May flowers bring wedding showers!

Ryan and I both agree that we are truly blessed with amazing friends and family. I can speak on behalf of both of us when I say our first two wedding showers have been absolutely amazing! We couldn't be more thankful and appreciative. Thank you to everyone who put so much time and love into those showers! We look forward to the other festivities to come that our friends and family are putting together :)

We have such a supportive group of friends that got together and threw my bridal shower for us (see picture). My bridesmaids Kelli, Melissa and Ashley were so excited to plan this special day for us and they truly blew me away! Thank you very much girls! The shower was at beautiful restaurant called Benvenuiti's. It was decorated sooo pretty! The cake was absolutely beautiful and just as yummy (see picture below). Seriously, I wanted to buy one for my house to snack on at home. hehe. Lets just say Ryan didn't get much of that cake. hehe. The appetizers were sooo wonderful - chicken satays, veggies, spinach dip, and kabobs. It was absoultely beautiful and it was more than I imagined! It was so great to see all of the support for our BIG DAY! Ryan and I got some wonderful gifts from some great friends! My entire car was packed from floor to ceiling, not to mention the trunk. hehe. Thank you to Ashley, Kelli and Melissa and all my friends and family that were there to enjoy that day with me :) You made it very special and Ryan and I truly apprecite the amazing gifts and support.

Our second shower was our family and friend shower for my side of the family. My whole family got together and planned a very special day. Ryan got to come to this one, so he was very excited. Ryan and I walked into the shower and were graced with a flood of beautiful plum decorations and smiling faces. It was wonderful and we were blown away. Our family did such a great job and we are so thankful! The cake was a hit! My family had our favorite strawberry cake with chocolate strawberries on top! Yum! If you haven't had a nancy's cupcake or cake I suggest you pay a visit to Cookies and Cards and get one! A-Mazing! The punch was a beautiful purple to match as well and was so yummy! As Ryan and I looked around we saw our engagement pictures, a number of other pretty decorations around the room, and all those we love surrounding us. The guest book was a plate that everyone signed that we can keep and remember forever! What a special gift. Not to mention, we got some amazing gifts. We got our cookware, bakeware, our Vera Wang place settings, among many other wonderful gifts! Yahoo! Thank you to everyone! We are so thankful and appreciate everything our family and friends did for us!

We look forward to the bachelor party, bachelorette party, lingerie showers, rehearsal dinner and other wedding festivities that our family and friends are doing for us. June 5th I will be heading to Dallas for my bachelorette party where I will share wonderful memories with great friends. My maid of honor, Kelli, and two bridesmaids, Melissa and Leslie, graciously planned a wonderful weekend get-away for me and all of us girls. We are staying at Hotel ZaZa and are enjoying a amazing dinner and night out! I just can't wait and feel so blessed for my friends!

Ryan will be taking his bachelor party soon at Lake Texhoma where he will spend the weekend fishing with his best man, Jay. Of course this is Ryan's favorite thing to do, so this bachelor party fits him to a T. But we aren't stopping there friends! My other Matron of Honor Ashley has planned a night out in OKC full of lingerie and yummy treats at the Melting Pot. Then we will venture out to the Piano Bar in downtown. So fun! I can't wait! Also, my wonderful sister-in-laws and mother-in-law, Casy, Summer and Carol, and also Ryan's aunt Pam, are planning a fun bridal shower night full of drinks, music, champagne and lingerie! Gosh, I am truly blessed! I can't wait for a night with my wonderful in-laws. So special! Ryan will also have another bachelor party here in Norman with the rest of his groomsmen where he will enjoy drinks with friends and I am sure they will find some trouble. hehe. To top it all off, Ryan's mom, Carol, and step-dad, Darwin, have planned the most amazing rehearsal dinner for us! We are so excited and we can't wait to share that time with family. Wow! What a dream wedding.

Ryan and I want to say thank you to everyone that has made this journey so special. We are truly blessed and couldn't have a more supportive group of family and friends. Thank you to my family for all of your love, support, and helping with the planning of our big day. My grandparents, my mom, my dad, and Ryans family are what made this wedding possible. Thank you for making our special day so perfect! We are so glad to share these wonderful moments with you all.

Be Couture!

