It's Official!

Matt and I are engaged! It was the most perfect proposal I could have ever asked for. He put so much thought into everything and made the night truly romantic and personal. Let me give some details!

Like I said in my last post, Lauren and I were in Chesterfield practicing 'The Prayer' for Les's wedding and I got a call from Matt. He knew where I was and what I was doing and he NEVER checks up on me, so I thought something was out of place. I rushed out of there around 6:15 and headed over to the house (he closed yesterday morning). Well...I walked into a dark house filled with candelight. He had laid out some blankets (that he bought that day from C&B) and had Dewey's pizza ready to eat, it was amazing.

So he asked me to sit down on the blanket because he had a letter to share with me. I honestly thought that he was just being nice since it was our first night in the house together and I didn't think much of it. It had to be the nicest letter he ever wrote and the things he said to me...I will never forget. For being the most emotional person in the world, I'm surprised I didn't cry. But just writing this brings tears to my eyes.

Here we are after the proposal. Both not looking are best - it was a long day. No judging! :-)

After he read the letter (which I get to keep!) he got down on one knee, asked me to marry him and pulled out this...

It's the most beautiful ring I have ever seen. I know, everyone says that, but it's so different and fun. It's exactly what I would have picked and that's what I love about Matt. He's my best friend, he knows me so well, and he made the perfect choice!

We have a date! I know, it's so fast. But my mom and Matt have been scheming for weeks and knew when I wanted to get married. They have my church and reception site reserved and less than a year from now - on October 24th, 2009 - I will be a Telken. Wow, that feel so weird to say. But I can't wait!

Obviously I'll share more details when they come along. And I'm so tired right now from our night of celebrating last night. By the way, I woke up so hungover today that I gave myself a celebratory bagel at work (a no-no for my Cabo trip, but what the heck! I'm getting married!)

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful wishes. I can't wait to share more with you along the way.

xoxo,

Stevie

The walk through...

...went perfectly! Matt closes tomorrow at 10 a.m. and tomorrow night we will start to clean, clean, clean! Hopefully it won't be too much work, but I don't care. I'm excited!

Plus, tomorrow is the first time Lauren and I will practice The Prayer for Leslie's wedding. I don't have any doubt in my mind that we will sound great!

Family Picture

My dad just sent me this picture from over the summer. I'm in love with it! This is my wonderful family.

My younger sister Jenny, my dad, mom, Matt and me! Love you guys so much.

Haircut?

I'm debating on whether or not to cut off my hair. This long hair is, in my opinion, out of control. And I feel like I wear it up all the time so I don't have to take the time to do it.

Do I cut it off? I feel like I need a change. My only concern is cutting it off and totally regretting it afterwards.

What do you think about these cuts? Should I do it?

Do you think I love Rihanna much? Which one do you like best?

Snip snip,

Stevie

Cabo Weight Loss Plan

We leave for Cabo in a week and a half! And to get ready for this trip...and a swimsuit, I put myself on a strict diet at the beginning of October in hopes of losing 10 lbs. My rules for October are:

• No bagels. We get Panera Bread bagels delivered to work every morning and I would usually partake in a couple a week. No more! I haven't had a bagel in 27 days and I won't until after Cabo.
• I go to Bread Co. at least once a week and LOVE their brocolli cheddar soup. Not anymore! If I get soup, which I always do, I have to stick with low-fat or vegetarian soups.
• And here is the kicker...only two fast food trips! I had McDonald's breakfast last weekend so I only get one more. Yikes! This is a hard one to conquer.

But - I am proud to say that I have lost the big 1-0! And in total, have lost about 12 lbs (of course it varies by the day). I honestly can't tell by looking at myself in the mirror, but I can tell in pictures and I'm thrilled! I hope to get to my goal weight by the end of the year, which means only 6 more to go. Can I do it? We'll find out! :-)

Couch Update...

I don't have one! Matt and I drove 2 1/2 hours to Stahl's Furniture yesterday with my parents and we didn't see anything on the floor that we liked. It happens.

So we're off to Crate & Barrel again today to see if we can leave with a couch. Luckily, we have a 15% off coupon so we're now more willing to buy!

