We're Engaged!

Walt Disney World has always been a wonderfully magical place for CJ and I, and this trip was no less an exception. We left for "the World" they day after school let out. This trip had Joe and Cousin Shaun coming with us, and Joe's Mom (Julie), Step-Dad (James), Sister (Madeline), and Nephew (Mikey) flew down mid-way through our trip to join us. It was on Tuesday, June 16th that the most magical of all days occured. It was around lunch time when the boys and I were walking from our resort villa to have lunch at the resort restaurant. We had been attempting to meet up with Amil, our Disney Vacation Club rep, while on our trip - but to this point we hadn't been able to get in touch with him. On our way to lunch there is a preview center for the Vacation Club, and Joe said that he was going to stop in to see if he could catch Amil. I said I would come with, but he insisted that I go with the kids to start lunch, and I agreed cuz let's be honest when it is over 100 degrees outside, it is easier to agree than insist. So, off we went, and as Joe promised only a handful of minutes later he joined us. Joe explained that he was able to talk to Amil, but unfortunately it was brief as he had just arrived in his office from out of town, was super busy, and leaving to go out of town again the next day. Joe said to keep my phone handy though as Amil had promised to call. Just as Joe said it would happen, my phone rang and it was Amil on the other end apologizing that he would not have time to get together with us to take us out for ice cream. Amil did however explain that he had a surprise set up for us, and that we needed to be at Cinderella's Castle at 4pm, and "look like we're looking for something." Ok, so anyone who knows me and my zest for Disney trips - I have a plan for everything for every day. I know which parks to avoid and on which days and at what times... and though the Magic Kingdom is indeed my favorite of all the parks, I know instinctively it is going to be stroller hell at 4pm - I really didn't like the idea of being in that park that early. But, hey! If it means I get my ice cream, why not. We did have reservations at the Liberty Tree Tavern at 530pm that evening anyway. So, I kinda dragged my feet about it, but agreed to go. We returned to our villa and Joe announced that he was going to change into a cooler shirt. Imagine my surprise when he pulls out his nice button down shirt and starts to iron it... I asked Joe, "what are you doing?" to which he replied it was the coolest shirt he had. I was like, ok fine whatever. But then he is in the bathroom shaving--- now I am upset! As I said to Joe, I was still in the same clothes that I had been sweating like a pig in all day, my hair is piled on top my head, and now I was going to look like trash and he was going to look great. Now I felt like I had to change, and I didn't really want to! Thankfully Joe is patient, most especially when I am about to throw a fit. He suggests that I put my dress on because it would be "cooler anyway". And I know that he is right, but I pouted anyway because putting the dress on meant fixing my hair, and I really really had no desire to do either. Joe's persistence won out (as usual) and I changed and curled my hair. In the mean time Julie and James were headed out to the Magic Kingdom and had said they would meet up with us after our dinner. I was an inch away from telling the boys they could go without me, but finally, the boys and I were on our way to the castle. When we got up to the front the cast members were busy roping it off as there was an afternoon show coming and they were also preparing for the night parade. Joe freaked a little wanting to know how we were supposed to get in the castle if it was all roped off and I told him we had to head around the back of it. We arrived in the back of the castle, and just as I predicted it was indeed stroller hell, crying hot babies, whining fighting sweating parents - and Joe again freaked a little because 1/2 of the castle was again blocked off. I tried to remain calm as I again explained there was going to be a show. Keep in mind at this point I think I am the only one aware that there is a restaurant on the second level of the castle. Joe said he was going to try to find someone who could help us figure out where we were to be, the boys followed him, as I waited at the back entrance. I was so mad! I can remember thinking that I just wanted my ice cream and to get out of the chaos. That's it just give me my ice cream so I can be on my way! Well, Shaun came running up and said, "hey Carrie - Julie and James are here!" Ok, this is the one moment where I will admit the wheels started spinning in the direction of, "hey - what's wrong with this picture?" I mean, I knew they were in the park, but what were the chances that they would be here... So, I follow Shaun inside the castle and sure enough there they were and I was like, "hey what are you guys doing here?" Joe is so slick! He was Johnny-on-the-spot with, "I told them about our surprise and asked them to meet us here!" Went right over my head, I was like oh cool! Great! Joe says then that we get to have our pictures taken with Cinderella - that was all I needed to improve my mood! Pictures with Cinderella is waaaayyyy cooler than ice cream! I was so impressed with our DVC rep - what a surprise this was I thought! So, Madeline and I had our pictures taken - it was a lot of fun for us both! By this time it was getting close to us having to head in the direction of our dinner reservations, so I was like ok guys time to get movin'. But Joe said, "the guy said we were to wait to be seated upstairs." I was in disbelief! I was trying to grasp why we were so lucky that our rep would get us reservations at the castle for dinner, a place both difficult to get ressies for on top of expensive. The whole way as we climbed the curved stair case to the restaurant, James was going on about how cool this was, and sorry for hanging on our "coat-tails" but it was too cool to miss, and that maybe they should think about joining the vacation club if this is how they treat their members. I ate it up, I was in total agreement - I couldn't believe how lucky we were and was saying how much I would have to thank Amil. We were seated and had a nice dinner as well as an entertaining show by the Fairy Godmother and Cinderella's mice friends, Suzy and Perla.
When we had our pictures taken with Cinderella, the photographer had told us we would get 2 packages, and as we waited for our dessert, I noticed the photographer to my left which in turn reminded me that only one of our 2 picture packages had been brought to our table. Joe was sitting to my left and I turned to tell him we needed to catch the photographer about our other package. As I came back around a covered plate appeared in front of me, and I said more to myself than anyone else, "What's going on?" It was our waiter, who had been standing behind me but I never noticed. He lifted the cover of the plate as he said, "Did you order this princess?" he revealed this: James said I made a funny noise and that is when he realized he was missing the action as he tended to Mikey. It felt like the whole room had gone silent. Poor Joe was expecting the ring to arrive after dessert, so he was struggling to get down on one knee, in between our chairs. It didn't matter - my answer was yes! Can you see everyone in the background applauding?

