back in los estados unidos

well, its been ages since my last post
much has happened
today, for example, has been a comedy of errors.
but lets start at the beginning.
well, the beginning of my trip back to the U.S. of A.

landing in new york was such a joke. it was hands down the worst landing ive ever experienced. i literally thought we were going to crash. first we dropped about 30 or 50 feet or so, then coming onto the landing strip, we came in on our right wheel. ONLY our right wheel. so that was terrifying. then we sorta bouned over to the left one and balanced out. the girl next to me screamed and grabbed my arm. it was kinda funny, amidst all the scared-ness going on. yes, scared-ness.
so it was snowing in new york. that was pretty cool. cept we thought we might be delayed or cancelled. but we werent so it was alright.
okay the plane ride from new york to seattle was absolutely hellish. as my mom put it; it was the birth control flight. screaming children all up and down that plane. gag. the family behind me was completely annoying. the parents were just about as bad as the kids, who, by the way, were repeatedly pulling my hair and bouncing the back of my seat. yes, the mother was doing it too. some people should not reproduce.
well, we finally got off that terrible plane ride and were safely in seatac airport! it was so exciting. well, i was pretty much walking death since we'd been traveling for nearly 24 hours, but i was as excited as i could be. lol
after seeing new years for both dublin and new york time zones, my tired family and i made our way across puget sound to silverdale. home sweet home. i got to meet the new dog, cal, and see penney girl again. my cat finally came out of hiding and after about 30 seconds of her acting like i was the devil for leaving for four months, she decided she loved me again. lol
all was great
i was asleep by 11.30 and missed silverdale's new years.
WHICH WAS A BUMMER BECAUSE....JASON FINALLY ASKED OLY TO MARRY HIM!!! i had about a million and a half missed calls and text messages and voice mails when i woke up in the morning, all from oly telling me that i needed to call her NOW because she had to tell me before spreading the news around.
her ring is absolutely gorgeous. i couldnt be happier for those two. theyre so good for each other :)
so skip ahead. that was...wednesday night? so oly and jason and valerie (her madre) came over on...what was it; friday i think. and i was all excited to give oly her ireland present thingy. so then she said she had a gift for me. surprised enough, i read the card she gave me after saying that i could have the present if i say yes to the card. so confused. but staaarting to put the pieces together as i opened the envelope. (all who know me know im terrible, absolutely TERRIBLE at opening envelopes. i kind of just destroy them. lol) inside it said 'will you be my maid of honor?' i screamed and hugged oly. the waterworks were going and of course i said yes! she handed me a bag and inside were a beautiful necklace from oly and her mom had got me the maid of honor guidebook. looks very helpful.
im absolutely over the top excited. the wedding is in 2010, so theres a bit of planning time.
on saturday we're going to barnes and noble for starbucks and wedding mags. then at 1.30 we have an appointment in poulsbo to look at a wedding location. (ah!) then we're headed back to the dale for wedding gown shopping at benitas. YAY. then picking up sam for BRIDE WARS that night. (that movie looks amazing) im so so SO excited.
right now it all kind of feels surreal. we've been friends since preschool. we ate playdough together. (yes, i'll admit it. haha) we've been in plays together, we've grown up together. she's my second sister. its crazy to believe that she's getting married! its crazy to think that we're actually old enough to get married!!! lol. i cant wait for saturday because it will start feeling real and the planning will begin! :) :) :)

okay.
rewind.
well, its been nice to be home. havent done a whole lot and at the same time ive been crazy busy. well, ive done a lot of cooking and cleaning and errands running but thats okay. its nice to be home and everyone who knows me knows i love to cook and all that jazz. so making dinner and picking my sister up from school; thats good stuff. :)

last sunday we had thanksgiving re-dos. i was in charge of pies. they were good :)
the kunishes came over around two or so. becky stopped by early on her lunch break from the gap and visited a little. we had so much food and we STILL have leftovers!
it was so good to see annabel. i love being an auntie :) i cant believe how big she's getting.
around four or so, maybe a bit later, it started snowing. we took annabel out to catch snowflakes on her tongue and slide around on the back deck. then it REALLY started coming down so the kunishes decided to get going since their house is at the top of a hill, and they kiiinda wanted to make it up the hill! we had a pretty chill evening and watched the snow fall. all in all we had about two inches. not a whole bunch, but enough to make it pretty outside :)

well, i was supposed to go up to bellingham today. i should be on the ferry right now headed to edmonds, or on the highway heading north. BUT bellingham, well all of whatcom county really, is under flood watch. theyve closed down the exit to bellis fair mall because its under water and not safe for driving. its pretty crazy. so the parents said i shouldnt go up there. of course i was super bummed and feel bad for not being there to see my friends, but its for the best. im heading up there sunday instead. as long as i get to see wwu im good!!! :)

thats pretty much it as far as life right now.
ive done some piano playing
just finished playing violin for a while
i forgot how annoying it is to re-string a violin
and my bridge was so tilted it almost broke off
so that was a little unexpected twist to my practice time today!

mmkay bye
more soon
:)