"For Better or Worse..."

You know how the vows go. For better or worse... Well I've not only had a few years now to get to know the amazing, wonderful, handsome, sweet, polite, side of this fiance of mine- I've also gotten to know his funny, goofy, strange, odd, weird, special, and different side. It has been equally reciprocated. I remember when we first started dating, a full hair/teeth/and nose inspection preceded every meeting. I couldn't afford to let him see me not at 100%! Girls, you know the ropes. Even every outfit has to pass the night-before deliberation. When on those first dates, you lie about having to go to the bathroom because that would be weird. You order water on every date and don't eat half your meal because you would hate for him to think you are a pig when really you want to scarf that burger down in two bites.  HA. Funny how things change! Needless to say, it didn't take long for Adam and I to fully be ourselves around each other, and realize that that was really something special.

Being me,  I have collected quite the stock pile of photos of us over the past 3 years. Some are better...some are worse. I thought it would be fun to take a little walk down memory lane and share a few photos that have been hidden in my vault of embarrassing moments. I think a couple of these you may have seen, but I still think they're hilarious. Therefore, enter Adam and Sarah...unedited and maybe even never before seen!  Don't worry, I was given permission to do this. After all, when you're married aren't you supposed to consult each other on big decisions or something like that?? :)

No words for this one.

Can't wait to marry THAT face!

You can expect this for our first Christmas card.

Maybe we'll throw this one in just for kicks.

I win.

Hmm.

Pure happiness.

We're weird...I know :)

I have a feeling one day we won't think this is funny.

That's my angry face.

This is Adam's...no idea face.

Get it.

Perfect timing.

Adam loves to swing. It makes him feel like a 5 year old.

Maybe this will be our Christmas card instead.

Just call us Simon and Garfunkle.

Why the sun decided to shine every ounce of its rays down on me I have no idea.

Adam likes to pretend like he's taking senior photos.

I like to pretend like I can make the prettiest faces ever.

Hahahaha.

Drrrrrrrr.

We've learned to better align our photos since then. Thank goodness.

Adam's face says it all.

Don't ask.

Check out that chin!

What a gem this one is!

and there you have it. A peak at some of our worst/goofiest photos. Unfortunately there were several even better ones I was dying to post but I can't find them :( Hope these made at least one of you laugh!

-The future Mrs.

My Wall-E-beware, long story.

I thought I'd take a little break from wedding related blog posts, and tell all you dear blog stalkers a little something something about the soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Since a lot of you have only known one of us, either you're a friend of mine from Lipscomb, or you knew both of us at Harding, or are a friend of Adam's from Texas, I thought I'd catch everyone up on our little "story."

It all began just a few weeks into our freshmen year at Harding University in fall 2007. We met through mutual friends and both will tell you different stories as to where we actually were when we first met. Adam will tell you we were in the caf, but I could swear up and down we were in one of the guys' dorms during an open house. Either way, we met, and became close friends. We even had New Testament Bible together, where Adam would be "shamed" multiple times by our outrageous professor for not bringing his Bible to class. Adam became one of my best guy friends that semester, and when I decided to transfer to Lipscomb that Spring, he did not let me transfer easily! In the Spring, while I was at Lipscomb, we kept in contact with each other and occasionally caught up over the phone. I didn't really think anything of it, and just assumed he was being the sweet guy friend I knew he was.

In June 2008, we started talking more via Facebook Chat and Texts. Long story short, Adam let it slip that he really cared about me and had always had a little crush on me, and that he was super sad when I decided to transfer schools. My thoughts: Really Adam? You're about 6 months too late. 

Well, I wasn't too upset about this because I had always thought he was SUCH a good guy and would totally be marriage material, but "it would never work out."

So we kept talking and texting anyways, and then he made the first move. On July 4, 2008, my friend Miki called me and asked me to come meet her at Starbucks because she "really needed to talk to me about something." So I did, and when I got there, guess who just so happend to be there also. Adam.

