Pictures

OUR MAGNETS HAVE ARRIVED!!! Our save-the-date magnets arrived in the mail on Tuesday, but we didn't actually see them until last night when we could open the box together & see them for the first time together. I think our magnets are super cute!!! I wasn't as excited when I saw them as I was when I saw our invitations. Our invitations are so unique, elegant, and represent our style. Our favorite thing about our magnet is that it has our engagement pictures on them! It took us about 3 days to design our magnet because we had to choose a company to produce them, which pictures we liked best, which magnet design we liked best, and then which fonts and colors we wanted! I'm glad we designed it together and that we're both extremely pleased with the result. Now the next task will be, finalizing all the addresses on our guest list and then passing them on to my aunt who will be addressing all of them! There's only about....118 to address, maybe more! So now that our guests will be getting our magnet soon, I can post a few of our favorite engagement pictures! The pictures were taken at the Rose Garden in Raleigh where he popped the question! My dad took the pictures for us, for free and they turned out great! Enjoy!

"Me & My Gang"

Not to bore everyone with wedding planning updates, but that's really all I have going on right now, other than working. We have started assembling our invitations. We plan on having his mom and my aunt help us by addressing the envelopes, outer and inner envelopes, for both the invitations and save-the-date magnets. Their handwriting is much prettier than ours' plus there's no need in spending money on having a calligrapher address everything! We ordered our save-the-date magnets last week. I'm really anxious about seeing them! I'm hoping we won't have to wait to much longer for them to come in the mail! I am still on the hunt for the right bridesmaid dress and flower girl dress. I've gone to a few bridal shops already and found only one that's a candidate so far. The most annoying part about looking for a bridesmaid dress is when you go online and write down all the style numbers along with the name of the designer and then when you go to the bridal shop and they have not a single one of the dresses you wrote down! I would not be comfortable with picking out my bridesmaids' dresses online, I have to see what they look like on someone, whether it's me or one of my bridesmaids. Oh & can I just say, I have THE greatest fiance in the whole wide world!!! Nick has been really patient when it comes to my indecisiveness. He has been understanding and calm whenever I feel the need or urge to talk through wedding ideas with him. I even saw him writing back and forth on facebook with a guy from church about how he loves being engaged and how it's fun seeing me get excited about my dress and wedding ideas. It made me smile! Speaking of facebook, I wrote something funny as my status yesterday, I put "seriously considering getting married tomorrow, that is, if Nick's game! haha! 220 days to go!" I had several friends comment on my status, they were all for us aloping and they brought up some great points. We would never do that though. I can't imagine not having my friends, family, co-workers, or church family not being there when Nick and I united in marriage. Aside from how much I'm looking forward to seeing Nick's face when I walk dwon the asile, the second thing I'm looking forward to the most is celebrating with our family and friends. I want all of our wedding guests to know how truly thankful and blessed we are to have them in our lives because each and every one of them have invested in us, whether it was when we were single and just friends, while we were dating, or if they're new friends that are still getting to know us. I believe that God has placed people in my life for a reason, whether it was for a short time or a long time, He does everything for a purpose. And now I can look back and see how each person has played a part in my life, in my love story that has led up to the most special day of my life, my wedding day. Now that I've written a novel here, it's time for me to get back to work!

Today's high: Knowing I get to see Nick after 5 o'clock today!!!!

Today's low: I'm really sleepy and bored at work, which is not a good combination! :(

