A Beautiful Weekend!
Sometimes a twitter tweet just isn’t enough! But if you like, you can now follow me at http://twitter.com/ahhmooz.
I have to say: although I am allergic to every grain of pollen lying on our cars and the streets, it’s BEAUTIFUL outside. A bit hot, but just a short time at the Salisbury Festival (armed with my Zyrtec pumping through my blood) was so refreshing! Meg and I got on the “round-up” spinny ride. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_up) It definitely gave me the burst of energy I was craving yesterday!
Yesterday I met with our church organist, Karen. We picked out some very classic music for our church ceremony. In the evening I went to Chili’s with Billy, Katie, and Jason. Ate Maryland crab quesadilla. Was so enjoyable. After that went to Market Street and hung out on the deck overlooking the Wicomico river. A heat storm blew in while we were sitting on the deck. Interesting to watch!
Here’s to weekends with friends and great weather.
Earplugs
So, taking the advice of my mother, I bought earplugs. They are great. I slept like a baby last night, and I even woke up 1 minute before my alarm was scheduled to go off. Problem is, I still don’t know if I will HEAR my alarm if I don’t wake up before hand in the future…
Tonight I am going to put the blackberry on Loud+Vibrate and put it right in my bed. I don’t think this is going to work when we get married. Haha
Caturday
Woohoo- we finally got to spend an entire 5 hours together today! Trapper’s work schedule has been something of a challenge lately. Today we sat around together in Salisbury for a bit and then opted for Backstreet Grill’s make-your-own-sandwich lunch, and picked up our wedding rings from the jeweler. Trapper likes his ring so much he took it to work this afternoon to show it off.
I practiced my violin for something like 5 hours this week (Pretty good for not playing in 7 years really)! Susan and I play well together according to her husband, who was listening to us practice duets and baroque melodies. That was really fun. I brought home some Pleyel sheet music to look over. I’m so happy… we seem to be playing at a really similar level, which is cool because we can trade music. And it’s so nice to have a friend to bring back all the little things I forgot about violin-playing.
Kinda unrelated, but I keep having these little fantasies about living on an expansive farm away from the city and raising my own food… like today i was sitting in the Civic waiting for Trapper and I thought to myself how nice it would be to own a field so big that I could get lost wandering in it and take a nap in the warm sun all by myself. Without my Blackberry of course. Does anyone else ever feel like this? I guess it’s just a jerk reaction to my metropolitan way of life. I would gladly throw my Blackberry to the wind if I thought I could ever really make money and a life from a farm. I was also eating an apple here while blogging and thinking about the hint of pesticide taste. But i’ll eat some pesticide crow as my punishment for choosing a corporate desk-job to fulfill my financial needs 
I got my Delaware car taggings and license this week. The only bad thing is 3 small holes in the front of my car where my 2nd Maryland tag used to be, but it makes me laugh (I ran it through the car wash to get 5 years of stuck-on soot gone!)
Tomorrow we do the engagement photo shoot at the zoo. The forecast is 68, sunny, and sweet. I can’t wait.
more than 2 months of catch-up!
In the midst of our wedding-planning, I forgot I have a blog. Anyway, spring has sprung and so have lots of projects!
Yesterday I planted watermelon with T’s family & some friends of theirs. We went up to Susan & Eddie’s barn and rocked out to some country music and planted something like 250 trays of different varieties. I don’t know how many pallets that was, but it was a lot. I also got a ring off my right hand that had been stuck for a few days (and swollen) with tractor engine grease. Go figure.
Wedding-wise, we have finished a 3-day project of registering for all sorts of fun stuff. I got a real sense for Trapper’s fun decorative taste, which I love! We also ordered a really awesome fondant cake, via Ace of Cakes style, from a local pasty chef. (Thanks mom & dad!) The next projects will be hand-made table centerpieces (which will probably involve some green-thumbing by me and Jenny) and Trapper and I will be creating play-lists for the reception.
In a few weeks I’d like to plant the yard at our new place. I want to spruce up the front yard with some shrubs as a background and then some flower and herb beds out front. The backyard will probably get a vegetable garden. But first, the important stuff: need the landlord to bring some topsoil.
So between finishing taxes, registering my car in another state, holding on to my furlough-happy job, and planting things… we are having a fabulous time planning the wedding! And on Wednesday, I’m going to play violin with someone from work and see how we play together. She is looking for a partner to do wedding music, so I may wind up having a side job for a local wedding coordinator if we like playing together.
