importance

with ten days to go (yes, omg, TEN, i can't believe it either), i am struck by the IMPORTANCE of what's going on and the importance of every event leading up to the wedding. i've been trying to soak in every moment - from choosing our reception menu to my final fitting. every decision is a huge part of piecing together our big day. but in the hustle and bustle, i'm trying really hard to remember what is important.

the stress of the day quickly approaching has been pretty hard to handle at times. i wanted to be about 20 pounds less than i am now for my wedding day. but i shift back to what is important. to tyler, i will be the most perfect bride he's ever seen - because i will be his. i know this, because he's told me. and i believe him. he's not going to see the 20 pounds i wanted to lose but didn't. he's going to see his bride. that's what is important.

there are so many last minute projects that have piled up. it's been killing me, and i've been barking out orders like a drill sargeant. my finest moments have not been the past few days, but it happens. i've had to let some things go. example: i really wanted to make prediction cards for our wedding for our guests to predict where we would be on milestone anniversaries. there's just not enough time, and it's not going to happen. it was a great idea, and it would have been really cute. but again, i shift back to what is important. regardless of the predictions people make, we will be together. we will have a beautiful wedding day, and we will end as mr. and mrs. evatt. that's what is important.

life is busy. sometimes it's hard to keep up. and with the huge "to-do list" that awaits me each day, it's hard to carve out alone time with tyler. but we do. because it's important. it's important to remember what this is all about and why we are getting married in the first place. we're best friends. we love each other. and we're about to say goodbye to our old lives and start a new one - together - in the presence of God, our families, and our friends. there is nothing, i repeat, NOTHING, more important.

i say all that to say this. keeping my perspective straight on all this has been challenging at times, but i'm trying to do it. a wedding is one day. a marriage is a lifetime. i'm so blessed to have the wonderful man that i do. every day, he does something that makes me so proud to be his almost wife. i still can't believe that of all the women in the world, he picked me. everything feels like it's moving so fast, but i'm making a vow to slow down, breathe, calm down (as much as possible), take it in, and enjoy this moment. because it's important.

fin.

cardboard boxes and memories

we finally have a home! the last few days have been pretty hectic, but i'm finally getting settled into mine and tyler's apartment. i'm moving in first, and he will join me in living here after the wedding. but, of course, i still consider this "our home". one of the things i love most about tyler is that he makes life so much fun - everything is an adventure.

just like tonight...

we finally got some things from the grocery store last night, and i have been looking forward to finally being able to cook! so tonight we were at the apartment and i made us a yummy dinner. when it came time to actually eat, we realized something we already knew but something that hadn't fully sank in yet... we have no furniture. at least not yet. (it will all be delivered wednesday, and i can't wait!)

we have food. we have dishes. but no solid surface on which to eat. that's when my fiance, the genius, comes up with an ideal solution - a cardboard box table! so our tablescape became very simplistic but quite functional! see for yourself...

sitting across from tyler with nothing but a cardboard box table between us, it dawned on me... this is one of those moments i will cherish forever. when life gets overly complicated and we bogged down with "stuff" and start running out of space and outgrow our one bedroom apartment, i will remember this... the night we sat in an enormous, empty room, ate off of our cardboard box table, and dreamed out loud about our future together. so much remains uncertain about what we have coming up together, but i know that we're going to make it. and we're always going to be okay because we'll always have each other. and if we lose everything else... we'll have ingenuity and love... and a cardboard box somewhere nearby... :)

26 days!!!

fin.

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

i heard this song the other day going down the road, and i thought... i have no idea what the verses of this song say but this chorus is resonating with me. everything is definitely changing! (that, and i just kind of dig this song so enjoy it.)

life has kicked up a notch, and it has been super busy. tyler is getting ready to start classes, i got a job (YAY!), we found an apartment, we have had a wedding shower and have started a large collection of home things and are planning our move-in! and we are at just over a month until the wedding. so hard to believe that this is actually happening!! it's a surreal and wonderful moment. sometimes, it can get a bit overwhelming to know that your entire life is about to change, but i'm embracing it and trying to take in every second of happiness that we have going on right now. we're in a good place, and we're so happy. this is a pic of us after our first wedding shower. it finally started setting in that we are REALLY getting married...

the RSVP date has come and gone and we now have a better idea of who will be sharing in our day (despite the fact that we're still missing a LOT of RSVPs). it makes it all seem more "real".

we completed our engagement video with the wonderful sergio and amanda plecas. it's a special project that we're excited to share with our guests at our reception. sergio and amanda were amazing during filming, and i know that they are going to put together something great for us! they will also be with us on our wedding day to film our wedding. they do such great work, and i'm so happy that i found them!! this is a pic from our session with sergio hard at work making magic happen... just wait and see... it's gonna be AWESOME!

we also finished our engagement pictures with my friend and amazing photographer, lori line! lori is one of my sorority sisters, and i've discussed her before in the blog. she had some great ideas for our engagement session, and tyler and i are chomping at the bit to see those images. they should be up soon, and as soon as they are, there will be a blog post about it!! and, as you can see from this pic, lori is a mess... lol

honeymoon is paid for.

passports are in.

first dress fitting was conquered, and fancy fits perfectly! and even the dress store made a note of her name. i LOVE monica's. check it out:

so, i guess now, that we are officially exactly 6 weeks out from the wedding, it would be a good time to get on my DIY projects that i've been putting off. yeah... i've planned myself silly but haven't actually DONE things yet. so, the next 6 weeks are going to be insanely busy, but it will all be worth it. and i am so excited!

in other related news, i've started calling tyler "hubs" so that i can get used to it when we're finally actually married.

