Royal Wedding Guest Name

In continuation of being silly and enjoying The Royal Wedding coverage and anticipation, we are not only speaking in English accents, we are finding our Royal Wedding Guest Names.  Because you know we are all guests....right.

Here's what you do:

1.  Start with either Lord or Lady
2.  Your first name is one of your grandparents' names.
3.  Your surname  is the name of your first pet, double-barreled with the name of the street you were raised.

My name is Lady Lucy Ruby-Greenwood!

Not bad if I do say so myself.  I'd waltz into the wedding no prob.

Keep on Keepin on.

Royal Wedding = Royal English Accent

I've decided since it's "Royal Wedding Week" that it's also "Speak in a Pretentious Royal English Accent Week"...

I started this pretentious royal accent yesterday and I've already driven Sparky insane.  I might have to be careful about this...

BUT, I just can't help myself.

The accent just comes out all on it's own.  It's like I have an English accent turrets.  It's boggling really.  (Said to myself in an English accent).  My thoughts are even in an English accent!

I guess it's my way of accepting the fact that I will not be walking down the isle this Friday morning toward Prince William.  Royalty is over-rated anyway.  Right?  Besides, I've already found and married my King! (awww.  Sorry, yes, I had to go there.)

Anyway, for some reason, I am excited about William and Kate's wedding this coming Friday.  I have delved deeply into the "facts" of the wedding provided online at CNN's' website.  I have even researched the family tree!  Man, I need a life!

Where does this fascination generate from?  I do remember as a pubescent teen having a large poster of Prince William hanging on my average teenager bedroom wall.  His shiny blond hair and dreamy royal blue eyes made me hopeful that someday he could be mine.  Oh, the unrealistic thoughts that go through hormone changing teenage females' minds!  And then I wondered something...since part of this royal fantasy of mine was more believable due to Prince William and me being so close in age, I wondered if pretty Kate Middleton had these same hopes and dreams as an awkward teen?  I bet so.  I hope so.  I've convinced myself so.

This comparison and thought that Kate may have had a similar poster of a young teenage Prince William hanging on her own average teenager bedroom wall makes this upcoming Royal Wedding extra exciting...at least for me.  Kate's appeal to most twenty-somethings (and probably most women in general) must be this teenage girl "some day my prince will come" commonality.  Kate does not come from a royal bloodline, but rather than self-made millionaires...or is it billionaires?  I think this "commoner" fact makes Kate more appealing and interesting.  I love her class and how well she has managed "becoming" royal; however critical many others may be about how Kate has evolved. 

Kate will be a beautiful bride.  I hope they couple will have a long, love-filled, and happy life together.  I will probably set my alarm early on Friday morning...5am CST to be exact, to try to catch a glimpse of the Royal Wedding before my 6am Barre 3 class.  I might even have a cup of tea and biscuits (or crumpets?) and cheer out loud in an English accent...just sayin.

Do you have plans to watch the Royal Wedding?  Am I the only crazy girl excited about this?  Surely not.


And as I get all lovey dovey because of Royal English Accent week/Royal Wedding week, I share with you a great little song by the wonderfully talented (and British...) Adele.  The song is "Daydreamer" and I thought it was very appropriate and fitting for this post and William and Kate's wedding.  enjoy!




Now, if only I could convince Sparky to speak in a pretentious royal English accent too.

Keep on Keepin on.  (cheerio!)

Our January Wedding Video

Our wedding video is done and I am so happy with it!  Aimee Adams Lovebirds Artistic Weddings has it all!  She is so amazing to work with.  She's creative, patient, understanding, a good listener, a great communicator, and a professional.  Basically, she's the whole package.  It is so obvious that Aimee loves what she does and truly cares about her clients.

One of my favorite parts is when the videographer went around to everyone and asked them to write one word about the "union" and Sparky's friend wrote "soviet"!!!  I just want to point out that we are NOT soviets...he's just cooky funny.  I love it!  I giggle everytime! (not that I've watched it a million times already or anything....)  All the words are so sweet and I love watching it!  It makes me laugh as well as feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  sigh.

