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JoyfulChelle
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Name: Michelle
Gender: Female
Interests: Singing, reading, cycling, writing, cooking, other cultures
Occupation: Mental Health Professional
Message: message me
Member Since:
7/11/2006
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| Besides my engagement, I have been a busy woman over the past few months. Especially in the area of photography. Here are some of the recent portaits I have taken.... Here are some of my friend Cody and his kids. It was freezing cold out that day so we had to take shelter by the old red barn out by my place:  
Then there was my friend Carol who hates her picture to be taken. She is a volunteer firefighter so I wanted to get some shots with her gear. Here is my favorite: 
Next is my friend Aizhana who graduated recently with her Master's degree at A&M. Here is a silohuette picture of her with her infant daughter: 
One of my coworkers recently wed and I had the pleasure of taking her engagement pics. Here are two of my favorite:  
And lastly, I got to take some family pics with Kyle's family over Thanksgiving:  
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| Wow! I have not blogged since August! Lots has happened since then. Most importantly, I got engaged. I have had numerous requests for the engagement story so here it goes. To refresh your memories, I began dating Kyle in March of 2007. I knew he was something special on our first date.
The story of the proposal begins on New Years Eve 2008. I had to work that day, and the plan was to head over to Huntsville after work for dinner and then attend a New Years Eve Lord Supper service at Kyle's church. They have one every year on New Years Eve where church members take communion together. Well, this year, Kyle kept asking me where I wanted to go eat dinner before the service. I thought it was odd he kept asking me as usually we just figure it out when I get there. It turned out I did not get to Huntsville until close to 5:30pm so I ended up meeting him at his church, skipping dinner.
Before I even got out of my car, he walked out of the church building toward me. After greeting me, he advised that he had some New Years presents in his truck for me. So, we walked over to his truck and both got in. There, he presented with a big green gift bag full of tissue paper. He explained that he got me presents for my "whole self" as the pastor had preached Sunday about presenting our "whole selves" to God as a living sacrifice, as read in Romans 12. The first gift was for my mind. I pulled out the tissue and in it was a card reader for my camera. He explained that he knows my photography and photo editing are stress relievers for me and challenge my mind.
The next tissue paper contained a pair of slippers that can be also used to clean the floor. There is a story behind these as he had gotten his sister some, and I thought they were cool. Well, the slippers were a gift for my body because he knows when I am following Weight Watchers, I count cleaning as exercise.
The third tissue paper contained a 6 week devotional based on the movie Fireproof, which is a Christian movie about marriage. At this point, I began to think "Is he proposing to me now? In his truck??" Well, he explained that the devotional book was something for my spirit as he knows I have been wanting to do a couples devotional with him.
The last tissue paper he explained was a selfish gift. When I opened it, I saw a velvet heart shaped box. I looked up at him, and he only said open it. So I did, and inside was a little black box. I asked him what it was, and he explained that his last gift was selfish because he wanted to give me his name. I responded with "are you kidding?" He then opened the ring box and asked if I would marry him. The first thing I said was "it lights up??" as when he opened the ring box, it had a little light in it that lit up when the box was opened. In that box was my engagement ring which was PERFECT! I was amazed as we had never even looked at rings together and yet he had picked out the perfect one! I then said "YES! Of course I will marry you!!" We kissed and then I just sat there speechless. For those who know me well, you know that I am rarely speechless! We then prayed and I cried. Kyle then told me people were waiting inside to congratulate us.
After cleaning myself up from crying, we went into the church and told several people we had just gotten engaged. Everyone was so sweet and so excited. When the Lord's Supper began, the pastor called us up to the front of the church and had another couple come up and pray for us. It was so special to have these believers bless our marriage from the very beginning! The Lord's Supper service continued and honestly, I have no clue what the pastor said. My brain was busy trying to grasp what just happened. I then saw Kyle get a text while in the sound booth, so I decided to start texting the good news. I really don't remember who I texted and if you did not get one I am sorry....My hands were shaking. Kyle kept looking over at me and catching me staring at my ring the whole service!
After the service we did what any modern couple would do. We went to Kyle's house and logged onto the internet! There, we made our relationship official on "facebook." Can you believe? Immediately, we started getting congratulations from different people both on facebook and by text. These continued for the rest of the evening while Kyle and I attended a New Years Eve party at one of his co-worker's home in Montgomery. It was exciting to be introduced as Kyle's fiance at the party and then show off my perfect ring. The night ended with an awesome fireworks display, a midnight kiss with Kyle and me driving back to College Station as Kyle drove to Huntsville from the party. While in the car driving to and from the party, I was able to call people and tell them the good news. The drive home was nice because Kyle and I chatted via cellphone until we both got home.
So there you have it! That is the proposal story. Honestly, I would not have wanted it any other way. Being proposed to in Kyle's truck outside of his church was PERFECT! He mentioned wishing he could have proposed in a restaurant, but I am so glad things worked out the way they did. I love his church and the people in it. I also think his truck is special as it is where we spent most of our first date together as we drove to Houston that day. It also was kind of nice that it was just the two of us initially when he proposed. By the way, Kyle later told me that the first time he opened the ring to look at it, the first thing he said was "It lights up?" See!! We are a perfect match!
