Wedding Things

I know - just seeing the title of this post may make some people hit the "back" button because weddings are a source of deep bitterness and anxiety, and trust me, I've been there too - but I am having so much fun with everything!! My mom, Joyce and I (and sometimes Grammy) are having a great time traveling everywhere! It seems like every weekend we are getting together to do something to complete wedding plans. I guess I want to communicate how incredibly lucky and blessed I am.

Starting the planning process was incredibly stressful. I could not find a venue that was beautiful and affordable. I was afraid I would end up getting married in some old warehouse serving Chick-fil-A platters (no hard feelings towards them because they do have wonderful food) - but this is my wedding day and of course I want everything to be perfect and beautiful and for everyone involved to have a great time! It has been amazing to see how everything has been orchestrated without ever having to lift a finger! The Mimslyn Inn is perfect. I am so excited to spend an entire weekend with my family (new and old!), friends and most importantly, my new husband.

I couldn't be more grateful for those closest to me who have been so generous in their contributions. Bobbi and Meme helped me pay for the photographer! I was so stunned and speechless when they wanted to do this that I don't think I gave them a good enough "thank you". And Joyce has been so wonderful throughout the whole process, she has tagged along on all of the outings and even wants to help with a portion of the wedding! I am so lucky to have such wonderful future In-laws that only want us to be happy. Finally, how could I forget my wonderful Mama. I think she is way more excited for this event than I am! She is a researcher and her research has paid off well. She found the Mimslyn, and even a baker that will make a wedding cheesecake (neither Brian nor myself like cake).

I love to brag about the great people that surround me and Brian daily. Even Alisa (one of my bridesmaids) said to me "I don't really know how to be a bridesmaid because I've never done it before, but I'm going to go find out!"

I wish I could express how appreciative I am of everyone! Please understand that you are loved more than you know!!

Two Thousand When?

Does everyone else feel like 2009 was especially depressing? I know that everyone was struggling with the economy and other such negative things but it seemed like there was an overall feeling of sadness throughout the year. There was definitely good reason to feel these sad emotions, and as much as I wanted to help all of my friends and family that I loved so much, I just couldn't because I wasn't strong enough to help myself. Can anyone relate?

But then came the sunshine, or atleast 2010. The new year brought an unspoken end to that sadness and a hope for a fresh start and something really good. So many people that I have talked agreed that they feel so excited for this year. Whether it be marriages, books written and published or simply thinking more positively, I think 2010 holds the beginning of a bright future. And thats when you can see the sunshine peak through all the darkness. I want to encourage you all to keep looking through the dark branches into the sunshine. The light draws you towards happy times and motivational thoughts. Go for the dreams that you've been keeping, even if you think it won't succeed, atleast you are trying to reach your goals.

Sending everyone lots of love, hope and success in life. Love to you all!

Douglas Robert DeEsch III & Company

The day after Christmas I flew down to meet Brian and his family in Charlotte. His sister, Laurie lives down there with her husband, Doug and their son, Trey. I was so excited when she asked me to take Trey's 9 month pictures while I was there! Trey was so much fun and was being such a good sport about the whole shoot, probably because his mom LOVES to get his picture taken and he is so used to it by now! I was really lucky to get so many great pictures, Trey is very photogenic so it was hard to get a bad picture of him. Here are a few of my favorites from the day:

My Very First Wedding Vendor Is...

of course a photographer! Ever since I found her webpage, I knew I wanted Kristen Gardner to be my wedding photographer. Her pictures are so natural and never "over edited". She has a fresh style which I really like. Here is her website: http://kristengardner.com/

One down, five thousand more to go!

The Moment We've All Been Waiting For

We're engaged!!!

You would not believe how many people keep saying "Haven't you BEEN engaged??" No, no we have not. Brian and I have known we would be getting married for a couple of years now but it was a team effort to wait it out and allow Brian to finish school, and we couldn't be happier!

It was such a blessing to receive so much encouragement from our family and friends, we didn't realize how many people cared about us, haha! It has only been 36 hours and I have already had such a great time, but I am also EXHAUSTED!

Anyway, I thought I would share with you the one piece of photographic genius we were able to capture right after he proposed, get ready to applaud:

I was happy to atleast get this picture!

Enjoy a few of these fun pics of the most beautiful ring! Its my new favorite accessory :)

The First Snow!!

On Saturday morning, Lauren and I ventured out to Old Town Manassas to enjoy the Christmas parade! It was so fun (read: it was so cold that my smile was frozen on my face) to enjoy it in the snow! Old Town looked so beautiful and magical! We then headed over to Trinity (Lauren's church in Old Town) to thaw and enjoy some coffee. Enjoy these pictures of the parade and the snow!

I can't take credit for this picture, Lauren took it. This is the front of her church.

Lauren loving the snow on the train tracks!

This tire mark looked like a heart, so cute!!

Life from Death

I know that these pictures aren't very "beautiful" but I had an inspiration from something I saw yesterday! This osage orange (and yes I had to google what the heck this thing was) has been sitting on our deck for about a month now. By pure coincidence I snapped this picture when I was testing out my new zoom lens, and I'm so excited that I did because I am about to tell you my Eureka moment!

So as this osage orange is on our deck, it not only sits there but it also rots. Its getting disgusting and brown and its skin is sagging, just like anyone else who ages, haha. And I keep thinking, why don't we throw this thing away? Its so gross and and isn't very aesthetically pleasing. Lets just say it: its dead. But of course I'm too much of a wimp to throw it away myself. So it continues to sit and die. Until one day...

Yesterday morning I came downstairs to start my day with a nice cup o' joe (or 4) and saw two little squirrels dancing/flirting on the deck. I watched them for the 25 seconds that my coffee was heating in the microwave and looked closer and noticed that they were feasting on the dead osage orange!! My first thought was "Yuck" - its like eating at a restaurant, these squirrels have no idea what could be wrong with this food. And then the more I thought about it, the more I realized the beauty in what had happened. How many times do we label something as dead? Our church, our family, even our spirits. And then someone gets down to the core of the dead thing and is surprised to find life and sustenance from a rotting osage orange? Sometimes it is good to let something go if the life has gone out of it. But just remember that sometimes those dead things can secretly have life way deep down inside, it just needs a little shredding, yikes!

**Apparently osage oranges are used to keep spiders away - like poison. I hope the squirrels survive**