Enjoy our video!



Keep on Keepin on.

So Mischievous

It's a gorgeous Friday and I'm so ready for the weekend!  What makes this Friday even better?  I just got the DVD of all our wedding pics yesterday and there are SOOOO many!  So, I am perusing them and trying to figure out how in the heck I will pick out just a few to a) post here on this wee widdle blog and b) which to print to boost our egos every so often.  (They are all so awesome and amazing!) As I am perusing, I'm dancing in my chair to one of my all time favorite jams....a little "Purple Rain" by Prince and the Revolution.  woot woot!  While dancing along to my kickin-ass jam, I came across the following beauties and just had to share.  This is how you get ready for your wedding nuptials, peeps!

Don't fret.  Just Enjoy.

So mischievous. 



Keep on Keepin on.

Wedding Feature: Emmaline Bride

I'm so excited today, ya'll!  Sparky and I's wedding has been featured on a handmade wedding site.  The clever and amazing site is Emmaline Bride.  They have so many cute and genious DIY ideas that even I could probably accomplish them! 

I am in the process of posting more about our wedding, but you should definitely check out our feature here.

Sneaky Peaky: BHLDN

Just because I've already had a wedding doesn't mean that I can't be uber in love with and crushing on BHLDN...Anthropoligie's  spin on weddings.  Swoon much?  I've joked...but I am kinda seriously considering buying a dress and taking photos or bridals in it.  Maybe on the one year anniversary?  perhaps.

How lucky are the bloggers from Green Wedding Shoes?  They were invited to see a private fashion show of the wedding line!  Lucky for us they have shared their exciting experience on their site.  You can check Sneak Peak 1 and Sneak Peak 2.

I have two definite top faves right now.  Oh, dear.

Get ready for Valentines Day by visiting BHLDN on their 1st day launch!

Keep on Keepin

Sneaky Peaky: January Wedding

Eeeeee!  I'm so excited to get our wedding photos back and our wedding video.  We haven't received them yet since it's only been about three weeks of wedded bliss; but I have recently seen a mock up of the video and a couple of pics.  They are going to be so incredibly amazing...at least in my opinion!  But I am definitely biased.  I leave you today with a little sneaky peaky...

Have a wonderful loving weekend!

Keep on Keepin on.

To Gush or Not To Gush

While I was begrudgingly getting myself dolled up for work this morning [ I say "begrudgingly" because I've happily been locked up in the house for the last couple of days with the hubby even though I've been having some chest congestion with the cough from hell.  Leaving wedded snowed-in bliss and returning to work with the cough from hell is just not my idea of something to add to my "favorite things" list.]  But, I digress...as usual.  Back to the point....as I was getting myself dolled up I told myself to not forget my memory card at home and to bring it with me to work so that I could quickly share some photos with you all...and I forgot. 

Sorry.

Sparky was hurrying me this morning so that we could ride to work together and in the midst of trying to get bundled up and saying good-bye for the day to my sweet babies, I forgot the dang picture holding angel. 

So, I promised more blogging.  I wanted so deperately to share photos becuase I strongly dislike sharing a blog with you all without a photo...or two, or three...at least.  I had this whole post planned in my head and it will just have to wait.  I then contemplated about what I should share...

tick
tock
tick
tock
the mouse ran up the clock

Why not post, obviously, about my recent nuptials?  Ok.  I could do that.  But how do I do that without giving it all away before all the amazing photos are available?  Then I remembered the #1, numero uber uno question I have consistently been asked since we got married a whopping 12 days ago...

How's married life?

hmmm.  My answers started out with the  automatic, "great!" or similar exclamation.  They slowly changed to, "well, it's only been a few days, it's the same so far"...and then I thought to myself "do people really expect you to say something along the lines of disappointing, or boring, or something just awful?? Of course not, dingy! - or so I hope.