The common theme throughout these first few blog posts appears to be "life changing events". I feel blessed to be able to say that, as I am in this phase in my life where I am growing and establishing who I am. Let's just say that the past few years of Ryan and I's lives have been extremely life changing in an extremely positive, God-given way. I feel truly blessed to have had all of these wonderful experiences the past few years and I hope God's grace doesn't let up. From meeting that one man to spend my life with, to seeing the world through God's eyes with miss Payton, to getting engaged to my best friend, having my family accept Ryan's blessing, to being blessed with the most supportive and loving in-laws, to having our families help Ryan and I plan the biggest day of our lives...I can honestly say God's blessings are pouring upon Ryan and I.

Let's not let the life changing events stop there! When starting the "adventures in wedding planning" (as I like to call this experience) I had no idea that planning the wedding of Ryan and I's dreams would in turn lead to another one of God's plans for my life (and Ryan's life) - Bridal Couture Girls.

Just a few months after the wedding planning began, I began to see a common trend in the wedding industry - veils, headpieces, and acessories are gosh darn expensive! Let's not forget wedding dresses too! There is a reason Vera Wang designs dresses for celebrities. I first realized this trend in the industry as I was trying on my wedding dress for my friends and family. As I walked out in my beautiful wedding gown, Tiffany (my bridal consultant at the bridal boutique), fixed my hair and brought me an abundance of different types of veils, headpieces and jewelry. Tiffany stressed, "every girl needs a veil and headpiece". Wonderful, not only did I need a dress but I had completely forgotten about accessories, which I hadn't budgeted for. It was very overwhelming and of course, I wanted 5 of the 10 I tried on. tee hee. As I continued to try on these magnificent headpieces I finally felt I found the one...well actually two if you count the flower and veil. But whose really counting? Not having looked at the price yet, I glanced down at the tags of the two "chosen" headpieces. $400 for the veil!!!!!!! $325 for the flower!!!!! My heart stopped and I realized my hopes of getting either of these super cute, high-fashion, couture, every brides perfect headpice, were crushed. I wanted the COUTURE look that fit my dress to a T. My face quickly went from the excited bride to the not-so-excited bride.

As we left the bridal store my aunt Cindy, who has sewn for over 25 years and is one of the most talented women I have ever known (next to my mom. hehe), said something that every bride in this state of mind would want to hear - "I can make those for you for nothing and they will look identical". And that my friends, was the beginning of Bridal Couture Girls.

Yep.. my mom, my aunt Cindy, and I quickly found out that every bride could BE COUTURE at an affordable price! We also found that we would soon embark on the craziest, most fun journey! We found that we each had what it took to start a couture bridal accessory company. That night we stayed up until 3am planning our business, our dreams and goals. Bridal Couture Girls unfolded before our eyes and we had no idea what God had in store but we liked what we were about to take on.

Let's just say that God had great things in store for these "three sisters", which is what we call ourselves. Granted I am a niece and a daughter and really mom and Cindy are sisters, but whose being technical these days? As we developed our website, our mission, and what we wanted Bridal Couture Girls to be known for, God took us in wonderful directions.

Since this night at 3am when Bridal Couture Girls was created, we have had over 25 sells, we have been asked to feature our custom accessories for a company called Luxurious Weddings in Los Angeles. We are featured on Wedding Wire, Etsy, Facebook and a host of other sites. Our professional website is almost up and running and our customers will be able to buy our prodcuts via our site. Cake designers are using our accessories on cakes, in their show rooms, and in photo shoots. We have also started hosting our very own yearly bridal contest. A host of wonderful vendors have teamed up with us to provide an amazing opportunity to brides! This journey is so exciting and it feels so rewarding to provide every bride that couture item at an affordable price for her perfect day!

I am so excited to see where Bridal Couture Girls will take us in the future. It has been an honor to work with my wonderful mom and aunt. They are both so talented and I truly admire them! We hope to take our business to the next level and sell our items in stores across the country. We also hope to open our own bridal store one day. With a positive attitude the possibilties are endless and we have placed this journey in God's hands!

Visit our site - www.bridalcouturegirls.com.

Follow us on Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/shop/BCGirls

Be Couture!

36 Days!

36 days until I say "I do" to one of my best friends and the man of my dreams. My stomach has butterflies and I am so incredibly excited. I just can't wait! The anticipation is just killing me. hehe. I keep picturing our special day and how it will go. I have even written out a schedule of how the day would go. I know what you are thinking...crazy girl. hehe. But ultimately, God has his hand's in that day and how it will turn out. I believe no matter what, that day will be very special to Ryan, I, and our families.


