Monday, October 29, 2007

Number two for today

I was just thinking on the way home how crazy this whole marriage thing is. I mean just in case you all didn't know, Amanda and I are getting married! That means we are spending the rest of our lives together! How unreal is that? I mean seriously, it is kind of crazy. I was thinking about how many things I get to do with this one girl that I randomly (or not so randomly for you faith based friends) met and fell in love with and I just go crazy! Half of the time I feel like such a dumb boy that doesn't deserve to be with such an awesome girl, but she still loves me and just kind of laughs and moves on you know? When you take a look around the world and see so many marriages falling apart this whole thing can get scary sometimes, especially because our generation has seen a major increase in the divorce rate. Even more frightening is the fact that most of that number is taken up by people in the church. I really believe this is something we can change and that I want to be a part of changing. Love is an amazing gift from God. The fact that He created one person for me to spend all of my life with, the good, the bad, the everything, blows my mind. It just kind of hit me tonight that Amanda is that girl for me 100%. She is everything I need and everything I have ever wanted. I want to be her everything and I want to be a part of change in our society that keeps this powerful Love alive. That is my prayer, this is my prayer, this blog really. A prayer that we wont give in to just giving up. My faith is crazy at best but I know one thing, I want people to know that I love God by the love I show to other people especially my wife.

417 days to go!

Quite a large number if you ask me but the more I think about it the more thankful I actually am. I woke up this morning thinking about how many things I personally have to learn about before Amanda and I get married. There are things to learn about money, how to be a good husband, how to be the head of the house hold, and how to let God continue to be a part of our relationship. Although the money thing makes me a little nervous I can honestly say I am excited to find out what all of those things look like in our life. I was laughing to myself last night while thinking about what it would be like to actually be living away from home. I really only "moved out" for a semester my freshman year so I dont even know if I know how to live on my own. Luckily I think Team Awesome can figure it out together (plus I would much rather figure it out as a team than on my own). It is great to have a place to just put my thoughts on how things are going. We are still just as excited, if not more, about being engaged than we were three weeks ago. We have kinda been going crazy with the planning but you know, we are who we are. Till next time.

-DJ

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Thankful!

It feels like we've been looking at different invitations for months when, in fact, we've only been searching for a week or so. We've seen some of the most elaborate and beautiful invitations with a price that would make your jaw drop. I've been so overwhelmed by the cost of paper! It is unreal to see how much it costs to just let people know you're getting married.
As most young college students, we are on a tight budget so we originally said we wanted to spend $600 for 250 invites.
Last night, we were looking for some nice paper at Target and DJ picked up a box of Do-It-Yourself wedding invitations. They were beautiful and on clearance for 6 bucks! We purchased one box (50 invites) and tried out an invitation to see if we liked the quality. They looked amazing!
From there, we got the itch to find 4 more boxes in order to have enough to invite everyone. We drove to 3 different Targets and ended up with 3 more boxes. I called the Murfreesboro store at 9:15 and asked if they had it. They had one box, but they couldn't hold it or sell it to me over the phone! DJ and I looked at each other and decided we should try to make it to Target before they closed at 10:00. We raced from Old Hickory to Murfreesboro in 30 minutes! I still don't know how we did it.
So, instead of spending $600 on invitations, we spent a little over $30.
We are so thankful and humbled that these invitations were provided.
Other than that, we are still busy with the initial wedding planning.
We are continually blown away by the support and love of our family and friends. It is going to be an amazing journey.
-Amanda

Friday, October 26, 2007

It Takes Two When It Used to Take One

That is of course, it takes two Ryan Adams shows rather than just one. We got to see Ryan and the Cardinals again this week here in Nashville and it was amazing! I think it is safe to say that the fiance and I have finally gotten our feet back on the ground this week. After three busy weeks, we have had some time to slow down and just hang out. Believe it or not Amanda even halted planning the wedding for a few days this week! I was very proud of her. One thing I have learned from these past few weeks is that keeping a relationship in balance is not an easy thing. Taking the time to keep everything in balance makes such a huge difference though! Once the wedding train starts rolling the focus of everything becomes that..so as Amanda wrote in her last blog, we have found how vitally important it is to take some time to slow down. Lets see, next weekend we will be getting some legit engagement photos done. Our friend and incredible photographer Michael Howard is taking them (www.howardphoto.com). Other than that we are just plowing through school and enjoying all of the things we have to look forward to. I can hardly believe it has been almost a month since we got engaged. Thanks to everyone for getting us all of the addresses by the way! We could sell our contact list for a good amount of money online its so big. Anyway, that is all I've got for now. Bout to meet up with the lady at Chili's for a little dinner date and relaxation time!

-DJ

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Remembering to Slow Down

We've only been engaged for two weeks, but we've already set up the guest list (with almost all of the addresses on an alphabetized spread sheet), booked the ceremony/reception site, picked out colors and registered! Phew! Its amazing how much we've already accomplished in this short amount of time. But, I think its important that we remind ourselves to slow down and just enjoy this part of life. I'm already turning myself into a planning queen. So, I'm remembering to take time to do nothing at all.

DJ and I are so happy to be engaged, especially with the amazing support of our family and friends. Its been so encouraging to be affirmed in that way.
We love you all so much!
-Amanda

Monday, October 22, 2007

Busy Busy!

Hello friends!
DJ here. Amanda and I have been busy busy since we got engaged two weeks ago. We took a visit to South Carolina to see some of Amanda's family and see Mr. Ryan Adams in concert. It was a really great weekend and perfect timing to kind of get away for a vacation. When we got home it was straight back to school for a few days and then more planning for the big day! Guest lists, registries, more guest list things basically describe our weekend. And just so everyone is reminded, this blog is about to be our way to communicate what is going on rather than facebook or myspace. Telephones do still exist so please feel free to call us as well! Anyway, sorry if my thoughts are scattered this morning. Please come back and check on us!

-DJ and Amanda

Sunday, October 21, 2007