ring pop proposal

Yesterday I wasn't feeling well as I have had a cold for the past few days. But I decided to brave the illness and drive up to Ames to visit Ryan. He asked if I had any grocery requests, so I asked for beef and vegetable soup, bananas, and cherry juice.

After going to the store he called to let me know that he had purchased a few extra prizes for me.

When I got there he presented me with two cans of soup, two cartons of juice, bananas, beautiful yellow roses, and a ring pop.

It was so cute. I exclaimed, "You bought be a ring!" And he said yes. Then I said that he had to get down on one knee and ask me a very special question. So he gets down on one knee, holds the ring pop up to me and asks,

"Would you do me the honor of consuming this ring pop for me?"

To which I replied with an enthusiastic "You know I will!"

Best proposal ever!

engaging

This was probably the 3rd most embarrassing moment of my life...

The most embarrassing moment is too shocking, even for the internet.

The second most is when I happened to pass gas (really bad) during my chair placement audition for the All-State Honor Band in high school in front of my three 20-something year old male judges.

And now for #3...

This past Friday Ryan and I attended a Christmas dinner with my dad's antique car club. My dad has been the president for the past two years and is one of the youngest members. (Everyone else is at least 70). When we walked in, one of the first comments made was "Well this room just got a whole lot better looking!" And an older gentleman began to chat with us for the next 30 minutes. After meeting several of the car club members (there were about 100 people there), it was time for dinner.

As I was returning to my seat with dessert, I was stopped by Dean, the man who was going to be the next president of the car club, starting that night, and his new fiance, Linda. I talked with them for about 10 minutes, they were very nice, and one of the couples that was still under 60.

Then Dean said, "So, I hear that you are getting married!"

Me: "Well, I'm not engaged..." I didn't want to gush about Ryan to them because I knew they would regurgitate everything I said to my father.

Linda: "Oh...but are you close to it?"

Me: "We've talked about it but I think it will be a few months until we are."

Linda: "Have you looked at rings?"

Me: "We haven't gone yet..." Then my dad began giving a speech, so I sat down, glad that I'd clarified that I wasn't engaged before things got back to my dad.

My dad introduced Ryan and me to the crowd and told a little bit about each of us. So everyone knew where we were sitting and who we were. Then my dad introduced Dean as the new president. Dean gets up to give his speech and the first thing out of his mouth was:

"So Mike, I hear your daughter is getting married soon!"

One hundred 70+ year old faces turn my direction, each with an anticipatory grin. I could feel myself turning bright red, the kind of red where your face feels like pins and needles and you want to crawl under the table. I didn't dare look at Ryan, but my dad's face was a combination of shock and annoyance with Dean as he stammered "Well, I think they're still working on it."

I hid my hands under the table because all of the prying eyes were looking for my non-existent ring.

When my dad got back to the table I sheepishly giggled "Surprise!"

It was pretty embarrassing. The woodwind trio that played Christmas carols for us after the speeches informed us that they also play for weddings. And as everyone was leaving, Ryan and I got several congratulations on our engagement from well meaning 70 year old women.

So apparently I'm engaged! Just what I've always wanted!

binary

I had one of my favorite text-message conversations ever today with Ryan's cousin Sean. Sean is a PhD sudent in computer science at Iowa State University. He lives with Ryan and I get so excited every time I get to chat with Sean!

Here's our conversation:

Kathleen: Can you write in binary?

Sean: 01111001 01100101 01110011 00100001 (yes!)

Kathleen: Does that mean yes? You are so cool!

Sean: That's a deinite yes, but hex is way more efficient than binary! 79 65 73 21

Kathleen (after consulting Ryan to find out what "hex" was): I can see that! Is that because hex is base 16?

Sean: Yes it's 1000 times better (1000 in binary of course)

Kathleen: You're a genius! I'm so excited to be your cousin!

Sean: Is it official then? Did you set the date?!

Kathleen: I wish! I'll be sure to tell you when it's official! Hopefully sometime next year.

best ever

This is probably the coolest thing I've ever made! It's a birthday cake for Christina's dad, Jim, on his birthday! She asked me to make a dachshund cake because they have two of them: Otis and Shatzi!

I'm not going to lie...I'm pretty proud of myself!

Happy Birthday Jim! Also happy November birthdays to Adam, Meggan, Dawn, and Jon!

poor ryan

Every time I cook for Ryan I always forget to make meat! I have been so used to eating a diet that consists of fruits, veggies, and cereal that I forget that normal people eat meat.

Don't get me wrong...I love meat...I just never buy it because 1. raw meat is gross and I don't like to touch it and 2. when I cook for just me a whole package of meat seems overwhelming.

