Love's Engaged!!!!!

I'm engaged!

B and I had been seriously talking marriage, dates, and all that jazz for some time now. Despite all our talks I was completley blindsided when my own proposal came. On to the long awaited story of my engagement. . . .

Sunday, November 9, 2008: That morning B brought me a dozen red roses, but said they were for no reason. This is out of character, but as the day went on normally I was convinced he was just being romantic. The day followed our typical Sunday routine: church, a visit to my Mamaw's, and afternoon nap. No idea what was about to happen. . . .

Later that night B made me leave him alone for a few hours so he could "work on preparing a test for his students." I obliged and a few hours later he came into my room with his laptop. He wanted to show me what he had been working on. B created a slideshow of us entitled "Our Seasons" (remember my belief in dating for all seasons). The slideshow had over 80 slides of our pictures together throughout our relationship and songs that were meaningful to us. I laughed, cried, and continued to be clueless.

The last song was our song: "Kiss You Good Morning" by Jake Owen. The last slide was a picture of the church where we will be married. He said he wanted to add pictures to the slideshow, but only if I was wearing. . . . and he pulled the ring out of his pocket.

This is where I got a clue. . . and stopped breathing! He got down one knee, said my full name, and asked me to marry him. I remember saying yes and the rest is a blur. I never really thought I would be one of those girls who cried, but it was pretty uncontrolable. The man of my dreams had just asked me to marry him.

I was totally surprised, and it's pretty hard to surprise me! I obviously didn't expect to get engaged because I was wearing sweatpants and a college t-shirt. It didn't even matter--I was engaged!!! We told my parents, called his parents, and spent the rest of the night making phone calls to our loved ones.

I can't believe we're really engaged and I'm really going to be a bride! I couldn't be any happier.

Our wedding date: July 11, 2009

SO much more to come!!

--Love

Real Engagement: Jessica and Hunter

This past weekend I continued my job as professional bridesmaid in the wedding of Jessica and Hunter (both friends of Amore and I). Before I give you all the details of their wedding weekend o' fun I think it's important to share their story book engagement story with the world.

Jessica and Hunter met in high school and were instant friends. They shared a group of friends that did everything together and Jessica was always the girl who hung with all the boys. After attending college together, they soon realized that their relationship was more than friendship. They dated throughout college.

Both Jessica and Hunter love to travel and have are lifelong learners. After graduation, Jessica attended graduate school in London while Hunter lived in France teaching English. They spent the year traveling throughout Europe together and learning how to deal with long distance (the international kind).

One weekend Jessica went to visit Hunter in Paris and they went out to dinner and for a walk. She had no idea what was about to happen. During their walk Hunter stopped at the Pont Alexandre bridge, which overlooks the Eiffel Tower. Just as the tower lit up, Hunter got down on one knee and asked Jessica to marry him! She was totally shocked and, of course, accepted.

Because international calls are so expensive she was limited in who she could call. I got a voicemail asking me to be a bridesmaid, but couldn't return her call to celebrate. Facebook became their main way to communicate their engagement. They enjoyed getting tons of wall posts, messages, and e-mails as the word quickly spread among our group of friends.

Later that night they joined his family, who were visiting and celebrated together. The next day his cousin followed them around Paris and took lots of engagement pictures. They soon set the date for August in Tennessee (where they're both from) and started planning their big day. . . . from an ocean away.

This was not only a story book engagement, but also perfect for this adventurous couple.

Next up: Jessica's bridesmaid luncheon

--Love