Back to your regularly scheduled program

Here are a few pictures from Ring Dance this weekend.

Me, Ben, Arthur, and Holly.   The theme this year was "Hollywood" so it was perfect for Holly's Junior Year Ring Dance. 

Your two favorite people ;)  (Ben likes to pretend that he's the same height as me b/c he knows it annoys me.)

I just love bumping into Aicel everywhere on campus.

That's pretty much all the photos I took!  Can you believe that??  I have always been an OCD photographer (minus the talent) just because I love having photos.  They're good for record-keeping.  ;) But I guess this semester a lot of things have had to change in my life.  I have been so flipping busy 24/7!!  Maybe that's the reason for the occasional breakdown...hmmm makes sense.  

Well Ben and I went to Michael's Arts and Crafts store in search of vases for the reception.  The plan is that the bridesmaids will just put their bouquets in the vases once they arrive--because 1) that's a huge money saver and 2) the girls won't want to lug them around anyway once they're dancing and 3) the bouquets are going to be gor-geous.  Just imagine a large bunch of  blue hydrangeas with the stems wrapped in ribbons and pearls.  WOW can't wait :)  But anyway here are the lucky vases!  I was originally looking for a more rectangular-shaped kind but these were the perfect size and I think they'll be pretty anyway.  

And here's where I got the idea:

Ben and I have quite a few busy weekends coming up.  I'm gonna list all the Saturdays coming up between now and the wedding.  See if you can believe this:

(4/4)--THIS weekend

(4/11)--we're going to get our marriage license

(4/18)--2 term papers due the next week!!

(4/25)--is my bridal portrait (by my lovely sister, of course!!)

(5/2)--is Holly's 21st birthday

(5/9)--final exams!!

(5/16)--Ben & I graduate and Ben is commissioned the previous day

(5/23)--holy crap it's the WEDDING

NOW you can possibly see why I've been having such major breakdowns lately.  Usually I get really stressed out and get really nervous (not about anything in particular, just shaken up) then Ben calms me down and I'm okay the next day.   You know, just the norm.  Okay now I have to go fold some laundry.

Engagement Anniversary

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately.  It's been a weird week.  Just wanted to let you know something:

One year ago from Sunday (today) at 10pm...Ben asked me to marry him!

How exciting!  I can't believe we've already been engaged for a year!  Here's the actual video of the proposal a few of my friends took.  You can't hear much...and the lighting at the Ring Dance was kind of dark, but I'm sure you can imagine what was said.  I love Ben so much :)  Do you know what he said to me the other day?  I was feeling down about myself and he said "Caroline, I fell in love with you the way that you are.  I don't want you to change."  Toooo sweet!

Just another 54 days....

2 months.

2 months from right now 

I will be getting my hair done...

...and getting prepared to marry the most wonderful man ever...

...and imagining him waiting for me in his white uniform at the end of the aisle...

...and trying not to cry so I don't mess up my makeup.  

St. Barts!!

Because I am extremely excited about it, allow me to provide you with a little preview of our honeymoon (in just 2 months, ohhh my gosh)

The island

Downtown Gustavia: look at those cute red roofs!

Our villa!! Complete with swimming pool and ocean views...how cool is that?!

The beaches

...and this may be the reason Ben chose St. Barts for our honeymoon ;-)  just kidding.  not really.

Exciting!!!!  I will be sure to give a full picture post after we're back.

Finally Spring

Happy 1st day of Spring!!!

Guess what we did today!?  We mailed the first batch of invitations!!! Yay!!

Update on the giveaway:  I just realized I never put an ending date on it...but I'm gonna go ahead and end it today.  Thanks for so much interest, ladies!!!  Best Part:  ALL THREE ladies are winners!!  How cool is that?!  

Hope everyone has a Beautiful Day!!

GIVEAWAY--Free Photography Session

As my FIRST official giveaway, I'll be giving away a FREE photography session with Katherine Klegin (a.k.a... my lovely sister).

Your session will include:

*shoot at the location of your choice (as long as it's in Virginia, Maryland, D.C., or North Cackalacky)

*1-2 hours of shooting time

*all photographs provided on a DVD

Check out some of her work here. I think she's pretty good!! I mean...she DID do our engagement photos!!

In order to win, leave me a comment answering the following 4 questions:

1) Who (or what) do you want photographed?

2) Where would you like to be photographed?

3) "Buddy the Elf, What's your favorite color?"

4) Have you ever been cow tipping?

***UPDATE: I just got insider information that she may be willing to offer MORE than just one session!!! So don't be shy!!

Food for Thought

Do you think if I just sit here...my paper will do itself?

My To-Do List

1) Finish this paper due in 4 hours.  --I just love/hate leaving things for the last minute.

