Changing blogs.

We have moved to a new blog, not that we've written anything yet! :)

marathontoeternity.blogspot.com

Journal Entry- you have been warned.

I would like to start off by saying my family has done 90% of the wedding preparations. Because of them I am able to sit back some nights and just relax... not thinking of the long list of things I need to do. They are wonderful and if it wasn't for them and all their help, I would have opted for a Vegas wedding (temple of course!) a month ago.

I have always heard that the closer you get to the wedding, the more temptation you have. I always assumed (and still believe they meant) other temptations...if you get my drift. My greatest temptation the past couple weeks doesn't fall in that category (Though Travis is as handsome and attractive as all get out!), rather it comes in a box labeled "self-doubt". Not in my decision to get married to Travis, he is my wonderful blessing. It comes tempting me to believe I am less than what he should be getting, wishing I could give him more than the weak person I am. Adding fuel to the embers is the fact his beautiful, former love interest is coming into town for a few days and he's going to be hanging out with her by himself because I have to work. Ugh.

I know where these feelings are coming from and I'm trying hard to rise above them. The natural man is a beast and Satan knows just where he can bruise me.

“The second key to an adequate self-esteem is humility. I do not mean the breast-beating, sackcloth-and-ashes kind of humility. I mean the humility that comes with inner strength and peace. It is the humility that allows us to accept and live with our own warts, without cosmetics to hide them.”

James E. Faust, “The Value of Self-Esteem,” CES fireside for young adults, May 6, 2007

Life is good and I can't express how excited I am for the wedding without using at least 15 O's behind an S.

Date day

Travis and I had some alone time today and enjoyed it at the temple. We were the ONLY people in the whole temple. No one else was in our session, or the session after us. Pretty sad for Orlando, right? While it was depressing to only have 2 people in a session in an urban area, it was special for us to have the whole temple seemingly to ourselves. I love the Celestial room in the Orlando temple, and of course, we had it to ourselves as well. It was a great afternoon and I couldn't think of a better way to spend an afternoon off than at the temple with my sweetheart :).
Only 9 days until the big day!

Time with Mom

My mom is awesome!!! (Exclamation points courtesy of Travis). She took 4 days out of her Christmas break to visit me in Florida and help with wedding preparations. I loved it and always hate to see her go. We made some fun memories. I'll share a couple:

We went to the night church I go to since I work during the day. After convincing her that she could go in the Chapel even though she forgot her dress, (most people just get off work and are in their Disney costumes) we got to sing Mom's favorite Christmas song, Away in a Manger. We both were holding the hymnal and I noticed Mom stopped singing. I looked at her and found she was crying. Apparently feeling the need to explain it to me, she swung the hymnal up to cover our faces and knocked me hard on the forehead.... not very subtle! :) That just made me laugh harder, so we were crying and laughing in the back row. Not much singing went on the rest of the song.

Mom also got to see me try on my wedding dress during the alteration process. It was a part of the experience that I was missing and it made it seem more complete having her there.

Our main Christmas present from Mom and Dad was a new bed. I get to sleep on a real bed for the first time in over a year!!!! My parents are are definitely the best! I love that I don't ever need to worry about my parents supporting me. Between a wonderful family and handsome, sweet man (Trav wants me to clarify the handsome, sweet man is him), I am a very blessed woman.

Engagement Pictures

Today we woke up early (well, one of us did) and we drove down to Miami to get engagement pictures taken. Travis' sister Sarah has a wonderful friend named Dario (darioendara.com) who is a professional photographer and he took our pictures for free. Originally he was going to be in town this weekend and was going to take them for us here, but those plans changed and so yesterday we scheduled today instead. Talk about last minute running around to get the "perfect outfit"! We shouldn't have worried about any wardrobe changes because we were late and didn't have time for any :) Surprised? I wasn't....
He took us to South Beach and we took pictures on the streets. Exactly, we drove all the way to Miami to get pictures and didn't even get one on the beach ha ha. But I am very excited to see the pictures in a couple days! He is obviously an extremely talented photographer and knew exactly what he wanted from the quick photo shoot, which made it so much easier on us.
Only a week and a half until my mom gets into town.
Only 2 weeks until Christmas.
Only 5 weeks and 2 days until our wedding.
So many exciting things in the next 2 months!!

You've all been waiting...

Travis proposed to me using a game we like to play after we (His mom, sister and cousin were there too) ate Thanksgiving dinner. It is called Munchkin. Basically, it is played like this:
You draw a card on your turn, if it is a Monster and you defeat it you get to draw a Treasure card. Whoever gets to 10 first wins.
When it was my turn I drew a Monster card. I could tell it was homemade only because it smeared a little when I touched it :). It was "Bridezilla." Alone I could not defeat Bridezilla and had to have Travis help me. Upon defeating it I got to draw a Treasure card. The Treasure card ended up being a picture of us at the Salt Lake Temple printed on the card with "Happily Ever After" written on the top. He then got down on his knee and gave me his cute and slightly awkward proposal. It was very sweet! I think Sarah might have some more pictures/video of it somewhere. Oh, and I can't forget to mention that with beating Bridezilla, I won the game... Thanks Travis!!! :)


Side note:

Thanksgiving morning did not bring the snow and Turkey bowl that I am accostomed to, and since Travis was still at his house asleep, I was productive and made an apron from some fabric I had. I think it turned out really cute. I especially like the drawstring neckline and frills on the bottom...

A day for giving thanks.

The closer picture of the ring everyone is requesting.....

Travis did a good job of being creative with the proposal. I'll tell the story when I don't have to wake up early the next morning. Yay!

I have a lot to be thankful for today :)