Life Lately - October

Well here we are - two months and one day left on the year 2021. Can y'all believe it? *sigh*

Eating - October was such a roller coaster where food is concerned and that's probably why there are very few pictures. It started with my birthday week which was filled with amazing food: my precious fiancé cooked some favorites of mine for my birthday dinner and my parents arranged for me to have a Milk Bar Birthday Cake! And then my wonderful fiancé surprised me with a party and there were hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, macaroni & cheese, baked beans, salad and a whole ton of other things. And of course - more cake!

I decided after my birthday to try Keto and that was a long and painful week and an experiment that ended after seven days. I may or may not have cried in a Lidl in Fredericksburg - but oh well. I tried out a new Mexican restaurant with my ladies group and had a divine Enchilada Trio.. and yet again - my amazing fiancé brought me a Cinnamon Bun Iced Latte with Pumpkin Spice Whipped Cream. *smiles*

Watching - So much NFL football y'all! I guess that's what happens when you suddenly have a man in your life who absolutely loves all things football and especially NFL football. I have watched bits and pieces of multiple games each week since the season began... and will continue to all season long.

We have created a weekly competition where we list each week's games and choose who we think will win the games. The winner will get dinner out at the end of the NFL season. So far - I am not winning but I did tie week two because I knew the name of the Brown's mascot. It's Brownie the Elf y'all! 

Wearing - Was this just an excuse to post another engagement picture? Maybe! However, I got so many compliments on the dress I was wearing in the pictures and so I wanted to share where I found it! I had a vision in my head of what I wanted to wear and when I stumbled on this dress - I knew it was the one!

It came from a website called Baltic Born - the dresses on this site are beautiful and I believe the company is out of Canada. This dress was perfect for my engagement pictures and I look forward to wearing it again - although it is a wee bit long, so I'll need some taller shoes to pull it off without tripping, ha-ha! 

Bought - The one good thing to come from my week of failed Keto was something called Keto Chow. It's a shake powder that has protein and nutrients in it and if you're using the mix while doing Keto, you mix the powder with water and a fat (oil/cream/butter). However - I have resorted back to Weight Watchers and so I mix the powder with almond milk.

The shakes are thick, have an amazing flavor and keep me full for most of the morning - I usually have some fruit around eleven but I don't find myself hungry. It also makes for an easy three point breakfast on Weight Watchers, so I consider that a win!

Want - I honestly don't have too many wants right now. It's a lovely feeling. I want to be able to enjoy the last two months of this year, spend time with family and friends and just continue to create memories. I want to find gifts for people for Christmas that they will love and cherish. So I guess I have a few wants... but not anything too crazy.

Reading - I am reading Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers! I know my Mom has long loved this book and seeing that it has been made into a movie, I decided I'd better get to reading it if I was going to be ready to see the film in early 2022. I still have so many other books to read y'all - my list is so long! I guess that's one good thing to have in life - a list of books waiting to be read!

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And just like that - it's the last day of October. What in the world?!? I can't believe how fast this year has flown by!

Five on Friday

 It's the last weekend in October - I cannot believe it! I don't have anything wild and crazy to share this week but I am going to continue the trend that I've been holding steady with on the blog this week: engagement pictures! I thought I'd share my five favorites out of the tons of pictures she took - honestly I love them all but I am beginning to narrow things down a little bit, ha-ha!

One. The Favorite - I think this one has been everyone's favorite so far. And by everyone, I literally just mean my fiancé and my family. And I say that because it's now my profile picture, my fiancé's profile picture and my Mom's profile picture. 

I see Christmas cards in this picture's future - and they will be so cute!

Two. Holding Hands in the Field - I love this one! We are both smiling so big and the light is perfect!

I also see some future framing option for this picture - it's really great. And I think it's going to go on our Save the Dates!

Three. Walking through the Field - My Dad likes to joke this picture is Ryan looking back and saying "what have I gotten myself into?" Very funny Dad. 

I myself love the looks on our faces and the way this picture turned out - it's amazing! Who am I kidding - I think they're all amazing and I am so glad we have Brooke for our wedding pictures too!

Four. The Forehead Kiss - *sigh* I absolutely love this one too! It's so sweet and tender and it's also currently the background of my computer in my office. 

I think this one is definitely frame-worthy - it's just the sweetest!

Five. The Hug - Isn't this one sweet too? I love our color choices and I love how Brooke was able to make the colors pop in each picture. 

A fun fact about that sweater - it's what I was wearing when Ryan and I met for the first time! That's why I chose to wear it for our engagement pictures. A little sentimentality for you!

Honorable Mention. Because of course I had to share just a couple more! Watson was such a champ and I love his little facial expression in the picture below! I also love the snap she caught of Ryan actually completely like Ryan... goofy and always making me laugh!

