Oh.Hi.Oh.

Welp, tonight is our last night in Ohio. =(
It has seriously been an amazing trip. This is basically the perfect vacation. I've gotten to spend loads of time with my soon to be in-laws, and it's been an absolute blast. We had a full house all week- Mr. & Mrs. Dryden, Nathan, Isaac, & Jared (the three Dryden boys.... sister Sarah was with her boyfriend for Thanksgiving), Grandma & Poppy (Nathan's maternal grandparents), Amanda & Bill (Nathan's uncle & his wife), Ellery Grace and Emery Cate (their two adorable little girls, 6 & 2 years old), and two dogs. There was so much going on, constantly. We watched movies together about every night, and ate almost every moment of the day. And of course, drank lots of tea. That's one thing I love about visiting the Drydens– there's always tons of delicious tea!

Basically we did a lot of sitting around and talking, reading, watching movies, cuddling, giggling, sleeping, etc. I went to the local tea house, The Swan House, with the ladies of the family on Friday morning, which was of course a lovely time. Nathan & I got to catch up with his friend Jeremy & his wife Carrie at a local coffee shop. We got to observe Amanda making adorable blankets for the girls (I took mental notes). AND- we started our wedding registry at Kohl's!!!

I'm honestly really sad to be leaving Ohio tomorrow morning. It's been a really relaxing trip. I've loved not having any plans or responsibilities for the day. I think it's been super healthy for our relationship to just be with each other without any school or work pressures for this many days. We really never get these kinds of breaks. I have loved spending every moment with Nathan. It just makes me so excited about 6 months from now when we're married.

I seriously fall more in love with him every moment we spend together.

photo by our wonderful photographers at Ulmer Studios

Thankful.

So last night I was journaling a list of life's little joys. I read it to Nathan and he said "that describes you perfectly." I like my list, and I'm going to share it with you. There are so many big things I'm thankful for, but it's life's little joys that we often overlook. Here's my list:

cuddling, cats, naps, fresh sheets, macaroni-&-cheese, ceiling fans, cold nights, red leaves, bonfires, oatmeal, laughter, freckles, dancing, e-mails, best friends, floral prints, marriage, hot coffee, stretching, ink pens, movie nights, moonlight, purring, warm showers, bathrobes, boots, beer, weekends, pause buttons, doorknobs, donuts, boutiques, haircuts, jewelry, compliments, wind, rain, art, the color blue,

and most of all, LOVE.we love to laugh together.
photo by Ulmer Studios Photography

haircut.

well, today I got my hair cut. the shortest it has ever been, definitely.
and, you know what, i love it.
I am learning to love my quirky curly hair. It's me.
and so what if I kind of look like I have an afro.

Love.

The weekend has come & gone. I think it's time for me to make a list of things I love.

• napping with my cats
• pepperoncinis
• my wedding dress
• my soon-to-be in-laws
• Stephanie freaking Creasy, and the fact that she returns to the USA in 15 days
• dancing out late with my girlfriends
• sweet dinner dates with Nathan
• bread & butter (ah, the simple things)
• boots
• knowing that I'll be Mrs Rebecca Dryden in 201 days!
• this picture from my favorite sweet artist, Geninne
  

Have a great week, everybody!

204 days.

I get to marry my best friend in 204 days, and I have no idea how I'm going to wait that long!
Seriously, I love him more than I can even come close to saying, and I'm so excited about sharing my life with him. Mrs Rebecca Dryden. Mmmm, sounds so right.

AND, my wedding dress is in. =) I'm going tomorrow to try it on! eeeeeeh!

Engagement Photos!!!

Today Nathan & I finally had our engagement photo session, and it was an absolute BLAST.
We were so bummed when our original shoot got rained out, and we had serious doubts that we'd get nice "fall" weather for our perfect engagement shoot after bumping the date back two weeks. But, miraculously, today was a beautiful day in the 70s with sunny skies.... and we even managed to find one tree with yellow leaves (the rest of the trees were totally bare, sadly).

We started out in the Cannery Ballroom, where Nathan & I will be having our reception on June 3rd! It was really nice to be able to revisit the venue, now that we have more tangible ideas in mind for the reception. And we had lots of fun with Josh & Amber there.

Then, we ventured out to Radnor Lake.... where we almost got arrested. We drifted off a hundred feet or so from the paved roadway to take a few shots, and some crazy tree-hugger lady stood there staring at us & yelled that we weren't allowed to be there. Then a "ranger" came and told us he could fine us & take away the cameras (which he actually couldn't legally do)... he asked if we were "students or something", and once Josh & Amber said that they were our wedding photographers & were taking some engagement photos, he immediately warmed up & lost his "hardass" demeanor. It was actually quite sweet. He drove by us later & gave us some other ideas of where to shoot some photos.... hehe. But we managed to take some good photos before being reprimanded. And we even got some "legal" photos after the fact, being sure not to veer too far from the paved pathway.

Amber & Josh put up a teaser of the photos on their photography blog: UlmerStudios

check it out! I can't wait to see the rest of the photos from the fun-filled photo shoot!