This is getting real!!!!

Last night Neal and I dropped the invitation at the post office...what a relief!!!!  Now we can coast through the next 6 weeks making decisions as they come, confirming and finalizing all the plans that we have been working on for the last 10 months. 

As, my sisters and I assembled the invitations I kept having waves of joy and excitement.  The invites make the day seem that much more real, not just because it is getting closer but because I got to see the very large number of people that will be supporting us.  As I placed invitations into the envelopes I would look at to whom it was addressed.  This started out as double checking for correct spelling and addresses, but quickly turned into, "I hope they will make it."  I couldn't help but feel blessed at the number of people that love and support me and Neal!  Not that I was lacked confidence in our love for each other before, but to be surrounded by a community of people who support us and wish us success in our Marriage, just adds to the confidence....and of course the excitement!!!!

I feel soooooo lucky to have met Neal, and to have such amazing people in both of our lives!

How We Met...

...the beginning of the end for our single lives!

The short version....we are introduced at O'Dowd's, 6 months later we meet again at a mutual friend's BBQ.  Two days later Neal invited me to dinner for our first date...the rest is history.

Thank You Emily Crupper for taking our first engagement photo...even if it was a joke ;)

The long version is much more entertaining so here we go....

One Friday night while I was still working at Oak63, waiting tables, my friend Colleen 

(Colleen in front and Right)

calls me, begging me to go out with her!!!! She simply CANNOT go to O'Dowd's without me!  I was tired and probably a little sweaty, and still in my work clothes when I enter O'Dowd's.

We are quickly met by.....

Billy, Emily and Neal!

I had of course met Emily before, and Billy maybe a couple times, but this was me and Neal's first encounter.  The night progresses, and people are quickly "coupling" off, Billy&Emily, Billy's friend Brock&Molly and Colleen was doing her usual running around and talking to as many people as possible, leaving me and Neal with no one to talk to but each other.  We began making fun of the other couples together....it was our common ground since we were both single.  By the end of the night, Neal and I were engaged, had a daughter we had given up for adoption in Russia so she could be an Olympic gymnast and had plans to marry another night.

That night was about 6 months later when.....

.....Becky hosted a BBQ, luckily Neal was working with Eric at the time (both pictured above :)

Again with Colleen's pressure to come because I had work the next morning....I finally arrive.  I say a couple "Hellos" as I pass a few people, about 4 hellos in I receive a, "Hey Leah, it's Neal!" I didn't recognize him until he said his name and then I recalled our previous meeting and replied, "shouldn't we be married by now?"  Which quickly turned into our inside joke of the night.  In fact,  we convinced a party goer that we were in fact married, and had previously had a child together that now lives in Russia.  Neal and I joked and had fun all night.  By the end of the evening he had my phone number and he called me that Sunday to make a date for dinner that week....and now 2 1/2 years later we will be getting married!

Tying Up Loose Ends

With less than 50 days to go, we find ourselves at the point in planning were we are just finishing things up, making the final touches and preparing for the BIG DAY!!!!  Last week we finalized the invites, gave the envelopes to the Calligrapher, and maybe found the guys ties.  The loose ends that still require some thought and planning are the readings for our wedding, the songs for the reception and the  layout for the reception.

As the day approaches my level of nerves and excitement continue to increase.  Definitely not nervous about getting married, that is the exciting part!  Nerves about, have I planned everything? Did I forget something? is something missing?  If you know me very well, you know that I have a slight (understatement) tendency to worry.  Luckily, Neal tends to be very calm and does a good job of assuring me we are doing everything we can at this point in time.  Thank goodness he does not add to my natural inclination to worry.  

We do a pretty good (understatement) job of taking care of each other, and supporting each other through calm and worrisome times!