In July, Scott and I went to visit Jon, Stacey, Caiden, & Ethan for two weeks. It was great to go and see them and spend some time hanging out with them. Here are some pictures....
I'm an introvert. It's true. I'll admit it. I get energy from being on my own or with a good book. I'm not the life of the party and I'll never be one. But I'm okay with that. I recently read this article that made me laugh. I identify with it on many levels and if you are an introvert... perhaps you will too.
Enjoy...
Just wanted to say... have a wonderful Easter weekend!
HE IS RISEN!
I've never lived in a place where there is a festival going on EVERY weekend in the Spring/Summer/Fall. However, Wisconsin seems to be the land of festivals because it seems like there's a festival every weekend. Personally, I think it's just an excuse to drink beer and eat cheese... but what do I know as a newcomer to this foreign place?!?!
So to prove my point, I give you "Exhibit A" that contains some of the festivals around this area:
- Mustard Festival - I kid you not!!! (There is even a mustard museum in WI. For those of you who love mustard, come on over and we'll go check it out someday. I can't say that I count myself among those who love mustard, but curiosity has captured me to go to this strange little place someday.)
- Pumpkin Festival - okay, that sounds kinda normal
- Cheese Festival - also a no-brainer for WI
- Gourd Festival
- Strawberry Festival - oooh, that sounds yummy!
- Port Fish Day Festival
- Rendezous Festival - actually this is about Native American Fry Bread
- Oktoberfest - aka: beer fest
- Bastille Days
- Hmong Summer Festival
- Childrens Festival
- Gitchee Gumee Brew Fest - I don't know either!
- WI Film Festival - actually, that one sounds fun...
- Polka Fest
- Horse-A-Rama
- Home & Garden Show
- Craft Fairs - oh so many craft fairs...
- Apple Festival
- Family Festival: West Africa
- Wildwood Film Fest
- Kids Expo
- Central Wisconsin Concertina Festival
- Fox Cities Book Festival
- UW Milwaukee Latin American Film Fest
- Between the Bluffs Beer, Wine, and Cheese Festival
- Great Midwest Alpaca Festival - confession: I actually went to this one last year because friends of ours raise Alpacas. They are really cute!
- Portage County Cultural Festival
- Springtime Polka Fest - It kinds scares me that they have more than one polka fest!!!
- Cinco de Mayo Springfest
- Festival of Blossoms
- Apple Holler It's a Bloomin' Festival
- Redbud Festival
- Waterford Family Fest
- Spring's Wings Bird and Art Festival
- Gays Mills Spring Festival
- UW Milwaukee Italian Film Festival
- Festival of Spring
- Raggae Festival
- Microbrew Fest
- Wisconsin Micro-Brewers Beer Fest
- Mushroom Festival
- Syttende Mai Folk Festival
- Janesville Renaissance Faire
- Wisconsin State Polka Festival
- Ringelspiel Days
- Strawberry Craft Fest
- Maifest
- Chocolate Festival - Anybody want to come with me??? :) :) :) (MEMORIAL DAY!)
- Yesteryear Days
- World's Largest Brat Fest - ONLY in WI!!!
- Blues Bash
- Gathering of the Arts Festival
- Wisconsin AirFEST - no idea what that's about... celebrating air?
- Apple Holler Asparagus Festival
- Eleva Broiler Festival
- Oshkosh Irish Fest
- Cattail Trail Days/Amery Festival of Lakes
- Dragon Art Fair
- Annual Baby Bison Fest
- Greek/Serbian Festival
- Polish Palace Pig Out
- Osceola Dairy Days
- Willow River Blues & Brews Fest
- Bluegrass Festival
- Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival
- Dairyfest
- Isthmus Jazz Festival
- Fine Arts Festival
- Gardenfest
- Harley Fest
- Port Pirate Fest
- German Fest
- Eagle River's Great Northern Beer Festival
- Open Air Festival of the Arts
- Lupine Junefest
- Cambridge Pottery Festival & US Pottery Games
- International Bayfest
- Pride-fest
- Greek Festival
- Sparta Butterfest
- Darlington Canoe Fest
- June Dairy Days
- Harbor Fest
- Summerfest
- Food & Music Festival
- Midsummer Swedish Festival
- Polish Fest
- Czech-Slovak Festival
- Aquafest
- Butter Festival
- Clayton Cheese Days
- Fyr Bal Festival
- Porterfield Country Music Festival
- Darboy Chicken Fest
- County Fair with a Norwegian Flair
- Freedom Fest
- Country Fest
- Musky Festival
- Heidi Festival
- Festival Foods Salute to the Fourth
- Heritage Days
- Cheese Curd Festival
- Rainbow Valley Christian Music Festival
- St. Anne's Polka Fest
- Oregon WI Summer Fest
- Festival in the Park
- Monona Community Festival
- Pow-Wow Days
- Boscobel Fireman's Festival
- Altrusa Polkafest
- Riverfest
- Sawdust Days
- Watermelon Days
- Strawberries & Cream Festival
- Fish Creek Fest
- Riponfest
- Jefferson Street Festival
- Brews 'n Blues
- Art & Music Festival
- The Great Circus Parade Festival
- Strawberry Shortcake Festival and Family Celebration
- Belgian Days - (in Brussels, WI of course!)