I also think the pictures she took of my engagement ring are lovely - the way she set it up and everything; it's just a beautiful picture.

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I am so in love with all our engagement pictures and I am so extremely thrilled that we have Brooke Danielle Photography for our wedding pictures too! Brooke has long been a family friend and I have always loved her pictures - I am so tickled that now she is taking pictures of this special moments as Ryan and I start our life together!

Watson Wednesday

Watson was 100% a part of our engagement shoot and I couldn't resist sharing some of the snapshots that Brooke got of his precious little face. My Mom found the sign he's wearing online and she couldn't resist the idea of having him be in some of the shots - and they turned out so well!

He looks less than enthused about having the spot as #1 Guy in My Life being taken from him - but in reality, he loves Ryan and they love their energetic walks together! I sometimes think Ryan reminds him of what it's like to be young again! 

Sneak Peek

These are just a little sneak peek of the engagement pictures that Ryan and I had taken on Sunday afternoon! I am absolutely in love with them and can't wait to see the rest of them! What an absolute dream come true this whole experience was - I suppose that's a completely girly and "squishy" way to be but I have loved the whole experience of being engaged so far and I can't imagine that's going to change any time soon!

It's Been A Whirlwind

So far y'all - October has been a little bit of a whirlwind. I feel like the last few weeks have absolutely flown by and part of that is probably because work has been absolutely wild! I get to work on something at 9:30 and the next time I look up it's after 3:00 and I'm astonished at where the time has gone! I never got around to writing my Five on Friday post last week - so I just figured I'd do a big old photo dump here on this Monday! 

 

The weather took a turn toward Autumn this last week with temperatures sitting in the upper 60's and chilling down to the mid 40's in the evenings. I ended up sitting on the stoop with Watson on Monday while we waited for Ryan to get home... we spotted and watch a giant praying mantis climb up and over the leaves of the plant and along the side of the house... 

I honestly don't remember much of Tuesday but Wednesday after church I joined my ladies group at a new Mexican restaurant in the area for dinner and the Enchilada Trio I had was absolutely delicious! Thursday morning Ryan and I had a chance to have coffee together and sip from our Handsome Devil & Wicked Witch mugs... they tickle me so much and also make me smile. 

Friday - after working an overnight shift - I got a lunch time surprise when Ryan walked in the door with lunch for everyone at the office and especially for me, a Cinnamon Bun Latte with Pumpkin Spice Whipped Cream! When I tell y'all that he is the BEST man and is 1000% a keeper - I am not exaggerating at all - he is just the most wonderful man. That latte was pretty wonderful too! Ha-ha! 

Friday night we were supposed to have our couples group from church but they had to cancel last minute due to a health issue with their son, so we ended up making sandwiches and watching Kingsmen: The Golden Circle for our Friday night. We cleaned the house on Saturday morning before I headed to the salon to get my hair touched up and Ryan crawled back in bed to take a nap (those overnight shifts though...)

My parents returned home after a month long vacation across the US and the first thing my Mom and I did? We made a Target run, of course! The seasons have all melded together in Target and so there were Jack-o-Lanterns alongside Santa Claus with a random turkey flung in for good measure, ha-ha! I whipped up a pot of Turkey Chili for dinner and spent the rest of the evening getting ready for our engagement pictures the next day - making sure clothes were good to go, fixing my nails and just generally making sure we were prepared.

After church and lunch at Waffle House, Ryan headed to the barber to get all spruced up for the shoot and Julie arrived to do my make-up - which turned out stunning, if I do say so myself! When everyone was ready to go, we headed to the Arboretum to take our engagement pictures and what an experience that was - I had been waiting for that moment for such a long time and it was a little mind-boggling to believe I was in the middle of it. 

The sunset on the way home was absolutely stunning and even turned more impressive after I'd put my phone away - it was just so beautiful and reminded me that with Autumn in full force and Winter on the way, there will be many more stunning sunsets to come. We had pizza for dinner and I made Ryan some sandwiches for his overnight shift, grabbed a bath and ended the night checking out the sneak peek pictures that our photographer Brooke shared on Instagram - I'm in love and can't wait to see the rest.

My Mom snapped this picture rather sneakily while Brooke was doing her thing - and it was lovely enough on it's own but the ones that Brooke took (that I've seen so far) are amazing. I hope to be able to share some of them with you soon! Y'all have a good Monday and maybe this week will be a little less wild - I can't believe this time next week it will be November!

Watson Wednesday

I find myself wondering these days how Watson is going from day to day - sometimes he seems very much like a little old man... he can be very grumpy, he sleeps a lot and his hearing and sight are less than stellar... but other times he seems like a puppy once again. This last weekend he seemed very puppy-like.

