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Jolly Gems Christmas Card

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This is the holiday card that Eddie and I selected this year... watch your mailboxes for the real thing!

(I received 50 free holiday cards by posting about shutterfly's great services on my One Cheap Date blog (www.onecheapdate.wordpress.com). Check it out for more details. After creating a holiday card, if you click on "share project" there are details there about how to get a free $25 shutterfly giftcard! I definately love shutterfly this holiday season, no joke!

Country Roads, Take Me Home...

...to the place where I belong.
~John Denver~

As a kid, I grew up in a small town in central Illinois. Not too far outside the small town was a local landmark... a real gem... Allerton Park. The land started as the estate of Robert Allerton. He built his home in the middle of woods and fields, near the Sangamon River. The home alone is amazing, but the entire estate that he built up, beyond just his home, is breathtaking.

I should clarify, that after his death, Allerton donated his estate to the University of Illinois, and it's a state historic site, open to the public. There are acres and acres of trails through the woods, as well as over 100 statues, several formal gardens, and a huge meadow (that I certainly would not want to have to mow!)

Once I turned 16 and could drive around town, Allerton was ALWAYS one of my destinations. I spent many an afternoon driving through the park, wandering on the trails, or just spreading a blanket out at the Sunsinger, the park's farthest point, and reading a book all day long.

After moving away, every time I'd visit my parents, I would swing by Allerton during my visit. During the summertime, I loved to drive through the park to spy on any weddings that may have been taking place. I always thought that having a wedding at Allerton would be like a dream come true, but I just always assumed that it wouldn't ever actually happen for me due to cost.

A 3-hour rental of one of the formal gardens is $600, and if it rains, you are pretty much out of luck. Some of the gardens allow tents for an additional rental, but the location of my dreams, the Sunken Garden, does not allow tents. It seemed like such a gamble to spend a chunk of money for something that might not happen if the weather didn't cooperate. After much deliberation, we decided to bite the bullet. My fiance told me that I deserved the wedding of my dreams, and that we would make it happen, if at all possible. So, I took every last dime of my Christmas money and gave it to Allerton Park. Fingers crossed that mother nature agrees that this is where I should be married:

This Kind of Love...

...is what I dreamed about

Yeah, it fills me up

Baby, it leaves no doubt

This kind of love it's why I'm standing here

It's something that we can share

I can't get enough of this kind of love

~Sister Hazel's This Kind of Love



I am definately due an entry on here! I have a couple other blogs that I'm religious about updating, but this one has just slipped through the cracks for a couple months now!



Last I wrote, my love was planning a weekend getaway to the Windy City. And what a getaway it was! We spent 3 glorious days up there and they were probably the best days that I've spent with him.



We arrived to our hotel on a Friday night, after having gotten a sweet deal on priceline! We got a $150 room for $60 each night! We relaxed Friday evening because we knew we had a bit day in store for us on Saturday. The next morning we woke up bright and early & started the day with a dip in the pool & jacuzzi! After a quick shower, we were off to catch the bus to the Museum of Science and Industry. We were all bundled up because it was a cold, snowy weekend, but when we got to the museum, the silly boy didn't want to check his coat! I didn't understand why... I certainly didn't want to have to carry mine around all day, but I went along with it. This should have been some foreshadowing that there was something IN his coat that he didn't want to go unguarded!



We spent a few hours at the museum & had such a fun time, then took the bus into downtown Chicago. Next stop was Navy Pier. This is a special place for he and I because back in April he planned a date up here. That night when we had returned from our date, he told me he loved me for the first time! So I was very excited to be at the pier! It was all decorated with Christmas decorations (this was early December, by the way!) and a light snow was coming down. We walked a bit on the pier and then decided to go inside to do some shopping! We shopped, we ate, and then we went to this Christmas festival that was going on. Oh, and we even had a characiture drawn!



By this time, the sun had just set and the gentleman wanted to go for a walk on the decorated pier. It was windy and it was cold, but it was also beautiful! We had the Chicago skyline behind us, with a purple sky, and I quickly forgot about how frigid it was! I turned to look at the pretty skyline & snap a picture. I showed him the picture & he said it was nice, but why not take one more, just to be sure to get a good one. I turned around once again to snap a picture, and when I turned to show him, he was down on one knee!



There was lots of laughing, hugging, kissing, and crying. We were so happy!!! Everything about it was perfect, and I wouldn't have changed a thing! And the ironic part? The ring that he purchased was actually one of the rings that I posted in my last entry where I wrote about what my ideal ring would look like! He hit the nail right on the head! I love it because it's something he picked out and also because he had been saving for probably 5 months to pay for it. It meant so much to me that months earlier he was confident enough in us to go ahead and take that step.



