A Proposal is Blogworthy

So, Trent and I are engaged. This is MY version and thought processes of the events that led up to our engagement. I'll let him tell you the real "behind the scenes" story of what really took place without me knowing. Let me crack my knuckles and begin typing out the events that led up to the best night of my life. (I hope you are sitting comfortably and don't have anywhere to be for awhile)

It all started Friday night. Trent and I decided to do one of our greatest "Trent and Abby" things to do: drive around to anywhere and everywhere in his truck. It's a special treat for us to take his truck because we get to sit up higher (as opposed to his Saturn) so we can enjoy the scenery and each other's company. We started in Nappanee, headed to Elkhart, went through Mishawaka, and ended up at his house. (I thought) he felt bad about us not going out to eat or anything on a Friday night so he said, "Hey, why don't we just go out to eat Sunday night, since you don't have to work." That sounded good to me, a nice little date with my boyfriend on a Sunday night. I thought we would go to Logan's or something and didn't really think much more about it. Until Sunday morning...

I woke up at 9am to get a major load of spanish homework done for the week. I knew I would have a lot of time because Trent told me on Saturday that him and his dad and brother were going golfing at around noon and were playing 18 holes. This meant that it would take them about 4 hours to finish golfing. I was glad, it gave me time to finish my spanish homework. As I sat in my pajamas at the dining room table with sheets of spanish words spread out around me, I received a phone call from Trent at about 11:30am. He called to say that they were headed out to the golf course and mentioned something about our dinner date. He suggested that we went to a place in Syracuse called The Frog, "a nice italian restaurant" he said. He said he heard Mary and Jerry (a couple from our church who live on Lake Wawasee) talking about it and it sounded nice. I said, "aw man, a nice restaurant? That means I actually have to take a shower and not just wear my hair in a ponytail." He laughed and said, "Nope, you gotta shower." I agreed, he said he had to go, and we said our goodbyes.

After the conversation, I was very curious why we were going to a nice restaurant on a random Sunday night, something not typical at all for us. Then my thoughts and heart began to race. Could this be the night?! Is he taking me to a nice restaurant on the lake to propose to me?! I couldn't contain my excitement and texted my mom with "Trent's taking me to a nice restaurant in syracuse. this could be the night!" she texted back with, "let's hope so!" haha! Then, about a half hour later, my sister came home and when she walked in the door I said, "Well, I might be getting engaged tonight." haha! Then I proceeded to tell her what Trent told me on the phone.

The whole afternoon I debated with myself about what was going to happen that night. Were we or weren't we?? Ben called me at about 4pm and said he was home from Purdue and was coming over to return my car to me. I thought, "he's back kinda early", but it was a momentary passing thought and didn't think more of it. He came over and I was hesitant to tell him about Trent and I going out to dinner. I didn't want to lead on that I suspected something because I already knew Ben knew what Trent was planning. I didn't say a word and Ben left.

Trent got done golfing and picked me up at about 5:45pm. On the way to the lake, I noticed that Trent was awfully chatty. His mouth was running a mile a minute! But, sometimes that happens to him when we've haven't spent much time together. So, I didn't think too much of it except in the back of my mind thinking, "he might be nervous about tonight." I tried so hard not to get my hopes up because I would've been a little upset if it didn't happen that night. So I tried to remain calm and just think of it as a date night.

We got to Syracuse and I saw the parking lot to the restaurant. However, we drove past it and he turned down one of the lake roads. He said, "Oh crap, I took a wrong turn, I need to turn around in someone's driveway." So he pulled up to someone's driveway and said with an enormous grin, "Hey! This is Mary and Jerry's house!" As I was saying, "Trent, hurry up and turn around so these people don't see us in their driveway," he parked the truck and proceeded to open the door to get out. This was the moment that solidified my suspicions: we are definetely getting engaged tonight.

