Too Good

Sometimes, I think that Kevin is too good for me. He's such a great catch and I adore him so much.

I mentioned this to him last night and he disagreed completely. He thinks that I am, in fact, way too good for him!

Teehee.

It's like Christmas...

Ok, let's see if I can say this and have it make sense OUTSIDE of my head.

So, to me, this wedding is sort of like Christmas. I don't mean that I'll get a lot of gifts, or give a lot of gifts (though both are true...). I don't mean that there will be singing, rejoicing, and praising of the Lord (though, again, also true). It's also not that we're getting dressed up and going to church (yeah, still true, though a bit of a stretch here, since we tend to go to church most Sundays, though decidedly not usually as dressy as we will that day). For me, it's more of a time/distance thing. Ok, let me try and explain.

When I was a kid, and even now to some extent, the whole year Christmas seemed a million miles away. Like, it's so far away, it's never going to happen. Sort of like most people look at a meteor the size of Texas hitting the earth, or the NEXT millennium, or seeing Haley's comet, or moving to the moon. So far away, so almost unlikely that they barely register as real on our radar. Sure, they are real (well, maybe not living on the moon, and let's hope not on the meteor one) but they are so very far away in time that it almost becomes a distance. A distance that your feet could never walk.

And maybe we will be around to see Haley's Comet or people living on the moon, but there will be a lot of time and miles between here and there.

Whenever Christmas actually DID come around, I was always surprised and amazed. Because the rest of the year it felt so far off, it didn't seem like I had traveled enough time and distance for it to finally be firmly in my lap. Almost like in my head, Christmas was really every two years or every three, or maybe even every four like Leap Year. But there it popped up, every year, taking me by surprise by how quickly it had arrived once again.

So how does this relate to the wedding, you ask? If you're still with me, that is! I'll tell you how!

I am twenty-eight years old, soon to be twenty-nine. I have long waited for and yearned for a man like Kevin. When I first met him, I kept waiting for "the other shoe to drop". Everything was right, and that never happens. Something always goes wrong and you go back to the drawing board and ask God for patience and faith that He has a wonderful plan for your life. You keep putting together pieces of the puzzle, hoping to see a bigger picture if you squint and use your imagination. But it never seemed to me that it would actually happen. It seemed SO FAR AWAY, to meet a wonderful guy that would love me as much as I deserved to be loved. It seemed so very distant, to get proposed to. In fact, I was trying to explain this to Kevin right before he proposed.

Here is how distant this seemed to me: We had gone ring shopping. I had PICKED OUT A RING. (I didn't know he had gotten it, but all signs pointed towards yes) We were talking engagement, we were talking wedding, we were talking marriage. We spent the day at my cousin's wedding, discussing what we liked and might reproduce at our own wedding. He had me sitting there on his bed, he had a present to give to me, and I saw the ring box in the drawer. In the back of my mind, I registered that it MIGHT be a ring box, that he MIGHT be proposing. But it seemed so very distant, it seemed like walking to the moon away, that I brushed aside that thought.

When he actually proposed, I was totally shocked. It came out of no where. Boom. Like that meteor.

SO now there is a wedding. We're planning it. Planning is coming along quite nicely. I might even have some shoes! Signs point towards yes! There is a countdown on my phone, I can see how many days are left. How many weeks. How many months. I can see it ticking down. But still, sometimes I'm walking along, doing my thing, and it hits me. Boom. I'm getting married. Boom. I'm engaged. Boom. I get to spend the rest of my life with this amazing man.

It still baffles me. But it's a good sort of baffled. It's a "I'm really really blessed" sort of baffled. And I don't have to squint so much to see the picture in the puzzle. All the pieces aren't in yet, but it's looking like a beautiful, beautiful day. And I get to share it with the love of my life, a man whose hand I love to hold.

XOXOXO

Kismet!

Another very very exciting week (or two) with the wedding planning. What has been planned, you ask?

