Change-

Yeah, I know change can be really good. Saturday, Charles and I went to the mall to check out some wedding bands- so I could decide if I wanted to sauter my rings together, or what I was looking for. Turns out I got a new ring and it's pretty fancy. It came in a set, so I'll get another ring when I get married. If you look closely, you can see the fancy spot where a diamond already popped out from the top band.

I haven't even had the ring for a full week. We're going to check on what I can do about that. I mean, it must've happened whilst I was washing my hands and I fully expect to wash my hands a lot as a married person. So I'm not terribly impressed with that situation.

It's definitely a little different from my first ring. I am going to wear it for a long time, so a fancy ring made me a little more excited about that. Also, the first was a 7.5 and felt a little big. The current ring is a 7 and still slides around a bit.

Monday was Memorial Day. I'm grateful to all the men and women who serve our country in the armed forces. It's hard on their families and lives to move around and live far from their homeland and yet they do it with pride. My grandparents and cousins and brother and some friends are all in mix. Thanks guys.

I had a nice Monday. I cleaned my room a bit, realized how much stuff I have, packed some of the 40 books I need to read, realized how cool art is- again, and ate a hamburger. Charles, the Stacys and I went to the art and wind festival. What a sweet idea. I enjoyed myself and renewed a promise to be more artfully employed in my life. Held hands with Charles. It was nice.

Yiiiiiiip-

Man, I've had lots of people ask me the story of how I got engaged. Ps. I'm engaged. I will tell you, Charles tells it way better than I do. Turns out with exciting stories like this I just like cutting to the end sometimes. Other times I'm so excited I don't do the real story justice. I just tell what I was thinking the whole time and a couple of the actual events. 

So if you want a clear view of what happened, you should check out Chuck's blog. You could even read these in tandem. 

I'll start out by saying Charles was pretty suspicious. That's the real reason he can't surprise me. He just isn't good at lying- that's a good thing for most intents and purposes. He also gets visibly nervous sometimes but at other times stays remarkably collected, like when he got a flat tire in the middle of our special all-day tryst. 

He has lots of ways to make me feel pretty special though. Like when we acrylic painted across from each other and he peered between the canvases- which would be creepy in most situations, but since it was him, I knew he was just staring because he likes my face. Or when I decided to put my food in the house after walking a mile in the heat to refrigerate my burrito and use the toilet- he pulled me close and told me there was no way I was getting inside,  because we had to go. Good reason Charles. 

Or when he thanked me over and over for giving him my time for the whole day, when he was the one planning everything in the most romantic style possible.

He knows I love:

1.  Art- so he booked a personal acrylic painting session for the two of us

2. Burritos- so he took me to Chipotle

3. Flowers- so he bought three dozen roses and put them in my apartment- in a vase and on the floor

4. Him- so he offered himself up to me forever

He's super great. I'm pretty lucky. That's why I said yes. 

There's a snake in my boot

I found a rattlesnake in my shoe. Figuratively. It's those darned chocolate chocolate chip cookies I brought to work. They were just chilling there on the table and man they're good, so I ate some. Now I feel like a chocolate chocolate chip cookie myself. Very nice. 

I've been busy. Busy is as busy does. There are lots of different activities for me to participate in. It's nice outside and I am enjoying the summer feel for now.

This has been a busy week for me and I have much to do still. Life is beautiful. Speaking of beautiful things, I've realized I know a lot of beautiful people. Good job people- taking care of your faces and your selves. And your souls. I know it's hard to do and you all make a valiant effort. Nicely done. 

I just bought a straightener for my hair. For $20 in a sweet Mother's Day sale. The code: HAPPYMOTHERSDAY  This pleases me. Supposedly this straightener doesn't damage your hair. How is that possible? I don't know, but wouldn't that be sweet? I have been trying hard to keep my hair from fraying, breaking, and frizzing. Conditioner, product, soft handling. I think you know what I mean. 

I'm supremely blessed. Just thought I'd toss that out. My family is fabulous. We get along and we have some strong personalities. I know lots of rock stars in and out of my family though. It's a nice feeling to know such a grand group of special people from all over the world. 

I played soccer again last night. It's always strange to remember how great soccer is and to wonder how I can get out of the habit so fast. I'm getting better at soccer. I must be. I was pretty bad before I got so good. 

