Thirteen: Handwriting

Although this isn't the best 'handwriting', it is the handwriting of my precious niece. I have struggled a long time with how she would take me finally meeting the guy I would marry and have babies with. She LOVES Brandon, but I was very worried about how she might take the news of us one day getting engaged, married and having kids. Even last time she was here for spring break, she wouldn't discuss us getting married. Lisa asked her one day about it and she gave the same answer as she always does, "I don't want to talk about it". With me, she would either get mad if I brought it up or start getting teary eyed about it. I think her biggest concern is losing me. She thinks when I get married or have a family of my own, I'll forget about her, I won't have time for her and she will lose her bond with me. I have worked very hard over the past few months to try to help her understand there is ABSOLUTELY no truth in that. Brandon and I love her and she will always be a huge part of my life, she can still spend her annual week in Dallas during summer break and she will get to be the most amazing aunt one day. Last weekend when I went home after the engagement, this is what she gave me. It brought tears to my eyes...and she even got excited about the idea of calling him 'Uncle Brandon'. Makes me so happy.

In case you can't read it, this is what it says: Dear Kellie Watson/Woods, I love you very much. You are the best aunt I could ever had. I would love to be in your wedding! Love, Megan

Special Birthday Dinner

I think I met the most amazing 30 year old man EVER. He is so sweet, thoughtful and good to me. This past weekend, my brithday weekend, was BUSY to say the least. Friday, my mom, Lisa, Mica and I spent the entire day venue shopping...it was fun but wore.me.out. Friday night was my surprise birthday party which was awesome but it turned into a very late night! Saturday, Brandon and I bailed on the 5k that we had signed up to do but Saturday afternoon we spent with my mom at the Cowboys Stadium for the Kenny Chesney/Tim McGraw concert...which was tons of fun! It was another very late night and Sunday was no less busy. I worked on Cabo/Engagement pics (sorting thru 1k pics and editing about 80), wedding stuff, cleaned out one closet and started on the other trying to make room for Brandon to move in...moving the wedding date up also moves this date up! Needless to say by Sunday evening (my actual bday), we were both exhausted and possibly a tad bit cranky! :) But, Brandon being the wonderful guy that he is went all out to make my day special. As if he hadn't already done enough, he went to the store while I finished up the pics and bought all kinds of yummies to make me for dinner. He made me stay on the couch while he brought multiple courses to me so that I wouldn't know what he was making. BEST.BIRTHDAY.EVER.

Appetizer: Crab & Spinach Dip w/ Crackers

I.LOVE.HIM.

Dinner: Steak & Chicken Kabobs with bell pepper and onions...with asaparagus on the side...scrumptious!

Dessert: Our fav...Dough-y cookies with ice cream and caramel...delish!

Twelve: Past

OMG...these pics are a blast from the past. One of my high school bff's sent me these pics last weekend that she randomly found after our reunion. This is wedding slide show material for sure...cracks me up!

Me, Jamie, Lisa and Niki...this had to be around 8th grade-ish school pics...wow.

Me, Lisa and Jamie with our HUGE homecoming mums probably Sophomore year?...my mom made all of them and they were SO COOL...at the time!

Senior Prom...Me, Jamie, Lisa and Amy. What great memories with some great friends!!

Eleven: Junk

I'm not sure which one of my lovely ladies came up with this 'word' of the day...but all I can think of is 'junk in the trunk' and LORD knows I have plenty of that on my backside...but I also know that nobody wants to see a pic of that! :)

So, all I've got is my junk drawer at work. There is a random mix of all kinds of 'junk'...but I must say that it's fairly organized! Among my junk are items such as:

Coffee Creamer/Splenda (when jcp used to make us pay for that stuff along with our over priced cup of coffee...I'll show them!)

Andes Mints (which I'm not allowed to eat right now due to Round 2 of our competition...boo!)

Address Stamp and ink pads (gift Mica gave me a long time ago that I love!)

Plastic Forks/Spoons for eating at my desk

Hot Lemon Tea (my boss got me onto this when I have a sore throat or congestion issues...it's great!)

And of course, the normal 'medical kit' stuff...bandaids, tums, eye drops, etc.

