Pictures!

I have been so busy since the party, I apologize for not posting sooner. I'm still pretty busy, but for now I can at least show you some highlights.

Ok, now for a barrage of photographs...

The sign we put in front of our house

One of our cakes (made by my sister-in-law's best friend's brother)

Can you tell that this is posed much?

This is our snowboarding pose

My parents gave a pretty awkward toast

Our candy/cake table

Cookies we made the day before the party

It's over???

I will do a full recap when I'm finally settled down & I have time to give the party justice. But I just wanted to let everyone know that the party was amazing & that it didn't downpour! There were a few sprinkles, but overall, the rain stayed away :)

70% chance of stress

It's 2 days before the engagement party. Let's see what still needs to be done...

-Scan about 40 pictures

-Bake cookies

-Dispense candy into assorted bowls

...It really doesn't seem like that much, and yet my stress level has gone through the roof. Mostly because the weather forecast says 70% rain showers, which means we need to move the location indoors, which means a massive house cleanup. This summer has been so hot & dry, of course it would rain on the one day that it actually matters :(

On a happier note, I found shoes today :) I always try to look at the glass half full...

It's crunch time, baby!

Well, today I logged into my blog to find a message saying:

I cannot express how long it took me to decide on the background I have...and now I need to find a new one??? Lovely. So sometime this week, amongst all of the last minute planning for the engagement party (which is 1 week away!), I will do a complete redesign for my blog.

In other news, it's crunch time. I've had pretty vague ideas for the engagement party so far and now it's time to make them a reality. Me, B & my MOH tried to go candy shopping today only to find the store closed :( So that has been put off until Tuesday. I still have no idea what to do with all of the baby pictures I have of me & B. My mom suggested a collage, what do you all think?

I went to A.C. Moore (a crafts store) earlier this week to buy various bowls for the candy table. So that's one item I can check off my to-do list. Here's what I have so far:

The display is tbd.

Look for more updates throughout the week!

Success at last!!

After several failed dress shopping attempts, I finally decided that it was time to get serious. No more joking around. So I grabbed one of my friends and headed to a HUGE outdoor outlet center about 35 minutes from my house (Woodbury Commons, anyone been there? It's pretty much heaven for any shopaholic).

(source)

The day started out looking as bleak as the other shopping attempts. But this was my last shot, if I didn't find a dress here, I wasn't going to find one anywhere. We went to Max Studio, D&G, Guess, BCBG, Calvin Klein, J. Crew, Ralph Lauren, Nine West, Lucky Brand, Kensie Girl, DKNY, Esprit, and finally...Banana Republic. I was so focused on finding a dress that I only bought 1 unnecessary, but utterly adorable skirt!

3 hours & 1 major downpour later, I found it. Well, technically, I had already found it a few weeks ago. See, when I was in Atlantic City, I had gone to a few of the outlet stores there with B's sisters & found a dress I really liked from Banana Republic, but they didn't have it in my size, so I forgot about it. I was shocked to find it again and even though they didn't have my size here, they had 1 size bigger, so I decided to buy it anyway. I dropped it off at the tailor today so she can take it in :)

So the long, arduous process of finding THE dress is over. For the life of me, I cannot find a picture of it online so I will post pix as soon as possible. All I need to do now is find shoes to match & my outfit will be complete!

Remaining to-do list for the party:

1. Go candy shopping

2. Find various vases to put candy in

3. Scan baby pictures

4. Figure out what to put the baby pictures on

5. Bake cookies

Jam Bands & Lemon Drops

Yesterday was my birthday...23! Birthdays are getting more & more depressing each year. I was ok last year, still pretty happy the whole day. But this year I was pretty sad all day because I still think of myself as a young & free teenager. One of my friends mentioned to me that I should be happy about 23 because it's in numerical order...this actually made me really happy. (I don't like odd numbers, I always dread when I turn an odd numbered age, yes I'm really that weird).

