The Countdown.

That's right folks. One year from today, I will be married. To be more exact, one year from 2:00 pm today. *squeals with excitement* This also means there's a new, lovely counter on the blog. It might change locations (especially if you give me feedback on it), so bear with me on it.

I know there's been a lot of questions as to why Sean and I decided to wait over two years from getting engaged (and over five years after starting dating, and 7 years after first meeting). Truth be told, there are a lot of reasons:

1. We were young, and we wanted to finish school with Bachelor degrees. I've seen so many of my friends get married while still in school, or before school, and they never finish school (or go to a community college and get an Associates degree). We didn't want to be one of those people, especially because he wants to be a lawyer, and he needs that education. But we're done now (can you believe it yet?).
2. We needed the time. We're throwing a big, Catholic wedding (our choice, not our parents'), and they take time to put together. We've taken pre-marital classes, we've booked our hall, and found a florist and baker (oh. right. need to post on that.), but there's still so much to do. We're putting together a wedding celebration for over two hundred people.
3. My parents needed the time. My parents aren't the richest people in the world. And they needed the time to help save money, because they insist on helping pay for the wedding (which is good, because we can't afford it on our own).
4. We're long-distance. Do you know how that affects a relationship? Everything happens slower. While we know more about each other than many married couples (communicate is all we do!), the stages of our relationship have taken longer simply because we don't have the physical nearness to each other. Plus, you have no idea how hard it is to plan a wedding from a different city. It's such a pain. Sure, Sean could (and would be willing) to do most of the planning, but I'm only getting married once, and I want to be there for all of it.

In order to celebrate our one year mark, I thought I'd give everyone a sneak peek of something I did over break...my dress!! I refuse to post the dress in its entirety, because I want it to be a surprise to everyone, not just Sean (well, my 'maids are allowed to see it, cause they're awesome like that).

Ahem. Drum roll, please.

(embroidery detailing on my dress! *squeal*)

I can't help but to squeal when I look at it...it's gorgeous, and gives me butterflies just thinking about the day that I get to wear it.