Oh yes...if you look closely, you'll see my little salt shaker...you never know when you need an extra 'dash' of salt!! Ha! :)

Ten: Secret

June 10th...my BIRTHDAY!! I do love me some birthdays and although this year I decided I would not celebrate 'big' or go all out for a month...Brandon and my friends decided otherwise! And I've loved every minute of it! I haven't decided if I like 'secrets' among those closest to me or not...but some secrets pay off in the end. :) Brandon contacted Kathy a couple of months ago to 'book me' for dinner, a small couples dinner with her and Matt and Bama and John. Little did I know, they had all schemed to get me to a specific Mexican restaurant near Brandon's house at 7ish on Friday night. Brandon then had to make a quick stop at his house on the way "because something was in his eye and he needed to put his glasses on"...then he needed me to "come inside to help pour some eye drops in his eye". What?! Being the 'go with the flow' kinda gal that I am (or at least try HARD to be most of the time!)...I went with it. And as I walk in, his house was fully decorated in pink Hawaiian themed decor and 30 of my closest friends yell 'Suprise'! So fun! His roommate had the grill going making burgers, hot dogs and chicken for everyone for dinner, Kathy made all of her yummy dips and cupcakes for dessert (red velvet, chocolate and strawberry!) Yum!! My besties from Waco, Keith and Jamie even showed up which was a huge surprise!! I am so thankful for an amazing finance and best friends...even if they keep secrets from me occasionally! ha!

Kathy and Matt took all of the pics that night and I haven't had a chance to get them from her... so for now, here are just a few that I stole from her blog!

Special thanks to Kathy for all the chips/dips/cupcakes...and huge candles!

Brandon 'taped' the hawaiian skirt on the table with athletic tape...priceless!

Uhhh-Mazing. Friends.

Nine: Money

You'd think Brandon and I had a money tree in the back of BOTH of our houses these days...whew! We are both so blessed to be able to afford to do so many fun things in our lives...but life isn't cheap! Especially our lives! With our long, extended (much needed!) vacation in Cabo, including so many fun activities like dune buggies, parasailing and deep sea fishing (better called 'whale watching' trip)...not to mention the added expense Brandon had of the proposal and private dinner on the beach...and even more my AMAZING engagement ring. Holy moly...I was blown away by the beauty and custom design of it. Weddings, birthdays, travels...we have had an expensive couple of months...and our 'expense' list continues to grow while our 'money trees' do not! :)

But, life is good...no complaints here. Although next step on the agenda...get ourselves on a budget! (You know in between wedding planning, dress shopping, cake tasting, cleaning out closets to prepare for B to move in, blogging...oh and work!)

Here's my pic of the day...the most amazing (hopefully largest one time) expense of my life...the ring that represents our commitment to each other! Thank you Brandon for fulfilling my life in every way imaginable!

Eight: Bad Habit

I probably have a lot of really bad habits but one that comes to mind is my inability to slow my life down. I know that I could say 'no' more often and stay at home but I struggle with it. I have a lot of friends and I love to see them...and I get myself booked up quickly! I'm so much better than I used to be but I still struggle with it. Now that I have Brandon in my life, it's not all about 'just me' anymore...but I know I drive him crazy sometimes keeping us so B.U.S.Y. Don't get me wrong, that boy loves to be on the go! He never sits still but the difference between us is that I'll have us booked up several weekends in advance...whereas he likes to book last minute. We are both trying to adjust to each other's schedules but we started an online google calendar so that we can both add events/plans to it and the other one always knows what is going on. I highly recommend it! I have even gone through and put in weekend blocks of 'NO PLANS'...at least one per month. Those are his to book last minute if he wants to! :)

And now, especially with all the wedding planning...everything else must SLOW down. I need to keep my stress levels in check...and make sure that I enjoy this planning process! =)

Seven: Back

I know that my parents LOVE to ride the Harley on a beautiful, mildly warm day. I get it, wanting to be outside, enjoy the fresh air, have the breeze blowing in your face...but I don't get the long rides that they go on. And it scares the crap out of me. I worry the entire time thinking all the worst things that could happen to them. My dad left last week and went on a ride for about 8 days riding through the country with his friends. Although I know he enjoys it and gets to see and take pics of some really cool stuff. I want him 'back'...back at home, safe and sound!

A pic from his most recent trip.

Six: History

This past weekend, I had my 15 year high school reunion. Sounds lame but our class is so fun and we all really have a great time keeping up with each other. Facebook makes it cool because you know enough to see where most of the people are but face to face outings are fun because you can really keep those relationships alive. I loved getting to see some of my old friends and relive our old stories. This reunion was even more special because I got to take a date...a boy that I plan to spend the rest of my life with! It was awesome to show him off...and it didn't hurt to have a huge rock on my finger to prove exactly how amazing this guy is. Everyone loved Brandon and we had a great time. As we prepare to build our own history together...it was fun to introduce him to my friends from the 'pre-Brandon' days!

