Totally exhausted...

So I keep thinking about things I want to write about and keep not writing them!

So here's some thoughts:
1. letter writing: I want to do this more and I am going to do it! So you might be the next lucky one chosen to get a letter in the post!
2. I'm enjoying being all "home maker" and practicing for when I'm a wife (in 171 days!) so I baked a pie AND pumpkin bread yesterday...in between moping the floors and doing other household chores!
3. I'm definitely ready to marrying my Mk and not have to say good bye to each other!
4. I'm so thankful for a job! AND i got some great news the other day with an exciting opportunity! (I'll share soon!)
5. I'M GOING TO SLEEP! I shared what I needed to for now!
Some new pictures tomorrow!

Good day!

Today was a good day! We went to church, had lunch with the fam, dealt with my funny mood, and then had a WONDERFUL evening enjoying meeting new people and spending time with 2 great couples in the evening! We got to go to a great craft fair and visit http://www.ohhellofriendblog.com/ were we had great conversation AND got some unique things for our bridesmaids (I don't want to put what cause some of my bridesmaids read this!) Funny thing is, we didn't make it to any of the other booths :) I'm so excited too cause I got a beautiful pocketwatch necklace that has a little Eiffel tower and is amazing! I think I'll want to wear it almost every day :) Well I'm sleepy but wanted to share this great day!

Shutterfly!

I have loved this online photoshop for years! I have such a love for photography and pretty much any thing to do with pictures! I love that there's so many choices and ways that you can use your photo's,whether it's to share with friends and family, make a special gift for some one or to just enjoy myself! This is definitely a site for everyone! Some of my favorite things to use are:
The photobooks:
http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books
And I also love their cards:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards
I'm so looking forward to using these once i'm a married women! (only 186 days to go!) and plan on using this to send out my "save-the-date" Thanks shutterfly for such awesome products! I love that this is something you really can recommend to friends without hesitation because you KNOW that what you're getting really is worth it! This is one site that I go back to over and over again. Not only because I enjoy it for myself but I love using it for gifts too. My soon to be new home will already have it's own collection started of shutterfly products and I intend to continue using it for years to come!

mind over matter...

So I'm learning so much how to prioritize your time and get things done! I've always had this huge pressure on myself to not "waste" days, so I always seem to have a "to do" list going, sometimes that makes me miss things but I feel good when I accomplish stuff! I've gone back to the gym and can't believe how much that helps me and makes me feel so much better about myself! I got to try on my dress last week and get my alterations sorted, now it's just waiting to officially get it back! I'm excited to see the added touches and super excited about the bustle and what that will add! I feel more and more excited about my wedding and finally feel like the stress of it is subsiding a little. So thank goodness for that cause I REALLY want to enjoy this time! Those are my little updates! Oh and also, I love this time of year...but I do miss the autumn in England....
From England:

 Here at home...a little different! :)

Thankfulness...

So if I'm honest, I've been struggling a bit with being thankful for all those "little" things in life because I seem to be consumed with really BIG things at the moment...so I'm gonna remind myself!
1. for someone who loves me very much
2. that I have a part time job that I actually enjoy
3. feeling the sun on my face
4. creativity that surrounds me if I just take the time to look
5. a family that really does love me (with all the ups and downs)
6. that God answers prayers even if I don't take the time to notice them
7. food...I like it a lot!
8. making babies giggle
9. water...I'm thankful it's at my finger tips!
10. my computer that allows me to communicate with lots of people!

Ok so I think that's a good start, right?

My engagement story!

Beautiful, amazing, wonderful! August 31, 2010 approx. 11pm, the night I said ‘yes’ to the man of my dreams!

The day started with Mk feeling quite sick because he came off sick from ‘space mountain’ at Disneyland Paris…he pushed through and we headed off to the Eiffel tower! Of course up to now everything we’ve done and every where we’ve gone on the trip I was a nervous wreak just waiting for the proposal to happen (side note; I found the ring the day after he arrived in England but I was good and didn’t look at it but knew that he was carrying it around!) And every girl before hand was telling me “he’s going to propose under the Eiffel tower!” so when we spent the couple of hours there and he didn’t, I was actually a little ok with that (I didn’t want the cliché romantic…) so I really wanted some pictures of us in front of the tower but he kept saying, “oh we can come back later” but I convinced him to take some, so we headed off down a very long bridge across the street from the tower….lots of bumps in the road J I was getting hungry and we were both tired so I didn’t have very much patience while Mk set up the tri-pod. We had a bit of a tiff and decided to work through it. Michael decided to tell me he had a surprise for me that night… A DINNER CRUISE!

