a shred of my own left. Someone who does make me laugh when I'm crying, and who can cool my hot anger with the slightest touch. Someone who has accepted my children with open arms, and loves the individuals they are. Someone who is open to life. Someone who is stable in his own life. Someone who can stand the life of a midwife (well this is yet to be tested LOL!). Someone with patience to match my own. Someone who thinks he can share me, happily, with the whole village of women, children, and families who I live and breathe to serve on a day to day basis. Someone who respects my dreams and ambitions for my future.

In March I wondered if that someone even existed. I wondered if it might just be too much to ask. But I knew that it was what I wanted, so I put it out there. And it's exactly what I found.
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Midterm

Well here I am, nearly mid semester at FSTM. I am really enjoying myself (for the most part) in class, despite the fact that a lot of it is review for me. I enjoy the atmosphere I am surrounded by (mostly) while at school, and I have begun to even enjoy my overnights in Gainesville (it almost feels like a slumber party every week!)

I am dealing with other stuff outside of school, but I'd rather not talk about any of that today. I haven't been keeping up with my blog as much as I would like to, and I really hope to be able to change that here in the near future, as I get my new groove on.

My daughter has her First Reconciliation coming up next month, she is very excited and moving right along to have her First Communion next May! My big girl!! I also got her a new bed and desk (it is a loft bed) and a mattress that is just heavenly, I wish I could sleep on it every night!! I will likely buy my boys each the same mattress as well, I am very pleased with that purchase.

More big news....My boys have their own bedroom now!! For the first time since I threw my exhusband out, we are using two bedrooms!! My boys are in one room and my daughter and I are in another room!! This is really a huge, life changing thing for us!! I will be sleeping in a bed again soon, thanks to one of my good friends who is giving me a full bed!! Yay!!

Also in the news for me, I just had a birthday!! It was threatening to turn into a depressing weekend for me, but alas my BFF pulled through for me! He treated me to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner, and then we stayed up late watching movies and snuggling on the couch like we used to in high school!! oooh the memories LOL! My children also had a little party for me, it was very sweet, and my brother gave me an organically grown, whole, dried out loofah squash (he grew them himself) now I can make tons of loofahs for myself, and I have a zillion seeds to plant my own next spring!! yay!!

Also on the "news" front, I made another appointment with Tanya Kell (our homeopath) and she has prescribed my daughter and my youngest son constitutionals, I will be ordering those this week and hoping that they help with some issues (including Tori's sensitive stomach and Bobby's awful allergies!) I love our homeopath so much, she asked about me first and gave me another remedy for myself before even moving on to the kids (which was who the appointment was for!!) If you are in need of a homeopath, I recommend her highly!! She also does phone consults (not just in person) so even though she is in Nashville, you can have appointments with her if you aren't!! www.tanyakell.com

I am going up to TN/AL in a few weeks both to get the rest of my stuff from there and also to go to a little bit of the MANA conference, including (hopefully!) the ROAST of the farm midwives!! FUN!!