Gooooood question!

We're almost done with the invitation wording and I'm soon going to order a sample of it. Yay!

Also, we began premarital counseling yesterday with Pastor Nathan at Kevin's church. I have been a tiny bit nervous for that to begin, and now it has. So...now is the fun part?

I was sick a few days last week, so I don't have a ton to report actually. Kevin and I got to spend the weekend together, about a day and a half, which was really really nice. I also went to my first shower! They had a prayer shower at Kevin's church and I was one of the honoured guests! It was really nice to meet a lot of the ladies and spend time with them! The only downside was that I had to tell how Kevin and I met a bunch of times, plus we had already told Pastor Nathan earlier that day at counseling. So I felt like all I was doing was telling people how Kevin and I began.

We were kismet. Totally. Also the name of an AWESOME consignment shop that Melanie recommended to me in Rochester. It is my new favorite. I didn't buy anything, but it was great to look around.

So according to my count, the wedding is 20 weeks away. Or on my countdown, it says 4 months and 18 days. The website says 138 days. Are you sick of the countdown yet?

Here's another way to look at it! There are a lot of little events between then and now!
November 5th (TODAY) Lee's birthday (best friend's husband) 
November 22nd, Thanksgiving.
December 25th, Christmas.
January 1, New Years Day
January 9, My Dad's birthday
January 13th, My parents' anniversary and Caitlyn's birthday (best friend)
January 29th, My birthday (I turn 29!)
February 14th, Valentine's Day
March 17th (i think??), St. Patrick's Day
March 23rd, OUR WEDDING DAY!
March 24th, Palm Sunday
March 31st, Easter Sunday.

Lots and lots to keep us busy until the wedding day. It'll be here before you know it!

21 Weeks! 145 days!!

Kevin and I had an amazing weekend this weekend. Why amazing, you ask? Because it was almost completely stress free! And light on wedding planning.

Kevin came over at lunch time on Saturday and we went and had lunch together, always nice. Then we ran over to Dollar Tree and Walmart, to purchase some vases for a craft I saw on Pinterest. The idea was that if this craft was successful, we could use it in our centerpieces. Let's just say that the results were...less than successful. Or laughably horrible. But, it was fun attempting and I might give it one more go before I totally give up on it.

The rest of our time together, we sat and talked. We held hands and kissed a bit. We watched the end of 50 First Dates with my parents and then watched a couple episodes of the West Wing. We played dominoes and then had a domino fight. Then we put all the dominoes away and then I dumped the entire box on him, so the fight started anew. We were laughing our butts off the whole time. The bunny looked on with disdain, as clearly we should be petting and scratching her, as well as stacking up her blocks for her to knock down.

I love seeing Kevin and Clover interact. She was especially playful on Saturday night and kept coming over to have Kevin scratch her. It was so cute and it warms my heart to see them liking each other. She is really starting to accept him as one of her humans. Yay! She just might keep him.

Actually, all that fun couple plus Clover time gave me a good idea for a photograph, so I might work on that later. Maybe.

As for wedding stuff! After giving my mom the information on florists that had been recommended to me, she found my perfect bouquet. Like it is so me, it should be called "Katie's bouquet". She also found boutonnieres that match. Basically, 2 hours after I gave her the information, she had most of the flowers picked out and within budget. Very efficient. She clearly is excited to help out with whatever task I give her next. She also wants us to start thinking about favors.

Kevin, Caitlyn (the matron of honour), and I have spent quite a bit of time lately on the MUSIC for the wedding. We seem to have the processional down, and we got the PERFECT song for the father/daughter dance. After that, we're still working on fitting the puzzle pieces together. Nothing is set in stone. I've been looking into bridesmaid's jewelry with my sister Christi. The jewelry will be the gift to the bridesmaids, in thanks for being a part of our special day.