Talk about a surprise! That little booger drove 12 hours that day to surprise me on the 4th of July. After getting over the shock of him being there, we walked around downtown Franklin for a bit and then headed out to where the annual fireworks show would be. I. Was. So. Nervous. What girl wouldn't be?? This boy that I'm trying so hard not to like because oh I don't know, he lives 12 hours away, has driven all the way up here just to surprise me and spend a day and a half with me. Ugh, he made it reallllly difficult not to like him. So we're sitting there waiting for the fireworks to start, which so happened to be at this little park next to the pool I was working at that summer, and we're both making small talk because this is obviously nerve wracking for the both of us. Then the show starts. And we're sitting on this little path with our legs stretched out in front of us watching and listening to the booming of the fireworks. The next thing I know, it's the finale of the fireworks, and I feel him grab my hand, grab my face, and thus the best first-kiss of all time. (Ok, I'm a little biased, but I really felt like I was in a movie. Timing is everything, and he nailed it ladies!) Enough details. After that we strolled down deserted Main Street and sat on a bench under an awning while it started raining. The "DTR" ensued, as did the "is this really going to go anywhere?" It finally got super late and we walked back to where we were parked, may or may not have had our 2nd kiss in the pouring rain, and then said goodnight and made plans to meet up in the morning. So the next morning, we went to breakfast, I showed him around Lipscomb, and then we headed to downtown Nashville and took a walk on the walking bridge, where we took our first picture! (Not that anyone cares about our first picture...but look who you're talking to.) After showing Adam downtown, we headed back to my house then decided to go see a movie. And that movie was....WALL-E!!

It could not have been more perfect. If anyone out there hates this movie and doesn't appreciate the cute lovey-dovey symobolism...you are a heartless poophead. 

We consider Wall-E to be our first date, and I'm so glad it was. 

That night, we said our goodbyes, and Adam left early the next morning to drive back to Texas. Thanks for the 36-hour heart-string-pulling-weekend Adam. 

So over the next month we talked more seriously about what we were going to do, and if we really thought it would work out. After all, we were going to schools that were 5 hours apart. Lucky for Adam, I'm a go-getter. 

About a month later, I somehow wrangled two very sweet friends of mine into taking a little roadtrip down to Dallas to go "shopping." Ha. Jessica and Amanda, ya'll are great. 

That roadtrip I will never forget.

The funny thing about this little road trip was that I failed to mention it to Adam. He should have seen it coming though, after that little stunt he pulled on me!

So we get to the hotel and I still haven't come up with a way to surprise him yet. Then we get on our laptops on Facebook and Adam is on. Perfect. So I said hello, and he asked what I was up to, to which I replied, "Oh nothing...just hanging out in Arlington." He thought I was either kidding or talking about Arlington, TN. I then let him know that nope, I was in Arlington, TX. After much convincing that I wasn't lying, he hopped in his car and headed out to our hotel. SURPRISE. Muahaha. So that week, in between exploring Dallas with the girls, I met Adam's family and got to spend a few date nights with him before time to head back to Nashville and get ready for the new school year. 

We essentially decided that we were in fact "dating" and would take turns coming to see each other. 

Insert, sophomore year of college and lots of traveling back and forth between Harding and Lipscomb on the weekends. That 5 hour drive would soon become second nature. 

Towards the end of sophomore year, Adam and I started talking even more seriously about future plans. I basically came to the conclusion that if I really wanted this to work, I was going to have to chase after it and make it work. Also, if I was going to transfer, now was the time. 

So I did. 

 I transferred back to Harding that fall at the beginning of Junior year, hoping and praying I had made the right decision to return and pursue this relationship. 

Yea, I was that girl. I was that girl who transferred schools for a boy. 

It turned out to be the one of the best decisions I have ever made though. I never knew how much I loved Harding and everything about it, until I came back. 

So we continued dating all of Junior year. Then summer after junior year, we both stayed in Searcy for the majority of the summer, where we hilariously both got jobs at the Country Club. 

Then Senior year came, and I graduated in December. I stayed in Searcy though until May and worked and enjoyed being out of school. I wasn't about to move home in December, and lengthen the time of long distance I knew we would have to do again. 

So then Adam went on vacation with my family, proposed, I said yes, and here we are, 3 years later, planning our wedding. 

Ta-daaaaa. (Just imagine Wall-E saying that)

-The Future Mrs.

For the Mr

Things got a little crazy tonight, and I did something very...domestic. 

I made homemade guacamole!

I'm obsessed with avocados and wish I could grow an avocado tree. (Do avocados even grow on trees?) My old roomie, Jenn, and I ate guacamole like crazies while we lived together. So I thought I'd relive those good times.

I wanted to fully document this, in case anyone, cough cough Adam, was worried about my future domestic ability as a WIFE :)

So this is for you, fiance. 

Also, my soon to be sister-in-law, Anna Ingle, is the Queen Bee of all things domestic, and often blogs about it HERE, one day I hope to emulate her baby food recipes :) Anna, you might appreciate this post too :)

Here is what I started with:

4 Avocados, an onion, a tomato, a lime, fresh garlic, and cilantro. And Pandora in the background.

If someone knows an easier way to pick the seed out please tell me!

