Engagement Story

I can finally share with you our engagement story.  I wrote it the day after the enagement, but we lost the camera with the engagement photos.  And we all know no blog is complete without photos....so we found the camera, got the photos on the computer and I am sharing them with you now!

The Story:
    For Lent the Man and I have been praying the rosary once a day.  It's AMAZING.  It's better than yoga!  I sleep so well and I have NO worries...so with each decade of the rosary you offer a special intention (a decade is 10 Hail Marys - the 10 beads you see together on a rosary).  The Man and I often pray for those close to us, family, friends, marriages, single people, babies, pregnancies, work, weather, health, etc.  Everything you worry about during the day you can offer as a special intention.  We can kinda tell how our day went based off our special intentions.  So one day the Man prays for marriages and people getting married and engaged.  I'm sure he was praying from the heart and didn't realize his over thinking girlfriend was reading into his prayer.  Gosh, I'm awful!  But we keep praying, finish our rosary and talk about what our plans are for the weekend since he's coming to town.
    He wants to have a date night so we can get dressed up and eat sushi.  I tell him we have an engagement party to go to and my sister's birthday is that Friday so we might be celebrating that with her.  Not too sure if date night will work - more like Sunday date afternoon?  I'm usually the one making plans and he's always along for the ride and I love that.  But he's insisting we go out on a real date.  We're always doing a family thing or a friend thing and if we every spend time alone it's eating pizza in our sweats with a movie.  I agreed-we were due for a date night.
    He comes in LATE Thursday night.  So we wake up Friday, go out to breakfast (I have the morning off) and then I go into work at noon.  I'm gabbing to my receptionist that I think he's going to propose because he was dropping all these hints.  Turns out I left my phone at home so I need to have him bring it to me.  I call and catch him off guard.  I ask him what he's doing and he says he's at the store.  So I'm thinking...Oh really? The diamond store?  The florist?  Are you buying rose petals to lay all over the floor?  Are you buying champagne and doves and a harp player and, and, and!!!  Yes, I'm that girl.
    So 'that girl' comes home from work to an apartment that looks just like it did when I left.  I am so disappointed.  I'm thinking ok, maybe I read into this date night thing too much.  I always hear girls saying that before their husband proposed they were acting really weird and really nervous and the Man was just being his normal self.  So I start getting ready for our date night. 

He was taking pictures of me getting ready.  He's never done that before.
This was kinda weird so maybe I should have caught on

I am starting to hate getting dressed up just because our relationship is so relaxed it's almost awkward to be all fancy in front of him, it's just not us.  But I get dressed up and when he sees me his eyes light up and the look on his face is priceless, so I guess dressing up is totally worth it. 
     For Valentines Day we stood in front of my fireplace, put the timer on the camera and took pictures together.  It was a cute idea and I'm so happy we did it for our first Valentines Day.  We weren't dressed up on Valentines Day, so he wanted to take pictures this time since we were dressed up. 

     So after the pictures the man is like "Oh, I have a present for you" so of course I'm thinking Yay!  Engagement!!  Then he hands me a Victoria Secret bag and my excitement goes from a 10 to a -3.  Seriously Victoria Secret?  boo. This is a present for him, not me!  So I open the bag and it's a pair of jeans I had left in New Mexico with his brother over THANKSGIVING, that I finally got back!  I freakin love these jeans so I'm super happy and now ready for dinner.  If it's not going to happen it's not going to happen, but yay for him remembering I really wanted these jeans back asap. 

   Then he says "No, I got you a real present" and he hands me this crystal swan with a red rose and a red ribbon.  It's incredibly romantic (just like him) and it's very nice. 

 So I say "aww, this is sweet thank you babe" and then I look closer and I see IT.  There IT IS.  Everything goes quiet and I loose all peripheral vision.  I'm focused on one thing and one thing only.  My beautiful and perfect oval diamond ring!!!  When I look up he's on his knee asking for my hand in marriage.  I'm so happy!!!!  I tell him to take that ring off the ribbon and put it on my finger!  I didn't cry, probably because I was so caught off guard (and hungry) but it was the perfect engagement.  He totally knows my personality and knew that I was expecting something so tricking me was very clever of him. 

See how hidden it is??

