(notice the redirect to a new wordpress url: debwa.wordpress.com)

Ultimately, I’ll probably take down this blog (as well as my now really old blogspot blog)

Just a heads up

Like – uhm – apply for a marriage license… kind of important

and before even that, it’s only 8 days until my birthday. 30th birthday at that.

I also have a couple bridal showers and a bachlorette party coming up in the next 2 weeks. Those will be fun!

Did you vote yesterday? I didn’t – but what I did do was vote in early voting last week.

Thats all.  my brain is pretty cluttered, so not a lot of fancy words or writing falling out onto the blog right now.

Transitioned into a new position at work. – I’m no longer a Project Manager, but a Web Developer instead.  It’s a change I requested and am very excited about.

Also, had my final fitting for my dress yesterday, So excited! Can’t wait to pick it up in a week or two after it’s steamed.

Rangers are going to the World Series.  This is a tough one. I was rooting against them in the first round. Rooting against the Yankees in the second. I guess I’ll root for the Rangers in the WS.  On one hand, its been hard seeing everyone jump on board (bandwagon) and a bunch of people who don’t even understand the game get to have the time of their life with it – all the while, I get to sit buy and love a team that still hasn’t won.

But at the same time, 15 years ago, this happened in Seattle (well, not the get to the world series part) and that’s how I was introduced to the game and became a life long fan. Hopefully, that will be the result of this incredible run the Rangers are on.  I do appreciate the new admiration and enjoyment of my favorite game by a bunch of individuals who only a month hardly knew the team in Arlington existed.  AND maybe next year, people will actually talk baseball with me. They will learn their team, they well understand the break down of the AL West (and they will FINALLY understand why I must root against the Rangers in the regular season – they thought I was just being a jerk).  Plus, it’s been fun to explain the rules of the game and some of the finer details to this new legion of fans.

Well, off I go. I woke up too early, so I’m hoping to catch a couple hours more sleep before I go run errands.

*Tuxes chosen

*A large stack of invites are out (and there are more about to go out – we’re rolling them out in bits. )

*The hotel for out of town guests is finalized and can now be reserved by guests. (let me know if you need the info! I’ve emailed several people, but may have missed someone. Also check our wedding web site – that has the information as well)

*Photographer booked

*Met with the Staff from our church to go over church policy

*Premarital Counseling is rolling along. (We already went to the class. Now we are doing a one-on-one curriculum with our mentor couple. It’s Great!)

*Bridal showers for WA State, San Antonio, and Dallas are in the works

*Learned that my To Do list was calculating incorrectly, instead of 288 items to do (with 121 over due) the real numbers are 104 things left, and only 21 are ‘over due’

*RSVPs are rolling in

So yeah – things are getting done.

Received my engagement ring… Check.

Successfully gathered more addresses from people… Check.

Invites printed and at my house… Check.

A method to print envelopes… Check.

(115 already printed & stuffed… Check. …hopefully in the mail tomorrow…)

Hotel for out-of-town guests selected… Check.

Bridesmaid dress… Check.

That’s about all the additional progress.

BUT last week I was in DC with my fiancé and my parents, so we didn’t do really any wedding items all of last week…. Well other than my fiancé meeting my dad in person for the first time.

AND the bridesmaid dress… took an hour from walking in with my maid of honor – to ordering the dress & accessories. so, basically, we rock.

$80! 

It became even better a few months back when it worked out for JJ to come too.  We’re meeting up with my parents and will be seeing the sites.

It will hopefully be a lovely break from the wedding planning.

On that front – I’m taking the dress in for an estimate on alterations today. check another thing off the list.
We are still working out honeymoon plans, and waiting to pick up the printed invites. Once those two are take care of (hopefully before DC/right after) we’ll be on to thinks like photography, attendents atire, and decorations.

Some of the ‘smaller detailed’ items… I feel like things are coming together and on the other side of DC, we still have a little over 2 months to get everything else in place. (like securing a hotel with rooms reserved for out of town guests).

All in good time… for the moment, I look forward to a great trip in the next week.

My groom can’t know about it – so I’ll just say “it’s pretty.”

My mom was able to fly out from Seattle and join me for the weekend, so she, my sis-in-law, and I went dress shopping on Saturday. OH! Even more importantly than that,  she got to meet JJ.

We also finalized my colors, did some brainstorming and research on reception food, flowers, and decorations.

We got to see my engagement ring – wax carving and stone. We also got to meet up with my in-laws-to be – which was fun.

So… 82 days to go!

oh, and I have my shoes.

There are a lot of things partly done (guest list, invites, place to get cake, some of the registering).

There are several things that have at least been thought about and discussed, and maybe even a little researched.

But I must say, who ever says planning a wedding is ‘fun’ – that is not the word I would use. Maybe this has to do with I’ve never been one of those girls who had her entire wedding planned out… Most items I’m pretty apathetic. As long as it gets done, and done well – I don’t have huge opinions on what the cake looks and tastes like – I don’t have an already thought out high concept for the  centerpieces. My bouquet? I don’t know, just need a couple of flowers tied together with ribbon I guess…if I have too…

The important things are already in place. The Bride & the Groom. The fact that we intend on honoring God with our ceremony and even more so with our marriage.  And that we want dear friends and family there to celebrate with us.

Thats it… and technically, we could do that in Jeans and a t-shirt. And we could all eat pizza after… What’s everyone doing this weekend.

THE SETTING

After much prayerful thought and an offer from a kind brother to move to Texas, I was on my way.  I picked up my brother from O’Hare at 8 pm; we loaded up the U-Haul, attached it to my Jetta and left in the dead of night.  By the next afternoon, bleary-eyed, we arrived at my new home, just north of Dallas Texas.

