There were 9 in the bed and the little one said....

As most of you know, I come from a big family....wait, I should re-phrase that....a BIG family. 7 kids, something like 18 nieces and nephews, 2 great-nephews, one great niece and a slew of cousins (too many to count frankly; my math ain't that good). It's always been great, and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but to be perfectly honest....that's BIG enough.

Well, the other day JL and I got an email from his cousin in which he stated, "I can't believe we'll all be related to Kristen" (fyi, I took that as a good, "I can't believe" so no one say anything different dang it!). And all of a sudden it hit me....my family just grew. A. Lot.

JL is one of 5 kids. With our 7, that's 12 combined siblings. Plus their kids. Plus aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews, AND a future mother and father-in-law!

Basically, I'm now terrified of Christmas.

Luckily the "L" clan (of JL) is without exception lovely. And I get to have little nieces again - adorable ones at that!

Sarah and Grace. So freaking cute! And its good to know that JL's genes are okey dokey! :)

So, here's to the combined "L" and "H" clan! Proof that bigger is always better (and anyone that says differently lies).

"Put that magazine down, and back away slowly...."

Since I am newly engaged (and pretty excited about the whole thing) I recently went out and bought an armful of wedding/bridal magazines. They had beautiful glossy covers depicting smiling and glowing brides, and glamorous cakes and flowers, and I was extremely enthusiastic about reading them and starting to get ideas on my own wedding....and....as I turned the first page, and then the second, the third, fourth and onwards, the excitement started to wane and the SHEER PANIC began to set in.

Did you know that you are supposed to start sending out "save the date cards" TWELVE MONTHS before the wedding? You heard me....twelve freaking months! We just got engaged for craps sake!

And if that is not enough, I'm also supposed to have done the following (yes, already!):

(1) decide on a theme for the wedding
(2) decide on a budget
(3) insure the engagement ring
(4) pick wedding date and time and finalize after checking with the location
(5) interview wedding consultants
(6) start viewing wedding gowns
(7) interview caterers
(8) scout reception sites and book it
(9) interview officiants
(10) coordinate engagement party

Now to be fair, I have done some of the above - as you can see from my list below:

(1) decide on a theme for the wedding - Totally done, the theme is going to be "wedding", duh.

(2) decide on a budget - Hahahahahaha! Does, "Oh crap, we've run out of money...." count as a budget?

(3) insure the engagement ring - Yes! Good ol' JL took care of this one! Woot woot!

(4) pick wedding date and time and finalize after checking with the location - Ummm, sometime next year....

(5) interview wedding consultants - Ring ring, "Hi Mom, so what do you think about....."

(6) start viewing wedding gowns - I'm all over this one. I've got SATC on auto rewind....

(7) interview caterers - Yeah, so not happening.

(8) scout reception sites and book it - "Dear JL - Looks like we have to make a trip to Hawaii....and right away! No seriously, its required. Read the freaking magazines!"

(9) interview officiants - You're kidding right? A year in advance? I could become ordained and marry myself in that time!

(10) coordinate engagement party - DONE! (Really, this is pretty much done. I'm all about an excuse to party.)

I can't stress the point enough, that the above is for when you first get engaged or twelve to sixteen months in advance. Every month there is a new list which just gets more and more insane. (What is bonbonniere anyway?)

The only reason I can think for TOTALLY FREAKING PEOPLE OUT WITH THE ABOVE TO DO LIST is that these wedding magazines are designed for those women (and men) who have been planning their own weddings since birth. People who have albums full of pictures and ideas etc etc. You know the type....they're the ones who say "For MY wedding, I'm going to have 57 doves released above my head and a 16 layer cake with layer in the shape of a different city we've visited together and...." (blech.)

That is so not me.

