Affianced!

On July 16th, 2011, Ian asked me to marry him! I have the ring to prove it! I was up in Rhode Island to visit him for his birthday (he was there for some training), and we had a fancy smancy dinner planned for Saturday night. Before we went to dinner, we drove around some and looked at all the gorgeous mansions/castles. We still had some time left, so we pulled off at an overlook and sat on a bench with a wonderful view of the rocky beach below us and the sun about to set. Ian said he was going to go back to the car to get the camera, and when he came back I knew something was up because he was acting funny! It took him a little while, but he got up the nerve and asked me if I would be his forever! I don't know why he was so nervous -- did he think I would say no!?! Afterwards, we celebrated at a local restaurant with some delicious food and a half bottle of champagne. I know that I am so happy, and I can't wait to spend my forever with Ian.

Here's the last picture of us before being engaged! (It was very windy, hence the crazy hair.)

Although we probably won't even be able to set a date until Christmas or so, we are hoping to tie the knot sometime in spring or early summer 2013. I know it's a long way out, but unfortunately with Ian being in the Navy and me being in graduate school, it's the earliest that we will actually be able to live together. And you know, married people tend to want to live together.

As for now, Ian and I are staying occupied by work and by looking into different aspects of the wedding. We have some ideas for what we want for most parts of the wedding. We're trying to do this on a budget. It's strange, though, because to us, the budget we have set is a lot of money, but it's still just over half of what the average wedding costs in the United States! It might not be the easiest to pull off a wedding for what we want to, but we are going to do it.

We're just so excited, both for the wedding and for everything that comes afterwards!