After making a very important decision on cloth napkins (very. important.), we still need to work out appetizers. And favors. And maybe beverages. At least we don't have to worry about alcohol because there won't be any. :-D

I am still on the hunt for bridal shoes, but now I am also looking around for bridal jewelry. I need to start trying up-dos soon also. I need to get ahold of my lovely personal attendant Michelle, I'm sure she'd love to be a part of that!

I feel like I'm forgetting something big that we've either decided or are discussing. The biggest thing right now (and be praying for us!) is that we are starting Pre-Marital Counseling this weekend! That's right. Sunday afternoon at Kevin's church with Pastor Nathan. I'm a tiny bit nervous. We're supposed to do this test that kind of shows how compatible we are. I asked what would happen if it said we weren't very compatible and Kevin joked that Pastor Nathan would suggest we call off the wedding. Somehow, I didn't find that funny nor reassuring.

If I think of anything else, I'll post again.

5 months or 22 weeks or 152 days!

Time is ticking down. Sometimes it feels like it's all going by so slowly and we have way more to do than we have time for. Other times, it feels like our wedding date is approaching like a big linebacker in football.

Things have been a bit crazy for me lately.

My car, Jimmy, broke down and had to be towed. Except...nothing was wrong with him? On the plus side, because I was driving my parents' suburban for a week, it was quite easy to trade mattresses with Kevin. I am now sleeping on full sized mattress from the guest room and getting amazing rest, thank you very much!

I got a mouse in my room. Just one. We caught him, he's gone. But it did kick us into gear on packing up my stuff and cleaning out my room. Which is really great, and I've been able to bless some friends of ours with clothes I'm not wearing much. Double yay! And the more we pack up now, the more we can get to Kevin's house before the snow flies. Triple yay!

Third, my knee has been acting up like crazy. I haven't come up with a positive outcome from this. It's actually quite a bit better today, and I'm not complaining! Yesterday after church the elders prayed for my knee. I feel loved! But in the meantime, it's been 2 or 3 weeks of pain in the knee, so I'm glad that seems to be wrapping up.

This weekend was the craft fair at Logan, which we go to every year because my grandma has a booth there. This year, I got to bring along my FIANCE! Last year I brought along my boyfriend. Heheehee! My Uncle Jerry, who happens to be a pastor and happens to be performing the marriage ceremony for Kevin and I, was the one to bring my grandma up to the craft show this year. SO! Kevin and I got to sit down with the pastor and talk about our wedding! I did get teased a little about my priorities (like shoes) but all in all it was a really great meeting! WOOT!

Ok, I still don't know what I'm going to do about shoes. But in the meantime, I've got a really strong idea for centerpieces, my mom is helping with the flowers, the hotel rooms are booked, and the invitations are coming along well. I think that updates everything I posted about last time, but if not, here's a quick shout out to other things we've check-marked on the list. The caterer is picked and we picked our meal. It's gonna be yummy. We picked the cake and are ironing out some details there. The invitations just need the wording to be polished and then we can order them. The Save the dates were sent and hopefully received! Only one has come back, you guys have no excuses not to come!

Please continue to keep Kevin and I in your prayers. Wedding planning is really just training for conflict management, isn't it? Pretty soon we start pre-martial counceling. EXCITING!

Only 5 months left! OR Only 22 weeks left. OR only 152 days left!!!!!

164 days to go!!

It's been almost a month since I posted, but it doesn't feel that long. Since then, Kevin and I spent an entire afternoon/evening stamping return addresses on envelopes and sticking on stamps for our Save The Date magnets, which went out in the mail today. WOO! It's official, we're getting married and we're telling a whole lot of people at once.

