Dress Shopping

Note: I originally wrote this back in February, but spaced on posting it so if you notice some anachronisms, that's why (such as not having a date when I obviously already blogged about having one)

I feel like I'm doing things out of order, I have a dress (my parents are picking it up tonight), but still no date! (waiting on our priest to come back from a family problem for that). So you know, since I have done something so exciting, I'm going to blog about it! So, my dress shopping adventure will be in the form of "rules"for dress shopping (I say "rules" because I didn't follow a lot of them, so I guess they are more like guidelines ;)

Inspiration for a New Adventure

It’s been so much fun to be planning wedding details with Ryan, but I will talk about those later! We have something else we have been planning as well that is what I wanted to talk about.  Ryan applied for a scholarship that would pay for his last 2 years of school and give him a job after college and (while we are still waiting for the letter that says he got it for sure) it’s like 95% sure at this point! That means that once Ryan graduates, we will be moving to Oklahoma! 

We Have a Date!!!

After struggling to figure out which priest we wanted to witness our marriage, waiting a month to meet with him, and finding out he had to reschedule the day of that meeting because of a family emergency, we were FINALLY able to meet with him and set a date!!!

We knew that we wanted to get married right after my graduation (May 2013) and had been looking at the weekend after my graduation (the 18th).  That day also happens to be my parent's anniversary, which (although my mom was excited because I was going to cater to her & put in special elements for her) never really excited me because I don't really want to share our special day (sorry, Mom!) As it turns out, there is a big event happening in the diocese that day and the priest couldn't do a wedding then.  So, it was find ANOTHER different priest or change the date.  To us, the priest was more important and so we moved the wedding a week back!!

This is great because it gives Ryan's current roommate more time to move out & us to get my stuff moved in so our home is all set up when we get married & I move in! It also ends up being Memorial Day Weekend, so our guests won't have work on Monday & can enjoy the wedding a little more without stressing about running home the next day. (especially our parents).

So, the big day is May 25, 2013!!!! Now we can finally go talk to florists/reception halls/caterers etc!!! I'm so excited things are moving along!!!

A New Type of Adventure!

So this really exciting thing happened to me over Christmas Break: My wonderful boyfriend & best friend proposed to me!

So Pretty!!!

We are starting the exciting process of planning our wedding, but first, I wanted to get out how he asked me so that you can see it AND so that I'll have it written for the rest of my life!!!

So here's how it went down (and it's a long story, so buckle up!):

Well, before winter break, Ryan and I went to look at rings. (Yes, I knew this was coming.)  I was super picky and must have looked at every engagement ring in our town! Eventually, I picked an engagement and wedding band set that fit my personality AND wasn't out of the budget ;)  I kept bothering Ryan if he had bought it yet, but he wouldn't tell me!!!

So we went home for Christmas break to our own families and spent sometime apart.  Then, my mom took me out of the house for a whole day.  As it turns out she had a surprise for me: we were going to try on wedding dresses!!! And I wasn't even engaged yet!!! I felt a bit silly, but knew that the reason we were out of the house was because a handsome man was going to ask my father a certain question ;)

So, the next day Ryan came to spend a few days at my family's house.  That Friday, December 30th, I kinda expected him to ask me, but was disappointed because he didn't, but he had something up his sleeve!!!

On Sunday, January 1st (The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God) we drove to go spend a few days with his family.  We met them at his church and went to a mass in Latin.  After mass, Ryan was acting really sneaking with something & his mom accidentally let it slip that my parents were coming over for dinner (which I had requested of Ryan if he asked me while staying at his parents' house), but I already knew it was going to happen this day so it was ok.  We went out to lunch and then back to church for Adoration.

It took forever!!!! We stayed the whole time! (It was only an hour and a half, but knowing what was coming, it seemed so much longer!!!)

Afterwards Ryan asked me to say the rosary with him in this little park across the street.  (As a side note, ever since we started dating, Ryan and I have said a rosary together on the first of every month for the intention of our future children, so that was the other reason Ryan waited till the first.)  As we walked into the park, Ryan pulled out a pink rosary and said that he made it for me!!! It had all pink beads with a wooden crucifix and a wooden heart as the "Hail, Holy Queen" bead, but the heart was covered with two pieces of pink construction paper (hint, that's important!).

We walked around the park and said our rosary.  The longest rosary of my life!!! First, it was January, so it was FREEZING!!!! Also, I kinda had a guess it was happening when we finished so I was so excited I was shaking!!! I kept feeling the heart because I thought maybe Ryan had hidden the ring in there, but it didn't seem like it.

We FINALLY got to the end and Ryan walked me in front of the statue of Mary, tore the paper off the heart and on one said it said "St. Therese, Pray for Us" (the Patron of our Relationship) and he flipped it over and it said "Maddie, Will you marry me? Ryan"  And he got down on one knee and pulled out my beautiful ring!!!!

So then (yup still not done) I hear camera noises & clapping: his family came out from where they had been hiding & took pictures!!!

Look how happy he is!!!

 Putting on my ring!!!

I just wish I had pulled back my hair so you could see my face, but that's not all that important. So anyway, I  hope you are excited for lots of wedding related posts for the next year or so!!! :)

 Us at my friend's wedding recently!!!

Wall Space? Filled!

So, when I was at Jo-Anns earlier this summer, I found some really cute little canvases super cheap and decided to grab some and do something with them for my apartment. Well, now I'm all moved in and finally finished the canvases! They turned out super cute and weren't all that difficult!

My Dining Room

I feel so fancy having a dining room in my apartment! Ok, so it's actually just a little nook off of the living room, but to me it's a dining room! And, because I have my craft/office/sitting room, I don't have to store my desk, sewing machine, and craft stuff there like I did in my old place! So I have gone all fancy and made it beautiful! And I finally finished it last night so here is my new grown up dining room!

New Apartment!!!

So I've been a bad blogger lately and I apologize! I just moved into my new apartment on Tuesday and it was crazy moving boxes in 100+ degrees, a hornet's nest just outside my new apartment door, and a cute little surprise!