Way too Tired to Think of a Clever Title.

I should really go to sleep, as I'm working early in the morning. But I also felt like blogging a bit, since it's been a few days... (er, a week? Wow. Time flies.)

Ha! It's funny, I just checked my "stats" for this blog, and found out that my post about the Princess of Sweden's wedding got the most hits. I bet this is because of Prince William's wedding that's coming up shortly. I have to admit that I'm pretty excited to see what Kate Middleton's dress will look like, though I haven't been following the pre-event stuff religiously at all. (Strange, isn't it? For a wedding-aholic like me?) But I will definitely check out what the wedding looks like the day of. I think I would actually really hate to be Kate Middleton at the moment, in fact, though. So much pressure, so many eyes on her... It must be overwhelming at times. I don't think I could ever do what she's doing, stepping so voluntarily into the limelight. I bet she never imagined that one day, her name would be among the royal names of England, like Queen Victoria and King Henry VIII. But I'm happy for her, at the same time. Her wedding will really be a Princess wedding, like so many girls dream of. I wish her and her Prince all the best. :)

But yes, in other wedding news... I talked to Rosamund the other day (on Good Friday, actually. Which reminds me, HAPPY EASTER!) and saw her temporary ring - it's really pretty! But she's still waiting for her real ring. And I heard how Caleb proposed: it was at her home with her whole family around. She thought that he was just going to make an announcement that they had gotten her parents' permission to marry, but then he got down on one knee and asked her. I also talked to her a bit about her colours. At first, she said she was thinking pink and light grey, but is now also thinking of adding her favourite colour, green, into it, because she saw some invites or something with that colour scheme (they had oriental flowers on them, she said). I'm excited to hear all about the wedding details as they unfold. She and Caleb are actually going to get married right around the same time that Rosie and Adam are getting married as well. Rosamund and Caleb are going to tie the knot at our church, and then they're going to turn the place over to become the reception venue, as well. She asked if I (and some other of the pre-teen youth group leaders) could help her with that, when the time comes. So I said, yes of course! Can't wait for that.

On the topic of Rosie's wedding, I don't have too much to add. There has been some, um, discussion about the bridesmaid dresses over Facebook. They are going to be ankle-length, red, 'handkerchief' dresses. With a possible flower belt and embroidery on it. We're also going to be wearing black flats. We'll see how it goes....

But yeah. I should probably get to bed! More later! XOX.

"Pop, Pop, Pop," Goes The Question.

Yet another good friend of mine, Rosamund Scott, a girl from my church, is engaged!! No word yet on how her now-fiancé Caleb asked her or anything. But I'm so happy for her! Wow. I had heard a rumour that the two of them had talked about it, but I had no idea that it was going to happen so soon!

Rosamund is such a sweet, joyful girl and I am just thrilled to hear that she is now on her way to being a happily married lady hehe. I've known her for... I don't even know how many years. Her older sister Johanna was my mentor throughout highschool, and Rosamund was the camp councellor in my cabin when I was an intern at kids camp. The two sisters also are the leaders of the pre-teen youth group at my church, at which I serve.

There seriously is something in the water, though! Haha. Abbey-Shae, are you sure you don't want to take a sip?? HAHAHA. Just one eensy weensy sip?

My real question is, though, who is next? Dun dun duuuun!

Shell's Ring

I didn't want to post this until Shell had made her engagement "Facebook-official," but now that she has, here is her ring!!! Isn't it gorgeous? Frank Austen did gooood. Hahaha. I can't wait to see it in person!!

Rosie's Ring

Here's the story, from zimbio.com:

The Claddagh ring is an popular part Celtic jewelry . The Claddagh jewelry is an expression for the mutual exchange of love and friendship. A Claddagh ring is comprised of a crowned heart clasped by a pair of hands.

Out of the many stories surrounding the origin of the Claddagh ring, the most probable is the legend of Richard Joyce. Richard Joyce was a native of one of the Tribes of Galway. Richard Joyce had planned to travel to the West Indies. He had a lover. The lovers intended to marry after Richard Joyce came back. However, Richard and his his party was captured by Algerian pirates. He was sold as a slave to a Turkish goldsmith at Tangiers. Richard Joyce was an ingenious man. His master observed this and taught him the art of jewel making. Richard soon mastered the craft and became a brilliant goldsmith.

During his period of stay at Tangiers, Richard had created a special ring for his lover. This was the ring that later became famous as the Claddagh ring. Richard Joyce was released when King William III demanded the Moors to free all British slaves. His master offered his daughter in marriage and half of his wealth to Richard. Richard never forgot his lady love and so refused his master's offer. He came home and married the love of his life. Richard Joyce became a popular goldsmith.

So completely THRILLED!