I started out the day waking up at 7:30 to wait for the dishwasher repairman who finally arrived at 8:45 only to find out that all I had to do was reset the circuit breaker. That was fun. Then I went to see Despicable Me with a friend. It was cute, nothing amazing, just cute. Then we got some food & headed to a bar. We drank, listened to live music (randomly awesome jam band) & played some pool. Overall, it was a nice relaxing birthday....oh, and today I bought myself the Droid X for my birthday :) My very first Android & loving it!!!!

This is me with my Lemon Drop (my fav shot!)

Last year I started a bucket list, around the time of my 22nd birthday when I first started feeling old. I knew that if I wrote down the things that I want to do in life, that I have a higher chance of actually doing it than if I don't see it written down.

Originally I was supposed to be married by 23, that's moved to 24. No biggie, I'm in no rush. I've since added several items to the list and have yet to cross off any. Here we go:

1. Skydive

2. Learn to wakeboard successfully

3. Learn to surf successfully

4. Bungee Jump

5. Have kids/Adopt

6. Rescue an animal from a shelter

7. Spend an extended period of time in a foreign country (min. 1 month)

8. Visit Australia/New Zealand

9. Volunteer Abroad

10. Hike/Camp Yellowstone

11. Ride the big ride at Steel Pier (on the boardwalk in Atlantic City)

12. Take a bartending class

13. Take dance classes

It's a work in progress...here's my "5-year plan":

1. Be happily married

2. Have 1 kid/trying to have a kid/seriously considering having a kid

3. Have at least 1 rescued pet

4. Have a job that makes a difference

Whew, that's a lot of things to accomplish, I hope I can do it. So far I've accomplished nothing on my bucket list, but it's not completely done yet anyway. I guess I should add number 14. Finish Bucket List.

Wife & Mother out to save the world!

Since high school, I've committed myself as an environmentally-conscious person. I always knew that I wanted a career in the environmental field, although I've changed exactly what I want to do, it's always remained within this category. I've wanted to be a meteorologist, marine biologist, environmental educator, green event planner, and currently I'm focused on environmental policy.

I want a career. I don't think I could ever be a full-time stay-at-home mom. Don't get me wrong, I highly respect all moms who can do it, but I think I would get seriously bored & end up resenting my kids for it, especially because the industry that I'm in has serious world-impact potential.

(Recent trip to DC...)

(...for the Earth Day Climate Rally)

Last week when I was at the shore with B, we were talking about the notion of being a stay-at-home mom. My mom is a teacher and worked for the first few years of her marriage until she had her second baby (me!). She went back to work a few years ago, after I was already in college. Theoretically, this sounds like the life. Stay at home, play with the kids all day, take care of the home, cook food. Sure, I can do that, no problem, but knowing myself, I would certainly get bored. So, B & I came up with the solution that I could be a part-time stay-at-home mom. I could never leave my kids to be raised by someone else full-time. I want to be there for all of the big events in their lives---I mean really, who wouldn't? So I'm thinking we can find someone, maybe a family member, to watch the kids while I go save the world...for a few hours a week.

Summertime...and the livin's easy

I hope everyone had a great July 4th weekend. As I mentioned, I was with B's family at their shore house in Brigantine Beach (right outside Atlantic City).

Some of the family playing paddleball on the beach

Even though I'm currently only hostessing at a restaurant part-time, it was still really nice to get away for a few days. I'm so accustomed to relaxing during the summers--getting a lot of beach and pool days--and so far this summer I've done very little of that. So it was fantastic to relax for a few days.

I don't get the chance to see all of B's family very often. He lives 2 hours away from me and when I visit, we usually plan activities and only sometimes spend quality time with his family. He has 2 older sisters, both married, 1 with 2 kids. But only 1 of them lives close to B, so I get to see them fairly often, but hardly ever get to see the other. B, on the other hand, spends a lot of time with my family. He tends to come visit me more than I visit him and my family tends to get together often for lunch and dinner. So he gets to see my brother & grandparents pretty often. (Both of us currently live with our parents, so we get to see each others parents every time we visit). Anyhoo, the point of mentioning all of this was to get across the point that I had such a great weekend in the sun & spending quality time with my future in-laws :)

Today, I endured some serious dress shopping for the engagement party with my friend AL. She's not afraid to speak her mind & therefore makes a great shopping buddy. Needless to say, about 4 hours later, I came out with 2 bras, 1 bathing suit & 4 shirts...but no dress :( The search continues...