A part of me is super stressed, as I tie up lose ends, cross my t's and dot my i's. I keep praying I won't forget anything. Favors, check. Flowers, check. Cake, check. The past few weeks the stress has been increasing a little. I am an extremely laid back person and since the wedding planning began I have been very laid-back and care-free. But as June 26th nears, I feel a sense of tension and stress, fearful that I might miss something or that I haven't done something important. As I scrounge through sevral wedding books that offer checklists, I mark each item off, reassuring myself I have completed every task. If there were one more checklist out there I probably would have it. lol.

I have never been the best event planner and this event, being the biggest of my life, threw some curve balls at me. How was I supposed to know the museum didn't allow real flowers? I don't even know what a peoni is. And I quickly learned the difference between the cost of silk flowers and real. This can often be very misleading. After changing churches and reception venues several times, we found the place where our special day will be held! The church is stunning with cherry wood and stained glass. The reception venue is a quaint colf course with a country-side feel. It says luxury but also has a casual atmosphere. It is beautiful and focuses on the outdoors, which is the picture perfect place for Ryan and I. It fits both of our personalities perfectly. This is truly a dream come true.

And of course, lately I have had that feeling of "is my wedding going to WOW the guests". I hope our special day will be as wonderful and fun to others as it is to us. Of course I want it to go perfectly, for everyone's jaw to drop at the ceremony, for the cake to be just right, for the flowers to be absolutely stunning, and for the music to be just perfect and to have everyone on the dance floor late in to the night. But really, it isn't about the music, the flowers, and the cake. It is about Ryan and I and our special committment to one another. A committment that is blessed by God. It is about saying you will stick together through good and bad and that we will love each other for the rest of our lives. When I get stressed and try so badly to plan out the day to a T, I come back to the fact that it is about Ryan and I embarking on this huge journey together and making a life-time commitment to one another. It doesn't matter if the cake isn't as tall and abundant as I hoped. What matters is that we love each other and we are committing our lives to one another on that day. When I think about Ryan and how we will say "I do", all my fears of how the wedding day will turn out go away. I am truly blessed and God has really given me one of the most amazing things - true love with an amzing man.

I am excited to plan out our lives together, to start a family and to laugh and lean on one another for the rest of our lives. We are truly best friends and I feel absolutely lucky to have this feeling.

36 days and counting!

Say Yes to the Dress!

The wedding planning began and I was on the hunt for the perfect wedding dress! I knew in my mind I wanted a mermaid style dress, and like most girls, I created this image as a young girl. We all dream about the perfect wedding as a child and my dream was about to become a reality. Hunting for the dress was one of the first things I did to start the wedding planning and it was a special moment for me. I couldn't contain myself. :)

My mom came to visit and we thought it was the perfect occasion to go look for "the dress"! I was so excited to have my mom there to share in that moment. Ryan's mom, my three aunts and I were off to dress hunt! The first two stores didn't house that one dress, but we had a blast and enjoyed one of the most exciting moments together. I tried on some dresses that just weren't me, some were way over the top and strange, and others were beautiful but just didn't shout "the one". I started to get down, thinking that the ONE dress wasn't out there. It was a long day and us girls had to call it a wrap. Although we didn't find the dress, we did go over-indulge at BJ's restaurant. A pazooki was in order! :)

It wasn't until my mom visited for a second time that we found that one dress! We ventured to OKC to try out a bridal boutique we had heard so much about. I was excited and pondered if today would be the day I found that special dress. As I walked through the doors, this store looked more like me. We rummaged through the racks trying to find styles that fit me. To my surprise, I found many many dresses...too many to count. I stepped into the dressing room, which was over-filled with white. This would be a long day, there were at least 20 dresses packed in that fitting room.

The first dress I tried on was vintage, modern and extremely unique, exactly what I wanted. I put it on and I just knew. Heck, I knew when I saw her pull it from the rack. hehe. My face lit up when I put it on and I didn't want to take it off. Overly excited, I put that feeling aside and told myself I had to try on other dresses. Slowly the fitting room became less-filled and no dress (out of the 20) compared to that first dress I put on. I had found the one!

I called all of my friends and told them and immediately scheduled another appointment to have them see the dress and confirm that it was the ONE. hehe. It is so important to me that my bridesmaids were there for that special moment. You have to have your friends approve, those are just the rules of fashion and wedding dress picking. hehe.