Wedding Planning Update

236 days to go!!! I cannot believe how fast time is going by! On Friday our wedding invitations came in the mail. I was super excited that I jumped on Nick as soon as we opened the box together! We ordered them this early because we'll have to assemble them, address them, add stamps to them, and then put them in the mail. If we didn't have to assemble them ourselves then we would have waited a few more months to order them. On Saturday we designed our save-the-date-magnets. We're still waiting for the proof to be sent to us via email before we order them. I'll be really excited when we get those in the mail! In my last blog I mentioned how I'm not feeling stressed out about wedding planning, I think the most stressful part of being engaged is having to move! A few weeks before we get married I'll be moving my stuff into Nick's apartment. I won't move in completely, but almost. I keep wondering if and how all my stuff plus his stuff is going to fit into his 1 bedroom apartment?! Luckily for me, his closet is big, with a his' and hers' side so all my clothes will fit. Aside from my clothes, I'll have to do a lot of cleaning out so I won't overwhelm Nick with all my junk! We've looked at houses quite a bit, however we've decided to wait until after our finances are combined and we've adjusted to married life. I'm really looking forward to the day when I can have a decent area to do my scrapbooking in. Right now all my scrapbooking stuff is in a traveling case. While it's great because everything fits nicely in it and I can take it anywhere I go, I have to put everything away every time I scrapbook. The idea is once we buy a house we will have a designated hobby room that will be organized and allow both of us to enjoy our hobbies more than we do now.

Today's high - getting to eat my Parrot Coconut Jumbo Shrimp left overs from Red Lobster for lunch. Yum!

Today's low - realizing I have to work tomorrow and I have nothing to do!!!!

I'm Back and with Bling!!!!

Ok it's been over a year since my last blog! I wasn't motivated to keep my blog alive because I only had 2 faithful readers, but now I think my life is more interesting and exciting enough that I'll get more readers.

Ok so maybe my life is not interesting, but it's definitely an exciting time in my life! I'm engaged! :) I've been engaged for about 3 months now..wow time has flown by, it's really been almost 3 months! I'm really enjoying engaged life. I don't understand what all the stress is about with being engaged, I think it's fun & stress-free! I really mean that. Granted I may feel this way because most of the wedding planning has already been done. I'll go ahead and let you in on my little secret, I started planning our wedding before he ever proposed! And when I say planning, I mean I already had our wedding organizer notebook, had our colors picked out, researched honeymoon spots, and had browsed for wedding gowns over the Internet. Now that we're engaged, I've bought my wedding dress, we've booked the church, booked our wedding photographer, made our guest list, ordered our invitations, booked our honeymoon, had our engagement pictures taken, applied for our passports, picked out our wedding favors, and browsed for bridesmaid dresses. That may sound like a lot when you read it, but I wouldn't say that we've been busy with wedding planning. This may have to do with the fact that I only work 20 hours a week. On my off days I've been able to compare prices, run errands, and prioritize things left on our list. I think couples just become stressed when they aren't organized, can't prioritize, can't afford what they're buying, or can't get along with their future in-laws. So far, knock on wood, we haven't experienced any of that. I'd have to say the greatest part about being engaged is each day looking at the countdown to your wedding day go down! There's such joy and satisfaction knowing that in X number of days we'll be getting married! The end result is what will make all the planning worth it.

Now that I've made all the single people, depressed, I'll change the subject. I've started working out. I've only gone to the gym once, however, I have a routine in my head that I believe will work. I plan on going to the gym with my fiance every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday after dinner for about 30 minutes. I think if we do cardio for 30 minutes, 3 days a week then we'll feel better about ourselves. I can't work out by myself because I need the encouragement and accountability so I'm hoping that this plan will stick. Why is it so hard to stick with something when there's not an immediate pay off? I think I just answered that question. Never mind.

I'd like to start a trend at the end of every blog. Here goes.

Today's High - getting to write on my facebook status: "Melanie is drinking naked at work! TGIF for me!"

Today's Low - being hot at work. So hot that I wish I could be naked at work.

Friday the Thirteenth!