I chopped up the onion, tomato, cilantro, garlic, and sprinkled on some lime juice. Oh and lots of sea salt. I'm super picky about how salty my guacamole is! Lord knows I'm not a very seasoned chopper of foods, so no judging on lack of prettiness here.

Then I tossed it all into the smushed up avocados and re-smushed it all together. I left one of the seeds in there until the very end because someone told me it, along with the lime juice, would keep the avocados from turning. Hmm. So I tried it. 

Well, it turned out a little chunky, but I can't stand going to mexican restaurants when their guac looks like they mixed it in a blender. Yuck.

Don't worry, it was delicious. 

Just call me, Suzy Home-maker. 

Not really, don't do that. That would be weird, and totally not me.

The Future Mrs.

P.S. He's a nerd. I know. But that's why I love him. So deal with it :)

By Popular Demand

You asked for it, now here it is: another blog post by Adam Ingle.  I never know how to start these things, so let's just put on our swimming caps and dive into the maelstrom that is my mind.  Let us first go through my current endeavors.  Yesterday, I started my summer class, Managerial Finance at 8 in the morning!  It shouldn't be too bad, great teachers make bad classes tolerable.  After class this morning, and of course homework also, I logged onto WoW only to remember that all servers are down for maintenance.  This was bad.

<nerd>

So how in the world was I supposed to log in and see if the Khorium ore that I "invested" 400 gold into sold so that I can pay Will back the 1100 gold he loaned me for Artisan Riding so that I could get my faster mount?!

</nerd>

Downtime wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I ended up going to the shooting range and getting out some aggression.  I got back online, Khorium didn't sell, the world goes on.

So now I sit here listening to Pink Floyd and finally letting my mind wander to something actually relevant; a wedding. 

So, Sarah has picked out a dress and a venue, why in the world don't we have it next weekend then?  I have a lot of ideas to make for the perfect wedding, I doubt Sarah shares my fervor.  Here are just a few factors to make that day perfect.

-Bela Fleck playing banjo as we all walk in.

-John Williams greeting people at the reception then playing the Imperial March as Sarah and I enter.

-Shooting the unity duck.

-Chipotle catering.

-Entire ceremony spoken in Klingon.

Those are just a few very simple requests.  Is that really to much to ask for?  

In around a year, I'm going to be married.  That is pretty crazy to me.  Anyone that has been around Sarah or me in the past few years knows that we made for each other, yet it is still just crazy.  

So, everyone out there on the interwebs, have a great night.  Maybe next time I post something on here, I might be a bit more level headed.  Wait, who am I kidding?  Stay tuned for more adventures into the life of an engaged couple just trying to figure things out.  

-The future Mr. Adam Ingle

Just a Little Update

Hey everyone! I wanted to give a brief update on what I've been up to and what I'll be doing this summer! Don't get your hopes up, it's not too exciting, except for the planning a WEDDING part!

I'm still on the hunt for a job, but I actually have two interviews tomorrow for two different part-time, more 'fun' jobs. So we'll see how that goes. I can't tell you how many resumes I have submitted via cyber-space over the past week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that one of them looks at my resume and goes "that Sarah Pence seems like the perfect fit. and I bet she's getting married soon and would really like to start making some money. let's hire her immediately."

It could happen.

Also, Sarah E. photography is still in the process of getting my name out there, handing out business cards, updating my website, and hopefully one day being so busy I have to turn down clients. That's the goal, and I can dream can't I?

Anywho, I have become very well acquainted with The Knot, Southern Living Weddings, and every other current Summer 2011 Bridal magazine that's out there. I have even purchased two different wedding planners, and a handy notebook to jot down all my ideas. I decided I'm going to dive in as organized as possible.

In case you missed it, I FOUND MY DRESS! I'm relieved to have that part out of the way, but it was so much fun to try on so many pretty dresses! However, only one was beautiful enough to make the cut.

Also, mom and I have been venue-hunting like mad women. Yesterday we visited a place called, Moonshine Hill. It's only about 5-10 minutes from my house! It. Was. Perfect. We absolutely loved it. It was so "Adam and Sarah." My head was spinning with ideas for the ceremony and reception, and it just fit right into my wedding day vision. I can't wait to show pictures of the place! It's definitely a strong contender on our venue list. Hopefully this week we will have "the place" booked, whether it ends up being this one or not, and finally have a date to tell everyone! Hooray!

Tomorrow, I'm going with my sweet Maid of Honor, Lauren Harmon to Weddings 101. It's a free everything-you-need-to-know-about-weddings-in-middle-tn convention type thing at The Factory. Afterwards, we're finally going to see Bridesmaids. Way overdue for this date!

