Long Time No See

We have so much to talk about.

In addition to being a bride in waiting, I am also in my first year of teaching. Not sure if any of you are teachers also, but it's quite possibly the most exhausting experience of my life to be a first year teacher. Nonetheless, it's going well and I'm getting used to it a little more every day.

In the mean time, I've gotten a few more details squared away. We booked our caterer a couple of weeks ago. We are using Penelope's Creation Ms. Penny is an up and coming caterer out of Springfield with amazing food and even better prices. She came highly recommended by several friends in the area and by the items we got to taste, she's gonna rock it out. We're having heavy appetizers and a really special treat that I'm excited we were able to work out. Leave it to the fat kids to be most excited about food!

Speaking of fat kids, I've got to lose some weight. I'm so happy and content with life these days that I keep packing on the pounds. I'm at my all time heaviest, which isn't so much my concern as that I can't fit in my wedding dress. I refuse to be such a sad sack that I have to buy another dress. Andrew, bless his heart, just loves me no matter what. In most circumstances, I would be so happy to have a man that loves me just as I am. Unfortunately, I don't need any additional support to be a fat ass. I've got that one covered pretty well. After a stern but loving chat, Andrew and I have started working out together. He, of course, is super committed to it and is already showing major progress. Me, on the other hand, I'm taking just a little bit longer. I started something a little different this week and really like it, so hopefully it takes. We'll see.

On to more fun things, my wonderful friend from high school is custom making my veil! I could die really. She is fabulously talented and is definitely going to be famous some day so naturally I am excited to have a piece of her work! We met back in October to talk it over and I'm waiting anxiously to get the final product! In other fabulous news, I have my wedding shoes! They are all that I could ever dream of in wedding shoes. Andrew cares very little about them, but that's ok. I love him anyway. I've starting constructing Emily's flower girl dress. She'll be wearing a white/ivory tea length tutu with a blue sash. I've been a little worried about how excited she'd be to wear the thing (she takes after her Aunt Kayla on the stubbornness/I'm not wearing that front), but so far so good. I still have a little work on it but we should be in great shape soon. Some of my bridesmaids have dresses (or maybe three dresses. . . I'm looking at you Aunt Deana). We're working on the others. Since they aren't all wearing the same thing, the search is pretty casual. I'm waiting until the spring to decide on their footwear. I'm hoping for some precious pink or purple wedges to hit the stores. Fingers crossed.

We jumped the gun a little and ordered our wedding invitations. Over the summer, I found a Groupon for the printing site Vistaprint that had to be used by November, so went ahead a bought them. We were able to snag 200 each of our invitations and rsvp cards for $75! That is super budget friendly and makes me happy all at the same time. The invites are very casual and personal which is kinda the theme I'm going for wedding-wide. Hope everyone likes them!

I think that's about all the updates I have for now. We have a lot done but still a ways to go. So let's look at our list:
dress
shoes
veil
church
reception site
preacher
caterer
decoration plan
guy's look
bridesmaid's look (only crossing half cause not everyone has it)
flower girl look
bridesmaid, groomsmen and mothers gifts
register
showers
place to live

Hopefully my next update will be a little sooner than the last! Merry Christmas!

Said yes to the dress!

Well, I said yes to the dress. I'm so excited! But let me just tell you, this whole secret bridal look is pretty ridiculous if you ask me. First, they want you to get attached to this guy. You, in turn, want to tell him everything cause he is your best friend and the one you celebrate even the smallest victories with. Then, he gives you a ring and the secrets start rolling in! CRAZY! I want to tell Andrew about my dress SO BAD because I want to tell him everything I'm excited about. BUT I CAN'T AND IT'S KILLING ME! It's gonna be a long 11 months.

In other news, we got engagement pictures made by my fabulous friend, Shelby of Seasons of Love Photography. There are hardly words to describe how fabulous they are, so I'll let them speak for themselves. Check them out here!