- State Fairs, County Fairs, Art Fairs - too many to list
- Agricultural Fair
- Fun Fest
- Hodag Country Music Festival
- LIFest Christian Music Festival
- Door County Folk Festival
- Viroqua Bluegrass Festival
- Gospel Bluegrass Jamboree
- St. Albert's Fest - that one is in the town where I live
- Owen Old School Arts Fest & Marketplace - hey, at least they are upfront in the name "old school"!!!!
- Chalk Fest
- Pigs in the Sky Ribfest
- Karner Blue Butterfly Festival
- Garfield Ave Blues, Gospel, & Arts Festival
- Arts Demonstration Festival
- Summer Harvest Fest
- Acoustic Fest
- Paperfest
- Northland Mardi Gras
- Festa Italiana
- Apple Holler Cherry Festival
- Colby Cheese Days
- Rock Fest
- Old Fashioned Festival
- Holland Festival
- Carnival Days
- Prairie Fest
- Messy Fest
- Northern Highlands Music Festival
- Pig in the Park Summer Festival
- Hometown Festival Week
- Pulaski Polka Days
- UFO Days
- Waunafest
- Blueberry Festival
- Armenian Fest
- Brat Days
- Pigs in the Pines Rib Fest
- Starving Artist Fair
- Classic Wooden Boat Show & Festival
- Rail Fest
- Hamburger Fest - not to be outdone by the Brat Fest!
- Augustfest
- Feel Good Festival - as opposed to the "feel bad" festival, I guess?
- Corn & Brat Fest - okay, see... someone is concerned about us eating our veggies!
- Arab World Fest
- Scandinavian Festival
- Children's Day Festival
- Utica Festival
- YesterFest
- Irish Fest
- Fireman's Catfish Festival
- Little Bull Falls Logging Festival
- Fuddfest
- Luxembourg Fest
- Pioneer Days
- Crazy Daze
- Coffee Break Festival
- Big Bull Falls Blues Festival - that's a mouthful
- Sons of Norway Norsk Fest
- Barefoot Charlie Festival and Barefoot Brew-Ha
- Catholic Parish Festival
- Voices of Peace Gospel Music Festival
- Corn 'n Tater Festival
- The Oconomowoc Festival of the Arts
- Holmen Kornfest
- Maritime Heritage Tall Ship Festival
- Paul Bunyan Fest
- Rutabaga Festival
- Venetian Festival
- Pepper Festival
- Falls Fest
- Sweet Corn Fest - also in the town where I live
- Festival in the Pines
- Lumberjack Days
- Apple Holler Peaches and Cream Festival
- Festival of Flavors
Okay, really the list goes on and on and on and on and I just don't want to list them all. If you are curious you can check them all out at www.travelwisconsin.com for an event directory. Basically it seems that they are celebrating the fact that there is no snow on the ground during the months when the sun decides to warm up the state of Wisconsin. Thought you'd get a kick out of the land of festivals!!! If you are ever in the mood to go to a crazy festival or two you now know where to come!
Scott and I went to Joshua Tree National Park on Saturday, October 13th. Here are some pictures from our day.
Here are a few of our pictures from the engagement photos we had taken this past weekend. Scott wanted a professional picture to submit to a newspaper in his hometown announcing our engagement. We ordered a few prints as well. It was nice to receive a CD of all the original photos so that I can upload them to my blog to share with you and save them to my computer. Hope you like seeing them.
Last weekend, Mom was here for a visit and we went dress shopping and talked wedding plans. It was fun to try on about five or six different beautiful gowns and compare them. They were all very pretty, but I'm still deciding. I'd like to go again with some friends to another bridal store to check out some other options as well. We also drove around for a while and I showed her part of Beverly Hills and Hollywood. Here are a few pictures below...