It's been almost a month since my last post & it's hard to believe it's been that long! My big news is...I GOT A JOB!!!! On Friday, June 13th I got a call from someone with Temporary Solutions & they offered me a job! For those of you who don't know, Temporary Solutions is the state of North Carolina's government temp agency. So now I am an Office Assistant III for the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health. That basically means I make copies, send faxes, answer phones, send emails, and distribute mail. I just started my 4th week of work & the job is starting to get on my nerves! It's not the work that's the problem, it's the people, just some people at the office can be annoying & difficult at times! I'm smart enough to know that in every job there's going to be people that get on my nerves because life's that way! There's always going to be that select few that test your patience more than others. I'm not sure how long I'll have this job though because they've already started interviewing people to fill my position so it could be a few weeks or a few months until they have someone take my place. There have been some wonderful things that have come out of me having a job. For example, I actually have confidence now! I'd say for about 3 months after I graduated I was depressed & felt worthless, I even started losing hope that I would ever get a job, now that's all changed! Now I feel like I'm actually living & moving closer to achieving my dreams. Another great thing is now that I'm working, Nick has time to miss me & since we're both working, we sympathize with one another when one of us has had a rough day or is just plain tired from a long day. I'll admit, before I told myself I knew how Nick was feeling & could understand why he was exhausted at the end of the day, but now I experience it myself so I definitely understand it now! There are days when I come home from work & I don't wanna talk to anyone, I just wanna surf the Internet & relax! So that's the big news. Nothing else real big or exciting has happened.

Time Well-Wasted?!

I recently sent my resume to a place in Raleigh called Therapeutic Connections, Inc. I got a call back from them in the days that followed & I agreed to come to an info session/job orientation. At the orientation they told us more about the position we had applied for and what would be expected of us. The position requires being available for 8 to 12 hours a week to mentor to children who have behavioral or emotional issues. The position would start out being part-time & could turn into full-time if I choose to take on more clients. During the info session, I felt extremely comfortable with the material & what would be expected of me. I feel pretty confident in my education at Western & my experience with children & my ability to perform well in this position. After going to the info session I have to get some paperwork filled out & attend some trainings before I can officially start the job & receive my first client. So I believe I am well on my way to starting my first job post college!

On to other things. God is doing a lot in my heart & in my mind lately. This week I have spent time talking with Him & just asking for Him to renew my hope & happiness in Him, rather than finding those things in Nick or in worldly things. I don't want to be one of those girls who put everything they have into their boyfriend, like their hope, happiness, faith, and will to live! I wouldn't say that I've been close to doing that, however I do wanna keep that in check. I don't wanna find my identity in my relationship, I'm not just someone's girlfriend, I'm a daughter, I'm a sister, I'm a friend, and I'm a child of God. Don't get me wrong, it makes me feel good when Nick tells me I'm amazing or I'm beautiful, it's normal to feel that way or even want to hear those things, but it's another thing to let those things consume you. I love that Nick loves me, but it's never going to amount to the love that God has for me. There's nothing that any man can say to me that will make me feel as good as hearing God say, "well done, my good & faithful servant." There are going to be times when the love of my life lets me down & there will be times when I let him down, but if we're both relying on God to fulfill our hopes & our dreams, then we'll never be let down! Not only has God revealed all these things to be, He has also reminded me that He delights in us coming to Him for anything & everything we need! How could I not run to Him?!

Unspeakable Truth

Lord, You know my heart better than even I know it. You made me for Your glory and pleasure. Your goodness and love is billions of times better than the greatest love my mind can comprehend. Your plans for me are perfect. Your love for me is perfect. There is nothing I can do to make You love me more, and nothing I can do to make You love me less. Grant me the grace to make You my deepest passion, the strongest desire in my life. Make my heart like Your heart. As You transform me more and more into the image of Christ, prepare my heart for the seasons and relationships You have planned for me. Prepare my heart to receive a spouse that together, we would bring You the greatest glory and pleasure, for that is my life's goal. You know exactly who that would be for me. I yield myself to Your unspeakable wisdom over my life. Amen.

Nick sent me this on August 15, 2007...long before we ever talked about liking each other & the possibility of dating. It was a prayer he found in a devotional & thought of me. When he sent it to me I didn't think much of it, other than thinking it sounded exactly like prayers I had lifted up, now this prayer just makes me cry. Tell me what you think about it.