And here is more information to impress you about my husband to be: He found out my ring size by calling the Association of Former Students at Texas A&M. They had it on record still from when I got my Aggie ring in the early nineties. Isn't my man smart? I am the luckiest women to have such a blessing!!
 
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| I have good news and some bad news. - The good news is that I decided to fork over 99 cents for some good old fashioned mousetraps. The bad news is that I snapped them on my fingers several times when trying to set them.
- The good news is that I purchased some real peanut butter to put on these said traps. The bad news is that every time the trap misfired on my fingers, peanut butter went flying across the room. There is good news again with this one as my dog loves peanut butter and was more than willing to clean up my mess.
- The good news is that I finally successfully set all four traps in strategic places across the country palace where my pets could not get them. The bad news is that Copper has strained his tongue and nose trying to get to them under various pieces of furniture.
- More good news is that the traps worked and another mouse was caught and this time it was in my roommate's room. The bad news is that the mouse caught was still alive with only his tail caught in the trap.
- The good news is that I called Bowser in to help me catch this mouse that was already half caught in a trap. The bad news is that Bowser simply sniffed where the mouse was and then walked over to my roommate's fern to eat part of her plant. And he calls himself a CAT????
- The good news is that I have a wonderful neighbor who came to rescue me from the mouse stuck in the trap. The bad news is really only if you are this mouse:
So, the count thus far in the great mouse hunt is this: - One cat named Bowser who prefers to eat ferns over mousing.
- Two mice caught thus far; one in my bed and one in my roommate's room.
- Three empty mouse traps that are left in the country palace.
- Four nights of not much sleep as I keep thinking I feel mice on me in my bed.
- Five is for the five minutes that it has taken you to read this blog on yet another adventure in the country pastures.
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| Country living has its perks and its unperks so to speak. One of the perks is wonderful sunsets like these: 
One of the unperks are pests. By pests, I am referring to the spiders, ants, lizards, skunks and the like living right outside our door and sometimes under our home. Well, one of these pests has gone to far and it means war. For once it is not a skunk. Instead it is a mouse or likely more than one mouse. The drama began last week when my roommate discovered mouse droppings in her closet. She bought a "humane" trap that is supposed to keep the mouse alive so you can release it without hurting it. I am all about just killing the darn mice as I think they would come back if we just released them. Well, on Sunday after church, I took a nap in my bed with my dog. I was in a deep sleep when suddenly Copper jumped up and began sniffing like crazy on the bed. I hardly opened my eyes and saw a gray furry blur dash across my chest on top of my bed covers. As I was half asleep, it took me a few minutes to realize what I thought I had just seen. I looked high and low for the thing and could not find it so I determined that maybe I just dreamed it as I had been deeply asleep. So last night, my roommate set her "humane trap" in her room with peanut butter as bait. The only thing is that she used some "healthy" peanut butter stuff that I am sure no mouse would ever touch. This morning, I woke up about 6:45am and was laying in bed. I felt something crawl on my leg under the covers. I reached down to swat at what I thought was one of many spiders in our old farmhouse. To my surprise, I touched something furry with claws. I looked under the covers and saw a tiny mouse scurrying toward my feet. With energy I did not know I had, I lept out of bed and clamped a pillow down on top of the thing where all I could see was its tail sticking out. I began to scream for my roommate who of course could not hear me in the other room. Thinking quickly, I grabbed the closest thing to me, my cover for my heating pad as I have been nursing a sore back. I scooped up the mouse and ran to Carolyn's room asking what do I do with it. She wanted to release it outside. I refused. So we called her mom who is used to dealing with country living things. Mom's advise was to kill it by suffocation or it would come back to the house. So, we now have a heating pad cover with a mouse wadded in the middle of it in a plastic ziplock container in our trashcan. Just for the record, Carolyn did not catch anything with her trap while I caught a mouse with my bed. Mind you that I have two "cats" who live inside with us. Apparently these "cats" find it beneath them to go mousing, which I find just a tad annoying. I think it is time these "cats" start earning their keep. I am thinking that I miss the stray cats who used to live in our garage as we never had mice in the house when they were mousing outside.....Maybe it is time to make a trip to the animal shelter.... | | |
| So picture this....I got to spend all Saturday with Kyle and his family at his niece's birthday party in Waco. He and I drove back to College Station, talking and laughing together. Once back at the country palace, I suggest we go watch the sunset by one of the larger ponds. Kyle agrees and off we drive into the pasture. We get to see this: 
Beautiful isn't it? How about this? 
Breathtaking! A very romantic situation...Man with woman watching the masterpiece of a gorgeous sunset. The birds are singing, the breeze is blowing, the smell of the cows is going the other way, so everything was just perfect. At least until this: 
Yes...That is my boyfriend shooting turtles during this romantic sunset time together. Not what you expected, is it? Me neither...but that is one reason I like spending so much time with Kyle. You never know what is going to happen. (just for the record, after the turtles were shot, there was a time of sweet talking and tenderness. It just was not caught on camera) | | |
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