New here

[Mannequin]

Hello everyone!

Though I have visited the board here a few times already, I am now officially registered. I''m Courtney, a teacher in Michigan. I have been dating my guy for nearly four years now, and he is finishing law school in May. We have been seriously discussing our future together for a few months now because he is almost ready to graduate. I have been looking at rings on websites recently, and showing him some ideas for things I may want for an e-ring someday. He and I finally went to a few jewelry stores and tried things on during his spring break two weeks ago, and I saw some beautiful rings that I liked a lot. I don''t expect anything from him until his bar exam has concluded in July, and he knows that, but he suggests that a proposal could be sooner than that. Makes me excited! Especially since he discusses wedding plans all the time with me already anyway, and sometimes brings up the subject before I do... Looking forward to sharing some pictures with you soon!

Courtney

 

[Lorelei]

Welcome Courtney, from one equestrienne, so to speak, to another!

You will find there are a few of us horse and diamond addicted gals here, so you are in good company!

 

[anchor31]

Hey there!! Looks like your stay could be a short one!

What can you tell us about rings you love?

 

[lilmaria]

welcome...get ready for the addiction...lol

As a fellow teacher, would you want him to get your class involved in the moment? My friend''s fiancee dressed up like santa, brought gifts for the kids and then turned to her and asked her to marry him on their last day before break. I thought it was great, but I doubt my man will get my kids involved. Would you like him to have your kids take part or would you prefer the romantic night proposal?

Just wondering.

 

[TxBlonde]

Hey! It''s nice to meet you!

I hope your stay is nice and short....not on the site just as a lady in waiting. You will probably be stuck to this site like me

 

[Mannequin]

To all of you - thank you for the warm welcome!

lilmaria - Nope, definitely NO kids involved in this proposal! I can''t see him wanting to do that at all, and I teach middle school which would make it likely tougher for him to attempt. We are planning to go to Florida to visit his family on vacation during the Easter holiday... maybe then?

anchor31 - I always thought I would be a princess cut, but I did really like a setting with rounds in it that we saw recently. One of my favorites was this one, though it was a photo online from a DC area jeweler and I can''t go try it on:

I also like this one at a local Metro Detroit jewelers:

I do not have a photo of the ring with the rounds.

Basically, it was a solid white gold band with a one carat center stone (dropped in just for trying-on purposes) and it had a half carat of smaller stones around the center prong (two on each side, one larger, one smaller). The wedding band that matches this ring has five round diamonds set into it, slightly raised (about a half carat again).

Lorelei - Always good to meet a fellow horsewoman.

I have two horses, but since I had to move into my first apartment when I took the teaching job this year, they live with my folks about an hour away. Taz is a dark chestnut Morgan and he will be 27 years old this week! Chance is my 16 year old rescue TB and when he is not completely filthy, he is grey. I try to get out to see them at least once a week, and will be making the drive more often now that the weather is changing so that I can do some riding with my TB. I have been riding less this past year due to teaching, but I was regularly riding dressage with Chance and taking lessons. Here''s a photo of the boys this fall:

 

[Blenheim]

Welcome!

Hopefully your stay as a LIW will be short and sweet. And I love your horses.

 

[Lorelei]

EQUESTRIENNE, thanks for posting the pic of your beautiful boys! It just goes to show that with care and love, older horses can look as good as younger ones and be in good health! I hear you about complete filth, I have a very mucky palomino to try to clean off when the mud has dried, stinker he is! I think he enjoys it and rolls in the mud deliberately as he knows Mummy will come running with the brush and he loves it!

 

[Mannequin]

Thanks, Lorelei!

I know what you mean soooo very well. Chance can''t stay clean for more than five minutes. I''ve timed him. He''s always getting into something at that point. This guy''s stall looks like he''s had a party for ten in there when he is in for the night! He is affectionately called "Sh*thead" by my daddy because he tends to use THAT for a pillow when he sleeps.

I still adore him though, he has come so far. I posted his story online a while back, on Leadmare.com when it was still pretty busy. Here''s the link about Chance''s rescue. http://www.leadmare.com/community/horse_tales/a_chance_to_shine.html

I have a few more pics of them saved on my Photobucket.

