I must say that I am VERY excited about this blogging thingy! I thought it would be neat to update everyone as the planning takes place...and one of my bridesmaids is away for the summer so I thought this would be a great way to keep her in "the know"! LOVE YOU JESS!
I thought it would be appropriate for my first post to give you all a brief history of Michael & I up until where we are today. Here it goes....
How We Met:
When I was in seventh grade and Michael was in eighth grade our little sisters (also BFF's) decided to play "matchmakers". They were successful! We began "dating" (this was middle school folks!) right before the middle school Christmas formal known as the "Snowball". We were able to attend this dance together! Just a quick little fact- I played fastpitch softball & he played baseball in middle school. We wanted to have the same number on our jerseys but unfortunately 2 was not available for me. I decided on 11 because 1+1=2 and he did the same just for me! I wore this number all the way through my senior year of high school. Our middle school romance lasted up until the summer when it quickly came to an end because Michael was moving on to high school and I was left in middle school. We both pretty much went our separate ways through high school. He was in a way different group than I was in so we had very little in common. High school had ended for both of us and we were now attending the same college. I had recently created a facebook account and Michael had requested my friendship. I noticed that his religious views read "Christian-Baptist" so I wrote asking him where he was going to church because I wanted to invite him to mine if he wasn't going anywhere.I was informed that he wasn't currently attending anywhere so I invited him to come with me whenever he got a chance. After several wall-posts to each other we discovered that we had a class together. On my very first day of classes as a college freshman, my mom called me on my way in to class to ask if I had dressed pretty because I could meet my future husband! I bet she would have never guessed that she was so right! We slowly began talking more and more through our class. He rearranged his work schedule so that he could also begin coming to church too!! We began riding to class together and having "study" dates. I began praying over where God would have our relationship end up. One night driving home from one of our study dates while listening to Meredith Andrews sing "Mesmerized" I was overcome with such a feeling and overwhelming peace about Michael that I knew without a shadow of a doubt he was and still is the man I am supposed to spend the rest of my life with!
Proposal Story:
Michael walked into my house 12 days before Valentine's day with a huge heart balloon that read "I Love You". He attached a small note on it that said, "1 Balloon that says I love you!" Everyday following that, up until Valentine's day I received gifts according to the day we were on.
The second day I got 2 coupons, one for a foot rub and the other for a back massage. The third day I got 3 love songs that we both love. Day 4 I got love poems that were displayed on the floor when I walked out of the bathroom :). Day 5 I was given 5 terms of endearment. Day 6 I got 6 chocolate candy hearts. Day 7 I got 7 beautiful roses. Day 8 I got 8 heart shaped chocolate chip cookies. Day 9 I got 9 message heart candies. Day 10 I got 10 ways to say I love you in another language. Day 11 I got 11 Hersey Kisses. And day 12 I received 12 reasons why Michael loves me. Most of these gifts were made by hand on white and red construction paper, cut out with cool scissors and hand-written out. I thought this was SO sweet & could not imagine it getting any better.
On Valentine's Day, Michael & I had our usual celebrations with our parents at my house. Michael cooked up some fantastic Chicken Marsala with all the fixens for dinner with my parents and his. Mama & I had the dining room all decked out in Valentine's day gear..heart plates, pink and red platters, red roses everywhere and so on. We all sat & ate dinner and enjoyed each others' company during dinner & then it was time for PRESENTS. Being the awesome gift-giver that I am, I gave Michael is wonderful gift first.....flip-flops that were not even wrapped :) Awful, I know! Then it was his turn to give me more presents....on top of the ones he had already given me!! I opened a sweet card that revealed Michael & I would be attending an upcoming Michael Buble concert and a gift certificate for a photo session with one of the local photographers and friend of ours. I was SO excited about having pictures done of us because we just had candids.
The photo session was booked for the following Saturday. We spent the next week coordinating outfits (which stresses me to no end!), finding a location, and getting excited about pictures....or at least that's all I thought it was going to be! That Saturday was absolutely beautiful & could not have been more perfect for pictures. We decided to take pictures in downtown Starke and at a friend of mine's pond in Starke. Michael came and picked me up and we headed into town! Our first location was downtown, where we stayed for about 30 minutes taking an endless amount of pictures, then it was on to the next location. At the pond we did a quick wardrobe change and got going on the next round of pictures.
During this set of pictures we began like before, posing for pictures. We took a few in the open field, then moved to the dock. We took a few at the end of the dock and then Anna, the photographer, said, "I am just going to snap away now!" Michael began whispering in my ear how much he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. I turned to look at him and saw that he had tears in his eyes and then he knelt on one knee. Next thing I know there is an open ring box in his hand with an incredibly beautiful diamond ring inside! He then asked if I would spend the rest of my life with him & I instantly said YES! He slipped the ring on my finger & we kissed :) From there we took lots of pictures with me sporting my new bling!
As soon as we got into the car I was on the phone updating my facebook status & making those VERY important calls. But NO ONE was answering me...not even my Mama! I began to panic a little but knew they had plans to go out to eat for my aunt's birthday. So, Michael asked if we could go to his house first to show his parents while my parents ate. Of course I agreed but kept on calling my mom...who was still NOT answering! We made our way back to Michael's & when we were almost there I began to notice lots of cars in his front lawn. As we got closer I began to recognize the cars and realized they all belonged to our families! We got out of the car, walked inside, and SURPRISE there was an incredible engagement party waiting for us! Our moms collaborated along with a couple of our friends (Jamie & Tracie :) to throw us a celebration after our engagement!! What an awesome day!!
OK so that was a long post, but I wanted to catch everyone up! I look forward to reading everyone's comments!