I didn't post anything on Mother's Day, but I'm thankful for my mother. She whipped us- Indiana Jones style- into the hard workers we are today. I'm proud to say it wasn't easy to become this awesome. Thanks mom. I'd have to say both my parents drilled the importance of service and friendliness into my inner core. So I'm not perfect, but having goats gets you a lot closer.  

Some pictures-

Some more pics of my boyfriend Charles. Aman, these are for you.

I've been chilling this week. I tried to give blood, but they wouldn't let me. Rude. Apparently I currently have an irregular heart beat. The lady taking my stats was really worried about it. I got it checked out by my dr. this morning with an EKG and blood tests, but so far I'm healthy as a horse. I mean, last weekend I ran 16 miles. How healthy could I possibly be?

I'm also helping with the Special Olympics Saturday; that's about it for my good deeds this year. Ask me in another 12 months if you have any service opportunities. Honestly I love doing stuff like that, so I should be better about finding those activities. There's a new site called Justserve.org that is really helpful in finding cool stuff like that.

I need to stop eating junk. I just love cookies and sweets too much. I have never really liked chips though, that's been nice.

Onions are my stalker

Onions. I like eating them. They taste good for the five minutes it takes to get them to my belly.  Then I remember what happened with them last time and the time before that. They stalked me. In my mouth, on my tongue; an effusion of onion. 

I read about brownies in a cup today. The recipe? 1/4 cup sugar; 1/4 cup flour; 2 tbsp cocoa; pinch salt; 2 tbsp oil; 3 tbsp water; mix and cook in the microwave for 1 min 40 seconds. Drop some ice-cream on top. Eat it. You are welcome. 

Food seems to be taking over my thoughts right now. This signifies I should probably exercise more, because then I can eat all the time, something I already do. Blast. Going to make more of an effort. 

A show I like- Scandal. Another show I like- Ready for Love. Why? I guess the drama manifested in these shows makes me grateful my life isn't full of such drama. 

My beautiful memories-

So here's something.  My parent's house burnt to the ground last night. Today the embers are smoldering it all to nothingness. The only thing left..is our trampoline, complete with teal rubbermaid slide. Thank goodness that was untouched.

The things I left in my parents' house for safekeeping until I grew up:

1. Any art I ever did

2. My little ponies
3. Trolls
4. 20 years of journal writing
5. a bronze cherub miniature
6. a bronze medusa miniature
7. The legless ceramic man on his inner tube
8. A 8"glass mermaid panel
9. My birth certificate
10. Some souvenirs
11. Not a big deal

Most of that stuff is pretty minor. I know at least three years of journal writing in high school just said what I'd eaten that day. Posterity won't miss out on that much.

The good news
1. It is summertime now.
2. The goats are ok.
3. All the stuff I own is already here with me
4. Lots of the junk accumulated over the years, that wouldn't have been cleared out for a while, has disappeared.
5. Nobody was in the house
6. The trampoline and slide are unscathed
7. We know what our house looks like burned down
8. Any physical evidence of my childhood weirdness has also vanished
9. Christian scanned and posted a million old pictures of us, so until the Internet stops working, we have access to all of them. Thank goodness all those nerdy photos still live.

The morals of this story are: 

1. It gets crazy hot in the summer in MO. 

2. When you have full-time missionaries in the field your blessings come in disguise. 

3. Lots of people love our family. 

It's snowing-

It's not, but at gun practice last week my scalp got sunburned. So now my hair looks snowed on. That's the nice way to mention dandruff. Most people like the idea of snow, even if they don't like actual snow.  It has melted a bit, but there are still a couple flakes hiding out. As long as they hide and don't come out until I'm alone and can monkey them out. Then they are a-ok. 

We couldn't have actual snow here because in Dublin, close to San Francisco, it is currently 76 degrees F outside. That's 76 degrees fabulous to you. Nothing wrong with being in the 76ers club, it's a nice place to chill. If you call that chilly. 

Speaking of chilly, Russia is chilly. Who is from Russia? Dostoyevsky? Yes, that's right. His book The Brothers Karamazof is still only halfway read. I will try powering through it. Then I can return it to its rightful place at the Doxey residence and check it off my Goodreads list. 

What things am I looking forward to this summer? I'm glad you asked

1. Strong Reunion on the Oregon coast

2. The smell of summer

3. Mangos

4. Being Whitney's roommate

5. Birthdays

6. Finding out what happens when Rand finally goes crazy- #WheelofTime

7. Eating lots of cream cheese with raspberries