SWEET HOME CONNECTICUT: January 2009

January 30, 2009

LIL GABRIEL

A few adorable pictures of Rebecca & Bryan's new son Gabriel....

Gabriel Thomas...

Mommy & Baby... he looks so tiny!

Big Brother Nathan looking down on Gabriel...

Sooo cute & peaceful...I can't even imagine what Rebecca was feeling at this moment...

Check out this blue-green belt I picked up at Wet Seal for just $1! What a bargain don't ya think?.....I pointed it out to Steve this morning before he left for work. His response? "Isn't it a bit high?"....HA! I had to inform him that it's the style! ;)

January 29, 2009

THE PROPOSAL STORY

FINALLY, I KNOW! Here it goes.....

Steve just proposed!!! This was taken after I refreshed of course! ;)

My beautiful beautiful beautiful ring!

The "Things Remembered" ornament Steve had engraved!

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SEE MY MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2008 BLOG FOR MORE PHOTOS! Just click on “Older Posts” at the bottom right hand side of the page to get to it.

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Just a few weeks before Steve proposed on Monday, December 22nd of 2008 he mentioned to me that he wanted to open our Christmas gifts for each other here in Rhode Island before we left for Virginia to see my family & friends over the holidays. I didn’t like this idea at all because I’m a big fan of opening up ALL presents Christmas morning. I am very much into holiday traditions, plus it’s more fun that way! We kinda went back and forth about this idea; I tried everything to convince him it would be better to bring them all with us. A few days before our trip I packed up all of our family gifts to see how much room we would have for ours, realizing shortly after I started packing there was no way we were gonna fit it all in our suitcases! Sooooo Steve won. Looking back I remember asking him if we could open our gifts the night before he actually proposed. He told me that he thought it would be better to wait until Monday night, the evening before we leave for VA so we can open them closer to Christmas. I honestly didn’t think twice, I just said that was fine with me & moved on. Monday rolls around and it’s a normal work day for me. I actually left a lil late that evening and ended up getting home close to 6pm, roughly 30 mins late. I walked in the door and found Steve lying on the couch in a white t-shirt & his blue stripped pajama pants w/ one of the music channels playing on the TV. He asked me where I had been & said that he had been waiting to open up gifts! I was like geeeze, sorry! I didn’t know you wanted to open them up right away. So I take off my coat & put down my purse, in the mean time he suggests going to taco bell for dinner knowing it’s my favorite fast food place, but also because we hadn’t packed for VA yet & needed to eat something quick. I walk over towards our Christmas tree when he says “Get the camera so we can take pictures!” I was like uhhh OK, I did think this was a lil odd since I’m the picture queen & usually annoy him with my excessive picture taking, but I figured he just wanted to take some shots of us opening up our gifts knowing I would have probably suggested it anyway. I grab the camera and sit Indian style on the family room floor with him. We take turns opening up gifts, laughing, smiling & thanking each other, not to mention passing the camera back and forth to capture each item. Keep in mind at the time I looked like complete butt as I kept saying each time I looked at the photos. I was still in my work clothes but had thrown my hair in a ponytail & had completely worn off my makeup from applying it earlier that morning. As I think about it I should have realized that Steve was more excited then normal & smiled a whole lot more then he normally does, which is usually a lot for those that don’t really know him! So anyway, he hands me my 4th gift & I proceed to unwrap it. I was already nervous in general because I hate being put on the spot, even with him, even though he knows I love (mostly) anything he picks out. The wrapping paper falls to the ground and I open up the box. Inside was a plastic bag from “Things Remembered”. I was like awwwe you got me something from “Things Remembered” I’m such a sucker for anything personal, romantic or engraved so I was already very excited to see what it was! I opened the bag and pulled out a box w/ a silver star ornament inside. I kept saying awwwe because I realized he had given me an engraved ornament for our tree! I look at it and read December 22, 2008---Shannon & Steven. I kinda pause and look up at him. “He asks me do you remember what the date is?” I’m like ummm no??? I start to think really hard about what important or special dates I know of. At that moment I couldn’t seem to think of anything important. He kept asking me, “Are you sure you don’t know?” “Are you sure you don’t remember?” I kept saying no, meanwhile my palms are getting sweaty because I start feeling bad since I have obviously forgotten something; I felt like I was disappointing him. Finally I asked,”Is this the 1st day I came to visit you in Rhode Island 2 years ago???” This totally could have been it, because the first time I flew up North to visit him was in December. He answers “Huh, well it could be, but nooooo”, then finally, he gets up off the floor & gets down on one knee reaching into his pj pants pocket & pulling out the ring box! Keep in mind I am still looking down at the ornament trying so desperately hard to figure out what is so special about that date. Obviously it didn’t really kick in that it had 2008 engraved on it. I look up and he says something along the lines of” If you still don’t remember then now you will (yes, like that commercial) the past 2 weeks have been so amazing, I mean the past 2 years” I think that’s when it hit me! At first my jaw dropped & I felt numb, I kinda felt like I was dreaming. I still wasn’t sure what was going on, then I started to smile and laugh because he said 2 weeks, so I said “awwwe, you are nervous!”, then I laughed more and said “Shut the “F” up!!!” (to be honest, sorry Mom & Dad!) I said shut up a few more times as he was giving his fabulous romantic speech. He kept telling me he was being serious & this was for real! Then he said “Will you marry me?” Of course I answered with yessssssssssss!!! I couldn’t stop smiling & laughing though! I also think I said “Oh my God!” a million times! We both stood up and hugged & kissed, I had tears in my eyes & I’m thinking Steve did too. I then pulled away and asked “Did you ask my Dad???” Steve said “Of course I did! Both of your parents know! They are waiting for your call!” I couldn’t have asked for a better proposal-simple & memorable! It was perfect! He totally caught me off guard! I certainly didn’t see it coming! He was so clever & totally had me fooled! He made it even more perfect by asking the big question the night before I got to go home. It definitely made me even more excited to see everyone over the holidays! As far as my ring? I am sooo in love with it! It’s absolutely gorgeous! Steve knew I loved the antique/vintage style, he really nailed it! (It's going to go perfectly w/ my Great Aunt's vintage/antique wedding band that was passed down to me!) I am still not used to it being wrapped around my finger, I tend to glance down at it many time during the day thinking I still can’t believe we’re engaged! I seriously feel like the luckiest girl in the world! I am so very thankful for him. After the proposal we spent the next hour or so calling our families & closest friends to share the exciting news! Somewhere in between I freshened up really quick & took some good pictures to replace the bad ones! HA! After chatting on the phone with everyone we drove down the street to our neighborhood Ruby Tuesdays & had a celebration dinner there, sooo much better then Taco Bell, don’t ya think? HA! As far as packing for VA, yah, that didn’t happen that evening! I had to take off work a lil early the next day to pack before catching our flight to Virginia!

