Parties and such

Since I have a whole afternoon ahead of me and one can only watch so much television, I will fill you in on a few of the wedding festivities that have occured and that are coming up soon.

Saturday, January 16th:
My four lovely bridesmaids, Kate, Jennifer, Beri and Amy threw me a fun shower at Beri's house about twenty minutes north of my house. Beri has a wonderful open lay-out in her home that was perfect for entertaining. I had several of my girlfriends there from all different aspects of my life: childhood friends Kate and Heather, college friend Kelly and then my "grown up" friend Jennifer as well as several work friends from my previous school. The theme was "Around the Clock" and each invitation had been sent out with a specific time attached - the person had to buy an item for me to use during that particular time. Of course the present I wanted to open first was the 3:00AM! Beri had chose the time recipients carefully and one of my more fun-loving friends from MMS Michelle and Sue had been chosen. There I was, sitting in the middle of a circle surrounded by friends...and my mother, mother-in-law and Mema-in-law...I opened their present for 3:00AM: The Joy of Sex book. Luckily, Craig's family has a great sense of humor and laughed right along with everyone else. My girls did a fantastic job coordinating the food and beverages with the Around the Clock theme as well as the cake. It reminded me of what special women I have in my life for friends.

Sunday, January 17th:
My parents have lived in the same house for around 30 years and I attended the same elementary, middle and high schools that my much older brothers attended. I was baptized at the church that my parents still attend to this day. Having said that, my parents have developed deep friendship bonds with many people in the area...from being Cub Scout leaders together, to serving on PTA boards, to Bunco groups and finally through the church where my mother worked for many years. Although we don't have a lot of family in the area (all uncles, aunts, grandparents and cousins were out of town) I grew up with a sense of community as our family. Five of these women, including my wonderful godmother, chose to throw me a wedding shower with all of these extended family members! It was at my godmother's house on Sunday afternoon and it was lovely. The women had brought out all their favorite buffet serving dishes as well as a gorgeous punch bowl for the event. There was a delicious chicken salad, a fruit salad and my favorite thing - an array of cupcakes! Of course, I made sure that a few red velvet ones were stashed away for the groom-to-be. The funniest thing was that when I was introducing everyone to one another, specifically to Craig's mom and Mema...most of the people would say "I remember when Betty found out she was pregnant," or "I've known Laura since before she was born." Looking around, I did see a definite sense of family - I loved the fact that Ms. Anne, one of my mother's former coworkers, could tell stories of me coming into her office at church to chat and eat chocolates when I was in middle school. It meant a lot to my mother, seeing how much dedication, time, effort and true joy was put into creating such a lovely event for her daughter.

Things that are coming up:
Wednesday, February 24th:
The MMS faculty wedding shower for Craig and myself. It's a tailgating theme with no punch or vegetables allowed.

Saturday, February 20th:
Craig's bachelor party...a few weeks ago, I was working one of Craig's select basketball tournaments because he had to go coach his school team and while I was up there, I chatted with his best buddy and best man Ron about his bachelor party. I was able to give Ron some ideas that Craig had mentioned to me, as well as a potential invite list. Craig and 6 of his buddies are going to meet at our house and get in a limo to go eat in downtown Dallas and then go to a Mavs basketball game together. I think they plan on going to a few bars afterwards and then having the limo bring them back to our house. Craig and Ron both have a basketball tournament going on this particular weekend, so guess who volunteered to open up the gyms and get the tourney running on Sunday morning so the boys can sleep in? Yes...I am a very good fiance.

Early March, after Amy arrives in town:
My bachelorette party...now, I'm not a huge fan of the crazy, wild bachelorette party because I don't need to "mourn" the passing of my singlehood. I'm ready to be married...and ready to be Craig's wife. I told my friends that I wanted a nice dinner and drinks out with my closest 10 or so friends - the people that have really been involved in my life for the past few years during my desperate search for a hubby. As far as the details go, I'm not really sure what's going to happen, but hopefully it will be fun!

Not Your Typical Bride

Craig and I had a small engagement party last night with our bridal party, a few mutual friends and our families. We went to the horse races in Grand Prairie and rented a suite for everyone to enjoy the races and then the Cross Canadian Ragweed concert afterwards. The only people that were missing was my middle brother Michael who lives in Maine and my Matron of Honor Amy who also lives in Maine (but not with my brother...that would be weird).

Although the evening turned out great - everyone had a fun time watching the races, talking with one another and eating the delicious food - I started out the day not too happy. At 3:30 I was still lying in bed without any make-up or even a shower telling Craig to go to our engagement party alone without me. I just had a great deal of anxiety about the whole situation. I'm not the type of girl that gets really excited and giddy about wedding planning or celebrating - I'm more meticulous and coordinated in my general approach to life and I'm more concerned about planning and making sure everything is right rather than excited about the whole process and being a "bride."

