We're Back!

Hello again! First of all, we must begin by apologizing for having been absent from our blog page for this long! School, work, and wedding planning have been consuming our lives for the past few months! Now that school is beginning to slow down, and the holidays are on the way, we have a few short moments to catch all of you up on the Braun Wedding, and the other parts of our lives! 

 

Ringo at his first BSU Homecoming Parade! He loved his beads :)

Our furry baby boy is now 9 months old, and well over 100 pounds. He is still a not-so-little ball of energy, and has grown up so much over the past couple months. He is no longer chewing up Mom & Dad's important things, climbing on the counter, OR pottying in the house! Ringo has turned into such a big boy here recently. The only down side to his large, but baby, playful self is that he thinks Mom is a toy. He tends to pick on me since he is now bigger than me when we are sitting down! He isn’t being mean, he’s just trying to snuggle but sometimes that's not so fun for Mom.

December holds a lot of excitement for our little family as well! We will be celebrating our 2-year anniversary together, just two days after Ross graduates from Ball State University! Ross is concluding his time at Selma Elementary School, student teaching in a 2nd grade classroom. He has absolutely LOVED this semester, and has once again reminded that he was born to teach young children. This amazing opportunity has opened many doors for Ross that we are looking forward to in the spring. Just a couple of weeks ago Ross accepted the Head Varsity Track Coaching job at Wapahani High School. Ross was also offered a maternity leave teaching position in 3rd grade at Selma. Over the past 5 months Ross has fallen in love with this school, the students, and the community, and we are hoping he may continue to work in this area in the future. 

As I've said before, we have made A LOT of progress on the wedding, and it's all becoming so real! My mom (Geneva), Ross' mom (Kelli), and I have spent numerous Saturday mornings rummaging through flea markets and antique malls, looking for the perfect decorations to complete our wedding. One Saturday we filled my mom's Denali, Kelli's Pacifica, and then we had to call Ross to bring his Jeep so we could put the rest of our finds in there! Let's just say, Ross was excited about all of our decorations, but he was NOT too excited about rushing from work to Muncie, just because we went on a shopping spree! Ross has quickly come to the conclusion that my mom, his mom, and I are a dangerous trio! 

Although we have purchased the majority of our decorations, we have a lot of work to do to make them look exactly like I have planned! We have bought the most random and outrageous things, that some of the boys just don't see how it's all going to come together. One weekend at Shipshewana, we purchased an entire roll of burlap! Ron and Ross LOVED us for that one! :) 

We also have all of the bridesmaid dresses, and men’s wear chosen! My wedding dress has been purchased and should be in sometime in January, which I CANNOT wait for! My wedding boots arrived in the mail from Nashville a couple of weeks ago, and I am absolutely in LOVE with them! 

Christmas break is coming very quickly, and we plan on spending almost the entire break working on wedding things, and making some serious progress. Sooooo... If any of you are ever bored from December 15- January 5, feel free to call us up and come over to help! :) 

We have officially booked our photographer, videographer, hair stylists, make up artists, DJ, catering, and reception musician! We have also chosen our honeymoon package, and will be booking that within the next few weeks! Everything is finally coming together, and it is going to be here before we know it! 

The countdown is quickly shrinking, and we now only have 177 days until the big day! :) 

Our little family after the BSU Homecoming Parade.

Summer Lovin'

As most have probably assumed, this summer has been extremely busy and completely flown by. We must begin this post once again, by apologizing for the long period without a blog post! However, that does mean that there's plenty for us to talk about now! 

Over the summer we spent a bit of our time traveling. We found ourselves in Nashville, TN and the beautiful Siesta Key, FL. We had an absolute blast in Nashville. We were down there during the weekend of the CMA Music Fest, which was an awesome experience. Although we took this spontaneous trip with only a week to plan, we had an awesome experience. We were not able to attend any of the concerts because they were almost sold out for the mo

st part. However, we did tour the FanFair exhibit. At this exhibit we got to tour Trace Adkins tour bus, which was most definitely a highlight!

We also found Frenchie's Boot Shop. Now, this experience truly taught us the meaning of don't judge a book by it's cover. When standing outside of Frenchie's, and really just considering the name... it doesn't sound too appealing. However, we walked inside and to boot lovers like us, it was heaven on earth! 

Our Siesta Key trip was also nothing short of amazing. We traveled to Siesta Key with Ross' family for a week. Unlike last year, we were lucky enough not to be stuck in the middle of Hurricane Sandy. The weather was beautiful! We spent all week laying on the beach, and swimming in the ocean. The highlight of our vacation was definitely renting the paddle surf board. 