One benefit of finally sending out Save The Dates (it just sounds so wrong to call them STDs) is that everyone who will be invited more or less knows now. Another is that people can find our website! Yay! Which also means they'll see this blog and know that I don't post in it very often at all. No pressure. :-D

Kevin has been meeting with and emailing caterers left and right. I'm so glad I gave him this task, because I'm not even doing it and it's stressful for me. He is very calm and sweet about it. At a certain point, I'm going to be tempted to say let's order pizza. Hopefully before that happens, we'll get a caterer nailed down, entrees and sides picked out, and maybe even figure out what we want for the appetizers. (I tried to spell it the fancy way, and it was too difficult. Feel free to insert the french word in while you read it.)

One thing that HAS been nailed down (though I need to email my merry maids about it) is the bridesmaid dress! Last weekend, my mom and I made a road trip down to Madison and did some super shopping. I was picky and choosy, but when Christi came out of the dressing room in this dress, I knew it was the right one. It will be in plum. I know that no one who knows me at all is surprised that there will be purple at my wedding.

On a side note, I wanted to give Kevin a really big compliment the other day, so I told him that I love him more than purple. He was touched. Yay!

I've been doing a lot of research on centerpieces, hoping to include most of (if not all of) the pieces that Kevin's mom gave me over labor day. This mental arranging of ideas hasn't been too fruitful, but I have a few ideas. The decorations are totally my thing and Kevin has given me carte blanche (spelled right on the first try!). Within reason, at least.

Kevin and I got to hang out with his friends Justin and Jamie a while back, which was REALLY FUN! Also that day, we went to Bed Bath and Beyond to flesh out our registry a bit more. At this point, I'm saying that our registry is more or less finished. We aren't picky, we just want our friends and family to celebrate our marriage with us. We aren't in it for the gifts, but the fellowship. Much like we got to have with Justin and Jamie. By the way guys, if we have John Hardy's for our rehearsal dinner, totally your fault. :-)

Meeting with the travel agents a few weeks back went really well. Kevin and I talked a lot about it and did a lot of research and we came up with a lovely destination for our honeymoon. We're going to spend a week on a warm beach, which sounds like just what we'll need after all this stress!

Right now I am having a crazy week and Kevin is trying to help me through it from a long distance, which I know is hard on him. My knee has been acting up and he gets almost lost when I'm hurting, wanting to make the pain go away but not knowing how. It's really sweet, though. Very endearing. There was a mouse in the house, too, and I know that Kevin would have been more than happy to protect me from it, but again, distance. He can't kill my scary spiders, either. My car wouldn't start last night and I wasn't sure what was wrong. I could almost see his gears going back and forth "Do I come down and help? Can I come down and help? Would it be fixed by then?" Thankfully Caitlyn and my dad were around and it's more or less sorted. Ok, so my car is in the shop but I'm not stranded anywhere.

Ultimately, it's really hard to be so far apart most of the time. But we love each other and we make it work. I was thinking today, though, that I'm really glad we still live our own lives. We haven't dropped everything in our lives, just because our fiancee an hour away needs something. We still have obligations and friends. I think it is a good thing, to lament the distance but not drop our own lives for it. I think it shows respect for each other and our relationship. Like, I don't expect him to come down, just because my car is broken, when he has obligations at the same time to do other things. If I were having emergency surgery, yes. Come down immediately. Broken car? Not so much.

Even so, I am excited for after we're married and we'll get to bother each other every day. Only 164 days to go!

It's beginning to look like fall...

It's a bit chilly tonight and I finally got to wear a proper sweater. For those who don't know me, I LOVE sweaters. I tend to wear them all the time. Even though it's often chilly in my office, I tend to wear a short sleeved shirt with a sweater jacket over it. It's a bit more flexible for those times during the day when I have to go outside in the sometimes 80 or 90 degree weather. Today, though, it's cold enough outside to wear a sweater and by gosh, I'm doing just that.