Today, I'm asking myself this question.  "How's married life?"  I can't really give a legitimate wise answer here; and I know that's not what most people are expecting.  People really just want to know you're happy.  Pretty simple stuff there.  I could definitely gush over my husband and how incredible he is and how incredibly lucky I am that he loves me so much...because that's the absolute truth...but I am a realist at times too.

Sparky and I have been together for two years now.  We didn't grow up together, we didn't meet in college, heck, we didn't meet at our first job out of college either.  Our love story is different in many ways and not so different in many other ways as well...but it's our love story.  In the grandeur picture of life, we have not known each for long, but we've known each other long enough to know we want to spend the rest of our lives experiencing it together. 

Sparky and I knew pretty quickly that we were the perfect match for each other.  After four months of dating and being practically inseperable, we made the decision to move in together.  We started talking about marriage 6 months after that.  Prior to Sparky I had never seriously discussed marriage with any of my boyfriends.  Marriage was something that I never really was in a rush or hurry to experience.  I've always had a sense of independence and attitude that I can do it all on my own...which is probably why I never really get too close to people.  That's how I knew Sparky was the one.  I wanted to be close and I wanted to share and experience life together.  I didn't want to control it all the time and most importantly, I knew Sparky was someone I'd be able to learn from without feeling like I wasn't losing myself. 

How is married life?  My anwer is "I don't know"...ask me again in about 3 years or even 5 years and I MIGHT have an answer filled with some sort of wisdom.  As for today, I can tell you that I adore and love my Sparky.  I love every little perfection and every little imperfection.  I love his quirks and his quirkiness.  I love his sense of adventure and I love his maturity.  I love that when it's 0 degrees outside he will crawl under the house to get the frozen water pipes unfrozen.  I love how he loves our dogs.  I love his passion and his determination (which can also be categorized under "perfections" and "imperfections" depending on my mood).  I love how he will call around to find me soup when I'm not feeling well even though we both know that majority of OKC is shut down due to a blizzard.  I love his mind.  I love his loyalty.  I love that I don't fear that I will lose my independence with him.  I love how he loves me.  I love my husband.  Marriage is pretty good.  Then, again, our relationship always has been.  Not much has changed except that it's even better than before.

Keep on Keepin on.

P.S.  I guess I did end up gushing about my husband in the end!  I just couldn't help it.

Engagement Session: Some Early Faves

Our wedding photographer, Aimee Adams, recently posted a few photos from our engagement on her facebook page.  I'm so thrilled with the photos!  It was so windy, cold, and early when this session took place and it was all worth it!  Her artistic style is so perfect for Sparky and I.  I'm so excited to see what comes together for our January wedding nuptials.  I sure hope it snows!!! 

Aimee says there are about 130 amazing photos total from our super fun e-session.  We should get the rest in about a week.  I will share more of my faves soon after we get them all!

 Keep on Keepin on.

Engagement Photos: Sneak Peak

Sparky and I had our engagement photo session with our photographer Aimee Adams this past Saturday morning at 7:00 in the morning.  Our sunrise session was so fun...and windy.  She sent over a couple of pictures straight out of the camera as a little sneak peak of what is to come.  I'm so excited to see the rest.

 
Keep on Keepin on.

Love in Europe

One of the funnest parts of planning a wedding is...planning a Honeymoon!

I'm so excited to report that Sparky and I just put our deposit down on a romantic trip to Rome and Paris in July.  I know it's a 6 month delay, but I could not let us a plan a trip to France without attempting to be there during the Tour de France for my sweet Sparky!

The Tour de France ends in Paris on July 24th..eh hem...aka my birthday!  So we have triple reason to celebrate that day:  our marriage, the toure, and my b-day!  This will be the most amazing trip/b-day with my new hubby!

I've never been to Italy so I'm so ecstatic to visit this country...AND I have family that lives in Rome.  Summer can't get here any quicker.

 We'll be making a trip to the Vatican museum (which probably makes my mother so very proud and jealous all at the same time)

The Colosseum

and I'll get to re-visit the Eiffel Tower now with my new hubby.



and venture back to the Notre Dame de Paris



me lighting a candle at Notre Dame in March 2008



I'm so excited for pasta, baguettes, history, culture, and of course spandex (cyclists)...and of course Sparky!