Now I'm sure you're all sick of hearing about our summer adventures and are probably more interested in how the wedding plans are coming, since that is the topic of this blog... 

We have purchased our drink charms that say Mr. & Mrs., a hanger for my wedding dress that says "Mrs. Braun," and our save the dates! :) We have begun purchasing materials for our wedding favors, and have officially decided on our centerpieces. We will be crafting all night on August 16th, with all of the beautiful ladies involved in our wedding to try to get a large portion of our decorations made. 

Ross has made an executive decision for the reception all by himself. For all of you Texas Roadhouse and peanut lovers out there, you should be excited. We will have large barrels of peanuts at our reception, with peanut shells all over the floor! 

We will be hanging out with Ms. Rachel Rector again on Monday to get some more engagement shots to use for our wedding! 

Our countdown is quickly shrinking, and we now only have 284 days until the wedding! 

p.s., THE BIGGEST DECISIONS OF ALL HAVE BEEN MADE! 

My wedding dress has been chosen, and we have both picked out our wedding rings! :) 

Engagement Shenanigans

I apologize to all of our followers for the long break between posts! Ross and I were both busy wrapping up the semester and getting into the routine of working all day long! However, this past weekend the engagement shenanigans have continued! 

Friday, May 17, 2013 marked the beginning of the ONE YEAR countdown to our big day! As we began our day on Friday morning, all we could think about was "One year from today...." Knowing that now, less than a year I will be married to my best friend is the best feeling in the entire world. It brings bittersweet emotions knowing there is so much to do, and so many big decisions (like what  centerpiece to choose) have yet to be made! However, the excitement is so overwhelming I cannot help but check the countdown application on my iPhone every single day! 

Saturday, we had a party to celebrate our engagement. Honestly, the party could not have gone any better! The decorations were perfect, so many people came to show their love and support, and the food was completely amazing! By the time the party was over, Ross and I were beyond ready to relax and get some rest.. and possibly stop by for a facial since our mouths were stuck in a smile after taking 120 pictures. My mom, Kelli, Kim, and Kailey all did an awesome job helping make this day happen! Ross and I really appreciated the helping hands! :) 

Finally, to end the weekend.. after trying two times prior, we were finally able to take some engagement photos! Running around taking photos with Rachel was a complete blast! We spent the entire day laughing, posing, staring into each others eyes, attempting to make serious faces, and attempting to beat the worlds longest kiss while she snapped from every angle. We don't have our pictures yet, but as soon as we get our hands on them, they will be up for all to enjoy! 

Oh, and the wedding party is finally complete! Although I cannot quite announce the list of groomsmen yet, because Ross is a slacker ;)- JUST KIDDING, the rest is ready to be revealed! 

Marissa (my sister) will be the Maid of Honor. Emily Collins, Michelle Jones, Ari Eaton, Diana Leedy, Kiley Lingenfelter, Lauren Davis, and Emma Rhoads will be the lovely ladies standing next to me. Yes, I know our wedding party is going to be huge, but we are beyond excited and decided that since it's our wedding day... we can do whatever we want! :) Our ring bearer will be Ross' cousin Henry, and the flower girl will be Miss. Caroline Grace! Our six handsome little ushers will be Roman, Rhody, Rigley, Mason, Kory, and Kody. Ross and I do completely understand that this might be a big chaotic considering the fact that we will have six ushers under the age of 13, an 18 month old ring bearer, and a 26 month old flower girl... but we wouldn't have it any other way! :)

By the way.. just so you all can begin to follow the countdown... only 362 days!! 

Huge thanks to Rachel Rector for taking our engagement photos, and giving us a few sneak peaks! She knows me far too well and knows that I am going crazy! 

Attention Braun Wedding Followers: COLORS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN!

We can finally say, our wedding colors have been chosen! Anyone that speaks with me regularly knows that I have had some issues making a final decision on the wedding colors. Ross has been so sweet and just agreed with all of my ideas, while still putting in his opinion. However, my dream wedding colors and Ross' favorite combination are the FINAL decision! We have chosen the black, burlap/tan, and ivory color pallet, with just a hint of Tiffany blue accent. Coming to this decision was quite the event and took around 11 hours yesterday afternoon. 

The adventure began around 10:00am yesterday morning, when Michelle (bridesmaid) and I picked up Kelli (my future mother-in-law) and Kiley (another bridesmaid) and we headed to Indy. The original plan was to simply see specific colors of dresses with cowboy boots. However, we ended up being much more successful than that. After getting my rock cleaned, and enjoying a delicious lunch at The Cheesecake Factory we headed to some bridal stores. The first store we went into was a cluttered mess, and extremely overwhelming. They also sold Target sundresses for $298 which we found ridiculous and quickly left. We then went into another store that had a selection smaller than my closet. 