In other news, today I received the Versatile Blogger award!!!!

The rules for this award are: Thank the person who gave you the award; Share 7 things about you; Nominate 15 newly discovered blogs; and Let your nominees know about the award.

So here it goes. Firstly, thank you so much Nicole from That's Life! Go check her out! She's also engaged & posts about wedding planning...she also posts awesome recipes!

7 things about myself:

1. When I was a kid, I watched Grease literally every night, if you don't believe me, just ask my parents.

2. Ever since I watch an episode of What Not To Wear during which I learned that horizontal stripes make you look wider, I have never tried on a horizontal-striped article of clothing.

Wow, this is harder than I thought...

3. Since high school, I drink soda only a handful times per year. I only drink water, no powder flavor added in.

4. I sincerely enjoy washing dishes, I find it soothing & it eases my stress.

5. I always wanted to be a marine biologist & move to Hawaii...until I reach mid-high school & almost failed biology.

6. I absolutely despise Crocs, I'm sorry if I've offended any of you.

7. I wear flowers in my hair & I'm proud of it :)

Nominate 15 newly discovered blogs:

1. Rachel from Pura Vida! She rambles about her travels all over the world.

2. Irresistible♥Icing...blogging about bridal things.

3. Nicole from An East Coast Wedding, blogging about her fabulous married life

4. A Bride in Boots who had a winter wedding & will serve as some inspiration for me ;)

5. Beer Budget Bride's Musings...love reading about your wedding planning.

6. A Wedding Story, a very cute blog with fantastic style.

7. Jacin from She Said Yes...also planning a wedding!

8. Life of Leetid...because I love her hotties of the month!

9. Untypically Jia from Color Me Untypical cuz my inner child really could use another Pepsi.

10. A Beautiful Mess: Project Alicia...fabulous recipes!

11. Alycia from Crowley Party...such an adorable blog.

12. Sarah from Eat Well. Love Much. Laugh Often, who blogs about her fabulous life. Oh, and there are some pretty awesome recipes on here too.

13. Gwen from Gwen in Love, blogging about love, marriage & sex.

14. Melissa from Love, Marriage, and (Someday) a Baby Carriage!, life after the wedding, something to look forward to :)

15. Natalie from Wanderlove (and roses), blogging about her fabulous life.

Let your nominees know about the award:

DONE!

What do you mean I can't open my gifts?!?!

I have one more story to share about our registry.

Boys naturally care less about all of the little stuff than us ladies do. So when I was told by my mother that I shouldn't open any of the gifts without B present, I was naturally super upset! He doesn't care if he actually sees them, he knows what we registered for, he doesn't care about opening a box. So I basically asked/told B that I would be opening the gifts & that when he comes to visit, he could look at them, but there's no way I'd be able to receive a box in the mail & not open it...immediately!

When we decided to push the wedding back to March 2012, I got nervous that a lot of the items on the registry would be discontinued. Of course, it was my favorite items that were discontinued first. The cute sorbet cups, 1 set of silverware that we finally decided on & 2 parts of the luggage set that took us forever to find. So we found another set of silverware to register for, but as for the luggage, we're just going to wait it out to see if it's restocked. But...the sorbet cups...if you need a reminder of how cute they are, here they are:

(also available in blue, green & orange. & of course I registered for 2

of each)

On the Crate & Barrel registry, next to these cute cups, it said 'Limited Quantity'. Which, being that they're a seasonal item, means that they're going to be discontinued :( Since our wedding is so far off, I knew that nobody would buy them for us in time. So, I took matters into my own hands. We received a Crate & Barrel gift card as an engagement gift & we decided to use part of it to buy these cups! & I'm glad we did because a week after we bought them, they were no longer available online. So there! I am now the proud owner of these super cute sorbet cups!

