It's been a while...

Wow! It has been over six months since I have blogged 

and so much has happened since then.

I took a step back for a while because I lost my passion to come to this space.

I was constantly searching for something to talk about and how I would find the time to write and so I decided to leave for a bit.

I am not sure if I am returning for good or not, but it feels good to just put an update here so maybe I can look back at later on in life.

So what's new?

We bought a house!

And we've been living in it for about 4 and half months now. 

We have yet to really decorate, but we love it.

It is so nice to have our own space and start to build our life together.

But it sure is a lot of work to maintain it.

I have started my last year of graduate school!!

I cannot believe it is finally here.

In about 7 months I will officially be done with my Master's and hopefully starting my future career and passion.

It has been a long journey to get here and I am so excited to be working in my internship and learning more about my practice.

We are less than a year away from our wedding!

We've been engaged for a year and a half and will be celebrating 3 years together this month.

It's crazy to think Brad has been a part of my whole Washington journey

 but I am so grateful to have him by my side and to finally get to marry him.

We already feel married but it will be fun to make our commitment to each other in front of our family and friends!

This year will be busy one and I am ready for it!

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A Long Engagement

It's been about 9 months since I said "YES!" to marrying the man of my dreams.

I've shared a little bit about our future wedding plans, but today I want to share why we are choosing to have a long engagement.

1.| Schooling.

I am in my 3rd out of 4 years of graduate school at the moment and I really do not want to start a marriage while being in school. Because of school we would have had to get married in the summer and next year I start my internship. I know the first year of marriage is a lot of adjustment, learning how to live with the other sex, and just a lot of work. I do not want to add an internship on top of that.

2.| Brother-in-law and Sister-in-law.

My fiance's brother proposed to his girlfriend three weeks before we got engaged. 

I want them to be able to do all the wedding/marriage stuff first since they are older and got engaged first. Plus, I think it's fair to give my fiance's family a year between weddings.

3.| International Family

My mother's side of the family is all international. In order for any of these relatives who want to come for the wedding in either Seattle or Indiana, we need to give them ample time to save, prepare, and plan. International flights are not cheap and coordinating a big trip like that takes some time.

4.| Money

We really do not want to have debt from one event in our lives.

Yes, it is a major event, but it is not worth going into debt for. 

We are taking the extra time to search thoroughly on all of our vendors/options and saving for the big day.

5.| No rush.

Of course I would love to be married right now, but the timing in our lives is just busy, busy, busy and we need more time to prepare for the day we say "I Do." 

Some days I wish it was here already and other days I am enjoying this period of being engaged and dreaming and planning for out future life together.

Do you know of anyone who has had a long engagement?

Any advice or suggestions for us along the way?

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The Road to Being Healthy

So something crazy happens once a girl gets engaged.

Not only do they start taking so many hand pictures, but they also decide their hand is the only thing that should be photographed at all.

Oh, just me? OK.

I love being engaged and I love my ring, but I didn't love the way my whole body appeared in my engagement video. Yes, we are our worst enemies, but if I am being honest with myself there was some weight there that I didn't realize had been added to my body. 

When I first moved to Seattle, I lost about 20 pounds and I was not trying to.

I think riding the bus often and walking around at work helped me lose some weight.

Then comes that phase where you meet someone, you start dating, they think you're perfect you think they're perfect, and slowly you both put on weight together because snuggling is so much more fun than going to the gym and getting all sweaty and gross looking.

And like many other girls who get engaged, I decided to start sweating for the wedding as soon as the ring was on the finger.  Now I'm not complaining about this urge to be more healthy because it is a great life choice for everyone. I just wanted you to know it took a ring being placed on my finger for me to take better care of myself. Negative kuddo points to me.

So this is what I am doing to be healthy and to look as best as possible on my wedding day:

1.) I bought a gym membership. 

I was all about working out at home and not paying a monthly fee for a gym, but I am not a runner and a girl can only walk so much. I needed some help in the cardio department and I really love the Elliptical. So I bought an Anytime Fitness membership that is only $38/month which I believe is quite reasonable for all the different cardio equipment and weights I can use.

2.) I made it my goal to work out 3 times a week.

Yes, I have not had some great weeks which look like 1 workout or zero workout weeks, but for the most part I work out at least 3 times a week.

3.) I try to walk 10,000 steps a day.

Thanks to my trusty fit bit I can keep track all day long to see how I am doing.

I give myself a break on the weekends and try not to beat myself up if I do not get my steps because I typically achieve my goal Monday-Friday.

4.) I try to switch up my routine by finding a new workout for the week.

Right now I am using a MyFitnessPal Workout. 

You can find my current challenge here; I'm on day 9 if you're curious.

5.) I tell myself it is more about how I feel than the actual weight.

Yes, I would love to lose some pounds, but most important is the way I feel.

Working out has give me more energy.

I can feel my legs getting stronger from workouts.

I run out of breath less often from any exercise.

And my skin has less breakouts.

If I lose the 10 lbs. I would like to lose, that would be really cool but for now I am just happy with the way I feel mentally, emotionally, and physically. 

What are you doing to be healthy?

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Whirlwinds

I have felt like I have been in a whirlwind for the past week and a half.

I still wake up realizing I get to marry this guy:

(I know I post this picture too much, but its my favorite!)

And then other times I completely remember we are engaged while I am in the midst of trying to create a budget for this whole shindig called a wedding. My poor man is probably going crazy because we have two years to plan this wedding.

But here's the thing:

I have international family so letting them know information far in advance is important.

I am from Indiana so letting them coordinate and save far in advance is important.

I have always wanted to be a wedding planner and now I can do it for my own wedding and that is important to me.

So I am reaching out to all the other brides out there that have done this shindig wedding thing.

I NEED HELP!

The reality for me is that I am getting married right after I graduate grad school which means my pocket will be very light. I want a wedding that is affordable, but also memorable. Having the people I care about most to celebrate with is most important to me. And I really want a mash-potato bar. Call me crazy, but it has always been a dream. And my last requirement is to have a dress along the lines of what I have been dreaming about (Ballgown type).

So those are my necessities. We have been considering having a backyard wedding, but it seems like that may be a little too much work. Anyone out there done a backyard wedding? Can you give me some pros and cons? Do you suggest an all inclusive venue instead?

I thought this wedding planning business would be easy, but its not.

So please, ladies, help me!

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