It’s been awhile….

I’ve been so incredibly busy over the past couple weeks that I haven’t been able to post anything…sorry! I’ve taken many more pictures, but (believe it or not…) I dropped my camera in the toilet…clean water thank goodness! Anyways it’s still drying out so I’ll have to wait and see if it works :-(  Well, lets catch up!

In Family News…

On May 15th, my sister, Laura, graduated from St. Mary’s College in South Bend, Indiana. Again, Congratulations! On the same day back in Annapolis, my cousin, Lisa, got married! We flew into BWI around 9:30 that evening and decided to head to the hotel where the reception was taking place. We arrived around 10:15pm and the party was wrapping up….better late than never! She looked beautiful and it was nice to spend some time with that side of the family!

In Wedding News….

I met with the florist and came up with some great ideas for bouquets, centerpieces, etc. I never realized how much flowers cost! It’s a little insane! Also, I’m a very visual person. I need to see something to know if I’ll like it. But in this late stage of the game, I’m handing over the reins to my mother and the florist. Once I get the details, I’ll fill everyone in!

Yesterday, I picked up my wedding rings…yes ringS! I really wanted to have one on each side of my engagement rings…one of my diva moments I guess you call it :-) TJ’s ring came in a few weeks ago….it’s exciting to be able to check another item off the list.

My mom is heading down for the next 2 weekends to finalize more details: flowers, music, readings, readers, programs, menus cards, escort cards, etc. I’m lucky to have her!

Hopefully not as much time will pass until my next post! :-)

Pennsylvania for the weekend…

We headed up to Harrisburg, PA yesterday for a “Couples Shower,” given by our close family friends, Mike and Georgia Ward. The food, company, and conversation were great! Thank you to everyone who came! Below are some pictures of the shower.

Are we compatible?

TJ and I had a meeting with Father Fred today to review the results of the compatibility test that we had to take at our last meeting. We were separated in different rooms and had to fill out a questionnaire that had about 200 questions. Father Fred told us that we were one of the most compatible couples he has ever worked with. Yay! Apparently we scored within the high 90th percentiles across all categories. The questions that we scored differently on were small things like, “Are you satisfied with your future spouse’s organization skills?” For those of you who know TJ, he’s like the Organization King. For those of you who know me…..let’s just say I’m not even close, therefore, I had to bubble in the “Disagree” choice. We got a good laugh out of it!

All in all, I’m so happy to be marrying someone who loves me for me and truly is my best friend. 73 days!

The little details….

When we first started planning I only thought of the big things such as the venue, flowers, catering, music, THE dress, etc. I now know that it’s really all the little details that pull the day together. For the past two days (and a few other days within the past month) my mother and I have been discussing the various shades and styles of table linens, charger plates, dinner plates, drinking glasses, utensils, and napkins…. you wouldn’t believe how much time and effort goes into to this decision making! Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a lot of fun, but talk about visual overload! Here are some of the table settings we thought about using. These are not the actual place settings, but we are using various parts of them to create two other arrangements.  

          

             

 

Tomorrow, TJ and I have another meeting with Father Fred. We have to go over our compatibility test results….this should be fun! We have only one other meeting to go to and that’s to sit down and actually plan the ceremony. The countdown is ticking….74 days left! :-)

The Beginning

Hello All! I am beginning this blog (thanks to the fabulous Pre-K team!) to write about our wedding and life afterwards, hence the title “Our LifeLONG Journey.”

I guess the best place to start is how TJ and I met. We met at Casey Jones in La Plata in December 2008. To make a long story short, Brenda (TJ’s sister) introduced us and we got engaged on Thanksgiving 2009. When some of my friends became engaged, I asked them how did they know their fiance’s were “The One.” They always responded that when you know, you just know….. That’s how it happened for me…. It didn’t take me long to realize that TJ was “The One” for me!

We started planning immediately! Since I’m a Speech Pathologist within the school system, we decided on a summer wedding. We looked all over Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore and couldn’t seem to find the venue. My parents and I were walking around National Harbor and came across “The Sunset Room.” The official date was set: July 17, 2010. Below are some pictures of the venue.