Just Checking In

    Hey there! Yes, I am still alive and engaged in case anyone was wondering whats been going on. Welp, not much of anything honestly!

    Since I've been back at work I've been working like crazy and the FI finally got put on day shift at his job. It has been great having him home at night and up with time do do stuff on days off.

    I definitely don't blame him in any way for our lack of planning but it is going to (hopefully) start moving a lot faster now that we can do things during the day.

    We know that we just have to look at venues and pick a place to get the ball rolling- trust us, we know and we're working on it. I have looked at a million places and have narrowed it down to the few we like and can afford; now we just have to make an appointment and go!

    With the holidays coming and us hoping to move to a new apartment soon time is going to be short but we will make it happen. And soon, we promise!

The Proposal Story

 I just realized that I haven't shared the story of how he proposed. To make it short I have to say it was perfect and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. So here it goes....

    We had recently bought some new camping gear and were dying to try it out so one random day we packed up and headed out to our favorite camping place -Joshua Tree National Park.  

The weather was perfect and the Park wasn't crowded at all! We were only staying a night, just enough time to get in a good hike and enjoy some time in the middle of nowhere next to a campfire.   

     

Never been hiking in JTree before we decided to start with Ryan Mountain, a 3-mile hike that should take a few hours to complete. 

Beginning to the best day of my life

 Stopping only a few times for pictures and water we made it to the top where the view was amazing!

This does not even compare to how amazing the view actually is!

 Last picture of me as a girlfriend

I had no clue :)

    Dylan kept pointing out good picture spots and after one suggestion I turned around to find him down on one knee holding out a little box with a shiny ring in it and said,"Will you marry me?" I was sooo surprised- I'm sure at one point I said yes, it was all so... omg this is it!

First picture of me as a fiance

Still couldn't believe it!

 Even thinking about it now my heart starts racing and I get those lil butterflies in my tummy. 

Getting Organized

     Okay so I'm a nerd and I'm obsessed with school supplies. Notebooks, hi-liters, dividers, labels, new pens, sheet protec- see!  What does this have to do with weddings you might ask? Oh, nothing, its just a major component to keeping your sanity!
     Planning. Organizing. Two of the first things I got excited about. Keeping everything neat and organized will help you "keep calm and carry on". *Or whatever, all this wedding stuff is making me weird!* Having a planning notebook is one of the most important things you can have to keep all wedding related papers in one place for easy finding and easier scheduling!
     Check out the Planning 101 section for more details on what actually goes in the notebook and if you're lucky I'll show you pictures of my notebook, which I'm pretty proud of if I have to say so myself!

Team Bride

     Bridal party. Check. Well, brides side of bridal party, check -fiance still has to decide on his!  I assume most girls automatically pick their sisters or close relatives, but uh, I didn't really have that option. *I do have 2 sisters but sadly, we are not speaking as of now :( *  I decided to chose my fiance's sister to be my Maid of Honor (MOH) What better way for us to start "bonding"? Besides that, she is great at this kinda thing and I'm hoping she will have fun helping me plan! BFF of like...8 years and girlfriend I have known 20 years will be my bridesmaids, although I have only asked one so far! More details on the Bridal Party (BP) later.
      Anyways.... I wanted to show you what I made for everyone. I thought it would be fun to wear these whenever we hang out doing wedding stuff and  after searching everywhere to find "Team Bride" t-shirts I finally decided to make my own after seeing that just one shirt could cost up to $25!! Don't get me wrong, I love the girls in my BP, but I don't even like spending that much $$ on a shirt for me, so why spend it on them? That sounded bad, but you know what I mean, right?  Well, this is what I came up with.

Handmade bows

For the MIL

What do you think?

Silly, but it worked

What I Do All Day

If I'm not working, I'm planning. Or at least researching. Obsessed?  Pathetic? Who cares? This is an extremely important and personal day and I figure the more researching I do the better. I will know exactly what I (we) want and how much the average cost should be. Every bride should do this- seriously! Search Q&A forums on wedding websites, DVR hours of wedding related reality shows, spend hours reading blogs. You can learn a lot and get a few laughs. (I know I am and some girls are crazy!!) For me, it's easier to figure out want I don't want and then go from there. So don't feel bad for spending hours on Pinterest, weddinggawker, or just mindlessly Google searching. Feel good, feel confidant that you and your future husband will have an amazing and memorable wedding without breaking the bank!

Guess What !?

You'll never believe it... I found a dress. Yes, the dress! The dress every girl dreams of her whole life. The dress I was so worried I wouldn't find. The dress I am going to marry the man of my dreams in. The dress I'm going to start the beginning of the rest of my life in... and it's absolutely perfect!! Sorry I won't be posting any pictures (don't want anybody peeking!) but believe me it is awesome!! For those of you that don't know, I don't really like shopping and trying things on and have maybe 3 dresses -that I hardly ever wear-  so to find a dress that I feel pretty in and actually like, is pretty darn amazing!
     I wasn't even planning on trying on, I even said, "No trying on today, just looking" but after looking around I decided maaybe I did wanna try some on, what could it hurt? Grabbing a little bit of everything, I had about 12 dresses to try on. I really wanted to get a feel for what looked good on me, silk, lace, long, short, sleeves, no sleeves. The third dress I tried on I was like "OMG, I love this!!" but was also like, "whoa, calm down, don't get to excited here!" but I just loved it so much!!.  I kept trying on the others though, just to be sure there wasn't another. I started feeling bad for the lady helping me because as she was doing up all the zippers and little hooks and buttons I just knew, nope don't like it! I ended up trying on that third dress one more time to see if I still liked it.. I did. So we went for the whole 9 yards- dress, heels, sash, and veil and got ready to walk down the mirrored hallway. Just thinking about it gives me butterflies of excitement in my tummy!! It was almost to much , I almost started crying. But I took a deep breathe, looked over at my crying MIL (Mother-In-Law) and walked down that hallway hoping not to trip. At the end was a little pedestal for me to stand on so they could show the dress off in all its beauty. They said, "when you find the one you will just know"  and I knew, this was it! It fits perfectly, no alterations needed -miracle! Another miracle- I was approved for the credit card!! (otherwise I would have left empty-handed)  I was meant to find my dress that day, it was meant to be. And now I just have to wait 20 months or so until I can show it off to Dylan!!
    Great.... I just realized.... 20 months of trying to stay the same size.... Bride Boot Camp here I come!

A little bit more...

Why I'm doing this? Well, I'm a busy girl and it can be hard to stay in touch with everyone, so I decided to start this blog. I'm not your "traditional" bride. Hell, I'm not even a "traditional" girl - I own like 3 dresses, two purses (does beach bag count?) and yes, I'm ashamed to admit but, only one pair of heels! This whole wedding-planning thing will be a new, different kinda challenge for me. So here is my point of view as I enter the foreign land of sparkly girlie things to plan my wedding! How hard could this be, right?