Recently in weddings and such Category

So now that the initial rush of ohmygodwe'reENGAGED has worn off, its time to at least start thinking about the details and what this all means in real life.

And what it means is that we have to start planning a wedding?!

At first the whole idea made me feel all sorts of squeamish. Not because I have any sort of doubt about my ability and desire to commit to the jboy, but because ... well ... weddings are BIG events. Big formal events. The kind of events that I sort of dread. And the word "bride" just sounds sooooo girly and anyone who knows me knows I can fake the girly role when need be, but deep down, I am a tom boy through and through.

But something has happened over the last week or so. I don't know if its the overwhelmingly happy response of all of my girl friends or some sort of inner girlyness coming out, but the idea of planning a wedding is actually starting to sound ... fun? And I find myself thinking about things like what do I want my dress to look like and what kind of flowers do I want? Don't get me wrong, the most exciting part of wedding planning for me is still trying to figure out where I want to go on a honeymoon and what location will let us go mountain biking and hiking and kayaking and recover while sipping wine next to a fireplace or firepit or some other type of fire-bearing gizmo. But the frilly-er details are intriguing to me too. Beyond the honeymoon I am most excited about picking flowers!? Really?! Who is this woman?!

I don't want our wedding to be a huge fancy ordeal. But I'm loving the challenge of trying to figure out how to plan a big party that represents us and who we are. Its kind of cool, really.

That was my answer. I think. I don't really remember. I remember the way my boyfriend walked out of the bedroom with a goofy look on his face and I remember the way I started shaking and I vaguely remember him getting down on one knee. And after that it was a blur. There was more shaking and some tears and all I know is that when it was all over I was as happy as I have ever been in my life.

It wasn't a huge surprise. After almost five years and many many conversations, I knew it was coming sometime soon. But I was not expecting it Thursday night. The way he did it was so simple and sincere and beautiful. It was perfect. Everything about it was perfect.

Friday morning we got up and went to Omaha for my cousin's wedding. At first I felt a little guilty getting engaged the day before her wedding. It was supposed to be her weekend. But then I remembered that she and her (now) husband got engaged en route to someone else's wedding and how great she thought the whole thing was. And she was right. The whole family was there and we got to all celebrate together. My cousin who was getting married was the most excited of all. She flipped out when she found out and for the rest of the weekend every single time we saw her or her (now) husband they were all "Congratulations you guys!!" We finally told them they could STOP saying that and they were like "Noooo!! We're so excited for you!!!". At the reception my cousin got do do the first dance with her husband and then danced with her dad. After that she got on the mic and called Josh and I and another couple whose anniversary was that day up and we got our own dance. I was so embarrassed but it was also very very sweet.

I'm still in shock. All weekend my parents were introducing Josh to people as my fiance and everytime we were like "whooooah ... that's WEIRD!". But its so very wonderful.

We just got back from Omaha about an hour ago and tomorrow morning we will be leaving to hang out with a bunch of friends for a week in Colorado which sounds like the perfect time for more celebrating. I really couldn't be much happier.

We have tons of pictures from the wedding and will have tons more from Colorado but you will have to wait until next week. I promise to make it worth the wait.

Oh, and the ring is BEAUTIFUL and perfect and SO me! :)