I was in shock and slowing got out of the truck, absolutely dumbfounded. I'm pretty sure I looked totally stunned when Mary greeted us at her door with a "Hey! I didn't expect to see you two here!" I smiled like a confused fool as we walked through their house to see Jerry sitting on the back porch. Jerry greeted us and Trent asked with a huge smile, "Hey do you think we could borrow your boat for the night?" Jerry replied, "Sure go ahead!" Then Trent led me to their pontoon, I sat down, still in shock and very confused. I noticed a table set up on the boat but didn't think anything of it because Mary said, "Sorry about the table, it's still there from boat church this morning." Trent steered the boat out of the channel and we were off.

As we were speeding down the lake, so many thoughts were running through my mind. Where are we going? Is he taking me to a restaurant by the lake? But why would we need to drive a boat to get there? I turned around to my smiling-like-a-fool boyfriend and simply said "Trickery!" We arrived at our destination between two docks and we plopped down the anchors. Once again, I was confused. Are we getting off the boat and eating in that gazebo over there? Is that amazing house over there a restaurant? Are we eating at all cuz I'm starving! Oh geez, we better get to eat. So I asked, "Are we eating?" about 5 times and Trent finally said that we were. We sat around on the anchored pontoon for a few minutes and watched boats drive by. I asked with a curious grin, "So, are we waiting on something?" He smiled back and lied, "I don't know." It started to get hot so I rolled up my pants, sat down on the side of the boat, and stuck my feet in the water. Trent thought it was a good idea so he sat down next to me and he took some pictures of our feet in the water. Not long after Trent suddenly stood up and said, "Hey, who's on that speed boat over there?"

I hesitated because I knew another surprise was on the way but eventually stood up to see Jerry driving the speed boat with Ben and Todd surprisingly on there as well. They were dressed up particularly well in black pants, white dress shirts, and black ties. I flashed a huge smile, I knew they had the food. Again, the moment Ben and Todd stepped onto our boat and Jerry drove away, I knew we were going to be eating dinner on our boat and Ben and Todd were our servers. However, I still didn't know when the questions was going to be asked.

It didn't take long because as Todd was setting the table and pouring the white grape juice, Trent layed down a linen napkin before me that was embroidered with pink lettering that said, "Abby Miller, will you marry me?" The ring was tied to a pink ribbon sewn onto the napkin. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes of course and the tears started to swell in my eyes. I was shocked at how emotional I got because I had been expecting him to propose ever since we picked out the ring a week after school ended. So, I said yes, we kissed and hugged, Ben took TONS of pictures, and we finally got to eat! It was absolutely perfect. I had no idea Trent would be so creative and propose to me on a boat! I thought for sure that he would propose on the 4th of July, but was wrong, and glad I was wrong!

Trent did such an amazing job but I know (from the conversation on the ride home) that he had a lot of help. His mom and dad made the food and helped him plan the engagement, hide the ring, and keep things under wraps. Ben and Todd did their parts making sure every detail was carried out as Trent had planned and keeping me out of "the know." And Phyllis was delighted to do her part and embroidered the napkins for Trent. Thank you all so much for making this truly the best night of my life. It was PERFECT. I love you all!

Well, time to go, we've got a wedding to plan!

Abby

Just......Vile.

As you probably have already noticed, I have really been slacking on the blogging. But really, nothing much is going on other than school, work, and church. And everybody (I think) who reads my blog already sees me regularly so they already know what's going on, therefore, why write it down?!

However, I cannot live my life any longer without telling you about the horrific thing that happened to me today. This morning, around 8:00am, I sat down in the computer lab at school for my 8:30 stats class, second row, second computer in. I was the first one there so I logged on to the computer and checked my email and facebook. A few other students walked in and took their seats at their computers. Then, around 8:15, this tall, large, unattractive, middle-aged guy walks in from the front of the room and sat his stuff down at the first computer in the first row, caddy-corner to me. I knew he was not in our class because I had never seen him in there before and he looked...confused. Still, out of the corner of my eye I saw him sit down, log on, and proceed to print some stuff. I was minding my own business and ignoring the man when suddenly (and regretfully) I looked over at him and saw what could only be described as "gag-reflex-inducing". The man's pants were so far down his butt, I swear, half of it was exposed for the entire class to witness! I mean, come on, how could he not have felt a draft?! It was huge, white, and hairy and the crack was sooooooo wide and deep! Definetely NOT what I wanted to see at 8 in the morning! I was disgusted and I'm pretty sure my face showed it. I got this lump in my throat that made me want to gag. It was so nasty, it made me shiver. Thank goodness he finally found out that we had a class in there and he wasn't supposed to be in there after 8:30, and left. Still, that haunting image of the biggest, hairiest, deepest butt crack I've ever seen in my entire life will be with me til the day I die. UUUUGGGGHHHHH!!! *shivers*