I think that's all for now, but I'm trying to keep everyone on the same page :)

Newsflash, one of my best friends, Becca Carter is getting married 2 months from today!! WAHOO!! Check out her blog HERE.

Over and out,

The Future Mrs.

I Found It!

After years of watching Say Yes to the Dress, I finally did it myself! I said yes...to a BEAUTIFUL dress!!

It's absolutely perfect, in every single way, and I can't imagine marrying Adam in anything else!

It's nothing like what you'd think I would wear, and yet it's so ME.

Mom and I started looking just for fun on Tuesday, and of course we fell in LOVE with the first one I tried on, so much so that we put it on hold for a few days. We went to another place on Thursday, but still didn't find anything that topped that first one. Then this morning, we went to a nice boutique in Nashville, thinking that we probably wouldn't find a better one. We went through and pulled 5 or 6 dresses we liked, and then once in the room we narrowed it down to the one I liked best and wanted to try on first. I was a little iffy when I first put it on, still having that first dress in mind from Tuesday, but after just a few minutes in it and after putting the veil on with it, we fell in love with it! It absolutely topped the first one, and just felt like "the dress." So I ended up not trying anything else on at that boutique, and we went to one more place in Murfreesboro just to see what they had. Nothing came close, so we booked it back to where we were this morning, and tried that dress on again, and knew it was the one! I felt gorgeous, mature, and like a Bride. I got fitted for it and ordered it in my size. 

It's official! That's my dress!

It made us both cry. So I guess that's saying something. Wedding gown shopping with my mom is something I'll never forget, and I'm so glad we got to spend that time together.

I love it, Adam will love me in it, and that's all that matters!

I can't wait to see the look on his face when they open those church doors :) :) 

Next year, please go by fast, I want to marry my best friend already!

P.S. Don't ask me any details about my dress, I'm keeping it a surprise to as many people as possible!

My turn!

Okay everyone. We all know how it goes. The girl is always right. So here's how it REALLY went down.

First a little back-story. Adam knew that I really wanted to be engaged either before I moved home or sometime this summer, so that doing long-distance again I would at least know that a commitment was made and there was a light at the end of the tunnel. As far as the beach, we had previously talked about how the cut at the end of the island was one of my most favorite places ever because I had a lot of family memories made there over the years and because of how beautiful it is at sunset. So, in the weeks leading up to the beach I had gotten the vibe from Adam that he wasn't planning anything special and that he for sure hadn't bought a ring yet. So I really thought it wasn't going to happen at the beach, but I knew I would still stress out about it. So then, the day before we left, I texted our good friend Becca (and Adam's apparently secret-confidant) something along the lines of, "Becca, you have to just tell me he's NOT going to propose at the beach so I don't think about it all week" and she responded with something along the lines of "Don't worry about it, I may have already talked to him ;) you're going to be very happy by the end of the summer though, he's got something bigger planned...maybe he'll at least talk to your dad this week though?" I thought it was pretty convincing, so I completely pushed the idea out of my head and even told my mom to not think about it because, "it wasn't going to happen."

( I mean, how could it happen?? He surely hasn't talked to dad yet, and Becca clearly knows when he is really doing it, and I KNOW he hasn't bought a ring yet!)

So we got to the beach on Saturday, and that night me and Adam rode our bikes down to the cut (the cut is the pass between the bay and the ocean and there's these two big rock jetties on either side, and it faces an uninhabited island and the sunset). We walked around down there and sat and talked for a little bit, and I told Adam how this is the cut I had always told him about. Then Sunday, my brother and sister-in-law got to the beach and we spent that night at the house with everyone, and Adam suggested going to watch the sunset again tomorrow night, being Monday. So I was like yea sure that sounds good. So Monday rolls around, and oh my word, what a perfect day.

It was like high-70's, and sunny/kinda cloudy (perfect lay out weather!), my dad and Adam both caught Pompano (huge deal because they are delicious), the water was super clear, Adam made me lunch and brought it down to the beach for me as a surprise, we spent the whole afternoon out at the pool, then went in and everyone got cleaned up to go to dinner at the main restaurant on the island. 

Naturally, I thought it was only appropriate to take a few pictures before dinner because everyone was looking nice for dinner. So we go to dinner and had a perfect meal. Then after dinner, little did I know Adam was busy checking his watch to make sure we didn't miss the sunset, we went and ran a few errands before we headed back to the house. 

