Making it fit

After everyone left today, Brett and I headed down towards Burbank to get my ring sized. We made it to the store right as it was opening, and Ayda promised that we'd have the ring back by the end of the day.

We called on Dave and Dayna to see what they were up to....and to our luck, they weren't too busy to hang out with us. We picked them up and went for some Greek food for lunch at the Promenade and did some walking around.

It was a short trip but always a good one when we get to see these two. We snapped a quick pic before dropping them off...but to my surprise, it's missing from my camera. I have no idea where it went....so hopefully D&D will read this and send me a copy of the one that they took on their new camera. :)


On the way home we got my ring, and it is perfect!! I'm so happy!! :)

Up and Down the Horsies Go

Brett and I made it to church for the early service. We were so happy to be there as Reality was sending off Dave and Ashley Lomas for the birth of our next church in San Francisco. Its first service is on January 10 and we couldn't be more excited for what God has planned for them, and Reality, there. Best of luck to Dave and Ash as they start up this next chapter in their lives together.

We got back to my house to everyone already sitting down eating breakfast together. We decided that we'd take a trip down towards the pier today. First stop was the carousel. My Mom LOVES carousels and so this was the one thing that I knew that we HAD to do while she and my Dad were here.

We took a spin on the horsies and took a few snapshots of the fun. Not sure if Loralyn or my Mom had more fun. It might have been a tie.

Fun timer group shot. Yes, I love these. Glad to have gotten a fun one at the ride.

We did this with Loralyn way back when I first visited Vegas, and thought to try it again with my point and shoot. Not too bad I'd say. For those of you that have kids....try it. Just put your camera on continuous mode and press the button.

After the ride, we walked along Cabrillo through the artisan market.

We made it over to the pier. It wasn't the sunniest of days, but it's still a pretty view and sight in Santa Barbara. I do love that we are so close to the ocean.

We walked all the way to the end, grabbed a few pics...I love this one that Brett jumped into...he's such a goofball.

The signs at the end of the pier said that we aren't allowed to feed the birds. Too bad, since I had the leftover Eggos in my purse.

But....when we got back towards the middle, there weren't any signs....and so we went ahead and tossed over the crumbs. These guys were pretty thrilled that we had.

All that walking worked us up an appetite....so Los Arroyos it was for lunch. My Mom snapped this funny picture of my Dad on the walk there. Guess they don't have the kind of trees that you can pretend you're strong enough to bend in TX. :)

Autumn, Rob and Loralyn headed back to Vegas after lunch. Our parents went to take the scenic drive back to my house.

When we all got back, we decided to order a pizza and play Hoopla. It was a great way to end our evenings, and the game was such a hoot. We all got a kick out of each other's ways to get us all to guess the clues.

Tomorrow everyone takes off as Brett and I head into LA to get my ring sized.

It's been SUCH a great trip having our families here together. I'm excited for all of us to get together again real soon when we have our wedding.

Boxing Day is Movie Day in Santa Barbara

It was a super lazy day after Christmas. My parents went to visit with some friends around the LA area and so I was hanging out with Miss Molly in the living room for a bit this morning before anyone else woke up.

We decided that it was the perfect day to go to the movies. Brett and I went to see Avatar in 3D at The Arlington, while the rest of the gang saw Princess and the Frog. Silly Brett wanted to keep our 3D glasses....so I made him take a picture with them on. Even in the silly glasses I think he's cute.

We met up with the rest of the gang and had leftover chili for lunch. We figured it was still a great day for some more movies, and so after watching some funny kids movies with rodents....oh yeah, G-Force, we were set to watch another one.

The guys also got some firewood and so we watched the last movie of the day by the crackling fire. So warm and lovely.

Another great day with the family. It's so easy going and that's what I enjoy the most. :)

Ho, ho, ho.....Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!!! My Mom, Dad and I started off Christmas morning with a merry Skype session with the Waldorf kids on their new iMac. They have their own Skype name now too, so hopefully we'll get to see more of their smiling faces, and get more of their IM messages from now on. They also figured out how to take pictures with the PhotoBooth and sent us a few of those as well. It was a great way to start off the Christmas Day!

I had some grand plans on making us a really nice Christmas breakfast, so I got to it in the kitchen. I whipped up a scrambled egg and sausage ring and we also had some yummy cinnamon rolls. Eggos and mini sausage patties also rounded out our morning menu.

After we were all stuffed, it was time to get the living room ready for the presents. There were SOOOOO many presents under the tree. It was such a fun sight! We pushed back the couch, and everyone took their spots.

Rob and Loralyn helped deliver all the presents to their lucky recipients. We took turns going around the room, everyone opening one present at a time. I really love opening presents this way so that everyone can enjoy seeing all the gifts. Everyone was extremely generous to both Brett and me. Thank you to everyone for thinking of us.

We had a little bit of fun too while we went around the room. I think that our families are going to get along just fine for the future. There was just the right amount of goofiness from everyone. :)

The early afternoon found us relaxing. Some people took naps. Loralyn jumped on her new trampoline and dazzled us with some art on her new easel kit.

Around 3, I decided that I should probably get started on dinner. I had a pretty intense menu planned, and I thought that it would probably take me at least an hour or so to get it all ready. Rob and Betty helped me get it all started, and then almost everyone ended up chipping in at some point.

Thank goodness that I had so many helpers. Little did I know that it was going to take me over three hours to get it all fixed. Around 615pm it was all done (with only one minor menu mixup) and we were ready to eat.

