Parties, Pictures, and Places

It's almost that time of year again.  That time when my body cringes at any and all things "back to school" related.  Seriously, I've even dreaded going to Target lately because of all their school supply aisles.  If I'm not having a good time at Target, something is really not right.  A responsible adult would be working on getting in bed before 1am and out of bed before 9am at this point in the summer.  Apparently no responsible adult around here.  If anything, my sleep patterns have only gotten worse over the past couple of weeks.  August 11th, I dread you.

Since the engagement, summer has really seemed to fly by.  We've been busy planning and booking and things are really coming together. Three months and one day, people!  Needless to say, at this point in the summer I'm usually reading books like, The First Days of School, by Harry Wong (yes, unfortunate name) but instead I'm currently reading, The Meaning of Marriage, by Timothy Keller (great book!)  Luckily, years ago Jana and I came to the conclusion that the back to school book really boils down to one thing--don't be a bonehead.  

Scott had his annual 4th of July party where we celebrated with family and friends.  He and I decided to go all out with our apparel and just let everyone know how patriotic we are.  Feast your eyes on this.

I mean, if this doesn't say, "God bless America," then I don't know what does.  The party also served as a fun engagement party for us at the neighbor's backyard pool.  They truly have a slice of heaven in their backyard and were so kind to host our large group.

I could get used to living across the street from this :) 

Festive cake pops and fruit pizza.

Our friends Scott and Rebekah.  They chose a more subtle attire for the evening. 

I know the 4th of July was almost a month ago, but I told myself if I blogged about it before July was over, then I was good.  Here's to a personal win for me.

I also enjoyed a trip to the Wisconsin Dells with my parents for the National Pork Industry Conference.  Yep, very official.  This was my third time to go and it really is so much fun.  Usually my mom and I lay poolside (my summer talent) and hit up the awesome outlet mall (my mom's talent).  However, this year we were there to enjoy the Polar Vortex and watched as the lifeguards walked the pool in misery and coats.

Notice rain and coat...Cue sadness 

Never a dull moment if you're a Moose Jaw pizza delivery boy.  And no, this isn't blow up...it's a legit fake moose. 

Ice Ice Piggy....(I'm sorry, I had to) 

                                            

This is the only picture I got on my African safari vacation....oh wait, that's the elephant statue outside the Kalahari Resort. 

Another highlight for us this summer was taking engagement pictures with Scott's talented sister, Lisa. Here's a special sneak peek of the fun! 

Here's to less than two weeks left of summer!  You can find me screeching into Sonic for half price shakes after eight...or still in bed before nine...thirty.  Look forward to a post on Scott and I's fun with re-tiling his (soon-to-be our) bathrooms.  If we only had a quarter for every trip to Lowes.....

The Proposal

No, this post is not about the hit flick starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds (although what a funny movie).  This post features the highlights of the best day of my life this far!  Scott is so creative and such a hard-working and thoughtful planner, so I knew the proposal would be good.  But wow, he definitely went above and beyond.

I had a hunch (after providing several not-so-subtle hints) that a beach trip proposal could maybe be in the works, so I told Jana to let me know if I ever needed to look presentable.  Our normal routine was to wake up and head to the pool or beach with no shower or make-up, basically my usual summer look, so I was hoping for a kind heads up.  I'd like to think every girl reading this is in agreement with me.

I was told that we would be enjoying a girls day complete with pedicures, shopping, and lunch.  I was a bit confused when I walked downstairs to see that Jana wasn't ready and said she wouldn't be coming.  After I saw a "Gone Fishing" sign on Scott's door, Cade came around the corner with my first "Amazing Race" clue.

A little background info...awhile back, Scott and I were watching The Amazing Race (as was our routine on Sunday evenings) and I asked him who he'd take as his partner on the show.  He quickly answered, with absolutely no hesitation, his brother Terry.  Now, I'll be the first to say, I would make a horrible partner on this show.  I'm awful with directions, not overly mentally or physically tough, and truth-be-told I like to sleep in my own bed.  Anyone who knows me is saying, yes..yes..yes right now.  However, a small part of me thought he might be sweet and at least humor me with the thought of picking me as his partner.  (Let it be known I said I would pick him.)

Needless to say, on Wednesday, June 18th, he chose me to be his partner for life's amazing race!  My first clue talked about enjoying the day and led my mom and I to get a pedicure together.

Scott put so much work into making the clues.  So official, complete with lamination. 

And who doesn't want to ride around in style on the day you're going to get engaged?! He rented this beauty for me to drive.  It was definitely a top down, wind-through-your-hair kinda day!  (This could have been his subliminal message telling me we need a mustang...I'm on board.)

He spent months planning out this special day. He included my entire family to spend different parts of the day with me. After pedicures, my dad showed up with my next clue that led us to enjoy lunch and arcade games at Dave and Busters.

