Hurry up and Wait!

So far this whole wedding planning thing is a bit of a push-me pull-you experience. There's so much to do...yet nothing to do, all at the same time. It started off with a major push in the first 3 weeks to find a location for the reception...and now that that's done (YAY!!!!) I've found myself in a major direction/motivation lul.
I know that I have to find my dress and pick out bridesmaid dresses and a flower girl dress and plan an engagement party, and send out save the dates, and book the church and the photographer and the DJ and the limos and block off hotel rooms, and figure out what my bouquet is going to look like, and plan decorations, and..., and..., and..., and...

But right now I'm sitting here thinking about which bathing suit I want to wear to the beach this weekend!

Is there something wrong with that? I'm not sure.

I know that it'll all get done, and our wedding will be beautiful, but right now I'm going to take it one day at a time, and enjoy every moment of summer!

I have a feeling September is going to be insane with planning and panic, but until then...

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Music City

I Love Country Music!

Bryan and I were fortunate enough to be surrounded by fellow country music lovers in Nashville, TN last weekend.

The atmosphere is one of camaraderie and one shared interest. Everyone is there to see country music stars. Everyone is there to learn more about country music. And everyone is there to share these interests with everyone else. Everyone is also there with sunscreen on! Because let me tell you, that all those CountryFest blogs that I read before going on this trip, they were totally right! It was 95 degrees and sunny and humid and HOT every day that we were there.

The convention center provided a lovely air conditioned escape for us mid-day. And though we were not among those who lines up outside the doors for autographs the night before!!! We did snap a couple of photos while other guests were meeting & greeting some of the artists.

Then came the night! At LP Field, we experienced 3 of the best concert line-ups ever. The energy levels were up, the excitement was tangible, and each and every performer knew how much we loved them! Trace Adkins made a particular impression on me as he got quite emotional when thanking his fans for all of the donations and support that he has received since his house was demolished by fire only one week before the Festival. He also encouraged people to turn their acts of charity elsewhere since he and his family are doing just fine. A great man!

All in all it was a wonderful trip filled with music and day-time-must-get-out-of-this-heat naps. Bryan and I successfully navigated our way through the crowds to a great get-away, and coming back to the real world on Monday was a real shock for both of our systems.

Having that nice diamond ring on my finger did cushion the blow a bit though ;)

Nashville Here We Come!!

In 5 minutes I am leaving work early, going home to meet up with Bryan, grab my suitcase and head to the airport.
We are going to Nashville's Country Music FanFare Fest and I could not be any more excited!
Check it out at this address to see what we'll be seeing, and I'll have the highlights when we return... :)

I'M ENGAGED!!!

It was perfect! I don't know how it could have been any more perfect, and Bryan gets major brownie points for pulling it all off as wonderfully as he did!

The story...

During one of our evening phone calls, Bryan mentioned to me that we were going to be going on a walk the Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend. I fought the idea a little bit, because I knew that Memorial would be a really busy weekend, but then he told me that our friends Matt & Brielle were going to be going with us, and Matt was planning to propose to Brielle while we were on the dunes.
Matt is Bryan's best friend. He and Brielle purchased a Camera a few months ago, recommended it to us, and 3 weeks later, I bought the same camera. So I knew that it was very true that Matt would want pictures of their special moment.
We met up for a quick breakfast, put on our sneakers, consolidated into one car, and headed out for our 3 hour beach walk. Through the dunes, along the ocean in Truro, MA, the 4 of us walked almost an hour to get to Matt's chosen peak of a spot. I was privately very annoyed that Matt had chosen a spot so far down the beach, because the peak looked really far away, and walking in the soft sand, while pausing to pick ticks off of one another was not exactly my idea of a good time.
So we finally made it to the Peak, and Bry told me that we were going to go ahead and take pictures from in front of them, so I took out the camera as I was walking, and tried to be inconspicuous while taking pictures of Matt & Brielle, while they were also trying to be inconspicuous taking pictures of me!
After a few seconds, and just before I was starting to wonder why on Earth Matt wasn't rummaging in his pocket for some kind of ring, Bryan tapped me on the shoulder...
When I turned around, he had a ring box in his hand and was getting down on one knee!!
I was SO shocked, I had to replay in my head the words that he actually said before I realized that it was me being proposed to!
I believe my exact words were, "Oh My God, Oh My God, Seriously? YES!!"

He stood up and I proceeded to hug and kiss him and not let go (which is good, because I probably would have fallen off the dune if I did) until he finally pushed me away and said "well, take the ring already!"

The ring is nothing that I would have picked out for myself, but I love it more than I ever could have imagined! The 5 stones are a combination of his family's and mine, so we are truly combined in this wonderful symbol.
I didn't think it was going to be possible for Bryan to truly surprise me with a proposal, but he came up with the perfect decoy, and he had me fooled all the way until he was down on his knee.

Thank you Babe for a perfect beginning to the rest of our lives!
I love you!