This man really knows me - I had never told him what a dream it would be to have him propose at WDW, muchless at Cinderella's Castle!

After all of us had settled down, Julie explained the special family connection to this heirloom ring, and the story of her childhood connection with her grandparents and Disney World brought our connection full circle. I was so honored that she was willing to share with me this part of her family.

Pictured below is Joe and I with his Mom, Julie. She was instrumental in helping Joe plan the wonderful proposal. She had enlisted the help of our disney travel consultant Tammy to re-arrange our dinner reservations among other things.

CJ was happy, estatic actually... though judging by the mean mug he is wearing in this picture, you would never know it! lol!

and then we got our dessert! A white chocolate slipper with chocolate mousse on a sponge cake pillow, with berries. The words and decorations were all in chocolate syrup. I am sad to report that we never had the chance to actually eat it though...

And I can't forget Joe's favorite part of the story. As we were wrapping up our dinner at the castle, several other guests had come by and wished us congratulations. There was one gentleman who walked up to us and said that his 19year old daughter was too shy to approach us but he wanted us to know that what Joe had done had made his daughters day. He said that his daughter hoped that she would have someone surprise her as well someday, but she said that if I didn't tell Joe yes, that she would take him. lol! Just barely engaged and there's still girls trying to snag him! Sorry ladies - Prince Charming is all mine! (And he really is Prince Charming - did you know that not only did Disney use the German version of Cinderella, important to both our heritage, but in the opening scenes Prince Charming was hunting a deer! Unfortunately those scenes were cut from the final movie, but knowing it is enough for me!)

