Summertime Sadness

It's my ritual at the beginning of every school year to wistfully look at pictures from the summer. It's okay, I love my job, I love my kids, but saying goodbye to summer is so, so hard. Plus Brian's been playing Lana Del Ray on vinyl so I got that Summertime, Summertime Sadness up in here. I babysat all day long during the summer, so it wasn't quite the total sleep-in-until-noon laziness that one might expect a teacher on summer break to exhibit, but it had its amazing moments nonetheless.

There are a few days of summer that I'd really, really love to relive. Here are just three of them.

This was the only photo snapped on a day trip to New Buffalo, Michigan. Reese, Danny, Brian and I headed up there (thank the Lord for summer schedules and free Thursdays!) and spent all day in the sun and water. The Warren Dunes have officially become my favorite beach within a few hours of our place. We spent all afternoon bodysurfing (or attempting to do so) and laying out. This is also where I started the last book in my big literary adventure with my friend Harry Potter, with my number one Harry enthusiast friend and encourager, Reese. When I think of a carefree summer, I think of this day. 

Ah! This day was so wonderful. This is the day that one of my favorite people on earth, Melanie Rae Lawrence herself, was asked to marry the handsome and wonderful guy of her dreams. She of course said that yes she would. I can. not. wait. for their wedding in May. She deserves every bit of happiness and warm fuzzies that she gets. 

 

Oh hayyyy Tayyyy! Okay she told me that I could call her Tay Tay. She did. I'm not kidding. We're friends now. She gave me relationship advice, friendship wisdom, and generally blew us all away. Couldn't have asked for better compadres for this adventure. I know there are a lot of haters out there as always (and best believe they gonna hate, hate, hate), but I could not have been more impressed with her live performance. Taylor, we'll be seeing you again in 2017. Just keep bringing it back to Chicago, friend. You can count on Karley, Mel, and me to be cheering for that throwback performance of You're Not Sorry, Fifteen, and Fearless that the little 11 old fans won't be old enough to know. 

Ahhh. Three fantastic days. 

Completely, Perfectly, and Incandescently

(If you've made it this far in this blog post, I'll go ahead and apologize for being gushy. You might want to avoid talking to me for the next few months if you aren't a fan of gush. You'll notice the title is a Pride and Prej reference, which is a clear indicator that I'm feeling sentimental. Reader beware.)

A week ago, Brian proposed.

A week ago, Brian PROPOSED.

A week ago, BRIAN PROPOSED!!!

That's how it sounds in my own brain, at least, as I get a grip on the new reality of my life in these past seven days. I know now in a heady, cognitive-sort-of-way that I am engaged to Brian Whartnaby, but the heart-feeling-kind-of-understanding hits me in surprising and happy waves. 

I've always felt the need to have a small independent streak, feeling slightly proud of myself as I attended the weddings of 20 of my friends and family over the past two years with a very blank left ring finger. It gave me a small sense of accomplishment that I lived my life, followed my path, and made plans on my own. I was not about to be settling down nor was I about to settle. My first year out of college seemed to me like The Year of First Dates, full of nice and well-intentioned guys (plus one or two Shady McShadesters) but full of guys that didn't click. I went out with some new people I've never met before, and even talked to some old friends and boyfriends that mutually wanted to start talking again. Nothing felt right. Nothing felt like it fit. A bunch of really nice guys with no room for me in their lives. Sometimes that was a relief, sometimes that was sad, and sometimes it was just okay. But, then, of course, The Year of First Dates continued when Brian called me up. I had just decided to stop progressing things with another person and Brian called me for a first date two days later. It felt sort of quick, but I thought to myself, "Here we go. No harm in going with a nice guy on a First Date." Well he was more than just nice, and the rest, as I suppose they always say, is history. 

