Found a Possibility

Brandon had to work this morning which gave me some time to sleep in! When Brandon got home, we decided to head up to the National Conference Center in Leesburg to check out their new ballroom. When we first moved here, Brandon was the front desk manager at NCC. Their ballroom was very nice and we were able to see the set up for a wedding which was also nice. Since we just dropped in, we weren't able to speak with the woman about booking and pricing. We will have to call to schedule a meeting with her. It really has everything that we are looking for: a cocktail hour prior to the reception, a buffet or plated dinner, a dance floor, tables, chairs, linens, place settings, center pieces, an open bar, an outside patio, rooms for out of town guests, a comp room for Brandon and I, a head table, sound proof walls, good parking etc. Now it will just depend on the dates available and the pricing. There are two other places that I want to take a look at as well which also offer the same accommodations.

We have our first church class on Tuesday. Wish us luck!

Rusty's Birthday

Today is Rusty's birthday! He is 4 years old today. Unfortunately, I was not able to plan his birthday party because so much is going on right now. We have been looking at reception sites and we are having some friends visit for a long weekend. I will have to look at maybe scheduling it for next week sometime. He did really enjoy getting all of his birthday presents. He thought it was his lucky day because he got new toy after new toy! As you can see, after all of the excitement, he had to take a rest. The last picture is really how he likes to sleep in his crate! He's so goofy.

We are still looking at sites. We went to one yesterday that is a definite no! It was disgusting actually. I'm not worried though because I have a list of many, many more places.

It's Going to be a Busy Week

After checking many websites and reading many reviews, I have a list of about 8-10 more places to go see in the next couple weeks. We are crossing our fingers that we will find a place that we like and can afford. I'll keep you posted.
In other news, I am planning a birthday party for Rusty, our dog. Don't laugh, it's true. He turns 4 on August 20th. I'm hoping to have 3 of our neighbor dogs, who are Rusty's friends, and their owners over for some playtime for the dogs and a cookout for the owners. I got the invitations yesterday. I'm so excited to have a birthday party for him because he has never had one before. Of course, he is really excited too ;)
For those of you who don't know, I started a new job in June. I left the school system and I am now working at a private clinic. I really like my new job. I value the time that I spent in the school system however, the new job is so much better! I finally feel like a real Speech-Language Pathologist rather than a slave to paperwork and the parents! I am working part time right now but will begin full time in September. Oh yeah, the best part, I have Fridays off. Yup, we work Monday - Thursday. It's pretty awesome!

The Reception Site Search Continues

Well, today definitely showed us that we need to continue our search and it may take a while to find a place within our price range. We checked out a couple of places today, one is a maybe and the others are definite no's. It is looking like the hotel sites are going to be way out of our price range as one today went up to $150 per person. Yikes!! Although some may be doable if we do a Friday night wedding. We haven't decided that yet.
I am actively searching the Internet and bride magazines for other sites. We have a couple possibilities that we will check out in the next couple of days. In the meantime, we are working on our guest list and waiting for the church class.

The Planning Has Begun....

I had the opportunity to meet up with some friends on Friday night to celebrate Cyndy's birthday. We began talking weddings and Debbie H. really inspired me to begin planning so I did. She has really been able to give me some great ideas since she and her husband got married in the area last year.
I got up this morning and began calling places that I had researched on the Internet. We have some appointments to check out reception sites on Friday. When I called the church, I was a little disappointed in the process but we have to do what we have to do. I was told that before we can even talk about available dates, we have to attend a marriage prep class at the church and the next class is not until 9/2/08. After that, we have to complete a compatibility questionnaire which takes about 2 weeks to process and then we have to meet with our priest to go over the results and then we are able to look at available wedding dates if the priest approves.
I expected us to have to take a marriage class at church but I was under the impression that it would take place closer to the wedding. But oh well, I'm learning the wedding planning process as I go.
This means that we will not be able to set a specific date until mid to late September. We are still hoping that the wedding will take place sometime during September of 2009.

We're Engaged

On June 7, 2008, Brandon proposed and I said yes. We are very excited to be engaged. The night of the engagement was awesome! It was my birthday weekend and Brandon had planned a surprise for me. I had no idea what was in store for us. All he told me was that I needed to pack an overnight bag. Of course I had a million questions as to what I needed to bring with me. I'm not all that great with surprises but I loved this one!
So, we headed out east in the very early afternoon on the 7th. We stopped at PF Chang's in Tysons because we love the lettuce wraps! After that we continued to head in the direction of DC. Brandon took me to the historic Willard Hotel in DC. This hotel is around the corner from the White House. We checked in and explored the hotel and then Brandon gave me my birthday present which was a Coach purse that I had been eyeing. He did this to make sure I didn't think anything else was going to happen. We then had dinner at the Old Ebitt Grill which was within walking distance. Dinner was excellent! After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to have drinks at the Round Robin Bar where many presidents have also enjoyed drinks. After a bit, I was ready for bed but Brandon decided to have another drink. Come to find out later, he was trying to procrastinate until midnight because then it would be my birthday. I couldn't wait any longer as I was exhausted. We left the bar and headed toward our room. On the way, Brandon pulled me into one of the sitting rooms. This is where he pulled out the ring and asked me to marry him. I was so shocked, the first words out of my mouth were "are you serious?" When he said that he was, I said yes to marrying him. This was definitely one of the happiest days of my life thus far!

When It All Began

It all began many years ago, a little over 10 1/2 to be exact. I was in college and Brandon had just graduated. I decided to join the girls for a night out. We ended up at a friend's party. Brandon quickly gravitated toward me and we clicked. Our first date was attending an Erie Otters hockey game. For anyone that knows me, you know that this was a perfect date since I love hockey! Eventually, we began dating more seriously and our relationship blossomed from there. We have had our ups and we have had our downs along the way. We have worked through the downsides and have been on a high up swing for quite a while now. We are finally ready to take the next step!