For all those wondering - we have indeed set a date for the wedding. We will be married on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 --- go ahead... ask me why a Tuesday.... Well 1st we were engaged on a Tuesday, but most importantly it is because we are getting married in Disney World! (and they have weddings every day!). We are going to be booking everything September 25th, and would love to hear from anyone who wants to join us for the wedding! We will be returning to Wisconsin on Friday, May 28th, and on Sunday, May 30th we will be holding a special repeat of the ceremony followed by a reception.

Spring Review

Spring had definitely flown by for us! But before I get to the really good post - the one that everyon has been waiting so patiently for, I figured that I would take some time to review our spring happenings! Easter was beautiful, as it was stressfull. With Dad's heart surgery on the horizon at the time, we needed a distraction. The Easter Egg Hunt at Mom and Dad's was a lot of fun! Haley looked adorable in her new Easter dress, and CJ was dashing in his suit that he has been getting a lot of use out of. Even Shaun and CJ got into the spirit of things and

searched for the eggs hidden just for them. Though a little joke played by Sarah helped liven up the hunt for CJ a bit more than expected!

At the end of Spring Joe's cousin Travis, and his wife Nikki, host a Memorial Weekend Party that re-knowned in East Troy as being The Party of the year. With live music from the country artists David Marshall Band people come from all around. CJ enjoyed some ladderball competition with his friend and neighbor Brady.
Joe showed off his special TRV's Pub t-shirt. His status as a pub regular earned him a shirt with his name on it - thanks TRV!
Travis gets the bonfire started! Joe had been waiting and working months for this fire by collecting 50+ christmas trees just for this occasion.
This spring Laura and I attempted to kick off our goal for a healthier lifestyle, so we headed down to Chicago's Millenium Park for the workout of our lives!
Chicago was host to SELF Magazine's workout in the park, and with the added bonus of seeing Biggest Loser Star Trainer, Jillian Michaels, Laura and I bought our tickets and headed south. Though we never did get to see Jillian, we definitely had our butts kicked working out. Despite the mud, it was cool, and we had a great time! We plan on returning next year.
Before our field of a lawn was trimmed for the first time, we had a pleasant surprise in the form of this tulip that randomly sprung up in the back yard. Joe's sister, Janelle, reported that she too had the same phenomena in her yard, and it was determined that it must be their Grandma Marilyn's way of letting us know that she was still with us.
After the appearance of Grandma's tulip, Joe and I were inspired to attempt a garden of our own, and we bought ourselves some seeds, a starter kit and off we went. Everything started out well, the seedlings seemed to be taking off...
but to date we have one stalk of corn, no beans, some onions, some baby carrots, and the tomatoes, peppers and pumpkins have all died off... We will try again next year!

8th Grade Graduate!

On June 10th CJ's took his rite of passage, by participating in East Troy Middle School's 8th Grade Graduation Ceremony. It was a wonderful event. After we went over to Lauber's for some celebratory ice cream (Grandma and CJ stand outside the parlor). Pictured below CJ receives his 8th Grade Diploma from his homeroom teacher, Mr. Parr, who predicts that CJ, "will go far" CJ stands with classmate and neighbor Kayla (who swiped CJ's fidora) and later with his longtime friend and classmate Timmy.

Progress

Small changes have been happening at the house. Because we are not going to finance any of the remodeling of the house, we are doing small projects here and there. Currently Joe and his good friend Danny have been working on replacing all the cast iron plumbing and preparing for the installation of our water softener and laundry appliances (that have been patiently waiting in the garage). Joe worked hard one weekend and put in our camp fire. Eventually the the stone will lead a pathway to a deck off the back of the house. We have enjoyed the nights sitting round the fire with family and friends roasting some smores and counting the stars.

