The Dash Graduates

He did it . . . The Dash graduated on Saturday!!! Please note his Southern Californian lei with money flowers, made by hand by his grandparents . . .

The excitement, pride, and love of that morning are past words at the moment, even for me. (Which begs the question, then what’s the point of blogging about it? but we’ll leave that for later. I have pictures, after all!) I was so excited for him. To see him in a sea of over 300 graduates, the man I love and my best friend who has worked beyond hard to acquire both his degree and a full-time job with God’s grace . . . I could have cried, but I was too excited and elated. Plus, having run a 101.4 fever two nights before and having gone to bed shivering and crying at the (emotionally speaking) very miserable thought that I might not be able to go to his graduation after looking forward to it for our entire courtship was a blessed opportunity to surrender as best I could to God’s Will . . . but, well, it made Saturday morning feel like we were walking on clouds! And also, helping out with some of his little nieces and nephews (some of whom didn’t get the point of a graduation ceremony too well) kept me busy 😉

Outside, it was cold and rather wet. Thanks to my euphoria, I forgot to bring a coat. However, the Dash had a few articles of ceremonial clothing handy . . . we were hurrying across the Quad, back to his car, but we managed to maneuver the cap and gown from one to the other, and he was insistent that, “We HAVE to stop and take a selfie!” It tickled us both so much for me to have a brief dip into the college grad experience 😉

We drove to his graduation party straight afterwards, hosted by his lovely sister, which turned out wonderfully.

Especially when you take into account what The Dash included in his graduation speech.

Friends, we are engaged!!! It was the most beautiful, most eloquent, most heartfelt and amazing proposal, beyond anything I have wished for or imagined in all my years as a girl and young woman . . . if she is called to marriage, a girl’s heart anticipates this day and this moment so much! And yet only The Dash could have pulled it off and taken me so completely by surprise, surprised by love.

I was totally overwhelmed, and very much shocked with the timing of it; very smoothly, The Dash had led me to believe it would happen sometime after New Year’s. Only a week ago, we’d had a conversation in which I was wrestling with how much of it was going to be a surprise (just because I’m so attached to us communicating about everything), and he said, “Well, let’s get through the holidays and re-assess how you feel about a surprise then.” (Aha.)

“Can you at least tell me what month you’re thinking?” I asked him in my best plaintive tone.

He smiled. “No.”

I guess I had been looking forward to the joy of his graduation and his long-awaited accomplishment with such razor focus that it never dawned on me he would think about proposing on that day, of all days, when he had so much to think about and do as it was. That’s the selflessness of The Dash.

Mid-way through his graduation speech, when he called me up to stand beside him so he could start thanking me in front of everyone, I was classically flushed and embarrassed/humbled (though, of course, completely touched) but totally unsuspecting because it was just like The Dash to do this kind of thing.

But then he rather kept going . . . and going . . . and with an effortless segue he started talking about us and our relationship and how much he loved me, and it was all addressed to me, and he was looking at me, and he was perfect, and his voice was just a little shaky from emotion/nerves/tiredness . . . even then I still wasn’t suspecting . . . but then he took off his graduation cap and put it on a chair and my head felt as though it were starting to explode, and from that moment on I have no clear recollection of what I did. I remember him pulling the ring box from his pocket, kneeling down, asking me by my full name if I would marry him, and I was crying and covering my face and saying yes multiple times and certainly being very emotional about it all 😉

I have always secretly hoped that I would cry at my proposal, just so that the man of my dreams would know how much it meant to me. I’m so glad I cried! Although I was so shaky and shocked and teary for the forthcoming minutes that I look a little off my rocker in all the post-proposal pictures . . .

But friends, we are beyond elated to be engaged! Our betrothal ceremony/blessing of our engagement is less than a week away (we’re waiting until then to start holding hands, etc.). We never have to use the words boyfriend and girlfriend again! The Dash is my fiance! We get to be engaged for Christmas! It is still very surreal right now.

My engagement ring is absolutely perfect–a three-stone diamond, white gold–exactly, exactly perfect, better than anything I’ve seen or wanted (The Dash has let me know that I’m extremely picky with jewelry), in how it looks and feels and everything. The Dash was helped to locate it very Providentially a long time ago . . . it chokes me up to think about how long he’s had it. I am so blessed that I’ve been given something so lovely to cherish and wear all my days as a symbol of what The Dash and I have been given by God.

Michele Chronister‘s words have kept coming to mind over the past few days, from a post she made some time ago . . . “But what made that little glittery thing most important to me was that every time I glanced down at it, I felt incredibly loved. So, so incredibly loved. It declared to the world that I was spoken for, and it reminded me that the beginning of our marriage was not far off.”

Amen!

So praise be to God. I am so thankful for The Dash, for our whole courtship, for our present engagement, for our future together. It’s overwhelming how blessed we have been and continue to be! I know the reality will continue to sink in and I’ll be able to write better blog posts about it all over the coming weeks (plus post lots of pictures!!!), but for now . . . please pray for us, and have a blessed third week of Advent!

Woman at Home Daybook :: Vol. 12 (returning at last)

This day in the Liturgical Year . . .

Friday, December 7th, 2018 A.D.; First Friday; Vigil of the Immaculate Conception; feast of St. Ambrose (Bishop, Confessor & Doctor).

My youngest sister is an expert on beautifully playing with hair . . .

