Just Another Ordinary Day....or so I thought

Our engagement was nothing like the romantic, sometimes cliche, engagement stories you read about in magazines or on wedding blogs. There was no dinner, no wine, no candles, no roses. In fact I had fixed dinner that day. It was a Friday and my parents had come up for the weekend. Corey and I had gotten together afterwards for our typical Friday movie night, or what I thought was going to be a typical Friday night.

The moment of our engagement was probably not the typical story either. Being the type-A, controlling person that I am, I asked 4 questions to Corey before finally answering "YES, OF COURSE!!!!" Apparently I felt the need to get some business out of the way first (such as making sure he had asked my dad).

No, our engagement was not like any other engagement you will read about. And that's what makes it perfect. It took place on a Friday, in the comfort of what is soon to be "OUR home" where we were able to hold each other, talk about the commitment that we just made, and yes, even shed a "few" tears together. It was about US in that very moment, which is what it should be right? When all the "decorations" of life are gone, all that's left is the two of you. And that's how Corey and I were able to start.

Our engagement turned an ordinary day into a SPECTACULAR day. And that's what our love does everyday. I'm so thankful that we're not just another typical story that melts away into all the stories you've heard before. It happened that way because, as Corey told me, "I thought about it all day and couldn't wait any longer to ask you to be my wife". Could there be a better, more romantic reason than that?!

This Saturday will be one year since the day Corey taught me that every "ordinary" day that we get to spend together is SPECTACULAR. That doesn't mean that life doesn't get messy, dirty, mean or ugly sometimes. And I'm sad to admit that there are somedays that I forget to take time to see the spectacular in it. But this is all leading up to the day that I finally get to be Mrs. Corey Anderson. The best part about the messy, ugly days is that it teaches us more and more about each other and how we can grow to be the best person for each other. No one will ever be perfect, that's part of being human, but there's nothing more perfect than two people in love, willing to admit their imperfections to each other, and working together to become the best that they can be together and for each other. And in between everything else, to remember that sharing it together makes each and every ordinary day......spectacular

Bridesmaids Dresses......check!

This past Sunday, the girls and I traveled to Richmond to purchase the bridesmaid dresses. I had picked out 4 styles of dresses in cotton sateen, since we are having the wedding outside....in July. Cotton I figured would be the best choice as far as comfort and breath-ability. I had in my mind the dress that each girl would probably choose; however, once we got there, I realized they had discontinued 2 of the dresses. And the 2 styles that took their place were less than appealing. So that narrowed it down to 2 choices. I never really cared which ones the girls chose, as long as they liked them and were comfortable. Long story short, everyone chose the same dress! And it looked fabulous on all of them. In fact, I want one :)

<--The dress is seen here

The meaning of Generosity

gen-er-os-i-ty [jen-uh-ros-i-tee]-the habit of giving freely without expecting anything in return

I have definitely learned a lesson in generosity lately...from the generosity of the guests at our engagement parties, to our parents, to our wedding party, and everyone else.

First...our engagement parties. Thank you again to everyone who attended the Harrisonburg and Newport News engagement parties. We expected nothing from anyone, just time to share in the happiness that Corey and I get to share everyday. BUT EVERYONE WAS SO GENEROUS!! It's crazy, you get engaged and people just start giving you stuff, just because you're engaged. I've never experienced anything like it before.

Our parents. Besides the fact that they raised us, and didn't kill us or abandon us in the process, both of our parents have been more than generous. Corey's parents have taken so much time out of their schedules to come and visit in order to be with us. His mom even spent her birthday in Newport News at our engagement party. And every time we talk about the wedding, there's something else they want to do for us! GENEROSITY

My parents have already been beyond amazing. I know I like to think that they don't mind coming up here because "they love the mountains" but they have rearranged their schedules so many times to be up here, even at the drop of a hat, for dress fittings and game weekends, and just because. They are there when I send 30 emails with the slightest changes to the Save the Dates I designed, and respond with their suggestions-while always following it up with "do what you want". They are there on weekends to support me when my dress comes in, to buy wedding shoes, to support Corey by coming to every home game, and they are there at 2 am, 3 pm, or whenever else I call, even if it's not related to the wedding. And they have bent over backwards, kept their mouths’ shut, allowed me to change my mind 5 times about the wedding colors (and have provided GENTLE reminders to stay within the budget ;) ). GENEROSITY

My bridesmaids....o how I love you girls.

