Some developments.

So.

This post is WAY overdue, and I apologize. I haven't had time to sit down and do a really good post - and I promise this will be REALLY GOOD - in a long time. To make up for my absence I did a complete blog overhaul - isn't it purdy? So sit back with a cup of coffee, some almond milk or a vodka cran if you feel like it, and read on.

LC & I celebrated our one-year anniversary on October 26. To treat ourselves, we decided to visit Charleston, SC - where we met - to spend the weekend. We were there October 23 & 24 and stayed in a really nice hotel. On Friday we ate at the restaraunt where we started talking & really getting to know each other (plus where he first held my hand), and all day Saturday we walked around downtown Charleston - such a beautiful place! We spent a lot of time at the market, where LC bought me a beautiful creamy brown pashmina, and at the waterfront park, where the famous pineapple fountain was such a savior for my feet!! From the waterfront park we trekked down to the battery, where we saw quite possibly the most beautiful sunset ever. It was a lovely trip, and we got to spend so much time together laughing & talking.

Something super important happened when we were in Charleston. It was Friday night after dinner, and we were back in our hotel room watching TV. Somehow we got into a huge fight - I don't even remember what it was about, something stupid - and we were yelling at each other & I was crying and kicked him out of bed, and I was in the middle of telling him just HOW much I hated him when he suddenly blurted out "Marry me."

Just like that, two little words changed my life.

We had, of course, talked about our future, and marriage was almost always in the cards, but this was a complete surprise. I was worried that he had spontaneously asked me to get out of being "in the doghouse," so to speak. Later he assured me that he had been planning on asking me that weekend, so it wasn't a kneejerk reaction. (He also didn't have a ring - and I still don't, which I'm fine with. We're saving for many more important things than an engagement ring. I'd rather have a house than a ring. However, so many people have commented that we're "not really engaged" unless there's a ring, so we're thinking of getting an inexpensive (but still nice) ring at Wal-Mart or Target just to shut up the naysayers.)

At first I was completely speechless. I kept asking him "Really?!" and "Are you serious?!" because I thought he might be joking around. It took a little while to sink in that he was seriously asking me to spend the rest of my life with him. Of course I said yes! Throughout the rest of the night and much of the following day I kept telling him to ask me again - I loved hearing those words. I still do.

So. We've been engaged since October 23rd, 2009. However, we've kind of kept it lowkey. Both our families - not surprisingly, Mother disapproves - and our close friends know, but we haven't officially "annouced" it, had a write-up in the paper or changed our relationship stati to "engaged" on Facebook. We've started some preliminary planning, and we have a wedding website, but we're taking it slow. Neither of us have jobs at the moment (we ARE looking), and neither of us are in school - although I am in training with DONA International to become a doula and I start nursing school in March, and LC will most likely be attending a technical school to get a degree in criminal justice & work in law enforcement OR go into the military for at least four years so he can pay for school - so we have plans for our lives. Let me rephrase that - GOD has plans for our lives that we are trying to figure out & follow. So we're slowly but surely planning our life together.

I can't say truthfully that I haven't had doubts. In fact, this past month, I broke up with LC because I felt that things weren't right, and he wasn't proving to me that he was ready to settle down. It took me awhile and much prayer to make that decision, and I thought it was the right one. It turned out NOT to be. I was absolutely miserable & heartbroken and thought for sure that I had lost my life partner. God led me through that horrible time & showed me that LC is "the one" that He has chosen for me. I'm thankful for that miserable, heartbroken time because it allowed me to lean fully on God and to see the path that has been laid out for me, and really appreciate LC for who he is and who he's going to be.

We've decided to be married in September of 2011 or 2012 - we're not quite sure yet. In the meantime, LC & I are on the wedding warpath! He's visiting for five days in February, when we will go location-scouting, cake-tasting, registry-making & apartment-hunting. We'll also be spending time with my cousin E, his wife S & their boys P&W, who will be visiting and staying in our FAVORITE hotel in Myrtle Beach. I am planning on a trip with my besties to try on wedding dresses, and in April I'll be visiting my three cousins - also know as my bridesmaids - and we'll go bridesmaid dress shopping! Things are finally falling into place for us, and we couldn't be happier!

And little fairies have whispered things in my ear about how I may or may not get an engagement ring for Valentine's Day...stay tuned!!