117 Days To Go!

I'm really excited! Our wedding is really starting to come together! These last 2 weeks, Nick and I have gotten a lot of wedding things done! This past weekend we went and looked at two tuxedo places, we found the perfect vest match, when I held the bridesmaid dress swatch up to the vest we couldn't tell where the swatch started or ended because it matched perfectly! We also finalized the layout of our reception, that was a huge thing for us to accomplish! I never would have thought figuring out the layout of our reception would be so stressful and overwhelming, but it was! Now I can rest easier knowing the layout of our reception and what else we need to buy for our reception. Today I made the tuxedo measurement appointment for Nick and his groomsmen. And some other great news, my brother has agreed to be an usher for our wedding which means he'll actually be coming to our wedding and he'll be wearing a tux! We've also been brainstorming ideas for our rehearsal dinner, actually, I think we're pretty close to finalizing our plans. We're 4 months away and as we cross things off our list I get more and more excited! For all you non-engaged couples out there that are anxious about getting married, prepare yourself now, planning a wedding is stressful, frustrating at times, and more times than not, filled with drama! If you have a very helpful, supportive, understanding fiance like I do then you'll survive the wedding planning! I tell you these things because no one prepared me and I wish someone had! Movies and TV shows glamorize the whole wedding process which gave me high expectations about how things would be once I got engaged. The greatest part about being engaged is being able to continue get to know your future life partner as you plan your future together and by that I mean how you plan on decorating your house together, many kids you want to have, what vacations you'll take, holiday traditions you'll have, etc. not planning the wedding! I'm not a bride that wants fancy silverware or an elaborate ceremony with a huge bridal party. I just want my wedding dress to make me feel beautiful, my groom to find me breath-taking, and a day that neither one of us will ever forget. I don't want us to remember how fancy or magical everything was, I want us to remember the moment we lock eyes as I walk down the aisle and the vows we say in front of all our family and friends. Other brides may hope to remember more from their special day, but I don't, after all, that's what pictures are for!

Love and Marriage

There I go again, leaving you hanging. I'm sure my two faithful readers are wanting an update on my life. Sadly, nothing majorly exciting has been going. Oh, Nick did add me to his cell phone plan! If you want my new #, holler at me. Even though I didn't get a fancy Iphone or Blackberry, it's still pretty exciting to have a new phone!

131 Days till my wedding day! We have sooo much left to do! I made a list of things we have left to do and it was overwhelming so I'm not looking at the list anymore! We did decide on our wedding favors though. I'm really excited about it! We're doing a candy buffet!! It's a growing trend at weddings these days, however we decided on it because we felt the need to add color and fun to our informal, dining hall reception vendor. It was either that or matches that said, "The Perfect Match." I'm still waiting for my wedding dress to come in. I ordered it back in....July and I'm starting to think it's going to take the whole 18 weeks to get here like the bridal shop said it would. It wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't for the worry and concern I'm feeling that I won't fit into my dress! I tried my dress on in my size and it fit me perfectly, maybe 2 inches to spare and now I'm worried I may not fit into it! I've tired staying away from sweets and telling myself I'm not hungry when I just ate 2 hours ago, but apparently I don't have enough self-control like I thought I did because that hasn't been working for me. I keep telling Nick that he's the cause of my over-eating problem - 1) he's a great cook, I love every meal he makes, 2) he loves my body and refusing to think I'm fat, and 3) he loves dessert more than I do so there's been a few times where he's eaten chocolate in front of me and said it was ok for me to have some when he knew I was trying to resist sweets! Oh well. I guess I'll just try the dress on when it comes in and if I don't fit into it then I'll go a crash diet like, Slim Fast or the all fruits and veggies diet.

We had our first of three counseling sessions this morning. The church we're getting married at requires at least three pre-martial counseling sessions with the pastor that's marrying you. It was really good, I already learned something. We're going to working through this workbook called, " Getting Ready for Marriage." I'm not usually a fan of workbooks, but this one looks promising. Nick and I talk about EVERYTHING! We were best friends before we started dating so when we finally got together we were comfortable enough to be ourselves around each other, I mean farts, poop stories, bad breath, and inappropriate jokes. In going to counseling, I don't think we'll discover things we haven't talked about, however I do think we'll benefit from hearing advice from our pastor, someone who's been married for 15 years. Nick and I didn't have the greatest examples of marriage growing up so we're really interested in learning and talking through how to make God the center of your marriage and household and how to argue fairly. There's something to be said for us knowing what things we don't want for our marriage and what mistakes we've witnessed in parents' marriages that we've learned from. I think most couples we know haven't talked about that yet or didn't talk about that before they got married. We're not naive in thinking marriage will always be blissful with a few arguments over the years, no. Marriage is hard work, as one of my best friends put it best when he said, "everyday you have to decide to love that person and there will be days when, believe it or not, that will be hard."

