A First & A Last

Christmas 2009.

A First - homeowner, engaged.

A Last - single person.

Crazy. Happy. Nervous. Excited.

Crazy - My friends know, I never really ever thought I'd be in this position. About to get married. But welp, here I am. About to. Crazy.

Happy - This has been a great Christmas. I love family - and we spent Christmas Eve at my parent's house. And by spent, I mean, actually stayed over at their house - packed bags, carted the pack-n-play over and all our presents. And by "we" I mean - Me and Mike and Lovie. Yes, my parents live only 3 miles away, but this is probably the last Christmas I'll be able to do that. So, having Mike and Lovie there on Christmas morning was great. Mike got introduced to our Christmas day traditions - waiting and waiting and waiting and more waiting for the brothers to drag themselves out of bed, opening presents amid mayhem and Jack, eating breakfast and then the disappearing brothers as they mosey back up to bed to sleep until 3pm. Christmas was riddled with tradition and next year I look forward to continuing some (Christmas Eve shopping with my Dad - we've done this every year since I can remember) and making some new ones of our own. As married people.

Nervous - Last Christmas with my last name. Getting married next year (it's still 2009 so I can say that). Lots of big changes are in store. 2009 was the year of change and it's pretty nerve racking. I get nervous with change, the unknown. Lovie was the last time I was this nervous - because I loved him so much that I didn't want to break him. Same with Mike. I love him so much I don't want to break him. And, um, tomorrow - first day of trying on wedding dresses. It's not a big deal and I'm not expecting a lot out of it (80% off sample sale) - but I'm still nervous. Perhaps a better word would be surreal.

Excited - I'm trying on wedding dresses for the first time in my entire life tomorrow. That's pretty super exciting. I'm getting married next November to a man that I love more and more every day even after we argue. And I get to spend the rest of my life with him. That's pretty super exciting. I'm marrying a man next November who has more patience with Lovie than I could ever hope for, who loves him as if he were his own and with all his heart. That's pretty super exciting. I'm marrying my best friend - and I'm pretty super excited about that.

Tradition. Family.

Two ingredients for a truly perfect Christmas.

One Year

So, today is our One Year Anniversary, and boy what a year it's been. Yesterday, was the first time Mike and I met. Since we met on Match.com the "find-out-if-your-a-psycho-or-not" meet and greet happened on our lunch hour at a mexican restaurant called...Mexico. As our lunch date was nearing to a close he asked me on a date for the following night - and I excitedly said yes. And before the year was up I said yes to another very important question - which leads us to this blog.

I feel so lucky that we were able to find each other - even if we had to resort to the internets to do so. Even though we were living in the same city, went to the same Richmond hot-spots and like the same kinds of food - I'm confident we wouldn't have met each other had it not been for good-ole Match.

What's most important to me is how well he gets along with Lovie, my family and friends. As the years have passed and boyfriends have come and gone - those three groups of people are the ones who mean the most to me and their approval was critical. He passed their test with flying colors.

Today is also the five year anniversary of my cousin Michael's passing. Today is a mixture of emotions - sad for obvious reasons and happy for other obvious reasons. But I feel very strongly that Michael played a part in helping me find Mike. He's my guardian angel and from the birth of Lovie to my now engagement - he's been there every step of the way to make sure all went according to His plan.

I feel blessed to have both Michael's in my life - protecting and guiding every step of the way.

Housewarming Warmth

As most of you know we have a housewarming party coming up on December 5th. Mostly I'm excited to show off our new paint job - lots of hard work went into it - sweat equity as my Aunt Janet called it. For those of you who are coming keep in mind that there's still quite a lot of painting and whatnot to do. But considering we don't have all the time/money in the world we had to prioritize what looked the worst. Clearly the great room and kitchen won (and our master bedroom).

I'm also excited to have our own house where we can entertain friends and family. That's what really makes a house warm - the love and laughter that you can share with others there.

It'll kinda be like a housewarming for me too - since I'll have moved in just a few days before the party.

A few of you have asked if this is an engagement party and the answer to that is no, it's not. This is our housewarming that we are throwing for all of you to come and gorge yourselves on food and drink too much - all at our expense. We are going to have an engagement party but that will probably sometime in the New Year. And will be another great opportunity to get together with everyone again for laughter and love.

We look forward to seeing you on the 5th!!

Lots of love!