This week is Applefest in La Crescent. Growing up, it was a very exciting time. Now, it's rather boring. I don't ride the rides and the games don't change much from year to year. Though last year there was a game where you could win bunnies...Kevin wisely wouldn't let me play that game last year. Mostly what Applefest symbolizes this year is how far Kevin and I have come. We were already fairly couple-y by this time last year. We went with Caitlyn and Lee and baby Savannah to the fest during the parade. It was Savannah's first trip to Minnesota. There was a bit of rain and not much to do, but we had fun. A year later, Kevin and I are engaged and Savannah is running around talking and starting potty training. This year, instead of going to the fest, Kevin and I are going to my 10 year class reunion tomorrow (Friday) night. I've got a sparkly new top and a handsome fiancee, what could possibly go wrong? It'll be an adventure, for sure, if only because we're going there together.

On the wedding front, things are slow going. We have officially nailed down our photographers, a company called Unique Touches. Exciting! The return address labels for the invitations have arrived, as well as the return address stamper that we'll be using for the Save The Dates. The Save The Dates are slotted to arrive sometime tomorrow, so in theory, we'll be sending those out in a week or so. Kevin has very generously ordered a bunch of beautiful stamps to put on them, with white roses. PRETTY! We've decided on an invitation, but we haven't ordered it yet. I need to block hotel rooms. Kevin needs to meet with caterers. Next weekend, we have appointments with two (not just one!) travel agents to discuss the honeymoon. Hopefully the travel agent will have more concrete ideas than we do. So far our idea for a honeymoon destination is "somewhere that the weather is nice, without a lot of screaming kids or really old people.". I'm sure that narrows it down. I also haven't been able to go bridesmaid dress shopping yet. EEK!

We did get to sample some AWESOME cake from DL Cakery last weekend, so that was pretty sweet. Teehee. I think we're leaning towards them for the cake, but much discussion still needs to be had.

All in all, we've got most of the big stuff nailed down, but still a lot of work to do. Just don't ask if all this is stressing me out, because then you'll get the really long version. The short answer is YES, but I'm so excited to be marrying my amazing best friend and spending the rest of my life with him.

Cake, Caterers, and Party Time!

This week, Kevin and I have been focused on trying to get a caterer. We have several good leads and are continuing to do research into the options available. One frustrating thing (of many) is that almost all of our options want to do buffet. I really dislike doing buffet for the food at a wedding. Like, really really. It takes forever, it's very impersonal, and it's just a bit...I don't know. I just am not a big fan. The price per person fluctuates quite a bit, though the highest end would be pasta from Victoria's, which is a very fancy restaurant.

There are lots of hidden costs with caterers. Like, using plates. It costs an extra couple dollars PER PERSON to use plates. That isn't including silverware or glasses. But paper plates are free. I'm not using paper plates for my wedding. Nor plastic silverware. This isn't a picnic. I wouldn't wear that fancy of a dress to a picnic! Servers also cost extra. Some charge for cake cutting, some don't. I feel like my head is spinning sometimes! We'll figure it out, though, and end up with something great.

Two super cute anecdotes about my sweet fiancee. I have been in a Pride and Prejudice kick lately, and I was contemplating Kevin dressed as Mr. Darcy. He really does have the body type to pull off regency clothing VERY well. MMmm. So I told him that I was drooling over the idea of him dressed as Mr. Darcy, and he offered to dress that way for the wedding. How cute is that? Ok, made slightly less cute by the fact that he didn't know what kind of clothes Mr. Darcy wears, but still. A sweet offer. Secondly, I have been stressing lately about trying to find really cute wedding shoes that are comfortable and very low. I can wear heels, I just am not good at it and they hurt my feet. The problem is that I grew up wanting glass slippers to wear to my wedding. That isn't going to happen, and the plastic imitations are rather gross, so no go there either. Kevin realized I was stressed about finding just the right shoes that were pretty and sparkly, so he started trying to find pretty shoes for me. His taste in lady's shoes isn't great, but he tried and that was so super sweet!

