t-2 months

I suppose that I've let this blog kind of die... for the most part I plan to use it AFTER the wedding to post a bazillion photos and all of the details of the day without bombarding my regular blog.

Today marks 69 days until I marry Ryan. That means 65 days until we depart for Mexico. Just a little over 2 months!! It's pretty surreal... I have the dress, the invites have been mailed, we have all of our favours... but it hasn't hit me that in 2 months, we'll be married.

I am so excited, not only for the wedding but also for the week itself. So many of my amazing friends and family are coming from far and wide to celebrate with us, and it means so much to me. I've got people from Alberta, Texas... and even all the way from Dubai. If I've ever questioned how many truly amazing people I have in my life, I have an answer. I feel so blessed to have the best friends in the world, all over the world... and to be spending my life with the best one of all.

I'm so crazy in love, and ridiculously happy.

I wouldn't change a thing.

November Updates!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have progress on the wedding front!

Only 141 days until we become husband and wife. Married! My goodness, where is time going?!

Our invitations are being sent after we okayed the sample that was mailed to us a couple of weeks ago. They are so pretty and so perfect and I couldn't be happier with them! Gosh, this wedding business is starting to feel more real! I can hardly wait to receive them and mail them out to all of our nearest and dearest.

Our reception is confirmed. We contemplated whether we were actually going to have one for a decent amount of time... but in the meantime I carried on making centrepieces and plotting out table decor. I'm glad we chose to go forward with it, and I'm so excited... this won't be your typical wedding reception.

I'm starting to get a little bit DIY happy. Through hours spent browsing multiple blogs, Pinterest, and a little bit of my own creativity, I've been coming up with idea after idea since the day we got engaged. Flowers and decor and favours... oh my! I love planning this stuff. I'd happily be an event decorator. That is the fun part. Budgeting and scheduling, not so much. On a side not, if any of my friends would like to hurry up and get married or have babies, I've got a million ideas for bridal and baby showers that I'm anxious to try!

This is where I'm torn... I created this blog to share my awesome DIY projects with you as I went. Now that I'm actually at the more-than-just-ideas phase, I want to share my excitement and post a billion photos.... but then there will be no surprise when you all show up on the beach in April. I will share everything in post-wedding blog posts, but in the meantime it's going to be our little secret. I've already shown the invites to far too many people that are going to receive one in the mail in the next month or so.

You wanna know something else that is really, really exciting?! .... We are going to be homeowners! That's right. We put an offer on a beautiful place that we both fell in love with and I still can't believe that it will actually be ours. We move in next month just in time for Christmas! Our house! Together!

Everything is so perfect right now, and I'm one very happy girl.

Food Addicts.

Not much has been happening on the wedding front! With everything booked, we are relaxing and enjoying the lack of stress. I'm sure that as the date grows closer I'll realize all of the little things that we've left too late, but that's typical Ryan and Krysta and it just wouldn't be our wedding if EVERYTHING was organized in advance. That's not who we are!

One thing that we really do need to get on is our workout routine. We were so, so good.... for about a month. With new jobs and new cities, we've fallen off the wagon and contributed to the profit of McDonald's more times than I care to admit. We've had so many "we'll start eating healthy tomorrow" that have only led to "well, we deserve chocolate today because....". They say admitting you have a problem is the first step... well I'm not going to even try to deny it. We have an addiction to junk food.

Don't get me wrong, I have no issues with my body and I'm not one of those girls who insists on losing half of my body weight before my wedding. My dress fits and looks great, but being petite by no means indicates being in good shape. I want to be able to run on the beach and go on a honeymoon to some place like Manchu Picchu without my lack of energy holding me back. I want to climb mountains in the summer with Ryan's parents and be able to keep up. Ryan feels the same way, and has some extra weight that he'd love to shed. We need to find the motivation, because apparently the thought of a wedding 5 months from now just isn't doing the trick! Somebody, help us!! Save us from our stomaches!

Love is in the Air!

This weekend Ryan and I attended a wedding for our good friends Mat and Mandy. It was a beautiful autumn day, the bride looked amazing, and we danced barefoot until the wee hours of the morning. It was such a fun day, and I'm so happy for the new couple!

When it came time for the garter toss, Ryan effortlessly caught it, reinforcing what we already knew... he'd be the next one to marry! Our wedding always seemed so far off.... M&M still had to get married 6 months before us. Now that they are newlyweds, it seems that the countdown is actually on for us. The next wedding that we'll attend will be our very own.... how crazy is that?!

Things are falling into place. I'm finishing training for my new job, and by next week I'll be taking to the skies again! Ryan and I are actively looking to purchase our first home, and 28 people have booked and paid to come to our wedding!

Last week I received this awesome wedding dress hanger that I purchased from a seller on Etsy....check out rockabuycreations, she did an awesome job!

Our invites are in the mail, and as tempted as I am to share a sneak peak, I'm going to resist... just trust me when I say that they are very awesome, and very us.

Now that things are booked, I'm beginning to see the fun in the wedding planning process!

6 months and 1 day to go!

Counting Down!

It's been FOREVER since I've updated you all! Life has been pretty eventful over the past couple of months. We spent 4 weeks on the road driving through the USA. When we came home, Ryan finished his licensing requirements and became an official pilot! We both started new jobs this month... him in Edmonton, me in Calgary. Once again, we are enduring a long distance relationship, but it's much different this time around. We see each other on weekends, and Calgary is only a temporary home for me while I'm busy training for my new airline.

We've been looking at homes, preparing for the next big grown-up step in our lives.

... Oh, and we've got a wedding booked!!

After many stressful weeks of struggling to organize things, we changed our plan completely. Originally set to marry in January, we'll now tie the knot on April 12, 2012. We did this for a number of reasons. More notice for our guests, better pricing, and most importantly... the ability to take time off of work. In my industry, vacation time needs to be planned long in advance. In fact, even from this point it's going to be difficult for me to get the time off in April. Bidding has already taken place and I wasn't yet eligible. I'm left to choose from what is leftover once everyone else has requested their time off. I've been reassured that the odds for April are quite favourable, much to my relief. It wasn't an easy decision to move the date, knowing that a lot of my family couldn't afford to attend both ours and my aunt's wedding, which is still taking place in January. In the end, we decided to do what was best for us. I would have been devastated to have booked and paid for it only to find out that I was unable to take vacation time.

Now that things are booked, a lot of the stress has diminished as we plan for our beach wedding. I have my wedding dress, it fits! Our invitations have been ordered.... although we already have 28 confirmed guests, not including ourselves. There will likely be more to join, such as my out-of-province and out-of-country friends... even my beautiful roommate Dubai plans to join in the celebration!!

We are very excited and counting down the days.... 196, in case you are wondering!

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!