Theee Proposal!

Okay, so this a very long overdue post. But here is is finally - MY ENGAGEMENT STORY!!!

So let me give you some background info. Andy & I had been talking about getting engaged for a long time so I knew it was going to happen sometime this year - I just had no idea when! We really wanted to wait until Andy graduated from school, which is in December 2013, in case you were wondering we why waited a few years. And let me tell you is was SO hard to watch so many couples that were younger than us or hadn't been dating as long as Andy & I get engaged. It was tough, but finally our time is here!!

A few days before Andy popped the question I went on a walk with Kourtney [my sister] and we were talking about when we would get engaged and I told her that I didn't think Andy & I were going to get engaged until maybe the fall or even early next year. It was the end of July and Andy would only be home for a couple more weeks. There just didn't seem to be any time left to get engaged as silly as that sounds. The rest of the summer was booked with things we had to do. 

So then on July 27th, my 23rd birthday, Andy & I went to Chicago just for fun. We rode the ferris wheel at Navy Pier and I don't know why, but I kept thinking while we were up there that this would be the PERFECT place to propose. I even felt his pocket to see if there was a ring in it [I apparently wasn't very sly and he totally knew what I was doing after I asked him a few days later]. But there was nothing. Not even a trace. Not gonna lie - I was bummed! But let it go & went on with our day.

Andy & I on the Ferris Wheel

So then on July 28th I was going to celebrate my birthday with my family & Andy since I was gone on the day of my birthday. The plan was to go to church then Texas Roadhouse for lunch then back home for cake & presents. Since I didn't dress cute on my actually birthday (I wore yoga capris & sneakers since we were going to be walking all day in Chicago) I wanted to look semi cute today[I know I'm a total girly girl]. Now let me tell you I NEVER look cute on Sundays. I just don't. I get up just in time to get ready and look semi-decent for church. But today I decided to wake up early, curl my hair, and wear something cute. That never happens. But who doesn't want to look cute when you're celebrating your birthday? :)

My family and I got to church and there were roses laying up by the pastor and I leaned over and asked Kourtney why there were flowers there and we both just shrugged and figured they were for a lady's birthday in church that was today. After the sermon was over the pastor said we were going to end things differently today and that is when...

Andy came out of nowhere and walked on stage. I immediately knew what was happening and started to cry. I was squeezing Kourtney's hand so hard [thanks sis :)], kept saying "oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh" all while bawling my eyes out. I even let out a squeak. I am such a pretty cryer. I was caught completely off guard and in such shock that everything was such a blur. He talked about our love story, how much he loved me, and all that good stuff :) 

Here's one tid bit that he said... "I realized that it is extremely easy to fall in love with a girl if God continuously points you in her direction." OH MY GOSH. I about lost it. I mean how perfect is that?! 

After he had this beautiful little speech he asked me to come up there & got down on one knee & asked me to marry him! I could not stop hugging him or looking at my FABULOUS ring! It was exactly what I wanted. Seriously it is what I would have picked out! I have yet to stop looking at it! I couldn't believe something that beautiful was on my finger!

It was the absolute perfect proposal. It was everything I wanted & more. He did sooooo good! I am so excited to marry such an amazing man! 

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I had a few things I knew I wanted at my proposal & those being...

1. I wanted to look cute. I did not want to be in my sweats & a t-shirt. I wanted to feel pretty & not have to look back on pictures that I look like a hot mess in. And by some miracle I decided to look cute on one Sunday morning. 

2. I wanted my nails painted. I randomly decided I wanted fun pretty birthday nails really late Thursday (July 26th) night. And I used glitter nail polish on all my nails. My nails last way longer when I use glitter nail polish. Thank you God that I chose glitter nail polish otherwise they would have been chipped by Sunday. It's the little things haha

3. I really wanted it videotaped or at least some pictures. Andy had it videotaped by someone we know and now I can watch it over & over & cry all over again whenever I want!

I know these sound so petty and honestly if none of these three would have happened I still would have been the happiest girl ever, but God is good and it worked out PERFECTLY! He blessed us so much that day & continues to do so on our journey to becoming married!

After that we went to TPC John Deere & had brunch with both our families & then I went home to eat birthday cake and open presents. Talk about an awesome weekend!!!

Life is so good. 

Wedding plans are in full swing and we will be saying "I do" on August 2nd, 2014!!

Right now :)

Right now....

----> I am despising summer classes. Sitting inside listening to a 3 hour lecture is not what I had in mind for my summer.

