ok, so it's been a month since I've blogged again and boy do

I have a wonderful reason to start typing today. : )

some of you have heard the news but

I don't think all of you have~ 

have you?

    eric is engaged!!!!

um hmm, that's right

ENGAGED!

eric is 37 you guys. 

he was a self professed "bachelor for life".

we'd all heard him say many times,

"i'm never getting married".

when he was invited to a wedding, he would say he was going to a funeral.

funny, but not that funny.

he dated quite a few girls over the years 

***he actually holds the prestigious guinness book of world records

as the guy who attended the most CHS proms!

*five i think?   ; )

this was possible because he started by dating a girl older than him

and ended by dating a girl younger than him.

it's a favorite family joke but I digress...back to now.

there was just never anyone who was "the one" and as the years went on

I think he really began to feel like finding his soul mate wasn't in

the cards for him, so it was easier to say he was never getting married and

he seemed pretty content being single.

for the past 3 years eric looked for a house to buy.

(if you live in the twin cities you know what a competitive market it is

and how hard it can be to find something.)

all he really wanted was a nice big garage for all his stuff and a little house

for him and his yellow lab, duke. 

in that order.

last march he finally found it and he bought it and moved in the 

middle of april.

the weekend of may 5th was my birthday and eric was

at our family cabin by himself. he called to wish me happy birthday.

 after we'd talked for a little bit he said

"well, I wasn't going to say anything yet, but I met someone and

i'm soooo excited!!!!

then he proceeded to tell my all about this girl that he'd met the week before.

they had seen each other about 4 times already.

they lived 45 minutes apart and that made seeing each other 

a challenge. especially on "school nights".   *which is what

i will forever call mon-fri. nights.

I think we talked for 45 minutes....he told me every little detail he knew about

this girl who he couldn't even believe he was seeing. he said that after their first date,

when they said goodnight and walked to their cars, he was completely star struck

but knew he'd never see her again.

I asked why and he said 

"because she's way too good for me".

well, fast forward again to the fact that if i'm any kind of

story teller at all, 

that wasn't true.

: ))

I think lightning struck for both of them that first week and

it wasn't long before corinne moved into that

cute little house with e. and duke and brought another pup into his life.

 (lily, her golden retriever who's now the boss of their pack.)

summer went on and corinne grew weary of making the long drive to her job working nights at a hospital in the northern suburbs and working weekends. she applied for and

got a job as a therapist in a school closer to their home.

eric never stopped smiling.

corinne is a wisconsin girl  (a big packers fan).

eric loves hanging out with her family.

some of her family hunts and fishes too.

YES!!!

(***bonus points corinne)

c's been in the army and she taught school for 10 years before going 

 back for a masters in psychology.

she has adorable little nephews and a niece.

(***add a bunch more bonus points- they both love kids).

i guess her dad teases and her mom sounds lovely.

so in november eric and i were talking on the phone and he let me in on

the big secret that he'd been ring shopping and was going to propose!

i was thrilled for him and excited to be in on the surprise.

obviously i knew it was going to happen then, but didn't know when so

when we got a group text on jan. 30th with a picture of two red-faced happy people

who were smiling through their tears,

i cried too.

it's been a month since she said "yes" and the two of

them just got home last night from an engagement trip to the dominican.

lars said this about adria and chris at their wedding:

"they have a quiet contentment with each other"

and that's what we see with these two too.

~it's all we've ever hoped for for our kids,

so our hearts are happy.

just this week in punta cana

father's day. corinne was meeting eric's siblings. he's a goof ball and even though this is blurry, i love when he makes her laugh!

july. eric's birthday at the cabin

lily  (lil, lilleth)

c. probably isn't going to love this picture, but i do. they are in the kitchen of their little

casa on a hot summer day when she and i made salsa. a whole lotta salsa.

eric came home from work and helped us add more of the peppers from his garden.

oct. hanging out with new nephew cj, who was 2 weeks old.

dec. the girls and i decorated Christmas cookies.

jan. 30th. this was the way we all found out 

it happened!!

*news flash:  paul bunyan, minnesota's most eligible bachelor proposes".

cj's baptism last weekend.

(he was about to taste frosting for the first time.

shhhhhh~ do not tell his parents!)

: )))

congratulations and love to the two of you,

we're so very happy to have you as part of our tribe 

corinne!

(also known as quinn, a nickname her little nephew started and i love.)

i hope you never stop smiling like this.

xo, b