Stephanie Howell

okay. so j and i dated for about 3 1/2 years before we got engaged.

j was cautious about marriage (for several reasons), as he should have been , but i KNEW. i swear i knew from the moment we kissed. which may or may not have been the first night we met and which may or may not have been initiated by me.

ahem.

anyway, we had talked about it a bit, but never been to look at rings or anything like that.

christmas 2002, we were on our way to waco to visit my parents. we started talking about marriage and j. began to catalog all of the reasons he just wasn’t remotely ready.

i flipped. flipped out.

for lots of reasons. i didn’t want to be across the country from each other. we’d done that  (west point and baylor) and i was OVER it. little did i know i had a LOT of that ahead of me. heee~!

i didn’t want to move if i wasn’t certain of our future. i loved him more than i’d ever loved anyone before.  honestly, no one had ever come close.

the kind of love that changes your world. that makes everything look different than it did before. i NEEDED to be where he was. to start a life with him, to start making our history together. i didn’t want anything in the world more than i wanted to marry him. it was all consuming. truly.

so, as i was saying i flipped. actually, he had to pull the car over b/c i was crying so hard. yes, it was not my finest moment.

here’s the funny part: he had the ring in his backpack in the back of the car. but clearly i didn’t know this.

so, as soon as i pulled myself together, we started driving. to be honest, i was PISSED at him. really, truly mad. i thought there was something wrong with me…i don’t know. i wasn’t thinking clearly, but i was not a happy camper.

i knew that he was going to have a drink with my father that night. my dad had been asking me when he was going to pull it together and ask me to marry him. i finally said I DON’T KNOW! WHY DON’T YOU ASK HIM YOURSELF??? yes, can you tell i was fed up?

by the time we got to waco i was thinking lovely. just lovely. this is going to be a fabulous weekend. a SPECIAL christmas. just great. (did i mention i was ticked off??).

j and my dad went to a restaurant. at this restaurant jimmy asked my dad for my hand in marriage. he told him that he was planning to ask me on the suspension bridge in waco (where he first told me he was falling in love with me). my dad happily gave him permission and told him to do it when the moment felt right. j put the ring in his pocket and came home.

where i was waiting for him wearing a red sorority t-shirt, leopard pajama pants, and socks WITH THE GRIPPERS ON THE BOTTOMS. like footsies for grown ups.

oh yes. if you have any doubt in your mind that i was clueless that a proposal was coming, then please refer to the previous paragraph.

jimmy found me in front of the fireplace. i wouldn’t look at him. i was on the verge of tears.  you see, my dad had come in the house before j did, and he wouldn’t look at me. he seemed mad. he slammed a cabinet in the kitchen. it was just WEIRD.

*turns out that he knew if he looked at me, he’d grin and the jig would be up…but i didn’t know this. i was certain j had told my daddy that he didn’t want to marry me.

back to the fireplace.

i was glowering.

j asked if he could do anything to make me happy. we had a game we always played. he’d ask me that question, and i’d say “give me a prize!!!” and he’d pull something random out of his pocket (change, a receipt) and give it to me. just a silly tradition we have.

automatically, i said “give me a prize!!!” when he asked if he could do anything.

he told me to close my eyes. i think i said something like “I’m NOT in the mood for this!”.

first he put a quarter in my hand

then lint

then a dime (found out later that he had, at that split second, decided to propose and was working up the courage).

but i didn’t know this and i’m pretty sure i growled and/or hissed at him.

then i opened my eyes one last time and found a sparkly diamond ring in my palm. it looked exactly like the tiffany engagement ring that i’d had tacked on my cork board for YEARS. i mean, he was looking that whole time? he paid attention?

j got on his knees next to me. at this point we were both on our knees, and i (for the first time in my life) was stunned to silence. and j looked just as stunned as i did…he’s not one to make split-second decisions.

he said something simple, along the lines of “stephanie elise steakley,  i love you. will you spend the rest of your life with me?”…and here is where i said…

wait for it…

IS THIS REAL????

by this, i think i meant…is this ring real? are you real?? you are too good to be true…is this whole situation real or am i dreaming? i’m pretty sure i’m not dreaming because i would NOT be wearing this in a dream about getting engaged. hell no.

and in the other room i hear my dad say “no, it’s a fake diamond!!” in a DUHHH tone

and then it hit me. i screamed. i cried. i said YESYESYESYES.

and that’s how i became an engaged woman. engaged to the man of my dreams.

while wearing booties for adults. and fugly leopard pj pants.ah yes. the most romantic story ever told.

HA!

xoxoxo

s

J headed to Ft. Benning this morning, the chickies were SO cute.

They stood in the front yard in their pajamas waving to him and yelling BYE DADDDDYYY!!! and blowing kisses until he was long gone. 

This one was much easier than the goodbyes we said a little over a year ago. Here is what I was thinking to myself as he drove off.

Do NOT cry. A year ago, you would have given ANYTHING for your husband to be safe in Georgia for three weeks. Pull it together woman!!

And I did. We kissed and waved and danced in the rain and said “IT’S THE THREE HOWELL GIRLS AGAIN!!! IT’S AN ADVENTURE!!!”.  

Because it always is. And we are so lucky that we have each other.

So no whining. No crying. No woe is me. As I tell the girls…Daddy is surrounded by girls. We are NOT allowed to be whiney girls. Three weeks is time for lots of “howell gull dates” as Harper calls them. Lots of art, dress up, painting, singing, and acting verrry girly.

Also, breakfast for dinner if we want. Daddy does not like that. but we do. hehe!

It’s been raining for days. We needed it badly, but I still have not had the back tin roof replaced, so once again our playroom/scraproom is covered in tarps and buckets. Loverly.

Regardless, I plan to scrap my little heart out at my desk, surrounded by buckets. I’ll think of it as ambiance. Uhh, yeah. Sounds like a plan!

I’m in a blog slump. I feel like I’ve said it all, KWIM?

This week I think I’ll share the story of how J and I got engaged…it’s sort of funny.

Happy Saturday, sweet friends!

xoxo

this week:

 we said hello to preschool.

harper wasn’t excited AT ALL.

really. Can’t you tell??

she kind of looks like a mini- me in these pictures. and that makes a certain mama’s heart very happy. i hope she loves school for a LONG time. I did.

we said goodbye to fort hood.

(for the most part)

j will go to work a little bit after he gets back from his 3 weeks of school in GA, but the brigade is dissolving and moving to Ft. Knox. today was the change of command.

so proud of these men and what they have accomplished the past two years.

do you know they stood up a new brigade (built it from scratch) in a year? and deployed immediately after that? pretty amazing. thank you for everything 1-26. we won’t ever forget our time here.

tomorrow is preparation for J heading off for 3 weeks. we will be staying super busy while he is gone and i’m sure i will be blogging LOTS. 😉 i have some projects i’ll be sharing in the coming weeks, too. i know there hasn’t been much craftiness here lately, but i can’t share anything i’ve done lately. sorry, i promise i’ll have something to share soon!

a couple of links to share before i go.

many of you asked about the popsicle holders in the previous post. you can find them HERE. one side holds a popsicle, and the other side holds a cone. they are AWESOME.

soon there will be a new magazine on the racks. and it is called flea market style. ummm, no. i’m not excited about this at all. i’m about as excited as harper was to go to school. 😉 😉 Thanks so much to my friend Lynn for the heads up about this.

see you all soon, happy thursday!

xoxo

burgers, popsicles, a crisp glass of white for me

and a cold longneck for J.

kings of leon, swimming,

reading, and a picnic.

it sure was sweet,

hope yours was too.

xxo

s