Happy Engagiversary To Us!

365 days ago Joel asked me to marry him and it was the greatest day of my life. I know I have maaannyy more "greatest days of my life" yet to come, but so far this one takes the cake. Our proposal was absolutely nothing short of perfection, it was such an intimate and sweet moment that just the two of us shared together and I wouldn't change one thing about it. I hope I never forget the emotions, words, and feelings that came along with that night. So in honor of this special day, and now that we're almost ONE WEEK away from getting married, I want to share a few of my thoughts on being engaged for a year:

• First and foremost TO EACH IS OWN and everyone's plans and engagements are what works for them.
• With that being said, both Joel & I know 100% hands down that a year engagement was the best decision for us.
• People will say all that stuff like "Oh wow you guys are crazy, we could never have waited a year without having sex, blah blah blah" and all I have to say to that is a) It's not that hard b) marriage is not all about having sex and c) You have your whole life to have sex, so just cheeeeeel.
• Having a whole year to save money together = amazing and such a load off.
• Having a whole year to buy furniture = even more amazing. We were able to fully furnish/semi-decorate our home before we even had it, and it has been the best feeling knowing we haven't had to settle on anything or rush to get stuff we need or want. SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS.
• Being able to finish school before we get married is the biggest load off my shoulders. I could not imagine having the type of semester I have had and being in my first year of marriage.
• Going along with that, being able to HAVE and ENJOY my last year of my college experience as an actual college student is something I know I will cherish forever. I am so grateful I have had such a fun and memorable college experience and built solid relationships, stories and people I can really tell my kids stories about.
• Then of course there's the wedding planning process... planning a wedding while you actually have a life going on can be quite the task and very time consuming. Having a year allowed us to continue living our lives and not put everything not related to the wedding on hold. We were able to really think about what's important to us at our wedding and we had time to space out our decisions and plans.

So with all of that being said, do you think I'd recommend a year-long engagement to people? The answer is a big fat resounding YES. Like I first stated, it is totally up to each couple and what works best for them. I'd just like to remove the stigma that a year-long engagement is a horrible and impossible idea, because plain & simple it is not.

Thanks for asking me to marry you, babe! Hands down the best question I've ever been asked, and the best answer I could have ever given.