THIS. is. REALLY. happening.

42 days! o. m. g.

fin.

the golden ticket

i cannot begin to say how much i LOVE our wedding invitations. tess at lovebirds stationary did a fantastic job working with me, despite my million edits and my overall pickiness over everything from design to wording to envelopes. she created something absolutely gorgeous that i will treasure forever. i debated for a long time on whether to do DIY invitations or to just order them, because i was shocked at the price of professionally made invitations, but tess eased my fears and i quickly learned that DIY, for me, would inevitably lead to disaster and a meltdown. through tess, i also learned that you don't have to pay a ridiculous amount for something nice and memorable. after all, the invitation sets the tone for the wedding, so it should be something beautiful, but money can be spent in other places that is much more important. tess incorporated that into her business motto, which is, "Stationery for brides who'd rather splurge on the perfect dress or amazing photographer!" i was so lucky to find tess and her amazing designs (which are all fully customizable).

so... i must say that the online image is nowhere near as pretty as these little dandies are in person (and the color varies a bit as well), but i'll share them with my blog readers. i must say - this is a print screen image made in paint of a pdf file, so the quality is so-so. but you'll get a general idea.

without further ado...

our wedding invitation!

pretty, huh? thank you, tess!! i will recommend you to everyone i know!

61 days, or, in the alternative, only two months until the wedding!!! (and rsvp's are requested by august 15, so get them in PLEASE!) and don't assume i know whether you're coming... just oblige me.

fin!

passing the bar

planning a wedding while simultaneously studying for the bar exam AND trying to pray everyday and really get ready for the spiritual side of marriage can wear a girl out! i've had several breakdowns along the way, one of which occurred last night, and i was reminded AGAIN of just how wonderful my fiance is. with tears streaming down my face, droning on and on about my white girl woes (i.e., things that don't really matter in the scheme of things but at the moment cause me to freak the heck out), and wailing about how i just KNOW i'm going to fail the bar exam, tyler takes my hand, looks in my eyes and says to me, "baby, if you fail, it's ok. i won't be disappointed in you and neither will anyone else. i don't know what you're going through and neither does anybody else unless they've actually done this. you've gone through three years of law school, and you are so smart. you don't have to prove it to me or anyone else. but if you do fail, it's ok." then he kissed me on the forehead, and said (in a whisper) "but you're not gonna fail."

he renewed my determination to keep going and give it my best. that's why i know he's perfect for me. he gets me like nobody else does, and he knows just the right thing to say. 78 days until he's officially my husband, and, as he said last night, until he is my "covenant partner". he amazes me everyday. i am so blessed.

on a side note, invitations are being mailed out today! more on that later... it's an exciting time!

fin.

getaway

my reception getaway dress has arrived...

and might i say - it makes me, oh, so happy!

my wedding dress is completely different than anything i would have pictured myself wearing on my wedding day, but it's perfect. my getaway dress, however, in a full-length version, is what i would have actually pictured myself wearing on my wedding day. so, now, i get the best of both worlds! out of the two, i love my wedding dress more (duh), but my "getaway dress" is also pretty darn fabulous. the best part is that i'll wear it again on the honeymoon for mine and tyler's romantic private dinner on the beach. I CAN'T WAIT!

so, sorry there will be no previews. just know that it's perfect. :) :) :)

84 days!!

fin.

marriage was designed to be a good thing.

most of this blog is pretty light-hearted, but there is something that is REALLY grinding my gears that i must get off my chest...

let me start off with an example from today. my mom, little sister/maid of honor, and i were out shopping for some wedding decor, and the guy at the store asked what we were shopping for and we told him what we were looking for and also told him that it was for my wedding. and, as many times before, he congratulated me but then quickly turned the congratulations into a condolence, saying "bless you, honey. no really..." and then many people (including that guy) tell me how awful marriage is...

REALLY, PEOPLE?!

i'm obviously excited to be getting married. it's not the time to tell me horror stories about your marriage. maybe i'm naive, or maybe those people just lack tact. but i really think it's the latter.

i understand marriage requires work and sacrifice. i also understand that not every moment is perfect, but all in all - i am very much in love with my fiance. i am also very independent. i'm not marrying him out of necessity or obligation. i'm marrying him because i WANT to. i have striven my entire life to be able to provide completely for myself, so that i wouldn't ever have to be "stuck" in a situation (i.e., a marriage) that i didn't want to be in. maybe not everyone else has had that same experience. maybe other people have had bad experiences with marriage. (obviously, an institution that fails as often as it succeeds leads one to think that many don't have good experiences.) but for those that have had bad experiences, don't rain on my parade. it's tacky and just plain rude. especially when you know neither of us or the way we value each other and love each other. so, zip it.

marriage was designed by God. it's a good thing. God Himself actually called it a good thing. just because people don't hold it in high esteem or respect the fact that it's a covenant relationship that should never be broken doesn't make it an inherently bad thing.

90 days till my COVENANT RELATIONSHIP (not torture) starts, and i'm really excited!! so, back off, random stranger. and keep your negativity to yourself. thanks in advance!

(now i'm wondering if i should print this off and hand it to people when they make such rude comments to me...)

fin.