Keep on Keepin on.

Our Wedding: The Photographer

The one item Sparky and I agreed to splurge on for the wedding is having an awesome photographer.  Even if everything goes completely wrong on our wedding day, I at least want a great picture of me either crying or laughing if off.  As long as the true memory is there and documented beautifully. 

There are so many wonderful and incredibly talented professional photographers in this world and it was very difficult to decide.  I had searched and searched and contemplated for a while for the perfect photographer for us.  I had been torn and confused for awhile.  Then, magically, a friend e-mailed me the link to a photographer used by another friend.  I instantly fell in love.  It was definitely love at first sight and my decision was made. 

We are still working out the logistics but we will be using Aimee Adams photography aka Lovebirds Artistic Weddings.

We have a fun sunrise engagement session scheduled for next weekend and some goodies for the actual wedding day!  I am so excited and so looking forward to working with Aimee.  You must must check her out!

Keep on Keepin on.

We Must Be Crazy

So after pondering, thinking, eating chocolate, discussing, contemplating, eating chocolate, and having internal battles...Sparky and I changed up everything about our little wedding.

Instead of a September 10, 2011 wedding day, we decided to be even more uncoventional and purposely move up our wedding to January 22, 2011.  Two months from now.  I know we must be crazy.

We had talked about it before and flirted with the idea, but we kept convincing ourseves that it was either going to be bad weather, really cold, short notice, and just a plain bad idea.  Even with all the cons, we knew in our hearts that it was totally for us.  Here's why:

We just want to be married.  We don't want to wait.
We hadn't planned on having a huge extravagent wedding anyway.  We have the perfect venue at our house so the date was up to us.
We seriously LOVE the song January Wedding by The Avett Brothers.
I'm incredibly impatient once I make up my mind.  (The problem is getting myself to make up my mind.)
This would prevent us from eloping or just going to the courthouse which would have probably upset some important people.
We like a challenge.
I think Winter is beautiful.  I'm kinda hoping that it snows.  I think it's romantic.
Most people have a Spring or Summer wedding.  Some have Autumn.  Winter weddings are so rare.
We want to keep it as simple as possible.
The less time I have to spend money is better for the budget.
Did I mention that we just want to be married?

Here are some inspirations that have made me love this new decision:

Let's see if we can pull off a small, intimate, casual and romantic wedding in two months and within budget. 

Keep on Keepin on.

Custom Cake Toppers

I love the idea of custom quirky cake toppers...

I am absolutely crushing on these little cake toppers I found on Etsy!  They are so cute and happen to resemble Sparky and I fairly well.

yes/no?

Keep on Keepin on.

Bridal Show Debacle with a Trip to the ER

I'm normally not one for events that require hundreds of people (especially women) to be shoved into a space, barely tip toeing through the crowd just to look at "stuff".  After Sunday afternoon, I'm especially not a fan.

All this wedding hub bub got me thinking that I should just check out the local bridal show.  I decided last minute to venture to the Oklahoma Bridal show this past Sunday afternoon.  My plan was like how I handle shopping...with a purpose.  Look and leave as quickly as possible.

Three other girlfriends and I met at the show and very slowly and barely got through the crowd of wedding crazy hungry brides.  I thought the space would be bigger and have more vendors, but it was really cramped.  All the people walking around made it really difficult to get to each vendor even if you did want to retrieve some detailed information...except Lindi.  My friend Lindi is already married but we lost her in the crowd to EVERY vendor that had any free food or drink available.  She always managed to get through the crowd for free food.  The great thing was that if you could get through to the vendor, most of them offered up discounts for attending the show.  Me loves discounts.

So, after a full one and half hours of nothing but wedding stuff, my friends and I were ready to ditch the crowd.  We exited the building and stood outside and started talking since we could hear each other finally.  We were standing to the side of the entrance trying to stay out of the way of people entering and exiting the event and trying to also stay out of the street.

