Big Exciting News!

So, I know it's been almost two weeks, but I had a lot of big things happen since the 26th!

Graduate School:

         Well, my first week is officially complete, and I am officially exhausted. I've already read over 100 pages, and I still have at least 100 more to do this weekend! My classes seem fun enough, and I'm excited to start getting into some things, as well as navigating graduate school with some other BIG things that will be happening in the next year.

I KNOW, you want to know what I'm talking about! I can imagine a school full of children, all raising their hands saying "Ooh, Oooh, Amanda, Pick me! Pick me!' (these children all in my head of course). Those of you who know me personally, probably already know the news, as it has be dispersed through facebook, but those of you who follow my blog, do not... Okay! I'll stop beating around the bush and just tell you all!

I'M ENGAGED!

So this may not be super exciting news for you, but for me... I was completely surprised and so excited for this to happen! 

What does this mean? 

     Obviously, aside from me getting married next year, it means a couple things for the blog. If you like weddings, are planning a wedding, or have planned a wedding and enjoyed it, you're in luck because I'm going to be keeping you all updated on my planning along with graduate school, to show you how I do it... If you hate weddings, hate planning weddings... Sorry! I have always loved weddings, had a huge wedding pinboard on Pinterest, and now it's time to see what kind of things I can bring to life as I make my way into this madness! 

Apparently on June 17, 2013, Scott decided he was going to propose by the time I started graduate school. He kept a journal from that day on with all of his ideas, and all the things he had to hide from me. He called this book, 'The Book of Lies'. Once he decided, he took major steps to get everything together, going ring shopping with some of my friends, having dinner with my parents, and of course planning the entire proposal, which went a little something like this...

Scott and I were back in our hometowns for Labor Day Weekend; he had my mother take me out for a girl's day on Friday, which included manicures, pedicures, and haircuts, which was followed up by a cookout with Scott's dad and their family on Saturday, and then church with Scott's mother and lunch with them on Sunday. We then proceeded to try to visit a few of our friends who went to Miami with us and they ended up bailing on us right after we got there. I was a little annoyed, but Scott suggested walking around campus and taking pictures. I wasn't really feeling it, but he convinced me to at least go to the Upham Arch to kiss him and take a picture there. (Folklore says that if you kiss someone under the arch, you will marry him, Scott and I had kissed under this twice before), when we got to the arch, there was a man with a fancy camera hanging out, and I thought we might be interrupting someone's photo shoot or something, he convinced me to take one photo with him and the photographer offered to take it for us. When he saw how crappy our camera was, he offered to use his camera and email us the shots, since his clients weren't there yet. I happily agreed and he took our picture kissing under the arch. Then Scott reaches down to 'fix his shoelace' and I get all annoyed because he's tricked me like this a few times, but this time was real, as the ring box was hiding in his sock, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I said "Yes!" with no hesitation and then Scott introduced the photographer as an old friend of his named Josh, they worked at a summer camp many years back, and Josh was going to give us a mini-engagement photo shoot around Miami's Campus, which was perfect because this is really where it all started.

After the photo shoot was over, I was in a daze. I couldn’t help but constantly stare at my ring, “He Listened!,” I thought, getting my exactly the ring I wanted, a beautiful round diamond with a halo and infinity band. It just didn’t really set in because I had been sitting there throwing hints around, showing him the ring I wanted and complaining about it for months, thinking he was going to wait forever to finally propose. We walked around taking photos and I was as giddy as a school girl, thinking about all the people we had to call, asking Scott who already knew about the proposal. He never alluded to anyone in particular, saying people knew it was going to happen, but not when. He said he would explain it all when we got to dinner with two of our friends, saying they probably would want to hear the story also, and he didn’t want to keep retelling it. I was still asking him questions, and I guessed that my parents knew, at least, because of the impromptu beauty day I had with my mother.

  We got to the Olive Garden earlier than our friends and got seated, and I ordered a drink while Scott went to the restroom. Little did I know, Scott was actually not done planning at all! The manager came over when Scott got back and said he had actually already sat our friends and that they were at another table, so we were moving to another table, when the manager leads us to this set of double doors and when they open the door, 50 people are all standing there yelling surprise. All of our closest friends and families are there to celebrate our engagement together. I basically start hyperventilating almost in tears because of how amazing this has all been. He listened to the things I wanted when he proposed and that was the most important thing for me. I can say I wouldn't have had it any other way! It was the perfect proposal for me, everything I've ever wanted and more! Plus, the ring is amazing! 

So there you have it, the fabulous story of my proposal! Hope you've enjoyed it! Below are some things I'm working on, and things I may touch on in the future!!! Enjoy!

All thanks to pinterest!

Thanks For Reading.

~Amanda