Happy Spring 
)
Winter ’09
Well, the company has enacted a furlough. While other employees go home and tell their husbands and wives they’ve been furloughed, I visited my fiance and said “I just got fired for a week out of this quarter. We’ll see if that’s the end of it or not.” Being that there were already 4 staff reductions in the last 15 months, it may not be the end. While my resume is already updated and complete, it may be wise to physically get it out to a few jobs.
On the fun side, I got to have lunch with Mom & Dad in Glen Burnie yesterday and then shop for bride-y things. Mom brought me tulips and homemade cookies )
I was tired this morning but I did make it to the early service at Laurel Wesleyan with Trapper.
thank you Mom!
The pictures from the Zoo & Aquarium are up! http://picasaweb.google.com/ahhmooz
Atlanta GA/Easley SC
Trapper and I returned yesterday from a fabulous trip to the south. We stayed over New Year’s in Atlanta with Jenny and Dave and visited the world-class Georgia Aquarium, which houses the largest aquatic display in the world: a 6,300,000 gallon fish tank that is home to 4 whale sharks and 40 species of fish, totaling 40,000 residents.
the 63-foot window to the Ocean Voyager exhibit
Then on the following day (New Year’s Day) we explored the Atlanta Zoo, which houses giant pandas from China, African elephants, a black rhinoceros, giraffes, lions, gorillas, orangutans… and even farm goats.
a red panda, distant cousin to the giant panda
The last stop in Atlanta was to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. We spent hours there touring huge dioramas and preserved stuff. The best part was the lunch, thanks to the live pianist and the better-than-average sandwiches. The butterflies from Brazil and Panama were my favorite exhibit. They reminded me of when I hatched my own monarch back at Stone Road.
Brazilian beauty
We left Atlanta on Saturday and drove to Easley, South Carolina. We met up with Trapper’s grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for several days of family time. We made lots of food, played lots of games, and I got to tour everyone’s beautiful homes. Tuesday we drove around the Clemson campus; his Aunt Bobbi Jo’s Alma Mater. It was so nice seeing everyone again and relaxing away from work.
When I can get Picasa to cooperate (or when I download a replacement) I will post all the pictures. Hope everyone is having a great start to 2009!
Christmas
Went to Laurel DE for a quick visit to Trapper’s parents and brother, and then up to Fallston MD to see my Aunt & Uncle and family. Had a good day, but we were full & tired when we got back to the Shore. Mom & Dad fixed up my violin for me as a gift: it has new bow hair, new strings & a new bridge. It sounds wonderful; I played a few rusty Christmas carols for the family but I think that without any regular practice for several years I was a.o.k. Nobody jumped out of their seat holding their ears 
a bunch of random!
Cool week so far. I got a raise and Trapper asked me if we could spend the rest of our lives together. It’s no secret I’ve been wanting to quit, but this raise helps until I can get some priorities straightened out. We need to plan wedding stuff now, and I’d LOVE to quit my second job (it’s causing black circles under my eyes & I think I am spending more than I am making just from being in the store all the time!) I also signed up for a new checking account and I’ll get a $75 bonus from my first direct deposit. Tonight I am thanking God for answering my prayers about finances and job stress. I am also so grateful to have a Mom who is excited for our engagement and wants to help plan our wedding! I love you Mom!
The Christmas List
I have a document on my computer desktop titled “Christmas,” which is a list of gift ideas I want to do for family and friends this year. (yes, want to do… I am not even started!! aaah!)
Well I guess this caught Trapper’s attention… because last time he was here visiting, he must have opened it up and added a line for himself (and I paste directly), because this new stuff showed up today: “Trapper-new car/ tv/ house/ dog/ hottub/good night kisses every night “
I am very much looking forward to these kisses.
exciting events ensue
Enough alliteration. Trapper and I are engaged! Tonight he took me to the park where the Christmas lights are currently on display. We walked around for a bit and then sat down by the fountain. We were commenting on one of the light displays which looks like the front of a Victorian building, and we Googled it on his phone to see if it was a symbol for some historic Salisbury building. We couldn’t find anything. I handed Trapper the phone to show me something and he was all shaky. I was kinda wondering what was up. After a while I turned the phone off and he hugged me and kissed me lots, and told me he loves me. I tried taking photos of the lights but they all turned out blurry because I was getting lots of nice big hugs. We talked a bit more about how my day was, and how his day was, and then he sighed a little nervously and said “okay…” and he got down on one knee and asked “Will you marry me?” And I said yes!
It was such a perfect night, too, it was very warm out and there were lots of people milling around with their families, and some horse drawn carts were jingling by every few minutes. Very Christmassy. Needless to say, I am extremely excited and I can’t wait! Not only do I get to spend the rest of my life with my Trapper, but it gives us a great excuse to see our awesome families and friends in one place!
