Engaged Encounter

So this past weekend John and I attended our engaged encounter. I had really no idea what I was getting myself into and was not happy about going, just ask some of my co-workers! All I knew was we would be going away for the weekend, staying in a dorm like setting, and sharing feelings. For people who know me, I'm not a feelings sharer and I sure don't like dorms! You get the idea of how I felt going into the weekend.
The weekend was filled with feelings, but I actually had a good experience. I didn't like getting up at 7 am every morning. However, we did pick a great weekend to go since we had Monday off and were able to catch up on sleep. Overall it really was a great time for John and I! The relationship got stronger for me and I just can't wait for the wedding in July!!!!

We oughtta be in pictures

Another major milestone on the road to marriage down...

We have our photographer! We met with Jess over Christmas break and really liked her (it didn't hurt that she and Tamara both went to Baylor and formed an instant bond). Her pictures looked great, and she seems like she will be really fun to work with.

Here is her site:

Jess Graham Photography

Save the Date!

Though neither of us is particularly happy about going back to school tomorrow, we both feel that we DID get a lot accomplished over the Christmas break. Most notably, we got our save the dates made up and sent out!

We opted to go for a simple bookmark to represent marking a new chapter in our life. Thanks to my sister-in-law for designing the bookmarks and to the rest of my family for helping to put them together!

Happy holidays!

We are very lucky to have gotten to spend a White Almost-Christmas together this year, as the sky dumped a bunch of snow on us in Arlington on Dec. 24th. That day, Tamara drove down to Blanco to be with her folks, but we got to see the snow falling together.

Also, we have the DJ in place now and are working on the photographer!

Our next step is to put together the Save the Date info and get them sent out right after New Years!!

The venue is set, the date is switched!

We can now officially get married. Sure, we had the church reserved, the priest in place, the wedding party ready -- but until we had that reception site, things were still up in the air, don't ya know...

As of this weekend, though, we are locked in. We will be having our reception at a lovely place called The Ashton Depot in Fort Worth. This is an old train depot that has been renovated and restored into a beautiful banquet hall complete with marble floor, tin roof, and stained glass windows.

The depot was already booked on Saturday, July 3rd, so we have moved the wedding date to that Friday, July 2nd. This date is now solid.

One of the best perks of the Ashton Depot is that the bride and groom apparently have a personal butler that attends to the couple's whim all evening. John will most likely be calling this butler "Alfred" all night, while Tamara (not getting the Batman reference) will just think it's funny to hear the name "Alfred" all night.

The Proposal (sans Ryan and Bullock)

When we first announced that we had gotten engaged, a lot of our friends on Facebook asked for, nay, DEMANDED that we spill all the sordid details of the engagement night and the proposal. Being the smartass that I (John) am, here was my story:

I took Tamara out to my favorite restaurant last night -- McDonalds -- and slipped the ring into the bottom of her McFlurry. When she discovered the ring, her shrieks of joy almost made Grimace wet himself!

OK, perhaps not the greatest mental image there, but I (John) thought it was pretty darn funny.

As they say at the end of the movie Clue, though, "But here's how it REALLY happened..."

I had told Tamara that we would be going out to dinner that night (11/11) but not where. I picked her up and took her to Blue Goose, a Tex-Mex restaraunt, which just happens to be where we ate on our first date. After that, we walked across the street to Hurricane's and a had a drink out on the patio, which we also did on our first date.

I should mention that the weather that night was still fantastic, in the 60s I'd say, so sitting on the patio was no problem.

I should also mention that the ring box was tucked into my sock the whole time. I found that the bulge in my pocket was way too obvious!

I was going to tell Tamara that some friends had texted me and asked if we wanted to meet them downtown for drinks at a new place. This would be a safe way to get her down to my predetermined site without raising her suspicions.

When the time was right, I reached into my pocket to pull out my phone and make the small fib about our friends. However, I soon realized that I had left my phone at Tamara's house!! Being the quick thinker that I am, though, I didn't let this deter me. I excused myself and went to use the restroom. Returning a few minutes later, I told Tamara that I had gotten a phone CALL from our friends, and the game was afoot once again.

I took her downtown to a site called Fountain Place. If you're not familiar with this, check out the virtual site tour here.

It's a business park in downtown, but there are fountains galore, and it's a beautiful place. As we got to the prime place that I had scouted out, I told Tamara that our friends should be there and that we should sit down on a nearby bench and wait for them.

I think at that point, she was just a wee bit suspicious, but by then it was pretty much done deal. When we sat down, I told her that our friends weren't really coming but that I had taken her there for another reason, and watermelon, watermelon, watermelon, watermelon. *

*Replace "watermelon" with some mushy lovey-dovey stuff that I said.

I then got down on one knee, pulled the ring (in a box) from my sock and popped the question. She didn't leave me hanging, which was nice, and we were officially engaged!

So you see Jimmy, that's how a Bill becomes a Law! No, I mean, that's the story of how John and Tamara got engaged!

Wedding Portrait

We got a very special gift this week from our Jr. Bridesmaid Kaylin. She had drawn a picture of a bride, me, back in July after she had met John. Then when we got engaged she drew the groom in, John. The picture is now on the front of my bridal notebook. It is the perfect page cover for all my notes and ideas for the wedding.

When we called Kaylin to let her know that we were engaged, she told me it was about time. I asked her if it was about time that John asked or it was about time that I finally got married? She answered in her very grown up way... that is was about time I got married. Did I mention she is 10???