Wow, What a Beautiful Engagement

Some of you have seen received this email about an Atlanta couple who got engaged. This slide show is a true showing of how much one person loves another and what a large role God has in their lives. I have received this email slide show several months ago and just today someone else emailed to me...and it still is just a romantic as when I first saw it. I think that this email had even reached Oprah's email box, because I believe the photographer that took the pictures of the engagement was on Oprah talking about it.

The photographer, Ross Oscar Knight, has a beautiful website with lots of photojournalist photographs. I love all the slide shows that he has of some of the weddings and the other engagements that he has photographed. The way that he takes pictures, it seems to put you right in the moment.

Looking at their engagement, makes me thing of my own proposal. I think that if my fiance' did anything like this young man did, I would think that he had changed places with an alien. He is romantic, in a romantic comedy type of way. Each proposal is special in it own special way, based off of what is special to the two people involved. You really can not compare proposals or even weddings to say one was better than someone elses, even though we try, because it special because some loved you enough to ask you to spend the rest your life with them (that's a long time). My proposal, will be something that I will hold dear to me for the rest of my life and everyday that I look down at my left hand I am reminded of it.

Please enjoy viewing this couples proposal and another proposal from Knight's website,may they give you inspiration in your relationship.

( I am so going to find that CD, so that I can have that song in my wedding)

Something Aqua, Something Brown

Well after being asked for weeks," What are the colors for your wedding?" and my only response being "Aqua". Well sound the alarm another color has been chosen, chocolate brown. When I went to my linen appointment this past Saturday, my mother spotted some beautiful brown linens. We began to play with the brown napkins on the aqua table runner with a white table cloth and we loved it. Chuck likes the idea of brown, especially since one of his fraternity colors is brown. He said that he just needed to see it together. I think that the men being in chocolate brown suits with a white shirt and an aqua (or what I call Tiffany box blue) tie would look really nice. While surfing the net ( all photos found on The Knot or Yahoo Images), I found some other bridal stuff that fits my theme.

I plan on using chair covers for my wedding, since I am having everything in one place. I was thinking of alternating aqua and brown sashes since colored chair covers are more expensive and so that I can stay within budget I will need to use white.

I like all of the above as some options for my tables at the reception.

I even found some cake ideas with the colors.

At some point when I was planning my wedding I had originally thought that I wanted some kente cloth (African fabric) put in there, but it becoming to hard to find. The aqua and brown is starting to grow on me. I think these colors help with the "classy casual" vibe that I want for my wedding. Now that I have made the color selection, I can not start applying to different aspects of my wedding.

Got Insurance?

With all the list of things to do for my wedding, I did not think of needing insurance for my engagement ring. When I signed up for The Knot, reminder checklist for my things to do for planning, the first thing on the list was to get my ring insured. So after being engaged since December 26, I finally took the ring paperwork to work last week and faxed it to my insurance agent to have the ring added to our (Chuck and I) homeowners insurance. Well to my surprise I received the adjusted homeowners insurance today in the mail with the addition of the ring. I was thinking that it would be lot more for us to pay a month due to the appraisal of the ring, but it just added a whole $8.00. I think I can swing that.

In looking at the insurance paperwork, I noticed a few things that the company would not replace my ring for,

• In case of rebellion or civil war
• Confiscation by customs
• If the ring is damaged by any weapon deploying atomic fission of radioactive force.
• Loss due to insects.
• Seizure of destruction under quarantine.

I could not believe that these were listed under my policy of coverage. I want the persons job at the insurance company that sits and thinks of these things, so that the insurance company does not have to replace anything but continues to charge you premiums. Of course, there more than just these but I found these to be the oddest. I am sure that my anal retentive fiance' Chuck will be happy to see the paperwork sitting on the table when he comes home. Now only if I can get him to find the paperwork for our home security system that I need to fax to the insurance agent so that we can get a discount. Well, one more thing off of my 1,000 things that I need to do.

Blog, Blog, Blog

I am new to the blogging game. The only reason that I got into was because, I was looking on line for aisle runners and one of the searches that came up was Heather's, Road to the Aisle blog. I was so inspired by her, I decided to talk about my own wedding experience. As I searched more I discovered other wedding blogs that gave me more inspiration. I have a list of the blogs, located under Bride Blogs, of the blogs that I read at least once a week. All of these pages give me a little bit something to think about, research or to apply to my own life or wedding planning. I hope that you find some inspiration from them to.

I have also noticed on these websites that these ladies are tagging each other. It reminds me of a school yard game..but sometimes you need to feel like a kid again to relieve some of the stress of life and wedding planning. I have read that there are some rules to this game. I want to try my hand at tagging, here are my rules.

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

2. Share 5 things that you look forward to about your wedding.

3. Tag 1 new person to keep it going.

4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I have already tagged In this Instance..we will see what happens.

The Perfect Dress

Today was the first day that I went to try on wedding dresses. It was just myself and my mom. The dress that I thought that I wanted had all lace on it and had some sort of strap on it. Boy was I wrong. I went to Alan Ray Bridal and just happened to stop by Wendy's Bridal and got a 4:30 pm appointment today. I had decided a long time ago that I did not want to spend $1,000 for a dress. I wanted to stay in the $700.00 mark and even under. At Alan Ray the bridal consultant , Mertie, was very helpful and fun. She talked to me about my body type and what dresses looked good on me. I had already looked on their website and selected two dresses that I wanted to try on. She pulled one that I wanted to try on and several others. Of course the one that I liked on line, was not quite what I wanted. There were two others that she selected that were beautiful that I really liked on me. My mom liked them both, but is not a huge fan of strapless.