Now, of course all I want to do is use them already, but I was also told, by several people, that I'm not allowed to use any of our gifts until we're married!! Granted, we're not living together until we get married, so I kind of understand, but still. I was so happy about my purchase, but I can't use them?!?! I have to wait 2 years to use them?!?! *sigh*

FYI, I'm headed to B's family NJ shore house for a long weekend, so I probably won't be able to post again until mid-next week. I'm sure I'll have stories to share when I get back :)

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Strawberry Jam, Cotton Candy & French Vanilla...oh my!

Since our wedding date is so far away, we have yet to make any official plans. No venue, no dress, no caterer, etc. At times it almost feels like we're not even engaged. However, I get my planning-fix through our engagement party, which is on August 1st. We are planning a backyard brunch at my parents house (I hope the weather is nice, otherwise it will be indoors & therefore not as aesthetically pleasing).

Things are all falling into place for the party. We have the caterer set...omelette station, crepe station, a customized cake & champagne. The invites were sent out a few weeks ago; some by post mail, some by evite (see previous post).We decided to have a candy table, finally made the final decision about that last week--it will be color-coordinated, all red, pink & white. The choice of color was determined by Jelly Belly flavors (yes, I am that crazy). So the flavors will be strawberry jam, strawberry daiquiri, cotton candy & french vanilla...yum! We'll go shopping in a few weeks for the rest of the candy, but I feel like red & pink allow yummy candy options, think red licorice, swedish fish, white chocolate covered pretzels, I could go on & on. Please, if you have any suggestions, I am all ears! We're thinking of a table like this, except with pink & red too...

(I stole this image from the Knot, it's too cute!)

I will continue to post about the planning process for the party as we still have tons of things to figure out, like centerpieces, guest book & favors :)

You like me?!?!?!

Wow! I received my first award today & I am so grateful. I am so new to blogging and it's so nice to feel appreciated and to know that people actually read my crazy ramblings. Thank you to all of my readers & for all of your support.

I received The Fabulous Sugar Baby Doll Award from JoJo . I'm new to this whole award thing, so bear with me & please tell me if I do something wrong. The rules of this award are to thank the person who gave you the award, share ten things about yourself, pass this award onto ten bloggers who you recently discovered and think are fantastic and finally contact the bloggers to let them know you've picked them for an award.

Whew, I think I can handle that. First of all, thank you so much JoJo! You're blog is inspirational. I love reading about your adventures as a newlywed. I hope when I am finally a newlywed that my adventures are as fabulous as yours! If you aren't reading her blog yet, go check her out!

Ok, ten things about myself. I'll try to keep them as interesting as possible.

1. I'm freakishly obsessed with vampire movies, books & tv shows. I watch 90% of them all :)

2. My favorite sandwich is pb & cheese, sometimes with bananas. Don't knock it til you try it.

3. I have a soft spot for free stuff, I sign up for everything & if I'm dissatisfied with a product, I contact the company & cross my fingers for freebies.

4. I used to know almost every line from Pirates of the Caribbean 1.

5. Related to the last one, I'm pretty much obsessed with all things Johnny Depp.

6. My worst shopping addiction is music...although I've gotten better in recent years, limiting myself to one new album per month. (sometimes 2 if I've been good that months).

7. I hate when my friends call me a hippie; you don't know what a true hippie is til you've been to VT.

8. I secretly wish to be a MILF when I have kids.

9. I can watch America's Funniest Videos for hours, even though I know exactly what will happen, every time.

10. & finally, I have a terrible addiction to Facebook. I absolutely hate it & everything it stands for & yet I'm on it at least 10 times per day.

Now, since I'm new to blogging, pretty much every blog I read is a recent discovery, so I gladly hand this award off to...

JessRaquel from JessRaquel "Mo Shiorghra", also an engaged woman blogging about wedding planning. Check her out!

Sarah from I want Wedding Champagne, wedding planning & trying to stick to a budget. Something I've found very difficult so far...