Five: Appreciation

Wow, I'm not really sure how to convey my appreciation to Mica and Lisa. I have amazing friends and have no doubt that each one of my girls will play a special part in my upcoming wedding. But these two have started off strong! They have seriously spent every spare moment (well other than keeping up with their own blogs....more on time than me!) researching, calling, documenting every potential wedding venue they can find. They have googled, requested info on facebook from anyone listening and worked so hard to help me find a place to marry the love of my life! I am so thankful and so blessed to have such amazing friends to hold my hand throughout this process. I have been swamped with month-end close and digging my way out of emails and voicemails after my 8 day vacation to Cabo...but no fear these girls have waited for the day that I finally get to have my own wedding and they are wasting no time making sure it will be the wedding of my dreams! Love them both and big thanks from the bottom of my heart!!

Here's just a quick snapshot of their hard work in excel...you can't see the details but there are many columns going out to the right with all kinds of info, including costs, availability, capacity, items included (linens, chair covers, flatware), etc. They are the best besties ever!

Four: Summer

Playing in the sand in beautiful Cabo San Lucas...celebrating one of my bestie's getting married to the man of her dreams and first long vacation with the man of mine...is the PERFECT start to our summer!

Three: Ingredients

The ingredients to a successful proposal dinner...private dinner for 2 at sunset on the beach...multiple courses including champagne and dessert...and the most handsome and sweet boy I've ever met!! 

I don't usually like champagne, but this was fabulous!

Melon balls wrapped in prosciutto....sounds weird but actually very tasty!

Lobster bisque for soup.

Salmon cooked in white wine sauce with mashed potatoes and veggies...scrumptious!

Chocolate cake....delish! 

Two: Project

I haven't personally put together many 'projects' lately but Brandon completed a HUGE one right before our trip to Cabo. This was all part of his 'plan' to help hide the fact that he was going to propose in Cabo. He told me bits and pieces of his ring debacles along the way from the time we first started talking about rings in February to the very weekend before we left for Cabo. As you can imagine, it was soooo hard for me at times not to be overwhelmed with excitement. I had no idea when it was coming but I knew he was working very hard on the design of the ring. He told me that he knew it was hard to wait and he didn't want me to get frustrated so he was making me a surprise for Cabo...just a little something for me to look forward to for the end of the trip. He told me it involved a trip to Michaels, some weird looks and burning paper in his garage. Wait...what?! I had no idea...but I couldn't have been more impressed. My surprise was a photo album that he made which was a timeline of our relationship. He burned the edges of brown card-stock paper so that it had an 'old timey' look to it. He gathered various pics and put stickers on each page detailing specific dates and the event with a pic to go with it. He included everything from our first meeting (April 24th, 2011), our first date (August 14th, 2011), the World Series game we went to, our first weekend away to College Station (October), our first vacation in Telluride (December), our first trip to Indiana to meet his parents (Jan 2012), the day he asked my parents for permission to marry me and several others. He also left 2 blank pages at the end for the day we got engaged and the day we got married. So cool!! The album itself along with this thoughtfulness and creativity was very impressive! 


Plus, it was the perfect 'cover' story to celebrate the last night...and give me no suspicions that there may be an even bigger surprise coming that same night!! Here are just a few examples of some of the pages.

One: Discovery

I will slowly catch up on Amber's Wedding, our trip to Cabo and Brandon's proposal...prepare for me to turn many of these 'daily words' into something I can blog about regarding all of that! 

First, discovery. Apparently I'm not always very aware of my surroundings. I pay attention when it matters but I'm not much of a 'snoop doggy dog'. First example, a couple of years ago when Lisa first became pregnant (I think with Blake), she switched from regular to decaf coffee on our morning coffee breaks. She didn't tell me she was prego, but assumed I'd pick up on the fact that she all of a sudden started drinking decaf. Not sure how long she drank the fake coffee but I never noticed on my own!

About a month ago, Brandon got really nervous when I was at his house one evening. Apparently, the box below was open...on his desk...and I walked right past it multiple times. According to him, he was panicked that night thinking I was going to discover my own diamond. He hadn't gotten the ring designed and in the setting yet, but this box held my center stone. I had no idea!! This was just the first of many scares for him along the way to the proposal!

Photo A Day - June

So I didn't do so well keeping up in May but I'll be honest...I was busy but mostly just bored by the words given. While I was soaking up the sun in Mexico, the girls put together a new one in which they created. Let's see if I can make it happen this month...and yes I know that I'm already behind. :)