Home Sweet Home

Today marks 4 weeks that I've been back in Canada and I can honestly say... I'm so happy to be back! While Ryan and I did one heck of an awesome job maintaining an extra long distance relationship, it's such a relief to wake up next to him each day! We've gone on dates, road trips, and other fun things that couples do.

Now that I'm back, everyone seems to be full of questions about the wedding. Rest assured, we will have more information very shortly!

In other exciting news... My dress is finished!! I was able to see photos last week and I'm so happy with the results. I can't wait for it to arrive so that I can try it on and this will all seem a bit more real!

The Last Day of Long Distance

In recent weeks, the focus has been less on planning a wedding and more on preparing for my move across the world. I gave my notice of resignation on May 19th, and today is my very last day in Dubai.

The past 18 months have been extremely challenging, but I'm proud to say that we made it! When I first left home we heard so much scepticism and negative opinions in regards to long distance relationships. I can't tell you how many people told me that it would just never work out. While it was all very discouraging at the time, we made it work and here we are about to live in the same country again, happier than ever.

Long distance relationships CAN work, but you have to want it to work. You need to have trust, communication, and leave all jealously behind. I'm not saying that there won't be hard days. Coming home from a stressful day of work to an empty apartment can be pretty rough. Battling through terrible phone signals and slow internet just for a few minutes of conversation really tests your patience. We'd give up nights with friends for a few hours of chatting online. We sent dozens of letters, emails, and spent a small fortune on long distance phone calls and text messages. Was it all worth it? You betcha.

So here we are, ready to become a normal couple once again. Despite the distance, it's been a pretty amazing 18 months. We've had some incredible reunions, learnt to really appreciate the times that we are together, and we even got engaged somewhere along the line!

If you love something, let it go. If it comes back, it's yours.

Well Ryan, I'll be back tomorrow. I think it's safe to say that I'm all yours!

Yes to the Dress.

Without having set a date, location, or any of that important stuff, I've crossed off one of the most exciting things on my to-do list... I've ordered my wedding dress!!!

Since Ryan reads this (and probably only Ryan), I can't go into much detail. I can tell you that I'm a bundle of excitement combined with a good dose of anxiety. I'm having my dress custom made, which means I'm not going to get to try it on until it's all finished and in my possession! I'm pretty sure that it's going to be exactly what I want, and I'm not going to stress about it! All I can do is wait and see!

Also being made just for me is my veil! My talented grandma is going to make it all beautiful and I am anxious to see everything all put together. Yay!

We are getting married!!

Here Comes the Stress

When I first imagined myself planning a wedding, I was naive enough to picture myself clipping photos from magazines, designing my dream chocolate wedding cake, and spending my days blissfully happy chattering away to my fiance about how lovely our dream day would be.

Sure, I knew that the planning process couldn't possibly be flawless, but in my mind, it would be stress free. I was determined.

Here we are, 8 months from said wedding.

Cue stress.

While I've thoroughly enjoyed flipping through bridal magazines, cleaning my sparkling diamond ring, and trying on dresses, the rest hasn't gone quite as smoothly as anticipated.

The first issue, which happens to be a major one, is the fact that my lovely fiance and I are currently living over 10,000 kilometres away from each other. Therefore, we rely on internet chatting to plan the biggest day of our lives. Add this to the fact that we are trying to plan a destination wedding, and chaos ensues.

Naturally, being the boy that he is, Ryan is far less interested in pretty details and instead focused on budgeting and the practical aspects. This is good, but it leaves me to plan the rest alone, as my mom, my future mother-in-law, and all of my friends are in also on the other side of the world.

I do realize that things will fall into place, and that the wedding will be a dream come true. Until then, I'm a stressed out bride to be, binging on chocolate to calm myself when it all gets to be a bit too hectic.

Procrastinators

It has recently dawned on Ryan and I that we plan to get married in 9 months. It seems like a long time, until we consider the fact that we've been engaged for nearly 5 months and have yet to make any concrete plans.