Chelsea from If It Makes You Happy. Her blog shares lines from the book, "14,000 things to be happy about" by Barbara Ann Kipfer. Her blog always puts a smile on my face.

Kate from The Book Buff. I love reading your book reviews, such great opinions!

Sarah Elizabeth, from Nashville, TN, also planning a wedding with great style taste!

Jennifer from Nifer Musings, from Boston, blogging about life in a fabulous way.

Unfortunately, I'm so new to blogging that I don't have enough blogs that I read on a regular basis to hand this award out. Please don't hate me for cheating. I will read more blogs & I'm sure I will find more blogs that I love!

The exclusive club

It would seem obvious to say that ever since we got engaged, I've been feeling kind of special....almost as if I've been accepted into an exclusive club. Most clubs have some sort of entry requirements--this one requires a shiny ring! Being engaged gives you an automatic connection to anyone who's engaged or married. For instance, I started a new job last month and immediately connected with one of the managers during the first interview because we are both engaged. Now, every time we work the same shift, we always find some wedding topic to chat about--instant connection.

Of course, before we got engaged, I could always connect with girls when complaining about boys, but what girl can't complain about that? Being engaged opens up a whole new world of connections. Meeting a fellow engaged girl allows endless conversation starters: when's the wedding? how long have you been engaged? how did he propose? how long have you been dating? and of course, let me see the ring!

I'm thoroughly enjoying being a member of this exclusive club & will certainly milk it for the next year & a half. I was even able to reconnect with an old friend from elementary school when I ran into her last week mostly because we're both engaged now--another instant connection! Making new friends & reconnecting with old friends makes me happy :)

Registries & free stuff!

I'm going to take a trip down memory lane again back to the day we decided to register. We registered about a month after we got engaged. Originally we wanted to wait until we had more final details about the wedding, but that didn't go over very well with the family. Apparently, almost immediately after our engagement was announced, people had started asking my mom where we were registered so they could buy us gifts. I was a little taken aback by this...people wanted to buy me stuff? Awesome!

So finally, after practically weekly reminders from my mom that people were asking her about our registries, we decided to register. It was a spontaneous decision; we had no other plans for the day, and it was between registering, or shopping for new clothes. It was a win-win situation for me and a lose-lose situation for B. Registering seemed like the lesser of two evils to him, little did he know the day we had before us would turn into a crazy frustrating and yet thrilling experience.

We started our registering adventure at Crate & Barrel. I love this store--it definitely screams my style. Upon walking in, we found a woman to help us, and the fun began! I gave B the gun and we started to shop. If any of you have ever registered before, you know the thrill of scanning things, envisioning your future home, setting the perfect table and hosting fabulous parties. Things were going great, we had picked out dishes, silverware, wine glasses, pitchers, candles, all fun things, including these uber cute sorbet cups in 4 different colors.

We probably spent about an hour & a half in Crate & Barrel, when we decided to leave so as not to wear ourselves out. We still had a few more stores to hit up before our registry would be somewhat complete. C&B, being the awesome store that they are, gives new registrants free gifts when you begin your registry. We received a glass heart dish, just for registering! I love being engaged! B handed the gun over and we were on our way......across the street to Bed Bath & Beyond.

As you may know, B3 is pretty much a staple when it comes to registering for weddings. Everyone registers at B3. So there was no doubt in my mind that we would end up there. B3 is filled with mostly generic items, nothing really unique, but all necessary items. So we filled out the paperwork, B got his scanner gun, and we started our search for the essentials. The store clerk told us about a registry incentive program--basically, if you register for certain items, the company of that item will send you a free gift, just for registering for their item! More free stuff! Now, being raised the way that I was, I obviously registered for all of those items. Some of the free stuff has come already, including free knives, serving utensils, and much more.We finished B3 in almost 2 hours and we were on our way to Target.

During this car ride, I decided to call my parents to let them know that we started registering. This is where the fun really began...

"What did you register for?" asked my dad.

"Dishes, silverware, other fun stuff" I replied.