First, my sister (MOH #1).....I think my sister was in love with me before I was ever on this earth. It is because of my sister that I am Shelby Nichole, and not Meredith Elizabeth, and this picture keeps coming to mind of us in the hospital when I was first born. You can just tell in the picture that little 2 1/2 year old Lindsey just couldn't wait to meet her baby sister...to hold me, kiss me, love me, and protect me. And that's what she did. Lindsey has always been my little guardian angel, looking out for me....one of my biggest advocators, and biggest spoilers. I can remember countless Christmas's (of which I am now embarassed) that I gave Lindsey one gift that was probably as exciting as a paperclip, and she would shower me with gifts....and not even care, because she got more delight out of watching me open the present from her, than from any gift I could give her. I feel like I will never be able to repay the GENEROSITY that she has shown me over the years. And now, getting married, I know that she will be there for me, whatever I need.

MOH #2-Chrissy. O Chrissy....what would I do without you. Chrissy has gone above and beyond the call of duty. She has sat through countless conversations with me, whether it was about the wedding, registering, the bridal party, food, ghosts, camping, wedding dresses, wedding disasters, dreams, girl problems, food, uncertainties about jobs and living situations,...did I mention food. She was the one I confided in no matter what it was. She has taken me on numerous dates, and we finally got our men together and they love each other :). She spent a whole day taking me around Washington D.C. in 1000 degree weather just to look for bridal jewelry. No matter whether I'm with her or not, she always has an eye out for something I can use for the wedding, including FREE antique books (which debuted in our engagement shoot), as well as the canning jars that were supposed to be in our shoot, that I had been killing myself trying to find. She has tagged along on numerous shopping trips and made some on her own for the wedding. She has given some of the best advice during some of the most difficult situations, and has shared her own very personal experiences to help me through my own. She is there at a drop of the hat, and comes to ME asking what she can do, rather than me having to ask for a favor. I cannot believe how blessed I am that we became friends, especially since I never thought that that diagnostic partner that I did not want to work with would become my best friend, my maid of honor, my life friend. I love you and your GENEROSITY!

MURRPPPHHHHH- Shannon Murphy. I love you so much. You are always thinking about me as well. And what would I do without your stumbleupon websites that you forward to me. Or the many bride's blogs that you sent my way. You were always on the lookout for a post or picture for inspiration for me. Many of my "brilliant" ideas have come from your procrastinating moments when you sent pictures/blogs my way.

Lauren Block-I miss you so much now that you live in C-ville. I will never EVER forget the night that Lauren came over, brought her laptop, and rattled off a list of questions she had about the wedding, and then typed madly away as I answered them, and saved the file on her computer. How awesome is that. Just another example of how my bridesmaids have come to ME over and over again, offering their help. I can't explain how nice that is. To have every single one of the girls offer their help and ask what they can do, rather than me having to come to them. It's a true testament that they really WANT to be doing this and I haven't burdened them with an obligation.

Laura D.-Oh how I miss my duet partner. I'm trying to find a way to incorporate karaoke into the wedding somehow :) you have been there from the beginning......listening to me go on and on three weeks into the relationship about 'how I thought Corey was THE ONE, but I had to be crazy because "it's only been three weeks" and how could anyone really know that soon'. Thank you for reassuring me that I was, in fact, NOT crazy. And for continuing to believe that neither of us was crazy when we got engaged three months in :) I will always appreciate your enthusiasm about our relationship, the wedding as a whole, and the particulars of planning....like how excited you were when I showed you the bm dresses I picked out. Or the continued offers to help with the growing list of DIY projects. Maybe I want ribbon wands to see us off.... :D

And last but certainly not least....my roommates. Even though we have only been roommates for a short amount of time they have been extremely GENEROUS and patient with me. They have to deal with articles from the wedding/engagement shoot, always lingering somewhere around the house. And because I just don't ever seem to have the time to get my life straight, there's always something of mine sitting on the kitchen counter that hasn't quite made it upstairs to my bedroom yet. Currently there are birdcages, chalk boards, picture frames, and david's bridal bags sitting in our living room. Not once have my roommates complained about anything, they simply tidy up a little better than I've left things and go about life around my stuff. They will never know how much having one less worry means to me!