In the midst of conversation, a woman working the event came up to us and suggested we move over a bit because she was afraid the 15 ft tall steel metal contraption holding the bridal show sign located not too far from us would blow over. 

This is the metal sign contraption that fell over on us. 
This picture was taken as we left and
they had already started to take it down.

So we did.  We scooted over.

but not enough...

About 10 or so minutes later, my friend Kristen started screaming to watch out and my other friend, Lindi  grabbed me to pull me toward her.

All I felt was a huge hard thump on my left upper back area.  I was so startled and didn't know what had happened.  I looked over to my right and my other friend, Bridget, was on the ground with the huge sign laying on top of her!

I instantly ran to her and attempted to lift the sign enough to scoot it off of her.  She laid there for a moment stunned and then she finally sat up.  Her elbow was bleeding and she was holding her head.  The sign had hit her in the head and knocked her to the ground. 

At this point, there were many other people who had seen what happened and the event and hotel staff were all there trying to help.  We were all really concerned about Bridget since the stupid sign fell on her head.  We had to fill out paperwork and Bridget got doctored-up by a staff member.  The bridal show and hotel staff were all very helpful and sympathetic, which helped.  They urged for Bridget to go to the ER.

So we did.  Another friend, Lindi, toted us to the ER, where we both got checked out just in case.  Some of the nurses couldn't help but laugh when we tried to explain what happened.  I don't blame them. 

Nurse:  "Hi, Mam.  How can we help you today?"
Us:  "ummmm, we were at the bridal show across the street, and a 15 ft steel metal sign thingy fell on top of us."

chirp
chirp

Nurse:  giggle giggle
Long story short, although Bridget was pretty beat up, the ER doc prescribed us both some muscle relaxers and sent us on our way.

After I got home, I finally got a chance to get a look at my back.  When I took off my shirt and barely turned to look at my back, I could instantly see the big bump on my left shoulder blade area.  It was gross looking.  I knew my left side had gradually started to hurt more and more, but I didn't think I'd have something growing out of it! 

My muscle contusion.  ew.

That night, my left arm and fingers started to tingle.  The sensation was the equivalent of a limb waking up from being asleep for a few minutes and it feels like needles are poking around the area.  I ignored it for then, but the feeling was still there when I woke the next morning.  I waited until I got to work to see if the tingling feeling would subside.  It didn't.  So, I called my primary care Dr. and made an appt for that afternoon.

The Dr. said I do have muscle contusion right in the left shoulder area where some main nerves are located.  But nothing serious it seems since I have full function of my arm and hands.  He does predict that the tingling feeling will probably not go away for about 2 weeks.  awesome, right?  He said the muscle relaxers probably won't do any good and prescribed some anti-inflammatory instead.  I have yet to take any of it.  I'm not much for drugs...especially muscle relaxers.  I might give in to the anti-inflammatory though.  :(

So, today, I still have a little bit of tingling in my left hand.  My back keeps bothering me, though. My neck and lower back have started to bother me.  Nothing major I don't think.  I'm hoping I'll probably just need to get a really good massage once the soreness and bruising go away  from my "muscle contusion".  lol.

I checked with Bridget yesterday morning and she said she was sore.  Her head was obviously sore and so was her leg.  But she's such a trooper and still got up and went to work yesterday!



Bridget being a good sport while being doctored up by the event staff.


So, we're all good in the hood.  Throughout the whole ordeal, we couldn't help but laugh.  I mean, who goes to a bridal show and has the huge bridal show sign fall on them?!!  We do!  I've been friends with these girls for a long time and through all our adventures, which include rocking climbing, running, and traveling across the US and in different countries, we come home unscathed...but go to a local bridal show and we end up in the ER!

Some people have joked that I should get a free wedding out of this, but I'm happy with just having them pay for the ER visit and moving on with our lives.  I mean, I wouldn't object if the Bridal Show people so kindly offered up some kind of awesome deal...but I won't go asking or expecting.  cough. cough. eh hem. eh. hem.