Of course it wouldn't be a successful girls day unless we got lost; which was not hard to do since Ross and Ron (my future father-in-law) are the experts on directions. As we are heading to pick up my mom and my sister from her volleyball tournament we get lost somewhere in Indianapolis, but quickly find ourselves back on the highway and headed in the right direction. While watching a couple minutes of volleyball, Kelli and I quickly came to the conclusion that her boys have found the right girls for them, leaving all others behind. I am proud to say that Kailey and I are the lucky winners! :) Way to go Ross and Rhett!

Anyway, back to this crazy adventure... Our next stop was Alfred Angelo where Emily (another bridesmaid) met us for some fun! Here, we may have hit the jackpot! As the girls were picking out fun dresses to try on, a tall, skinny, red-headed consultant approached us. She was very honest and told the girls their dresses they had on were going to look hideous with cowboy boots and they had it all wrong. She quickly brought back the most perfect line of dresses for the theme of our wedding, and what do ya know.. the line has exactly 7 different dresses for my 7 bridesmaids! (Yes, I realize I will have a small army standing next to me.) These dresses could definitely be the ones :) 

Now, the idea of the day was to solely focus on bridesmaids and colors, buuuuuuuut they talked me into it! I just had to try on a couple of dresses! As our spicy consultant tells me I will look horrific in white, she is off to find dresses that are me. I wasn't sure she could pick out a single dress that was me after being around me for 30 minutes, but apparently I am easy to read. She carried several gorgeous wedding gowns into the fitting room, walks inside behind me, slams the door shut and commands, "STRIP!" I am not going to lie, I was a little bit scared of her. I tried on a handful of dresses she picked out for me, and there is one in the bunch that could be THE ONE. 

After leaving Alfred Angelo, we went to another store that provided us with the horrible experience of the day. This store was a disaster, the employees had no idea what they were talking about, and since they were closing in around an hour, I was not allowed to look at wedding gowns. Quite an unfortunate decision on their part since I saw my dream gown hanging in the aisle. However, being my mothers daughter, and stubborn as can be, I will not be returning there to purchase that gown. As we were leaving Kelli told us she had to run into the bathroom really quick and that she would be right out. She was in the "bathroom" for quite sometime, and we were getting a bit worried in the car. A few minutes later, Kelli finally finds her way out of the store and we quickly realize she was not in the bathroom. She was buying me the adorable bag I picked out early in our visit, and just being the perfect future mother-in-law! As she was walking out the door with my new bag, she turns  to the group and says, "Mackenzi will NOT be buying a dress from here!" 

After this hot mess of an experience, my momma decided to take us to Michael's to begin to check out decoration ideas. Now, being my angel mother, and knowing me far too well, she prepared herself before entering the store because she knew I would want to buy everything right then! Although our Michaels experience began with Kiley and Marissa causing a scene, it ended up being very productive. We found possible flowers, hair pieces, fabric, ribbon, decorative rocks, Oh! and we chose the exact shade of our accent color! All of our most recent discoveries and decisions are being held in the wedding binder :) This would be the binder that took around 30 minutes in the Target office supplies aisle to choose, while Katie was coaching me through the decision. Oh, and we also have an official wedding planning calendar as well! 

As you have read, we are finally making progress! After this full day of planning I have come to the realization that yes, we have some time, but it may not be as much as we think! I am more excited than ever to marry my best friend, and will continue to count down to this day! 

ONLY 391 MORE DAYS PEOPLE! 

An Addition to the Braun Family To Be

So, as many already know, Ross dropped down on one knee last Sunday and asked me to marry him. Of course, being the smart girl that I am, or think I am... I said yes! However, the excitement has yet to die down after an entire week of being engaged! Friday, an addition to the Braun Family To Be came along. Before anyone starts a horrible rumor.. we did get engaged because we are in love, and NOT because I am pregnant! Our addition was this handsome little ball of fur, Ringo! 

Life with Ringo has most definitely been exciting the past couple of days! He is an 8 week old Saint Bernard puppy, that is well on the way to being spoiled rotten. After picking him up, he proved to us that he fit right in. As he was laying in my lap, he wouldn't look at either of us. Finally after a few minutes he started sniffing and licking me, and warming up to the idea. However, Dad was still a little new for this little guy. He would peek at Ross out of the corner of his eye, but anytime Ross would acknowledge him, he showed off his little attitude by snapping his head the other way.

