Our Engagement Photos

We had our engagement photos taken on Sunday... such an absolute blessing to meet our wedding photographer(Dana Muse) before my "special day"!!!

Dana Muse has agreed to be our wedding photographer and we met with her last weekend when she took these engagement photos... SHE WAS AN ABSOLUTE PLEASURE and I'm excited that she'll be our wedding photographer because she was excellent at what she does and a genuine thrill to be around. (Felt like a photographer wasn't even present)

I'M GETTING MARRIED!!

Well hello everyone! I'm not certain who is even following this blog, but I've got some pretty exciting news to share!!😁 On December 27, 2019 Charlie took me on a drive to Pescadero (which is where my former personal trainer Jen had suggested we visit some day). As we were driving along Highway 1 by the coast, at one point he saw a pretty view of the coast just off the highway so he pulled his car over on the side of the highway. I got SO excited to capture the beautiful views of the coast that I just began snapping a few images from my phone, Meanwhile, Charlie was simply standing behind me... At one point I turned around to smile at him and he was on the ground. I dismissively asked him if he was ok, to which he replied that yup, he was fine. So, I turned back around and continued taking photos. When I glanced back his direction a second time he was on the ground again and I was concerned... UNTIL I realized that he was down on one knee!!

 So, after a couple of minutes of excited bliss, we continued on our way to Pescadero. Once we arrived in downtown Pescadero, (where I was in such an excited bubble) we asked someone if they would take a couple of pictures of us...

So, it's been a couple of months and  I'M ECSTATIC!! We've already chosen the location where we'll be married and we've determined our wedding party (bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girls, ring bearer, etc.) This is my first attempt at updating people about my current life situation... We had our engagement photos taken this past weekend by our wedding photographer (who happens to be friends with Charlie's mom/family) and it was SO EXCITING to meet my wedding photographer for the first time!! God seems to be looking out for me recently because (unfortunately) I had essentially given up on the idea of a marriage because I figured that I was now an overly complicated package (what with my fabulous traumatic brain injury and all). But, God sent me Charlie and I feel like a quite happy and content individual at the moment!!

I will probably post some of our engagement photos later, but this is my first attempt at advising the world of my happiness and of my fabulous engagement!!!

Updated Life

OK, so I began working at Lucky's (a grocery store) bagging groceries for the customers. My official title is "Service Specialist". Because of my "fabulous" traumatic brain injury (TBI) I have requested that I only work 4 hour shifts, which successfully tires me out. This has become quite manageable for me and I've actually grown to enjoy my work. Recently I had spoken with our store manager about possibly transferring to the grocery store in San Carlos, so that I might actually be able to walk to work instead of relying on the buses. I filled out the form and was ready to turn it in, but then our manager went on a long vacation away from the store so I never officially turned it in. Now, I feel as though God was looking out for me, because I've grown VERY familiar with my current store and I feel pleased that I am now quite aware of where certain items are located within the store. If I transferred to the other store I wouldn't know where anything was and I'd essentially be starting from scratch all over again. My brain simply couldn't handle beginning the process all over again!

Also, one of the head employees at the store was there when I began my training program. I would update my mom about how work was going and update her on my energy levels and all of that. When the training process was over and I was officially explaining my opinions and reviews of the process and discussing my potential plans/desires for future employment my mom interjected that she would truly appreciate it if I could be located wherever Monika was (the cashier that I had raved about enjoying and trusting). So, I was placed back at the original grocery store that I had trained at and Monika, who I still seriously enjoy and trust, is oddly my new boyfriend's mother. Thanks for looking out for me God!

So I'm feeling quite happy and pleased with life, as well as feeling significantly grateful that I could find myself in a situation where I feel extremely loved and valued. Here's to hoping and praying that my life continues to improve, or at least feel like it's improving!!

Return to the working world

So, we began our search for a job for myself around this past January, and as of this past week I have officially been hired. It feels a little bizarre and unfamiliar to me because I haven't held a job since I was in the Peace Corps (which unfortunately for me, held some quite drastic/traumatic results). So, tomorrow I will begin my new job at a grocery store, simply bagging customers' groceries and making sure the store remains neat and tidy.
I'm surprisingly excited, but I've been forewarned by family that it will potential wipe me out energetically. So, let's pray that I can manage to have a positive time and be a positive influence on the people around me without becoming an empty shell of the individual that I currently am.
So, here's to my new adventure!!

