The Proposal

A couple of my blogging buddies said they wanted to know more about the "I was proposed to on a softball field" fact from my last post. Since the 1 year anniversary of this event just passed not too long ago (April 13) I suppose a commemoration is in order. The day after we got engaged Bryce wrote a note on Facebook explaining how we proposed. I think it's a lot funnier in his words so I'm going copy and paste and let him tell the story. He titled this note "How it went Down."

Bryce, you're on...

"Hey friends as you know me and McKenzie have FINALLY taken the big step and are engaged to be married hopefully on August 25th in the Newport Beach Temple, I just wanted to say thanks for all the support and love it means a lot, so here's how it went down. Lets start with Tuesday, I drove to downtown LA picked out and purchased the ring all by myself in less than an hour, I should give Claude the Armenian a shout for giving me a killer deal. Wednesday, got permission from McKenzie’s mom and dad, yeah, scariest half hour of my life, but I walked out alive. Friday its a beautiful day so we went to the park with Bailey (my dog) to play and throw a softball around, one of our favorite past times. So I go to the mound and start pitching the softball to her, after five or six times I purposely threw the ball over her head, as her back was turned to me I grabbed the ring from my pocket and hide it behind my back. As she threw the ball back to me with one quick motion I put the ring in my glove with the ball so she couldn't see it. I then told her to "get ready for the greatest pitch in the world", she said something like "OK cool hurry up" so instead of throwing the softball back I threw the ring box with ring inside it, needless to say she was caught completely off guard as the ring flew threw the air landing harmlessly in her glove, so I ran down dropped to the knee and the rest is history. And that’s how the proposal went down."

Pretty funny huh? I told him that it was pretty creative especially because there aren't many girls who would be overjoyed to be proposed to on a Softball field, but I was. Oh and by the way, it was Friday the 13th!

This is the field in Rossmoor

This is what I got (Notice the board shorts I'm wearing... I really wasn't expecting anything besides some softball in the park)

Bryce right afterwards... so happy!

And as he said, the rest was history.

Ev and Whit, There's No doubt in my mind that THIS had something to do with it.... :)

You really wanna know?

So I tagged to write 100 facts about myself (by the beautiful Sherri :) and I'm pretty sure I'll have a hard time getting to 100, so I'm going to shoot for 50....Here we go...

1. I was born 2 weeks early b/c The doctor was going on vacation.
2. I'm Friends with the daughter of the Doc. Who delivered me (Erin Lam)
3. I found her at the ElDorado singles ward.
4. I hate Mustard
5. Chocolate is my best friend, and my foe.
6. I was an extra in the movie space jam.
7. The movie "The Freedom Writers" was about my high school.
8. I was in Drama all 4 years in HS
9. I was one of 3 mormon kids in my class.
10. I Love "The Breakfast Club."
11. My paternal Grandfather was in the Mafia
12. I never met him. The Gandfather I did know was an Awesome Greek Man (hence Matsagas).
13. This makes doing geneology a little tricky.
14. When I was little, all my friends had pink Barbie bikes... I had a bright green Power Wheels ATV
15. It was awesome
16. I've played Softball for 13 years
17. I was Proposed to on a softball field
18. My ring was thrown (or pitched) at me.
19. I can't walk on those sewer grates in the sidewalk... It freaks me out.
20. I'm Half Sicilian
21. So is Rachael Ray
22. That's why we look alike:)
23. My other half is some Euro-Trash. Which is a mix of English, Danish, and a little Scottish (Thanks Anne Marie :))
24. At 5'3'' and 3/4'', I am the tallest female in my family.
25. I won by default b/c my oldest sister is paralyzed and in a wheelchair.
26. Otherwise she would be 5'8''
27. I could live on potatoes and icecream
28. I love to cook
29. I didn't have any family members at my sealing.
30 My friends ARE family.
31. I'm a convert.
32. I had sister missionaries and wanted to go on a mission.
33. Something else came up :)
34. I call my mom everyday
35. My parents are by far my biggest fans.
36. My mom came to every play I was ever in and always sat in the front row.
37. I dyed the tips of my hair purple once.
38. My parents are old.
39. I love to run.
40. When I was little I was really scared of Alf
41. He gave me nightmares
42. Then Kennedy would tease me.
43.Then I would punch Kennedy.
44. Then I would get in trouble.
45. Now that I have lived in the snow, I've lost my childhood love of it.
46. My grandma's maiden name is Tomotio
47. I hate that McKenzie is a popular name for little girls now.
48. I would rather be hot than cold any day.
49. I buy a new pair of Converse all-stars before each new school year.
50. Without facebook, I probably not be in touch with some of my favorite people.