On Mother's Day, Joe's Grandpa Walt surprised us with a great present. Joe and I had just been talking about how we could cut our lawn that was actually more like a field. We sat down to dinner with our parents, sisters, and family and wondered where Grandpa was - he was late and Grandpa prides himself on being timely. In the middle of dinner we hear this noise, CJ comes running in the dining room to report that Granpa Walt was outside... on a tractor? Sure enough! Grandpa had fixed up a tractor for Joe and I and drove it almost 2 miles from his house to ours! I caught a couple pics of Joe mowing the lawn, like the happy homeowner that he is. Cj has been making good use of the fire pit as he has become more social. Below CJ enjoys a campfire and smores with his friends on the last day of school.

Homework with CJ

CJ and I had a little fun the otherday as we are both studying the in's and out's of Photoshop. CJ had an assignment to manipulate pictures and so we sat down together to get it done. I think our results were pretty cool. This first one is part of CJ's 8th grade portraits I took this past fall at Mukwonago Park. We made the colors pop out and then texturized it with a tiling effect.

The next is again from CJ's 8th grade portraits this fall, but at Rainbow Springs. This one was a lot of work in that we had a lot of layers and adjustments. The effect was to make the picture look like a sketch. What do ya think?

The final image we worked on was a fun one! We took a picture of the Flying Dutchman, the movie prop that is at Disney's private island in the Carribbean, and merged one of CJ's fall portrait pictures to it. It is a hurried attempt, but I think we achieved our end goal of making it look like CJ is standing on the boat...

This is how I know he loves me!

I know Joe loves me when he shakes me awake at midnight, and as I look over my shoulder I see the orange belly and the little legs of a baby painter turtle just a-going! Yes, my love brought me home a turtle!

His name is Leonardo "Pudgie" (because he has a fat head) Davinci. Joe and CJ built a little beach and ramp for him. A warning to all worms - not unlike the TMNT's, this little guy will bring you down! He is hilarious to watch!

So, continuing with my theme: I sat down the other friday to have lunch with my little neice and nephew, Haley and Mikey. As I sat there "talking" with them and looking at my little kitchen (imagining what it will one day be) my gaze falls upon our refrigerator that is askew with the letter and number magnets the kids play with. Well before my love left for the day, he left me a message on the refrigerator. Let's hear it: "awww"! (I know! ain't he the best!)

We are sitting still with the house for the most part right now as we are uncertain what the future holds. Joe has been very fortunate that he has survived 3 layoffs at WI Oven, but if our economy doesn't come around, there are no guarantees. We feel that we can "survive" with our home the way it is until thing pick up. We may make little improvements here and there, but there is no hurry and we are happy with it as it is.

Workin' on my skillz

As many may know I have changed over from majoring in Education, to trying my hand at Graphic Design. As a part of that program, I have been spending a lot of time trying to figure out Adobe's Photoshop. If you want to see my progress, view my scrapbook pages at:
http://www.scrapbookflair.com/caribear76

The pages here are part of my class assignments, and some are just for extra practice, enjoy!

Cha-Cha-Changes!

