Phew...it's been a while!

Hello friends and family (and apparently other faithful readers...)!

Another message coming to you from the other side of the globe. Sorry it's been so long... My roommate (Lily) and I have recently taken to buying pirated DVDs and watching countless episodes of great American TV shows on her laptop. Shall we just say that it has absolutely taken over our days so much that we find ourselves too lazy to walk across the street to the Internet cafe. Tara and Amy - it reminds me of those days lounging on Mom's couch watching episode after episode of Grey's and Desperate Housewives and all those nights glued to our Prison break DVDs! So far this vacay, Lily and I have finished Season 1 of Brothers and Sisters, reviewed Season 1 of Desperate Housewives, we went through Season 1 of Gossip Girl in 1 day, and now we are working on Season 2 of Sex & the City. It's absolutely amazing, and by far my favorite way to spend my vacation...Luckily for us, each pirated DVD costs the equivalent of about 70 cents (in USD). I love developing countries!!

So anyway. What has been going on in my life other than wasting my days laying on my mattress (I can't really call it a bed...there's no frame!)? Well, since getting engaged, Robe's parents planned the most incredible engagement parties (not party) for us. We had one for his family, which consisted of me getting dressed up (dress, hair, makeup...they all said I looked like Barbie) and participating in some very strange Chinese-Indonesian customs (such as handing his aunts and uncles a shot-glass full of wine one-by-one and then shaking my closed fists up and down like I wanted to knock them out). Apparently getting engaged to Indonesians is just as important as actually getting married, and his family gave us quite a bit of money. All in all, we got about $800 (US). That's over 8 million rupiah (their currency). Sound like a lot? That's because it is...

The next day we had a big party for all of our friends & the people in the neighborhood. That was exciting - I shook hands with about 100 people I didn't know, but whatever, it was still cool. Robe's parents had both parties catered and there was music and fun and it was just great. His family really is amazing. Bu Dewi's (my former host mom) employees at her factory saw the pictures from this party and they told me that Robe looks like a Chinese movie star. That made me smile :) I'll post pictures next time, I promise! I just forgot to bring my camera to the cafe :(

What else? His parents asked me to move in with their family. They were telling me how they wanted to spend more time with the two of us before we leave, and it's hard with their son leaving every evening to come hang out with me. I definitely understand where they're coming from, but it would complicate my already complicated life here considerably. We'll see how this pans out, but I might be moving yet again very soon...

My Mom and Grandma are coming in less than 2 weeks now, and I am getting so very excited!! Robe and I are thinking about traveling a little bit before we go pick them up in Jakarta. We might be heading to Yogjakarta, which is the cultural center of Java (located in Central Java...about 8 hours drive from Malang). I've always wanted to go there, so that would be so exciting!!!

I think for now that's about it. I will keep you all updated on the exciting details of my life. Miss you all and see you soon!

Well Bali was a bust, but surprise!!

Oh wow! Thank you guys so much for all the messages!! I want to give a special congratumalations to Aunt Becki for being a college graduate!! I am so excited for you :)

And thank you Tara, my lovely sister, for keeping me updated on everyone. What would I do without you?!

Oh my goodness, Kyle! Mr. Tumnus! Just so you know, the image of JT doing his sexy "Mr. Tumnus" flashed through my head and I started cracking up in the middle of this internet cafe. Everyone is staring at the crazy white girl now...good times...

And Grandma, you're not going to starve over here, I promise! If all else fails, we will hit up Pizza Hut, McDonald's and KFC (yes, they have all of those here...and they've even got a "Papa Ron's Pizza" which I find quite amusing). Sadly for Tori, Starbucks has not yet made it to Malang. There are several in Jakarta, a few in Surabaya, but none in Malang.

Anyway. So here's a recap of my WONDERFUL holiday in Bali - it rained, rained some more, rained again, kept on raining, continued to rain, monsooned, monsooned some more, monsooned again...I think you get the point. It was absolutely awful. Everything that was on the plan got canceled and we just ended up shopping, eating, and sitting on the bus for 4 days straight. The few times it wasn't raining we managed to snap some good pictures, and maybe I will post them here next time. The one redeeming moment was "Pulau Penyu" which means "Tortoise Island." There we got to play with giant tortoises that were over 100 years old, we held snakes and bats and eagles and had all kinds of fun. Unfortunately it only lasted 2 hours, but whatever...

I guess the one good thing is that the entire tour (food, hotel, transportation, admission to places, etc.) only cost $75 when you convert it into US dollars, so I guess I shouldn't complain too terribly much. It's much scarier when you think about the 750,000 rupiah it cost. Gotta love weak currencies!

So after we got back from Bali with sore butts and stomachaches at 7am, we all slept pretty much all day. Later that night, Robe and I went out to dinner by ourselves for some alone time. We went to this normal little seafood restaurant (even though Robe can't really eat seafood, he was sweet enough to let me enjoy my favorite cuisine). I thought everything seemed very normal. We were chatting and enjoying each other's company, as usual. Then after we ordered our food, he looked at me and said very casually "Will you marry me?" Seeing how casual he was about it, I thought he was just kidding, and so I just looked back and him and didn't say anything. It was then that he reached in his pocket and pulled out...yes, you guessed it, a ring. At that moment I realized he wasn't joking. Completely shocked, I didn't know what to say. And then I started crying. Robe was obviously worried when he saw tears, and he immediately started asking "Are you okay? I'm sorry, did I do something wrong? Oh my gosh I'm sorry! Are you okay?" He was so awkward about it, but it was just adorable. Finally I started crying, but I still couldn't say anything. After a moment of silence, Robe looked at me and said very unsurely, "So...will you marry me?" At that point I couldn't hold back anymore and said, "Yes."

So yea...it seems I'm engaged. Kinda crazy if you ask me, but right now I am absolutely the happiest person in the world. I'm sorry I couldn't call all of you and tell you, and I realize how much it sucks to read about this on a blog, but there's no way I could call everyone!

So there you have it. I'm currently talking to my mom about wedding plans (wow, that sounds so weird). Hopefully if we can get Robe's Visa in time, he can come home with me in June, and then legally we must marry within 90 days of his arrival to the US or else he'll get deported, so get ready for a mid-summer wedding everyone! That is, if we decide we want a wedding. We'll see!

Okay well I gotta get going. I just wanted to share the good news with everyone!! I miss you all and love you like crazy!!!