E-pics are Here...Go Terps!

If you weren't aware, UMD plays Duke tonight, hence the title of this post. But back to the real reason you're here...the e-pics! I received the cd with all our photo selections last Friday from my cousin who did an awesome job. And here are our top choices for your viewing pleasure!

 *Some lovey dovey photos ahead :)

If you missed any of the posts leading up to the big reveal check 'em out here:

• Brr! It's Cold Outside
• How to Survive a Winter E-Pic Session

How to Survive a Winter E-Pic Session

We had a busy saturday planned and we made the most of it. In the DC area, this past saturday was coined as the coldest day thus far for winter and boy it felt like it. I just kept wondering why does the coldest day of the year (so far) have to be the day when I'll be spending a good amount of time outside...oh well, we just decided to roll with the weather punches and keep it moving.

We ventured out to our alma mater, the University of Maryland College Park. There are so many great buildings and open spaces to utilize as the backdrop for our session. Just driving onto campus brought back so many great memories. You don't realize how fast 4 years really flies by. After getting onto campus we met up with my cousin who was our wonderful photog. We mapped out a quick course of action and hit the campus.

At the beginning of the session we were both very nervous and took a little time to warm up to being in front of the camera. But after about 10 minutes we loosened up, laughed a lot and eventually had a great time.

So here are my tips for any couples out there who are considering or are planning a winter e-pic session.

• Make sure to choose a coat that is warm yet sleek, i.e. close-fitting to the body (please no large puffy coats!!)
• Are you willing to go coat-less for a couple shots? If so, then make sure you consider what you both are wearing under the coat and try to coordinate somewhat but forgo the matchy-matchy
• LAUGH! Laugh alot! It gets the blood flowing which in turns warms you up a bit and laughter is the best way to get a more natural smile

Those are some of things I'm glad we did and they really did help us get through the session. I can't wait to share some of our favorites with you in an upcoming post so stay tuned!

Why the Long Engagement?

I talked about how we met here and then our history and official engagement story here and here. And in the engagement story I briefly touched upon how we had a long engagement, it'll be 4 years and some change by the time we tie the knot in August 2011. But that timeline isn't for everyone and at first it wasn't for me either.

I was so excited to be newly engaged, I started to read all the wedding sites and buy up as many wedding mags as possible, researching venues and oohing and ahhing at all the lovely photos and thinking about what our date should be. Maybe May 2008 or August 2009. But for some reason, even though we were engaged, for him, the timing was just never right to actually plan a wedding and get married. So I started to really wonder...why didn't he just wait to propose when he was really ready to get married. But I didn't push the issue, I knew it would happen at some point, I just had to be patient. So with patience in mind, I just forgot all about a wedding and just continued to cultivate our relationship. And that's what I like to think we did over the course of the past 7.5 years of being together.

Really thinking about our timeline, here's why it wasn't practical for us until now:

• 2007: We were freshly engaged and just about to graduate college and headed into a major transition in our lives and tackling wedding planning just wasn't fitting into that transition. Not to mention we were dead.broke, college loan debt anyone, I know you can relate.
• 2008: We were getting into the swing of things being working people and all. Then he found a new job and moved to Philly, I was on my way shortly after. So again no time or money for a wedding.
• 2009: This just wasn't the year, nothing major going on it just wasn't top of mind, we were happy being together and exploring our new city.
• 2010: This year just seemed like it was our year we both agreed that we were ready to take the plunge into married life and finally set a date.

And throughout all those years, we always got questions from family, coworkers and friends - when's the date?, have you decided yet?, what's taking so long?. etc. etc. but none of those questions ever made us feel the pressure. At a certain point we just realized that when we were ready to take on the full commitment of  marriage we would make it happen. Everyone has their timeline and regardless of whether it's exactly one year after you get engaged or 10 it doesn't matter because every couple is different and what works for one doesn't always for another.

What timeline worked best for your relationship?

The College Years...Part II & Finale

When we last left off, I was finishing up my freshman year at Pitt and basically submitting my transfer application to UMD. That was definitely a difficult year in more ways than one. Fast forward to sophomore year, I'm now at UMD, and I couldn't be happier. I was closer to home (well actually living at home), less stressed out financially and I was with my bestfriend aka my fiance, who was also attending UMD. I couldn't imagine it any other way.