So how was your day?? :)

Abs

Busy with Breakouts

Do you ever get so stressed out that at any given moment you feel like you want to curl up in the fetal posistion and just stay there for a few hours? Yep, I'm there. School.... school... and more school. Scheduling for my last year of school has been more stressful that I thought. I've been trying to get with my advisor for a week and but he's never available or he doesn't email me back. I enrolled in one summer class and trying to get into another summer class but I need to meet with the professor and get his position. He hasn't emailed me back either. Also, homework is piling up! Papers, projects, reading, assignments, more papers... gggaaaaahhhh! So much homework and not enough time to do it! Between classes, work, and church... i-yi-yi!

Then, my fafsa got rejected because I didn't provide parental information (cuz I live on my own now), well apparently the financial aid office didn't think I was supposed to be "independent." So now I either have to prove that I am independent or provide them with my dad's info. Thank goodness I have a wonderful mother who took care of this for me! *hopefully* it will be taken care of for good in a few days.

My schedule seems so crazy lately.
It starts on Tuesday. I have class from 8:30am-6:45pm and Trent and I don't get home til about 8pm. I have just enough time to eat and catch American Idol.
Wednesday I usually work from 7-1 then I go to my mom's from about 5-8:30ish. Not much homework gets done on wed.
Thursday is pretty much identical to tuesday.
Friday I usually work from 6:30-1. Friday night is pretty much the night to just take a breather from the week and prepare myself for the weekend.
Saturday is my busiest day. I typically work from either 7-2 or 10-4. Since we have to be at the church at 3:30, it's a mad rush to get there. We usually get back from church around 8. By then I am exhausted and ready for bed at like 9.
Sunday I work 10-4. Then at night I finally get some time for homework so I do that pretty much all night.
Monday is the best b/c I get to sleep in and catch up on homework. So Monday is pretty much my laundry/homework day.

Sorry for the negativity. I know other people's lives are probably way more busier than mine, but geesh. All I can say is thank goodness summer is only about 5 weeks away and it's starting to warm up. I wish I could write more, but what do you know, I have to get ready for my Psi Chi induction ceremony tonight at 6. Just one more thing to check off the list... *sigh*

Abby

I'm 22!

*gasp* 22. wow. I am NOT this old yet. I'm boycotting my birthday this year. I'll just turn 21 again, that'd be fine with me.

Pictures are here!

Abs

Dough Therapy

I always think about the deepest things when I'm work, usually when I'm making dough. Something about the no-thought-required part of making dough allows my mind to wander all over the place. I listen to the radio and the u93 morning guys crack me up. They're always asking people to call in about a weird phobia they have, or if anything lucky happened to them on their birthday, or their reaction to a woman who was caught breast feeding her baby while driving and talking on the cell phone all at once. Good discussions like that.

In between laughing at the radio when I'm by myself, I usually think about my future. About where I'm going to be in the next few years and who I'll be around. Like I've said before, next year is my last year of college (I hope) and I'll be going solo, without Trent. In my previous posts I've talked about how I'll probably feel lonely and sad. About how I'll miss hanging out with Trent and having someone to talk to. Basically, I talked about how crappy/lonely it's going to be.