"Ok, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told your brother. You don't register for that cheap crap. You register for fine china that will last you the rest of your lives"

"Ok, so basically everything we just spent hours making decisions about was all for nothing?" I replied, dreading the reaction from the other side of the car.

"Well, not everything. You can keep everything on there, except for the dishes and knives, and probably the silverware."

These were the major items that we spent most of the time debating in the stores. I knew the moment I told B he would freak out. So, as we sat in traffic, we argued about what we should do next. Listen to my dads advice and take the items off? Or just leave them so as to avoid more countless hours debating dishes and silverware. We finally decided to take them off, so we headed back to B3 to remove the items from the registry.

We were exhausted from the days events, but felt somewhat accomplished. The engagement started to really sink in at this point. Of course the registry was far from being complete, but B stayed away from future registering trips. I finished the registries in the following weeks and now I just watch the boxes in my basement fill up with gifts :)

Poke...Poke...Poke...

This post is not wedding-related, but I thought I'd use this blog to vent about other issues as well. A few weeks ago I went to the doctor because my back was hurting me again. I was told to get an MRI, but of course my insurance declined it and we've been in a battle with the insurance company ever since.

Anyway, my doctor also wanted me to get blood work done for vitamins and thyroid. I finally got around to it this week. Now, if any of you know me, you might know that I have the smallest veins in the world. B likes to try and check my pulse on my wrist & is fascinated every time because he can never find it. The only place to really get my pulse is on my neck. I dread getting blood work done as it usually involves lots of poking & pain. I always warn the nurse before they begin; somehow it makes me think that this time will be different & I'll have an expert on small veins. Of course, this is never the case.

I finally gathered up enough courage today to get the blood work done. I warned the nurse as usual, and she asked me if I had a preference of which arm to use. I told her it really didn't matter and that she would have trouble on both sides. So we started with the left...make a fist and straighten your arm, ah I think I found a vein. Poke...poke...poke...stab...OW! As I'm cringing in pain she says I know you must be in a bit of pain right now. A bit? It feels like somebody just stabbed me in the arm! The next thing I hear is Darn, I thought this vein would work. Great. So she takes the needle out, gives me a band-aid, and starts on the right arm. This time he's more cautious. She taps around my arm trying to get a vein. Now she says she needs to get another nurse to try. So I wait until the next nurse arrives. This nurse taps around and also can't find a vein, so she calls in another nurse. I'm assuming that there is some sort of hierarchy of nurses in this office. So the next nurse arrives and she thinks that she can find a vein on the right arm. She asks me do you want me to try to find the vein on the right arm? well, this is what I came here for, so sure, why not? make a fist and straighten your arm, here we go. Poke...poke...poke...stab...this one didn't hurt as much because she didn't put the needle in very far when she realized that it wasn't going to work. So she too gave up and told me that I'd need to go to a lab to get the blood drawn. Boy, this is my lucky day.

So I head over to the lab. I recognized the building and quickly remember that I've been here before. I must have had blood work done here before. I have better memories of this place and I'm immediately calmed. So I walked in, got helped right away and start telling the nurse about my ordeal at the doctor's office. The look on her face was priceless. So she asks me which arm I prefer, I say it doesn't matter, she asks if I'm a lefty or a righty...right arm it is. A few seconds after looking at the arm, she turns to the left arm. make a fist and straighten your arm. Poke...Poke...stab..OW...but, SUCCESS!!! The blood is finally coming out! My long ordeal is finally over. I asked her if there was anything I could do to make my future blood work drawing better and all she said was for me to tell the nurse to use the left arm & make the tourniquet really tight. Well, if I'd only known that for the 22 years I've been alive maybe my blood work trips wouldn't be nearly as dreadful....of course, that doesn't alleviate the slight fear of needles, oh well, can't have it all I guess.

Technological Amazements

So we sent out our engagement party invites this week. We decided to invite a majority of our guests through an evite to save paper & money. We were able to gather up most people's e-mails to send out the invitations. Some people will be receiving hard copy invites either because we don't know their e-mail addresses, or because they're technically incompetent. Although, I was very impressed to hear that my grandma, who can't open pictures sent to her in e-mails, was able to follow the evite link and respond to the invitation...or so she thought. Supposedly she was thrilled to tell my mother about her accomplishment, however, she must have messed something up because when I checked the response list, she wasn't on it. Oh well, kudos to grandma for trying.

