back again

well the last two weeks definitely went by way to fast. everyone kept telling me that it went by in a blink of an eye, and boy were they right. i really had an absolute blast though. so i’m not going to bore everyone with long details about my entire two weeks, so i’ll give you some fun highlights:

1. I’M ENGAGED! (yes, for real this time)

on september 10th 2005, Steven S. Belford proposed to me on the sandy beach of jacksonville, fl! well, i arrived back from iraq on the morning of september 9th and was way jetlagged when i woke up at 4am on September 10th. well, i woke steve up and asked him if we could go to the beach that morning and watch the sunrise- i thought it would be nice and romantic on my first day back, and since he lives only a mile from the beach, it was easy too. well that was at 4am, by 6am i started to get hungry. well those of you that know me, know that very little can get between me and my stomach. i get hungry – i get food. no stopping. so i quickly changed my mind about going to the beach.

by this time steve had already decided to propose to me that morning instead of at sanibel later that week. i on the other hand, had no idea, and wasn’t even thinking about it when i told steve i didn’t want to go to the beach anymore, and i just wanted to eat. well after a lot of debate steve finally convinced me to go to the beach first to watch the sunrise, and then go eat at waffle house (cause i was seriously craving some). so we drove to the beach, i rolled up my pant legs and we started walking. i was immidealy glad that i went to the beach first, beause i love water, and i haven’t see real beach in ages. so it was great, we just walked up the beach watching surfers, shells, and looking for jellyfish. on the way back a wave came in that i had to run from so i wouldn’t get wet. steve had on shorts so he just stayed where he was. when i came back he was kicking around a shell. i looked down at it, and he told me it was an oyster, and that we should open it. so he took it farther away from the water and started to open it with a little gerber knife that he put on earlier that morning.

meanwhile, i kept asking him – is it okay to be opening a oyster like that, and if we were allowed. he kept telling me it was okay, but not to make a big deal. i felt bad for the oyster. well he finally managed to get it a little open, and i saw some purple cloth, and thought; why is there purple cloth in the oyster? then he opened it all the way, and there was my ring, but if course the first thing that ran through my head was that you found a ring. luckily steve asked me to marry him before i could blurt out ‘you found a ring on the beach!’ haha. i was jetlagged. so steve go me, he surprised me, and he really was very romantic about it. not to mention he kept his promise, and took me to waffle house afterwards!

2. i rode my first jet-ski!

when we finally got to sanibel we decided to go on a two hour tour. well steve and i doubled up and he drove for a good chunk and that was a bunch of fun cause he really knows how to drive a jetski. however he let me take the reigns for a while, and i had a blast! not to mention that i decided to floor it at one point and knocked both steve and i off the sea-doo. it was great.

3. i got to eat at kobe- twice. yummy!!

4. i got to see my family and steve’s family!

5. i went to two sox games, but we lost both of them

6. we did a lot of fun wedding stuff- to include our engagement pictures—coming soon!

7. i did a lot of nothing, and it was fan-freaking-tastic!!!


Just a few more months guys, and I get to come home for good. i can’t wait to see everyone again, and for those of you that i missed, i’m sorry- it was so hard to fit everything in.