And here I go

So I made a purchase that was overdue for house/ kitchen use. This purchase will definately change a few things like easier cooking and warming of food- I purchased my very first crock pot. Watch out! We made Mrs. D's easy chili in it yesterday. In the morning I cooked the meat, Darren helped me put all ingredients together, put it on high for about an hour then put on warm before Ieft go a day out of the house. So here I come, "Susie homemaker" and all. I am looking forward to how much more I am going find in regards to recipes. It will be nice to come home to a meal rather than take another hour to get a meal in us. I bought a 7 quart pot in hopes of making meals for friends and having that ability to make more at once.

My wedding party

So here they are...

My wedding party consists of my closest friends, and wanting to be held up by them as they have for so long.

My Man of Honor is Chad, my best friend since forever. He is very excited, I am pretty sure we celebrated the right way the last time I was in the Bend.  He is very tech savvy but also has some great ideas.  His new thing, is calling me Bridezilla.  Which is not true, I am just OCD in other aspects of my life that I can easily go into my planning as well. 

Then of course my partner in crime Malissa will be alongside for this wild ride. Malissa and I met, if you forgot, while at Barton College in the art building. Although she too is a mid-west girl we both prefer the coast to the snow any day. And of course great shopping buddies. Malissa also makes jewelry, I own a few pieces. She is Too creative that's for sure.

My kid sis, Edina will be a bridesmaid for the first time. She and I are very similar in ways and I hope that she enjoys the whole process.  She says she is excited and wants to be in the wedding but I asked her to just make sure she speaks up as my friends are very opinionated but awesome.

Gina, a sorority sister of mine will hopefully be joining us. Currently Gina is in boot camp, she is serving our country through the Marine Corps Service. We are not certain where exactly she will be next summer but she is very dear to me and I wanted to recognize her as great sister in my life by having her at my side.  She is great, enthusiastic, fun, adventurous and my pledge sister.

To round it up, Jess- my first and last roommate out of college will also be joining me. Jess has been an ear at arms length, heard my cries and helps me pick out items when we have times for shopping trips.  We have our girls nights, great conversations and she has quite the bubbly personality.  We are both experiencing living with our significant others and have found things that we were not expecting: co-habitation with a male is so tough compared to living with a female who cleans up behind herself.  Jess cut out her boyfriend/future husband and I am certain no feelings were hurt and if they were Jess would apologize because thats just the kind of person she is. 

Save the dates, check

So we have a wedding date set.

We are going to be married July 23, 2011. Darren and I will be married here in Indianapolis.

It's become our home and it is the best choice for us for location, it's where we met, have our favorite places, and where our lives have come together. We started mailing out save the dates last week to our family and close friends. Since we started dating Darren and I have mailed Christmas postcards from some trip or another, similar to our "save the dates," we used 3 different photos. One was from being at the track for the grounds tour, a close up from our trip to California and a third from Toronto- the day Darren proposed.

We are trying to finalize our location. One would allow us to hold the ceremony and reception at the same place but I hope that we end up using Darren's church for the ceremony and a second location for the reception. Darren's church does not allow receptions to be held there but they are a more comfortable location, up to date technology, and familiarity for the two of us. By the end of this week we will have it all figured out and more things checked off the list.

We have our engagement photos next Saturday. Exciting but still have to figure out my outfits and make sure Darren is also coordinating in his choices. If not we will probably see Darren in khakis and t-shirts while I will be all dolled up in heels.

Lead Me

I love this song!  Its by a christian group, Sanctus Real- It makes me think thats for sure.

And if you have time check out there website http://www.sanctusreal.com/, they have prayers for husbands, wives, parents/grandparents at the bottom of the page.  It also talks about the inspiration for the song.

In the works

So I know I am overdue on announcing our bridal party but of course that is on hold. I am still smoothing it out for myself, Darren of course has his figured out. I will let you know that we are at 4 each on at our sides, my half of the bridal party are people who have been introduced into my life at different parts. From my elementary years through the college experience. They have managed to stay still and steady in my life when it has not been. And most of all they are ready to take another topsy turvies with me: and this is going to be quite the ride.
Next on the agenda is taking another look at the church that Darren and I believe would be best for all of our needs; with the exception of reception space. My 2 best friends will be in town for the tour & dress shopping. My folks of course will also be in town, they Are kinda paying for it. It will be a busy weekend with house work for Darren and my dad then Mrs.D will be joining us at the church and possibly to check out dresses. It's going to be the first time our mothers meet, while his parents are more reserved my mom can be loud but they are both very conservative. Either way I plan to enjoy myself, the company & the moments.

The biggest news!

So...
I have been debating for awhile now just when to do just this. To share the biggest news I may ever have. The grandest, most crazy, exciting, ridiculous news. It's not only the biggest news it's also going to take my life into a new whirlwind, chapter, and before we know it I will be a Mrs.