That day came and my friends surrounded me, Ryan's sister Casey included. Ryan's mom came along as well. They sat in anticipation as I changed into this dress they had heard so much about. I came out and everyone just loved it! It was such a special moment. For confirmation, I tried one other dress on that I had liked just to show them the difference and they all agreed the one I had chosen was THE dress. There was no comparison. What a special day! I will remember that day forever :) Thank you to all my lovely friends. You are amazing!

I said YES to the DRESS!

God's Angel

Little did I know that when I was accepted into Ryan's family I would experience God's gift of a miracle. Several little miracles actually :) We never really know the beauty of God's workings until we experience it first-hand. Not only was I about to receive the blessing of a husband and wonderful in-laws, but I was also about to receive another life-changing experience, the experience of a little Angel. God's Angel.

A little over two years ago, before Ryan and I got engaged, a beautiful new life came into this world. Ryan's sister, Casey, and her husband Anthony, had a beautiful baby girl, Payton. This was Casey and Anthony's first baby, so this was a huge moment in their lives. Well, of course all babies, whether it is your first, second, or third, are a huge moment. hehe. :) But you will hear every mom say "there is something about that first child".

Many beautiful lives came into the world in the first few years Ryan and I were together. Ryan's sister Summer also had a beautiful baby girl, Jayce, when we first met. She is absolutely adorable and looks just like Summer. This was a huge an exciting moment! I also got to see Summer and Ronnie have another sweet baby boy, Kameron, who is an absolute sweet, blue-eyed, handsome little thang :) Of course, we cannot forget sweet Konnor, who is so amazingly smart and is such a gentlemen. Along with Summer's came Casey and Anthony's second baby, precious baby Brayden. He is just as beautiful and handsome!

In the days leading up to Payton's birth we threw big showers, they decorated the most precious baby room fit for a magazine, and we shared funny stories of what we pictured Payton doing when she was older. I grew closer and closer to Ryan's family over the years and they became a huge part of my life. They are so special to me. Casey and Anthony had asked me to be Payton's nanny and jumping with joy, I honorably agreed! I was so thrilled and happy. Everyone knows I just love children! I am very close with Ryan's whole family and Casey and Summer are like sisters to me. I was honored to care for their sweet baby girl and I was so excited. Casey and I always imagined Payton being honory becuase I am not good at telling anyone "no", and everyone knows they can get away with anything with Aunt Natalie. hehe. We knew Payton would be beautiful. What we didn't know is that God was about to bring us a special life changing miracle, an Angel.

Payton came into this world on Halloween and was diagnosed with down syndrome. Since her birth we have never seen this disability. God has moved more mountains than anyone could ever imagine. Payton was born with a hole in her heart that the doctor felt would surely need surgery. Everyone was worried and praying for little Payton. It would take a miracle to heal this large hole, according to the doctor. Payton and God had other plans. God didn't waste one moment and healed her heart completely! That was the first of many miracles God would bless the Domina family and all of us with. We had no idea this precious baby girl would open our eyes to the beauty of God's love and grace. We also never knew that we would now see the world through a different set of eyes - eyes that don't judge, and eyes that see the world in all of God's greatness. These eyes didn't see negativity, hate, and they weren't judgemental. These are God's eyes.

When I officially became Payton's nanny and I started caring for her, I immediately fell in love with this special baby girl. Casey and I laughed and enjoyed the sweet and funny moments Payton created. When Casey got home from work we would always get to catch up and have our sisterly talks. We talked about Ryan and I having babies and getting married and how all of the cousins would play. We pictured Ryan as a dad and how great he would be. We played with Payton on the floor, read to her and watched her do new things. Not only did my bond with Payton grow, but I also experienecd a new wonderful friendship with Casey. It was very special. Casey and I created a special bond and we enjoyed having that special time together with Payton. In our talks, Casey shared with me the blessing of Payton and at the same time, the challenges. There were fears and tears, fears of the unexpected and happy tears about the amazing things Payton was doing. Payton created miracles on a daily basis and God worked in the lives of the Domina's. As Payton continued to defeat life's challenges, these fears would be diminished and Casey and Anthony would feel the comfort of God. Payton was God's angel and soon we would see that there wouldn't be anything Payton couldn't do.

