The Final Days as a Fiancé

I have just twelve more days until I am a “Mrs.”… what a thought!?! Everyone told me the time would fly and they were right! Now everyone is telling me to do my best to take in every moment of the big day! Something tells me that like all precious moments in life – it will pass in the blink of an eye, and I am just going to do my best to make memories that will last a lifetime! 

 

The past weekend was the last weekend that doesn’t have wedding things going on – and while it wasn’t busy, we did have plenty going on! Friday was a glorious Autumn day and the views on the way to work were stunning! After a busy day at work, I headed home for the evening. No real plans in place for Friday night, but that was absolutely fine since this weekend is the bachelorette party, the next weekend is rehearsal dinner, the next I’ll be in Jamaica and y’all – the next weekend will be the Friday after Thanksgiving! What?!?

The small VA town that Ryan and I will be calling home had their Trick or Treat/Candy Crawl – something along those lines – on Saturday and with weather in the upper 60’s and sunny, Ryan and I decided to go grab lunch at Woodstock Café and take in all the little people in their costumes! Main Street was filled with people in any and every costume under the sun: we saw numerous little dinosaurs, police officers, princesses, super heroes and other costumes that were unique and hilarious.

 

The best costume we saw? A couple who had dressed their small daughters as inmates and were even pulling the smaller one along in a “cell” that had wanted posters on the sides. The littlest person was completely unbothered by her prison cell – she had cheerios and some juice, so she was rolling along quite happily! It was a brilliant idea! We had tasty paninis and poked our heads in a couple shops… Watson even got some pats on the head from sweet little kiddos. It was such a nice day and we really do love the little town we will be calling home!

Later on, Saturday afternoon, I helped my Mom decorate for a surprise party for our friend Charlotte and then when she arrived home, we all cheered and surprised her! We enjoyed visiting with some friends and neighbors and then around 6:15, Ryan and I did a quick change into Halloween costumes and made our way to friend’s Scott & Michelle’s house for a Halloween party! I was one-third of the Sanderson Sisters and Ryan was the Netflix version of Top Gun… he called himself Top Pistol! *cracks up*

 

My friends Meridith and Danielle (also coworkers) and I resurrected our Sanderson Sister costumes to great effect – we won the Best Overall Costume(s) award but let me tell you – after my bathtub looked like murder scene and it took Meridith ages to get her hair combed out, we decided not to dress up at work! This year will be the first year we haven’t dressed up for work, but y’all that red hair color is a mess! We were given the cutest Sanderson Sister-themed cookies as part of our best costume win, and it was a lovely way to end the night!

Sunday was another beautiful day and after church, a quick bite at Firehouse Subs and grabbing some groceries, we stopped by our friend’s church for their Fall Fest. We sampled chili in the chili cook off, made some smores around the fire and Ryan and I even played a little corn hole! It was nice to be able to spend time with friends in the lovely Autumn weather! Once the afternoon was done, it was home to get things organized for another work week. I made some pretty delicious (if I do say so myself) Pasta Fagioli for dinner and honestly – I cannot believe how quickly the weekend passed!

It’s Monday again – and Halloween at that! Ryan and I are planning to dress up for a little get together tonight at my parent’s. I know the rest of this week will pass quickly, my little sister arrives on Thursday afternoon and it just feels like it will be a whirlwind race to the big day after that! Wow!

Wedding Wednesday - Shower Me!

Wow guys - we have just seventeen days to go! It's hard to believe that we are so close to our wedding day! I wanted to pop back on for another edition of Wedding Wednesday and share two more wonderful showers I had this week! 

The Lake Frederick Shower

My first shower was on Tuesday evening and was the perfect Autumn shower: cozy soups, delicious homemade bread and delightful treats from a local bakery called Garcia & Gavino! The shower was hosted by our wonderful friend and neighbor, Charlotte and it was just a sweet and cozy (I know I’ve used that already) time with friends! The ladies that attended are all members of a neighborhood Bible study and they showered Ryan and I with gifts! 

 

We all sat around the kitchen, catching up over our soup and bread – just soaking in one another’s company! After our meal, we moved to the living room, and I opened gifts – and we were yet again blessed with so many wonderful things to add to our home! My Mom and I finally walked home shortly after 9 PM and I certainly felt abundantly blessed.

 

The Ladies of Life Lingerie Shower

My second shower was on Wednesday night (yes – two in two days, wow!) at my parent’s house and was a lingerie shower hosted by my life group from church. These sweet ladies welcomed me into their group about six years ago, they have prayed for me and over me and on Wednesday night, they celebrated this upcoming change in my life. The shower was so beautiful – from the food to the cupcakes, to the cookies and the décor! It was all just perfection!

One of our ladies has taken up cookie making, and she is incredibly talented – I should mention she’s an art teacher and her artistic skills are on display with her cookies! She made tons of little lingerie cookies that were suspended across a display, and not only did they look amazing, but they are also delicious! She is making cookies for our wedding, and I know they will be spectacular!

After our meal of amazing party foods: a charcuterie board, fried chicken, pasta salad, a green salad and more we played three games! We guessed the romantic movies from their most famous lines, the ladies played a guessing game about which trait was more me or Ryan and I judged the ladies’ toilet paper wedding dress creations! A fourth game that we played all night involved wearing ring pops and if you said “bride” or “wedding” – you lost your ring. I won the game guys! 

The opening of the gifts led to plenty of laughter from everyone! I must say that it was hilarious to receive a daily devotional tucked into the fold of lacy lingerie! A personal favorite of mine is the pillow cover that says “Tonight – Woohoo” on one side and on the other side says, “Not Tonight – Sorry”. It absolutely cracked me up and the look on Ryan’s face when he saw it later – priceless! Once again I was so abundantly and overwhelmingly blessed with this shower, the time spent with my friends and the gifts they gave me!

 

A very special moment of the shower was when the ladies stood around me in a circle and read Proverbs 31 over me – what a beautiful thing to do! I pray I can live up to the calling of the Proverbs 31 woman and be a Godly wife to Ryan; he certainly already does such a wonderful job being a leader for our family.

Ryan and I have been so blessed in the lead up to our wedding by so many people! I truly cannot believe that we are so close to our wedding day. I am telling myself to take in every moment and do my best to cherish and be present in every experience so I can have wonderful memories to hold on to once the festivities are done and our life together begins!