Will You Marry Me?

Quite possibly the best question that I have ever been asked!

On December 23, 2010, Jonathan planned a very special date for us.

The proposal story:

We were driving down to Wickes to spend Christmas with his family and we stopped in Hot Springs for "date night." He first pulled off at the Arlington Hotel and we went inside and looked at the very large gingerbread house that they make every year.

He got a very strange phone call and said we had to go outside. Awaiting us outside was this beautiful horse drawn carriage. I have always wanted to ride in a horse drawn carriage and he set it up special just for me.

It was very romantic. The weather was chilly and we rode around downtown Hot Springs under a blanket in this cute carriage.

We ate at Outback Steakhouse and he rushed me through dinner. He said that we had somewhere that we had to be. That place was Garvin Gardens. He researched and found out that they have the 2nd best rated Christmas lights display in Arkansas. For those of you who don't know I LOVE looking at Christmas lights!

We walked around looking at all of the lights. The train was Jonathan's favorite.

Then we got to this super cute bridge and he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!!

That is our first photo as an engaged couple (hence the hand on check action)

And this is my new gorgeous bling! I absolutely love it! It's hard to tell in the picture but it is so shiny that I look at it all the time!

Since I have been at mom and dad's I have gotten a lot of planning done. Definitely more than most people do in their first week of being engaged, but mom is super excited and wants to get to do as much with me as she can. More pictures will come as planning continues.

Wedding checklist so far:

Fiance- check

Dress- check

Date- check -- JULY 30, 2011!

Ditto that

I thought this was so funny! They had a sign that said "ditto" pointing to a house that was fully decorated! Lights in Conway are way too much fun! There is a house that has so many lights and decorations that you can't even get to their front door. And another street that the lights flicker with music that you can change your radio to that station!

I love Christmas!

Graduation Day!

Today was my undergraduate graduation! Now I have my Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences with an emphasis in Occupational Therapy. Quite a mouth full but it is mine and it will be proudly displayed for all to see! Three and a half years of hard work have paid off.


My beautiful roommate also graduated!The photo above is my family and Jocelyn.
Below are my parents, Jonathan, and his parents.


This is me right after graduation. My kids brought this amazing sign
and held it up so that I could find them. I don't have pictures of me with
them on my camera because my dad took them on his. That means there will
be more to come whey they upload them at home in a few days.


Graduate school here I come! 18 hours in the spring plus clinicals,
cleaning houses, and watching kids. It will be great!

Christmas with the kids!

I know I rave on about how wonderful the kids I watch after school are, but they are the best kiddos ever. Their last day of school this semester was Friday so I surprised them with a treat after school. I brought their gifts that I made (a picture at the very bottom) and we made a gingerbread house.



They did such a great job sharing and decorating. We only had one container of the icing so they had to be very patient but they made me proud.


This is our end product! Cute right!? Jack was sad though because it only stayed up for a few minutes and then it fell to its doom. ha


All my kids got a sign with their name on it and different shapes to hang in their rooms. They really seemed to like them, I was so glad!

Their beautiful smiling faces are the best gift I could have ever asked for this Christmas. I love the Karl's and the Smother's dearly!

And finals are over!

We had our last undergraduate final yesterday morning. So glad that is over!

We spent the afternoon getting our nails done and having lunch.

My first day of no classes and homework I spent with beautiful children.

This sweet girl is Lyla Jo. She is a precious 7 month old whom I babysat today.
Then I had the pleasure of going to this handsome first grader's Christmas party!

I got to join Mrs. Lakey's Christmas party for gingerbread men making, pizza, and 7 year old smiling faces.
This is Jack's gingerbread man and other healthy snacks.
And this is his class! I LOVE elementary school classrooms!!


My night will be spent making Christmas gifts, watching a movie (in hopes that I will cry!), and doing nothing that even slightly relates to school. Oh how I love breaks from school!!!

Day 30

Day 30! - A photo

These beautiful people are the Karl's! :)

I get to spend my afternoons with these wonderful children. The photos were taken at Jack's violin recital on Sunday. He played better than I'd ever heard him play! It was beautiful. He makes me so proud!


Gracie dropped her time during her swim meet this weekend! Way to go Gray!



Denise had a birthday on Monday! Happy birthday dear!
I love this family so much. They are too good to me!


I finished my very last undergraduate final this morning. I am officially a college graduate... How weird!! Mom and dad come tonight and I'm sooooo ready to see them!!!

This completes the 30 day challenge! It went by so quickly and has made me enjoy blogging even more. I think I will keep up with it more now. (hopefully...)

Day 29

Day 29 - 3 Wishes

I didn't know how to approach this so I decided to take it on the joking side (obviously if I could really have 3 wishes come true they would be a lot more serious than this). So I'm going to write this as a letter to Santa, it seems appropriate for this time of year.

Dear Santa,

I think that I have been very good this year (please don't ask my mother... she might say otherwise) For Christmas this year I would like:

An iPhone 4.. b/c who doesn't want to face-time their best friend! :)



A day at the spa. I sure could use a nice day of relaxation... or just one service.. haha



A pair of Toms. They are so comfortable and cute! And they help out a good cause. :)

Maybe this pair? :) In a 5 and 1/2!

I'll leave out milk and cookies in exchange for the above.
Safe flying. See you in 13 days!

Day 28

Day 28-Something that stresses you out

I thought it was funny that this topic came up this weekend while I'm out and about shopping instead of studying for finals... Quite appropriate! Occupational therapy school stresses me out! There is always more to do then we have time to complete. So we sacrifice sleep, social lives, and sanity for 3 years to get this piece of paper that says we can be occupational therapists IF we pass this really hard test that they give at the end.

