Finger bling

So Jacob and I are engaged now! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not that I didn't know it was coming. I think EVERYBODY knew it was coming. Except my mom. And that was our plan the whole time, believe it or not. We actually started shopping for a ring back in February. He bought the ring in March. But he waited until now so that he could properly ask my dad's permission, albeit in the men's restroom of a country club. Nice.
Oh, and congrats Mom!

Miami was fun, although it rained the whole time. CONGRATS TO DR. JOCELYN HUNERDOSSE!!!

Happiness

I love everything right now. Everyone and everything.
I need to come home more often. I miss home.
We're not sure about those puppies---they're Gordon Setters, which are a lot like Belle, who was an English Setter, and not Australian Shepherds, but they're $500 a piece. That's pretty pricey for a backyard breeder in Minnesota. But I don't mind.
MIAMI TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ted Devenue Freestyle

The song is actually "10th Avenue Freeze-out." But I thought it was about a dance move created by some guy named Ted Devenue.
Whether you're a Bruce Springsteen fan or not, he's absolutely incredible in concert. Once you see, you just like him. I always enjoyed him before, but now he's just plain awesome. Also, as young girl who struggled with insomnia, I watched a lot of Conan, so it was just short of a life-long dream to be in the same place as Max Weinberg (although his son had to fill in for the first part of the show so the E-Street band could practice shows without Max, since he'll be starting with the Tonight Show pretty soon.) Anyway, I completely enjoyed myself. And Jacob had a great time too.
We were all set to buy a border collie puppy today, but found out that it had already been spoken for after we arranged to go meet it. Just for fun, we still went to go see the puppy. He was really, really fat, but sweet, so I'm sad that he won't be my puppy. But it was fun anyway. Plus, we found out that another Hormel employee will be selling Miniature Australian Shepard puppies in a few months, so we'll probably be going that route now. If you didn't know (and we all know that I would know), Australian Shepards are very, very closely related to Border Collies, as they probably came from the same original breed. And after reading up on them, they sound exactly like what we were looking for---energy, affection, and intelligence. And since they're miniature, they'll be a little easier to handle, only weighing 20-40 lbs. So I'm making Jacob contact this guy tomorrow, because I don't want to lose another puppy to someone else.
I love puppies.
ONLY 2 MORE DAYS UNTIL VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the last time I posted, I was blissfully unaware that my beloved dog of 12 years had died that morning. Jacob was gracious enough to clear his schedule for the evening and comfort me. If you're not a dog person, it's a hard thing to understand. Luckily, most of the people I work with are crazy about animals, so I got a lot of hugs and comfort there. I'm still just shattered. Belle was the most beautiful dog in the world...to me, anyway. I told Jacob, "That dog has been better to me than any person in my life." Not to offend anyone, but it's true---dogs never say anything cruel or hurtful or do anything mean or neglectful. They just love you. And Belle loved me. And I loved her. It's been a week, and I'm still crying a little bit about it. Hopefully our future puppy will ease the pain. The silver lining is that Jacob is willing to consider an English Setter now.
I'm really enjoying the nice weather, but I've got my annual spring cold. It happens every year. The problem with this one is that it coincides with a) the swine flu, and b) me teaching an art project. It's one of those colds that mostly involves a sore throat, which is just awesome.
Also, one of the most troubled kids just moved into our class. Luckily, she's doing well so far, and she really likes art. And I haven't been punched in the face yet! We'll see how long that lasts.
I'm looking forward to Miami so much right now. I really need a break; I've been so crabby lately, mostly because of my dog, and I need to get away before we go through all the craziness of moving.
Oh, speaking of moving---I bought a new dining room table! NO MORE UGLY TABLE! I found it on Craigslist, actually. A guy in Rochester was selling the table, 4 chairs, and a buffet, which included a wine rack, all for $650. He even hauled it to our apartment for free! And I bought it all myself. I'm so proud of it. I can't wait to host dinner events.
That's my update for now.