One of the reasons we couldn't help but look at the bright side was that we were ironically grateful it hit Bridget and me rather than our friend Kristen who happens to be 3 months pregnant.  That would have been bad news bears for sure.  So we joked that Bridget took one for the team.  I guess we're kinda glass half full people.

But we probably won't be going to anymore bridal shows.

Keep on Keepin on.

Photographer Frenzy

It's no secret that I am a lover of all things photography.  I am more of an obsessed admirer on a daily basis rather than an avid photographer myself, although I do flirt with my camera a little here and there. 

For the past year and plus some, I have been obsessed with photography, and more recently wedding photography for obvious reasons.  Daily, I peruse photographers both local and beyond to dissect and enjoy each artist's differences and magnificence.  It's amazing how some photographers get the most perfect and unbelievable "shot" without really having to try...or so I suspect.

So, with so much love for many photographers and styles of photograpahy, I have been torn and slightly disgruntled in trying to decide on the perfect photographer for all things Sparky and Babalou gettin hitched.  I think I have e-mailed and bugged every just a few photographers in the okc metro the past few weeks, not to mention I checked on the amazing and beautiful Simply Bloom Photographers in Alabama as well.

Although I am all about being frugal smart with our wedding budget, a wedding photographer is the one element that I am on the very tippy-toe-edge-teetering-about to fall off the budget bridge willing to splurge.  I know that I don't intend to have a HUGE wedding, but that means all the personal, intimate, DIY stuff should be documented even more, right?  BTW, I am the master of justifying anything I deem necessary; arguing with me is absolutely useless.

Anywho, after many mental and emotional internal battles, I THINK, at least for today, I have narrowed down the photographer choices down to two.  These final two choices are so very difficult for their own very specific reasons.

First, we are considering Andrew Chasteen photography.  He's local, slightly "newer" to photography, more budget friendly than the other choice, and an acquaintance of Sparky's.  I do also like his style.  He does non-traditional photograpahy which I love.  The more artistic the better...no posing for this gal.

Second, Sparky and I absolutely love love love Carl Zoch photography. 



Who wouldn't love this image from Carl Zoch?

 He too is local and has amazing style.  In addition to digital photography, he also does a little bit with the Holga.  Sparky and I have a Diana and are huge fans of these little plastic wonders.  Carl Zoch would be a huge splurge for us, but I think we are willing to take the plunge!  I am currently waiting to hear back from him to get more information. 

If we can make the budget work, we may splurge on our dream photographer.  At the same time, I am all about up and coming new artists and professionals and I seriously want to give Andrew a shot also.  I think both photographers would be super awesome and I just can't decide! 

Oh well, I'm sure all the answers will come to me in a dream or a game of rock paper scissors...the answers to most of life's questions normally come down to rock paper scissors.

Keep on Keepin on.

Makes Me Want A January Wedding...

but I won't.  I don't like winter that much.  But, this song is soooooooo absolutely wonderful and sweet that I might actually consider a winter wedding.  lol.

The Avett Brothers sing this song and they are wonderful musicians if you ask me.  I know you didn't ask me...but let's just pretend you did.  Plus, there is something about the way the lead singer sings his songs that makes me believe every word and that he thoroughly enjoys what he is doing in that very moment. 

The Avett Brothers - January Wedding


Keep on Keepin on.

Planning Blues

So I've started to forge full speed ahead on my wedding planning and have quickly come to an exhausting-totally defeated-don't want to deal with it anymore...mini mental hault.

First of all - I've never really had a "dream wedding" mindset.  So, I knew this whole figuring out what I want thing would be very difficult for me.  I mentally started to prepare myself months ago and I'm still dumbfounded with myself.  I warned Sparky that I would need at least a year to just figure out what kind of wedding I'd want... let alone plan a wedding.

So, with many incredibly useful wedding blogs and sites literally at my finger tips, I feel like I've developed my style in my head.  I chose a dress long ago that I felt would be absolutely perfect and still to this day, even after considering many others, I return to this one dress.  So, at least I am consistant on that one thing...so far.