So tonight I made Ryan some delicious spaghetti squash. It was really good. Of course after I bought all of the ingredients Ryan informs me that he doesn't like spaghetti squash, but I made it anyway and he liked it!

Halfway through making the dinner, however, I realized that, once again, we would be eating entirely vegetables for dinner. Oh well. It was delicious and healthy! Next I need to work on some meat recipes!

french

Here's a sample of what I've learned in French class so far. Basically if you want to have a conversation (in French) about names, clothes, descriptions of people, classes, family members, or what you like to do ... I'm your girl.

Bonjour! Je m'appelle Kathleen. Je suis americaine. J'ai 24 ans. Je suis brune, grande, mince, et jolie. J'ai les yeux bleus et les cheveux longs et frises. Dans ma famille, nous sommes quatre personnes. Il y a mon pere, ma mere, ma soeur, et moi. Aussi nous avons un chien. Elle s'appelle Heidi. J'ai un cours de francais cette semestre. J'aime etudier le francais. Aussi parle l'espagnol et l'anglais. J'adore cuisiner, inviter des amis, voyager, et rigoler. Mon petit ami s'appelle Ryan. Nous aimons passer la soiree ensemble.

There you go! That's about the extent of my French 101 converstaional abilities!

for women only

So it's been a while. I think between the trip to Wisconsin and working days again (aka no free time in my life ever) life has been busy!

Just a quick update...Life has been good. Pretty much the same as before.

Really I just wanted to say that a dad and his little daughter just walked by me and it made me smile. He was really attentive to her and she was not paying attention to anything - very distracted. He kept having to re-direct her.

Today I finished reading a book called For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men. Such a good book! I really opened my eyes to how men think and how I can best honor them through my actions. I definitely recommend it!

Have a great day!

senior choir

Grandma's nursing home has delightful entertainment each day. Today they had a Senior Choir come sing for the residents. Enjoy!

last day

Today is my last full day here in Wisconsin. Tuesday was probably the worst day ever. Grandma only had about 3 or 4 hours total during the day where she was not having shaking/pain spells. Joyce and I spent hours at her bedside talking with her, trying to distract her, trying to calm her, and working with the nurses to figure out how to best help her.

Yesterday, she had one episode that lasted 1.5 hours, finally fell asleep, and woke up 5 minutes later totally fine. We also got to go on a car ride to a neurology appointment. It was neat for her to be able to see the outside world. She had a really good day.

Today has been good so far. She hasn’t had PT yet, which seems to be when she gets shaky and painful and anxious. Hopefully she’ll do better as they are trying a new anxiety medication.
It’s crazy that I’m leaving tomorrow. I feel like I just got here. Hopefully Grandma will get better and better…she’s had such a rough time!

Keep up the good prayers!

ruth

Last Monday I decided that if Joyce needed help this week, I would take time off to go to Wisconsin to help her. Tuesday I cleared this with my French teacher and Wednesday I asked about the possibility of taking a week off of work. We have been kind of slow lately. Last Friday they had 4 people stay home on call, which is very unusual for this time of year. Wednesday night I talked to Joyce and asked her if she would want me to come, and Thursday night she decided that it would be helpful. So, I spent all day Friday (thankfully I’d been called off from work because of low census) calling my fellow employees trying to cover 36 hours of work. I’d gotten all but one 4 hour shift covered, and my manager said that she would just take me off of that shift and they should be fine.

I feel kind of like Ruth to Naomi. Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you! for wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, your people shall be my people, and your God my God. I am not a part of their family, but I feel like I am. I hope that I can be helpful. All I want to do is lighten the burden for Joyce, even if it’s only in a small way.

So I made the 6 hour trip up to Mosinee, Wisconsin on Sunday with Mike and Adam. We met Joyce and Ryan at La Crosse, WI for lunch. It was so good to see Ryan. I had almost forgotten what it was like to hold someone’s hand! After switching passengers, Joyce and I drove back to Mosinee and visited her mom at the nursing home before heading back home to sleep.

Yesterday was a difficult day. Grandma has been having tremoring episodes but no one is too sure what they are related to. It is so difficult because she cries and asks God to please take her when she is having one (and she had three of them yesterday). Poor Joyce and I were crying right along with Grandma. It seems to be related to her being tired (whether medicated or not) in connection with physical activity. Ryan gave me the idea to keep her talking about something else during these spells, which I tried and it seemed to work pretty well.

So Grandma seemed out of it all morning and early afternoon, but when she woke up from her nap before dinner, she was totally herself. We did transfers with her and arm exercises and hand exercises and she didn’t shake once. We had long discussions where she would crack jokes and be very lucid. It’s crazy what a change not being medicated makes in her.

Keep up your prayers for the Babbitt/Stanek/Polka family. They need lots of spiritual support right now!