That's right. Darren and I are engaged, for over a month now I have been saying fiancé instead of boyfriend or man friend. It all happened a few trips ago. While we were in Toronto, Darren caught me completely off guard. On our second day in Canada as we are grabbing our belongings before breakfast and a full day at the track. Darren asked if I had everything and noticed my phone on the nightstand and when I turned around there he was letting me know that I had forgotten something else, and asked if I would marry him. And silly me said- YES! I thought this day was past and the moments missed several times. Apparently he had many other moments where he was going to ask, like on our wine tour the day before and other times that I am unaware of. 

Due to being out of the country I was unable to share the news with anyone- the most exciting news I will ever have and I had to wait over 36 hours to share it.

Responses:
Of course once we crossed over into Michigan I had to call my Mom, "it's About time." as Darren had asked my dad a few weeks to a month before. And my parents were aware that the conversation about marriage had been occurring for quite awhile between the two of us.

Chad:  First I woke Chad up, but my take was that he was slightly shocked. "wow, congratulations." or something to that affect.

Malissa:  We usually talk on Sundays but I wait over an hour between calls.  On this particular Sunday I called about 4 times before she finally was able to take my call.  " What was so important that I had to hang up with my mom?!" and then " Its about time!"

Brittany:  After I had teased Britt with some false news and built up some excitement I was able to bring her back to Earth, I told her the real news.  "Oh, my gosh, I am so happy for you."

Please correct me if I mis-quoted anyone, Its been awhile.  I also wanted to wait until I had a date set in stone, but we will not have that answer for another 2 weeks.  We are looking at July 2011, we have a location, in Indy, but will be checking out another that may also be its competition.  We have most of our wedding party asked and on stand-by for more instructions.

There were quite a few other reactions but for now I only have these to share- Its passed my bed time.

Save the Date Cards will be in mail shortly after the 12th of September.
Next time... The wedding party!

Day 3 & 4

So after a day at Yosemite, a 28 dollar 8-slice pizza, and then attempting to find a hotel. 

We took about a 4 hour drive towards the wine valley of Sonoma.

To the Korbel Winery!

We made it just in time for the final tour of the day, I wanted to do this in Canada but they were not as common as one would think in a high wine source area.

We found out a little about the beginning of the company, 3 Korbel Brothers, how the process works and the tradition that we see on our grocery shelves.

These are the larger barrels, they sat side by side throughout the cellar.

Ah... the Best box to see.

These take 6-half turns on each bottle to keep the cork in place until you are ready for the pure enjoyment of their bubbly.  6-half turns is actually standard in the industry.

After some tasting, 4 different types from their collection.  After a quick photo we went in to browse and make our purchase.  Unfortunately we could not have any shipped home thanks to the wonderful law of Indiana that prohibits shipment into the state.  Something about the no name wine industry here which does not allow outside company's to distribute to us.  I do not drink Indiana wine, so BOO!

This sign had all sorts of vineyards and the direction to go and peruse.

Day 4 at the Race, we had our bubbly then headed towards the track for some light shopping and walking around.

This is the first time I have seen these of all the races we have been to, I would have sat in it but these bratty little kids were in them and asking too many questions.

Here he is, at least some of Justin Wilson's equipment for car 22.

Darren had scruff, did not pack his electric shaver due to flying.  Its nice to see scruff every once in awhile.

It was a top ten finish for Justin Wilson and team.  I was having a rough time shortly after this point.

Concrete seats with no backs are not my choice that's for sure.

Then we headed out for a last dinner, pizza for about the 3rd time this trip, then onto the San Francisco airport for our Red eye home.

Darren got sick after Yosemite, but arriving home on Monday at 10am was so nice.  Went home, showered, fed Darren and we crashed for about 3hours (Darren was out much longer).  It was a great trip. 

A whole new adventure.

Our summer has ended

Alright, so Summer in the sense of weekend getaway's and having a more carefree life has ended.  Life, at least for just over a month has began its craziness.  So for our last HOorah; before the fresh weather comes in, football season, classes and more planning, we went to California.  This trip has been in the works for awhile obviously as we had to fly there and take time off from both of our jobs.  On this trip I got to spend some time with Dana, a former roommate from Barton, hiked Vernal falls at Yosemite, toured Korbel Champagne Cellars- its my fave, and of course an Indy Car race.

So here are some photos, from Day 1 in San Francisco with Dana & Day 2 Yosemite with Darren...

Some Seals, many are MIA for the Pier.

Mirror Maze, does not accept Visa but does make you feel very odd afterwards

Ghirardelli Square, AMAzing ice cream!

Crossing to Vista Point before walking the Golden Gate Bridge

Goofing off.

Beginning the way too long hike in Yosemite up to Vernal Falls.

Only 1 Mile up, I do not think so.  It had to be much more.

The only time Nature and I like each other, when I am running or even better posing.

Going back down.

This should go in our house, not sure of where though.

Heading out for some food and a bed.

These need to become a triptych,

I took them while Darren was pumping fuel that cost way too much.

More to come on Day 3 from our tour at Korbel & the Race.