Here is what we are looking for ... fun huh? We really like the chaise on the end of the couch. Our room is pretty large, so we want to have some nice seating arrangements for family and friends to enjoy!

Wish us luck. With Matt moving in this week, we need somewhere to sit!

I'm back!

I know I said a couple of posts ago that I was back with more consistent posts, but work and my personal life got the best of me. I'm beat! But, I promise, I'm going to try really hard to keep up with my blog from now on...busy or not!

If you're wondering what I've been up to, read on!

Let's start with work. It's crazy busy right now, but more fun than ever. The long days are worth it to me! I'm working on a really cool account, FedEx NFL. They are doing this Air & Ground program where 6 NFL quarterbacks and runningbacks are voted on each week when they do well in a game. The winners, which are announced each Friday, are able to donate $1,000 to the local Safe Kids coalition in their market (funded by FedEx). It's really cool to see FedEx work through different local communities this way and provide assistance to safety pedestrian efforts - which is what this program is all about!

So in conjunction with the voting efforts I mentioned above, we also are doing 7 local market events where we work with FedEx voluteers and Safe Kids reps. I've already been to Pittsburgh with Hines Ward. And most recently, I went to Denver and Dallas, where we worked with Champ Bailey (cornerback for the Broncos) and Greg Ellis (linebacker and captain for the Dallas Cowboys). Event logistics is something I really enjoy doing, no matter how much I have to travel!

Here I am with Champ Bailey in Denver on October 7th.



And here I am working with Greg Ellis, talking him through key messages for his interviews!





If you're at all interested in learning more about this program, go to NFL.com/FedEx.

OK! Now that I've made my endorsement on the program, let me fill you in on what I've been doing outside of work.

One of my closest friends, Jen Paull, was in town a couple of weekends ago and we went out to celebrate her 26th birthday. There is this cool new bar in Clayton called Molly Darcy's where we met up, had some drinks and caught up for a bit!

Whenever I'm around Jen (and have a drink in my hand, for that matter), I bust out the kissy face.



Matt and me hanging out at the bar, doing what we do best. Drinking.



I uploaded some pictures from my Six Flags post, too.

The girls enjoying a day in the sun and some old school fun.



Matt and I after conquering Mr. Freeze. If you don't remember, this was one of my favorite rides, but the scariest going into it! I, of course, had to get a picture.



Now we're off to the wineries! The past four years 300+ people have taken buses out to Hermann, MO. This year, we wanted something low-key, so 30 of us went out to enjoy some fun in the sun and a few bottles of wine in Augusta. We couldn't have asked for a better day, 65 degrees and sunny!

Spending some time with Kelly and Heather



Tara and I after our first bottle of wine. Big smiles!



And finally, me and Matt towards the end of the day. It went by so fast, but we had a great time.

There is my update in a nutshell! What's next? Matt and I are going couch shopping in Illinois at one my dad's friends stores tomorrow. It will be a long 2 1/2 drive, but hopefully we'll find something for the house that we love. We really HAVE to find something since he closes on Tuesday! Man, this month has flown by.

Halloween is next weekend and we're not doing anything big. I'm trying to figure out what I want to be...any suggestions?

And my favorite thing to talk about these days...Cabo. I'm leaving 2 weeks from today and have already started picking out my outfits. I'll have some great posts on that trip.

Talk soon,

Stevie

The Reasons I'm Blogging...

1) We had social media week at work, like I said in my first posting. And I realized how important and how nice it is to put thoughts down on paper. And since I hate writing and absolutely LOVE typing (I'm just really fast), a blog is perfect for doing just that.

2) My friend, Lauren. I started reading her blog early this year and loved the fact that even though we don't see each other all the time, we can still keep up with our busy lives through blogging. So, I have to give a true shout out to you, Wies. How else would I have seen pictures of your new house and all of your wedding details?! Or see smaller versions of Leslie and Christian's engagement pictures? Now, let's promise to do happy hour more often. I miss your face!

Les, Lauren and me at Milo's on the Hill

Summer 2007

Our bi-yearly mother/daughter lunches

Wies and I at Arin's wedding

And last, but not least, the beatiful bride

Now how about that for a true dedication? :-)

Dedication

I want to dedicate this post to my first official follower! Thanks Karen! Hopefully you will be the first of many. :-)