This weekend is, thankfully, not nearly as busy as LAST weekend. As fun as it was, we squeezed a LOT into that long weekend. Tomorrow (Saturday) I get to see Kevin here in La Crosse. It's his turn to visit me. We're going to attempt to get the breaks on my car looked at. More exciting than that, we're going to my friend Sharon's birthday party! WOO HOO! She's an awesome lady and a super geek, so of course I adore her. Also very exciting, tomorrow at 6 we are going to a cake tasting!! YUM! These are the bakers that I really want to make the cake and they say that they can deliver to Rochester. Here's hoping! It would be really nice to pin down the caterers and the bakers this week! The photographers are pinned down now too! Another big check off the list!

 Only 6 months and 16 days to go...but who is counting? :-D

Once in a blue moon...

This weekend was a rare treat for everyone, I would say. Friday night was a blue moon (much like the ballroom we're having our reception at!), which is very cool. That night, Kevin and I had dinner with not only my parents but also HIS parents! All six of us got together at Features in West Salem for fish. Kevin didn't actually have fish, but everyone else did, so it counts.

Then, of course, we changed almost all the plans we had for the weekend. I ended up staying over at Kevin's the whole weekend, sleeping on the basement couch. I love that squishy comfortable couch and it wasn't bad to sleep on, either!

Saturday morning, the four of us got up and after Kevin made us a yummy breakfast, we headed to the Twin Cities! We went to Ikea first! We shopped and had lunch there. I bought myself a Lucky Bamboo plant. Which means it's pretty and in a coil shape. After a very filling Ikea lunch, we headed over to Mall of America! It was very fun going to the Aquarium with Kevin's parents. I always love going there. I especially like the jellyfish. They are just...beautiful and majestic and weird all at once. It's hard to explain my love for them. We did a little bit of shopping at the mall as well, mostly picking specific stores to go to. I ended up getting a cute little vase for my bamboo plant AND we saw Sponge Bob and Patrick as we crossed through the Nickelodeon park. You just never know what celebrities you'll see at the Mall of America, I suppose!

Sunday, the four of us went to Kevin's church and since Kevin wasn't doing sound OR projection, he sat next to me the entire time! We got to visit with Justin (the best man) and his wife Jamie for a while after the service, which is always really nice. They can't wait for me to move to Rochester so we can spend more time together!

On Monday, Kevin and I got to spend a bit of time wedding planning after his parents left for the long trip back to Michigan. I had to head home too, which is always hard. But alas, back home I had a bunny waiting who wasn't happy that I'd taken off for the ENTIRE weekend, instead of the one day I had promised. Much head scratching will have to take place before she totally forgives me.

This weekend will be quite a bit lighter in schedule, as will next weekend. Praise the Lord for that! I love being around family and friends, as long as it is balanced by peace and quiet...and maybe chick flicks. Just saying.

Bridezillas!

Last night, I made the mistake of watching a few episodes of the tv show Bridezillas. I had to watch a few episodes, because the story of the particular bride I was watching continued on for several episodes. Even taking an hour off to talk to Kevin, I still had to watch another entire episode to see what happened.

This woman was completely ridiculous. She kept saying that she didn't want to get married, she didn't like anything about her groom, she wanted to cancel the wedding, that she wasn't even remotely attracted to her fiancee. He surprised her at one point by taking her ice skating, something she apparently enjoyed in the past. However, she flipped out, stating that they could break their legs and DIE in the course of this reckless behavior. After a few minutes, she got made that he wasn't very good at skating and was keeping her from going fast. Then she stormed off and again continued on the many reasons she shouldn't marry him. Even minutes before the wedding, she didn't want to go through with it. Then after the wedding, her first response was "Divorce is always an option.".

Oh. my. word. I can't imagine vowing to spend the rest of my life, good times and bad, sickness and health, with someone I couldn't stand. I can't imagine constantly throwing fits and making Kevin calm me down. Or telling Kevin repeatedly that I do not want to marry him? Not a chance. I don't know why this woman agreed to get married, but it seemed like she...well, she was a bit crazy all around.

