The Ring

Pictures of the ring. I absolutely adore the ring, I only wish I could take a better picture of it!!!



This picture is not that great of the ring, but I loved how Thor is in the background!

he liked it, so he put a ring on it!

dave asked me to marry him last night, may 10, 2009...i am truly estatic right now. the excitement has not worn off at all. i had a really hard time getting to sleep last night, and a hard time staying asleep and i'm still wide awake, so that is a good sign.

we were busy all weekend. saturday we went to daves parent's house and gave his mom her mother's day gift and then went for a hike at milton reimer park with thor. this park is VERY dog friendly. either that or they are so new still that they haven't put any "dog must remain on leash" signs anywhere! Thor was able to run and play and explore all on his own. we all went swimming in the river that ran through the park and that was a lot of fun too. after our hike, we headed back to the copelands house and head to the galleria to see Star Trek with Dave's folks.

sunday was mother's day for my mom and my side of the family. dave and i left for san antonio early in the a.m. and spent most of the day at my mama's house and also went to my other grandmother's house to say hello and got to see some aunts as well. there was a big spaghetti lunch and awesome cake. i gave my own mother the family picture frame put together for her and she seemed to enjoy that.

sunday night on the way home dave and i decided to cook-out on the grill by the apartment's pool. when we got to the pool there were a ton of people hanging out still and both of the grills were being used. we swam some, read some and hung out...finally people started leaving and packing up around 8:30 or so and at that time jono, and blair joined us to hang out. we realized that there definately was not going to be enough food so jono and blair left for heb with lexie to pick up some more meat. dave and i decided to hop back in the pool again since the lights had just turned on...little did i know that he had a surprise for me!!! we both were by the pool light when he looked down at the pool bottom, and was like..."what's that at the bottom of the pool?" he went under to get whatever he thought he saw and came up with the ring! i was like, "shut up...shut up." and before i knew it the ring was on my finger and i was crying and laughing and wanting to kill him for leading me to believe he would never ask! lol....so i called my parent's, my brother, kelly, sam and jenny. jono and lexie and blair came back from the store about half an hour later and i was able to share the news with them and we got to eat and hang out and celebrate.

the ring is perfect, i love it, and i love dave, and i'm so excited for us. lots of details to be worked out for how we plan on getting married but we are pretty sure that we have set a date of january 9th, 2010. that's the first check off of our wedding to-do list for now. we want something small, intimate and a TON of fun for everyone. minimal stress.... i can't wait to start looking for the dress!!!

my bliss list

happy cinco de mayo! it's a very quiet night for us here. we went to dinner at casa garcia's (again, i know, we still can't get enough of their food!). it is cinco de mayo afterall, and why not be festive. now dave is reading some really exciting texas statutues on oil and gas or water or something of that sort, i believe, and need queit to focus. i have made every attempt to provide him some peace and quiet so i decided to blog rather than watch some trashy tv. recently, i have become obsessed with reading other people's blogs. i love hopping around from blog to blog on blogspot and else. i still haven't found many that i return to, but it is still fun, nonetheless. i want to find a couple that i really want to continue to follow.

while surfing and browsing i came across the website below. it definately seems to be my cup of tea. i've always been big on self reflection. i attribute this trait in a large part to the necessity of having to constantly self reflect as homework assignments when i was social work major. so anyways, the website below seems neat. i have just gotten to the surface of it, but the first post that i read was about a "bliss list." it was enjoyable to read others bliss lists, too. sometimes all it is is the simplest things to make people happy.

definately worth checking out. i plan on making my bliss list soon but for now i just wanted to include a picture of something that brings me happiness.

http://www.soulpancake.com/view_post/267743/whats-your-bliss-list.html

the weeks how they fly.

it's may 2009. where did april go? this past weekend was really enjoyable. dave and i got to see both of our parents and spend some time with my extended family in killeen as well.

