Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Two Weeks Down

This is incredible! I've been engaged two weeks:

Groom, check
Groomsmen, check
Bridesmaids, check
Dress, check
Shoes, check
Jewelry, check
Choose bridesmaids dress, check
Choose tuxes, check
Choose flowers/colors, check
Venue reserved, check
Violinist & singer, check 
Pastor, check
Guest list, check
Registry started, check
Sanity still intact, check


A huge thanks to my wonderful husband to-be without which none of this would be possible! I love being creative and churning out ideas, but having someone to help organize and execute details has been a sanity-saver! God knew I needed a man who can plan! It has been such a fun bonding experience to do this together and I have seen that we make a great team! I never thought I'd be excited about planning a wedding because I knew I would be paying for it myself, but this has actually been fun so far! Keeping it simple helps.

I am excited for the next 4 1/2 months and for that day when I get to walk towards my man to be his bride!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

I'm Engaged!



Just an ordinary Wednesday evening, after a casual dinner of chicken tortilla-less soup that I cooked, we went to the dock at White Rock lake where we've spent many nights talking. I suggested earlier in the day that we take a walk to the lake. Little did I know I was in cooperation with his little plan. We discussed Christmas traditions and laughed with the fisherman at the end of the dock who, frustrated with his tiny catch, called it a night. We moved to the end of the dock sitting to face one another, he rolled over onto one knee and reached in his pocket, "I was going to propose on Saturday night, but found out there was going to be a huge concert by the dock and I didn’t really want to do it in front of a thousand people...so I decided to do it tonight. My hesitation is that you told your family I was going to call but you haven’t given me their numbers yet. " I replied in a panicky tone, shaking my head, "It’s okay...I talked to them earlier today about it and they said it’s okay. We can call them again after it's official!" 

 With a giant smile, he proceeded, “Since we first met, you seemed like the perfect girl for me, but I didn’t want to believe it because it just seemed too good to be true...then one day I realized I was in love with you. My mom even said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but Stephen, you aren’t like other guys. You’re a little different, but she is perfect for you.” Then he said, “She’s right.  Your are perfect for me. I love you and I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?”  
 
My reaction was priceless: In complete shock, I was not expecting a proposal for another week or two at least. I sat staring with a “perma-grin” as he anxiously awaited my reply. Finally I declared, “YES!!! I WILL marry you!!” He put the ring on my finger and embraced me before I almost fell backward into the water. I’d say He did a good job surprising me!

After we got our wits about us, we called my family (mom, grandmother and brother) to share the exciting news and he officially asked permission to marry me.  Gotta love the chronology! We marked the spot where we got engaged then went back to the place we spent hours talking on our first date and shared a fried peach pie a la mode to celebrate.

 The timing of this news was an incredible blessing on a typically hard day for my family, esp my grandmother.  November 7th is my grandfather’s birthday. Losing him last Christmas was really tough because we were really close and he always dreamed of walking me down the isle to give me away. No less special, my brother will stand in his stead and I’ll always remember the day I got engaged was on his first birthday in heaven! 



We asked the Asian fisherman, who witnessed the whole shebang, to take our picture on the doc.

At Good Friends, one of the places where we spent our first date.
Recent picture at a friend's wedding