22 Hours, 1000 Miles

So, as you probably know, Kacey and I made a fun little trip to New Orleans this week. And by "fun" I mean "necessary." With Kacey's passport having grown legs and deciding to live somewhere other than her apartment, we had no choice but to drive Wednesday night to the Passport Office on Canal St. in the City of Jazz. We left around 10:30pm and got there around 6am. I got us out of Nashville, then Kacey drove for about an hour or so, then I took us the rest of the way in. It worked out that she is engaged to one of the few people she knows with many hours of overnight-driving experience...and that I had scheduled myself off for Wednesday and Thursday, having no idea this would happen!

We got to the building we needed at 7:30am, took about 10-20 minutes for her to fill out her stuff, then walked around the French Quarter for about 4 hours. We learned a few things during this time. One, there isn't much Jazz being played at eight in the morning. Two, we clearly had missed the party (everyone was washing off the Bourbon St. sidewalks). Three, it wasn't our kind of party anyway. And, Four, it was painful walking around...well, for Kacey, because she had broken her little toe on her left foot in the car. (I am STILL rather unsure I totally understand how this happened. She explained it about four times...no clue.)

Kacey did take a lot of pictures, none of which I have at the moment, but there were some cool things. There really isn't a whole lot you can DO that early in the morning, but I think we did like New Orleans and would like to go back. It was kinda nice spending that much time together right before her Saba trip, especially since we wouldn't have seen each other that much. I told her when we left Nashville that we should view it as a mini-vacation, a one-day getaway. Although it was exhausting (I crashed for four hour straight on the way back), it was definitely interesting and something we'll always remember. I can hear it now: "Remember that time we drove to New Orleans and back in 22 hours?"

Dropping her off at Lipscomb to meet her group at 4am Friday morning wasn't fun...it was downright hard. And I don't like knowing that I won't even be able to TALK to her until Easter Sunday night when I pick her up at the airport. Next week will be interesting for me, to say the least. My Xbox died on me, so no video games until I get it fixed (that had been my main planned distraction). My roommate moved out today, so the apartment is a little bare...and that also means he's shutting off the cable Monday or Tuesday, so no TV. And possibly no internet. So, my connections to the world and my distractions will be mostly gone just when I need them most...HAHA. Oh well. At least I'll still have work!!! I'm not off again until next Saturday, so maybe that'll help.


So, if you don't see something from me for the next week, it's because I haven't figured out how to steal internet from other people yet. But Kacey isn't even gonna be here...so, basically my life will be on hold, so nothing to blog about anyway! :o) Geez, I miss her.

Love and Work

So, apparently, I have something to blog about! ;o) Well, first off, I worked 11 hours today, so there may be some typos or things that just flat out don't make sense, so I apologize ahead of time.


So, yes, I did the "get down on a knee" thing. AKA, proposed to the most beautiful woman I know! I, like Kacey, would prefer to tell it in person or on the phone, but I'll put at least some things in here. Although, the only people who read this blog already know all the details, I'm pretty sure.

Anyway, we had a chance to go home this weekend and spend time with our families, which was so much fun! (Especially the whole "I have the cutest niece in the world" part!) We are really blessed to have known each other's families for so long. I mean, Greg was my youth deacon (and dare I say...Stephanie was the youth deaconess!). I've known Kacey and her family since I was 12 when they moved to "Paducah." (I say it like that b/c they live in MARSHALL COUNTY, a fact I like to remind Kacey of when she says words like, "like.") Anyway, I totally just went on a tangent....

Oh yeah, we went home. I told Kacey to "pack something nice" for Saturday night because, as much as we wanted to spend time with our families, I wanted us to have some "us time" too. Of course, she thought that meant PROPOSAL...which it totally did. You see, I WANTED her to know that I was gonna propose. But since she knew a ring was coming, and since we'd already talked "marriage," I had to have some way to keep the element of surprise. So, I decide to go the whole night without proposing, even give her a kiss goodnight and let her go inside. Then I would knock on the door, and be down on one knee, holding a ring, when she opened it. And this worked perfect for me. It meant I didn't have to hide my excitement or nervousness in fear of "giving it away" because I wanted her to expect it like that. So, it worked perfect, in my opinion. I'm sure I could explain it better after some sleep or in person...or both.

I have enjoyed so much telling people at work about getting engaged. It's funny, because almost all of them (mainly the women that work at the hotel) have pointed out my big goofy grin when I tell it. But I'm okay with being that happy. Today, one of the ladies almost started crying, saying it was "beautiful," which sounds good to me. I've never been more proud of anything I've done in my life than choosing (and even impressing at times) such a wonderful woman. The only thing that remotely competes is when I speak of Minnesota. It's kinda the same as Kacey speaking of Saba. But still, I don't think Minnesota or Saba compares with this for us.

As to what Kacey said on her blog... I don't know how exactly I'd explain our history. We definitely had an interest in each other for a LONG time. I never really spoke of it to anyone, not even family, mainly because I knew it couldn't work...well, then. Too much age difference, too much punching, too much distance, not the right timing. But now, God has finally provided us a chance and a time. Now, if she punches me, it's a little different. It's not a little girl who I think is cute, but a young woman who makes me light up when I see her. So, yeah, we haven't dated long. But we knew that if we were ever going to date, we would have to know FOR SURE. It was just one of those situations where we couldn't "just date." She waited until she "knew" and I am SO thankful for that.

To my best friend: Thank You! I am looking forward to the rest of our life, but not taking for granted every minute I have with you.


To everyone else: Thank you for your support, and most of all, prayers. Those also are not taken for granted! May God bless you for asking for His will in our lives!