Side-note: While I was in Chicago in April, Adam drove up to Jackson and met my dad and had "the talk." So dad knew that it would happen sometime this week, and my mom knew that they had talked, but no one else knew anything at all. And I sure as heck had no idea they had talked. In face just a few weeks before I told Adam that I would not say yes unless he had talked to my dad. He replied, "do I have to? that's kind of scary..." What a sneaky pete. 

Back to the night.

So we get back to the house, and by this point it was pretty cloudy, and I told Adam, "ehhh it doesn't look like it's going to be very pretty, let's just go tomorrow and stay in tonight." Of course he was like "umm no I think it will be pretty, let's just go." (Repeat 3 times) So finally he convinces me to go, and I remember asking him if I should take my camera and he said, "if you want to...I mean if you think you'll need it...I don't care.." So I ALMOST didn't take it. Which would have been bad. Very bad.

So now we're driving down to the cut, after it took me 10 minutes to back out of the car-port, while navigating around fishing poles, trash cans, and palm trees. It's a wonder we even got out of the car-port.

I don't remember really what we talked about, but we got down there and parked outside this gate thing you have to walk through. I had had my eyes on these beautiful pink flowers since the first time we were down there so I made Adam take my picture in front of them, and then in front of some palm trees. He was his usual self, slightly annoyed at how many pictures he had to take.

I was finally picture-satisfied and we started walking down the last street of houses, when a bride came out of one of the houses followed by a couple photographers. HA. How ironic. I told Adam how much I wanted to just go sneak in and snap a few. Then, we turned the corner to walk down by the fence towards the water, and lo and behold there's a bamboo alter sitting down by the water. So of course I was like, "Adam! How precious is this!! She is totally getting married here and this is the aisle she'll walk down!! It's such a perfect place for it!" He was less amused than I was. Moving on.

We finally are walking down by the water now and taking a few pictures of the sunset, and Adam says, "Remind me again where your favorite place to sit is." So I was like okay, let me go pick out a good spot! So I ran ahead of him and carefully selected a perfect sitting rock to face the sunset. So he comes and sits next to me, and we're kind of cuddled up in my jacket because it was actually really chilly from the wind! So we just start talking and he says some sweet things like, "I really like your family...I think I fit in really well...blah blah blah..." and I'm like yea I know it's going to be a really good week, they all love you, blah blah blah. And then we just started talking more kind of sweet stuff about our relationship and what not, which I thought was normal sweet stuff, and then he kept saying, "So uh..." "Well..." and I'd be like "So what?" and then he'd cover quickly and say something else sweet. And then he said something like, "How much do you love me? Is it enough to marry me?" and I was said something like, "Of course...I've already told you that..."and then he stood up in front of me, and so naturally I stood up too because I thought this was simply a bear-hug moment but clearly I read it wrong, and then I thought ugh he already wants to leave??? So then we're hugging and I remember hearing his heart going a mile a minute and thinking, that's weird. Oh well. Unobservant me. Then he was like, "Well....that's good because.." and then he carefully got down on one knee, held up the most beautiful thing I had ever seen with his right hand, and asked, "Will you marry me?"

*Insert, tears, surprise, shock, shaking, confusion, world spinning*

Then I said something like, "Are you serious? Really? Becca told me you weren't going to do it this week!!! Really??"

Then poor Adam, after I clearly had not even said yes yet, said,

"Please??" in the CUTEST way ever.

and I said yes yes of course, and he put the ring on my finger, and we both cried and laughed and hugged and took pictures and I told him how beautiful and perfect it was and it was just so great.

So then we walked back to the car, and spread the good news!

When we got back to the house, only my mom and sister in law were up there, so we walked in and I just couldn't keep it a secret, so I bursted out, "I'M ENGAGED!!!" Both of their faces were hilarious, Jennifer was so surprised, and mom was shocked and about to cry. Then, a few minutes later, my dad and brother came in from the beach where they were playing with the metal detector my dad brought with us ( I know, only my family). My mom asked them if they had had any luck and they briefly said what they had found, and then she said, "Did you find a diamond ring?" and right as they said no, I said, "I did!!" and the look on my brother's face was PRICELESS! He was completely surprised and shocked and speechless. My dad didn't know for sure what night Adam would pop the question, so he was also somewhat surprised. Hugging and story-telling ensued.

It was the most perfect proposal ever, and I'm so glad my family got to share in the experience and celebration! 

Can't wait to show my new 'Ingle' family to be! 

It's pretty neat having a fiance :) My Cinderella moment finally came, and I wouldn't change a single second of it! I absolutely can NOT wait until our big day!

-The future Mrs.