2) Find out which ship Ben will get by the end of the day --Basically this information will determine our life together over the next couple of years, including when he will and will not be home

3) Continue researching apartments in the Norfolk area.  Hopefully find a reasonably-priced 2Bedroom with Washer/Dryer in a nice neighborhood so I don't feel scared to go outside when Ben is away. 

4) Get wedding invitations ready to go out--including stuffing, stamping, addressing--the works.  

5) Research graduation ceremony plans

6) Read for tomorrow's class

Ridiculous.

Already back at school.

 I got a lot of things done over spring break--but I was very sad to see it go.  I never even had time to relax.  On another topic, didn't Allison do a GREAT job on my blog facelift???? I'm just in love with it.

P.S. Another thing I'm in love with (besides Ben): my dress!!!  Went to the fitting this week; seriously, every time I put it on I feel amazing.

P.P.S. Went to see "He's Just Not That Into You" with Holly and Ben last night--great movie.  Really funny.  Just don't go see it if you've broken up recently.

busy bride

Wow the past couple of days have really flown by. On Saturday we had my bridal shower (hosted by my wonderful neighbors) and later my bachelorette party (hosted by my wonderful sister), so that was quite a day. My sister already has pictures up on her blog! Ben's 23rd birthday was on Monday so it was nice to have dinner with his family and celebrate the day my wonderful fiance was born :) Tomorrow we're meeting with my pastor, with our cake lady, and with our photographer--so as you can see I haven't even had time to catch up with my favorite bloggers! I'm hoping to get back on here after this week. Hopefully I'll be a little more productive with wedding stuff (i.e. invitations!!! gotta get them together & addressed) in the second half of this week. I will definitely catch up with everyone. Thanks so much for all the sweet comments and encouragements throughout the week! Y'all are awesome.

Spring Break is officially here!!

I finished my last midterm today. Ugh. I am so glad to get all that over with. Now on to a full (and I mean PACKED) week of wedding planning. You know...all the stuff I have to take care of now that I'm finally going home. Could be fun--could be stressful--we'll just have to see what this week brings. One thing I know: I'll be glad when the break's over (isn't that weird to say?) because 1) I'll have TONS of wedding stuff taken care of and 2) if it's stressful, then it will be done. I'm the type of person that if things are truly stressful, I just want other people to make the decisions for me--because I just don't care. OR could it be because I'm so indecisive?? Hmm...I don't know. I can't even make up my mind about that. Truly though, I've never met another person who is more indecisive than me. Let me know if I have a competitor. I'll keep you updated on the outcome of the next couple of days.

Love Actually

So I was listening to my itunes today and the Beach Boys' song "God Only Knows" came on and of course it reminded me of the movie Love Actually! I looked up two of my favorite scenes of the whole movie on Youtube...so if you haven't seen the movie yet (which I highly doubt b/c I'm pretty sure everyone has seen it) you should definitely watch it. Maybe these will convince you. And if you have seen it, enjoy.

Monday, no Fun-day

Okay the weather didn't help me out at all. However, I finished my paper & presentation all while listening to the little neighborhood kids outside my window throwing snowballs at each other and singing "Fire Away" (you know that little tune?) Cuties. I can't be mad at them even if they got out of school and I didn't.

Also: last night some talented college kids built a 10 foot snowman. Only at Virginia Tech can we engineer a feat beyond other's imaginations. :-P But seriously I'll try to take a picture. It's pretty impressive.

A note to the weather:

This is the one time I'm asking you to freeze so that my class tomorrow will be cancelled. If that happens I will have an extra 2 weeks to work on this project & presentation. That would be sooooo great mmmkay?

Seriously. Please freeze.

FREE wedding photography

Sherrlyn Borkgren contacted me about a great deal she has for brides: FREE wedding photography!! If you're getting married & are depressed by the rising prices, you should definitely check out her website. I looked at it myself and she seems like a really well-qualified photographer with a great big heart for helping out those less fortunate (on her website she mentions that "this year, portions of all wedding income go to the Democratic Republic of Congo to help tell the story of nine year-old Belice, a rape survivor.") Here's the portion she emailed to me:

I listened to Brandon Heath's song "Give me your eyes" and decided that I would give away a free day of wedding photography. Brides only need to visit my blog for details and tell me about their wedding and how they will help pass the love on.

I only mention it because if I were newly-engaged and starting the whole process again I would definitely give this lady some much deserved attention!!

*****

Blacksburg today: major snowfall. It has continued to snow throughout the day. What a pretty mess. And it's not too cold so I really don't have much to complain about!

I hope it freezes tonight--then I won't have to give my presentation (scheduled for tomorrow) until after Spring Break (2 WEEKS from now!!) That would be amazing.