Mmmmm Leftoverrrrs....

I'm sitting here enjoying my dinner, which happens to be leftovers from last night: chicken, rice and veggies in Thai Yellow Curry from Trader Joes. The curry comes in a bottle for $2 and change and is delicious! But if you try it, beware, it packs a little heat!

Moving on, I finished off last night's blog with Heather and Brock's "stock the bar" party, So I think I will continue with that and share some pictures! Hooray!

First off, I was sad because Steve couldn't be there. Haha, I didn't look like this the whole time, someone just took this candid shot and I happened to look very blue. :-)

This is Wendy and her hubby, Nick. They just got married about 3 weeks ago. Tis the season! (That's Brock walking by in the background.) Wendy is the little sister of a friend of Heather's and mine, Jenny, who is married to Nate. Nate is also in the Marine Corps, and is currently stationed in Virginia, which is why Jenny wasn't there. By the way, Jenny and Nate are currently expecting their first baby!

This is Nate, Jenny's husband. Even though he's stationed in Virginia, he was able to make it because he's currently doing some training out at the 29 Palms Marine Corps Base. Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I would post this picture when he had his eyes closed, but I thought posting it would help me provide an explanation for THIS picture:

After seeing the first picture we took, I told him to make sure his eyes were OPEN for the next one. And this is what happened. Sorry! ;-)

Here's me and Heather, our beautiful bride-to-be! She became our little Diva when we busted out some Beatles Rockband!

Beatles Rockband! woot woot! We rocked tha house. Seriously. Heather's mom even sang with us for a while. And we only got booed off the stage once!

This is Jackie (or Jax), another of Heather's bridesmaids, and Hawk, a friend from highschool (whom I hadn't seen in forever!).

This is Steven, frowning. Brock, Steven, and I all went to elementary school together. Steven is one of Brock's groomsmen. And of course Nate, always sneaking into the background and stealing the picture! And now, the highlight of the night, ladies and gentlemen, drum roll please....TA DAAAAAA! Haha I fell asleep on the couch! I am SUCH the party animal! Hey, I did get up at 6AM, worked all day (with no lunch I might add...), went home and changed, drove the hour and 15 minutes up to the party, helped Heather set up, and managed to stay awake until about 1 am! At least I have nice friends, no one drew anything on my face!

Happy Monday (Or Unhappy? -since it's Monday)

Even though it's late and it'll be Tuesday by the time most of you read this, I wanted to post tonight since I didn't all weekend and then my internet was down for most of the evening (I decided to check if it was working one last time before bed and...what luck!).
Steve and I have started to work out details about our engagement, moving to Alabama, and getting married. Nothing is final yet, but as we find out and we've had the opportunity to talk to our families, I'll be posting on here. What I will say is that lots is coming up! And soon!
My friend Heather is getting married to her high school sweetheart Brock in less than 2 weeks! I'm bridesmaid-ing for her, so the next couple weeks will be busy (like a bee!). Next weekend we are throwing her bachelorette party in San Diego at the Gaslamp District. The day of the party also happens to be on her birthday, so, needless to say, this will be an epic bachelorette/birthday party!
The following weekend is the wedding up at Lake Arrowhead. I'm so happy for Heather and Brock, both of whom I'm know for many years. I've known Brock since about 4th grade when I started going to Sierra Vista Elementary, and Heather and I met in Jr. High School in band. Recently she and I went to see No Doubt in concert when they came to Irvine. Gwen Sefani is as amazing as ever!
Anyway, Heather and Brock threw a "Stock the Bar" party on Saturday. The purpose of the party is basically a way for couples on a budet to get friends and family to help alleviate some of the cost of alcohol at their wedding. Everyone who comes to the stock the bar party brings something to drink that night, and then an additional (unopened) bottle for use at the wedding. It was a pretty good time, but I'm going to save the details and pictures from that for tomorrow's post, because I need sleep!
So until then!
<3 Hilabee

