I'm getting married (and other random catch-ups)

DUDE! I'm getting married. Like I said, I boycott V-day, but I still gave in a little bit :-). I proposed to the lovely Alene Celeste Speer (soon to be Root, hehe) the day before V-day. It was a Sunday and earlier that morning I received a knock at my door and a mail man (on a Sunday) was standing there with a package. I had ordered the ring via this company back east (in N. Carolina) and I didn't expect it until Mon/Tues. Since I had it, I was so excited I spontaneously proposed.

Caiden needed some V-day cards for his pre-school class, so when Alene and I got down to my parents, we headed off to Walmart to pick up some stuff. On the way back, I decided to go the LONG way, which meant up a pretty canyon called Hobble Creek Canyon. Since Alene and I both love the outdoors and the beauty it posesses, I decided I'd do it in a setting like that. We drove and talked. I was nervous, even though we both had pretty much decided it was going to happen (get married). I tried to keep the subject on "us" as I drove, just chit-chatting. Out of the blue I pulled off the side of the road and told her to get out of the car because I wanted to hug her. As I held her close, I got really nervous and didn't know what to say. We sat there in each others arms for a long time just talking about each other, just little things. I then told her how much she meant to me and how happy I am with her and I reached in my pocket and pulled out the ring and asked her to be my wife. I didn't get down on a knee because I didn't want to dirty my pants......KIDDING! No, for real though, I just thought it was all too cliche. I figured saying it to her while she was really close to me would work best.

I love that woman to no end. She makes me so happy and I hope to make her just as happy.

So, we're both excited about getting married. It's going to be in May, likely on Friday (the 13th). We decided to do the reception the day before the wedding, so we don't have a ton of pressure to go to a reception after the wedding. We are also going to keep it simple and toned down. Not going to go all-out with extravegant costs and other things associated with weddings. We are renting a nice art Gallery (the Springville Art Gallery). We're likely just going to be dressed up nice; not in the traditional wedding attire (you know, fancy tux, big poofy wedding dress, etc.) and we are just going to mingle with friends and family to celebrate the moment. Not sure what we are going to do for a honeymoon, but it won't be long because Alene starts school on the following week. We will likely save up our money and go on a nice get-away in the fall.

I'm excited.

Anyway, I've FINALLY finished that re-model I've been doing. It's been a lot more work than I figured. I put a lot of hours into it and I've fallen behind in my school work. It's been tough, but worth it. I did a lot of things I've never done before. I've never hung cabinets, intstalled a counter top, hung a microwave, or installed a tile back-splash (although I've done lots of floor and tub/shower tile, so it wasn't THAT hard). The hard part about the back-splash AND the counter-top was that the wall wasn't very plumb, so I had to kind of "shim" out the backerboard in some places so it looked like the tile was flat all the way across. It turned out much better than I figured it would. I still have a few small things to take care of (a few pieces of base boards, some filler board, and a 9" toe-kick).

I feel so bad for Caiden though because I've made him tag-along with me on all these jobs. I'm going to try to arrange to have Caiden's cousins come up this Friday or the next and stay the night. He really needs some quality time with kids his age. Poor guy would ask me over and over if we could just go home. I was so stressed working there, that I'd often snap at him and tell him he needed to go play. I'd then feel bad and give him a big hug.

I've never really "listened" to Pink Floyd in the past. I've seen "The Wall" and had the album, but I've never really got hooked on it. Lately I've been looking for something new to listen to. I've plugged that CD into my ipod play list and I've been hooked. I love the sound. They were so different from everything else that was out at that time. They remind me of the modern-day Modest Mouse.

Speaking of, I'm stoked. Russ, Alene and I are going to the Modest Mouse concert this Friday. I've always wanted to see them play their guitars in that funky style. As long as they do "Teeth like God's shoe shine" (which I doubt) I'll be happy. I really don't care for their new album THAT much (it's good, but not as good as The Moon and Antartica) so I'm sure they will play most of the songs from it. Oh well.

I've got to get back to work. I had to create 15 new badge profiles in our security system today. That took up most of my morning. I've got TONS more to do though.