"Home is not where you live, but where they understand you."

Well I'm still just as busy as I was in the last post.  We had parent orientation last Sunday and it was PACKED! Standing room only, people.  So it was cool to see everyone's family.

Last week was the first time it really hit me that I moved to Texas.  I know that sounds crazy because I've been here for almost 3 months but last week was when it sunk in.  I read a post about giving yourself time to grieve when you move, even when it is for happy reasons.  Then I went to a Rangers game.  The game was good but when I walked into the stadium and I looked out onto the field the only thing I thought was "this isn't Turner Field."  I'm not even that big of a baseball fan, for some reason the stadium just set me off!

The next day I got to see Becky, Chris, Brady and Abby! They had just moved to Texas and I got to babysit Brady and Abby and I asked them to be my ring bearer and flower girl! I'm so excited they are a part of our wedding.  They were great reminders of Athens and it was comforting to see them, but I still spent some time crying on their couch! I felt bad because I was so happy to see them but I was suddenly missing the place they reminded me of!  But I'm truly blessed to have them here in Dallas with me and I love Brady and Abby, they are so cute!

In keeping with the "I suddenly can't believe I moved to Texas" theme I sometimes forget that I'm in Texas.  Except when there are certain things that remind me.  Like I'm driving down a road called FM 1382 or FM 2499 and I remember that the FM stands for "Farm to Market." Because that was the road that took you from the farm to the market...

Or when I go to Kroger and they don't know what hummus is.  Or when I go to the drive-through ATM and I can't reach it because it's 4 feet higher to accommodate trucks.  Or when I go in a building and people are smoking inside.  Or when people at church are [jokingly] told not to talk to me because I'm a vegetarian and a 49ers fan.  Yes, all of this happens on a regular basis.

In DIY Devyn Land I built a bookcase! It was only $30 from Target and I put it together all by myself!  I didn't have the right tools through, so I used my pocket knife and my "Ms. Frizzle" high heels.  It turned out great! I'll have to post an after picture soon but for now here is the picture of what it looked like building it in my little apartment.  You can see in the picture I'm still sleeping on an air mattress in my living room... but as of today I have a bed! Just picked it up thanks to the help of Mr. Buschow and the wonderful website known as Craigslist.

 Those of you who know me won't be surprised by the picture above.

My tools: the screw driver part of my Swiss Army Knife was too big so I used the can opener for the screws.  Now that's resourcefulness! Shout-out to Dorian for buying me that knife in Switzerland with my name on it!


Reflection: I'm going to dedicate this reflection as a prayer to those on the gulf coast.  I remember hearing how bad Katrina was and I remember seeing the water line on the walls at St. Dominic's even 3 years afterwards.  I've heard the area is keeping up ok! I will continue to pray for the people there.  Just the memories that come from their experience probably make them nervous enough.

Lesson Learned:  If you fight with insurance companies long enough, you will finally make progress with your car! Kaiser is in the shop and will be ready sometime next week.  My month-long experience fighting with Liberty Mutual (the insurance company of the man who backed into my car) was horrible, but (hopefully) everything will be over with in the next few days!  My apologies go out to all those I have ranted to in the past weeks!

Moving Along

Things have been pretty busy for me recently!  Faith Formation starts up next Sunday night and I had my volunteer orientation this past week and my peer minister teen retreat yesterday.

I moved into my apartment a few weeks ago and I'm still sleeping on an air mattress in my living room.  But I've been researching beds on Craigslist and I found one that I get to pick up August 31st! Queen size bed with a memory foam mattress and it's a super good deal.

Other than that my amount of furniture has grown to include 2 bar stools (that are almost taller than my counter), a chair from a rummage sale, and the Buschow's card table and 2 fold-out metal chairs.  I also bought two "antique milking stools" from the rummage sale at my church.  I'm going to paint them.  They are small enough for me to sit on them and have my legs fit under the counter where I can eat!

I'm still working on getting volunteers for my program. It's been tough since I'm still meeting a lot of people.  But a co-worker told me that she always tells herself "God wants this to happen." And that He will make sure it happens.  That resonated so much with me I wrote it down on a post-it note and stuck it on my desk to remind myself!

Wedding planning is coming along.  All of my bridesmaids got a wonderful package from me "popping the question" to see if they will be my bridesmaids!  They all said yes.  DUH! My sister is my Maid of Honor!  I also realized that I will have a bridal party with ethnicities from four different continents! I'm going to have the best wedding pictures ever! haha

We also contacted the church in New Orleans where Justin and I met on a mission trip in 2008.  They said we could get married there! I'm so excited.  They were really impacted by Hurricane Katrina and when Justin and I were there we could still see the water line about 6 feet up on the walls of the school. It's a beautiful church with such an amazing part of our relationship story.

http://stdominicnola.org/home/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

July 6th, 2013!

Reflection:  I'm one of those weird girls who only ever imagined her ceremony when she thought of her wedding. Now that there is the reception and so many other things to plan I kind of freaked out for a bit! But now that Justin and I have a date and we know we can get married at St. Dominic's I'm feeling a lot better.  There is a lot more research than I thought in this process! I'd like to thank my friends and family who have been there to help me out and calm me down!