The next few months were full of job hunting, church hunting, and trying to get acclimated to the quickly approaching summer melt down (this WA state kid doesn’t like 100+ degrees – and yes, it can be TOO sunny!).

By June, the Lord provided a job through “people who knew people”  at an agency that “Helps those who do good, do better.” That is to say a company that uses technology and storytelling to help non-profits fundraise.

As I got to know people, moved out of my brother’s house and closer to Dallas, I started attending Watermark Community Church. Watermark stresses the importance of living in community, not just a group of social networks, but a biblical community.  I knew I needed friends, and I knew I lacked community, so I decided to go “all in.”

THE INTRODUCTION

Early February of 2009, I met up with what were essentially 12 other complete strangers – women who, like myself, wanted to get involved in community.  We started meeting together weekly at one of the girl’s house just down the street from church. After only meeting a few times, our host, Sara, suggested that we plan a game night in order to get to know people from Watermark (all of us were Very New to the church).  She said that her next door neighbor was our age, attended Watermark, and was involved in a guy’s community group. And so the plans were made.

Game night took place on 4/11/09. I know this date, because it happens to be my “Happy to Be Alive Day” (anniversary of my open heart surgery).  It was fun to play games and meet new friends.  Something I didn’t quite see the significance in, was meeting JJ, Sara’s next door neighbor.

The summer quickly came, and quickly sped along. My company moved to a different location, so my commute grew. I was finding it more difficult (and expensive) to live by myself then I had calculated.  I started getting involved more at church and became part of the Student ministries team.  I started attending The Porch – Watermark’s weekly church/meet up for singles in the community.  In short, Life became busier and quality of life continued to improve as the months went on and friendships deepened. (see my blog posts over the last year for more detail).

In October, thanks to some very wise counsel and a wonderful offer from Sara, I moved closer to church and became her roommate.  If you were reading closely, you’ll have put together that I also gained a next door neighbor, JJ.

THE UNEXPECTED

Nothing changed at first, the next few months plodded along, the fall changed to winter, and soon 2010 was at our doorsteps.  JJ and I were acquaintances, we ran into each other occasionally at The Porch and didn’t really realize what was about to happen.

JJ was living with his brother and another roomie, so as the calendar flipped from 2009 to 2010, the three of them, and the two of us (Sara & I) started hanging out occasionally.  From game nights to carpooling, to more mutual friends and church events, picking pennies out of my car, to (perhaps most *significantly*) watching LOST every Tuesday after The Porch; it became a regular occurrence to hang out. JJ & My friendship grew the more we hung out and the more we found we had in common.

Somehow this crazy kid with blue teeth from cotton candy didn’t scare him away at the church 10^th anniversary party.  Something was up.  “The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air…”

In early February, Dallas got an unprecedented 10 inches of snow, and I got the day off of work. With my roommate out of town on business, I pestered the neighbors until they would have a snowball fight with me… It was a grand day. And JJ & I discovered even more we had in common.

By late April, we knew what decisions were in front of us, so we started down the path called dating.  In Mid June, we started attending a premarriage class through Watermark and as the class wound down in August, it simply confirmed what we already knew.  He joked that it would be at least a year. To which I replied “a year? Try two!”

THE PROPOSAL

But I’m a “timeline” girl and I have to have a plan… and I KNEW that since he hadn’t met my parents and wouldn’t meet them until an already planned trip in September, I was going to have to wait a bit.  It had only been a few months; I could surely be patient and wait at least another, right? Besides that I already was aware that I’m one of the hardest people to surprise.  I can’t help it; I just accidentally pick up on the clues.

This brings us to this past weekend. We drove down to go camping with his family. The trip had been on the calendar for a month or more, so I was looking forward to spending time with JJ’s family, but also see this lake of his, full of his childhood memories.

Friday, JJ suggested we go watch the sunset.  (He had been talking up the sunsets at the lake are the most beautiful he’s seen anywhere.) As the evening came to a close, we walked out to a spot to watch the sunset. Sitting down on the rocks, we found a Penny. (Pennies for Debra anyone?) We sat, watched the sunset, enjoyed a light show from a looming thundercloud, and talked about the premarriage class, tying up all the loose ends from that.  As it was just about dark, JJ turns to me and says he has something for me. Handing me a piece of paper I though “awww. That’s sweet. He wrote me a nice note.”  I unfolded the paper to find a certificate indicating we finished premarrige class and were eligible for a discount on TX marriage license fees if we got married within the next year. He then proceeded to suggest he had a ring on hand.  Shocked, I blurted out “are you Joking!?!” He asked if he would joke about something like this to which I stated “YES!” He acknowledged that was valid, but no, he was not joking. After switching to a tux-t-shirt, he got down on one knee and pulled out a ring.  Obviously, I said yes.

We walked back to the campsite where his family (Everyone, his family, my parents and brother, my roomie, KNEW!) had decorated and set up a lovely celebration.

We spent the rest of the evening calling and texting family and friends.

THE FUTURE

We are now in the midst of all the planning… we’re looking at a middle – to late November wedding, so the clock is a ticking!  So many things to be done.  A ring to find (he gave me a promise ring so that we could both have input on the ring, but he could also surprise me with the timing of the proposal), invites to get out, a dress to find, details, details, details!

In the avalanche of all the tasks to do, there are some I needed to make sure are not to forget. I wanted to just say thank you to all my dear sweet friends and family.  For those of you who have encouraged me over the years, prayed with me, laughed with me, cried with me… Thank you. Thank you for continuing to point out (in perhaps different words) that the point of life is to Glorify God, in big things but perhaps even more so in all the ‘little things’.

We look forward to celebrating this wonderful occasion with those who are dear to us.  And JJ & I are thrilled to be a part of God’s bigger plan and that for this moment in time God’s plan happens to mean we get to go on an adventure together.