T-Minus 8 Months

Eight months from today I will marry the love of my life. I am so blessed and feel so honored to spend the rest of my life with this man. To celebrate, I’ll give you a run-down of everything we’ve done so far. I’ll start talking about our planning process from beginning until now later this week so this will serve as a nice sneak peek!

-Set a date J

-Picked and asked our wedding party

-Hair/Make-Up Artist booked

-Dress purchased

-Bridesmaid dresses picked, not yet purchased

-Ceremony Venue booked

-Ceremony musician booked

-Transportation for guests booked

-Transportation for Bridal Party booked

-Florist booked

-Officiant booked

-Unity ceremony selected

-Reception venue booked

-Caterer booked

-Reception entertainment booked

-Photographer booked

-Baker booked

-Save the Dates designed, mostly printed, almost ready to be sent

-Guestbook purchased

That’s all that I can think of right now. It has been just over two months since we got engaged and I am thrilled that we are this far along in the planning!

How many things have you marked off on your list? Did you try and get everything booked quickly or did you take your time?

Hey baby, I think I wanna marry you

I’ve told you who we are, how we met, and I’ve talked a little bit about the “waiting” period, so now I think it’s time to share our proposal story:

It was a Thursday night after our weekly beer tasting, and we went to check on the progress of our house renovations. This was all very normal as it had been our Thursday routine for a while. When we got out of the car, Kyle suggested we go check the basement for water damage since there had been some heavy rain showers a few days before. As we were walking around to the backyard (it’s a walk-in basement), I noticed a bright light and once we got back there I saw that there was a brand new fire pit with a roaring fire and a vase of flowers with a note in front. Kyle told me to go check it out and so I walked over and picked up the note. I opened the note upside down at first because I was so nervous and then turned it around and read “Goose, Will you marry me? <3 Bear” I turned around and Kyle was on his knee with the most beautiful ring I could ever imagine (he may have had a little guidance). At this point I was crying and he had to verbally ask because I wasn’t doing a great job of processing the situation. Obviously I said yes! We called our family and friends, went out for sushi, went to a former college roommate’s apartment (BM Rooms) to show off the goods and called it a night. 

This now sits on a shelf in our bedroom. Love that he used our nicknames <3

OH! I forgot to mention that while Kyle was on his knee but after I said yes, bright flashes started coming from the rundown shed in our backyard. It turns out Kyle had gotten a friend to come by and light the fire and then hide so he could take pictures. I am so thrilled that Kyle set this up and that we have a picture of the big moment.

I promise I have on clothes under my trench coat...

I have to tell you guys though that I was completely oblivious. We had discussed getting engaged in depth so I knew it was coming at some point, but I figured if it was on a Thursday he would do it at our beer tasting to catch me completely off guard. The funniest part though is that Kyle had to stall like crazy because his friend was stuck in traffic for the longest time. I did not pick up on anything; not even “Hey, let’s drive by my new hair place so we can time the drive from there to the house.” I mean, really, I was clueless. Apparently, I’m just not very aware. It doesn’t matter though, everything was perfect and I was completely surprised.

Showing off my sparkly a few days later

I promise to post actual ring pictures when I have something better than a cell phone picture.

Did you know your proposal was coming or was it a surprise? Were you as oblivious as I was?

*All photos personal

The Waiting Game

I think it’s important to take a minute and discuss the “waiting” stage of a relationship. There are many girls who don’t go through this stage and that’s great. However, there are many others who have to suffer through and sometimes this can be a huge strain on a relationship. I’m not saying that my ten month wait was something that caused a lot of issues, but I know for some couples problems arise. I’m also not going to sit here and tell you that it was all unicorns and rainbows. I got frustrated, I got impatient, and I got naggy. At some point I was so focused on getting engaged that I wasn’t enjoying the amazing relationship that I had. What I’m trying to say, ladies, is don’t let the waiting stage turn you into some obsessive nag. If it helps, turn the situation into a joke; that’s what I ended up doing. After a while these joke conversations became daily instances and they helped relieve my frustration. Here’s a sample:

Me: “Baaaaaabe, when?”

Kyle: “On a good day.”

Me: “Wheeeeeere?”

Kyle: “In a good place?”

Me: “Hoooooow?”
Kyle: “In a good way.”

Me: “Whyyyyyy?”

Kyle: “Because I love you very, very, very much.”

Take note of that last answer. Remember, you’re with someone who loves you and most likely wants the proposal to happen just as much as you do. Maybe he’s waiting for a special day or maybe financially it just isn’t the right time. I know for a fact that had Kyle not been laid off and then unemployed for 5 months our proposal would have happened much sooner but you know what? In retrospect, I’m thrilled about when it happened because had it happened any earlier he wouldn’t have been able to do it where he did which ended up being some place very special. That’s a story for another day though.

Waiting isn’t easy but believe me, it is 100% worth it.

Did you experience the “waiting” period? Did it cause any stress?