It's really hard to take a picture of a diamond.  flash vs. no flash

   We're both beaming from ear to ear and I'm looking for my phone so I can text and call everyone.  I want to tell my parents in person so I tell them the next day, but my friends were super happy, much happier than I thought they would be.  I was expecting "about time!" or "duh! we totally knew" but I got calls, texts, tears, screaming, and one even got drunk off excitement? (or loneliness) and called me 10 times since I couldn't answer at dinner.

He's trying to get an 'after' shot, but I'm on the phone!! 

Thanks for reading this story!!  I hope you enjoyed it!  I sure did!!

Now back to wedding planning!!

Engagement Photos

We got the photos!  Some of these I stole from our proof on Sara's website because I am too impatient to wait for the DVD of the high res photos. 

If you want to read details about the photo shoot see my previous post.  If you want to see the photos, scroll down and enjoy!!

Love this one.  We'll have to revisit with our kiddos and take this a a yearly family photo!

All copyright Sara Miller with Photographs by Sara.  Isn't she amazing?!  Love love love!

Can't wait for the wedding!

Sponsor Couple

When JM and I met I wasn’t living near my parents.  But he and I began a life together in the town I did live in.  We ate at certain restaurants, feel in love with certain parks, went to certain churches, etc. So when Chuy proposed we decided to get married in the church we loved attending together.  Little did we know this would come across as a faux paux.  We’ve been questioned every step of the way on why we chose that church for our marriage.  We never questioned ourselves as to why we love this church, we know we love it and that we should be married here.  After this weekend we feel in love with something else about this church. 

After mass we drove to our next appointment in our crazy busy weekend.  It was in the town of Mansfield, south of Arlington.  As we pull up to this gorgeous home with a BMW in the drive way we are dumb spelled.  Chuy gaffs and says “These people are nothing like us, why are we here?” I answer him “God put us in each other’s lives, maybe if we don’t need them, they need us”.

We’ve just arrived at our sponsor couple’s house.  This couple was assigned to us by the church according to a personality test Chuy and I took when speaking with a priest about our intent to marry.  Supposedly this couple is assigned to us because they have a similar background or lifestyle as us.  If we were to compare houses right now, this would not seem to be the case.  But as soon as we met this couple we realized we were a perfect match. 

First of all they flew in the front door with a bang!  Kids running all over the place, clothes being thrown into the wash, phone ringing, etc.  It was a sight!  But everything was working like clockwork and the house was immaculately clean.  When it came time to sit down and speak with us the kids were in their rooms watching a movie, we were offered beverages and all was still.  Talk about inspiring!

Turns out they had a long distance relationship in the beginning like Chuy and me.  They also had no money in the beginning (as most couples don’t) but she works from home and travels for business every now and then.  I know Chuy would love if I could work from home, so he was happy to hear that from her.

They also come from big families and they both live away from their families.  So traveling to see the grandparents is a big ordeal.  They shared with us the drama of who gets which holiday, who comes to visit and who doesn't, etc. 

We only met for two hours this weekend.  We'll be meeting them again at the end of the month.  Harvest season is coming up, so JM won't be able to get away from town as often as he can now.  I thought we were going to be matched with an older couple who "has this marriage thing all figured out" but this couple is only 40 years old and they dont have it all figured out.  But they did figure out how to stay married for 16 years.  JM and I are just working on getting to the alter so we feel very blessed to have this couple in our lives!

Living life to the Fullest being blessed by God every step of the way.

-Rachel

Invitation

After the diamond guy we met with our invitation designer, Liz.  Liz is actually a family friend.  She dated my dad in college and now is in the Women’s Guild with my mom at our church.  They are great friends, having all gone to college together.  So we are very blessed to have her in our life and to have her want to be an active part of our wedding.


She’s such an artist, as soon as you pull up to her house you are drawn to the creativity.  I wish I had taken some pictures….she has a huge front yard with an seating arrangement featuring a hanging chandelier…IN HER FRONT YARD. 


Amazing. 


Inside her home seems small, which I don’t understand looking at the outside.  But I think instead of small I would say it’s comfortable, inviting and intimate. 


She painted her pantry door with chalkboard paint and had a cute surprise waiting for us there…

So sweet right?  I’m excited to see where she takes my ideas for a barn, a barn brand and all our crazy requests in regards to the save the dates, invitations, rsvps, programs and thank yous.