I'm a nervous wreck when it comes to being the center of attention or speaking in front of even one other person.  So, obviously, the thought of a big wedding ABSOLUTELY wigs me out entirely.  My palms and forehead begin to sweat just thinking about walking down an aisle with hundreds of eyes staring at me.  Totally not for me. 

I'm a frugal freak.  That is a pretty big darn element in this whole process.  Sparky and I are trying desperately to stay under a particular budget; and although I'm creating this stress ball for myself, our budget is one thing I really want to be successful in keeping.  I'd much rather spend our extra money on our honeymoon!  ...which btw, I think we're doing a honeymoon registry rather than a traditional registry. 

I've decided I need more support, advice, and ideas.  I'd like to flirt with the idea that many of you may know me A LOT better than I know myself, and with me jumping on the wedding band wagon so very late, I'm sure there is a wealth of wedding planning exprience out there that I can utilize.  So feel free to share your enthusiam and ideas everytime I post about all this wedding mumbo jumbo.

But for now, I thought I might share with you my wedding planning start-up.  I know some of you will totally get a kick out of this and admittingly relate to my planning/organizational woes.  So, what was the first thing I JUST HAD to create for myself before I moved full speed ahead??

come on...you know...

A wedding planning BINDER!!!!! yay!!!

So far, creating the actual binder has been my favorite part. 

The process of actually finding narrowing down stuff to put in it has been a completely different story...and causing me to eat a lot of chocolate. 

Binder Beginnings!

Outside of my binder.  I haven't had time to make an official cover...yet.  So for now, an 8x10 photo of Ruby's backside brings me happiness...and Sparky slipped in a little piece of his two cents in there as well.  awwwww....

Inside of my binder.  Open up this gold mine to find the most important thing...our budget sheet.  woot woot! 

This is the "Gown" tab.  Yes.  I have very specific typed up tabs that coincide completely and in order with the budget sheet.  I probably shouldn't be showing you this tab as it reveals my most consistant dress choice...but I just don't get all ba-jiggidy about that stuff.  I have a print out of the dress I love because my moither is actually going to make it for me.  So, obviously, I have material and specifics underlined as well as the local fabric store information.

What the heck is this you ask?  This is located under the "Reception" tab.  This is a very detailed and measured CAD drawing of our backyard.  Oh, yeah, baby.  Tables, chairs, yard dimensions, decks, pergolas, tree, house.  yup.  It's all there.  So, as you've figured out by now, we are seriously considering having this small shin-dig right in our own backyard.  More power to us right?  We must be crazy.

I have few other tabs with a few little things here and there...photographer options, rental places, guest list (actually, our guest list is a working excel sheet that automatically adds my numbers for me), food menu..blah blah blah blah and...

More details...and I'm sure changes...to come!

Keep on Keepin on.

Our Proposal: Simple and Sweet = Perfect

Ok. I’ll get to it.

Sparky only made me wait what seemed to b a VERY LONG week. I did my best to keep mum about when he would officially ask me if I would marry him. I am an extremely impatient person at times.


Sparky and I are extreme creatures of habit. We normally dine every Friday evening out our very favorite place, The Wedge Pizzeria on Western Ave in OKC. We love the outdoor patio and pizza!

Sparky had asked me months ago if I had any special requests for a proposal. My request was simple. I said I’d really prefer it to be very quiet, intimate, personal, private, and us. I didn’t want anything embarrassing or cliché. I just wanted something simple that represented something he and I do regularly. Thankfully, he listened. One week ago, last Friday evening; we of course went to The Wedge as usual. We sat on the patio at a small two person table amongst many strangers. We did our normal; ordered two waters, a large Trois Pistole with two glasses, and a personalized pizza.

After we ordered our pizza, our normal conversation time started and in the midst of it, he officially asked me if I would marry him. He reached into his little pocket and pulled out the sparkling antique ring and slipped it on my finger. We both reached across the table to give each other a sweet “we are engaged” kiss and it was perfect. Sweet and Simple.