I really do love school and I cannot wait to be an occupational therapist. This is going to be a busy week but I just keep telling myself that in 4 days I will be home free for a month with a bachelors degree under my belt!


The above book is the one that my nose should be in as I type :)
And the one below consumes all too much of my time!


I will begin my studies soon.... ha!
Wish me luck!!

Day 27

Day 27-Pets

This is my baby! Junior! We got him when I was in high school. He is a sweet sweet dog! He is very cuddly and a friend to all. This is the only item of clothing that he owns but he looks cute in his Razorback gear! :)

Day 26

Day 26-Picture of your family

Well... I feel like you've seen most of the pictures I have of my family that are on my computer so I'm going to alter this slightly and add some pictures of my church family :)

Day 25

Day 25-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

1. Rascal Flatts - She Goes All The Way
2. Trace Adkins - Metropolis
3. Reba McEntire - I Wish That I Could Tell You
4. Brad Paisley - She's Everything
5. Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me
6. Tim McGraw - Do You Want Fries With That
7. Keith Urban - Live To Love Another Day
8. Matchbox 20 - Real World
9. Dierks Bentley - Come A Little Closer
10. Mat Kearney - Girl America

Mostly country... A few others mixed in... :)

This is just the iPhone selection.

Day 24

Day 24-Something you’ve learned
We never know what day will be our last so we need to appreciate every day that we are given and live it to the fullest.

Day 23

Day 23-Favorite vacation

I am a big kid at heart. Although I don't remember a whole lot about it and have no pictures here (they are with mom and dad) I have great memories of the Disney cruise that we took when I was younger! I got to go on my own and see the ship and have adventures. It is also where my dad made an amazing air hockey table players out of me. We played a lot and I got pretty good. That Christmas I got an air hockey table of my own. It was a blast!

Anyway... Two summers ago my family went to Disney World. Mom, Dad, Zoie, Zackary, and I went. We made wonderful memories. Our resort was very nice. Mom and dad got their own room and us kiddos got our own bed (THREE!) in our own room. The sleeping situation was very nice. We went on rides that I was terrified to try and I really enjoyed them. There was a lot to see and fun shows all the time. My favorite part of it was the safari. I loved getting to see the animals up close. :)

Day 22

Day 22-Favorite city

New York! I loved visiting there! As previously mentioned in a blog post, we went on a mission trip up there two spring breaks ago. It was fabulous. I'm not a city girl but it was a great place to visit! The service project was a blast and getting to see the city was a lot of fun!

If you plan to travel there I recommend going to see a show on Broadway. We didn't and I really wish that I had. Go to Time Square, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty! It is all wonderful!!!

Day 21

Day 21-Picture of yourself



Just a few over the past year.

Day 20

Day 20-Nicknames

20 days down! 10 to go!

I am not a big fan of the topic today lol but I'll share anyway.

Jack likes to call me "Rose-o"

My grandparents and parents call me the dreaded "Rosie"

Jocelyn prefers "Baby Beluga" and "Smalls"

Then there is the infamous "Roselyn" aka Rose+Jocelyn

I think that's all... :) Obviously I'll answer to almost anything

Day 19

Day 19-Something you miss

I miss my parents! Growing up I never appreciated all the time I had with them and all of the work that they did for me. Now that I'm older (ripe old age of 21 lol) I miss them so much and sometimes wish that we could go back to the days when I crawled in bed with them during a storm. I miss sitting on my daddy's lap and mom's cooking! I miss the house decorated for Christmas. There are many things that I miss about how life used to be.

This picture is from my high school graduation party. I thought it quite appropriate considering I'm about to graduate from college!!

Love you mom and dad! (Can't wait to see you!)

Day 18

Day 18-Something you regret

My grandmother passed away December 27, 2009. I regret that I didn't spend more time with her. I wish I had called her more and told her that I loved her more. If I could do it again I would visit, call, send cards, make sure she felt my love everyday.

I am trying to avoid feeling that regret with other people that I love. I want to know that I did everything I could to let them know that I appreciate them and love them.

A short story of my time with Grandma Wood:

When I was very young both of my parents worked and I spent much of my time at her house. She was retired but able to take care of a spunky two year old (number made up b/c I don't remember...) My grandfather worked and my sister started preschool so many days it was just the two of us. Oh how she loved to spoil me! We would get a candy bar or a coke almost everyday. We ate out way too much and the had a goal to make this skinny child gain weight (this included ice cream!).

She told great stories, played with me, and had a pool in her backyard! We watched Barney, Sesame Street, and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. Oh it was so much fun! When my family moved away, my sister and I would go and spend two weeks of summer break with her. Mom would complain when we got home about the spoiling that occurred. As I got older I spent less and less time with her. She got sicker and did not always know who I was. I wish that I had made an effort to be there for her and my grandfather more.

I miss her everyday.
Love you Grandma Wood!

Day 17

Day 17-Something you’re looking forward to



Oh! I'm looking forward to Christmas! (Christmas break first!!)

December brings so many exciting things this year. I am graduating (gasp!) and turning 22 (double gasp!!)
I get to see my family for an extended amount of time, which doesn't happen often.
I LOVE Christmas lights and Christmas decorations. I've already put up my tree and driven around looking at the lights some in Conway.
I love giving gifts. I love wrapping them and seeing people's expressions when they unwrap what I picked out or made for them.
Christmas season seems to put everyone in a better mood and it is my absolute favorite.