friday i had to take a half-day off from work to go to San Marcos for my oral review. i was somewhat nervous about the oral review, despite the fact that i had heard that it was not that bad. i still wanted to feel prepared just incase one of the board members asked me something obscure. i re-read my paper friday morning and continued to read parts of it on my drive down to san marcos. luckily, once i got to campus the reviews were all running about 30 minutes behind so i was able to get there, relax, read important parts of my paper and wait. it went very well and i got a 95 in the class! so another door closes (thank gawd) and i will really actually physically graduate in 11 days. i still need to get a tassel, but i think i coordinated a barter with a friend of mine who will also graduate this semester. she will get the tassel and i will let her borrow my cap and gown, which is actually dave's cap and gown from when he graduated last semester. we were fortunate to only have to buy one set and we graduated from the same program so the master's cape colors are the same.

so following my oral review i went home and rounded up dave and thor and we all headed to killeen for the night. my grandparents, aunt, uncle and two cousins also came into town on saturday and we all got to hang out. we ate a really big lunch of lasgna and salad and then i took the girls, sarah and KT to go get our nails done, which of course is always fun! everyone is growing up entirely too quickly. after we got back there was cake and ice cream for the april/may birthdays in the family, sarah, dave, uncle mike and jon. later on sarah jumped into the pool, fully clothed, and of course thor followed her, and then i jumped in as well (also fully clothed) so that thor could be hoisted up when it was time to get him out. silly dog.

Sarah and Thor are both taller than me now. No surprise there!!! In this picture I'm squatting down a little.The Birthday People

Sunday, dave and i ate at one of our favorite mexican restaurants right down the road, casa garcias, for breakfast and then did some grocery shopping. we then stopped by the house and picked up the dogs to head over to his folks house. his dad had been wanting to take his boat out on the lake and it was finally nice enough weather on the weekend to. it was sooooo much fun! we took thor with us, and he just loved riding on the boat and the water. while under dave's supervision thor jumped out of the boat! dave then promptly jumped in after him shortly followed by me. the only reason i was really paronoid at first was because thor jumped in with his leash still on and the boat was still running. worst case scenerio flashed through my mind and i could see him getting caught in the propellor. once we got the leash off and we swam to the rocks near by we all had a BLAST and got some sun. we hung out at the copeland's house the rest afternoon, watched a "flash of genius," and had another awesome homecooked meal. we were really spoiled this weekend by all of the homemade cooking we got to eat!

Best of Times:

Family time of course. Life can be so unpredictable so I really cherish being able to spend time with my folks and for Dave and I to do the same with his parents. My parents are trying to move back overseas and really do not know if and when they will be going so I like taking advantage of how close we live to each other.

Worst of Times:

Thor, for some reason, likes to chase Dave and I when we swim. We were not able to swim in the lake without him following after us and then when he would catch us he would doggy paddle on our body, which hurts, a lot. Sarah, Dave and I all fell victim to scratches and bruises from Thor while swimming. The scratches that he left on me go from about the middle of my neck to my sternum. Four big scratches. Sarah has them on her leg and Dave on his shoulder and hips. Although it no longer hurts, I only have two turtlenecks that I can wear to work so they better disappear fast!

Lozano-Stewert Wedding Weekend

OMG. What a wonderful week of events. First of all, it was wonderful to get to see everyone again and all together at the same time. I miss my college friends and when we all get together like we were able to this past week, it feels so good. I remember the things I actually liked about San Marcos, rather than just those things that suck.



So, Wednesday night was the Bachelorette Party in downtown Austin. We stayed at the Omni, which was gorgeous! It was very nice, however, we also pay for that niceness. It was worth it though. One of the best things about this hotel was the pool and hottub on the roof, which unfortunetly, we did not get to use. Gorgeous view of the city. The evening started out with manicures and pedicures which was a lot of fun, we then went to the hotel and had cocktails and appetizers, caught up with each other and gave Jenny gifts. She loved them and was surprised by the lingerie so that made me happy. We had dinner at the Iron Cactus followed by going downtown. Great night and I truly hope it was a memorable one for Jenny to always remember. I know I will.