-----> I have a mad passion to get a pedicure once a month now. They are so heavenly.

-----> I wish you could wear a sports bra with every outfit. Is it just me or are they the most comfy thing  ever?!

-----> I'm so thankful they make one-a-day contacts! They are lifesavers for my incredible difficult eyeballs!!

-----> I can't believe I will be TWENTY-THREE in one week! This just doesn't seem possible. I still feel 12. And still like pink and everything sparkly. There is no way I am turning 23.

-----> I had a 22-year-old-young-adult-crisis the other day. I became incredibly sad when I thought about how everyone will be packing up their college stuff and moving back to their home away from home. I'm still in denial that this stage in my life is over. I just can't grasp onto the concept of how fast time is moving now matter how slow I am going. Blah. Time go slower. I have so many things I want to accomplish before I'm 30.

-----> Really wishing I had more time to read for fun. I used to read like a mad-woman. Book after book. And then college happened & I didn't have time for it anymore. I am looking forward to the day where my Nicholas Sparks book replace my textbooks :)

xoxo beauties!

College Days

Three Things I would have Done Differently in College

3. I would have moved out of the dorms. I know I am probably the 1% that actually stayed in the dorms, but it was just easier since I was graduating a semester earlier. Looking back I'm sad that I didn't get that experience. While the dorms are fun, it gets old, and I wouldn't have minded being away from campus at times. Don't pick easy, pick complicated. It's way more fun.

2. I would have joined more clubs/done more activities. I got really caught up with school, relaxing, and spending time with Andy that I didn't get involved like I should have. I wish that I would have jam-packed my schedule even more with tons of different activities/clubs. It would have been a great way to meet more people & develop more friendships.

1. I would have made more friends. I don't regret one second of the time I spent with Andy or like the 4 real true friends I made in college, but I always wished I had that huge group of girls that I hung out with. Ya know, the ones that take pictures every five seconds, looking absolutely adorable in their group of 500. I wish I would have put myself out there more and put more effort into being part of a "group."

Three Things I wouldn't have changed

3.  Not partying. I seriously went to 1 party and the bars once my entire time in college. At times I really wished I would have been the partying type because it seemed like so much fun. But looking back, I'm so happy I didn't fall into that norm. [Not that I am judging anyone that does!] I would rather be portrayed as a good girl who does her homework than a drunk girl at the bar every weekend. 

2. Spending every waking second with Andy. Seriously, we grew sooo much while we went to college together. We have so many amazing memories that I wouldn't trade for the world. It was so much fun. Seriously, go to college with your boyfriend. Being with your best friend everyday and experiencing college together is such an awesome adventure :)

1. My perfect balance of studying and having fun/relaxation. There were of course times where I was in the library for 6 hours at a time, that is inevitable. But for the most part I always made time for relaxing. I always made time for "me time" at the end of each week day. Whether it was 30 minutes or 3 hours I made sure it happened. It really helped me from burning out every semester. While your last semester of college is impossible to not get burnt out, I'd say it helped lessen it.

Ten Things that Make You Happy [Tuesday Topics]

Sidenote: So I don't know blog etiquette yet & I apologize if I am doing this wrong fellow bloggers. I really need someone to give me a lesson because I stink at this whole thing. However, my another blogger Ali       
[seriously addicted to her blogs] posted Tuesday Topics & she got it from another blog. So someone please tell me how I am supposed to give the credit correctly & whatnot?! 

10 Things that Make Me Happy

10. Being Pampered :) I love manicures, pedicures, massages, facials, getting my hair done, someone doing my make-up ect. Seriously, I wish I could afford to do one of those things once a week! It is so relaxing and fun to have someone else do your nails or make your face look pretty :) 

9. Wedding/Propsals Videos. Ah, I am such a sap. I [happy] cry over every lovey dovey videos I watch on pinterest or youtube! I love love and watching people in those videos be incredibly happy just puts a smile on my face.

8. Andy. My love. My man. My everything. This needs no explanation. He is my best friend & never fails to make me laugh. 

[Yes, this is a terrible picture of us. But I thought it captured the idea well :)]

7. Being Fit. I don't always feel this way, but when I do it feels so amazing :)

6. The days where you don't have to wash your hair. I know I'm disgusting. I wash my hair every few days and absolutely dread the days that I have to wash my hair because that means I actually have to spend time on it. I love no wash hair days :)

5. Good deals. I feel like I win the lotto when I come home with awesome bargains! 

4. Compliments. Working as a receptionist it seriously makes my day when a customer tells me that I'm doing a good job & to keep it up. So grateful for those people. 