I also became really nervous when I heard that a family friend hadn't received the evite. We later found out that he was simply too scared to open up an e-mail from a sender he didn't know. This brought up concerns that others would do the same. Luckily evite keeps track of who has viewed the invitation, meaning that I can see if a guest has seen the invitation or not. So in a few weeks, if a guest has still not viewed the invitation, I can send it again or call them to let them know. Oh how technology amazes me sometimes.

Finally engaged...

I decided to start this blog because ever since we got engaged, things have gone into roller coaster mode. I want to be able to share with you all the exciting and at-times arduous process of getting to the chuppah intact & still madly in love.

Let's start from the beginning. We got engaged on March 15 (the ides of march...) in Killington, VT. For those of you who know us, you know that we are winter sports enthusiasts. I am a snowboard instructor at Killington and B would come up to visit occasionally. On this particular visit, we decided to snowshoe up Pico Mountain at night and snowboard down. We packed up our gear, ate dinner at Charity's, a nearby restaurant, and began our trek. We had done this several times during the day, but never at night. Shortly after we began, we quickly discovered that the snow conditions were not great. We made it up about halfway and decided that we had enough. So we started to take off our packs and get ready to snowboard down. I was having trouble getting my snowshoe off, so he went behind me to help. He wasn't being very helpful and I couldn't figure out why, until I turned around and there he was, down on one knee with the ring!

Since we hadn't made it very far up, we figured it wouldn't take us very long to get down. I, of course, couldn't wait to call everyone & share the news! But alas, the snow conditions had made the trip down a long and slightly dangerous one. We finally made it down, ran to the car (so as not to get caught by the cops) and started making all the phone calls.

Within 24 hours I had already been overwhelmed with advice and tasks to be done immediately...I can make a website for you; did you make an onlysimchas page yet?; you need to call so-and-so; did you pick a date? etc.

Upon arriving home, the overwhelming sensation only escalated. We knew we would need to sit down & talk about logistics, but we weren't ready for that yet. We wanted to bask in the recently engaged glow for a little while longer. So much for that idea. Shortly after we sat down for dinner, the questions started pouring in. When do you want to get married? Do you want an engagement party? What are you going to do for money? Are you getting a job? These were things that we would figure out all in good time. But my parents are not laid-back people and so we had to start planning nearly immediately. Needless to say, our ideas for our wedding were virtually nixed immediately. I had dreamt about a March wedding in VT on top of a mountain. After the ceremony, anybody who so desired could join us in a celebratory snowboard/ski/sled run down the mountain. I knew this was far-fetched, but hey, a girl can dream. This idea was discussed for all of 60 seconds before I realized it would never become a reality. So we caved and agreed to have the wedding closer to home in March, so I would at least still get my winter wedding.

A few weeks later, I found out that I was accepted into Vermont Law School's Master's program. I was ecstatic! However, I knew that this meant plans would change...again. Since I will graduate in August, we decided to push the wedding back to Oct/Nov 2011. Ok, this wasn't so bad, it's only a few more months, and Autumn can be pretty, I guess. We started to plan. Just when we thought we were all set, we strapped in for another ride on the roller coaster. As some of you know, B is planning on attending Naturopathic Medical School. That's a lot of money. Our parents will support us somewhat, but in the end, we decided that it would be best for our financial future if we pushed the wedding back a little longer. So we decided on Feb/March 2012. Yes, that's 2 years away. But, we've waited this long, we can wait a little longer. If it means a little more financial security, then that's what we'll do.

So this is where we stand for now--either Feb 26 or March 4 2012. Of course, knowing us, this could easily change again. But we're about 90% sure that this is as far as we're pushing it back. Tons of other stuff has happened, but this post is long enough. I look forward to keeping you all in the loop of the roller coaster that is our lives. Until next time...

Peace out