Rosie is engaged! It just happened today! And she called me right away. It was so cute! :D They had gone out together today, and he had picked out a Celtic ring that she had previously mentioned she liked. (It had a really cute story that I'll write about another time.) They went out for dinner, and he went to the washroom, but he was taking a long time. He came back, and Rosie was thinking that he was going to propose, especially since they had talked about it a few days ago and she knew that he had asked her parents' permission. And also, he had a bulge in his pocket, which she figured was the ring! And it was. But he knew she was figuring it out, and so he secretly swapped the ring for his keys and some candy, so when she asked, he could show her the ring wasn't there. So, she was disappointed that he didn't propose. But they went home, and before they went in, he said something like, "I want to build a home with you" or something, and got down on one knee and asked her! Oh, it's so exciting. She and her (I was about to write boyfriend, but he's not anymore!) FIANCÉ Adam are thinking of getting married in October!
Rosie and some of her bridesmaids are tentatively thinking to meet up in the coming week to talk preliminary stuff, and look at dresses (the best part, of course). She is thinking of asking her sister to use her wedding dress and alter it a bit, because her sister once said that would be okay. She's also at the moment thinking of a burgandy colour scheme since it's a fall wedding. She also has 7 bridesmaids in mind, including Abbey-Shae and Leigha (and of course myself). Her other bridesmaids include her sister Lila, a mutual friend Marion, her friend Lacey, and another friend Jennifer.
*Phone rings and Marian takes a break from writing this*
Oh my GOODNESS. Guess who just phoned???? Shell! And GUESS WHAT. SHE'S ENGAGED. This is crazy!!! I'm sooo sooo sooo thrilled for both of them! For the friends who personally know Shell, don't go spreading it around quite yet. She said I can post it here, but there are still a few people she wants to personally tell and whatnot. It sounded so romantic, her proposal. Frank Austen brought her to where they first met, at my church, and walked around the path that is nearby, talking about different memories. And then he asked! Her ring is GORGEOUS. I'll post it later. So she and Frank Austen are thinking right now April or May for the wedding. She is also thinking of a dark red colour scheme! Love it! So happy for them!!!!
*Marian takes a break from writing for a minute and checks her Facebook*
THIS IS JUST GETTING TO BE TOO MUCH. A good friend of mine who lives in another country JUST posted pictures of her engagement! This is literally crazy. I'm not making this up! It looks like it happened in a restaurant, from the pictures. This girl I know and her fiancé then participated in an illustration at their church to announce their engagement. He offered her a cup to drink from, and she drank from it, signifying her acceptance. Then he broke the glass, signifying that he will never offer the cup to anyone else again. Cute, isn't it? The pictures are so cute.
IS THERE SOMETHING IN THE WATER, THOUGH?!?!?!?! Seriously!!!!

Prezi

Check this out! Missie showed me this cool website called Prezi, which lets you make these cool "zooming" almost PowerPoint-like presentations. I made one about weddings, obviously! (My kindda dream wedding at the moment.) Check it out! :) Wedding-Aholic Prezi

Wedding-aholic Anonymous on Prezi

Colour Me Coral

I think I'm kindda falling in love with a coral and pink wedding scheme. There's just something so youthful and fresh about it. Here are some pictures that came up on Google when I typed in "coral and pink wedding." I love this first photo. Aren't the bridesmaid dresses pretty? The colour is just stunning. And of course, I love the pearls. I think pearls are going to be incorporated into my wedding no matter what.
Isn't this next picture so cute? I love the different coloured ribbons hanging in the back. Such a creative idea! And of course, the sweets all look so cute (and delicious!) - I love the cupcakes or whatever they are that look like they have flowers on top of them!

I like the idea of the lemonade or whatever fruit juice it is, sitting out for guests to enjoy, in this next picture. Such a nice way to introduce some colour and at the same time give the guests something to drink! I would love this if I had a backyard garden kind of wedding. Unfortunately, my backyard isn't big enough. :(

Pretty bouquet! With gerbera daisies - my absolute favourite! This bouquet, I think is just so spring-like and happy. Love it!

I love this soft pink hues in this next photo. Isn't it just so sweet? And just all the little details that come together. I want my wedding to have lots of cute little details like this. :)

I like the colour of these bridesmaid dresses a lot, though I'm not sure if my bridesmaids would approve! I think it would be a tricky colour to pull off, and not everyone would be happy with it. Isn't the flower girl just darling, though?

All in all, I don't know if I would be brave enough to use the kind of coral pink in my wedding. Perhaps. Perhaps make it a lemonade and pink-lemonade kind of colour scheme? Because I do love my yellow! The good news is I have a long time to decide!

I Found It!

What is "it," you may ask? The picture of the wedding make-up (and hair!) that Shell loved so much while we were at Chapters on Friday together. Isn't it stunning???

Sydnee and Keegan's Invites!

