Snow Day

Tim and Co. were in town for the March for Life about a month ago. And we got a snow day. They laughed and made fun of our inability to handle a 2inch snowfall but because of it, we were able to enjoy a snowventure. So I don't hate it ya know?

We went to Eastern Market and, naturally, Capitol Hill Books where Ryan found, and bought, the largest book they sold. So jovial.

So Liz and Chuck were there and Meredith and Vinny and later Augie too. And it was Liz's birthday so HBD toot, toot.

Accumulation of Snow. Minimal for a Midwesterner, HUGE for a District native.

 The beauts.

I don't know who took this picture and I think it's kind of odd. Bus also I like it so there you go.

 Tim and Meredith. See the backdrop of Capitol Hill houses.

 Now Ines and Shannon. See backdrop of NoMa. That is one of the things I love most about this city. We, us three, walked from Eastern Market and dropped off the crew at Union Station and kept walking to Harris Teeter. I love how quickly it changes from historic to modern. And brick sidewalks to construction zones. I love everything that this city has to offer.

 In celebration of Liz's birth and this grand crew we had a huge meal. In my bedroom. Definitely one long meal and a memory that will last me a long time.

Snow Days, keep on coming. I don't always love your cold temperatures but I welcome the closings you bring with warm arms.

Only the Beginning

Friends. It is almost March and now I will wrap up the posts of Christmas break. I feel as if I have been binge blogging but I still have a long way to go. Like super long. So lets go back in time to December 2013. Are you with me? Awesome.

Tim and I were invited to a wedding. The first of what I believe to be a marathon of these Sacraments at this phase of our life. So during the Christmas season, we drove across the state to attend the marriage of Greg and Hanna. It was beautiful. I did a summer of mission with Greg and had the privilege of knowing Hanna through him. The wedding ceremony was so beautiful and they did a truly fantastic job of keeping true the meaning of the Sacrament. And they were able to make that a reality for all those gathered. We were all called into participation of this special day and it meant so much as it was such a spiritual enrichment for all of us, so thank you for letting us partake.

The church was beautifully decorated for Christmas.

And this was our view on the ride to the reception. Most people don't have an appreciation for wide open space but spend a bit of time in rural Midwest and you we begin to see beauty differently.

My date for the evening and many more Receptions to follow I'm sure.

We also had Michael and Lara in our car pool. It was a grand ole time let me tell you.

Love, love, love it and hope you do too. Now lets move on to the year 2014. Better late than never, yes?

Why I Should Have Known

Here goes my *attempt* to capture the weekend of November 1st, 2013. We need to start in July. Tim's in the Glee Club and I am a terrible girl friend who only saw/heard him sing once until his Senior year. Pretty bad right? Don't worry I made up for it Christmas 2013, three in one day. Anyway so in July I was feeling really guilty so I booked a flight for the first weekend of November to go home.

Full tux concert really was fantastic. And do you see my outfit? Because that should have been clue #1 of what was going to happen, but by the grace of God I remained oblivious. Tim told me to dress up. I presented an outfit option to Tim to which he replied, "can you maybe dress nicer?" Smooth hun, real smooth. Then I enlisted the help of Shannon and Ines to find an outfit. They chose a dress and grew suspicious while I stayed adamantly unconvinced.

Clue #2 that I should have seen coming. Tim kept complaining about the lack of money in his bank account. And he works two jobs during the school year and worked all summer so... Oblivion I attributed to the fact that he bought a car, little did we all know.

Clue #3 was the conversation of his mom coming to town. Now Tim left this decision up to me, which I still don't fully understand, and this really should have thrown me. My friends knew for sure (they say) at this point. They hinted at this to me. I was still holding to the reality that Judy wanted to hear Tim sing and it was a special concert for his senior year. 