On Sunday night, we were going to get together with Tammy, Colleen, and her mom for dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Pasadena. When we got there, the table was biggger than I expected and there were flowers on the table. They surprised me with an engagement celebration by inviting a few friends and getting me flowers! It was really fun to celebrate with the girls and to have mom there made it even more special. They asked me to tell the engagement story of how Scott proposed. It was fun to share memories of the day with them. Thanks Tammy and Colleen!!! Here are a few pictures of our fun evening...
Today, Tammy and I went to David's Bridal to look at bridesmaid dresses. There weren't too many that we liked, but it was fun to look at some different styles and see which ones look best. We took some pictures of the ones she tried on (not necessarily the colors, but the styles... they didn't always have the right size, color, & style so sometimes we when with another color just to see how the dress fit). Here are a few options. You'll have to wait till April 12th to see if one of these made the final cut or not! Besides, I have to talk to the other bridesmaids to see if they would go try a few on as well for comparison.
So, that's all the wedding and life updates I have for now. I won't see Scott for another month so in the mean time we're hoping to get some things done and planned over the phone. He'll be visiting again on the weekend of October 13th. Can't wait to see him again soon.
Oh, for all of you who live in the Wheaton area.... I'm coming to visit the weekend of October 26-28th so let me know if you'll be around or would like to get together. Hopefully I'll see many of you at WBC on Sunday morning that weekend! Looking forward to seeing you again soon.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
So, here's the story.... I met Scott Wharry on Eharmony, an online dating service, last May (2006). We emailed for a few months time and then started talking on the phone last Fall. In December, he asked me out on our first date the same day that I told him I was moving to L.A. He was very sweet and supportive of my decision even though we had never met face to face. He said that he wanted to meet me before I left town. I was very happy to do so since he seemed like such a wonderful guy during our email conversations and phone calls.
On our first date (December '07) he took me downtown to Chicago. There was an instant connection that we both felt. Usually first dates are a bit awkward, but Scott made me feel very at ease and we had a blast. Our second date was less "date-like." I was getting ready to move and Scott offered to come and help out in order to spend some more time together before I left town. He very graciously offered to help me clean my condo so I could get it ready to sell and move my stuff out to CA. So, he came over and helped me clean out my kitchen. Not your typical second date, but it was so nice of him to come and help me out. I took him out to dinner to say thank you for cleaning! Our third date wasn't very typical either since I was getting together with family in Wisconsin before moving (to say goodbye and celebrate Christmas). He joined us for dinner and to say goodbye since I was leaving the next day. He asked if he could come visit me in CA and I said yes. I was very happy that he wanted to continue to get to know me.
Since then, he's been coming to visit me once a month and I've been to Wisconsin a couple of times to visit him as well. We've grown in our relationship through phone calls, emails, and visits. Scott is a very sweet, thoughtful, sincere, and wonderful man who loves the Lord.
This past weekend (Labor Day weekend) Scott was here visiting again. We went to the Hollywood Bowl on Friday night for a concert and picnic. On Saturday he had planned a surprise day and took me to Catalina Island. We drove down to Long Beach where we boarded a boat that took us across to the island. We got off the boat in the city of Avalon and spent the day there. It was a gorgeous day. First we had lunch at a French Cafe. Then we walked around the shops and beaches for a while. He took me on a submarine ride to see some fish. It was cool to see the fish under the water. Later on as we were sitting on a beach he asked if someone would take our picture. He came back and started telling me how much he loves me and that he wants to spend the rest of his life with me. He got down on one knee and proposed. I was so overwhelmed by his proposal. I said yes and he gave me a beautiful princess cut diamond solitare engagement ring. The pictures don't quite do it justice. It is very pretty! After that we went to a very nice Italian restaurant for dinner. It was fun to talk about future plans together and enjoy a beautiful evening outside.
We are hoping to get married at Wheaton Bible Church in April (if the church has an opening that month for a wedding). I will be moving to Madison, Wisconsin (where Scott lives) in late November. I'll get an apartment there to be near him while we plan the wedding and prepare for married life. So, looks like I'm coming back to the Midwest! Madison isn't too far away from my older brother and his family in Milwaukee and also not too far from the friends I have in Illinois, so that is nice to have friends and family nearby. Wow... so much has happened in such a short amount of time. It's been truly a blessing to have Scott in my life. He is an amazing man and I am so happy that I will get to spend my life with him.
Here are some pictures from our weekend....
(Click on the pictures to get a closer look at them and scroll through.) Hope you enjoy them. It was a very fun week.