Sophomore through Junior year were seemingly uneventful. I mean there was the typical college stuff, nothing I need to go into detail about though. But senior year would prove to be the best year yet. We were both getting senioritis and were just ready to be done with the whole thing. I was lucky enough to have found a job early on and was sitting pretty for the final semester. And a couple weeks before graduation, I knew something was up...he had something up his sleeve, but I couldn't really put my finger on it and he didn't cave under my pressure tactics. Until one day when we randomly ventured out into DC for a day, and he planned everything, start to finish. I mean he does these things now but back then, this was a first.

African-American Civil War Memorial, learn more

We strolled around U St., ate at the famed Ben's Chili Bowl and topped the day off with a wonderful dessert from Cake Love, you know, the one that was featured on the Food Network sometime back (yes, I'm slightly obsessed with that channel). Even though we are both from the DC area we had never taken the time to explore the city like we should have or wanted to, so this was perfect. Just when I thought we were heading back to campus, we stopped at the African-American Civil War Memorial and that's when/where it happened...he proposed! It wasn't crazy romantic, but it was totally him, and perfectly us. And like I said before, I'm horrible with dates, so yeah, I just know it's around the time of April 2007. So there you have it folks the quick and dirty of how we met, stayed together through college and found ourselves engaged.

The College Years...Part I

We left off at senior year of high school...yes, we went to prom together, and that summer was the best summer EVER up to that point. We literally spent every waking moment together. This was primarily because at the end of summer I was moving away to Pittsburgh to start my freshman year of college at Pitt and he was staying local. To say the least we were dreading my departure day.

Leaving for Pitt, I felt a new sense of independence, I was starting something new, going to meet new people and have lots of new experiences. And those first couple of months were just that really fun and exciting. But I started to get homesick and maybe even lovesick. Traveling home for the holidays (on Greyhound...I could write a whole post about that experience) was always bittersweet because it seemed like as soon as I got there it was time to go back north. There just wasn't enough time. We probably spent wayyy too much time talking to one another; our phone marathon sessions as I'd like to call them. They probably contributed to my first 'C' ever! Needless to say, I was planning my transfer back to MD before I even hit my second semester (believe me it wasn't all for love...that out of state tuition was a killer!). I transferred to University of Maryland and our story continues...

How We Met

Long story short, were high school sweethearts who have lived in the same MD suburb for a majority of our lives only to cross paths once we get into high school land. But I know you want the back story so here it is...

We had classes together every year, however, neither one of us ever showed an interest in the other...I guess we had other ideas. It wasn't until our 11th grade year that we really began to build a really great friendship...he was funny, silly, easy to talk to and it just worked. But the fun of the summer ensued and we lost touch, not because we were busy doing other things...but as we would both later reveal to one another...because we were stubborn. Yep I said it, stubborn. We were both waiting on the other to call and we both refused to be one to make the call. As senior year rolled around, I think we both wanted our telephone time back and the silence was broken.

We talked and talked and it's not like he never showed an interest in building a real relationship with me but for some reason I couldn't let him out of the dreaded "friend-zone". I don't know whether I didn't take him seriously (did I mention he can be really silly) or the fact that I actually liked him too but didn't want to be vulnerable. Anyway you spin it, we didn't really make our relationship official until senior year was almost over. So for all the guys out there persistence does pay off...at least in our case.

I'm Not Good With Dates

Source

So... if you looked at this then you probably noticed that I don't have an actual date for when we became engaged. Please believe, this was not intentional, our date is not shrouded in secrecy...it's pretty simple actually... I don't remember AND neither does he. He's generally very good about remembering our important dates and reminding me of them if I ask, because those milestone dates just aren't ingrained in my memory. I'm just not good with that type of thing. I know what you're thinking "how could she not remember such an important date in her relationship?"

Well I do remember, and I remember it vividly, including all the details and emotions of the day and how happy we both were and where we were and what we did. I just don't remember the calendar day...and that's fine with me and it's fine with him. Because in the end, it's the happiness that I love and cherish about the day he decided he was ready to spend the rest of his life with me.

Don't worry, you'll get all the details of the infamous day in a later post :)