And surprisingly...it's very difficult for me to be the center of attention. My bridesmaid Kate provided a very funny anecdote about me last night upon seeing a picture of me about to go to my first dance class. In Kate's words "Laura was very precise and exact in her movements on stage, but you could tell she wasn't enjoying it." It made me giggle, but at the same time, I think it provides great insight into my personality. I was always so comfortable on the court playing sports in front of people, but not in a dance recital-type atmosphere. I guess it was the whole "seeing your audience staring back at you" thing that bothered me. During a basketball game, I was just one of ten players all mixed up on the court and I was too focused on playing the game than noticing the crowd.

I just don't want people to be disappointed in me as a bride. I'm not going to be the type that oohs and ahs over everything bridal and I'm also not going to do things according to what's considered proper. I have always been independent and done things my own way - regardless of the potential outcome, and I plan on creating our wedding with the same attitude.

I just want to be Craig's wife and at the end of the day, yes...I want it to be beautiful and memorable, but I also don't want to have the wedding run my life because if that's what happens, I won't focus on what happens AFTER the wedding - the marriage.

And by the way...at this time (9:19 pm) in nine months, Craig and I will be dancing, drinking and eating at our wedding!

BUT. Despite all my fears (that everyone wouldn't get along or have a good time) and my anxieties (about being the center of attention or a bad bride)...everything turned out great. Craig did a fantastic job of setting up a wonderful evening for our bridal party and families. I don't think any great fortunes were made, but hopefully it was a memorable evening otherwise. I think the funniest thing was when my five year old nephew was so intently cheering for a certain horse because if that horse "gets first, second or third my mommy wins money!" I don't think of it as teaching the wicked habit of gambling, but instead a proper lesson on chance and probablity. Perhaps the most delightful treat of the night was Craig's Uncle Tim, his dad's younger brother, driving into town from Abilene for the evening to take pictures of the event! Uncle Tim is a freelance photographer that lends his talent and skills to documenting local events around Abilene and is currently moving towards weddings and senior portraits. We were really blessed to have him there and also have such great records of our evening!

The Wedding...thus far

So I know that I haven't really blogged that much about the wedding and what we're planning but it's just because it is really so far away that I haven't really planned that many fun details.

We've chosen the place:

The Marriott at Champion Circle in Fort Worth by the Speedway

Bouquets: I'm thinking that the mainly green flower bouquet will really contrast dramatically with chocolate brown bridesmaid dresses.

Cakes: I really like the colors and intricate designs on this one...I just don't like the stripes and the really BRIGHT green contrasting with the chocolate and light green.

I really love the design on this cake...the intricity and delicateness of the branches climbing up the cake, but obviously I would go with a light green frosting, chocolate brown branches and then white accent flowers.

Centerpieces and overall decor:

I'm not sure if we'll really be able to pull off a "signature" cocktail...but I did have quite the penchant for Appletinis in college.

Along the aisle chairs at the ceremony

I have seen these centerpieces all over the place and since green is my favorite color of fruit (apples, pears and grapes) I figured it would be an easy and inexpensive way of dressing up the tables. I even have a co-worker that is willing to lend me the vases and stands from her own daughter's wedding...which happened to have the same color scheme as mine.

Hopefully, you are seeing the general trend and theme that I am going for with our wedding...a hippie-forest chic wedding. We'll see if I can really pull it all together and make it look good!

Now what?

So. We're engaged. After all the initial excitement wore off and we told our parents, family and all the friends I could conceivably call during car rides in between dinner, my parent's house and home again...we kind of looked at each other and overwhelming sensation of "oh crap" melted down over us. Craig's knowledge of weddings is limited to the few weddings of my friends that I've dragged him to. Although I have been a part of several beautiful weddings, I have no real idea of how to get started.

I know that I don't want a really huge wedding, but we do have a lot of friends, family and work compadres that want to be a part of our day.

I know that despite Craig's slightly inebriated statement on his birthday in the limo of how we're getting married in Jamaica, we will be getting married somewhere in the greater Fort Worth/Dallas area.

I know that I want my colors to be a chocolate brown and bright, light green...if you've ever seen pictures of my living room or been to my house - look at the pillows and you'll see the colors I'm talking about. In addition to those colors, I want lots and lots of white flowers and candles.

I would love to get married in some historic building with lots of character and places for pretty pictures, but that all depends on how many people end up making the final cut for the guest list. But don't worry - if you're dying to go, we do take bribes. :)

I definitely will NOT be wearing a big and poofy wedding dress. I want it streamlined and simple. Thus...after this blog, I am hitting the gym.

After some intense discussion, we have tentatively decided to place the date of the wedding around March 13th of next year. I originally wanted the Saturday in November right before Thanksgiving, but Craig thought that was too soon. Then I kicked the idea around of June of 2010 so that we woudl have time to do stuff for the wedding once school was out and we wouldn't have to worry about taking days off from work. Craig thought that was too far away. So his suggestion was March of 2010 right before Spring Break. Hmm...I had to think - would my desired theme of hippie wedding in the forest work? Possibly. There is no real significance to the date other than the fact that we both could agree on it. At least we know that we have the ability to compromise in our relationship.