Somehow, this kind, smart, thoughtful, talented, sweet, and handsome (I could go on) guy kept asking me to hang out over the past six months until last Sunday when he asked me to marry him. He took me back to the spot  right where we first met, at Timothy Christian in the hallway in front of the counselor's office. (You can get that story from me anytime) After he proposed, he had arranged for my whole family to be ready and waiting at his parents' house with his family for a celebratory toast and lunch. When my hands stopped shaking and I got a moment to look around the room, I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with gratefulness for the family I have and the family I'm joining.

Today I caught a glimpse of the ring on my left hand and got a sudden smile on my face. Not because Brian is perfect, or because I am perfect, or because we have a perfect relationship, because he's not, I'm not, and we don't. But as I look forward to this new year that's coming I have to say that my past compulsion to be independent has changed in a small way. I still want to do new things, see new places, and follow new paths, just this time, I want to do all those things along with him. Why? I suppose it's just because he's the best guy I know. 

After The Year of First Dates, I'm so glad that he called. 

Family and Football

I am writing this post from the lovely Washington D.C. at the moment. Wedding festivities for Alex and Heidi are in full force (yay!) and I will be posting about that surely when the extravaganza is over. For now, I want to share one of the many many reasons why my family is cooler than your family. Just kidding! But totally serious.

First off, MY VERY BEST FRIEND GOT ENGAGED! My cousin, roommate, intramural teammate, therapist, partner-in-crime, and sort of sister Karley Mae got engaged last weekend to her college boyfriend named Sam. He is an awesome guy, she is an amazing girl, and I could not be happier. Let the wedding madness begin. I'm sure there will be more wedding planning event updates as I get to help her get ready for her big day :)

Secondly, here are pictures from our family Fantasy Football draft, the day after Karley's engagement. Can we just establish how great it is that my grandma and grandpa co-manage a fantasy football team together? My cousin Jason was the mastermind of this event and coordinated us to come together and choose our team. I am STILL majorly regretting not choosing Aaron Rodgers as my #1 pick, but I was feeling extreme peer pressure from FF experts to choose a running back first. At the time it seemed like a good decision, but now I'm just hoping next year I'll have another chance with getting him on my team. The festivities went like this:

Rudi and my aunt Karen

The final picks. 

Happy girls

The happy couple

The prestigious trophy

Things can get pretty rowdy at VanDrunen family gatherings.
Good thing we had these signs to remind us to keep it in line. 

Sister Sister

(Shout out to wonderful childhood television shows!)

Well. I've been HOLDING BACK on this one in SEVERE DIFFICULTY. 

There's something you should know about me. I love the social media. I've kind of been a Facebook freak since I first signed up during my junior year of high school. Pinterest ruled my life during finals week. I watch WAY too many videos on Youtube (this one happens to be my latest favorite). I'm still waiting on LinkedIn to magically find me employment after graduation. I joined Twitter a little over a year ago and nothing brings me joy quite like a long, well crafted hashtag.

#IfyoudontgetthatlaststatementIguessyoulljusthavetojointwittertoexperienceitonyourown.

Which also leads to the fact that I keep this thing that you're reading! Yes, a blog! So when something big happens, I immediately want to follow in the tradition of putting it out there to the world by means of thirty-seven different outlets! But I patiently waited for the green light to share this piece of exciting news:

My brother Alex is ENGAGED! To HEIDI! 

Which means I GET A NEW SISTER! 

Ahhhh. That felt good to proclaim. I had to chill out on the overshare to allow them to tell the good news themselves. I got the call last weekend at Taylor University (this is the down low on that weekend) in the middle of a Spanish cooking session. To describe the volume of my jubilation on hearing the news on a scale of pretty to very loud, I'd say it was VERY LOUD.

Aren't they cute?

Alex and Heidi met at Yale Law School (smarty pantses) and both will be working in D.C. this fall. I'd been bugging Alex in an appropriate little sister fashion to get a ring on that girl's finger for awhile now, but alas, he did things in perfect timing on his own, as he has done most of his life. I'm so excited for them and the future that is coming. And I'm also excited for myself because I've been a big fan of this Heidi character ever since she first started showing up in conversations around the house. It's not every day that you add a sibling to the fam!

There. I could finally say it. I feel so much better now.