New Start

What is it about New Years and the resolutions that come with them? I have, honestly, never followed through with a resolution... mostly because they've been ridiculous. One year, I resolved never to put food on the apple decorations that were patterns in the middle of the dinner plates (I even tried it for about 5 days). Another year I resolved not to bite my finger nails (yes, healthy... but if you don't know me, I have a horrible habit). Even a couple of years ago I resolved to exercise (or do 10 pushups a day). Crazy, huh?

Well not this year. This year will be different. I know it's already the 13th of January, but better late than never, right?  I resolve to be organized... and on time. So far, this new year has come with a few small changes. I got engaged. The few small changes I was talking about earlier, however, have to do with my living situation, my social situation, and my career. After my student teaching wrapped up and after I passed my certification tests, I moved back home to Colorado to take care of some health issues, to save money, and to try and get more experience with substituting as well as acquire more certifications. The next small change has to do with my social life. Here in Colorado, I'm not the biggest fan of the cold so I rarely go out unless I have to. Therefore, it is much different here than just taking a walk down the street watching the ducks in the pond. The final change I am now experiencing is my career situation. Yes, I would love to become a teacher, but there are other things I'd like to do as well. For example, I'm interested in becoming fluent in Spanish. I also want to take a few more classes on Linguistics and maybe try and sit in on speech pathology classes. A few small changes, but big thoughts come to mind, and with them comes great responsibilities ;) So now my New Year's resolutions are in full swing and I am happy to say I'm glad I made them... finally.

I know I mentioned I got engaged and it was and still is an amazing thing. We had talked about it since August and it finally happened on January 3rd, 2012. It could have happened on the 2nd but I kind of messed it up. Let me tell you the story:

January 2nd was a Monday. Paul and I decided that we would like to go bike riding in the Garden of the Gods. My dad helped us pack the bikes that morning and then we were off. We didn't ride far because I fell off the bike twice. Since I don't like riding on streets where tourists drive, I decided to ride the mountain trails. The bike I was riding was not a mountain bike (so there you go). Anyways, we went back home after a few other adventures and at that time, the sun was going down. Paul was adamant about hiking a mountain that is walking distance from my house, so I unenthusiastically agreed to go as well. So I announced to my family that we would be hiking the mountain. As soon as I was finished with my not-so-happy announcement, Doodle, my brother-in-law, asked if he could come too. I said, "Of course!" and then I stopped to think... why don't Paul and Doodle go together?! Yes, that really was the first thing that came into my head. So they did and that was fail #1 on the proposal. That night, after a long soak in the hot tub, Paul asked if I'd like to have a picnic up there the next day because it was so pretty at the top. I agreed.

We packed meat, cheese, crackers and hard cider for our picnic the next day and we left at about 2 in the afternoon. We stopped along the way to take pictures and I even posted some onto Twitter. Not far from the top of the mountain is a big rock. This rock overlooks the highway that runs through the mountains as well as other mountains. You can see as far (maybe farther) as Colorado Springs when you stand on the rock. So I tell Paul to pose for pictures in front of the scenery and I take a few pictures.

Then we take pictures together (those cheesy self ones that couples like to do... I love it!). 

After we took what are called "selfies", it was my turn to pose. So I did.

After I turned to look at the view, Paul said, "Hold it... okay, one more!"

This was the last shot. This picture was taken 5 seconds before I turned around and he was on one knee. He told me to stand up. I honestly cannot remember what he said after that. I know he took my hands and removed my mittens. I know he started with "Mary Elizabeth _______," and ended with "Will you marry me?", but everything in between is a blur. He didn't have the ring out yet, but when I nodded, he slowly withdrew one of his hands, put it in the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out a black ring case. He opened it and there it was, the yellow-gold band with one single diamond ring that I had been eyeing ever since we had talked about marriage. I didn't even say anything until the ring was on and I realized I hadn't answered yet. Well, the answer was, "YES!" and apart from the whole "not remembering what he said" part, it was a memorable moment. :)

We decided not to go to the top because it was getting colder and colder so we descended towards home and when we got there we were greeted by my dad, sister, and her family, including my brother-in-law. We didn't open the champagne until my mom got home so in the meantime we decided to let some of our friends and family know. 

The next day, Paul treated me to a nice dinner in The Penrose Room at the Broadmoor Hotel and my sister, Katy, called in before we arrived (to our surprise) and paid for our drinks. Surprises just kept coming that evening because Paul had purchased the sheet music to one of my favorite piano pieces called, "River Flows in You" by Yiruma and was planning on having it played for me by the pianist there. Unfortunately, the pianist could not sight read very well, so instead, the band cleared out and Paul played, "Pachelbel's Canon" for me from memory.

And it was lovely. 

We then had dessert.

Followed by a picture. The picture on the right is from when we were there this past Summer.
It was an amazing Christmas and I'm so thankful Paul got to visit and meet Sephora and her family. I hope to post more about this past Christmas in the next few days. :)
Until then, good luck with your resolutions and don't worry if you've already messed them up, make new ones!!