((So glad you were there with us Judy))

Clue #4 My people. Now they come to me and openly ask me if I am getting engaged that weekend. So, yes oblivious but not out of the blue. This requires a bit of back story. I love Tim, I've loved him since I was 17, known I wanted to marry him since I was 19. Now, at 22, I couldn't wait for that reality. But that became a problem in and of itself. I rid myself of Pinterest as I was singularly planning a future that was not yet foreseeable and due to the advice of my spiritual director, I was waking up every day to tell myself, "Rylee, you are not getting engaged today." Now I know this makes me sound crazy, and that is because I am. And I was. I was taking Tim, in the present sense, for granted always wondering and waiting and counting down to the next step. So, in preparing for that weekend I told myself that repeatedly, mainly because I am crazy, but also because I was going home for Tim, for Glee Club, and a Football weekend, I didn't want to leave a great weekend disappointed because I have unrealistic expectations. So on to my friends, "I am not getting married today," and on the plane, "Rylee, you are not getting married today." And if you say it enough you will actually believe it, and I did.

Okay, moving on to Clue #5: Again, my attire. We went to lunch with Tim's mom and brother on Friday. I made the mistake of asking Judy what she was wearing to the concert. Grave mistake. This is the most I caught on all weekend because she was wearing jeans and all I had packed were heels so umm. Granted they were small heels but still. Finally, Tim had to stop me from complaining my taking me aside and just saying "Please Rylee, will you just wear the dress? I know you're going to look great and then we can take pictures together and keep them because we will both be formal."

 ((I think the pictures turned out great, thanks hun.))

Clue number 6: I know that you guys are becoming more suspicious but seriously I was becoming more convinced that it wasn't happening. And it retrospect everything seems so evident but in those moments, and by the grace of God, I had not a clue. So this clue was when Tim told me we needed to go to CoMo to get part of his Halloween costume from his friend Chris. He hadn't been telling me what he was going to be for Halloween, it was a group costume that was a surprise to me (now I know because he didn't really pick out a costume). While I had to find an outfit to wear that was low maintenance, able to fly with, and could be a quick change from my dress, he still had to go to CoMo to pick up his costume. Sounds believable right? Affirm that I am not crazy please.

7th Clue was when we got to CoMo he led me past the party of people and made me keep walking in spite of wanting to say hi to Caleb to a people-less hallway at the back. He bluntly said, "I lied. We didn't need to pick up my costume, I want to give you your birthday present." Okay, okay I know this one seems so straightforward that I reallllllly should have seen something coming. But my birthday was a week before and on that day Tim told me that he had something for me but it couldn't be shipped because it was more of an experience and he would give it to me when I came to visit. I had completely forgotten about it but when he said it, my first thought was not, I'm getting engaged, but instead, my boyfriend is such a goob why did he need to surprise me with this. Remember, GRACE OF GOD. 

Clue 8 is basically clue seven part two. He lead me into the chapel in CoMo and there were two chairs set up facing a third with his computer on it. He said he needed to send a text when we got in, odd. We spent awhile quietly in the chapel before walking around to the beautiful artwork and complaining about the hideous stained glass. Finally he draws me over to the chairs and says, "Ready for your present?" Of course I am. So he presses play on a slide show of basically all of my favorite pictures put to music of our songs. It was mainly pictures of Tim and I from the past five years but also group shots and pictures of me with my fam and closest friends. All were in there. At this point, my heart started racing and I began the internal dialogue. What if he is really proposing right now? What if he is going to get down on one knee? How will you respond? But also remember my spiritual director so I was also repeating to myself, Rylee you are not getting engaged today (so sane right?). And in doing this I was finally able to calm down. I needed to not be getting engaged. I needed to appreciate my birthday present as it was and not be disappointed if that was all that it was. So for the billionth time, I was convinced that I was not getting engaged.

9th clue he told me he loved me and happy birthday and led us in prayer for a bit before asking if I was ready to go. Sure. But are you just leaving your computer there Tim? Nope his friend would pick it up for him, super weird. As he lead us to what I thought was the grotto. And this actually did make sense because we had just finished praying, we would go light a candle for Mary and head out to the party. See, I still thought I was going to the party so... But he also didn't tell me where we were going. So that was something. He was quiet and I didn't ask.