My biggest intention was to make normal size sides in the hopes that we wouldn't have leftovers.....well, that plan failed. It was a good thing that I bought some new tupperware....because we used it all. There was so much food leftover it wasn't even funny. Oh well....at least they are good leftovers!! :)

After we'd cleaned up, we retired to the living room and decided to play a game of Cranium. We paired up as teams of couples. My Mom and Dad surprised us all and took a very fast head start. They barely missed a single question, and before we knew it, were in the center circle. Brett and I caught up to make it into the middle, but Mom and Dad prevailed and took the winner's spot with their wrestling sculptures.

It was a beautiful Christmas. I had such a wonderful time having both of our families here. Hope you all had a merry day as well!!!

Santa Claus is coming to town...

While Brett did a little last minute Christmas shopping, and Rob, Betty and Bruce ran out and did a little bit of the same, Autumn and Loralyn made a "Bringerbread" House. Yes, I spelled that wrong on purpose....that is how Loralyn said it.

They had a good time putting it together. Most of my morning I spent writing up our engagement story. It took me much longer for me to write it than it took you to read it, but I'm so glad that I did it when I did. Already, a week later, I'm finding it difficult to recount all of the happenings of the Christmas weekend. That is mainly the reason why I keep this blog. I want to be able to come back to it later and remember what it was that we did. :)

So, they built the house, and it turned out pretty cute. :)

After everyone had finished up their shopping, we met up for the Christmas Eve service at Reality. It was really great and I was so happy to have everyone there with us. Poor little Loralyn was so sleepy that she slept through the entire service. Not sure how she did that with Dominic jammin the worship for us, but I guess she needed it pretty bad. Britt preached a really amazing message, as usual, and then we were off back to the house.

I had made up the chili earlier in the day, so it was ready for us to eat when we got home. It was so good and this time I thought to quadruple the recipe, so I did have plenty for all of us. There was enough for a few of us to have seconds....and then there was even a ton leftover for us to package up for later.

After dinner, we curled up on the couches and watched UP. It was a perfectly relaxing Christmas Eve.......until.......

Until, in the middle of the movie....we hear HO HO HO coming from the fireplace. Santa made his stop in Santa Barbara to visit Loralyn!! Click the picture below to see what happened. :)

It was a wonderful Christmas Eve in Santa Barbara with both of our families!! Can't wait for Christmas tomorrow!!

The Day that Everyone Arrived!!

Today it was harder than EVER to focus at work! For every work call that I made, I answered or made one personal phone call to share the great news with our friends. It was a super fun day, but impossible to really get any work done.

So, after I'd taken care of everything that I could at work, I asked Albert for the 2nd half of the day off. My parents had just landed in LA and I couldn't sit still any more.

We met up with my Mom and Dad at my house. After showing them around, we made a quick trip up to the top of the hill to borrow a table and chairs. Of course, we had to stop and enjoy the view and the sunset too.

We got back to the house and waited patiently for the rest of the family to arrive. I started to cook up our dinner around 630 so it'd be ready when everyone got there. I tried one of Laura's recipes that she borrowed from Jamie Oliver. It was super simple, and I actually kind of liked it. Turns out that I probably could have quadrupled it instead of just doubling. We ended up finishing it all up with no problems.

Brett's sister and her family arrived and we got to get my parents acquainted with them for a bit before everyone else got to the place. We told Loralyn that I was going to marry Uncle Brett and I think we got her seal of approval.

Brett's parents got there a little bit later. We ate up all the dinner, and hung out for a while before everyone turned in for the night. Lots of fun days ahead of us over the next few. So glad that everyone is in town to celebrate Christmas together.

So, what does the ring look like?

It seems that is the next question after "How did he propose?", is usually, "What does the ring look like?", so I thought I'd answer that question. I took a really shoddy picture when I was at work with my phone that I was sending out, but when I told Brett that after work today, he wouldn't have anything to do with that. So, he grabbed the nice camera and took a few shots. Then he fixed it all up and made it pretty, so I thought to share. :)


It's a sparkling round diamond in the center. There is a peek-a-boo diamond in the band right below it. The sides pinch in to meet in the center and they also have little diamonds on them. It's beautiful and was WAY more than I ever expected.

But, I like to tell stories....so I'll share a few other things with you.

He picked the ring out all by himself. We never had any conversations about what I liked, or anything of that nature. I'm actually glad because I really had no idea how to even answer that question. I didn't even care if I got a ring, I just knew that I wanted to marry him, with or without a ring. When we first started dating, his friends joked with him that any girl he ever dated would have to be okay with getting a CZ if it ever came to it. I said at that time, and still meant it, that I didn't care either.

Well....it turns out that Brett changed his mind....and in a big way. When he retold the story of him and Dave at the jewelry shop, he said that he was asking the girl about a bigger diamond when he was looking at them. I think he got a little giddy when it came down to picking one out. He told me that he started to think that this was something that I was going to wear for the rest of my life, and so he wanted to get me something nice. The one he picked out for my ring is beautiful and I couldn't imagine it being any different. He said that when he saw this setting, he knew it was the one. :)

The funny thing is, that I also had no idea that he'd even gone to the store. He said that for the last 10 days or so, he had to be sure to have a legitimate reason for doing everything that he was doing so that he wouldn't have to lie to me about what he was doing. So, when he said that he was going into LA to meet Dave for a birthday breakfast last week, I thought nothing of it. Well, not nothing, I thought it was incredibly sweet and I was glad that he did it. When I asked him how his morning went, he said that they had breakfast and then spent a bit of time in Best Buy. Typical. :) He just left out the part about how he also spent some time at the jewelry store.

I came home from work today with a folded mess of yellow notepad paper taped to the back part of it so it would stay on, which Brett was disgusted with, so we found a local jewelry shop that fixed me up with a spacer, or whatever you want to call it, that will suffice until we can get to Burbank to get it sized. I am not sure that I will give it up for any amount of time to have them fix it, so we'll just have to wait and see how that one goes. :)