Not only did I grow an amazing bond with Casey and Anthony, Ryan's mom and step-dad became parents to me. I grew so close to them and we have had so many wonderful memories with sweet Payton. There were days when Nonnie and I would watch Payton and we would just laugh and have a blast at all of the sweet and wonderful things Payton did. I remember coming over to Nonnie's house one day and she was so excited to show me a CD she had made Payton, Casey, and Anthony for Christmas. It was full of Christmas music with Payton's name in the songs. Carol and I cried and cried and talked about all of the wonderful things Payton has brought to everyone's lives. That was a special day. My bonds with family members grew and I became closer to Ryan's sister Summer, Ryan's aunt Pam, Ryan's grandma Viv, and many others. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful family.

Payton knew God's plan and she knew in her mind that she would walk, talk, and do all of those things. It was like she was telling us all to be patient and trust in the Lord. As Payton got older the miracles didn't stop and Payton only brought wonderful things into everyone's lives. Payton was walking, talking, and doing wonderful things. All part of God's special plan for a special Angel.

Casey and Anthony grew more and more involved in the Down Syndrome Association and did wonderful things for the organization. DSA became a huge part of all of our lives. The entire family got invovled and before we knew it God had recruited us all to fight for all of the children that faced this disability. I can remember the first buddy walk we all did. Such an amazing experience! We had a garage sale, where we bartered with customers and received many donations. We found we weren't the best barterers because we always let the customer have it at the lowest price. hehe. Nevertheless, the garage sale was a hit and we were able to buy team shirts with the money we had raised! The buddy walk came and it was one of the most special moments we have all experienced. Everyone was there to support Payton and her mommy and daddy. They are amazing parents and more than deserve recognition. It was a huge success and we all couldn't wait for next year. Here we are again, it is May 2010 and we are getting ready for our third buddy walk!! YAY! This year Payton will walk at the buddy walk and we will see even more miracles happen for her and other children.

Through all of this Payton has made me smile and she has shown me the beauty of life and all of its blessings. I began to see life differently. Payton did something to all of us that day she was born and I know I can speak for everyone when I say, She changed our lives to make us live more like God and made us better people.

Payton has never let her disability stop her. She defeated every challenege and every bump in the road that came along. I never saw Payton's disability, I saw Payton - God's Angel. Payton shows you what life is truly about. She shows you how special God is and how his beauty is everywhere. She shows you that life is too short to fret and worry, she teaches us to stop and smell the roses, enjoy the outdoors and God's miracles. She teaches us to not be judgemental of others and to see everyone for the good they have inside of them. She teaches us to love one another and cherish special moments. She teaches us that life is precious and that we should live everyday with a positive attitude and be thankful for the blessings God has given us. Most of all, she teaches us that with God working in our lives we can reach dreams beyond our belief.

Casey and Anthony, thank you for allowing me to watch your precious girl. She has more than touched my life in great ways! Your family have all touched my life and I am blessed! I look forward to being a part of your family and enjoying the wonderful memories we will have!

The day I have waited me whole life for...

Let the wedding planning begin!!! One year ago (and some change) I was proposed to by my best friend and the most special person I have ever met! Ryan Stephens, whom I met in middle school, is the most caring, loving, and down to earth person. We saw each other grow, and odly enough, Ryan overlook my awkward years of braces, wind pants, Fury jackets, and buck teeth. He saw me grow into the person and I am today and he truly loves me for me. He would give anyone the shirt off his back and he would do anything for anyone. He believes in the dreams we have togeher and believes in me. He makes me want to be a better person and he has changed my life in a way that I never knew God had planned.

The Proposal of a life time: It all took place at my grandparents house on a weekend where our entire family was in town. The weather was beautiful and God had his hands in this day. (I am tearing up). I had no idea that my life was about to change in the most amazing way.

The weekend of Halloween (Payton Dawn's Birthday) my entire family was in town for my uncle Bob's wedding. Go uncle Bob! :) We celebrated all weekend, enjoying family and friends and experienced their beautiful wedding. They are an amazing couple and I couldn't be happier for them. That weekend I saw my uncle Bob's life change in amazing way and I saw God work in his life. The wedding was at a quaint chapel and had a country-side feel. It was so pretty! Everyone was excited, laughing and sharing all of the great moments together. Little did I know that the day after the wedding, my life would change and I would soon make those same wedding memories for myself.