Moving Right Along

Details! I have some details to share. First, We have a ceremony and reception site. We'll be wed at the First Baptist Church in Greenbrier, Tennessee. It's just a hop, skip and a jump from my home, which just so happens to be the reception site! My grandparents are gracious enough to allow us to have the outdoor reception I've always dreamed of at their home. I was a little stressed out about the ceremony site (see: crying to Andrew, wanting to not have a wedding at all). We have a large guest list and I really wanted a single aisle church. A large church with one aisle is not easy to come by, my friends. Especially when you don't want to spend an arm and a leg on a building you'll spend a half-hour max in. Luckily, we were able to snag FBC and the tears can end. Unfortunately, we've (really just me. I had about 230 on my list alone!) had to pare the guest list back a little since the church can only accommodate about 250 people. I'm a little sad to not be able to include every person I want, but understand that things just are the way they are sometimes.

I have bridesmaids and a matron of honor. You can read more about them here.

Oh yeah! I have a wedding website!

I currently have two wedding dresses in my possession. I ordered them online and am gonna give them a try. If I don't like either, I'll send them back and head to the stores. Hopefully, I'll like them though!

I've narrowed down some colors that I like. I'm thinking royal blue, pink and purple. I know that I want casual bridesmaids dresses. Andrew wants gray suits. We're using hydrangeas and baby's breath for decorations and bouquets. We have a general idea about table decorations. (PS. If you're a wine drinker--I need your empty bottles! Call me! And if you're an eater--I need your empty clear glass jars of any size. Think pickles, spaghetti, jelly etc.)

I think that's all for now. Will keep you updated on the impending dress situation!

I'm a Bride!

So the moment I've been waiting for has finally arrived. I'm engaged! Andrew popped the question on our first evening aboard the Carnival Splendor on the coast of California en route to Mexico. We couldn't be any happier and are so excited to share our lives together as husband and wife in the not so distant future.

I refuse to be that girl on Facebook and Twitter that blows everyone's feeds up with constant babble about what's going on with my wedding, so I'll be documenting all that here on my blog so if you choose to keep up, you can!

Here are the details I know right now:

The Proposal
After putting on a really good show about how he wasn't giving me a ring even though everyone expected him to, he tricked me and really did it! He had been wanting to get to the front of the ship since we had been on the thing and we never could make it to the actual front. Seriously, we went to every floor to no avail. Finally, about ten minutes before we were set to have dinner, we found the way to as far front of the ship as we could get. We're standing there enjoying the view and he says "If I were going to propose, this is where I would do it." Me, trying to be the gracious person I am (HA!), goes in to this long monologue about how I'm glad he's not doing it because everyone expects it. Yada yada yada, trying to make him not feel bad about it. With that, he says casually, "Well, I am." My head whips around Linda Blair in The Exorcist style to see him standing with a ring! He got on his knee and asked me to be his wife. I cried just a little, but was honestly more shocked than anything. He did a really good job playing the pitiful "I'm not proposing" part! We went back inside and called/text our families and friends to share the good news (I have the phone bill to prove it...yikes.) I really could not be happier than I am now.


The Wedding
We will be getting married on June 15, 2013. This is a really special day for us since it is also my grandparent's 50th Wedding Anniversary. I've always wanted to honor their example of what a strong marriage is by sharing this day and I'm so excited that my dream is working out!

The Honeymoon
Funny thing is, we've had this trip planned for a while. It just becomes my honeymoon now! To celebrate the anniversary, my whole family (like 40+ of us) are going on a wonderful Hawaiian cruise! We've been planning this trip for about seven years and the guest list just keeps growing. Andrew's family, our close friends, and my family will share our honeymoon aboard the Norwegian Pride of America.

I think that pretty well sums up all the details I have now. My sister and future bro-in-law are taking the plunge in August, so I won't be doing much planning until after their time. Check back periodically for updates though!