It's the most wonderful time of the year!

As most of you know, this Christmas Eve signified a new chapter in my life. Jamaal asked me to marry him, and I said yes!

We have been together for 3-1/2 years now, and I honestly didn't think I would be too excited for an engagement. It is not that I didn't want to get married, I just did not think that an engagement would change anything. We live together and have now for a year, and I did not expect an engagement to change anything. Nor do I think a marriage will change much.

However, I was so excited when I saw the ring. I am now getting teary watching shows like "Say Yes to the Dress" (a show on TLC that follows brides to be as they search for their perfect wedding dress and a higher end dress store.) I also find myself getting teary as I think of the people I wish I could have shared this day with. My mom's parents, my dad's dad, and even my living grandma, who does not like to travel anymore, so I know she will not make it to my wedding.

So I guess I was wrong originally. The engagement did mean a lot to me, and has changed some things. I feel closer to him, which is crazy because like I said, not much has really change. There is now a new ring on my finger, and I'm allowed to look and contact people who might participate in our special day. Before, I had to hide the fact that I was looking up things. :D He knew what I was doing though. I guess one thing is changing: the world outside of our relationship, is beginning to recognize us as something that is socially acceptable. I am now not just Jamaal's girlfriend, I am his future wife. I am now almost family. One of his many Aunt's said "Now you're almost real family" after the announcement to his side of the family on Christmas Day. I was kind of offended at first, but I realize that she's right. My mom has said something similar about Jamaal. The engagement signifies our commitment to each other, and to our families. My nephews won't call us "Auntie Aubri and Jamaal." We will be "Auntie Aubri and Uncle Jamaal" (which sounds so weird!!)

I imagine that the wedding will change more than I originally thought, just as the engagement has changed things in ways I wasn't expecting.

So now on the fun part, the details...I'm sure that that is really what people wanted to hear about anyway, so I made you wade through the other boring stuff first. ;)

_______________________________

Christmas Eve, Jamaal and I were having a very relaxing evening downstairs. He was playing video games, and I was watching as I made boxes out of paper to wrap gift cards in. (I was feeling pretty overwhelmed because I wanted to make 9 boxes, and it was taking me much longer than I thought it would.) I had 3-1/2 done when Jamaal went to let the girls inside.

Now I have to go on a tangent. As you recall, last Monday I stayed at the hospital overnight. When the girls were left alone while Jamaal was at work, they decided to be bad. Bacardi pulled down a brand new, 5 pound bag of flour, chewed a hole in the bag, and pulled it around the kitchen getting flour everywhere!!

The flour trail...this looks better than it truly was. We still have some flour residue on the floor, and on the walls, and on the cupboards, and on the stove....they must have had fun!

Bella with her floury beard!

"It wasn't me." The proof on her nose...

Both girls had flour on their noses, Jamaal gave them both baths, but the flour stayed in Bella's "beard" and face hairs. And since it got wet in the shower it formed a sort of plaster in her hairs. And being the dog that she is, the plaster gathered dirt so that she had a pretty ugly face.

So back now to the story.

As I was saying, Jamaal went to let the girls inside, and I was left downstairs working on the paper boxes. I heard Jamaal say "want a treat, Bella?" and "what's on your face?"

A little later, Jamaal called down the stairs and said "Call your dog, she's got something on her face." I called, and she came down the stairs, and I thought, "Hmm, her face looks the same to me. It has the same flour mess...maybe I'm missing something"

Because details tend to get missed by me...

I asked "Is there something different about her face" but I kind of trailed off at that moment, because I saw what I was supposed to see. Two shiny rings dangling from a ribbon tied around her neck. Jamaal came down the stairs and knelt next to me, as I asked "What's this around your neck, Bella?" Since I was crafting I had scissors nearby, so I snipped the ribbon and took the rings off. It is kind of funny because he never asked "will you marry me?" Instead I kind of played around and said "Are these Bella's rings?"

He called me a brat, and said they were wedding rings, and kissed me. It was fun. I unfortunately was in my pajamas still at the time from the night before, so I wasn't much up for picture time.

The rings (the engagement ring and the wedding band) were too big for my petite fingers so I had to wear them on a necklace all of Christmas day so that people could see them. I had to leave them overnight at the jewelers to have them sized to a 4-3/4 from a 7! I missed them both dearly, but did not want to lose them, my wise friend Kristina told me so...

While I was at the jewelers I also left a ring that Jamaal gave me for our 6th month anniversary that I lost a teensy diamond out of, they also cleaned it and made it soooo shiny it looks like a brand new ring. :D