The wedding came to a close and the sweet couple drove off in their get-away car as we waved good-bye. The next day, I woke up early to have brunch with a few of my best friends at Seven47, which is a local bar that also serves some killer breakfast. Leslie Carroll (my sorority sister from TX) was in town that weekend and a Sunday brunch to discuss the events of the weekend was in order. There is something about getting five girls together to recall the weekends events. It's like Sex in the City at every meeting. If someone where to over-hear our conversation they would definitely get a good laugh out of it. We always have something interesting to recall and laugh about. Sadly, Leslie was leaving us to head back to TX that day. We always hate to say good-bye but we look foward to that next fun, girlie weekend and that Sunday brunch that always follows.

After brunch, thinking it was going to be an average day, I headed to my house to find my mom and Kris frantically getting ready. Ryan had showed up to my house and everyone was a little frazzled. I thought it was strange, but I figured everyone was just tired from the exhausting weekend we had. We had plans to go to my grandparents and eat lunch before the family left town that weekend. Ryan had arranged for his parents to join us so they could "meet my family before they left". I was looking forward to introducing my out-of-town family members to Ryan's parents.

When we got to my grandparents everyone seemed wide-eyed, over-excited yet a little stressed. I grew even more weary about the strange activity at my grandparents house, however, still keeping in mind that we all had an exhausting weekend. We introduced Ryan's parents to everyone and began to eat lunch. Once lunch was over my aunt Cindy began to open her birthday presents. We didn't get to celebrate her birthday because she lives out of town, so we wanted to honor the occasion while everyone was in town to celebrate. My aunt slowly opened each gift, as I encouraged her to frantically rip open her gifts. She passed them around, talked about each item, and slowly read each card. I kept thinking to myself "this is one strange day". It wasn't our family's style to slowly open presents. hehe. What I didn't know is my aunt Cindy was stalling so my dad could arrive and not miss the big momemnt that was about to occur.

After the gifts were opened, everyone got silent. I was being chatty cathy while everyone sat in anticipation. I saw my grandpa give Ryan a pat on the shoulder and to my surprise out of the corner of my eye I saw Ryan stand up and begin talking to everyone. His speech started with his love and appreciation for my family and his. He expressed how he felt so blessed to be a part of my family and how much he has enjoyed every moment. Ryan often expressed his appreciation for things, so this was totally his style and came of no surprise to me. After he expressed these feelings to my family, he then turned to me. That is when I immediately knew something big was about to happen :) Ryan, in front of my entire family, expressed his love for me and that he wanted to take care of me for the rest of my life. I immediately began to cry and felt my life change before my eyes. He asked for my hand in marriage that day and I said YESSSSS! I screamed, showed of my beautiful ring, and cried all day long. My family cried and laughed as we talked about the events leading up to this day. We all knew it was hard for Paula to keep a secret and we congratulated her on her success! hehe. Most of all, it was hard for everyone to hold back the excitement that this day would bring. Ryan told me how he had plotted the entire thing and we laughed. It was one of the most special days of my life.

I was so glad that Ryan's parents were able to be there for such a huge milestone in Ryan and I's life together. Ryan's mom and I cried, hugged and laughed together. We expressed how exciting our lives would become and how we were thankful to have one another. That day God gave me the most amazing in-laws a girl good ask for. Yes, I am crying right now. hehe. Ryan's family is warm-hearted and loving, just like Ryan. They touch everyone's life in an amazing way. Ryan's mom has loved me like her own from the beginning. I remember the first day I met his family. I felt like I had known them for years. Hugging me and treating me like a daughter, Ryan's mom and I have grown extremely close. The same is with Ryan's step-dad Darwin. He always knows what to say when you are having a bad day. One joke and you forget all about what the world threw at you that day. He is so positive and caring and would do anything for anyone, just like Ryan's mom. Ryan's sister's are just as special. God blessed me with the two most wonderful sisters. I was an only child growing up, so being blessed with the relationships I have built with Summer and Casey is extremely special. Casey, Summer and I laugh and make memories just like sisters. Ryan's grandma Viv, aunts, and uncles are just as amazing. His grandparents "down south" are truly wonderful as well. I didn't realize all of the love that would surround me when I said "yes" to Ryan on that day, November 2. Ryan's entire family has touched my life in ways I will never forget.

God has truly blessed me and I can't wait to see what he has in store next.