Me and Taz this past fall.

Chance in a RARE cleaner moment.

My favorite fall photo of Chance. I love how he is chewing and his hair looks all rumpled.

I have Golden Retrievers, an African Grey parrot, and a ninja attack hamster among our other family pets.

Don''t let the cute appearance fool you. Busy Betty is a trained and deadly ninja. I take her to school and the middle schoolers love her, but they are afraid to mess with her or hold her because they have seen pics like this:

I have this on my school webpage with the caption: "DO YOUR HOMEWORK OR YOU WILL BE HAMMIE CHOW."

Do you have pics to share, Lorelei? Or, if you shared them before on PS, where can I find them? I''d love to see some of your critters.

 

[Lorelei]

I am sitting here with tears in my eyes Courtney - bless you for giving that horse a chance of life- his name fits him very well. The patience and faith you must have had to do this is incredible. He looks a completely different horse - it just goes to show that lots of TLC, the right farrier and veterinary care combined can work miracles.

You are going to have a really special relationship with him, that much shows already and that he has given you so much too. Thank you for sharing the pictures. I only have a picture of one of my kitties here who died recently, I miss him terribly, here is the thread for you.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/need-your-prayers.41179/=

I have a horse and 2 ponies, all the cats, pet chickens and an elderly bunny! Whew!

I was looking at Chance's pic again and the old British saying of a good horse came to mind.... a head like a duchess and a bottom like a cook! He definitely has a " ducal" head, can't see his posterior though!

 

[Mannequin]

Lorelei-

I am happy to share Chance''s success story with you and the rest of the LIW/PSers. He''s really a sweet horse, and I have enjoyed watching his progress over the past 6 years. He gets along with my old guy Taz really well, which is a plus.

Also, I was sorry to read about Teddy. I read through the thread on him and saw his photos. He was beautiful. I went through the exact same situation with my cat about a year and a half ago.

Jett Black was the best barn cat I have ever had. My daddy cat-napped him from a local farm, and when he came home with this snarling, bat eared beastie I wasn''t too sure if he would stay. Jett settled in within a week and became friendly with us and the other animals quickly. We had him for about 7 years, much to the dismay of the local small game, and then he developed kidney failure, too.

I tried to bring him in the house and give him sub-q injections to keep him hydrated and took him to the vet numerous times, but he was too sick. I had to drive him to the vet''s for the final time and had him put down. I have never been so heartbroken since. I still miss him a lot. I only have one photo of Jett Black currently. He is the big guy in the back of the basket. Tyson is the uncooked chicken colored little guy, and he has since passed on due to a car accident. Moe, the grey tabby in the front is 7 years old now and is still at our barn. He''s the most useless excuse for a barn cat I have ever met.

 

[fire&ice]

I wish you luck in your journey to marriage.

But thanks for posting Chance''s story. It brought tears of joy to my eyes. Great success story. Though I don''t ride anymore, we live in the middle of horse country. In fact, our deed has a grandfathered bridle path easement along our drive.

I''m in humbled when I see these majestic creatures. I wish you continued success on both the Chance front & your future engagement.

 

[akw94]

Courtney,
Welcome to PS! It''s exciting that you''ve gone ring shopping already. From someone who has taken the bar, I can understand the need to not do anything big while going through that. Good luck to your bf! But, of course, it would always be great if it happened before. It''s also nice that you''re both discussing wedding plans. All that stuff is so much fun! I don''t expect a proposal until at least the winter so I think i''ll be here for awhile. My bf and I are moving in together this summer so I think we''ll adjust to that before the next big step. But he''s also made comments about the possibility of it being sooner. I think he just doesn''t want me to expect any particular time. I sure wish I knew but it''s fun to think about.
Again, welcome!

 

[Blenheim]

The story about Chance brought tears to my eyes. I''m so happy that he has such a loving, incredible owner.