Marriage is not based on feelings or hopes that they'll never change or will change, it's based on a commitment you make to love that person till death separates you. I know that during our lifetime together, Nick will change, his desires, wishes, and dreams will change, maybe his bad habits or hobbies will change, but one thing will remain the same throughout the years, I will love him. I will love him when he's old, when he's stubborn, when he's sick, when we're arguing, when he feels alone, and even when no one is looking, I will love him. There's no one else I can see myself loving as much as I love Nick. Loving Nick is easy. I know there will be times when it may be hard for me to love him, but I will always choose to love him. I can't wait to build our lives together!

2 Year Anniversary

Nick and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary a few weeks ago - September 16th! It's hard to believe it's already been two years! I have such a great memory and I often think about the past that it seems hard to believe it's been 2 years, time has gone by so fast! We have been through so much together - graduating from college, applying for grown up jobs, getting real world jobs, losing jobs, 2 deaths in Nick's family, arguments with our parents, paying bills, and becoming adults together - learning from one another's mistakes and successes! The greatest part of all is all of those things have brought us closer together. Those events whether big or small, sad or happy, they allowed us to learn more about each other, to lean on each other for support and encouragement, and to become a team. The most valuable lesson we've come to appreciate is we will always back each other up when it comes to dealing with other people. Whether it's our parents, our friends, co-workers, neighbors, or strangers - we will always build the other person up and support the other person. I came to realize how truly great it feels when you know your future husband, your best friend, your soon to be life partner, stands beside you, no matter what you say in front of others. To me, that is important and invaluable! How horrible it would be if we argued in front of his parents or my co-workers simply over having a difference in opinion. There's something to be said when you're united as one and are not afraid to show that whenever you're in front of other people. Another valuable lesson we've learned is to pick your battles. A few months into our relationship we had our first argument, I couldn't even tell you what it was about. That started a long string of arguments because I like to argue - I'll admit it. The funny thing is I like to resolve arguments quickly, but I love picking arguments. Well one day we just had both had enough of arguing, we were sick of it! Over time we learned to pick our battles. I grew up hearing that saying, but I never knew what it meant. It doesn't mean I don't get mad at Nick or that we don't argue anymore. For us it means, we try to think more before we speak and we try to ask ourselves - "is this going to matter in the morning?," "is this going to bother me when we get married?" Answering those questions before you start arguing can really help! Several times I've caught myself getting worked up, but then I calm down and decide to postpone the conversation or just simply say to him, "it's not important to me anymore that we talk about this. Can we stop talking about it?" Some topics or problems that come up aren't worth arguing over. It's like growing up when your brother or sister had a toy that you wanted and you threw a fit to have it then suddenly you realized it wasn't worth the effort, you'd rather just play together or you no longer wanted the toy?! Anyways, those are just a few things I've learned along the way, I'm not an expert on love though. It's been a great 2 years, 2 weeks, and 3 days! I love Nick more than ever before and I can't imagine anyone better to spend the rest of my life with! I'm going to enjoy life with my best friend forever!

General Update on My Life

I'm a busy gal lately! I started my second job last week working as a teacher's assistant in the one-year old classroom at Connections Preschool. So far I looove it! I can already tell it's going to be a rewarding experience to watch these children learn and grow. Already I have been amazed at how eager preschoolers are to learn new things! My favorite time of day with them is when we take them out to the playground. I just love watching the interaction between 2 preschoolers as they wait their turn to go down a slide or as they try to learn how to shovel sand by watching another preschooler use the shovel. Before I started working in preschool I didn't think about just how much a child can learn in such a short period of time. Now I realize that a lot of things they're hearing and doing are for the first time, it's neat to watch them try to say new words or try new things.

Wedding planning is coming along. Tomorrow I'm going to 2 different bridal shops to look at bridesmaid dresses. No one's going with me and I'm excited about that because too often I find myself being influenced by people's opinions. We're also in the process of scheduling consultations with cake vendors! We'd like to meet with about 3-5 cake vendors before we make our final decision just to make sure we're making the best decision for us. Speaking of wedding cakes, we're going to my good friend, Michelle's wedding on Saturday! Michelle and I have talked a great deal lately and have come to realize that our experiences in being engaged and planning a wedding are way too similar! Since I feel like I know firsthand the kind of stress and emotion she's been going through in planning this wedding, I'm really looking forward to Saturday! Oh & of course I'm going to take lots of notes and pictures at her wedding in hopes that my creativity will be sparked and ideas for my own wedding will start flowing!

Today's high: Realizing how many people from my church love Nicholas! I'm learning to embrace the feeling of being blessed whenever someone complements my fiance.

Today's low: Letting my thoughts get the best of me.

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!!!!