I original stopped by Wendy's to see what they had for my bridesmaids, since I did not have a scheduled appointment. But once I was in there, I was a few wedding dresses on the mark down rack that I just had to try. The store squeezed me in (thank you) to try them on. Of course, once again the ones that I picked, were not what I was looking for even though the price was great. The consultant Lil, was real helpful and selected some other gowns that I looked fabulous on me.

At this point I have 4 dresses to choose from. The best part of today besides trying on some great dresses was the fact that some of the dresses that I tried on were to big and I was in a smaller size than I normally wear. I want a dress that is elegant and light enough for me dance in. I really like all of the dressed for all different reasons. I have decided that I am going to make a few more bridal appointments and make my final selection by the end of May since both consultants stated that it takes 6-8 months to get a dress in and 2-3 months for alterations. I will definitely take their advise, since I do not want to be stressed about getting my dress. The whole process was exciting and a little overwhelming, but I guess that is expected when you are trying to find the perfect dress.

363 Days to Go!!

It is official..as of April 11, I have one year until I get married. Which means I have one year to select all the details for my perfect day. At the current moment, I have some many thoughts and I feel so scattered and overwhelmed I sometimes do not know where to start. I have subscribed to some of the bridal websites such as The Knot, that send alerts to remind me and keep me on tasks. My lack of motivation, I attributed to that I was planning an event for my sorority, Sigma Gamma Rho, that I was very focused on, but that event was over last night and I have not done a thing today but sleep. Well as the weeks go on..I hope that I will get more motivated since I have some appointments planned to see the table linens and chair covers. I need to get it into motion since I, do not want to be one of the Bridezillas waiting to the last moment to get everything done.

Wedding Tip of the Week: Planning

Ever since I have been 6, I have had a plan for what I wanted my wedding to look like. Since I have gotten engaged, I have spent hours solidifying everything that I wanted or refining what I thought I might have wanted. Planning your wedding can be a fun, happy and sometimes stressful process. When deciding your vision for the wedding, you need to first decide if you want the assistance of a wedding planner or your going to DIY bride or groom. Either if you use a wedding planner or DIY your wedding, there are several resources that you could find on the Internet. Using the Internet, you can refine your ideas and find deals on items that you need. Some of the websites that I have found useful are the following:

• The Wedding Channel
• The Knot
• My Wedding
• Get Married

These sites are just a few. There are hundreds on the Internet that includes peoples' personal wedding websites and blogs where you can find inspiration from. Whatever you do make your wedding your own.

"Na Na"

Na Na, is what I am called by my very special friend Ben. I am not talking about wedding stuff tonight, well sort, kinda, maybe a little later in this post. I am going to talk about something that I am passionate about, autism awareness. I have done ABA therapy with a child by the name of Ben. I have been with him since he was 5 and now he is 15. He is like having my own child, that lives with someone else. I have watched Ben change over the years, from a child that would not touch me or look at me, to a child that is now totally obsessed with hugging me. Ben is so smart, he reads, does math, does sign language and over the past few month he has grown leaps and bounds in his speech. Ben when first diagnosed was listed as severe on the autism spectrum, but his diagnosis has changed over the years as he has progressed. I truly believe that Ben has grown so, with the help of all his, his mother believing in his ability, therapist pushing him to learn and the wheat free, gluten free, casein free, dairy free diet that he is on. Once he started the diet, he was able to focus and his learning really began.

Ben has a great sense of humor, beautiful blue eyes and a great laugh. Ben helps me learn to appreciate the simple things, because a lot of times it hard to remember that with all of life's issues.

According to the Autism Society of America, autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Autism is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a "spectrum disorder" that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. 1 in every 150 American children, and almost 1 in 94 boys are diagnosed with autism somewhere on the spectrum. Autism is treatable. Children do not "outgrow" autism, but studies show that early diagnosis and intervention lead to significantly improved outcomes.

Since it is Autism Awareness month, several TV shows will be having specials about autism, like "Autism: the musical" on HBO and CNN programming will focus on various topics on related to autism.

Ben has been in previous therapist wedding where he was the flower boy. Which was perfect for him at that time because picking up and watching the flower petals hit the ground was a sensory experience for him. Since he already had practice I was thinking, he could be the flower boy in my wedding. I was overruled, by Ben's mom and Chuck, they both said that he is a little to big for that now. He is now an usher and is going to hand out programs at my wedding. We will have to practice this so that he does not take the programs back from the guest after he gives them to them.

I think that many people, forget that these children are just that children. They have hopes and dreams like the rest of us, but may need assistance with on how to get to accomplish their dreams. My hope for Ben is to have a full life of doing the things that he wants to do. I want him to be able to live on his own, with assistance, go to a job, continue taking swim class, loving to eat a potatoes, playing his Playstation, obsessing about a topic and continue to see all the movies that he wants to see. I want him to continue to make me watch Power Rangers with him, making me look through the movie ads to tell me that he can not see R rated movies, to tell me that he is going to bed at 9:00 pm on the weekends and to continue to give me hugs and kisses every time I come to see him. These things and for so much more is why I love Ben. He will always be apart of my life.