It should be obvious by now that I am playing catch-up with this already! Last night I posted about our new home, and today I thought I would give a peek into the things we have done since our closing January 23rd. Our house came short a few necessities. But, keep in mind it is almost 100years old, and it had been in the same family for that long! That being said, we realized that some things just don't change. For instance, our bathroom came with a tub - but no shower. The kitchen has a wonderful walk-in pantry, a itty-bitty little sink, and one appliance hook-up. That's it... no countertops... no cupboards... nothing else. So, the first project to be completed was by Joe and Grandpa Luedtke, to add the shower in. It is an interesting arrangement, as there is a full-length window right in the shower/tub area, added to the tiny problem of the tile not running the entire length of the area that gets wet. Joe came up with the brilliant idea of having not one, but two shower curtains to cure the window problem and most of the wall issue. I find that I discover something new every day in the old house of ours. For instance, the first time I took a shower I noticed the seahorse image left on the wall. Apparently they were in place for so long the paint faded around the wall-hangings. The next project was to give us a little bit of workable space in the kitchen. Joe and Grandpa Walt hung the cabinets that Joe's Mom gave us. Joe's cousin Josh helped get the cooktop hooked up, and Joe and CJ installed the countertop and shelf for the convection oven. With the tidy purchase of our refrigerator and the cooktop, we now have a mostly functional kitchen. We are short an oven, but no loss right now as everyone knows I am not a great cook by any means! While the boys were busy working on the kitchen, I was busy trying to put the pantry back in order. We had to remove part of the shelving and wall in order to put the shower in next door. In addition we removed the beadboard doors and partitioning as it just wasn't functionable. I love the beadboard doors however, so they will be moved into the mud room/laundry room. I spent some time removing linoleum and sanding the peeling paint down. After a trip to Dollar General I came up with a system to organize our food and dishes. I am pretty proud of my handy work! Keep in mind that all of these changes are temporary until we do the official make-over! The boys also took to the attic and re-installed wiring and some lighting. The original had to be removed prior to close as it was of the knob & tube variety (yeah raise your hands if you know that dinosaur term! lol!) and there was a lot of open splicing. Last on our list was a mailbox... uh huh - you heard me. So, apparently for the last couple of decades the little old lady who lived in our home had her mail hand delivered! It took us about a month to realize that we didn't have a mailbox! So here it is in all it's glory! Joe says it is the one with the detroit lean!

"It'll Wear Off..."

That is what we keep hearing from everyone! As I excitedly shoveled our driveway and sidewalks... at least 6 different times, our neighbor said, "it'll wear off, you'll get sick of it - houses are work." Oh boy! But it is work we look forward to! Joe and I bought our first home together on January 23rd. This 100year old house is the next step in our life together, a goal we had set for ourselves last spring, and we couldn't be more excited! Though this picture is from the listing, you can see the charming porch on the front. That is where Daddy and Joe's Mom met us the day we closed on the house. I don't know that I have words to describe how it felt when we pulled into our driveway for the first time with them standing on the porch to welcome us home. So, this is it! Our home at 1925 Division Street in East Troy.
Though we were aware the home was celebrating it's 99th birthday this year, we had no idea the history of the home, nor the special connection it has with Joe and I both. The saying, "It's a small world," could not have anymore truth to it in this case. The home was placed on the market as a result of an estate sale. The seller was the 3rd generation of the original builder. His grandfather built the home in 1910, and it was later passed on to his mother who lived there to her late 90's. We were aware that there was some disagreement among the relatives over the sale of the home as we had gotten it for a steal. Going into the closing was nerve wracking because we were aware of that tension. As Joe and I waited with the seller and his daughter, he told us where to find the spare key, and was so worried that we check the oil tank for the heating because he knew it would be running low. His daughter asked if we were keeping the skeleton key locks on the doors because she collects the keys and would like to have it if we were not keeping it, thus opening up a conversation that Joe and I agree helped them feel better about giving up a piece of their families history. We explained that though we plan on updating the home, our goal was to keep in place as much originality of the home as would be possible. Mr. Ottow and his daughter Debbie shared with us stories of sleeping in the attic and growing up around the home. It was as I was telling them about my fascination with our local history, and my disappointment that I found so little about our house, that Debbie asked where Joe and I were from. I still laugh when I recall her reaction to finding out that Joe was the nephew to her high school best friend, and that I had gone to school with her sons. At that point it seemed as though we had busted down the wall of tension and moved into a circle of people that cared very much for the same thing - this old house. I can feel the tears well up in my eyes when I think of Debbie insisting on giving us hugs at the end of the closing, and the warm hand shake from her father. Many people who grew up in this neighborhood and, have viewed the pictures, recall that the last owner was an AVON lady. If that is true, it is yet another connection for me... because I sell AVON too! Our little house will be undergoing some changes in the years to come, and we look forward to having everyone come out to see it! If you would like to see more pictures, check them out on my FaceBook or MySpace profiles. I am trying to get a web album together soon as well!