113 more sleeps...

That's right, I just counted...113 more sleeps alone! Then, I'm getting married and Matthew and I will be able to snuggle up together at night.

Things are coming together so smoothly, there is no doubt God's hand is in this all the way! February 16th will be our big day! We've got the church and pastor booked for the ceremony. We've got friends in agreement to stand with us. We just booked a hall yesterday! I honestly spent about 3 hours on the phone the day before calling around, many places were booked that date, or too small for our reception. I went to see one place that day and we booked it within 24 hrs! It's a beautiful room, a good central location and the price is right! God is so good! So now we can get working on invitations and thinking about decorations and such. We also had a meeting with Jeremy this week that got us thinking about how we might personalize our ceremony. There are so many little details to think about, it's crazy! But I am totally having fun with the planning stage. Yesterday, Matthew and I talked about colour scheme/wedding theme. We're pretty sure we have settled on that stuff too! It's so exciting to think of being surrounded by family and friends on our most special day! Most of all, I can't wait to meet Matthew and God at the church, to unite our lives, hearts, minds and souls into one. (bodies is later that night...hehe!)

Oh Matthew, I love you so very much. I can't wait to be your wife, to share my everyday life with you. You are an angel God's brought my way; I am so blessed! Our dream is becoming a reality! Sleep well my love, for there are only 113 more sleeps before I am there by your side.

I'm Engaged!!!

Sometimes it still seems surreal! It's been two weeks since the big day...here's my 'girly' side of the story:

Friday night, Sept. 28th, was a junior high youth group Lock-In at our church. Matthew and I are youth group leaders, so on this night, it meant running some games, hanging out with the kids and staying up late watching movies and playing vidoe games.

Before heading to the church, we grabbed a bite to eat...I was getting anxious and Matthew could tell. I told him I was scared...being the first Lock-In where I was the only female leader...what if I wasn't cool enough for the kids? What if they wished someone more fun was there, and not just me? Matthew was so kind and caringly reminded me of how the kids run to greet me and give me hugs whenever they see me. That God put me in this position, and that I shouldn't worry about what I was considering as "cool enough" for the kids. His reminder helped, but I was quiet on the way to the church... Once there, the kids surrounded us, hugs all around, and talking like wild fire...suddenly I found myself standing in a group, surrounded by teens, all wanting me to listen to their tales of the week...Matthew was just down the hall, smiling at me...my anxieties about the night were gone.

I think I got about 3-4 hours of sleep all together, and I think he got about that too. The morning was taken up by some kids sleeping in, a delicious pancake breakfast (cooked by my man, of course!), and cleanup time! Parents started showing up just before noon to collect their exhausted teens. I think it was between 12-12:30 when Matthew approached me, tired and ready to leave. I was so thankful. I love the kids, and Lock-Ins are a blast, but getting away from all the noise is just as sweet!

On the way home, we talked about the shopping I wanted to do; I needed an extention cord for some aquarium equipement, and I had seen special pillows on sale too. LOL. I don't shop shop, like women are known to, I actually hate shopping malls. So I just wanted a quick stop at Canadian Tire, after we got to relax a bit. Matthew suggested getting flyers from mom, so when we got home we went upstairs to see mom and take a look at the flyers she had. All I wanted to do was escape to my place, so we could just relax in peace and quiet. Mom kept us talking a while, but we finally got downstairs.

In the middle of my livingroom, we hugged...just stood there hugging, leaning on each other for support I think, we were both so tired. I pulled back to look at him, and thanked him for the encouragement the night before, when I was so anxious. We were just standing there, smiling at each other, and I got a vision, of us, exactly like that, looking at each other with these same looks of love and support, at the front of the church, on our wedding day. I knew in that moment that these were the eyes I would be staring into when I promised to stand by a man as his wife. Then, Matthew was gone.

He'd just been right infront of me...then gone, and I looked down to see him on one knee. My first thought was 'what's he doing down there' instantly followed by 'oh my goodness, it's happening, he's doing it'. Then he asked me to marry him. My mind was racing...just so excitedly caught off guard that this was the moment; he was proposing! I bent over to kiss him. He pulled a ring box out of his pocket. I saw a flash of blue and white as he stood up, telling me he wanted me to be his wife. I said yes (of course), then hugged him so tight...we hugged a while, kissed and pulled back for him to slip the ring on my finger. White gold with little diamonds embedded in the band on either side of a raised sapphire. Stunningly elegant, so beautiful...and he'd picked it out all by himself. He did good! And catching me so completely off guard with the proposal at that time of sheer exhaustion; he did exactly what he'd set out to do.

Mom came downstairs, talking on the way, no idea of what had just happened. She asked a question; still in shock I mumbled an answer and she turned to walk away. I called her back and held out my hand. Asking if it meant what she thought, we smiled and came together in a big group hug. Then they proceeded to inform me that now we had to take some time to call people. What? I had no idea there was an Engagement Protocall? Matthew said he was told to make sure he proposed at a time when there would be time afterwards for me to call family and friends; well, him too. So in our joy and excitement, the calling started...and lasted a while. (I think it took us about 2.5 days to reach everyone we knew we wanted to make sure found out from us.) We finally got away from the phone to celebrate our engagement by going out for dinner, just the two of us, to The Keg.

The next day was Sunday, a very active morning, where we were told our smiles were giving away our announcement before we could tell people. It was a great morning of tracking down friends to share our news. Having been warned that people may react funny to the untraditional engagement ring; everyone was amazed by it, asking if Matthew had designed it himself. I think by the time we left church, he had gotten enough reassurance from me and others that the ring was stunning. Surprisingly, people kept asking when the big day was! We hadn't even been engaged for 24hrs! LOL!

It's been two weeks now. We're engaged!!! Sometimes I still can't believe it's true. I am so blessed to have the love of this man. We are so excited about our future together. And now, we have started talking about what kind of wedding we want and stuff. We are currently waiting to hear back from the church on its availability. Let's get the party started!

ps. Matthew, I love you I love you I love you.

I will treasure these memories forever!