Clue 10: The final clue before I was sure. We were walking outside in the sprinkling rain and it was dark but off to the left there was a group of people with candles in a semi circle. This was weird, but was it weird? I asked Tim what it was, his response, "Looks like some sort of prayer service or something." Okay prayer service. But why at 10:30 on a Friday night? And why in the rain? And why not at the grotto? All of these things I wondered until they started singing. The Servant Song. And then I knew.

**Hidden Clues: Clues that I could have seen but thankfully missed entirely. Judy's hand off of the bottle of Champagne to Tim's roommate Sam. Tim getting his mom to rush his family out the door. A box in Tim's left pocket. A party of proposal singers waiting for us to pass. Not actually heading directly to the grotto. All of these things I find out later of course.**

Christmas time in the Suburbs

A riveting selection of pictures detailing the remainder of my two month delayed Christmas Break. 

((when I enlarge these pictures they get blurry 

so squint your eyes to see the small ones and scroll and scroll and scroll some more))

Real Life Love Actually: Welcome Torey Edition

4 seesters; the actual greatest. Happy New Years Eve from Torey's obnoxious sweater.

And I finally got to see my Maid of Honor after her semester abroad, way, way, way too far away.

Happy Christmas. My family liked to remind me that it was my last as a Magee, freaky fast.

My girls and my barn. Are you excited for August 9th? Are you jealous of my best friends? Do you wish you had their curly hair? Me too.

Finally, Tim was initiated into the family when his car became a water delivery vehicle. Welcome Tim, glad to have ya.

From Tim-- Part 3

Here it is, the one for real this time.

Part 1 | Part 2

            Fast forward to October 31^st and Rylee was flying in to the South Bend airport. That Friday, Nov. 1^st, there was a lot going on and I wanted to make sure Rylee got the full experience for a game weekend. We made sure we saw everything and the entire time I was on the verge of hysterics because I was so excited for that night but also really worried I/one of my friends might blow the surprise. But they were solid as rocks (as Tirza later put it, “all I was thinking was ‘YOU’RE GETTING ENGAGED AND YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW IT YET!!!!’ so I just had to get out of there before I told her myself!”) while I somehow managed to hide my nerves until she wasn’t around. At 5 we went to the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center for Glee Club ‘Open Rehearsal,’ something we do every Football Friday. But this week it was in DPAC because we had our Fall Concert that night. Everything was normal until at the very end our director Dan said, ‘Tim why don’t you conduct the Alma Mater tonight.’ Normally clubbers do this when we sing tour concerts in their home towns, but being from South Bend, Dan decided to let me take the reins, which was perfect because Rylee, my Mom, and a boat load of aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins would be there. (We kept it a secret from my Mom. As Rylee predicted, she died.)

            I basically made Rylee leave after rehearsal, giving the excuse that she had to go home and change (she fought me for 2 solid weeks prior to the night protesting that she did not need to wear nice clothes. I tried to convince her that she would really care about what she was wearing that night without giving away that it was because there would be pictures she would have for the rest of her life taken later that evening). In reality, I was just too nervous and couldn’t be around her anymore. Thanks to Sam and Alex for bearing with me during dinner to make sure I actually ate food instead of just shaking at the table. The concert went off without a hitch and after talking to everyone who came out to see me, I went back to grab my things and the ring and realized this was it. Rylee and I walked out to my car and I put my things away. She thought we were going to a Halloween party at my house so I told her we needed to walk to CoMo to grab part of my costume from my friend Chris. Underneath a borrowed umbrella in a light drizzle, we crossed campus while I nervously tried to make small talk and was freaking out that she could totally feel the box in my jacket pocket and how could I have been so foolish to have put it in my left pocket and not my right pocket!?!?!?!