Anyway, long story short, after gathering control of myself, calming the hyperventilation and remembering that some people are crazy - I shut the magazines and put them to the side of the couch. And there they will stay, gathering dust, until the dog chews them up or uses them for a wee pad, both of which would be a perfect end!*

* I must confess that I am getting into this wedding planning thing a bit. But its totally because I seem to have this ingrained need to go above and beyond when planning a party. Trust me, I am so not the perfectionist type (case in point, swing by my apartment on any random day and you will see some things so horrific you may feel a need to immediately swing by the nearest radiation center to have yourself decontaminated), but I simply cannot (CANNOT) just "have people over"....it is not in my DNA. I totally blame my Mom.

The Ring

No this post is not about a horror film....its about a different ring altogether...

The Ring.

The Ring which was given to me by JL.

The Ring, which was only the 4th one I put on my finger, but which fit perfectly.

The Ring that sat on the shelf tonight so I could gaze at it while I bathed.

The Ring that had its first trip in the car today.

The Ring that is NOT alive, even though I chat to it pretty much all day long (i.e., Ring, how are you liking your first trip to the grocery store? Ring, try to stay away from the dog's tongue. etc.).

The. Ring.

Yes, I am the proud wearer of the most beautifully wonderful gorgeous-est-EST engagement ring ever created. Oh. Yours might be nice. But it ain't The Ring. And that's a fact sister.

Shout out to JL who is without a doubt, proving to be the best fiance, a girl could'a ever proposed to!

Daa du da dummmm

You know its been too long since you've blogged when you can't even remember your password! Crikey! But I have a legit excuse this time.....I'M ENGAGED! Now just because it didn't happen until two nights ago, does not mean that it is not the reason why I'm so late in posting. You know, a girl has to prepare for these things....

Especially when she's doing the proposing...

After all, it is a leap year!*

As I'm sure you know, I'm a true romantic at heart, so the proposal went something like this:

Me: So are you going to marry me or what?
JL: Ummm, is that a proposal?
Me: Ermmmm, yes, I guess so.
JL: Well, OK then.

And the rest, as they say, is history!

* Even though it doesn't really count as it wasn't actually Feb 29th. Just don't tell JL.

Things to do on a 16 hour car drive from Brisbane....

Ponder Australian road signs:

People crossing

Ummmm, feet crossing?

Brumby crossing (i.e., wild horses....gotta give those wild horses a place to cross the highway after all)

Kangaroo crossing....of course.

Koala crossing? Yeah, that's gonna take some time.

Take full advantage of the "Driver Reviver" rest stops (can you say, "free coffee"?):


Pretend you're an undercover cop and take pictures of strangers....

and their license plates

Get full photographic evidence of how fast JL is driving:


Puzzle out billboards (speeding equals....what!):


Check out the Big Banana:*


Let the dog drive:



* By the way, our last rest stop adventure was at a place that was built into a replica of Ayers Rock. Freaking fantastic. Too bad I was too tired to bother with the camera at that point!

Sick and Wrong

Somebody tell me the truth....

Is it wrong to feel lucky to get to leave work at a rational hour....say 11:10 p.m. rather than, say 3 a.m.?

Craig Rhodenizer - What does he know that I don't?

A friend sent me an article about a certain pastor by the name of Craig Rhodenizer (see article here) who, apparently, got up one evening, informed his wife he was going to Best Buy to have his computer fixed, and then, after failing to come home and being reported as a missing person, was found at an Ohio strip club. Oh, did I forget to mention...he lived in New York!

Now, at first I was simply shocked and appalled by this story, as any non-strip club loving, non-husband leaving, semi-sane person would be. However, after thinking about this some more I realized that Craig Rhodenizer might actually have something going here. I'm not saying that I want to run off to a strip club for days on end (yick), but I wouldn't mind just going mildly crazy for a few days. Just get up one morning, look around and say, Yep today I'm going mad! (Put a bone in my beard and wander around in a bathrobe licking protein gel off the edge of a ratty old towel (ala Douglas Adams, heehee)).

I only approach this subject because I'd like to put everyone on notice that if I ever DO say, hey I'm just going out to get the mail, and then disappear, I'll just have gone mad. I can probably be found on some random beach, surrounded by hot dog remnants and a few dozen dogs....and I'm sure I'll be happy!