The Proposal

I thought today I'd write about how Steve propsed! It was such a surprise to me, not that he proposed but the time and place he'd chosen to do it.
I'd invited a few friends from back home in Upland to come down to San Clemente for a re-run of a bonfire night that we had back in July. It was just as successful (if not more-so) than the first: I didn't have to run to Wal-mart last minute to buy a BBQ because all the pits were taken. We shared a bonfire pit that night with another family, but had a great time roasting weenies and making smores. No bonfire is complete with out smores!
Steve told me his legs were sore from "PT" (physical training) all week, and asked me if I wanted to go with him for a walk down the beach, so I went with him.
Of course as we walked I started to complain, "how far are we going to walk?" (walking on sand makes my ankles hurt after a while) and "I have to pee!" (I was drinking a Coke). We
walked a little further down the beach, and it was such a warm night we stopped to stand at the point where the incoming waves barely lap your toes because we were both wearing rolled-up jeans. Then he says,
"You know I love you right?"
"Yes of course I know that."
Silence.
"Well, there's something I've been wanting to ask you for a long time."
"Oh yeah what's that?"
"Will you be my wife?" :-D
"Yes! Of course!"
"Good because I have a ring for you."
And lots of hugs and kisses followed.
We headed back down the beach to where my friends were hanging out by the bonfire pit and I told them that Steve had proposed on our walk.
I received lots of hugs (Vanessa squeezed me for about 10 minutes), and even an exclamation from Mallory, "I LOVE love!"
I even got a little wedding planning advice from Lisa and Sean, who are engaged to be married next spring.
I didn't cry, at least until the next day when I told my mom, and even I was surprised about that!
I figure since I was too retarded and totally forgot to take pictures, and no one was around when he proposed to take any anyway, I would describe it in detail for everyone to paint a picture in their mind.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, he didn't get down on one knee, we were standing in the water, but right after I said yes a big wave came and got us both all soaked up to our knees! Hehehe!

All about the ring!

Toady's post is, as the title suggests, about my ring! After taking about a million +1 pictures of it, I finally got a couple I'm satisfied with (after a considerable amount of photo-tweaking on https://www.photoshop.com/). After trying to send a couple people camera phone picture messages that just didn't do it justice, I'm finally able to share the beautiful ring that Steve picked out for me (all by himself)! These pictures are about as close as I could get to what it looks like in real life. It's so incredibly sparkly! Steve told me he went for a high quality diamond, and it definitely shows!

Details:

3/4 carat

White gold

Slightly large for my finger- not falling off, but the diamond falls over and won't stay straight up so I'm constantly fidgeting with it. I think we may be taking it to get it sized this weekend, but I don't want to give it to them for what I'm expecting to be a week or so before it's done! (They can have it when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers!)

Bottom line, I couldn't have picked a more beautiful ring. It's delicate and simple and just perfect!

So here's the picture already, sheesh!

The beginning!

Hello all!

I've put together this blog (in just one evening, surprisingly) to keep friends, family, and anyone else who would care to tag along on this adventure informed and in-the-loop. I felt it was necessary to create a centralized information source to prevent myself and Steve (my fabulous fiancé !) from being burnt out on phone calls and text messages. I have to admit I felt more than a little overwhelmed the past few days with congratualtory phone calls and texts!

For those just "tuning in," Steve proposed this past weekend and I of course said yes! We are very excited for what lies ahead of us, as we also received news that he is being sent to Alabama for Marine Corps recruiting for 3 years starting in December. Steve has also just picked up a promotion to Staff Sergeant (SSgt). I'm so very proud if him- he works his buns off!

As of now, we have not decided where or more importantly when to get married.

So begins my journey to becoming a proud Marine Corps wife, and to beginning a new life in Alabama...

Here's a link to the City of Birmingham, Alabama, where we'll be moving to (rather to the suburbs of Birmingham, anyway):

http://www.informationbirmingham.com/

I plan on posting every day or two, so please check back often for all the latest and greatest!