Other than that, I'm pretty terrified of the whole "wedding planning" process, as well as the wedding itself. Not because I don't want to marry Craig - I am just not a girlie girl who gets into stuff like that. And I'm not really comfortable with having a whole day dedicated to me. I don't think that me getting married is enough reason for other people to stop their lives to focus on me. I don't want the next year to be solely focused around the events surrounding March 13, 2010. Don't get me wrong - I'm totally excited about seeing a ring on his hand as well and becoming Mrs. Coach Nelson...I'm just not totally pumped yet about the whole planning process.

Guess what?!

I'm engaged!!!



Craig is definitely the type of guy that once he decides to do something, he focuses on it with a Rainman type intensity and gets it accomplished. Apparently, he woke up this morning, which was a typical Thursday, and decided that today was the day that he would propose.



We went to school, gave some finals, ate some lunch with the staff, had a faculty meeting and parted ways around 2:00. He off to "take his mom to Home Depot" and I had to flag down our busy principal to break the not-so-secret news that Coach Nelson and myself are dating.



After an excrutiatingly nervewracking meeting with my principal discussing my options were Craig and I to get engaged and then married, I left to lesson plan the next six weeks with my cohorts in 6th grade World Geography.



Upon leaving school around 5:15, I noticed a missed phone call from Craig's mom as well as a message. Ignoring the message, I just called Craig to see what was going on; I assumed dinner plans had something to do with the mysterious call. My female intuition was correct and I was informed that I would be attending dinner with Craig, his mom and MeMa...and I needed to figure out what I wanted to eat. "Ooooookay...see you at home honey. We'll talk then" I told him. After three hours of watching kids painstakingly take Geography finals, hand grading those finals, meeting tete a tete with my principal to discuss my relationship status AND reliving a particularly nasty interaction with a prickly coworker earlier this week...I was mentally exhausted and frankly, just looking forward to a nice glass (or two) of wine.



Craig was pulling into the driveway just as I was inching into the garage, careful not to drive PAST the strategically placed string that hangs from the ceiling. As he walked into the kitchen, I blurted out in a slightly verbal diarrhea way about my conversation with Mr. Taggart about our relationship. Craig seemed a little surprised and bemused by my earnest and anxious tale of the day. Soon after, I followed him upstairs to change into something more appropriate for dinner. In the midst of rifling through my overloaded t-shirt drawer, Craig came up and started asking some questions.

Craig: "Do you think things happen for a reason?"

Laura (slightly confused, but yet intrigued): "Umm...like us meeting? Do you?"

Craig: shrugs and says "Yeah. I do."

Laura (still trying to process this mysterious conversation): "Do you believe in soul mates to?"

Craig (with a smirk): "Yeah."

Laura (figuring I might as well milk this stange mood for all it's worth): "Do you think that I'm yours?"

Craig (confidently): "Yes. I definitely do."

Then he sat me on the edge of the bed and started digging into the pocket of his favorite navy Adidas athletic pants and pulled out a little black box. Which was promptly followed by the most important question of my life... "Well, then will you marry me?"

Alright. Let's freeze frame on this little movie I'm describing for you. At this point I was completely in shock. I tunnel visioned in on that little box and barely heard what he had asked. Of course I knew what I wanted to answer, but I couldn't believe that it was really happening. But...the first words out of my mouth were:

"No way! Are you serious? This isn't a joke? You're...like...for real. For real, for real?" (Somehow this experience reverted me back to the vocabulary of my 8th grade athletes)

He's standing there with the ring box open and repeating that he was indeed serious, not playing a joke and that it was all real. Finally, after some screeching and jumping up and down, I allowed him to put the gorgeous ring on my finger. I screamed yes and jumped on him in a big hug.

Sooo...the moral of the engagement story? Craig will always be able to absolutely surprise me.

It's Not About the Ring

We went looking at rings a few weeks ago after a particularly depressing Stars hockey game. I must admit, as exciting as it was to imagine him proposing to me...it was incredibly nervewracking. Not because of the prospect of spending the rest of my life with one person, but because of the pressure placed on you by the salesmen at the jewelry store.

Upon placing a certain ring with diamond on my finger, the impeccably dressed saleswoman breathlessly asked me "Do you love it?"

Upon hearing these words, I was immediately hurtled back in time to a certain shopping trip with two of my good friends to David's Bridal. In my world, David's Bridal is synonomous with hell. During this particular trip, we were accosted by an overeager, but yet under educated "bridal professional" who made it her personal mission in life to find my friend Meggie the PERFECT wedding dress that she was going to LOVE. Needless to say, this woman...appropriately named "Alexis"...made me absolutely nauseous. The idea of the "dress" or the "jewelry" creating the perfect life together really bothered me.

In response to her obviously perfectly practiced pitch, I looked her straight in the eyes and told her:

"I love him...I like the ring."

And that's what this whole experience is about...the house, the ring, the future wedding and honeymoon. It's about being with him. End of story.