However, yesterday when I was at work, I had another one of those dough-making epiphanies. Maybe I won't be sad. Maybe I'll actually talk to my classmates and make friends for once. Maybe I won't have to rely on Trent so much. I'm gonna have to drive by myself and learn how to drive in the crappy weather. I'll actually have to be independent for a change! Not that I'm totally dependent right now, I pay my own rent and my own tuition. But just the sheer fact of being alone is independence for me. I have plenty of people around me who take care of me on a daily basis. I guess what I'm trying to say is that being by myself up here at IUSB is going to be a growing experience I need in order to kinda become an adult. I'm such a follower so being by myself is gonna force me to make my own decisions and become more independent.

I think it'll be good for me and Trent's relationship too. I think it'll be good for us to spend a little bit of time apart. We've been together almost daily for over 5 years now and it's always been "Trent and Abby," like we're just one entity. Well, hopefully after next year it'll be "Trent" and "Abby." You get me? lol We've meshed together so much over the years that we're kinda losing our orignal selves and becoming the same person. I just think that by spending a little bit of time apart will help us get back to "Trent" and "Abby" and we'll be better as a couple, kinda rediscover each other. It'll be fun! :)

I feel very optimistic about the coming year. It might be hard and lonely at first, but it'll only better me in the long run.

Abby

p.s.- Based on my previous grades, I have been given the opportunity to become a lifetime member of Psi Chi, a national honor society for psychology students. Yay!

New Look

Ta-da! My blog now has a new look to represent spring. However, upon Trent's discovery, what you're seeing as my new colors may not be what I'm seeing :( What I see is a pretty olive green as the background, and you might be seeing a greyish green--not what I wanted! I picked out the colors on Trent's home computer and they showed up different on his laptop. Then we looked at it on my laptop... another color. Oh well, Trent likes it and I'm tired of messing around with colors, so it's gonna stay like this. Now, the new blog banner has a different story.

I've been working on this thing for 3 days! (with Trent's help of course) And I'm still not 100% satisfied with the final product. I think I need to refine my photoshop skills to get what I really want. All I wanted was a picture frame that had some pictures in it sitting on top of a picnic table overlooking a scene. Is that so hard?? Obviously it is cuz it took me 3 days to finish it. Oh well, I wanted something spring-like and I think I got it. Lemme know what ya think.

Abby

V-Day Recap

"I hate Valentine's Day" is what I've been saying for years, even though I have a boyfriend. Trent and I usually boycott Valentine's Day because we just view it as a made up holiday. I hate how it makes single people feel like crap. I refuse to buy a card or chocolates because I do not want to support these companies. Call me a sourpuss, but that's just my opinion. Just because we don't make a huge deal about Valentine's Day doesn't mean I won't do a little something special for my love.

This year, I made *surprise*cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes with red sprinkles. That's it. And Trent gave me Dove chocolates with caramel, my favorite. Trent has been asking me for about a week "Are we doing anything for Valentine's Day?" I finally broke down and told him we could go to Red Lobster only because I have a giftcard from Christmas. So we decided to go to Red Lobster after church. We were hoping it wouldn't be so busy since we wouldn't get there til 8. WRONG. We made our way through the sardine-packed waiting area and waited in line just to put our names in. After about 30 seconds, we both said screw it and left.

We drove to Olive Garden and the situation wasn't any better. This time, we didn't even get out of the car. We drove all around South Bend looking for somewhere to eat. We were starving! By then, I didn't even care where we ate, I just needed some food! hah Even though we were starving and driving around.... we had soooo much fun. I LOVE just driving around with Trent. We were spending time together and having a good time, what more could we have wanted? We just laughed at the situation and ended up at Martin's supermarket. We decided to find something to make at home.

Neither one of us cook... ever. We ended up in the pasta isle and decided to make a fettucini recipe that was on the noodle box. We grabbed some cheesy garlic bread and headed to his house. We got there at about 9:30 and made our dinner together, in our dressy clothes. It was so much fun. We're goofballs anyway so we had a good time. We finally got to eat at about 10:15. By then, we weren't even hungry anymore because we were so tired. Our dinner was so delicious though. We ate the leftovers for lunch today.

So that was our lovely, hectic Valentine's Day. It was a nice day. All I really want for Valentine's Day is just to be with my love. And that's what happened, I was satisfied. Thank you for being you. Lesson learned for next year: make a reservation.

Abby