 

[Scintillating]

Hi Equestrienne!
My guy just graduated/passed the bar/and was signed into the MA bar this fall. We had the same post law school plan that you do; things took quite a bit longer than we expected. (We just got engaged in Dec.) I hope things progress quickly/smoothly for you. : ) My poor guy was so stressed - he had no time/energy to learn about diamonds. So - you've found a good place to learn while your guy is occupied. ; )

Does he have any thoughts on what kind of law he'd like to practice?

Thanks for sharing your stories with us.
Chance has a beautiful expressive face!
Taz is looker too. : )


Scintillating...

 

[aphisiglovessae]

Hi Courtney!!

 

[FireGoddess]

Welcome to PS Courtney!

I absolutely love your avatar - so beautiful!!!!

 

[Mannequin]

Okay, go grab a drink, here comes a long reply!

fire&ice -
Thanks for the warm wishes! I live on a busy mile road right now instead of with my folks in the middle of rolling hills and horses. I miss it soooo much, especially not being able to get out and see my boys all I want.

Blenheim -
Awww, shucks.

I was an animal lover early on in life, and always had some baby bird in the garage or something. I was lucky that Chance was able to recover, it was very iffy. I felt bad that I couldn''t take home more of the horses from that farm, as there were over twenty others that looked pretty rough too. We were able to get money back from the man who sold him to us to help cover vet bills, and we had our vet contact some vets in that area driving by to check up on the other animals. I hope that the guy learned his lesson.

amy94 -
Thanks for the welcome! I had thought about that too, that my bf would not want to even think about rings after he graduates and gets into "bar mode". I had told him from the start of the recent engagement talk that I did not expect anything until after he was done with the bar, because I know he is going to want to focus on working hard and studying to do well. He must have realized this too, but he is taking the opposite route I thought he would and this week he has been hinting at proposing before July.

He will have a few opportunities to do this at some upcoming events, or he may just pick an average day as well. He knows I really don''t want to move in with him until I have a ring and he has a job (I need the commitment and the stability), and my apartment lease is through August. If he is lucky enough to get a job earlier (and he has some very exciting prospects this week, including one open position at the firm of the immigration law prof who taught the last class he JP''ed), then we may be able to consider moving in by then. In that case, he needs to go shopping.

Scintillating -
See my above response as well... My bf is so bright and he makes me amazed every day with the amount of stuff he has stored away in his head, but I know he is going to wig out over this bar. He gets very high maintenance around regular exam times anyway, so I am used to this in a way. We have been looking at websites and have been to a few jewelry stores since about Christmastime, so at least he has had some time to do some thinking and get ideas with me before he starts buckling down with his books. I am hoping that he follows through with his hinting about before July - that way, he gets to study in relative peace and I get the summer to plan a wedding while I am on break from teaching. Win-win!

My bf is not sure what he will practice yet, but he has been interning with the Wayne County prosecutor''s office in Detroit and seems to enjoy it. He has said that being a county prosecutor would be an option he would consider, and he is also interested in Immigration Law or Family Law, maybe Estate Law. He has a golden opportunity right now to pursue an immigration law position with a former prof from his law school, so I am hoping he gets called in to interview for that. He would be soooo good in that field - this guy won the National Geography Bee in eighth grade and got a huge scholarship for college, he was a double major in International Relations and Russian at MSU in undergrad, he speaks Russian and Polish (and profanity!

) fluently and can also handle some Spanish and French, and he was a lifeline once on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" to boot. He''d do well anywhere, but he has such an affinity for other cultures and languages that if he combined that with law he''d be a knockout. What does your FI practice?

Also, thanks for the horsie compliments. Chance has such a pretty face he almost looks "girly" to me sometimes.

His face is very expressive. You can see everything he feels in it, nervous to happy to sleepy and everything in between. When he gets treats or gets rubbed on the nose, he starts looking so pleased with himself that you can almost see him smile!

aphisiglovessae-

Hello to you too!

 

[Mannequin]

FireGoddess - Thanks for the welcome! If you'd like to see more photos like the one I made into my avatar, it's from a wonderful equine photographer named Robert Vavra. The one in the icon is one of his unicorns.

http://www.robertvavra.com

EDIT: I don't think I posted a picture of ME yet, and you guys have all these critters on here! LOL
Is there a place where all of us LIWs can post pics of ourselves?