Ok so some of those weren'y really "facts" but, hopefully someone found that interesting.

Post-Vacation Post

New York was a BLAST! I don't know what else to say, it was just amazing. We did SO much in our short time there and had a lot of fun. The thing I usually don't like when traveling is that feeling of being a blatant tourist. But in New York, the though never even crossed my mind. We saw all the sights; Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Ground Zero, Wall Street, Central Park, Broadway, Times Square, 5th Ave., Yankee Stadium, The Brooklyn Bridge.... Everything! We even learned that there are 175 Starbucks in Manhattan alone! Everything was fabulous and it was even better to be there with Bryce's parents and brother. We love them so much and they are a lot of fun to travel with! Upstate New York was amazing as well. We saw so many of the early Church history sights, it was amazing. The Second Wedding reception was great too. Even though we didn't know any of the NY people it was still a good time. We are still just pooped from the long journey and already back in school!!! Time sure flies when you're having fun. I do have to mention that Bryce and I probably ate more in the last 10 day than we have in our entire lives so now we're launching our own biggest loser seeing as competition is the biggest motivator for both of us. Anyway, I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

Times Square

Yankee Game!
Subway Ride... Christy was kinda scared :)
Ferry Ride
Central Park

Some Wizard dude in the park tried to talk to Ryan

I was reunited with Anthony, my dear friend from high schol who
lives in NY and is a make-up artist


Manhattan Temple

On top of the Empire State Building

Typical New York

Any "Office" fans? We drove through Scranton, PA on the way to Upstate NY. It was Magical

EB Grandin Printing Press, where the BoM was printed

Sacred Grove

Standing on the Hill Cumorah

Moroni Statue

Erie Canal

This is where the 2nd Wedding reception was...

Ryan trying to get into the Out house

Whitmer Fmily cabin
aww:)

George got Steph GOOD this time..
Still beautiful :)

Mid-Vacation Post

So I'm at my Grandma's house in North Haven Connecticut right now and have been itching to post something. First of all, since Katie identified me as an Internet model, and those of you who haven't see in a while and are thinking "what the heck?" Here's my latest pic with short, dark hair. I should give Erin H. a shout out because she was part of my inspiration :)

This is from Steph's Wedding which was awesome! Everything was SO beautiful and SO much fun! She really did a great job planning. Here are a few other pics....

The day after the wedding we had a family gathering at the house to celebrate Sean (sister's BF) and Clayton's (nephew) birthdays. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone and just hanging out. I can't believe how old my nephews are getting. They're almost adults!

Kennedy and Sean

Mitch, Bryan, and Clay

Me and Ken... I'm taller ;)

Moving right along....this is what we've been up to in good old CT.....

To me, New England = Lobster. I have loved this particular shellfish since I was a little girl. So, of course, we had to stop by Glenwood's and get Lobster rolls. They were soooo delicious! The whole time we were there, my dad was reminiscing (aka, dating himself) about how back in the day you could get a Lobster roll, fries, and a soda for 3 dollars...

Me and Dad at the beach... a little different than the West Coast Beach... We also went to this famous Pizza place where we saw a fight break out, Sopranos Style. It was over a parking space and I quickly grabbed the camera and started to film. It was so funny and Bryce was surprised to find out that this sort of thing actually happens. I would post it but as you can imangine, their language wasn't exactly clean....

Then, Since my Grandma's house is about 10 min for Yale University, we went and walked about the campus. That place is an Architectural Masterpiece! Everything was Gothic and historic and just gorgeous.

If only.....

So this is our mid-vacation report. The next post will be all about NEW YORK!

New Camera Lovin'

So I'm excited to say that I have finally updated my technological status and bought a new camera. Let me back-up and say that I would absolutely DIE without my camera. I guess that's because I'm not a great journal keeper, so I take pictues of EVERYTHING. I'll take this time to pay tribute to my old camera. When I bought it almost 3 years ago, it was a brand new, amazing camera. It's been good to me over the years, but when I realized that it bears a strong resemblance to a brick, I knew it was time to move on. I'm planning on giving it to one of my nephews when I go home this weekend since it still is a perfectly good camera.

Now, on to the good stuff. Introducing the new Canon SD1100 PowerShot. It's and 8 megapixel camera and I am in love...

Now, a tribute to a non-material possesion... Bryce has been working so hard to get good grades on his finals and he's done well so far, so I made him a treat when he got home from the library last night :) I am very pround of him and his dedication to his school work. We know all his time and effort will pay of when he's applying to law school this fall. Way to go Bryce!