The best things in life are free...diamonds are not

Now that you know who we are and how we started dating we can get to the juicy details of the ring and the proposal; first, though, a little backstory. Kyle and I started seriously discussing marriage about 14 months into our relationship. [Note: Yes, this is first time I’ve mentioned the Mr.’s name. I wasn’t sold on sharing but I figured it makes more sense to share than to keep you guys in the dark when you already know my name.] Anyway, a couple of months after we started talking about marriage we decided to stop off at a jewelry store to look at rings on our way to a Sara Bareilles concert. I had looked on-line and had two specific rings that I wanted to try on. Want to see? Okay, since you twisted my arm! 

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Going into this I thought the first ring was THE ONE. It was so simple and classic and when I tried it on it was so…underwhelming. The second one however, I fell in love with. The stones in the band, the single simple center stone, the scalloping ahhhh I die. Then we asked the price. Helloooo, sticker shock!

We both kind of felt like this

While this kind of put a damper on things, especially since Kyle’s company had closed down not too long before and he hadn’t yet found another job, everything turned out all right in the end. I ended up finding my dream ring which was different than the previous two and I could not be happier. Of course, I would be happy with a ring out of a Cracker Jack box as long as it meant I was marrying my love.

Did you have sticker shock while diamond shopping?

When Harry Met Sally: Part Two

The last time we left off I was talking about how the Mr. and I are inherently awkward. After the dance, my senior year roommate (known as BM Crown from this point forward) and I stood in the lobby talking to the Mr. and his group of friends. I was really hoping we would all end up going out that night but alas, the fates were not on my side. Lucky for me though, this whole random interaction ended up leading to us actually saying hi in class and soon enough we were facebook chatting. Oh yeah, this was getting serious.

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We quickly progressed to texting and talking whenever we saw each other. We discussed our mutual love of BBQ at the campus library (he went on a BBQ tour for Fall Break, be still my heart). Eventually, I somehow got enough courage to invite him to the Halloween party BM Crown and I were hosting at our apartment on Halloween Eve.  Throughout the night there were copious amounts of delicious beverages and lots of flirting between me and the Mr…or so I was told.

Stirring up a batch of delicious witch's brew (aka Pink Panty Pulldowns) for Halloween*

By the end of the night the Mr. and I were definitely heading toward some sort of relationship but at that point neither of us knew how serious it would turn out to be. What really kicked things off though was the next night. The Mr. and I found ourselves at the same Halloween party and by the end of the night we shared our first kiss...which tasted like a mixture of butter beer and PBR. Yum. That fact aside, it was definitely the best first kiss I have ever experienced, hands down and no questions asked.

Halloween Eve 2009

Do you have a first kiss that was better than any other? Did it take what seemed like forever for you and your SO to take that step?

*All Photos are personal unless otherwise noted

When Harry Met Sally: Part One

So it seems like one of the most popular questions to couple is that of how they met. Let me tell you that the Mr. and I had to meet quite a few times before anything stuck. It wasn’t that we didn’t like each other we just had our own things going on and didn’t see each other enough to even build a friendship. In fact, the first several times we met the Mr. was in a serious relationship anyway so there wasn’t much of a reason to be interested (ya know, other than the fact that he’s pretty fan-freakin’-tastic). Anyway, after a couple of years of random introductions and having classes together without even knowing it, we found ourselves dancing in the same group at the Homecoming dance our senior year of college. Isn’t that the perfect time to jump into a new relationship? Believe me, we felt the stress of graduation and finding jobs later, but I digress. 

I mean, really, who wouldn't want to dance with this? (Personal Photo)

So anyway, there I was being swept off my feet by the Mr.’s infamous Cosby moves when the DJ decided to play a slow song. This is when we both reverted back to middle school dance procedure and awkwardly stared at each other before just swaying by ourselves. That’s right, we each danced alone. In a crowd full of people. Awkwardly glancing at each other. Now if that’s not romance then I don’t know what is. 

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Don’t worry, the awkardness didn't last for too long!

Did you have a relationship where it wasn’t love at first sight? Did you have any awkward moments like our solo slow dance? 

Hello, I love you Won't you tell me your name?

Hi all!

I created this blog as a way to express all of the thoughts, ideas, feelings and whatever else about my upcoming wedding. It’s also a way for me to share projects and maybe give some helpful advice every now and then. Mostly, this is just a way to humor myself and find yet another way to spend time on top of working full-time, going to grad school, and planning a wedding! So, now that you know why I’m here let me tell you who I am and just as important who I have decided to spend the rest of my life with.

I am a crossword-loving Southern girl who enjoys country music, reading sappy books (Hello, Nicholas Sparks!) and less than classy reality tv (Bad Girls Club, anyone?). When I’m not overloading myself with school and work I enjoy daydreaming about all of the lovely DIY projects I have planned for the wedding. That’s right, I daydream but I have yet to start on anything other than our paper products! I have to admit that part of the reason is I’m not the craftiest of girls but I have all of the heart in the world and am determined to change my kindergarten-style craft ways. The Mr. is a Boston sports fanatic who loves anything music related. Together, we have an immense love of food and will take any weather that allows us to geocache (look it up, muggles!). Less than ideal weather is okay with us too though because it gives us reason to snuggle on the couch with our eccentric furbaby, Gatsby, and watch Food Network all day long.

Without further ado, meet Jess and the Mister.   

Personal Photo - Our first Valentine's Day