 

 

He went with Ryan and I to Fredericksburg and the little guy has always loved a good car ride - and this was no exception. Especially because Ryan loves to roll down the back windows for him so he can let the breeze blow through his ears while we ride. He did pretty well in the hotel room - even if he did cry a little bit in his crate through the night... *sigh*

He obviously had a great time exploring though - so much so that on the way home when it started raining, he settled himself down in the back seat and crashed. He slept for a good hour of the drive - lost in dreams of falling leaves and chasing cats. 

A Weekend of Blessings

Another weekend in the books - I cannot believe how quickly it passed! I was able to leave work a little early on Friday and so at 3:00 PM, Ryan and I headed up (over?!?) to Fredericksburg for the Teen Challenge Freedom Night. If you aren't familiar with Teen Challenge, I'd strongly encourage you to look the program up - it's truly amazing and has a wonderful mission. I'm so proud that Ryan is an alumni of Teen Challenge and that it's a part of his story. 

 

Traffic wasn't too bad and we arrived at our hotel with plenty of time to get Watson settled, grab a bite to eat at Mission BBQ and then make our way to Freedom Night. Ryan was gifted a goodie bag and a free t-shirt and he participated in the Alumni Choir during worship - the service was so touching and I am so glad I was able to take part in the evening. After the service we chatted with several people before making our way back to the hotel to give Watson some walk(s) and time to be out in the open.

 

 

I was able to meet so many people who have directly impacted Ryan's life over the last two years and was incredibly humbled when meeting a man who; upon learning I am Ryan's fiancé, told me "I have been praying for you - before Ryan even knew you." It took my breath away a little bit. Also - can you please note that my sweet fiancé; who knows I am not great in large social situations, just always has his hand out for me to grab on to so I'm not left on my own. *love*

 

 

Saturday morning was an early start with a breakfast for all the alumni who had come for the Freedom Night - everything was delicious, I'm sure - I could barely eat it because I was in the midst of my week long Keto experiment. *sigh* After breakfast it was off to see all of Ryan's favorite places and old haunts from his time spent in Fredericksburg and let me tell you - I enjoyed it so much. Getting to see the places and people that have shaped Ryan into who he is - I always love learning more about the love of my life. 

 

We stopped by Fredericksburg Full Gospel Church which is absolutely stunning from the outside - sadly we were unable to go inside but I'm told the interior is just as beautiful. Our next stop was Glasgow Farms, which is an event venue that Ryan used to help do set-up and break down for events and weddings. Yet again I met two different people who immediately told me "Oh - I've been praying for you for a while now" and let me tell you - that will take your breath away - in the best way possible.

Mr. Glasgow prayed over Ryan and I and Mrs. Glasgow just hugged me around the neck and kept telling me how excited she was to meet me... y'all - it was incredible. Our next stop was Moon Valley and y'all it was another wedding venue that Ryan used to help at - it all cracks me up!

 

Moon Valley was beautiful and we explored all over the property, walking across a field to the rustically romantic wedding ceremony location. The owner and Ryan have developed a friendship and so we chatted with him for awhile... he and Ryan enjoy poking fun at one another and they did plenty of that. Again - it was awesome to meet all these people that have meant so much to Ryan. Our final stop was Teen Challenge to see where Ryan spent 18 months of his life and so he led me around the property and told me all about his day to day life there.

 

I think Ryan's favorite part of the whole weekend (I might be being serious) was being reunited with Drake - the black lab that lives at Teen Challenge. Ryan used to sneak him into his room to sleep and according to the guys there now, sometimes Drake still goes to Ryan's old room looking for him. After he showed me around the house, we climbed in the car to go grab lunch and then headed home... encountering torrential rain the closer we got to home. 

We had a very relaxed evening on Saturday - we ended up watching the movie Kingsman: The Secret Service and Ryan made some really delicious chicken drumsticks for dinner. Some little kiddos came to the door around 6:45 asking "can we wash your cars to make some money" and since Ryan can't say no - we let them wash our cars in the fading sunlight with an Autumnal breeze blowing that made me shiver... but they said "nah - it's hot out here" and so that was that. It cracked us up completely. 

Sunday seems like it passed in a blink - Ryan worked almost all day and so I headed off to church on my own, made a stop at Martin's for some grocery items and then came home to eat lunch and do work for almost the entire afternoon (making that OT money). I whipped up some White Chicken Chili for dinner and we watched football before calling it a night. It was a great weekend - it just passed way too quickly and looking at the calendar, I feel like time is about to start flying even faster than it is right now!

I'll end by giving you a quick look at my Baby Yoda Chia Pet - he is really starting to sprout like crazy!