After getting engaged, I think I beamed the remainder of the night. It was freezing cold, but I didn't even want to put a glove on because I wanted to watch it sparkle! We then headed to Macy's to pick out our first-ever Christmas ornament, a sparkly green ball that says "Chicago" on it. I think that will be my favorite ornament forever.

It'll be just like starting over...

~Starting Over~John Lennon~

The nice thing about having been previously engaged & planning a wedding, is that this time, I can do things differently. Things that I thought I wanted last time, I now look back on & think "oh, that was nice, but THIS would be even better!"

For example...last time we were going to get married in a church, similar to this:

This time, my future fiance & I have all ready discussed that we'd rather NOT get married in a church. Neither of us are church-goers, so why have a ceremony in a church? This time around, we're thinking somewhere outdoors... like this local gem:

Last time, we were having a coworker of my ex-fiance's, who happened to also be a minister, marry us. THIS time, we're thinking about having a friend get ordained online, through somewhere like the Universal Life Church . Why hire someone who we don't know, who doesn't know us, when we could have someone close to us do it. That is sure to be more meaningful in our situation.

Last time, I was going to wear this dress:

This time, I've got my eye on dresses like this:





Last time, I did a lot of DIY things. While it added a lot of personal touches, I think that sometimes they were unnecessary touches. This time around, things will be unique & personal, but on a smaller scale than last time. Last time I think I probably bit off more than I could chew w/the DIY stuff. My plan was to save money by doing things myself, but truthfully, things probably cost just as much, if not more, to do them myself.

It's nice to know that I got the first engagement as sort of the "dress rehearsal" so to speak... Now I know what to expect, what I want, etc. I get to plan a second wedding, without ever having to get a divorce!!!

Put a Ring on It

I started 2008 engaged and planning my March wedding. Not long after the year began, those plans were pushed to the wayside, at the discretion of my ex-fiance. At the time how did I feel about that? Devastated. Eleven months later and ask me how I feel. Elated.

Not long after the brutal break-up (which involved a domestic dispute, jail time for the mister, and a restraining order), I met the man of my dreams. Now, in the past, when I've heard people use that phrase, it's made me wanna throw up in my mouth a little, no joke. However, now I know what they're talking about. The best part is, neither of us were looking for the other when we miraculously found each other.



Fast forward to November, and we've just celebrated 9 wonderful months of courtship... or "going steady" as my grandmother likes to call it. In mid-summer, talks of marriage came up in conversation between us. We talked about our desires, what kind of timeline we were thinking about, and we even looked at rings a couple of times. And for all you visual folks out there, my ideal ring would be a mix of these two, with a round center stone:

But to be honest, anything that he will pick/has picked will be perfect, no matter what it looks like. As someone that's gone through a proposal/engagement before, I have to say, it's pretty flattering when someone wants to marry you. Kind of like "wow, someone loves me THIS MUCH??!"

So anyway, here we are & it's November. The boyfriend (who I have been trying to think of a clever internet name for... what goes with strawberries? Bananas? Yes, but too phallic! But, I digress) has made hints about a "secret plan" for months now. All I know is that this plan involved a trip somewhere. My woman's intuition tells me that the plan also involved a possible proposal. I was told that I'd find out the plan around November. Well, a couple weeks ago, he suggested a trip to Chicago to see the sights & take in all the Christmas decorations. Could this be part of the SECRET PLAN? I mean, the destination isn't secret, nor are our travels within the city:

The Museum of Science & Industry

Navy Pier

Milennium Park

Macy's (Formerly Marshall Field's)

And finally, the Daley Plaza to see the big outdoor Christmas tree!

Regardless of whether or not the trip ends in a proposal, I know that this will be an amazing trip with the man I love. We're going up on a Friday & staying in a hotel (yay Priceline for a half-price hotel near the city!), and we'll do all that fun stuff Saturday, then stay in the hotel again until Sunday. I cannot wait!

I love hearing proposal stories... share yours!

She sees shooting stars & comet's tails...

...she's got heaven in her eyes.
--Recovering the Satellites/Counting Crows

So I'm sitting here wondering what it is I should write for my first entry in this new blog of mine. How many blogs can a person have, really? Well, the answer for me, my friends, is five. I'm all about re-creating yourself in any way possible... and sometimes that means a new internet alter-ego.

Enter The Girl With the Strawberry Curl. Yes, that's a mouthful. An acronym would be just as awkward though: TGWTSC? So, Strawberry Gal, Red on the Head... whatever you want to call me.

It's hard to say what this blog will be about, as of yet. Just as we all evolve and change throughout time, I imagine this space will as well. Here are the things I enjoy: reading, journaling, scrapbooking, crocheting, cross-stitching, letterboxing, outdoors, my three kitties, thunderstorms, and the colors pink, blue, and yellow. So, how do you make a blog out of all those things? Well, grab a seat & we'll take the crazy ride together!