don't mess.

true story

There are moments in life when you feel like you're living in a movie. This was one of those moments and boy do I wish someone had been filming the outcome.

Tuesday August 11th, 2009 found Greg and I sunning and swimming in Cozumel. It was lovely. I mean to say, it was lovely until Greg realized he had lost his wedding ring. While swimming. In the ocean. He raised his left hand out of the water to show his naked finger and the only response I could muster was, "You're kidding." Unfortunately he wasn't kidding in the slightest. We decided to not let the situation ruin our vacation and planned on buying a new one when we returned home. [Note: It's safe to say this wouldn't have been my reaction had the lost ring been mine. Remember this?]

Let it be know that Greg was the ring-wearer in our relationship prior to our engagement. He already wore two rings (one of the CTR variety and another made by a jeweler in his mission to the Philippines) before I placed his wedding band on THE finger. He is also the one that rarely removes said wedding ring. (I'm paranoid about ruining my ring so I take it off when I wash my hands, etc.) SO, he felt pretty awkward without his ring.

Two days later we rented snorkeling equipment from the resort dive shop to explore the water nearby. At some point during our excursion, I commented how crazy it would be if we found the ring. We decided to swim over to the area where we realized the ring was lost figuring we might as well check out more fish. I came upon a rock I knew we had been climbing on two days prior when I saw a really pretty tiny purple fish. I followed the fish as it swam over the rock when what should enter my view but the ring. There it was, sitting a few feet under the water on top of the rock. I think I stopped breathing for a moment as I reached forward fully expecting to grab nothing but a handful of salt water, as the ring I was seeing couldn't be real. Once the ring was safely in my grasp I emerged from the water screaming hysterically. Greg was swimming far enough away he only heard the muffled sound of my celebration. He pulled his head out of the water to the great surprise of my find. Needless to say, he was very happy. And relieved. And didn't even care about the people staring at us from the shore.

X marks the spot of the discovery. ish.

[photo]

Dear Allie,

You will be so proud of me. I have spent most of the last two work days sorting through and GETTING RID OF old, useless papers/stuff in my "office". I am almost done with the last drawer of the file cabinet next to my desk which contained nothing worth keeping. Literally. I found a thank you letter from 1990. I found duplicate copies of e-mail correspondence from 2001 in which the sender asked if the receiver would help at such-and-such event and the receiver replied with yes. Why would you print that? Twice? Needless to say, the recycling bin is full to the brim today.

Aren't you proud?

If only I could take this organizing enthusiasm home with me.

Love, DUB

vacation

After at least a week long struggle with Photobucket (pictures showing up different sizes than they claimed to be-ugh), here are a few pictures of our trip to Cozumel...

View of the back of the resort. The large hut-like structure was where we ate breakfast and lunch. They strung rows of string along the open back to deter birds from flying in. They flew in from the other ends anyways and every few minutes you would hear the waiters clapping their hands to get the birds to fly out. The small orange building to the right is the "activities center" (pick up towels, rent water sports equipment, workout room, pool tables, etc.).



Another view of the back of the resort with Greg standing on the pier. Apparently a woman fell into the water here the day we left when she leaned over too far to look at the fish. I wish we would have seen it... The white house you see a glimpse of on the left was the governor's, come to find out. We caught a peek inside the gates and I think I may have dared Greg to go in.



The water to the left is the calm, clear water behind our resort. It was really interesting to see a distinct line of the change underwater when we snorkeled.



Fish you could see while standing on the pier. I wish we had an underwater camera to capture the really pretty ones we saw.



View from the beach chairs in the shade. A great place to relax with a good book. I loved the look/texture of these "umbrellas."



Beach chairs. Love the color and repetition of shape when they're all lined up.



View from the hammock.



LOVELY gear for our bike tour. Check out that bike! Greg's didn't have handlebar plugs and another lady that went with us had her chain fall off twice (sweet Greg fixed it for her).



Can you spot the iguana?



Squinty eyes from too many margaritas? I did mention our resort was all-inclusive, right?



We got a kick out of the lunch menu. Macarron and cheese? Delicious.



Greg teeing up for a round of mini-golf. Watch out for hole 12-it's a doozy!