Outside the window . . .

Gray, cold, a little bit foreboding . . . tomorrow, we’re supposed to have drearily cold temps and a downpour of rain. But nothing can dampen the cheer of Our Lady’s feast day and The Dash and I’s 15-month anniversary, of course ❤

The Dash and I went to a campus event last week — we saw Jon McLaughlin in concert! He was fantastic!!

Sounds throughout the house . . .

My brother whistling “Let it Snow” while he does school; Lena‘s keyboard clattering away in the next room.

Wearing . . .

Sweats . . . (embarrassed face) . . . I’ll shower later and get dressed properly for tonight’s Mass 😉

Attempts in the kitchen . . .

Well . . . yes, I suppose there was Thanksgiving. 🙂 My poor grandmother was sick and wasn’t able to join us; it was the first Thanksgiving ever in which we cooked every dish, so Wednesday and Thursday cumulatively gave our lone oven a powerhouse workout — but it was a success! Best of all, it was The Dash and I’s first Thanksgiving Day actually spent together, since my family and I traveled out of town last year. It’s very easy to feel especially grateful when my amazing guy is around 😉

My apple pies . . . (after having made them 11 years straight, these were a mysteriously epic case of smoke and spilling juices, let me tell you . . . I think I may have packed in too many apples this year and it was more than the crusts could bear . . .)

Our annual cranberry bread and beloved book, which I brought and read to my co-op kids a few weeks ago 😉

I made a quadruple batch of jambalaya the other day . . . it turned out pretty good, and I must say it’s a fun thing to make because, for my memory, it’s tied in with The Dash and I’s early days of getting to know one another. For some reason, our early encounters were all marked by jambalaya!

With it being this time of the year, it’s been admittedly difficult to eat as anti-inflammatory as I’d been hoping. But although I did cheat a little here and there, with it being Thanksgiving, I was still overall eating more cleanly than I had in months, and yet I had a pretty rough case of symptoms two Sundays ago and was left wondering how much of this I can control with food 😦 I hate to sound discouraged but am just trying to put everything in God’s hands and surrender to His Will in this.

Lena has been doing lovely culinary things lately, and I have to brag on her . . . pumpkin pie from scratch, lemon icebox pie from scratch, and of course, with yesterday being St. Nicholas’ feast, she made our annual St. Nicholas cookies (need I say from scratch?), expertly frosted to look just like him 😉

A note on projects . . .

Our last co-op class for the year was on Tuesday . . . although I’ll be physically happy for the break, I’m sure going to miss all the little guys! The Tuesday prior to that, we had our Advent presentations, and I am so very proud of how well all my kids did with performing the songs!

On another note, in my spare time, I’ve been listening quite a lot to the soundtrack for The Village and rewriting my childhood fantasy epic, thanks in great part to The Dash playing up my story to a dear lady who elicited a promise from me that I would have chapters for her by the time he graduates next Saturday. Thus, I’ve been writing (I can’t break a promise!!!), and enjoying it in a way I truthfully haven’t experienced in years.

Hopefully The Dash won’t kill me for sharing this picture . . . we have been keeping our ballroom dancing skills in shape, although we definitely amend the tango because some of it is just not kosher for courting couples 😉

In choir we are churning full-steam ahead in preparation for High Mass on the 16th, which is also our parish’s day for Confirmations — 36 Confirmandi! That’s a huge day coming up. And then High Mass on Christmas Eve . . . needless to say, we are wading through a lot of beautiful and challenging music.

And then, of course, it’s only a few weeks until Christmas, which means projects of that sort are demanding to be launched . . . I’m getting there, but this is the busiest December in my memory and so consequently I feel a teensy bit behind 😉

I’ve got cleaning/sanitizing to do, as my poor youngest sister is sick again and the rest of us are trying to stay well 😦

Reading . . .

Conversation with Christ and Introduction to the Devout Life, when I can.

Contemplating . . .

I can’t sugar-coat it . . . there is so much going on this month. My grandmother is going to be moving in less than a week, God-willing, and we’re helping her; The Dash has finals, then graduates in seven days and starts working full time immediately after; babysitting; family is traveling into town; we have High Masses and Christmas; then we have a big family wedding 10 hours away, which Lena and I are planning to sing for . . .

On top of that, I came into December burdened by really unusual fatigue. I wanted to leap into Advent and immerse myself in silence and better prayer routine, as well get on top of things quickly for logistical Christmas planning. Instead, I found myself worn thin and exhausted for days, fighting a headache and struggling to get the most basic things accomplished. It was really humbling and very difficult to not succumb to discouragement over (ahem) my plans and expectations for my energy level being “thwarted.”

(My brother snapped this pic from the backseat when The Dash and I were out recently 😉 )

Thankfully, I’m feeling more energized now and am trying to simply give God whatever I have, be it a lot, a little, or seemingly nothing at all, and asking Him to help me have radical humility in the face of my pride, expectations and plans this Advent.

On living the Faith . . .

Making a stubborn, imperfect effort to incorporate mental prayer on a daily basis. Everyone needs to read Conversation with Christ, a compendium of sorts of St. Teresa of Avila’s doctrine on prayer.

Prayerfully . . .

Praying for aid, clarity and strength on multiple fronts. Don’t forget about the St. Andrew Christmas Novena!

November morning rain