I have to mention one more group of people that have been ridiculously generous. I don't want to mention their names because they are also humble but our vendors have been BEYOND WORDS gracious with us. Between giving us discount, previously agreed upon pricing, and free stuff...I couldn't ask to be surrounded by a better group of people to be taking care of us on the most important day of our lives!

GENEROSITY.....it means something a little different to everyone, but I've been blessed with ridiculously generous people and think I have a pretty good definition for the word

RUCHE

I just LOOOVVVEEEEE Ruche. Take a look at their new fall lookbook

Speaking of Updates

Speaking of updates.....I found out the approximate ship date for my dress is September 10th and it will hopefully be in a week later! That's only one more month!!! WOOOO HOOOOOO

Updates, updates, updates

Soooo, it's been a while since I last posted. And 11:34 pm is probably not the time to catch up, but I'm going to try.

Corey and I came home on Thursday, July 29th, anxiously awaiting his parents' arrival on Saturday. Sunday was not only his mom's birthday, but also our SECOND ENGAGEMENT PARTY!!!! My parents worked so hard, and it was AWESOME!!!

During the time that Corey's parents were here we were able to make a trip to Short Pump in Richmond. We showed Corey's parents the bridesmaids' dresses and the color, and the moms enjoyed looking at what dresses were out there for them. Corey had seen this awesome deal that morning for Jos A Banks and we headed over to check out suits. (Let's backtrack here a little) While I've been trying to personalize the wedding to our tastes, I realized that I KNEW that Corey didn't HAVE to wear a tuxedo for the wedding, but did he know? It's a big deal to get Corey in a tie, and with the wedding being OUTSIDE in JULY I thought it would really be a good idea to let him know he has some wiggle room with what he wanted to wear. That eventually got us looking at tan/khaki suits.

So we're in Jos A Banks and we're just not finding the "right" tan color suit that everyone can agree on. I had tossed around the idea of grey suits when I first introduced the idea to Corey but we quickly decided on tan. On a whim we asked Corey to put on a grey jacket. I know I'm partial, but HE LOOKED GOOD!!!! We found a suit (separates) in this awesome medium charcoal grey, and I'm so excited. Corey really seems happy with it, everyone seemed really happy with it. Now just on to deciding what shirt/tie we want to put with it. Changing the suit from tan to grey also meant that I could contemplate my original thought of using yellow for the boutonnieres.

Which brings me tooooo........the past two days Mom and I have been scouting out potential florists, stopping in a couple shops (and having a little too much excitement in one-as one of the employees suffered a seizure while we were there). We actually returned to this shop this afternoon. It is run by a Mom-daughter team, and they are the sweetest people ever!!!!! I went to one consultation this morning, and the lady was definitely helpful, but I felt HER vision was much more traditional, and at times pushed her own ideas on me. She had a lot of great suggestions and it was a good experience. However, meeting with the second florist this afternoon was a much better experience. I feel that they not only wanted to understand my vision, but actually understood it and took it to heart. Also, looking through books of their previous work, I saw many elements that I want in our wedding. They completely understood the whole vintage/romantic/garden wedding feel that I'm going for. Not to mention they had soooo many vases/lanterns/flower stands that are just EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR!!!! I also felt that they weren't out to "nickel and dime us to death" as I think the saying goes. The first florist wanted to charge us $10 for each vase just to hold the bms bouquets in before the wedding. RIDICULOUS!!!!! The second florist said they wouldn't charge us for vases, even ones for centerpieces. I won't get an estimate from them until a week-10 days from now, but the lady said she would give us a price range and include as many pictures as she could so that I would understand what she is talking about. She also welcomed any pictures I wanted to send her. On top of everything else, she has done work at the Lodge before, is only 2 blocks away from the Lodge, is familiar with Kathy (our wedding coordinator with the Lodge), and also knows my day-of coordinator. As we were leaving she kept saying "you're practically family now". It's good to work with family

Credit to Whitney Powell

I loved this post so much that I read on my friend Whitney's wall that I just had it to share.....


Weddings will change your entire vocabulary. BMs and STDs are no longer taboo terms, but terms that I hear EVERY day. BMs are super helpful and something you enjoy in your life and STDs can be ordered in Hallmark, online, or from local experts. I see more than one BM a day, which I hear is healthy. I am checking out my options for STDs, and I am leaning towards ones that I can order online and that stick to things!
Like I said, weddings will change your entire vocabulary. Who knew that BRIDESMAIDS and SAVE THE DATES had such funny abbreviations.