Asking my Girls

When it came down to deciding who my bridesmaids would be, it wasn't a hard decision. I always have a few CLOSE friends and a lot of people between acquaintances and friends. Those close friends really know me, and we get along really well. 

That being said, an obvious choice for one of my bridesmaids was my college roommate, Madisen. We kind of just fell together! Ball State had an online roommate search tool used to match you with potential, "compatible" roommates. We talked online for a while and finally met in April 2009 at a Ball State event. We were both in the Honors College and were only 5' 2";)  After attending each other's graduation parties (Class of '09, baby!), we were headed to France together. Yep, France. We were sharing a small room and a double bed for 2 weeks while staying in Bordeaux at her close friend's house. We couldn't go to France without a trip to Paris, of course! After this adventure, we were definitely ready for dorm life together! Freshman and sophomore years, we lived in the same small room at the brand new residence hall on campus. Junior year, we moved to a 2 bedroom apartment with a walk-in closet that felt like a mansion. She got engaged in October 2010, and I helped her with wedding planning! When I got engaged in June 2012, our lease was about to end, and we going separate ways. But of course we had already planned my wedding about a year earlier ;) We are similar in so many ways. Our little apartment was decorated down to a wreath on the front door for every season. We even took the time to paint it to make it feel like home. I can't wait to be in her wedding in July 2013, and I can't wait to have her in mine. Madisen is very dear to me; I can say that with confidence because I know her so well! My life and college experience would not be the same without her in it!

Sarah on the left, Madisen on the right

Another, newer, close friend turned roommate was my friend, Sarah. She and I happened to have all of our classes on MWFs together during the first semester of junior year. This, along with the fact that we both take school very seriously and have a similar intelligence level, caused us to become close... quickly. Once we found out that we would be doing the same semester-long program in Indianapolis the following year, we decided to be roommates after 2 weeks of classes together. Good thing I ended up liking her! ;) We both had long-term boyfriends. She and hers had been dating for 18 days longer than me and mine. We have very similar senses of humor. She brings me down a notch when I overthink things, and I help her lighten up when situations get stressful. Living with her in Indianapolis this past semester has been so amazing. We were placed in the same school, so we carpooled everyday. Our supervising teachers were old friends. We of course talked about wedding stuff, whenever we weren't talking about school stuff, as she was expecting a proposal from her boyfriend soon. Of course he proposed RIGHT AFTER we moved out (exactly 5 months after Justin proposed to me!). I know that Sarah will be the perfect Maid of Honor, because she is so responsible and on top of things AND she knows how to have fun! I'm just sad that she's moving away at the end of next summer!

I asked this girl to be my bridesmaid within a week of getting engaged: Justin's sister, Sophie. Sophie is 6 years younger than me (almost to the day). She is so sweet! She used to get all my hand-me-downs until she passed me in height! Neither she nor I have any sisters, so it is already a special bond that we share. I know we are both excited to have a sister! Sophie is the most thoughtful person I know. She is always there for you if you need some encouragement! We have so much to talk about and enjoy our little Starbucks dates. I couldn't ask for a better future sister or bridesmaid than Sophie. 

The lovely Sophie

So, after I had decided who to have as my bridesmaids, I had to decide how to ask them. They all three knew that they would be bridesmaids, but I wanted to do something fun! I had seen lots of ideas on Pinterest, but I finally found the perfect gift for them on Etsy from the shop samdesigns22. Since Christmas was coming up, I decided to give them hand painted ornaments in my wedding color!

The Proposal

Since this blog is going to be all about remembering all the wonderful experiences I've had, why not start out with my favorite moment of my life!! :)
ENJOY!

Since I had the sweetest, most perfect proposal in the HISTORY OF THE WORLD, I wanted to be sure that I write down ALLLLLLL the details (and share a few pictures) while they are still fresh in my memory!!

Friday, June 22, 2012

10:30am
We arrive at Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. We buy tickets for our tour of the house and grounds, and Justin mentions that he wants to keep his ticket nice and doesn't want it to get bent. I don't think much of it, but did think it was a little weird for him.

11:00am
We explore the bookstore, but decide to wait to buy stuff. However, Justin pays $13 + tax for a disposable camera. Since he went to Monticello last week, he said something like "The house was really pretty so I want to get pictures this time." $13 seemed a little excessive to me.

11:50am
We start our tour of the house and grounds.

1:00pm
The tour ends, and we finish up exploring the grounds on our own. Justin has such a great poker face, so I have no idea that anything is amiss. He tries to get me to use the ladies' room after the tour, apparently so he can ask someone to take pictures of the proposal. He asks if I want to go down to the garden and look at the garden pavilion. I reply that I can see fine from here and would rather head down to Jefferson's grave site and then go get lunch. He says that the view is really great from the garden and he really wants to go. I give in and start heading down to the garden. He hesitates for a moment, which is when he apparently started getting really nervous!

As we are about to enter the garden pavilion (the little structure in the garden), a man with his wife and kids exit the structure. Justin hands him the disposable camera and asks if he will take a picture of us, then adds "Maybe more than one." As Justin is saying this, he turns his back to me and flashes the engagement ring to the man. The man nods his head and gets in position to take the pictures. I saw Justin deliberately turn his back to me, so I am a little confused. I'm busy looking at the man with the camera trying to figure out the situation. When I turn to look at Justin, he was down on one knee proposing!

I was soooooooooo shocked. I'm pretty sure I was having an out-of-body experience. I couldn't take in that this was really happening! Apparently I paused a second before replying YES, which Justin said felt like an eternity.

I vaguely remember hearing the click, wind, click, wind of the disposable camera as the man is frantically snapping pictures. When he hands the camera back to us, he says congratulations and "I think you made my wife cry!" We sit on a bench outside the structure for a few minutes while it sinks in and I catch my breath. We are both smiling so big for the next half hour that our cheeks hurt! :D We walk down to Jefferson's grave (which I was previously excited to see) but found that we didn't give a crap about Jefferson anymore! Another couple down there who saw the proposal offered us congratulations. We went to the gift store to buy all the momentos that our hearts desired. Meanwhile I couldn't take my eyes off of my GORGEOUS ring!

2:15pm
Our first meal as an engaged couple was Wendy's. So romantic! Then we got in the car to head to Virginia Beach. On the way we took turns calling all of our family members to tell them the good news :)

June 22, 2012 was without a doubt the best day of my life. It changed my life, because now all I can think about is the day when I can marry the love of my life and never be apart.

Hello Again

New blog! I need a place to record all my thoughts and life events that aren't specific to baking!

So many things are happening with student teaching, graduation and the wedding all coming up!! I'm so excited!

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