            Finally we reached CoMo and walked past the Folk Choir reception taking place inside where I saw my fellow conspirators waiting for the signal. We went into the chapel and, just as I had planned, my friends had set up my laptop and two chairs in the center of the room. I sent a quick text saying we were inside and that my friends should head outside, then set up the laptop to watch a video I had made of pictures of Rylee and I from across the 5 years we had been together. To keep suspicion at a minimum, I told her it was for her birthday which had been earlier that week. After the video we prayed in the chapel for a minute and then I told her I had something else to give her. We walked outside and started heading toward my favorite bench on campus. As soon as we walked outside, we could see a group of people to our left with candles and when she asked what was going I on I shrugged it off as a prayer service. However, as we got closer, we started to hear that they were singing something. A few more steps revealed they were singing the Servant Song, my favorite liturgical song and one of the most beautiful descriptions of self-giving love. At this point, Rylee realized what was about to happen and kept trying to stop walking and asked repeatedly what was going on. However, determined not to saying anything, I just kept walking and pulled her along with me. When we reached the bench, my friends, with Grotto candles in hand, finished their verse and I turned to Rylee. I told her how incredible the past 5 years had been, that I loved her and wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, and that I could not wait to start a family of our own. With that, I got down on one knee, took out the ring, and asked the love of my life if she would marry me.

            And she said yes! Amid the cheers of friends gathered round my mind went blank and I suddenly could not remember which finger the ring was supposed to go on so I sort of just held it out and let her pick. I had prepared a special candle for us, with “Rylee and Tim November 1, 2013” written on the side. After thanking everyone for coming and getting some of the best hugs of my life, Rylee and I went to the grotto and lit the candle and left it there. After a few minutes there and a few more deciding who to call first, we decided to walk to my car to get out of the rain. We tried FaceTiming Torey but given the time change between South Bend and Dublin she was obviously asleep. Then we called Mrs. Magee, my Dad and Katie, Michael and Mallory, Alex and Rosemary, stopped in to wake up her family (none of whom actually woke up) and accidentally woke up my Grandma Lois while telling my Mom and Rose. The rest of the weekend was a blur of phone calls, quick visits, and retelling the story over and over until we had finally told everyone that we wanted to hear directly from us. After that, it went Facebook official and, 444 Likes later, the rest is history.

Detailing the rest of the Ludington Trip

So... now that we are a month and a half removed from this life I figured that I would binge blog a little and finally catch everyone up on what has been happening in life. So we had new years and then snowmobiling. Now for the rest of the trip to the great white north.

In the summer, Grandpa's Garden is a sight to be seen. In the winter, it moves inside.

Isn't he the cutest? Afternoons with him are a wonderful thing.

I know that this picture is dark. you are not looking at him. Look at the car behind him. Not the red one, that monster is ours. his car. It has a lawn chair cushion on the windshield, weighted down by two bricks. Thinking ahead for the next time it snows. Adorable.

And a House of Flavors lunch with great people and the best ice cream.

Snowmobiling at the Ritz

After experiencing a *Snow Day* in DC, it reminded me of a real snow day and that well, I've neglected this blog lately and have lots to post about, from eons ago.

So here goes it. As stated previously, we went North for a few days over break... Happy 2014! And we  were invited by another branch of Magee's to go snowmobiling with them. Let me preface that my family is what I would call tame in the area of recreation compared to the rest of our clan. None of us golf, or ski, or water ski, or boat, or hunt, or you get the picture, and every time we are invited to it's like a well why not? when else will we ever...? And that's how we found ourselves wearing every item we packed for our two day trip and mismatched borrowed snow gear riding this heavy piece of equipment for the first time ever.

And that was the day we realized that my family are actually the new cast members of Duck Dynasty.

 You can see Uncle Si in the background.

 The thing was, snowmobiling was awesome and so much fun but it was also just so beautiful. Everything completely covered. God is so good.

 The Ritz, no really the Ritz.

 And it was all fun and great until they got stuck in an unknown sewer pit? It was funny but scary but funny in the after effects. Get my gist?

But it ended well. Thanks for a great day!