Thursday was the Bridal Shower. (Above is a picture of the bridal shower cake.) It turned out so beautifully. Mrs. Lozano had almost 100% to do with its elegance. There was no way that I could have pulled off what she did for the Bridal Shower, mainly because of resources, but also because I did not know that this was what she had envisioned. There was a great turnout of family and friends and great food also.

Picture of all of the wedding party at the rehearsal.

Friday was a whirlwind of a day. I had to work a half day in the morning, but we had to be in San Antonio for the evening. Dave and I dropped Thor off at the borders and lugged Hardin with us to San Antonio where he was going to stay with my Grandparents. The rehearsal was at the church and the rehearsal dinner was at La Paloma on the riverwalk. It was a lot of fun. We wanted to stay downtown longer because it was Fiesta in San Antonio, however,the lack of sleep had started to catch us with us. We turned in and headed back to my Grandparents pretty early. Once I got to my grandma's house I was so glad that she was still awake. We got to catch up and talk for a good hour or so. I was in bed by midnight though, which made for a full 7 hours of sleep, more than I had gotten all week.


We were up early on Saturday for the preparation of the wedding. Jenny asked that we be there at 10a.m. to start hair and makeup. Dave and I had some running around that we needed to do and we were also able to check into the hotel early. Needless to say, we were running behind and I was bumped down in the hair line to the last. I was sweating it for awhile, and I didn't no whether my hair was going to get done or not. Luckily, I was able to have it done in plenty of time. The ceremony was at 4:00, Riverwalk Boat ride was at 6:00ish, and then the reception was about 7:oop.m. till 11:00p.m. Everything was perfect and I could not be happier for Mr. & Mrs. Stewart. (whom are now on a honeymoon cruise right now :o) )

We didn't have either one of our babies last night at all. I'm sad, but it was also a relief. We were able to tidy things up a little bit and focus on unpacking and catching up on sleep. Hardin will be at my parent's house probably till about May 2nd, or possibly next weekend. Thor will come home tonight. Yay!

So, I also want to use some of this blog to rave about how wonderful Dave was to me last week. I was a serious crazy woman. I was uptight, stressed, exhausted, mean, and a bunch of other bad characteristics. He was so thoughtful of this and really just let me be and helped out where ever he could. I do not think I could have asked for more support from him then the support he gave, especially because he thinks wedding stuff and such events are silly. I will pat myself of the back though, I was always quick to apologize to him, I just wish I was such a B and I would not have had to apologize so much!!!

jam packed april.

It has felt like non-stop for us lately. I knew that April would be a very busy time, but I think I seriously underestimated it!



Last weekend was Dave's birthday and Easter. It was so busy for us, but so much fun at the same time! Friday we went to Texas Roadhouse with JonO, Lexie, Luke, Mandy and baby Summer. I really wanted to be domestic for Dave and bake him a cake or a pie, but it was a struggle to get out of him what kind of dessert he wanted. We kept going back and forth about it for at least a week because he isn't really one for desserts. However, I wanted to make him something. Then on Tuesday he finally decided he wanted a banana cream pie. So I looked up a great from-scratch-recipe and thought about it some, and then realized we don't have a mixer, and neither did our neighbors. I'm pretty sure one of the important things of a banana cream pie is getting the consistency right. I knew that I could not take another failure in our kitchen because I am still pretty devestated from my failed enchiladas about a month ago, so we scratched the pie. However, I ended up buying a delicious "Chocolate Bottom Banana Cream Pie" from Whole Foods and dropped it off at the restaurant on my way home from work. I really think Dave liked that surprise because it is so hard to surprise him in the first place.



Followed by dinner we went to a great comedy show! Very very funny. It was of Nick Swardson, whom I had never heard of before JonO suggested going. Friday was a blast.



Saturday, after sleeping in and recovering from a long night Friday, Dave and I had dinner with his folks at Abuelos. After dinner we went to see a flick at Barton Creek Mall and didn't get home till late again! Sunday was spent with my dad's side of the family in La Vernia for Easter. It was so good to see some of my cousins and again and I got to meet two new second cousins. My cousin Naomi had baby twin boys 6 months ago and they are adorable.