We explored Paris a bit more (Notre dame) had a fun picnic with cheese, bread, and juice. We also had a stop at the post office to mail some postcards and good thing too cause they helped us figure out where to go for the cruise!

When we arrive, I totally thought this was the night but of course was not sure. We had the BEST table on the boat! We enjoyed the night so much. The food was excellent but what was weird for me; Michael seemed “normal” the whole night so I was starting to think maybe it wasn’t “the” night…BUT, then we went up to the roof to enjoy the view before the cruise was over. He asked if we should take a picture and I said sure; so he asked a girl to take them (and little did I know, that he told her to keep shooting cause he’s gonna propose) So Michael walked over to me and said “ one more thing, I love you, Rebecca Rosemary Jones, Will you marry me?!” and then he got down on one knee, but didn’t get to really enjoy that as I fell down with him instantly! I couldn’t stop saying Yes and oh my gosh, I was totally out of breathe because I was kind of shocked! “Did he really just say I love you AND propose to me?!” He did, on a boat, in Paris! We were so incredibly happy and excited! People clapped around us and the girl that took our picture was so excited! I got to call mum and Robyn for like 5 mins and then used all my credit up…but at least we got to share a little bit!

We went inside so I could finally get a good look at my ring and man, am I impressed! It was such a strange and wonderful feeling knowing that I went upstairs a girlfriend and came down a fiancée! We couldn’t believe it just happen to us really!

We left the boat and just made the last train back to our hotel…we had to make a change and some how got a train that wasn’t even suppose to be there! We thanked God for that definitely!

Well, we got to our hotel thinking we’d be able to book a taxis for the morning (cause we had to be at the airport at 5am!) apparently that is “Impossible!” (spoken in a French accent) we were shocked….how can this be? Well, you’re suppose to book a taxis 24hrs in advance (we had learned earlier in the day that the trains didn’t run early enough for us but didn’t think it would be a problem to book a taxis later) um so I started to get a little tense with the guy (by this time it’s about 1:30am!) as we asked what we could do and he didn’t suggest anything. Michael thanked him for his “help” and then took us to our room where we started to try and figure out what we could do. We prayed and asked God to please work in this some how because we were lost and didn’t know what to do! After checking to see if we could change our flights and knowing this would be too expensive and looking for some more options…Michael decided….we would WALK to the airport! Yup, that’s right, walk. So at 2:30 am we set off to walk the 18miles to the airport. We thought to get print a map but didn’t think about changing it to English! We got to our metro stop and then with in 20 minutes were lost! So we headed back to our hotel but we got stopped by the police. After explaining to them what we were doing (and them telling us we were in a very dangerous area!) they got out of their car and told us to put our stuff in the trunk and get it! I had to sit on Michael’s lap and we were squashed in the back seat with 2 other policemen! They shot off and at every red light flashed their lights so it would change and we’d go through. They stopped at the bus station (no buses) and dropped off 2 of the cops. They just kept telling us they were taking us to the police station. Well before we knew it we were speeding down the freeway with flashing lights and siren, everyone getting out of our way (pulling over a taxi!) and we were at the airport. We just sat and couldn’t believe what just happen to us! We arrived in Rome, took a nap, woke up feeling terrible but made it to the city and saw a few sites, ended up at a wonderful café, met a couple from America who ended up also being believers. They prayed for us and paid for our meal! That was definitely a blessing after the 48 hrs we had. So, that’s our story and we feel blessed that it’s ours. I love you Michael David Kridner!

so...

TOUGH...WEEK...

Trying to stay organized!

I'm in one of those times in my life that I feel like a million things are going through my head but I don't always know where to start or what to do first! 

Not only do I have the great joy of planning my wedding, I need a car, I need to figure out a better job, I need to prepare to be a wife, I need to learn to honor my future husband more, I need to learn to be more of an encouragement to those around me, I feel a need to meet new people, AND, I need to learn what God wants me to be doing....that's just part of whats going on in my head....

