I AM ENGAGED!

As of last night, Tuesday, March 13th, I am engaged to the love of my life, Derek Jordan Howard! I am the happiest girl in the world and am so excited to have the priviledge of spending the rest of my life with the man that I love!

Here is the story: Derek came over for supper, and then we discussed our plans for the evening. He wanted to do something, and not just stay in because it was a beautiful day out. I saw him go and talk to my dad. . . and then the thought crossed my mind, "hmmm, I know what they're talking about, but when will it happen? not tonight. It's a weeknight, and I don't think he even has the ring yet." With that, we got ready and headed down to South Street in Philly. We walked up and down and stopped at Cosi's, a cute little coffee shop. We enjoyed some desserts together and decided to walk around Penns Landing. It was getting pretty late at this point, and my feet were a bit tired from teaching all day and walking around all night. We sat down beside the river, looked at the lights on the boats and bridges and enjoyed the beautiful weather. After a little while, Derek asked me if I wanted gum. You're probably thinking, why is gum so important to this story, but you'll see why in a minute. Derek hands me the orbit gum pack. I open it up and it felt hard on the one side. I told him that there was something stuck in the pack. He looks in and realizes that the ring he tried to hide in the gum pack for me to find, I had got it stuck. Well, he got it out and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! And of course I said yes:o)

We are getting married July 28, 2007. . . so save the date! Here are some pics of us last night and my ring!

the long awaited update

After the evening service last night, I went over to talk to some friends of whom I have not talked with in a long time. They complained that I have not updated my blog, since that is there source of information on the happenings of the world of Sharon. So here is my long awaited update, to keep my readers happy and entertained.

Since last posting, many things have happened, and I'll probably forget some of them in the midst of typing this post. Basketball season has ended, and I have notified the A.D. that I will not be able to coach next year. I have prayerfully thought this through, and I know that in order to put into teaching all that I wanted to and spend quality time in my relationships, I needed to let go of something. I will miss my cheerleaders and the fun times I had with them. I enjoyed getting to know each one of the girls, and see them grow through out the season.

Derek's family came for an 8 day visit, which went smoothly. His family met my family, and all seem to get along, which is great. I am glad that they had the opportunity to come up here to Pennsylvania from sunny florida.

My nephew, Luke Taylor, got saved, which is a huge blessing and answer to prayer! You can pray for Audrey, she has had some health issues come up, and the doctors are unsure of what is causing it. They thought it was some kind of seizure, but the tests were clear. She goes in for an MRI soon, and she has to be put under. It makes my sister a bit nervous for her 18 month old daughter to be put under, so I ask prayer for her as well.

Teaching has been going well. We started the looooooooooooooooong process of learning how to write a research report. . . You can pray for my sanity. From now until April 18th, that is all we are doing. . . learning the writing and researching process!!! At the end of it all, the effort is worth it, but in the midst of the storm it seems endless.

Well, that's a brief update on life for the past month or so. I hope that satisfies all curiousities:o)

The picture at the top is another one of Derek and myself after church one Sunday, and the picture on the bottom is of the flower Derek gave me for our 5 month anniversary. AND to answer all questions, no, we are not engaged. . . YET:o)