We've got one particular resort in mind, that I happen to really love. The nerdy love of my life has been tracking pricing to find trends based on what day of the week we book. I'm so glad he actually enjoys making spreadsheets and graphs because I most certainly don't.

I've got an ever-expanding list of D.I.Y. projects that I'm dying to practice. If only Dubai actually carried craft supplies.

I'm missing Ryan a lot these days. Living on the other side of the world is definitely a challenge, but it will make our wedding even more fairytale happy ending-ish when we finally can be together with no ocean separating us.

I've been lucky enough to score not one, but two trips to Toronto in May, so it's likely that we'll be able to have a quick weekend getaway in a few weeks!! Things are looking up, summer is coming, and our wedding plans will start falling into place shortly!

April Updates

I'm back! I realize that I've neglected this blog in recent weeks, but I've been a bit too preoccupied to focus all of my attention on wedding planning. In fact, we've made very little progress lately. Dates and locations and still TBA, but it's most likely going to happen in January 2012, somewhere near Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. We love it there, and you will too! As soon as we know more, I promise... you will too. For now, just anticipate a vacation next winter with us!

Last week I returned to Dubai after 17 fabulous days back home. I hear so much from now-married couples about how fun being engaged is, and while I won't deny that I love calling Ryan my fiance and talking about weddings, it's not as fun as it would be if we were actually in the same country more often. It was a much anticipated vacation and I loved every minute of togetherness! We went on road trips, dates, took hundreds of photos, and even tried on wedding bands... well, I did. Ryan is not sold on the idea of wearing a ring despite my many attempts to persuade him. If I can't convince him, nobody can. He's the only person that I know who compares to me in levels of stubbornness. I'm not done trying though. I think that he'd look good with a ring!

In more wedding news, seeing as how this is a wedding blog, we also attended an at home reception for our friends Jen and Alan, who were married in Mexico in January! Ryan was in attendance at the actual event, but sadly I was stuck in Dubai and missed out on all of the fun. Congratulations you two, can't wait to celebrate your anniversary around the same time that we say our own vows!

Oh, and did I mention that I tried on wedding dresses? How exciting!! My mom and I went to a small bridal shop in Red Deer where I played dress up, much to the delight of the employee at the store who kept bringing me dresses to try on just for fun. I tried on every imaginable style, and at the end of the day went back to one particular dress that I'd grown quite fond of. Once I tried it on with a veil, it all came together and I didn't want to take it off! I wandered the store in "my" dress, feeling pretty giddy as I realized that I'm actually going to be a bride. I don't think it had sunk in until that moment.

A few days later we went shopping again, this time with help from Ryan's mom and sister, and his cute little nephew Alex. After trying on several dresses that were beautiful but not "me", I found one that I really liked, perfect for our beach wedding. We headed over the mens section and chose an outfit for Ryan. Placed side by side, they looked great together. Had it not been for the steep price tag, I may have been sold right then and there.

I returned to Dubai with no dress, but 2 in mind that I absolutely loved. It wasn't a simple matter of choosing one or the other either, considering that they were both quite different. I turned to my friend Mona for help. A talented artist, she drew a sketch combining the aspects that I most loved with both dresses. It was perfect!

I'm hoping to use it to get something custom made some place in the world. I've sent a few emails inquiring and I'm waiting to hear back! Wish me luck!

Back at It!

Thoughts of summer followed by a beach wedding are great motivation to hit the gym. Let's face it, I'm completely unwilling to sacrifice my travelling diet. I'm going to keep eating my macaroons in Paris, fish and chips in Sydney, and even the occasional airplane meal, but it's time to begin introducing more cardio into my life as well! After only a few days at the gym, I feel great! I'm full of energy and it's a good way to pass my vast amounts of free time. Ryan has followed suit, renewing his gym membership and running laps every day!

In a way, I give some credit to fitness for helping to form our relationship. In the months before we were girlfriend and boyfriend, we were gym buddies. Nothing like bonding over sweat and push ups!