You Could Go Around The World...

...in the time we have left til our Texas wedding!

That's right, folks. We're eighty days away! [Kudos to myself on the 'Around the World in Eighty Days' reference!]

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We're a mere forty-four days away from the Seattle courthouse wedding. I've already booked my flight out there, courtesy of my dad's airline miles. I'm super stoked to fly out there, but we still have a lot to do before we can actually get married up there.

At least three days before I fly into Sea-Tac, Trenton has to take our marriage application to the courthouse. Plus, before that I have to fill out, sign and notarize my part of the application. Then send it to Trenton, who will then fill out his portion, sign and notarize the thing. We're good to go after that and a short three day waiting period. Once all plans are in place, I can call the courthouse to set up an appointment with a judge to marry us.

Then WE'LL BE LEGAL! And looming over us, ominously of course, will be the loads of paperwork that comes following our nuptials. Oh, the joys.

Why, Hello!

Sorry about the rampant disregard for blogging. Projects, school, work and generally being miserable have consumed my life the last few days. Wedding plans have been put on hold aside from planning my trip.

I'll start with the trip: I am going to Seattle in June to get married. Yes, that's right. You heard me.

You are all thinking to yourself, "But, Sara, you told me the wedding was in July?!" Never fear, my trusty followers. The July wedding is still on. However, we are getting legally married in June. A civil ceremony. Why, you ask?

Well, I'm not sure how much you know about military life, but as a civy (yeah, I'm hip and cool with military lingo-- that means civilian, non-military member, etc.) marrying into military life, I have a whole truckload of paperwork that comes due after getting married. Not only can we not get housing on base, but I can't get health insurance, access to base, etc, without being legally married.

Why June? Well, it's late enough that I can make it out there, but still a month or so before I move so we'll have time to get paperwork and housing before we actually make the long journey out there. Plus, if any of you are familiar with 'Gilmore Girls' will understand my love and excitement for a legal ceremony on June 3rd, our target date for said nuptials.

The important thing is, the Texas wedding will still go on. The ceremony there will be more about our families and us than just about getting paperwork done. We've actually agreed to not wear wedding bands (shocker!) until our July wedding out of respect for our families getting to see at least some vows taken before them. I love this idea, and the more I think about it, the better I feel about moving up there. I've already been stalking airfare and I've found an airline that has pretty good fares to Seattle from here. I'm excited.

On another note, it's been pretty hard trying to compile a playlist of songs for our wedding. I've had to think about what our first dance would be, but listening to "our songs" is too hard at this moment in life. I have just tried to compile it from memory, or choose songs that I like to dance (or awkwardly twitch) to. However, this moment in life has also gotten a LOT easier. I received these beautiful flowers this morning:

(personal photo)

This morning, I got a knock on the door at my mom's house. Awkwardly, I opened the door to a man holding these out to me. He says my name... stupidly I raise my hand like I'm back in grade school. I take the flowers in the house thinking maybe someone sent me some congratulatory flowers for the engagement? I don't know. I open the card, and they're from him. Tears well up, but do not drop. I am ecstatic that (1) he remembered my favorite flowers from oh-so-long-ago when I told him, (2) that he SENT me flowers! (3) he planned this before he left and got his mom to help figure out to what address they needed to be sent. A lot of effort went into getting me these flowers and I can't wait to hang on to them until they are moldy and dead.

I love flowers.

Our Story, Our Proposal

Trenton and I have been dating off and on since senior year of high school. It's been a roller coaster, but it's definitely been worth it.

Trenton joined the Navy after my freshman year of college. It was going to be the best move for him. It was hard to handle at first, but as it goes, distance makes the heart grow fonder. We soon got back to our normal relationship status, even through the hardest parts. It's been an adventure, but it's also been our life.

Trenton proposed on a trip to Seattle. I had flown out from my home in Dallas to see him at his base in northwest Washington. We had taken a ferry across the Puget Sound to Seattle. The sun was shining and we were surrounded by beautiful scenery. I remember thinking to myself "What a romantic place to get engaged!" Little did I know, he was planning that very thing.

We were standing at the front of the ferry, wind whipping by, and he told me we were taking a picture with the Seattle skyline in the background. He gave me a hug and said, "You know I love you, right?" And I answered, "Yes, of course." He assures me he will love me forever, and I started thinking, "Yeah... I know... why is he telling me this!?" I started to move away from the front of the boat and he grabbed my hand and told me I had to stay for a few more minutes because he had an important question to ask.

He got down on one knee and proposed, right there in the middle of the Puget Sound. I said 'yes' and the other passengers on the boat cheered and clapped. I don't remember much right after that besides asking him several times if he had actually asked my mom and if she had actually agreed. He assured me he had, and we celebrated the rest of the afternoon.

The proposal surprised me, and was definitely unexpected. It was perfect and I couldn't have asked for more. I can't wait to be Mrs. Sara Holloway, and to spend my life with him. The wedding planning process will be fun and also exhausting, but there isn't anyone else for whom I would rather be planning a wedding.