To Have and to Hold

I've been looking online for something to hold my ring when it's not on my finger at home.
Here are some of my favorites I found on Etsy:

This ring looks just like mine

Beachy

Map Ring Holder

Ceramic Holder

I really like the personal touches to each item, but after thinking about it and thinking about it some more, I decided to just make something myself. Maybe something similar to the map and pushpin frame. I do have a 30% off coupon at Michael's I can use. I'm hesitant to spend money on things like this because I'm afraid it's going to snowball into full-on engagement/wedding splurge mode. It's so easy to get caught up in all the hoopla. I might have to just plan my own virtual wedding or something so I can enjoy being able to pick out a dress, flowers, food, colors, decoration, favors, and all that fun stuff without actually paying for it. I guess that's what Pinterest is for. Where do you put your engagement ring?

This Country

A couple weeks ago I was on my way to a skating sesh and never made it there because this happened:

I was on the far right lane stopped in traffic near the Capitol building. It's always backed up around that time (5:25 PM) since state workers are all leaving to go home.  A girl was in a parallel metered parking spot on my right, ahead of me. I was already stopped so when traffic started moving, I paused to see if she would make a move and get in. She didn't move the car or indicate to me that she was going (a wave or hand gesture) so I started moving. She eventually did come out but only after I was almost past her.

I wasn't happy about it but at the same time I wasn't notably upset or angry. I've been through worse incidents than this so these things don't faze me anymore. My Acura has been through a lot.  So we both pull over and get out of the car. I simply ask to trade insurance info, you know, standard operating procedure. 

Well, this girl, about my age, maybe younger, tells me that she doesn't know where the insurance info is. I'm like, okay that's a problem. She says it's her brother's Subaru Outback and he's currently in Beirut. She suggests we just trade contact info and be on our merry little way because she has to get to work. I firmly state that I NEED her insurance info because there is thousands of dollars worth of damage to my car.   She's like, "it's barely even dented!" And I didn't come out and say it was her fault, nor did I place blame on anyone, but she kept saying it was an "accident" and it was "arbitrary." When I called Roy and explained what happened, she's like, "stop trying to make it sound like it was my fault!" All I said was that she hit me. I was keeping a calm tone but this girl was downright irate. When I insisted that she get the insurance info, she sneered to herself, "THIS COUNTRY." I was like, whoa. I took a picture of her license plate so I didn't have to write it down, and she's like, "Stop taking pictures of my car!!"  Eventually Roy came out to the scene because it was less than 2 miles away from our house. She wanted to leave and without insurance info, I didn't know what to do. I eventually called the police.

They were taking forever, so Roy called up his Harrisburg Police acquaintance and he had someone send over a car. Two cops came and just looked at our cars and one of them asked me what happened. I don't know if they asked her. They said that the only reason I would need to call the police is if there were any injuries or if there were obstructions on the roadway. So they didn't write up a report or anything. They did call the girl's insurance company and verified the insurance for me so I got the policy # and owner's information.

The next day I called Geico and filed a claim and gave my statement. The girl had already called State Farm and had given hers.  She refused to give Geico one. After Geico obtained her statement through State Farm,  they concluded that I was not at fault. State Farm has not yet decided and they are waiting until they obtain the police report (good luck with that).

So, tomorrow I'm taking the Acura in to get an estimate. My guess is $2,500-3,000 to repair the car. The metallic white pearl is a hard color to match apparently and that's why it costs so darn much. Hopefully State Farm comes through.  To be continued...

*UPDATE: Estimate came in at $3,311. Ugh. Looking forward to riding the bus to work - said no one ever.
**UPDATE #2:  State Farm is only willing to pay 25% of the damages. GEICO is going to go after 100% through arbitration but it could take months.  In the meantime, I'm not going to fix anything until this is resolved. 

10! 10! 10!

I am in love with ice dancing - it's ballroom on ice! Just throw in Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli and it would be entertainment heaven!  When I was younger, I always thought ice dancing was boring but now I'm seeing it in a whole new light.  Maybe it's because I now realize how extremely difficult it is to skate like they do.

In fact, I can't stop watching this routine by 2013 world champion ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White. It is perfection!


  Here is their short program which is just as good:  

Happy Spring, Y'all!

Now it's time to sprinkle some Mary Kay on my blog!