There are very few things that I have said are my non-negotiables for the wedding. I want a big white dress. I want my uncle to do the ceremony. I want to marry Kevin. That's it. And you know what? Even if I couldn't have those other things, the important thing to me is that I love Kevin and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. The wedding day is just that: ONE day. The marriage should last a lifetime. And no, divorce is NOT an option.

In other good news, Kevin and I finally decided on our Save The Dates. We're doing magnets that come with envelopes and will arrive at Kevin's house in about 2 weeks. Very exciting!! When I saw them, I knew they were the right one. The color is excellent and actually matches Kevin's shirt in the pictures!

You know you're in love when...

This morning I had one of those moments. You know you're in love when you wake up after a weird dream and can't wait to discuss it with the other person. This will be, I'm sure, immensely more feasible after we're married. As it stands now, we mostly talk in the evenings and the occasional text during the day. So first thing in the morning, I couldn't tell Kevin about my crazy dream in which we bought a really expensive apartment in the cities only to pay for it by selling a painting that was in the apartment (and therefore came with the apartment), basically making said really expensive apartment free. Ok, the story was much longer than that, but let's just say it was weird.

Last night, Kevin and I had a meeting over Skype with another photographer. This couple named Shem and Joy own a company called Unique Touch Photography. We're currently interested in them to do our wedding, since the last photographers fell through. We had a very good rapor with Shem and every thing seems to have gone well. Their price is actually slightly cheaper than the other photographer's PLUS we get the winter discount. Who knew the end of March still counted as winter? Shem had some really great ideas for caterers, flowers, and picture locations. He made a suggestion that more or less stole my heart, or at the very least made it flutter. He suggested that we rent out Mayowood Mansion for an hour or two and do our pictures there. YES PLEASE! If Kevin and I had been in the same room, I would have batted my eyelashes, gave a winning smile and hugged him. He would have gotten the idea. I think even over skype he knew that the suggestion was sort of like a fairytale dream come true.

The biggest question mark for signing the photographer is time. We basically need 2 and a half hours AFTER the wedding for photography, since we don't want to see each other before the wedding. (Not changing my mind!) What do we do with our guests for almost 3 hours? Send them to a movie? Send them back to their hotel rooms? Set out board games? Somehow I don't think a jenga tournament is in the future. Although a Euchre tournament...that I could see.

I feel so blessed!

My immediate family and my close friends have all heard this more than a few times, but I just feel so blessed by God. If you had told me a few years ago that I would meet a wonderful man and start dating him, I would have said "I wish!". If you had told me that he would be so perfect for me and we'd be an excellent match, I wouldn't have believed you. If you told me he would propose, buying me a ring more beautiful than I would imagine, I would have shook my head. If you told me that I would soon be moving to Rochester, planning a wedding to my best friend, that my bunny would adore him, and that he would treat me like a princess...I don't know what I would have said or done. Because really, all of this is beyond my imagination. To think that in less than 7 months, we'll be married. How exciting! That in a year or two, we'll be trying to have kids! Incredible! He already owns his own house, so we don't have to worry about apartments or trying to buy a house, or worrying that my credit would make things difficult. Nope.

Yesterday, it was 90 degrees and it was especially hot in my room. I texted Kevin and I asked him to guess where I would be, if I could be almost anywhere, right then. He didn't guess right but I think he liked my answer. I would have chosen to be in his basement, cuddling with him on the couch we bought together. It's so cool and refreshing down there, and if I got too chilly, Kevin would keep me warm.

Sometimes, I still marvel at how wonderfully this has worked out. I can't question it, because it is so clearly God at work. God brought Kevin into my life. And I am so very thankful.

Seven Months To Go!

The count-down has begun! Well, it really began when we set the date. But still, only 7 months until Kevin and I get married! I am so excited!!

