What I do for love...

First time. I gave in. I made chocolate chips cookies from scratch all by myself. I have never learned because I figured if I didn't make them, I wouldn't eat them! But I caved--for the love of a man whose favorite dessert is the standard chocolate chip cookie! That's even going to be the groom's cake at our wedding! It's a good thing I'm not shy or anxiety ridden because I attempted the chocolate chip cookie in front of his grandma and mother, his best friend and his wife, who has already mastered baking, and Parker. In the end, I have some brown, some golden, and some eaten. Success? For me it is! I told Parker I'd make them 300 times so I can get it perfect. So prepare to
eat cookies! Cause they're not staying at my house!

"I Woke Up With A Man In My Bedroom"

     A Ghost? No. Someone really did just leave my room. The swish of my wedding dress, hanging on the back of my bedroom door, told me something had just brushed it against the wall at the exit.
     My body jumped and lurched through tthe door, following what I didn't realize in that startled, sleepy moment was an intruder! Reaching the living room, my eyes stalled, fully waking up when I saw a small man crouched down on my living room floor, his back to me.  In my sleepy estimation, he wasn't quite as creepy as Gollum would be, but he creeped! A man was in my apartment! A man had just left my bedroom. And a man was squatting down right in front of me--two or three feet away!
     "HEY!" I shouted at him.  In the mere seconds it took the H-E-Y to resonate, he bolted out the door, shortly followed by the door I slammed behind him.  Door locked. Deadbolt locked, I ran back to my room, grabbed my phone, and called 9-1-1.
     "He was wearing a gray hoodie.  He had a buzzed hair cut.  I think he was white..." My purse is on the floor; he must have been looking for one of my cards. WHERE'S MY RING? Found it.  My dress is okay...Computer's there...On the phone, the 9-1-1 operator told me that "the officers are on their way. I'm going to stay on the phone with you until they get there."
     Hillary came flying out of her room at this point.  Jessica followed shortly.  They had heard me yell, but it didn't register that something was wrong until they heard me on the phone with the police.
     "The officers are searching your complex.  They're almost to your apartment."
     Knock. Knock. Knock.
     As the policemen came in, I was still jumpy.  I glanced at them thinking, should I have let you in? What if you're fake policemen? Should I have called in your ID numbers before I let you in.  No, the lady who I called talked to me until they came.  They were dispatched by the lady I was talking with so they must be real.
     After we talked about what happened, I jumped up. My keys! I hadn't checked to make sure I still had my car keys.  That they weren't missing.  They were where I left them on my bathroom counter.  He could have so easily taken them if he had known they were there. 
     I am so lucky that I didn't lose anything.  Perhaps that's why I woke up. I wasn't wearing my ring--he didn't get it. I left my keys sitting on the counter--he didn't get them.  I left my purse by my bed, which he took into the living room--but because I woke up, he didn't get away with anything from it.  (Hillary and I think he must have been looking for prescription drugs. Perhaps?) 
     Not being sacriligious nor facetious, I thank Heavenly Father for help in waking me up.  Normally, I am a deep sleeper, but something (I think the Spirit) woke me up.  Something compelled me to follow this ghost to the living room.  The evening before, I bought the wedding dress that brushed the wall as he left; thank goodnes it was there; it was the tool that pulled me from my sleep.  I am lucky he didn't have a weapon because I startled him when I yelled. 
      I have been suspicious of everyone.  I talked on the phone with Parker as I walked to my car to go to work. I talked with him as I got home late Saturday night as I walked back into my apartment.  I was shaking during first period at work.I debriefed the situation with Hillary and Jessica a lot. We changed the lock and our keys.  And I warned our neighbors to be careful about locking their doors.
      Looking back, Heavenly Father protected me. I am blessed that this man was looking to steal, not to injure.  I am blessed that nothing worse happened.