I said, "YES!"...now it's time to plan!

It's probably no surprise to those of you who know me...but the day after we returned from our trip as the newly engaged couple, I bought my first bridal magazines and a wedding planner. Let me clarify that statement. I bought my first bridal magazines with intentions of actually planning a wedding, more specifically OUR wedding. I have purchased wedding magazines before...well, because let's be honest. I've dreamt of finding my prince and having a fairy tale wedding since I was a little girl. This might be a bit embarrassing to admit, but I distinctly remember having a "girls night" at Cottey College with Iris Connolly, Jessica Gallegos, and Robin Mallison/Kimmell. We bought bridal magazines, notebooks, and scrapbook decorations so we could cut and paste what we liked out of each magazine to make our "wedding books". We ate pizza and even watched "The Wedding Date". Don't laugh too hard when I say that I took my "wedding book" very seriously. I cut out dresses, rings, bridesmaid dresses, cakes, colors, flowers, etc! Looking back it was a bit ridiculous, but I feel that most every girl can relate. With that said, you can truly understand that being excited to buy my first magazines and official wedding planner is a bit of an understatement! Here is a picture of my handy dandy little wedding planner:

It has been a really great read because it has a ton of great information!!! It also has awesome pages for you to fill out in order to help keep you organized! I LOVE IT! Reading it reminded me of how much REALLY goes into planning a wedding: family, friends, bridal party, save the dates, invites, colors, flowers, a DJ, decorations, food, cake, dresses, THE dress, suits, music, vows, seating arrangements, etc! But of course, first thing is first and that is setting a date! *DRUMROLL please* Brian and I have decided on:

October 20, 2012!!!

We both really love the fall and knew we wanted it in the middle of October because the trees really pop around that time! Fall brings all things good: football, apple cider, hoodies, pumpkins, boots, crunchy leaves, cooler weather, apple picking, yummy smells, etc! And next October we will be having a perfectly lovely fall wedding! YAY!

Choosing to have our wedding in 2012 has allowed us to relax a bit with our planning. We have 18 months and according to my knot.com account: 541 days to plan every last detail of our wedding! This is a great thing because I have A LOT of wonderful ideas to make our day extra special. This is where this blog is going to get interesting!

I am planning on using this blog as a way to share my ideas, get feedback, and document my journey to becoming Mrs. O'Conner! I know that there will be some very interesting/funny/crazy adventures for Brian and I as we take this next step of becoming man and wife! So stay tuned...there's LOTS more to come! :)

~Amanda~

                                                                

The Proposal

Many of you who are reading this blog will have already heard the story of our proposal, but I feel that I should share it for the ones of you that don't. Plus it's a good story and he did an amazing job of catching me off guard!

The weekend of March 31st-April 3rd, Brian and I had decided to attend a conference with our church called "The Passion" in Ft. Worth, Texas. There were going to be great speakers like Louie Giglio, Francis Chan, and John Piper along with music from Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, and Lecrae. Needless to say we were pretty pumped to go and have this experience together. We arrived on Thursday night and were able to just explore downtown Ft. Worth. It was warm (which was a wonderful break from cold Missouri weather) and we were excited to be there. We joined two friends from church, Lorena and Amy on this trip. They were really fun to get to know and spend time with that night. Oh, and unbenounced to me, Brian would be proposing on this trip!

The next day we had to register for the conference at 2 p.m. As Brian and I were on our way down the elevator to head towards the convention center I happened to mention that it was April 1st! "Happy April Fool's Day!" I said to him....at that moment he got down on one knee and said "Will you...celebrate April Fool's Day with me?". hahaha, he thought he was so funny! After a few laughs and a "oh, get up you jerk!" we were off to the convention center. Little did I know that Brian had been planning to propose on that weekend, but he didn't know exactly when yet. After the April Fool's joke in the elevator, he decided that he would do it as soon as it wasn't April Fools Day anymore. No matter where we were at midnight that night he was gonna do it! eeeek!