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

"The sun will come out tomorrow...." ~Annie~

I would have never recognized her now! She is so pretty! Where are her cute freckles?

"You better work, work it girl..." ~Rupaul~

WOW....now that's drastic! ;) Who knew Rupaul was a man?......KIDDING.

January 28, 2009

HAPPY BIRFFFDAY SUE

THIS is Sue & her man Bryan...
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So I got her on email, got her on text & got her on MS...I completely forgot to get her on here! HAPPY 27th BIRFFFDAY SUE!!! I HOPE YOU HAVE HAD A WONDERFUL DAY & I HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL EVENING! Thanks for being such a GREAT friend! I don't know what I would do without you up here! ;)

January 27, 2009

WELCOME BABY GABRIEL

My good friend Rebecca (who is also in my wedding) just had her baby son Gabriel!!! Welcome lil one! Below is the email Rebecca's mom sent out on her behalf....I can't wait to see the adorable pictures! CONGRATS Rebecca, Bryan & Nathan! You are now complete! :)

Hi All,

I have pre-drafted this email for my Mom to send out.

Baby Gabriel Thomas Courtright was born on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 8:38 a.m.
He weighed 9 pounds 9 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long.

Thanks for all your best wishes. Pictures will soon follow!

Rebecca, Bryan and Nathan & Gabriel

January 26, 2009

2 THINGS

1. If you don’t have a handy dandy pocket calendar like me you are missing out! This baby is my LIFE! It keeps me organized & on track with everyone! Not to mention it reminds me when to brush my hair….Right Ash, Lou & Steve?

2. Robert/RJ…whatever your name is! ;) Here is your shout out!.....Check out this shirt my friend from work (who is ACTUALLY from NOVA) found online through (I think) Amazon! Isn’t this the best?.....My fellow bloggers…each of us may need to purchase one of these terrific T’s!

NIGHT OUT @ NYLO

Here are the pics from NYLO's bar! The 5 of us had such a great time! What a cool place it was! I’m sure we will be going back, especially in the Spring when they open up the patio!.....Thx for the dance lessons Amy!

Even though its dark, I like how it came out...

Amy, Danielle & Kacey...

Group shot! Meghan, Danielle, Amy, Kacey & Me...

Photo shoot in the lobby! Arent these swinging chairs super cool?

My librarian look... ;)

Kacey in the swing!

The girls....fun times!

Happy 1st Birthday Amy! HA!

January 23, 2009

ASH & NAT VISIT RHODE ISLAND

This past weekend my sister Ashley & good friend Natalie came to visit me!!! They were here Friday-Monday since it was a long weekend. The 3 of us had a great time packing SOOOO much in, in just 4 days! They came up to help me with bridal appts since Steve was recovering from his minor surgery. We went to the florist apt, linens apt, David’s Bridal apt & church apt! Thanks to them I was able to finish up pretty much all of the important stuff! YAY! Even though the weekend was a lil stressful it was definitely a lot of fun. They helped me make some hard decisions that I am VERY happy with. In between all of the bridal stuff we made time for sushi, the movie “Bride Wars”, shopping & a lil fun in the snow at the park across the street from mine & Steve’s apartment! Here are some of the pics of our fun filled, yet busy weekend!...Thanks girls for making the trip! You don’t know how much I appreciated your visit!.....Now onto my infamous question…WHO’S NEXT?!?!?!? There are many of you out there that I would love to share with you what my new life is like up here! COME VISIT MEEEEE!