How cute is he? Dinner at the resort restaurant.

bowed heads

From the mouths of babes. This stuff gets me every time...

A few weeks ago at church, during the passing of the Sacrament, the boy (4 years old-ish) sitting in front of us said (not in his 12" whisper) to his mom, "Everyone is sleeping!" After a whispered explanation from mom he exclaimed, "Oh, they think about Jesus by bowing their heads!"

I supressed a giggle but I think it's safe to say that child will bow his head the next time he thinks about Jesus. I realized I witnessed the planting of a seed of faith in that young boy. Small miracles.

leap

Last night marked the beginning of our grand new adventure called Graduate School. As I sent Greg off with a kiss, pb&j, and string cheese for the road, I had a "mom moment." At least I think that's what it was. I'm not a mom so I can't be completely sure, but it felt like other moments I've had...my nursery kids getting excited about going to the bathroom all by themselves or my cub scouts grinning proudly because they've hammered together a lopsided wooden toolbox. I felt like I should have been taking pictures as he drove down our driveway.

I was proud.

He's mine. He's taking the next big leap into his (our) future. I was reminded of the scene in Little Women when Laurie is leaving for college and Jo says, "You'll come back knowing all sorts of things I don't know and then I'll hate you." I certainly won't hate Greg for the things he learns but I don't want to be left behind. I guess you could say...

I'm hoping to leap with him.

I'm formulating my own "Graduate School" of sorts to be completed while Greg does his. I don't want to look back 14 months from now (fingers crossed it will only take that long) at Greg's graduation and wonder what I've been doing. Some of the things I've added to my list are mundane tasks like creating organizational systems for virtually every aspect of my existence, while others are more challenging like finally learning to play the guitar. Greg will walk away with a diploma, experience and opportunity. I'm hoping to walk away with something too.

What would be on your list?

odds

If your husband's wedding ring gets lost while swimming in the ocean, what are the chances you will find it while snorkeling
two days later?

Yes, we got home late Saturday night from our vacation in Cozumel, Mexico.

Yes, I really did find Greg's ring sitting on a rock 18" under the ocean surface two days after it was lost.

Yes, I will post pictures.

Yes, I realize I haven't posted in over a month.

Have we been busy? Yes.

proof

I prepped Greg pretty well for the first time he was to meet my family (December 2007). Love you fam, but you can be a bit intimidating to the outsider. Don't get me wrong, I knew they would love Greg, but with five very unshy brothers and the Dad to match, I wanted to be sure Greg knew what he might experience. No worries, it took all of two minutes for him to be laughing and joking with the crew.

I really love this about my man.

He loves my crazy family just like I do and always looks forward to spending time with them. He is often the one to suggest we make a trip (it's really only 20 minutes away) to visit Mom and Dad. Want proof?

Actual e-mail received by me, from Greg last Thursday at work:

Subject: I need a nap

And I really want to play Xbox with Bob right now too.

Funny eh?

The next night found Greg and Bob playing Xbox until I fell asleep on the couch.

chicken little

The sky may very well be falling.

I had a reasonably important work presentation at noon yesterday for which I had planned to finish preparing that morning. I should have known that would mean we would be having campus-wide computer problems when I got to work. My computer not working = I literally can't work on anything. The problem was sorted out at 11:30 and I scrambled to get things together for my presentation. The meeting went well (to my great relief), but what should happen as soon as I returned to my office? The power went out. It was almost as if someone was trying to keep me from accomplishing anything. Or maybe they were trying to win me a day off...

The power eventually turned back on, but when it went off again while I was in the middle of composing this post, I decided to call it a day. Home and a popsicle cure all ills.

rat

My boss asked me to tease her hair yesterday. I'm pretty sure that's not in my job description. Good thing too, because I'm not that great at it. I blame it on a lack of experience. (You may have noticed my hair has yet to reach the stratosphere.)

I obliged. The poor woman had surgery two weeks ago that left her right arm in a sling.

I later helped her carry her lunch from the cafeteria.

Should I be asking for a raise? Ok, I admit, she did buy me a slice of carrot cake.

I love my job.