Here are what Sydnee and Keegan's invites looked like for their wedding, with me editting them up for the blog, to remain Weddingaholic Anonymous. :)

This is the title card, with all the info on the back. Isn't it pretty? Syd made these all herself on her computer and then sent them off to the printers' to get them printed.

The response cards were so cute; I loved the 'sad to miss it' part, though of course my response was that I'll be there haha! I'll have to talk to Sydnee to see if everyone DID reply by the deadline! (Oh, and by the way, obviously the email address isn't real. That's the one I just put in there to ensure confidentiality!)

Cake Boss

Sydnee is thinking of something like this, perhaps, for her wedding cake. Isn't it pretty??? She found a place to do the cake and only for a couple hundred bucks! Awesome! I'm telling you, she is better at this wedding planning than I am! Haha.

Friday with Friends

On Friday, I met with a few friends: Leigha, Abbey-Shae and Shell. It was so much fun! Normally, Abbey and I volunteer at our church on Fridays, but it was cancelled, so we decided to meet up and just hang out. Leigha was also free, so we decided to go out for dinner, the three of us. Then, I got a text from Shell, and I decided to invite her along, since it had been so long since I've seen her. It was fantastic seeing the three of them and hanging out!

I met Leigha after her class was done at the mall, and we just shopped around. I was going to a birthday party on Sunday, and my brother's birthday was approaching, so I had to get the two of them some presents and cards. Soon, Abbey was off work and could join us as well. We ended up going to a nearby Chapters to browse around, and I ended up buying a book for myself for only $6.99 called "Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict." I'm reading it right now, and it's pretty good.

Shell was coming from a nearby city, and we decided to meet at the restaurant. How fun it was! I also gave Shell her birthday present from myself (though, her birthday was a while ago), because I hadn't seen her in months. I was the only one who actually ate a full meal though, at the restaurant haha. Leigha had to leave a bit early, so she had already eaten while we were at the mall, and decided to only order dessert at the restaurant. Abbey-Shae was feeling a bit under the weather so she only ordered an appetizer and some ginger ale. Shell, I guess, wasn't that hungry, so she ordered the same appetizer as Abbey. But I had my favourite meal at the restaurant, and was quite full and pleased haha.

Leigha had to leave, but Abbey-Shae, Shell, and I went back to the Chapters to look at more books. (Can you tell we're book-aholics, too?) We browsed different books, but then ended up in the wedding magazine section. My, oh my, how I'd love to have a wedding magazine, though I think that would be a little strange, considering I'm not even in a relationship at all right now. But we all picked our favourite dresses, and flipped through the pages to get different ideas. There was a cover of one of the magazines that had this model with just the perfect make-up. Shell, especially, really liked it. I can't remember the magazine name, though for the life of me. And I also told Shell that maybe she should switch her wedding colour to pink, rather than red, because she seemed drawn to many pictures featuring the colour haha. Though, I'm not sure Frank Austin would be so thrilled!

Soon, though, it was time for Chapters to close, and so we headed out. There was a Starbucks nearby, so we walked over to it. I cannot believe how PACKED it was, though, so late at night. (I guess that's what I have to look forward to, huh, as a Starbucks employee!) There were no seats available at all, so we had to stand there for a few minutes before some freed up. Then, it was time for just chilling and chatting. SO MUCH FUN. We talked about the future, about weddings, about having kids... and came to the conclusion that we will all start having kids in about 7 years haha. We said that we want our kids to be friends, and were fantasizing about it all. ;) We talked about names, too. Abbey is still thinking of a girl's name, and Shell is having a hard time with boy names because Frank Austin wants their first son's middle name to be the same as his father's first name, which is a very Spanish-sounding name that doesn't go with a lot. Let's just say it's Federico, even though it's not. (Abbey-Shae joked that Shell should write an autobiography or something and call it "In the Name of Federico!" Hahaha.) But I think I've come up with two names that I would like to name my future children. (For now, anyways!) Peter and Audrey. ...But we'll see how it goes! Who knows. I've changed my mind so many times about names. And I have plenty of time left to decide! ;) We had so much fun, though, talking about the future and weddings (Shell and Abbey both think I'll get married before them, which I truly don't believe. Especially considering they're both in serious relationships at the moment, and I have no prospect in sight.)

Oh, and it was funny, though, because it was soon getting quite late, and Abbey-Shae said that she had to go if she was going to catch a bus to get to her boyfriend Krystian's house. But, it was dark and rainy, and I told her I could give her a ride. She was just being stubborn, and we were bickering about it. She then pulled out her Bible to pick a random passage, as if only a divine sign from God would keep her from getting on the next bus. And the passage she randomly opened to? It said something about being a prostitute or something haha. So, needless to say, she stayed in Starbucks until we all left, and I gave her a ride.

All in all, it was such a fun night out with friends. I love you all! Hearts. We will see what the future holds for all of us!