Mary Kay is out with pretty new colors for Spring and to kick off the season, I'm doing a free giveaway drawing for any one of the above new items. To enter, simply let me know which one you would pick! Choose from four cream eye colors, two lip lacquers (with retractable brush), and two nail lacquers. Drawing will be held on April 1st and I'm choosing four (4) winners.

Yay, I love giving stuff away. I got a free Pink Bamboo nail lacquer from my sales director today and I thought I'd spread the MK love. So, which one tickles your fancy?

Young House Love

I stumbled upon a gem of a blog last week after I googled "backyard weddings." It's called Young House Love and it can be found here.  The blog is actually about DIY home projects but the couple who author the blog, Sherry and John Petersik, also chronicle their family life in Richmond, VA. Their backyard wedding was a DIY project in itself.  I fell in love with their story and they've also published a book and everything. Not to mention their decor style is near identical to mine (white brick! YES!). Swoon! Their latest post on their family blog is a trip to IKEA (hello!? I LOVE IKEA!). I am so happy I've found it and it'll be a great inspiration when Roy and I get our own place.

Speaking of which, after we shared our engagement news, the first question on the tip of everyone's tongue was, "When are you getting married?" Well, unless you were female, then it was, "Let me see the ring?!"  Roy and I both agreed that it would be best to have something next summer so that we aren't pressured to plan something this year.  We have a few things we'd like to get accomplished and planning a wedding is only going to make us stress out (and broke). Roy is not into the traditional ceremony and neither am I, except I do love the dresses and flowers part! Ideally, we'd like to get our own place and just have a huge celebration in the backyard. Finding and buying a place we both love could take awhile though.

Right now we're giving our young house love to this new rental property we picked up last September. It is located 5 units up from Roy's place and it was priced too pretty to pass up.  We originally planned to have it rented by the beginning of this year but Roy got super busy with work.  Now we've put a strict deadline of April 1st on ourselves (we already have tenants planning to move-in) so we are cranking this baby out.  Here is a sneak peek of what we're doing (or Roy is doing I should say):

Roy is amazeballs - he did everything in this bathroom

Painting in progress - by yours truly (sea foam green and skin color are being painted over)

I'll have before and after pics once the project is over. The upstairs is done and now Roy is working on the kitchen. I'll be painting because that's pretty much all I know how to do (oh, and fetching tools for Roy).

After this I'll hopefully pass my real estate exam (again), broker up and be able to transact our own deals. We're hoping to pick up one more before the year's out then focus on finding our own place.  Once we do, the real planning can begin!

Will You...

Roy proposed to me on Saturday, March 9, 2013 on Brigantine Beach Island, NJ.  I can't believe it has happened! I was beginning to think it wasn't ever going to...
We drove out to Brigantine (by Atlantic City) Saturday morning after my skating practice. Roy had promised his buddy that he would go out there and attend to various issues with his beach house since rental season was fast approaching. I went along too because we like to take road trips together. After he worked on the house all afternoon and I read magazines, we decided to check out the beach which was a short walk from the house. It was around 3:30 or so. The weather was so nice and the beach was empty except for a few people walking.  We were looking for shells and checking out all the strange things that had washed onto shore.  

Roy looking for seashells

...and looking some more...

Roy's bootprints

At one point Roy put his arm around me as we were walking.  He then reached in his pocket and handed me a conch shell. I looked at it and it had this beautiful ring inside of it. He got down on one knee and asked, "Will you marry me?" I was so nervous for him!  Of course I said yes! I didn't cry. I think because I've played out this scenario in my head over and over and over again! I felt like I was dreaming. 

The Rock

Isn't it lovely?! Roy bought this ring in December of 2011! I can't believe he had it that long. The ring size is big so I have to get it adjusted. Roy's sister works at Littman's Jewelers and she told Roy I'd probably get the ring remounted since I like bezel settings, which they don't carry. But truthfully the ring is so beautiful I want to keep it just the way it is. It's a very simple four-prong mount that Roy picked out and it's totally his style. I'm wearing it on my pointer finger for now since it flew off my hand once already. 
So all weekend I was on Cloud 9.  Monday came around and literally "crashed" me back to reality.  More on that joyousness later. Need to bask a little more in this newly engaged glow!

I Want a Grumpy Cat

,,

Synchro Spotlight

The New York Times printed an article about synchro skating in their sports section today:

NYT: A Move to the Front of the Line

As for Team Reflections, we have one more performance left on the 24th of this month. It's for an exhibition show held by the skating club.  I am sad the season is coming to a close, but looking forward to next season. I am hooked!