Drastic New Haircut

Alright, so I had my haircut on Friday (10/13) and I was feeling adventurous, so I decided to get rid of a lot of it. Now, I have naturally curly hair so having chopped it all off (well, let's be honest- I didn't choose to have it shaved off again, once is more than enough for me on that count) results in my curly hair bouncing up close to my ears! There are definitely many advantages (like, it doesn't take me ANY time to do my hair) but I'm still having those occasional habits of just wishing that I could be lazy and throw my hair up into a ponytail. Hmm, not so possible anymore. Well, technically it's possible, but a lot of my hair doesn't want to remain in the ponytail and ends up falling down around my face. Well, looks like I'll be shopping for some fun and cute thick headbands to decorate my new "-do".

Birthday with brother

OK, so I do realize that my birthday was about 4 months ago, but my birthday present from Ryan and Lailah was a gift certificate to a California Windsurfing company. No, don't be worried!! Windsurfing is in the title, but the company actually offers multiple rentals. I did a little bit of research online to see what exactly this gift certificate qualified for... Through researching the company I actually realized that multiple options were available to me. They actually rent multiple forms of water entertainment including paddle boards, kayaks, pedal boats, water bikes and windsurfing boards. Initially I was intrigued by the idea of attempting a "water bike" which essentially appears to be a bike which as you pedal it, it moves the propeller so you can navigate the lagoon easily and comfortably. This idea intrigued me, but I hadn't made any hard and fast decisions.

So, then Ryan and I headed into Foster City, (he's essentially a brilliant kayak-er), but he left the decision entirely up to me. We ended up renting two kayaks for about 2 hours. Now, considering my family's issue with sun exposure and all, I made sure to layer myself in sunscreen so that I was essentially protecting myself from the sun as much as possible. I had a true blast navigating the Foster City lagoon with Ryan and I even managed to capture a number of photos of him and the scenery with my phone! I would definitely show these pictures right now, except that when we had rowed our way essentially to below 92 Ryan had asked me a question (because I was riding a sit-on-top kayak whereas he was riding a legit kayak) about how wet my rear-end must have become because of my seat... I told Ryan that my butt didn't feel wet at all because there was simply a stagnant little puddle close to my butt but not under me. I felt as though I needed to prove this to him, so I sat up in my little kayak to show that I hadn't become excessively wet- JAMIE'S BIG MISTAKE! because when I stood up all of the water moved from the puddle to right below my butt and then my cell phone popped out of my shorts' pocket and fell into the lagoon. So, as a result I have zero pictures documenting our fabulous birthday excursion, but losing my phone and having to get it replaced didn't put any damper on one of the best birthday presents that I've received in quite some time!

Feel free to ask any questions, but I realized last night that I should write about this wonderful excursion because it was absolutely ideal and I love my brother for coming up with a phenomenal birthday present idea which we both truly enjoyed!

Day with nieces

Today I was excited to be able to spend a handful of time with my nieces! Collette is 3 and her big sister is a whopping 5... and Lailah had given me a few ideas of activities which I could absorb them in to catch their interest.

Lailah knows about my love of art and painting so today I helped my nieces create paintings of their own. Her exact words were that "Amelia will be able to listen, but Collette may just slather the paint on". Her words could not have been more appropriate! Technically the assignment was they were creating a painting for Lailah's sister Gihan (whose birthday is actually today), and I essentially gave them free reign regarding what they were going to paint. (As it's best if the painter actually cares about what they are actually painting)

Amelia really wanted to paint a cat for Gigi and Collette decided to go the more traditional birthday route and I sketched an easy birthday cake for her to fill in. I made a mistake... I sketched the outline of their painting subjects so that they would simply paint around the predetermined lines. But, I realized after the fact that I probably should have followed Lailah's advice and actually began the painting for them- essentially paint the beginning lines instead of using colored pencil. Oh well!

We had a blast together and I'm looking forward to this routine possibly becoming a little more regular during my summer. First of all I was able to give Martha (Lailah's mom) a little break from feeling as though she must keep them busy and entertained all on her own AND I completely enjoyed my morning/afternoon with my wonderful nieces.

Enjoy my captured photos/videos from today!!