Second time's the charm!

It was 4 years ago to this day Mike proposed to me. If you know anything about my past, then you know that we broke off our engagement about 5 months later but are still dating. How he proposed: I came home from school to this large box at the top of the stairs:

I was tried and hungry, so I walked around the box, ignoring the sign. About 10 minutes later I decided to open the box. Inside was Mike in a suit. He had been waiting inside that box, sweating, the entire time. He proposed right there from the box. Well this morning, when I rolled over to look at the clock this is what I found on my night stand:

 

I happily obliged the instructions promptly this time! Shall we open this mini box up and see what we find? Yes we shall:

And of course this whole time Mike was sleeping. He was up till about 3am last night making this little surprise for me to find this morning when I woke up. Oh, and as the commercial goes "He went to Jared!". This is the originally ring, obviously unworn for the last 3 1/2 years. These pictures really don't do it justice since we went and had it cleaned today at Jared (Thank goodness they have some in Florida!). Here is is this morning on my finger:

 

While we were out and about getting my ring cleaned, we decided to stop over to Target because we received a hot tip from my Aunt that there had an outdoor patio set on sale for $99. Mike and I want one for when all our company is here so they may enjoy the glorious Florida evenings/nights. The box (sorry for the glare):

Mike of course wanted to assemble the table tonight. So here he is working on it the the back room, but this picture is also enticing because you can see the sweet futon frame we got at Habitat for Humanity Restore (note: the mattresses that are on there right now do not go with it, we still need to buy a nice one for our guests):

 

And just for fun we stopped over at TJ-Maxx where Mike bought himself his valentine's day present:

 

A Cuisinart grind and brew coffee pot (on clearance for $39!) and a huge bag of Starbucks coffee beans for $16! We already tried it out, hence the condensation in the carafe. (Hello KitchenAid peeking out from behind the coffee!). I also found these wedding invitations (print them yourself):

 

I know it's early to start planning and we aren't going to be having a big wedding, most likely a destination wedding to, where else, Florida. But it was a very good deal: 30 sets of invitations with ribbon and stickers for $10! So I bought 2 (just in case).

On to the food! My Aunt Lorri brought some homemade crab cakes that we had as an appetizer:

 

Very good for using imitation crab meat! And the main course, au-gratin potatoes (from a box, I know, I know, but Grandma sent them down and I thought they would go good with lobster), lobster tails, and clarified lemon butter:

 

The lobster was sooooooooooooo good, even without the butter! Definitely a good buy for our Valentine's dinner. Dessert was just those little brown velvet cupcakes I made on Friday. 

And, finally, I took some pictures of the sewing desk my Aunt' sent up to me. Apparently it was my Great-Grandma Ruth's. Here ya go:

 

 

  

They took the old sewing machine out, so Mike and I are going to try and rig it for my sewing machine as well as add wheels to the bottom so I can roll it from room to room. Thanks Aunt Lorri and Aunt JoAnn!

Until next time, please enjoy this photo of me holding a water monitor named Sally when I used to volunteer at Malone University in Canton, OH :