Shortly afterward, the GM of The Wedge, Elena, came by our table like she normally does to just say hello and check how we are doing. We told her that we just got engaged minutes before and she was surprised and ecstatic! She went and told one of our favorites waitresses, Heather, and she came by shortly afterward to give us a congratulations and hugs. They really are just sweet people there and it helps that we see them once a week! Haha!

Now, I normally say I do not like surprises, but Elena and Heather surprised both Sparky and I; and I will never forget them for it. After Sparky and I finished our dinner, I jokingly whispered to him, “Hey, I think we might get free gelato out of this!” - btw...I love their gelato. I love gelato period, but their gelato is extra super delicious to me for some reason. Anyway, then, Elena and Heather came from around the corner. Elena was carrying a HUGE plate of various gorgeous decadent desserts and Heather was toting a bottle of champagne and four small glasses! The desserts included red velvet cake, carrot cake, strawberry cake, chocolate cheesecake, white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, another type of really tasty cookies with vanilla icing and chocolate drizzle, and fruits! They popped open the champagne and toasted to us, “To our favorite Wedge couple!” We were so flattered and so incredibly delightfully surprised! I said to them that I didn’t even know they had all those desserts available! And they don’t. They went down the street to another restaurant under the same owners, call the Deep Fork, to get the desserts!

Elena and Heather get super uber kudos from both Sparky and I!

So, there you have it...our ring search and our simple and sweet perfect engagement evening.

And what you all have been waiting for...the ring...

Now, let’s plan a super fun and chic wedding!

Keep on keepin on!

Our Proposal: The End of the Search

My heart was only broken for a split second. The wonderful Randy Parsons of the Antique Avenue Market quickly showed me his newest addition to his jewelry collection. It was almost exactly identical to my previously thought dream ring...but this was even more beautiful! This new ring had a band slightly older dating back to the 1880’s rather than the 1890’s, but it was still 18k white gold. The band also still had beautiful engravings on the sides but this time the engraving included very delicate little flowers. It was still a single diamond, but it was slightly larger being 0.67 carats rather than 0.52 carats and this diamond was a mine cut diamond also dating back to the 1880’s. oh, dear. On top of all that...it fit my ringer.

Btw...I have pretty fat fingers. I’m not proud of this; it just is what it is. I never find rings that fit me without needing extensive sizing. Therefore, I just don’t really bother with them. Plus, my fingers swell a lot. I know TMI. But, I just need to stress the fact that this ring already fit perfectly. So this one fact is amazing all in itself.

Anyway, I went home to break the bad news to Sparky that my ring was gone...but he lucked out that there was another I loved that was bigger and even more beautiful. He felt bad, and a bit embarrassed that the other one got away, but relieved that I was so easily satisfied with the new find.

...so I waited...

And waited...

And did even more waiting.

I didn’t dare go back to the to the antique store in fear of the ring being sold again.

I was starting to get frustrated and was just going to scrap the whole idea all together and accept the fact that I’d be searching for another ring soon.

3 months total had passed since he first told be to start searching...sigh.

So, two weeks ago, Sparky and I went on one of our weekly lunch dates and I suggested (jokingly) that we should stop by the antique store. He surprisingly agreed because he wanted to see this ring and see if it was still there or not.

I was so nervous. I was so afraid that we would walk in and sweet Randy would tell me we had missed out again. My palms were more sweaty than usual.

And...it was still there!!

I tried it on with Sparky there beside me, and he absolutely loved the ring also. He agreed that it was a very special ring for a very special lady (wink wink). Haha. just kidding. But, seriously, he too thought it was just perfect and the right fit was an absolute anomaly for my tree trunk fingers.

And he got it! Right there. During our last minute stop before we headed back to work. He first asked me if it would ruin the surprise for me if he went ahead and got with me there. I, of course, said “heck no! I hate surprises. This is perfect!”

But he wouldn’t let me have it.

He tucked it away and hid it from me...



To be continued...again... :)



Keep on keepin on.