This week is the busy busy one because of all of the wedding events! It kicks off tomorrow afternoon for Jenny's Bacherlorette Party, Thursday evening is the bridal shower, rehearsal and rehearsal dinner on Friday, and then finally Jenny and Jake's big day on Saturday! Whew!



Oh, I'm graduating! Yay. Freakin' finally. It really has not been that long, it has taken me exactly 2 years to complete my masters, but almost a complete year to complete my Applied Research Paper. Oral exams on May 1st, Final FINAL Copy turned in on May 7th, and I walk the stage on May 15th @ 6p.m.!

A little background....

I told Dave I desperately wanted "us" to have a blog. I love the couples blogs that I have browsed. I knew that I would be taking on a majority of the responsibility of updates, but I enjoy that.(Editor's Note: He told me no, so this is a surprise to and for him. Hahaha.) So I started this blog for us, but mainly I will be updating, so I guess that technically makes it "my" blog. But, uh, whatever, anyways:

Dave and I have been dating since November 2007. We met in San Marcos, Texas while we were both graduate students studying to get our Master of Arts in Legal Studies. Since then Dave graduated in December of 2008 and I am anticipating graduation on May 16, 2009. We moved to Pflugerville together May 2008 and have lived there since. Since merging our lives together we have also acquired an absolutely wonderful puppy, Thor. So now Dave, Amanda, Hardin and Thor makes four.

Lots of ups and downs the last year and half, but I can honestly say way more ups than downs. I have also learned a lot about myself and feel like I've grown up a lot. Needless to say there is still a lot of growing both Dave and I have to do both as individuals and as a team. I'm looking forward to any and all the challenges and exciting things the future has in store for us...like, possibly South Dakota. So much is unknown to both Dave and I. Sometimes that is thrilling to me, and other times, when I allow it be, it can feel overwhelmingly stressful. I know that I am very lucky to have a great support system from my parents, family and most definitely the best possible support from Dave.

So now I guess I will start the blogging about the current...This past weekend was both productive and enjoyable. We went up to Killeen for a garage sale at my parents house. We took some of our belongings as well, to sell and we earned a little bit of pocket change which will be very helpful for us this month. It was also a lot of fun with my parents. My mom kept us fed the entire time and helped so much with the peddling.

I love the diversity of the Killeen/Harker Heights/Coppers Cove populations. The people that come to garage sales are also always entertaining. We were on the go peddling our junk from about 6:00a.m. until 2:30p.m. We then headed to the post with my parents, my sister and 2 of her little friends. We went to Ft. Hood's PowerZone and found some good deals! I forget what it is like to be tide to the military and the benefits of no tax all the time. Then we headed home, exhausted and sun burnt, but just a little bit richer.

Sunday was a nice and relaxing day. I cleaned up a little bit and wrote for several hours in the morning and early afternoon while Dave went to his folks house to spend some time with his Dad. Thor is such a good companion during the day when not much is going on. When he was a puppy and we first started taking him to the dog park I remembered this one man, also the owner of a rottie, would ask me if he was following me around like a shadow yet. I was like, "uh huh, he sure does." But at that time, Thor was maybe 4 months old and he didn't really, not enough to be noticeable at least. However, now he really is like a shadow. If he isn't taking a nap he will come with me from room to room and get comfortable while I'm in that room. Then when I leave he is right there with me. For the most part, this is nice and comforting, but when I'm bustling around trying to sweep and clean a 110lb dog following me around in a 930 sq. ft. apartment can get crowd. He and Hardin are my snuggles, nonetheless.

Sunday evening we went next door to Jon O's apartment. He had grilled hot dogs and wieners and Lexie prepared all of the fixings for an awesome dinner, that and Micheladas...yum!

Best of times/Worst of times this weekend:

Best: Spending time with Dave and my folks together, earning $$ from the garage sale, Micheladas.

Worst: I got sun burnt! It's the worst on my shoulders and I think I will have lines that may not disappear before Jenny's wedding! Also, I lost my first ever fishing rod :o(.

So that wraps up my first blogspot post. Hopefully I will be successful at remembering to post.