We'll need:
- Save the Date
- Invitation with RSVP card
- Church Program
- Thank you cards


I love the chalkboard, wood grain look as seen on my pinterest wedding page.


Ahh! So much to think of and so little time!!


Living Life to the Fullest and blessed with talented friends along the way!


-Rachel

Ring Part II

Following the photoshoot we went to meet our ring designer. 


The first time we visited The gold and diamond warehouse we met with Max.  I loved Max because
 a) my dogs name is max
 b) he has a dark gottee and kinda looks like my dogs' face and
c) he was very comforting and nice to us. 


This second time Max was out of town and we met with Barry.  Barry was cool, but no Max.  And we knew what we wanted and brought the cash Max suggested we bring.  But Barry wanted a bigger deposit, so that was awkward…. Once the men started talking money, I shut up.  I’ve worked in sales and I understand where a salesman is coming from.  But my fiancé hasn’t and he gets deals on things I would have never thought possible.  I think it’s because he’s never worked in that industry and asks for things most people would never ask for.  Needless to say, we walked out getting what we wanted.  Hopefully it will be ready by August. 


I’m SUPER excited about that.  My fiance is super excited too, because he knows it means I will stop talking about the ring I don't have and I'll talk about the ring I DO have.  The ring I will LOVE forever and ever and ever.  Oh ya, I'll love him for that long too ;)


Living Life to the Fullest and patiently waiting for my dream ring.
-Rachel

Update: Here is THE ring!!

LOVE IT!!!

Engagement Photos

This weekend started with an engagement photo shoot with our photographer, Sara at Photographs by Sara.  I’ve never worked with a professional photographer taking picture of me before…other than school photos where you stand in line and turn on the charm for 10 seconds.  But we spent 2 hours with Sara on Saturday morning.  Time flew by, but it was an exhilarating  first-time experience for me! 


My initial ideas for the shoot:
-outdoor location (wheat field, tractor, etc)
- Props: fiesta party flags, chalkboard frames, boots, cowboy hats, bouquet of some sort
- photos: smiling, laughing, serious, prayerful, intimateboot shot, hat shot, walking shot


After a few back and forth e-mails with Sara we decided to shoot at the Dallas Arboretum, a flower garden in the heart of historic Dallas TX that I’ve never visited before.

We decided to meet as soon as the garden opened at 9am.  Unfortunately I forgot what month it was.  9am in July is like 3pm in July: HOT!  It probably didn’t help that the Arboretum is next to White Rock Lake.  The humidity from the lake was adding to the humidity among the plants. 

I wasn’t able to find any fiesta flags in west Texas, I’m confident Party City in Dallas has them, but we were short on time in the morning.  We drove in from west Texas and arrived in Dallas at 2am.  I’m really hoping we don’t look too exhausted in our photos because we woke up at 7am…giving us a full 5 hours of sleep!  Yikes!

I did DIY some chalkboard frames that I really liked.  We both wore our boots throughout the entire shoot.  Chuy wore his cowboy hat for a lot of the shoot which was nice for him because it blocked the sun from his eyes!  I never put on my hat, I was worried it would mess up my hair (vain, I know).  So I kinda regret not wearing it for at least a few shots. 

The Arboretum is a beautiful location with TONS of unique photo locations. 


We took the following:

- standing in green field with lake behind us
-sitting near a waterfall
- next to a giant picture frame
- on a staircase
- in a lush private garden
- sitting in an open field
- under a canopy of crepe myrtle trees

I can’t wait to see the photos!  I’m so worried I’ll look fat in them…anyone have a good arm exercise?  I’m so strong and thick in my arms, I need to thin them out.

I’ll post pictures as soon as I get them!!


Living Life to the Fullest and taking pictures along the way
-Rachel

Too good to be true?

The wedding dress shopping as continued!  This time I was joined by my mother, youngest sister (MOH) and my grandmother.  We had a blast!  But I will say it was exhausting!