The Men Folk

So, it takes two to get married, no? And the groom and his men are equally important, no? So, lets devote this blog to introducing them. All who are reading this probably know my fiance - Mike. He's pretty great. And has more patience than I could ever muster up. And is super caring and thoughtful and just all around fantastic - he will no doubt make the best husband on the face of the earth. That kind of glowing endorsement requires some pretty great guys standing up there with him on his big day. So, in no particular order, here are his groomsmen:

Justin - Best Man, he's Mike's best friend and lives in Canandaigua, New York, he's also engaged and will be married next October! (confession: I had to look at the wedding spreadsheet to find the exact spelling of that city)
Brett - Groomsman, he's a mutual friend of ours and is the beau of my Maid of Honor - Jessica! Fun fact: He took over Mike's lease when Mike moved to suburbia.
John - Groomsman, he's the older of my two younger brothers and lives here in Virginia
Michael - Groomsman, he's the younger of my two younger brothers and is going to VCU here in Richmond
Chris - Groomsman, is a dear friend of Mike's and lives in Maryland - I haven't met him yet and from what I have heard about him, I can't wait to meet him.
George - Groomsman, a true Southern gentleman! He worked with Mike at the Federal Reserve and is a true blue - he lives here in Richmond as well.
Jesse - Groomsman, is Mike's brother-in-law. His wife is Kathy, Mike's sister who is a bridesmaid. They are also from Upstate New York near Canandaigua.
Lovie - Ring Bearer, is my cute little man and by the time of the wedding, will know just enough about the day to know that he too is the star of the show. Hopefully, we'll have left the terrible two's behind us by then.

The festivities are right around the corner! These next few weeks we are going to start the task of nailing down photographers - which should be quite the chore in and of itself. And an expensive chore at that!

I'll post more info as I accomplish things - love you all!

Lately....

I know I haven't posted anything in a while, but getting the house ready for move-in has been taking up a lot (and I mean A LOT) of time. First there was painting. We didn't have THAT much painting to do in the grand scheme of things, but it was just enough to put you over the edge and to not want to paint again for a long, long time. Next there was moving Mike in this past weekend, so prior to that means that there was cleaning. I'm convinced that the people before us didn't clean a lick. Nor did they paint with tape. hrmph

So, now that the house is all organized and moved-in (except for me and Lovie - we move-in in two weeks!! eek!) the focus can go back to the wedding.

The most daunting part for me right now is thinking about the flowers and the colors. Even though I am leaning towards a Black & White wedding, I'd still like to have color in the bouquets and church flowers, etc.

The "To Do" this weekend and next week is to nail down the room blocks...November in Richmond seems to be very busy for business conferences and things some hotels are starting to really fill-up so I want to get this nailed down as soon as possible!

Love you all!

Who's Who

So, on the list to the right, I know some of you are wondering..."Gosh that's a lot of bridesmaids! Who is everyone?!?" First of all, I love all my friends so, so dearly. They have been so supportive and are true blue - through everything. Second of all, my family is like well...friends but related! They have been so supportive and been there through sad times and really happy ones too. Since I couldn't bear to make the decision either way, the bridal party consists of friends AND family!

Let's start at the top shall we?

Jessica is my Maid of Honor, I consider her my sister - I've known her since birth! (Her's not mine...)
Allison, or Ally, is my cousin on my Mom's side of the family, in Maryland.
Audrey is a cousin on my Dad's side - she's one of the Jersey girls!
Crystal is one of my dearest friends. We met at work - my first job right out of college!
Eileen is a cousin on my Dad's side - another Jersey girl!
Gretchen is cousin on my Mom's side, in Maryland.
Jenny is a cousin on my Dad's side - and another Jersey girl!
Kathy is Mike's sister - in up up upstate New York...I am not even going to attempt to spell the city, but it's near Rochester I am told.
Leah is a dear friend that I also met at work - in Maryland, but she's from Virginia.
Maria is another wonderful friend that I met at work and is from Maryland.
Meana is another dear work friend from Maryland.
Ruthie is a cousin on my Dad's side - the last of the Jersey girls!
Meggan is Mike's 1/2 sister and also lives in a hard to spell city in up up upstate New York. She's going to be such a cute flower girl!

Until next time...

Welcome!

I decided to create this blog for all my bridesmaids and those family and friends who want to keep current with what's going on leading up to the wedding. I know that amongst my bridesmaids there's a bit of geographical distance but this will be a good way to stay in touch!

Here I will be posting things that I am doing pertaining to the wedding, I'll also use this as a place to notify everyone of certain events that are taking place (i.e. dress shopping, bridal expos, going to sample cakes, etc.) and if you can make it - FANTASTIC! And if not, that's OK too. I totally understand!

I love you all and can't wait to have you all standing up with me on such a gloriously happy day. I am so overjoyed that you will be with me as I marry the man who has made dreams become reality.

Love you all! Look to the side bar for important - not to change - information.