Last night I got to have a girl's night with my lovely Matron of Honor Caitlyn and my (hopefully) future flower girl, Savannah. Savannah is about 13 months old now and SO CUTE and SO SMART! She learns very quickly. She's stringing words together, she recognizes animals by name, sound, and picture, and she can now say her favorite color, purple. Which is a good favorite color to have, since it's one of the wedding colors. :-D She can walk, run, and put away her toys. Soon, she'll be potty training since she already clearly lets her parents know when she needs a new diaper.

Ultimately, it was really great to have a girl's night with Caitlyn. With all the wedding stress plus life getting stressful in general, it's really great to just talk and laugh. Caitlyn and I always have a great time and I don't know what I'd do without her.

This weekend, Kevin and I had planned to go to the Minnesota State Fair but I suggested we skip it this year. We're going up to the cities next weekend with Kevin's parents anyhow. We'll have a nice quiet evening of pizza, board games, and Doctor Who. I love being engaged to a fellow geek! Time to do more wedding planning. Guest list and save the date cards are next on the agenda!

Wishing and Hoping and Planning and Dreaming...

As will happen many times during wedding planning (says my reassuring mother), we have had a hiccup. The photographers we (or rather I) wanted are...let's go with no longer available to photograph our wedding. Which means that we are once again in search of wedding photographers. Thankfully, Kevin is a wonderfully patient man who dealt well with my stressing out. I also attempted not to stress out too much. This stress, too, shall pass. It will all work out. I told Kevin last night that I would still want to marry him even if we didn't have any photographers at all.

Kevin also reassured me that it's a bit late to go to Vegas. Drat.

But in the theme of weddings, I heard a song I have long enjoyed on the radio this morning. I remember it from My Best Friend's Wedding. Wishing and hoping and planning and dreaming... This song really does give the worst advice EVER for a relationship. If you want true love, just do whatever he wants to do, look the way he wants you to look, and generally go along with whatever he would like. Then you'll be his. Um. No. Some of the best advice I ever heard was that if you want to be in a relationship, you should start with being in a relationship with yourself. Take yourself out on dates, do the things YOU want to do, and look your best the way you feel the most beautiful (or handsome). Knowing yourself, being confident in your own likes and dislikes, and treating yourself with respect are WAY more attractive traits than just bending to someone else's will just because they decided to take you on a date. Also, hiding who you are is essentially lying to the other person, so you're basing your entire relationship on a whole big ball of lies.

With that said, I can rest assured that I have never hid who I really am and Kevin loves me just as I am. I love him to bits just as he is, as well. :-D

The first post is always the hardest...

Well, let's start with the beginning. Kevin and I got engaged on June 30th at my cousin Jenni's wedding reception. I knew it was coming eventually, but I thought it would be two weeks later on our 1 year anniversary.

Since it's now August 20th, we have been engaged for almost two months. These past weeks have been both wonderful and amazingly stressful! So far, we have gotten our date set for March 23rd, 2013. We have reserved Kevin's church, Berean Community Church in Rochester. My uncle Jerry will be performing the ceremony. We are about to put down a deposit on both our reception venue and our photographers. Also, I have all my bridesmaids picked out and asked to be a part of our celebration. Best of all, I have picked an amazing dress and it's been ordered.

That just leaves...everything else...to do. We're working on finalizing the guest lists so we can send out save the date cards. I need to work on the save the date cards also. I need to pick bridesmaid dresses. We have barely discussed the rehearsal dinner. We're starting to register. Eventually, we'll have all of this nailed down.

Besides all that wonderful planning stress, I'm also looking for a job in Rochester. Anyone know of the perfect job for me? Hopefully I can find a job in Rochester and move there. I was actually hoping to have moved already but it just hasn't worked out that way.

Ultimately, though, God is sovereign. This is something He will get us through. I'm also really glad that Kevin has been doing his part of the planning as well at trying to keep me as sane and stress-free as possible.