What I expected at these boutiques:
- champagne
- to look stunning in every dress
- the "ooo"s and "ahh"s
- to find THE dress
- to hate my body
- Super expensive dresses

What actually happened:
-No champagne
-All dresses are size 10 so if you don't fit that don't consider going in.  I fit most of the size 10's unless it was a tight fitting dress (mermaid).  My hips are not a size 10.
-A few "ooo"s and "ahhs" but more "hurry up" "What's taking so long" and then blank stares
-Did not find THE dress
-I definitely did hate my body at the end of it all
- Pricing was all over the place.  LuLu's was around $800 (similar to David's Bridal!), Stellas was $2,000 and up and Couture Bridal in Addision was in the middle. 

A few photos of the dresses that didn't make the cut:

I really really love this dress, but I can only wear one...so this didn't make the cut

My family really liked this dress, but the train was too short for me and it was too simple

I like the pleating on this dress and the train, but wasn't that big of a fan

This is my DREAM dress, from that last post.
 Obviously the mermaid look didn't work here but it's not custom fit to my body.
The family did not like this dress, but this does look similar to the dress I will be wearing.

I took some time following my 2 day dress fest and thought about each dress.  Then I looked in the pictures at the dresses....because at the end of the day all you will do it look at the pictures right?  If it didn't look good in pictures I didn't want to consider it.  If the details that I loved about it didn't come out in the photos, I didn't want to pick it.  I had a freak out moment that my MOH, Shaena, helped me through when I thought I needed to find another dress because none of the ones I tried on where 'The One'.

And finally I made up my mind.  I am getting the dress I tried on in Amarillo with my fiance's sister.  I loved that dress the minute I put it on and I love that my future Sister-in-Law was there to pick it out with me. 

And then this website came in to my e-mail inbox from my uncle:  www.dressilyme.com  I quickly visited this site (as I hope you will) and I noticed almost every dress I tried on is on this website! (expect for the LuLu dresses)  Even my Amarillo dress!  And this website isn't charging me the $1200 Amarillo is charging.  It's only $200!!! 

I'm thinking this is too good to be true!  But I'll let you know when I get my dress.  I totally ordered it!  I ordered standard size from dressilyme and I'll have the alternations done here.  If I don't like it, I have 5 days to return it (returns are easier if you order standard size).  Not a lot of time to return, but it will be in here in 20 days so I'll have plenty of time for pictures!  All the salons I went to said it would take 3-6 months to get in.  Hopefully Dressilyme works out and I don't have to order from a boutique because it will definitely be a RUSH order!  
Wish me luck!

Living Life to the Fullest in a white dress!

-Rachel

I surrender!!!



I've given up!  Ok, maybe I haven't given up but I am surrendering.  I surrender all wedding planning to my wedding coordinator.  It's hard enough trying to please everyone, but it's even harder trying to please them while I'm 300 miles away.  My amazing fiance keeps reminding me that it doesn't matter what everyone else wants, all that matters is what I want.  But I'm not that person. 
Believe it or not, I'm a giver.  I don't think I've always been a giver, but more recently I've put others before myself.  I'm trying to live a 'saint-like' life so I guess that's why.  But at the end of the day it's like "DID YOU NOT SEE WHAT I JUST DID FOR YOU!  HELLO!! A LITTLE CREDIT HERE"  But I'm not getting that credit and it's not important that I do.  It's more important to be an example of service and faith.  My boss suggested I read this book, Jesus of Nazareth, so hopefully that will provide some insight for me.  How did Jesus handle always being the good guy?  I know he threw that fit in the temple, but on an everyday basis, how did he suck it up and keep on keeping on?




St. Isabella of Portugal
Patron Saint of Brides
Pray for me!

My fiance is also a giver and sometimes we clash.  For example: He had a 5 gallon jug of gasoline and offered to put it in my car (free gas!) and I said "no, no, put it in your truck".  And he was hurt that I didn't take his offering.  But I thought I was sacrificing and putting him first.  It was funny when we talked about it at the end of the day, he told me "if someone offers you something you take it".  He has told me that before so I guess I'm not getting the message.

Got off track there, sorry.  So I'm hiring a wedding coordinator!  That way everyone can get mad at her if they don't get their way. 

As I interviewed her I asked a few questions:

a) What about your job do you love? 
     her answer: "the details, I love each and every detail coming together to create your wedding.  I love your happiness at the end of the day"

GREAT answer.  I'm a detail person and it's the details of this wedding that are driving me crazy.

b) What is the one thing you notice brides always forget or overlook? because I feel like I'm forgetting something
     her answer: "When a bride hires me we are always on track and nothing falls between the cracks, but the one thing they don't do is take my advice.  They hire me as a professional and don't listen to my professional advice so that's one flaw some brides have." 

