Sweet Surprise

I received a very wonderful surprise yesterday. Drew sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers. OK, it's hard to tell if they are really beautiful because most of the flowers haven't opened yet, but I just know they will be :)

He sensed I was having a rough week so he sent them to cheer me up. Lexi has been a bit of a problem "child" over the last couple of days. I am sure it's because she's tired of being cooped up in the house and just wants to run around, but with the cold, it's not that fun to be outside. She did seem to enjoy sitting right outside the back door yesterday under the little awning to watch the snow come down. I am going to try and get out there with her and throw around some snow.

The ironic thing about Drew's surprise is, he doesn't know it yet (unless he takes a peek at this), but I sent him a "pick me up" package the same day he ordered the flowers. His week seemed to have started off a little rough with work and the anxiety of school starting so I thought he could use a fun surprise. I won't list the goodies I added to it, in case he does read this, but for those Thetas reading this, one of the sweet surprises includes a favorite during exam times :). I thought that made for a good treat as he starts grad school. Of course, his box is going to take a little longer to get to him.

I hope everyone is staying warm and surviving the snow. I don't know about you, but I am ready for spring!

Update on Drew

OK, so I know how much everyone enjoys pictures so I should probably add a few here and give you an update on Drew. Drew has been overseas since early December. And, I need to begin with a big congratulations to him!! He was accepted into grad school and will be starting this week while he is overseas. I am so proud of him!! He is going to be very busy for the next couple of months while he is away. He's done an amazing job of staying in touch with me and letting me know he's thinking of me. Sure some days are still rough as he's so many miles away, but overall things have been going well. Instead of dwelling on the fact that he has to be gone for a year, we're "embracing" the deployment and making it as fun as we can considering the situation. For example... Traveling Drew... His cousin Jesy gets all of the credit she created dozens and dozens of Traveling Drews that are traveling all parts of the country (yes, Traveling Drew is heading to Jamaica soon) and surprising Drew with pictures.
Lexi and I have been getting along too. She's made friends with another soldier's dog. This is Lexi with the soldier's girlfriend's dog Scruff. They look pretty funny standing next to each other. Poor Scruff LOVED Lexi. He kept hanging on her leg and she just kept walking as though she had no idea there was a little rug rat hanging on her. The other dog was a lot bigger and he and Lexi kept each other occupied. By the end of the play dates, she is worn out!

2011 beginnings

OK so my 2011 didn't start out as well as I anticipated, but I think it turned out to be the best situation. That Thursday the 30th I came back from the gym feeling terrible. I thought I was just out of shape, but it turns out I was getting really sick. I had a 102 fever and it kept creeping up towards 103. It didn't quite get there but I was so bad by Friday night that my parents, God bless them, came to get me. I spent the new year countdown asleep. Luckily, Drew's sister was already watching Lexi so she kept her for the two days and I picked her up Saturday night. I don't know if it was the flu or just a bug, but I have never felt that hot before! It was awful. Of course, my fever broke in time to go to work. And, the bug turned into a chest cold that took about a week and a half to clear. So, a just short of three weeks into the new year I am finally myself again. And, just in time too... mom and I have jumped back on the wedding planning. We went to a bridal show the last two weekends and yesterday had our first dress appointment at one of the local boutiques. It was very exciting. We didn't purchase anything, but we have a couple of favorites which we will compare to the others when we visit some other stores. So, lots going on here, but all very exciting.

A New Year

I was doing so well at updating this blog and then Drew made it safe to Iraq and the holidays started creeping up, which led to a lack of updating. Now, it's nearly two weeks into the new year and I haven't written a thing! Time to change that.

Since the last time I wrote... I attended a wedding, celebrated Christmas, got sick, slept through the new year, bonded a lot with Lexi, helped Drew travel around town :) and got back into the swing of planning my wedding. So, my lack of updating is not due to a lack of things to write about. More or less because of too much going on and the idea of sitting down to type just seems grueling. But, here I am again, ready to share some news and pictures. I'll begin with the wedding, Emily's wedding.

After the rehearsal dinner

She and Jon were married December 18th in Wabash, IN. Me with the other MOH. With Emily!

Theta Emily SmithI definitely didn't prepare myself for going to the wedding stag. I've been to family weddings by myself, but never a friends wedding. It was definitely strange at first and hard to really get into the reception. After about a half hour or hour I started to settle in and enjoy dancing with all of the guests. It was great to spend time with Emily, her family and catch up with another Theta who made the trip. Once I started dancing, it was hard to stop.

Christmas was relaxing this year. I had to work a late morning, early afternoon shift on Christmas Eve, but was able to make it to church and dinner with the family. Christmas day my family and I met and had breakfast together then opened gifts. I will update you on all of the things I tease in my opening paragraph in the next day or two -- promise!