Lesson Learned: This gas station in Texas has a sonic menu right at your pump! Best idea ever!  We stopped here on our way back from Atlanta.

How it happened!

So in case you haven't heard yet, I got engaged!  Justin proposed last weekend when we were in Atlanta picking up the stuff I had left for my apartment.  Here is how it happened!

Surprise! 

We got to Atlanta on Thursday night.  Justin didn't eat anything for over a day! I thought it was strange but I didn't think much of it.  Other than that, I had no hints to him being nervous at all.  He gave me a few hints during the weekend that I of course never picked up on.  When we had talked about engagements before I told him my only request was that he didn't do it when I was sleeping. (You miss the whole proposal that way!) Well he told me that I was going to wake up Sunday morning with a ring on my finger.  I just took it as him teasing me (like always!) He also told me he was going to be really nice to me on Saturday... well that turned out to be true!  He was also texting more than usual but he was talking to a lot of people about the Olympics so I didn't think much of it.

The plan was to meet my roommates for dinner on Saturday night.  I thought I had planned it but apparently Justin was conspiring with Shaleen the whole time! She said she wanted to take pictures at dinner so dress nicely.  That was pretty normal.  We were supposed to meet at 6 but Katherine was running late so we met at 6:30 instead.  A few minutes before we left Shaleen texted me an address to meet at to take pictures.  She said it was a park near the restaurant (Figo's near Northpoint Mall.) So we left and we couldn't find where to park at first so we were driving around and we saw Katherine pass us!  Good thing she got there before us!

We started walking down some steps towards the pond where a nice overhang was. I've seen lots of prom pictures taken there! My roommates were standing under the columns and I was holding hands with Justin as we walked. I saw Shaleen's skirt and I said to Justin "I bet Shaleen told us to dress up because she bought that skirt and wanted to wear it!" (It turns out it was actually her sister's... all of my roommates looked gorgeous!)

We started saying hi to everyone and then all of a sudden Caitlin and John walked towards us from the trees.  That was the first time I suspected something.  We had eaten lunch with them that day so I knew it was too much of a coincidence to run into them there!  Shaleen told me to walk under the overhang and Justin said, "So we aren't really hear to take pictures."

He stood in front of me and said, "So you moved to Texas for me, and that was pretty crazy.  Now I want to give you another good memory in Georgia to take back with you."

I saw him reach into his pocket and I knew it was really happening.

He got down on one knee and said, "Devyn Scheuch, will you marry me?"

I of course said yes!  Then I pulled a classic Devyn.  I went to reach for the ring and then I realized I should let him put it on my hand.  So he saw me stick out my right hand and he started putting it on so I told him it was the wrong hand! He said, "Well then give me the right hand!"

The ring is beautiful!  It was never something I would focus on when I thought about getting engaged.  But it is Justin's Great Grandmother's ring.  It is so special to me that this is a part of his family.

I was so shocked! I looked over and saw Caitlin and Keriann tearing up.  The two things I said first were, "I didn't cry!" and, "Do my parents know?" Justin had asked my parents when I went to my room for a second on Thursday night and he talked to them a little longer when I was in the shower on Friday.  I was excited he could ask them in person. That really meant a lot to me.

We took some pictures and then I started making phone calls.  I called my sister first.  That was when I started crying!  It took me awhile before I could stop shaking and I could breathe normally.  Like an hour!

So then we ended up at Chili's for dinner.  Justin ate a full meal, finished Shaleen's dinner and had a large beer!  He deserved it.  He said, "Well my hard part is over!" He did good.

I'm so happy! I can't believe I'm getting married!  Planning a wedding is kind of freaking me out but exciting me at the same time.  I am so happy that Shaleen, Katherine, Keriann, Caitlin and John could be there.  Justin was so sweet to do it in Georgia for me! I'm so blessed.

I was so lucky to have everyone there to celebrate with me and to document it happening!

Reflection:  So I thought being engaged would feel the same as being a girlfriend just with a ring on.  I was definitely wrong!  I know I've only been engaged for a week but I can already tell a difference in our relationship.  There is something very special about a commitment like this.  I feel like our relationship has deepened and matured already.  We are preparing ourselves for a very holy sacrament and it is starting to show.  That night Justin said, "I always knew it would happen, but now that it actually happened, I can't believe it's really happening!"  I completely agree.

Lesson Learned: When you take your license out of your wallet and put it in your car, make sure you put it back in your wallet. That way when you drive 13 hours, get engaged and try to order a margarita to celebrate you won't sit there in the restaurant wondering where it is.  And then you could also help drive back to Texas, instead of having your fiancé drive the whole way! 

July 28th, 2012!

Afterthought: Looking at these pictures I think about how my kids will look at these pictures and say, "Ewww mom, What is that you're wearing?  What's a romper? It looks like what babies wear!"  And I'll try and convince them it was in style at the time, but they will still look at me like I had on MC Hammer pants or something.