Lucky for us, Wednesday is half price play day so we got double the playing time!  Beating my dad in the basketball hoop game (surprisingly, I'm quite good at this game), and watching him in his element with the hunting game made for a great time together!  Art's just ornery enough to make for an adventure no matter what we're doing.  Scott was worried about my sisters keeping the day a surprise, but it turned out to be my dad who nearly spilled the beans more than once.  He learned my dad will have the inside scoop on a need-to-know basis in the future.  :)

My sisters met up with us to give me my next clue in the afternoon.  We were able to spend hours together walking around Pier Park, an outdoor shopping mall on Panama beach.  The clue was so cute and mentioned we were pledging our sisterhood in the Sigma Sauder Sorority.  We even got henna tattoos on the beach,which inspired a possible real sister tattoo in the future.  I'm sure that event will be blog worthy.

Our best shark face. 

Enjoying our red convertible! 

Love these two! So glad they got to be a part of the big day!

I was told I needed to be ready for dinner at 7 o'clock.  Walking downstairs to go to dinner was the first time I had seen Scott all day.  He was making the magic happen behind the scenes, dropping people off, picking people up, and dealing with my dad who sent him a text saying he was taking me captive and he wouldn't see me for the rest of the day.  Oh Art.

Before dinner Scott surprised me with a helicopter ride over the ocean.  I know!  This really does sound like a date on The Bachelor, right??  The day just got better and better.  Turns out the company only takes one reservation for the sunset ride each night; again, Scott had arranged this months ago.  Is he a keeper or what?!

View from up high!

The helicopter ride was unbelievable!  We would both recommend it if you have the chance. 

After dinner at Pineapple Willies, a local restaurant on the beach, Scott handed me my last clue which led us to a moonlight stroll on the beach to look for buried treasures.  We walked along the shore and enjoyed the beautiful evening.  By this point we had the whole beach to ourselves.  Scott had had my brother-in-law set out a beach mat with candles and my last clue which said that I had won the amazing race! He was starting to get on one knee while saying sweet things and I had been sitting down to read my clue by the candlelight, so of course I had to pause him to quickly stand up.  Then he used my full name, popped the question, and I said yes!

 Honestly, I'm not sure we knew what to do after that.  I think it was a huge sigh of relief for Scott that his big day had been carried out perfectly, so we just sat out by the ocean and enjoyed the first few minutes of our engagement together.  Eventually we made our way back to the beach house and celebrated with my family.  They're so cute; they had a Pandora station playing love songs.

Please ignore my overly cheesy, I just got engaged grin!

All of my clues from the big day. 

We enjoyed the last days of our vacation and hit the ground running on wedding plans when we got back.  Our big day is November 1st and we couldn't be more excited!  Scotty P, you successfully planned and executed the greatest day ever and I'm anxiously counting down the days till we say I Do.  (112 to be exact)

Carillon Beach, Florida Vacay

A few weeks ago my family enjoyed a fabulous beach vacation!  The trip was full of all things good including endless hours on the beach and best of all, Scott and I's engagement!  The proposal story really deserves a blog post of its own because he did that great of a job planning things out long in advance and including all of my family in on the fun.  So look forward to that in the near future.

The easiest (and probably most enjoyable) way to summarize this awesome week is through pictures.  So know that we had a fabulous time full of great food, lots of laughs, sunning, shopping, and staying up late!  Without further ado, here are my favorite people at my favorite place!

Our Beach house...Casa Del Sol.  Walking distance from the beach. 

First night in town.  We enjoyed dinner on the beach. 

Delicious seafood with my future hubby!

All packed up to head to the beach!

The parentals posing at a shopping area across from our house. 

Jana had done her research and she and Matt provided a day of fun at Gulf World! 

Scott and Matt deemed this day "Suns out Guns out" and sported tank tops. 

We spent a few evenings after dark crab hunting.  Scott truly is the "Crocodile Dundee" of the family; always catching some kind of animal and impressing us all with his reptile-whispering ways.  I'm certain we're up for some adventures ahead! The crab hunting was actually very fun!  These crazy little, white crabs flock to the sand after sundown.  Each night we easily caught a few in no time.  Scott really wanted to bring them back to the house and examine them up close (can you tell he's a science teacher??), but lucky for us Art wasn't the best at keeping them in the bucket.  I believe it was Matt who said, "Um....a crab has escaped...and is right by Gentry's foot."

Scott and I did not regret our beach hat purchases prior to vacation. 

What can we say, we like to eat! 

Love these people! 

What makes a happier couple than a pirate and a mermaid??

How lucky am I?!

The day after we got engaged, Scott and I drove to nearby Seaside to enjoy the day together. 

He's such a trooper, letting us bury him in the sand.  I made him pose by the Trophy Husband shirt.  He's far too humble to ever let me buy him something like that. I'd like to think I'm far too humble to let him buy me a trophy wife shirt.....the verdict could still be out. ;)

Engaged June 18, 2014 Carillon Beach, Florida

While on the trip, Sweet Reese confessed her love for Scott.  It was the cutest thing ever.  The kids really do love him and run right past me to play with him...which I'm fine with.  What's  not to love about him?

Keep your eyes peeled for The Proposal post.  It will have you thinking, "is this an episode of The Bachelor"??  He's so creative and definitely carried out an unforgettable day.