3. Food. I just love food. I am always hungry & love to eat. It's been really tough to stop eating all my favorite foods, but I sneak in some here & there :)

2. My family is just a given! Love them. I especially love when we are all hanging out, laughing, and in our comfort zone.

[I know this picture may look inappropriate, but we were just trying to help wittle kourtney stay on the tree haha]

[the rents]

1. When the "lightbulb" goes off. I absolutely love when i have an "aha" moment. Like today I decided that I really really really want to do exposure therapy & art therapy when I counsel. It made me so excited as nerdy as that sounds :)

Tuesday's Topic

What a wonderful, boring life :)

Wow - do I stink at this whole blog thing or what?! I seriously want to write, but I feel like I never have anything worthy to write about!! Most bloggers I know are married & have awesome posts on marriage or have kids & have tons of baby advice & stories to update you on, or they are traveling & have adventurous journeys that you can live through. 

Well I'm not married, I am no where close to having kids, & I have never even been out of the country. I know sound like an incredibly boring person. And often times I feel like I don't have this fun, exciting life like those around me. I got to work. I go to school. I sleep, eat, & breathe and try to make it to the next day. That's it. That's my life. Yeah, sure I have fun times with friends, family & my man, but I wouldn't necessarily call it exhilarating or monumental. 

Okay, enough of the pity party. 

Then yesterday it all of a sudden just kind of hit me after reading about a young woman, who I used to be friends with when I was a pre-teen, had lost her husband in a tragic accident. I haven't talked to her in years, but my heart was completely broken for her. And in that moment I realized how lucky I am. It's sad that it took her tragic for me to realize this, but it's the truth. My life is so full & blessed beyond measure. While all this may change in a matter of seconds, at this very moment I am the luckiest girl in the entire world.

Yes, I have an incredible boring life. But a boring life is better than no life at all.

xoxo,

Erica

Go Run :)

Okay, so no one told me how hard it would be to keep up with this thing. Either I have mindless information floating around in my brain or I'm too busy to update. So today's update is going to be brief & hopefully worthy of reading :) 

So I've been working out & eating healthy all of April. [Side note: By eating healthy I mean eating 2 muffins instead of my typical 4 & skipping dessert most of the time, but definitely not always]. I know I'm not overweight or need to lose a massive amount of weight. So please hold your horses & don't lecture me. But I'm a girl and just like every other girl in America I want to be toned, fit, and well just flat-out ridiculously good-looking. And after being healthy for almost one month I feel awesome :)

I honestly hardly see any difference, if any, in my body, but I FEEL FABULOUS! 

It is crazy how just being healthy can make a world of difference in your attitude about yourself. 

So go run, not because you want to be skinny, but because you want to feel absolutely wonderful :)

Take this world & give me Jesus.

This weekend my cousin was killed in a tragic accident. He was 23. Incredibly young. So much potential ahead of him. Getting married May 25th. 

Yet, his life was stripped away from him in a matter of seconds. How on earth do you make sense of that? You just simply don't.

I haven't seen him in years. I don't really know him all that well anymore since it's been so long. He lived in Arkansas. But at the end of the day he's family. I knew him. I had conversations with him. I saw him laugh. I saw him smile.

And my heart is broken. Broken for Chad. Broken for his parents. Broken for his siblings.  Broken for his fiancé. Broken for every person he has ever touched.

It makes me wonder how in the world people get through tough situations like these without Jesus. Because all I can think about is my awesome God & how he gives me hope that tomorrow my family will get a tiny bit stronger. That He will comfort them. That they will take one step forward each day. 

Chad became an Angel that day. How incredibly special it is to know that he is watching over my family right now as I type. How awesome is it to know that he is in Heaven with our Heavenly Father. There is no better place to be. Heaven is the ultimate prize & he made it. He's there celebrating with Jesus. 

This is how people heal. Knowing that Jesus is taking care of their little boy. That He is holding him tight. That He is rejoicing with him. That one day you will see him again. 

When my grandmother died, my mom & sister heard this song on the radio shortly after, and it has always stuck with me since. It's called "Where I Belong" by Building 429.

All I know is I'm not home yet

This is not where I belong

Take this world and give me Jesus

This is not where I belong

We love you Chad. Forever in our hearts.