After the first session at 7 p.m. and the second session at 9 p.m. there was a "late night option" to go to a concert at 11:15 p.m. Honestly, I was tired and a tad bit overwhelmed from the day. There were about 10,000 people there and everywhere we went we were herded like cattle. Also, my knee was hurting from standing all day and I was just having a case of the grouchies. Brian kindly reminded me that this was our vacation and we just needed to make the most of it...he is always so encouraging. So after we sat and watched the 9, 998 people shove into the convention center, we decided to join in on the fun too. I shook off my negative nancy feelings about being tired and such and joined in on the amazing music by David Crowder.

Brian and I were able to find seats and mine was on the aisle. As the concert went on, I started to notice that Brian was getting really fidgety and kept looking at his watch. Finally I asked him if he was okay and he responded with "I'm just tired". hmm, okay...a few minutes later, Brian stepped in front of me like he was headed towards the bathroom. So of course I yelled out, "Are you going to the bathroom?". (Little did I know, it was midnight!) At that moment he took my hand, got down on one knee in the middle of the aisle in front of a ton of strangers, and took the ring out of his pocket. Brian's exact words were "Baby, it's not April Fools Day anymore....In front of God and all of these people, I want you to know that I love you more than anything on this earth and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?". If you know me, you KNOW I cried and cried and of course said "YES!".

After I said yes, one of our favorite Christian rappers, Lecrae, came out on stage. The little crowd around us cheered when I said yes. Then the entire crowd cheered a split second later when Lecrae came out. It was a really cool and overwhelming moment. I was shaking and taking in all that had just happened. I was incredibly surprised and so happy that he had asked!

Afterwards, we called family, friends, and of course made it official on facebook! lol. Brian then told me that he had been planning this weekend for months now! He shared that he had taken the ring over to his Mother's house two days before we left for our trip to show her...and guess what? I was with him. Then I asked "When did you ask my Dad's permission?". He told me that he did it the day before we left when we were at my Grandma's for dinner. Bri not only asked my Dad's permission, but showed him, my Grandma, my Aunt, and my Uncle the ring...and once again, I WAS THERE! I couldn't believe how sneaky and good he was about pulling this off! He did an amazing job!

After we shared the news we went for pizza at this pizza joint down the street. It was 2 a.m. and this place was still open...and of course we were starving! No better way to celebrate our engagement than with some yummy pizza!

Overall, it was an amazing trip and I will remember it forever!

~Amanda~

History

To start this blog off right, I feel it is important to share our history, our love story.

For me, it all started after I graduated from college. I slowly started to realize that I wouldn't have my normal social circle to meet people anymore. I had flirted with the idea of joining an online dating site for a while, but didn't fully commit to it until I had a conversation with my mom. She encouraged me to join one just to see what could happen. Of course, I had to think about it for a few days...I had always thought that online dating sites were for people that were desperate, lonely, and old! For some reason I had promised myself that I wouldn't join one until I was at least 28! After sharing that with my mom, she brought up a really great point: why wait to fall in love? I decided to join eHarmony on July 2, 2010. Turns out, it was all meant to be.

Brian and I were matched on July 4, 2010 and my oh my did the sparks fly! We went through the traditional eHarmony steps of communication and finally started to e-mail. After a few e-mails Brian asked for my number. Turns out that he had been on eHarmony for close to six months and his membership was getting ready to expire. He shared that he wasn't going to renew, and that he'd love to speak to me on the phone instead of continuing to e-mail. We ended up texting and talking on the phone everyday throughout the day for a week, then decided to go on our first date.

We met in downtown Parkville for dinner at Stone Canyon Pizza and a stroll on the riverwalk. I think we were both nervous, but at the same time it all felt so natural...like we had known each other for years. We ate, talked, walked all over Parkville, had a marshmallow gun fight, and watched the sunset. He ended the date with a beautiful white rose and I was completely smitten. I knew almost immediately that I would be marrying this man.

Ever since that day we have been inseperable. Brian is not only my fiance', but my best friend. He is so incredibly kind, patient, handsome, strong, encouraging, and funny. He makes every one of my days brighter and I am so thankful that God brought us together and I took that chance on eHarmony! haha. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him!

and as they say...the rest is history!

~Amanda~