Ringo has met just about the entire extended family in the past couple of days, as well as numerous family friends. We have found out that he is scared of the dark, but loves his new bed Mommy and Daddy got him from PetSmart. He is currently teething and enjoys chewing on everything he can reach. However, he tends to be a bit lazy, which we are thinking he learned from his uncle Mason. He is also quite nocturnal, and feels that it's appropriate to play for two hours at a time in the middle of the night. Potty training thus far has been a success with only a handful of accidents! He also HATES getting his picture taken incase it's not obvious in this picture... He tends to show out for the camera. 

We have fallen madly in love with this little guy, in just the short time we have had him. Our lives couldn't be anymore complete right now! Engaged life is absolutely amazing, and becoming puppy parents has been awfully exciting. Ringo is definitely a Momma's Boy, and loves to get rowdy with Daddy. But regardless of his crazy personality, we make the perfect little family. 

Big News! 

A wedding date has been set!

We will be walking down the aisle at Glad Tidings, on May 17, 2014.

Let the countdown begin! 

404 days :) 

The Best Easter Egg Hunt.. EVER.

Okay, so it's official. As of yesterday Ross Lance and I are the future Mr. and Mrs. Ross Braun! We were at his Aunt Missy and Uncle Jason's house celebrating Easter, and little did I know, Mr. Ross had a plan up his sleeve. However, earlier yesterday morning Ross and I were on our way to church, and I decide to spark up the lovely proposal conversation. I asked Ross if he just loved the fact that I had absolutely no idea when the proposal was going to happen, and that it was eating me alive! As most people already know, I always have to know everything. Anyway, Ross politely informed me that he kind of felt bad for keeping a secret from me, but he knew I would appreciate it some day! This final comment of the conversation, leaving me even more clueless than I was before it began.

So just like normal we go to church, and then go home to watch TV and work on some homework. Little did I know our lives were getting ready to change forever! As we got off of the couch to get ready, Ross told me that I should keep my church outfit on because it is absolutely beautiful; and then proceeded to put on his spiffy new Izod polo. He made a comment about us semi-matching being perfect because we would be taking tons of Easter pictures with his cousins. Yet again, a hint dropped and I'm still clueless! As we were walking out the door, Ross ran into his office to grab a Target sack. After I questioned him, he informed me that he cleaned out our candy drawer and made Easter eggs for all of his cousins! Ope! There's another hint, and I'm still clueless. I thought he was just being a sweetheart. I even told him to say they were from both of us! WHOOPS!

Finally, we arrive at his Aunt and Uncle's house and it is a very normal Easter. We played with the kids, hid eggs, and ate far too much food. However, right after lunch ended, it was time for the Easter egg hunt! As a family, they decide Ross' easter eggs should be hunted first! All of his cousins go looking for their eggs, and find them in each pocket of the pool table; but I just stand by Ross, not realizing I had a very special egg to hunt. He pushes me toward the game room, but I turn around and said, "No Ross! Let your cousins have them!" He politely responds by telling me that I had a special egg with my name on it and that I had to go hunt too. Well, there's the BIG clue, that I did not pick up at all. As I begin searching around the room, Lauren pointed out that my egg was obviously in the pool table pocket that no one was standing at since that is where everyone else's eggs were. I walk over to the pocket and pull out a small pink egg that has my name written on it in silver Sharpie. As I held my unopened egg, I looked around and noticed that everyone else's eggs were really big, and mine was just a tiny little thing. In my head I was thinking I got less candy than everyone else, but little did I know...

Ross' Aunt Missy counted for everyone to open their eggs at the same time. As I opened my egg I was sure it was a dream. I looked up, and around to everyone else who received an egg from Ross, only to find they all received ring pops. As I stared at my gorgeous diamond ring I was speechless. Once I realized that everyone was staring at me, and there were numerous cameras pointed in my direction I finally spit out, "WHAT IS THIS?!" Ross took the ring from my egg and got down on one knee. Supposedly he had a pretty killer speech planned but I thought this one was perfect:

Mackenzi, you're my everything and I love you. There is nothing I want more in the world than to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me? 

Of course, I was ecstatic and speechless, and it took everything in me not to burst into tears. But somehow I spit out the word YES! before shoving that ring on my finger and completely attacking him while he was still down on his knee. As soon as he gave me that first kiss, my legs and hands started shaking. That moments, was the best moment of my life thus far. It was honestly a dream come true. I could not have dreamed up a better engagement myself.

I am truly thankful that God has blessed me with such an amazing man. He is my best friend, and my other half. We have been through just about everything, and I am the happiest I have ever been. Ross is by far the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I wouldn't change a thing. I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with him!

IT'S OFFICIAL! Ross Braun is my fiancé, and it will be Mackenzi Krystene Braun one day very soon! :)