Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Engaged 3 Years Ago....

No, not like Pam and Roy from The Office. We've gotten married since then. :-) The engagement date was a surprise. We'd picked out our rings 2 weeks before, and the ring guy said they'd be ready in 3 weeks. What I didn't know was that he pulled Mark aside to tell him that they'd be done a week earlier, so that Mark could spring it on me before I was expecting it. 

The weekend before, we drove home to WA for a couple days so that Mark could meet my parents. That was a lot of fun, and very sweet when my dad gave us his blessing before Mark had even mustered the courage to ask him. I know my dad knew Mark was right for me, and there was no use wasting time. :-) After getting back home, though, I had a horrible week because I realized I was doing really badly in 2 of my classes. I knew I couldn't catch up, and it was too late to withdraw, so I decided to just fail them, retake them the next semester, and focus on my remaining classes and wedding prep. So Mark had a good reason to take me out that Friday afternoon, November 9th, and I wasn't suspecting anything serious, even when he blindfolded me during the driving. I figured it just added to the fun. So he blindfolded me for an hour and we ended up at the Hogle Zoo! Yay! And it was so magical... 

I knew this zoo trip would be extra special because one of the first things we saw was this poor little monkey with the worst case of hemorrhoids. It was dangling 2 or 3 inches!!! At first we thought it was something else, haha!
Across the way from hemorrhoid monkey was this cute little family. Aw!
The zoo trip became even more awesome when we witnessed a zebra taking a big dump. We were mesmerized.
We got a closeup of the rhino. That was pretty cool except that he wasn't killing anything; he was just eating some grass. Oh well, I guess I can't be wowed ALL the time!
This rhino was way more fun!
"Don't tell Mark I said this, but I think he's kinda cute!"
Okay, I wasn't really that surprised, but I did think it was pretty neat to see an albino alligator!
What can I say? We had fun playing with the gorilla.
In case you don’t know birds, this one is feeling a little pissy. He did not like Mark! He was alright with me, though. Haha! I wish we’d gotten video.
“Am I not turtley enough for the turtle club? Turtle, turtle, turtle!”
Snapping turtle. They always look grumpy.
A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.  – Bernard Meltzer
Being born in a duck yard does not matter, if only you are hatched from a swan's egg.  -Hans Christian Anderson. Mark's a manly man. He won't be offended if I call him a swan... right?
This duck was the cutest thing ever!

So precious! He didn’t even care if I didn’t have food - he kept pecking at my hand. Keep your eye on the duck in both videos, he is so cute! Proof that ducks can be awesome.
 


My FIRST foxes in person! Bat-Eared foxes, and they were sleeping right next to the window. I just sat and stared at them for so long… I wanted to cry. Highlight of the day! (Thus far…)
I have my own pictures somewhere of the grey fox we saw, but I don’t know where. I wish I could take credit for this picture – he’s beautiful!
No ring… yet! I think Mark wanted to take a picture of me for that reason, and I had no clue. ;-)