Most of the time I like the challenge of new things and new potential but right now I feel a bit on over drive! My good friend described my life perfectly to me the other day and it actually brought great encouragement to me! She said: " all the pieces of your life right now have been thrown up in the air, scattered, and are slowly settling, (think of a leaf as it floats down from a tree branch) they are coming together, learning where they fit again, and it will take time. Don't worry, you have time!" Thanks Marissa! That honestly encouraged me so much because I'm mostly surrounded by, "what are you doing now?" What do you want to be doing? Etc. So to have a good friend say, "you have time" brought encouragement and joy to my heart!

So now I need to try and slow down...enjoy...and be thankful that I have options! Plus, I get to be a wife to the most amazing man ever!

Who knew?!

So I'm now an engaged women! It's been awesome, weird, tiring, and fun. He's the best guy a girl could ask for; tall, handsome, kinds, generous, a man of God, and basically the perfect fit for me! To top it off he proposed in Paris (yes France, not Paris, CA) on a boat, on the river Seine, while the Eiffel tower was lite up! I know, right?! I have a great one. To top it off he did an exceptional job on my ring too!

Now it's the joyous time of planning our wedding! I'm so excited and thankful that I get to plan a wedding (what girl doesn't dream of this?!) but there's already things that have come up that prove to make planning not as "fun" as you would think. But, I'm determined to keep on smiling and being thankful that I get to plan a wedding! Thank you Lord for this. I pray that everything works in the perfect timing!

I found the most amazing place to have our wedding! It's gorgeous. I love it and it's so us!

We had an amazing time traveling Europe! 6 countries in 2 weeks; England, Scotland, France, Italy, Germany, Holland, Thank you again Lord for a very blessed time!

Now, back to wedding planning, as my amazing Fiance' works diligently next to me.

Love/hate relationship

Since I was young, I've had a love/hate relationship with fridays....I always had this overwhelming feeling that "everyone" was out on a date or having fun or doing something better than me! Call me a hopeless dreamer but I guess it comes from all those cheesy chick flicks or random sitcoms....but that's just what I've always thought!

Well, on this particular friday I have no such dread of the evening....I have plans, but not any thing close to what I've described above. I'm going to pack! Yep, that's right, pack. Pack up things that have stuck close to me these last 4 years. Pack in eager expectation of my love arriving. Pack with a sense of an ending upon me.

Today I closed a chapter in my life. It was my last official working day and it's now time to prepare for leaving. It's mixed feelings; sad to end, sad to say goodbye, happy to be reunited with ones (and one in particular) that I love, happy to move forward in life and see what's next.

So, I'm going to embrace this friday night and...PACK!

still a little shy....

I'm feeling anxious! I have a lot to do (yeah, why am I blogging?!) but I'm feeling ready!  I love reading your blog Robyn...it does my heart good and makes me want to rejoice too :) I love that you are able to rejoice in the gifts God has given you! 

The days are fast approaching that I will once again be reunited with my love! Thank you God for the most amazing man I've ever met and that he will some day soon be my husband!

I'm ready to start on the adventures of our travels (passport stamps here I come!) and ready to see my family and friends again...I'm not ready to leave England and say goodbye to some very special people in my life....but God's timing is perfect and I trust that (most of the time...)

Well, I needed a break from packing but back at it! (and I wish that stupid dog would stop barking!)

Me.

Call me a copy cat!

so, I'm following in my older sister's footsteps like I have most of my life, although I have chosen my own path much of the time, I think I dabbled in her steps at least a bit. Reading her new blog and knowing how I do love to look at others and feel a creative flow start in me, I thought this might be a time in my life to start such a thing....

It's a new chapter...it's scary, it's unknown, it's beautiful, amazing, intriguing, new...

I know a huge desire in my life is being fulfilled, I get to soon be in the same country again as my best friend and the one I plan to spend the rest of my life with. I get to once again be apart of my family's lives and get tired of them :) I'm leaving a country and a place that I've loved, served, and learned in. It's not familiar, it's still home (in cali) but it feels new all the same. Being away these last 4 years has made me realize just how much I love Cali and that I'm truly blessed to have grown up there. So, I'm embarking in this new chapter. I've had the amazing opportunity to be a missionary for these last few years but I'm now searching, seeking, and looking for the next stage in this chapter...