I thought that was a good honest answer.  I could see myself telling her I know best and then my decision ruining the wedding.  And what's the point of paying her 20% of our wedding budget if I can't let her do her job.  Then I'll look like a fool TWICE! 

I really do like this chick, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to hire her.  Her fee is 20% of the wedding budget, but at this point I'm ok with that because this planning process is not fun for me right now.  Knowing she's in charge will help keep things fun and relaxed!



St. Elizabeth of Hungary
Patron Saint of Young Brides
Pray for me

 Living Life to the Fullest with a support team of dedicated women!

-Rachel

Fresh Pickin'

Spending time with the Farmer means picking wheat for my wedding centerpieces! 

Bridal bouquet anyone???

Living Life to the Fullest and finding inspiration all around!

-Rachel

Dress Shopping #1

I finally went wedding dress shopping!  It was awful!  Not completely awful, but not at all what I expected.  With all my family events going on this weekend the only time available to shop was Sunday afternoon.  Looking back it was really sad having to squeeze in wedding dress shopping like a chore or something.  Next time I come to town I'm coming to dress shop and that's it!  You only get to shop for a wedding dress one time, it should be a special experience.

The only dress stores open on Sunday are the big chains: David's Bridal and Alfred Angelo.  David's Bridal is the closest to our house so I made a 3:30 appointment.  Our sales associate was super nice and did a great job finding what I asked for and then finding what would look good on me.

Let's refresh what I thought I wanted:
1. Be sure the dress is interesting from the waist up
2. no strapless
3. show shoulders
4. minimize booty
5. find comfort
Ya, #5 will be impossible.  Wedding dresses are heavy, hot and incredibly uncomfortable!!  I don't understand why, but everything I tried on caused me to sweat like a pig!  I might have been having a Carrie Bradshaw moment, but I didn't break out in hives, so I think it was just the fabric and weight of each dress.
The first dress I tried on was an a-line dress,.  The #4 request of minimize booty did not happen in this dress.  It made my boobs look big and then made my tummy and booty look big, definitely not the style for me.  It was comfortable, but strapless so it was out.  Didn't even bother to take a picture in it...

This next dress was cool.  It had a HUGE skirt, way too big, and the sales associate clipped the chest area awkward so it looks weird in the photo.  But the skirt disconnects from the top and the top is actually a cocktail dress that is hidden under the skirt.  I think it's a cute concept that would go well with the cowboy boots I want to wear at the reception. 
I showed this dress to the Farmer and he didn't like it.  His reaction was "It doesn't show off your curves".  I love that he loves the part of me I dislike the most!

This was the dress I "liked the most".  I didn't love any dress, but this one I liked the most:

Wow! The lightening in there is awful.  When my mom took these pictures she took them sitting down, so I look SUPER FAT.  Which is why I'm eating a salad for lunch today.  Here I was thinking I didn't want something form fitting, but the Farmer is right, this look is great on me, I think.  I love the straps and boob coverage but would need it taken in under the chest to show I do have a waist.  This was full lace with a few beads and sequins on the train and bust.  I'm concerned the beads will catch on carpet or any flooring and cause the train to skip while I'm walking down the aisle instead of flow smoothly ya know?  I do love this veil.

So it wasn't the best shopping trip, but the dresses were only $850 so maybe if we find some higher quality dresses it will be the fit and style I'm looking for.  I'm researching Dallas boutiques and the designers they carry.  I came across this La Sposa dress that I love.  It is a Spanish designer, as in Barcelona Spain.

Click for link: This is dress number 7 of 17 

  

I do love this dress from La Sposa. It highlights the curves, but keeps them soft and romantic.  I've always wanted a veil with the lace trim and this is just over the top!  This dress isn't that interesting in the bust area and there are no straps, so we'll have to try it on to see what I think.  I know this designer is in a Dallas area bridal boutique so I might call ahead to be sure they have this dress in stock!

If I'm doing the calculations right, it can take up to 6 months to get your dress in and altered, so I need to have a dress by the end of August.  Eek!  Pray for me!

Living Life to the Fullest, just not in a wedding dress yet....

-Rachel