Oh the happiness...

A couple weekends ago, Justin and I made a trip down to Georgetown to visit with my family and take engagement pictures. We enjoyed every bit of having a legitimate reason to show a little PDA. :) Since my Grandma's husband, Mr. Jim, always takes awesome pictures at all of our family events, we asked him to photograph our excitement.

Mr. Jim arrived at my parents' has at 9:00 am ready to begin our busy day. I was so lucky to have two amazing men in my life that would go and do whatever I wanted! (Let me tell ya, a girl could get used to a feeling like that!) It was amazing! I had a flexible photographer and a wonderful fiance'! :) We decided to divide our time between Wedgefield Plantation (our wedding spot!), Downtown Georgetown, Pawleys Island, and my Grandma's farm in Effingham.

I have already shared a few of our other favorites, so in fear of redundancy, I continue with new and different pictures. This one is taken under the tree where we will say our 'I do's.' Since Justin and I are both nature lovers, we thought it was only appropriate to have an outdoor ceremony! (Praying for Sunshine on May 22!)

As the day started off it was severely overcast. Being the optimistic individual that he is, Justin suggested for us to go to Wedgefield first, to allow time for the sun to come out. Perfect suggestion, the sun came out just as we arrived at the beach! Pawleys Island is one of my favorite spots in the Lowcountry!

We were pretty exhausted by the time we made it to Effingham. Although our initial excitement was winding down, we still managed to get a few good pictures at the end of our day.

We thought Grandma's farm would be a neat place to take pictures since it is so sentimental to me. When I was a little kid running around barefoot at my Grandma's, I loved to play in these grape vines! I thought it would be fun to play in them one more time, just for old time sakes! :)

Although it was an exhausting day, we had a blast! In closing, all I can say is Mr. Jim and Justin are MAJOR troopers! I could not ask for anything more! :)

Saudades.

With Halloween approaching, sharing the story of Saudade only seems appropriate!

On the Wednesday night before Justin left for Brazil, we took the opportunity to have a date night! We took a picnic to Falls Park in Downtown Greenville, SC and ate dinner. Afterwards we walked around a little, talked about his trip, and then decided to head back to my apartment. Since Justin grew pumpkins this year, he decided to bring two of them for me! We concluded that it would be best for us to carve one and leave the other one for decoration!

Here is the one we chose to carve....

Last year we had the hardest time trying to decide on a face, so I suggested that we come up with a name first and design a face that matches it.

I immediately thought of the name Saudade. Saudade is a Portugese word that describes the feeling of "the love that remains" after someone is gone. In Portugese, 'Tenho Saudades Tuas,' translated as 'I have saudades for you' means 'I miss you!' Since Justin will be in Brazil on Halloween, I will have saudades for him, so the name seemed fitting.

This name inspired a feeling, which in turn inspired a face! We knew the face would have to be sad, but not in a 'you make me want to cry' way, but in a 'I really miss you' way! :)

We used symbolism to get the point across. A tear drop would fall from his eye, however the tear drop would be an upside down heart, making it clear Saudade is missing his love.

Saudade ended up looking even more sad than we had originally planned. However, I guess that is how I will feel on Halloween without Justin. ;) Just kidding. Anyway, Justin looks a little too happy to be holding such a sad pumpkin, doesn't he?

I know, I know. Halloween pumpkins aren't supposed sad. We have promised that this will be the only sad pumpkin we ever carve! Although he is a very sad pumpkin, I love Saudade, anyway! :)

You are on another continent, but you're always in my heart!

Dear Justin;

You may be on another continent, but you are always in my heart! As you are immersed in a completely different culture, I hope that you are enjoying every minute of it. However, just because I want you to be enjoying your stay---I wish for you to return to me quickly! :)

Although your trip has started off a little rough, with:

• the airline losing your luggage for the first 4 days of your trip,
• the rain failing to cease since you left Belo Horizonte,
• and the money it takes to call me is starting to break the bank,

just think, things can only improve, right?! :)

I pray for you guys to have sunny skies and perfect weather from here on out! Enjoy you time in Brazil! You deserve it!

I love you.

-Casie

So, today I start blogging...

Being my first blog ever, I think I should mention that I am pretty excited about this coming up May! My life will change in all sorts of ways. I will be a college graduate certified in Special and Elementary Education AND a NEWLYWED! :)

After being in school for close to 16 years, it is weird to think that necessary schooling is coming to a close. Next fall, instead of preparing to sit in classes or paying tuition and buying books, I will be preparing my own classroom, my own lessons, teaching young minds, and getting PAID! Justin is especially excited about the last part!

Although I am excited about graduation and everything that comes along with it, I must admit, I am more excited about marrying my best friend on May 22, 2010! It may sound cheesy, but I am reminded that God puts people in our lives for a reason every time I look at Justin. Our love and respect for each other grows daily and I could not be anymore blessed.

Speaking of Justin, he is currently in Brazil visiting his sister, brother-in-law, and their 6 1/2 month old baby girl, Gabriella! Since they will be returning to the States at the end of the year, Jus had to visit with them before their big return. I guess I have time to blog now that Jus is out of the country! ;)

Now, onto wedding details!

Justin and I have conquered a good bit of our wedding planning. We recently decided on Save-the-Dates and they came in the mail YESTERDAY! This was an exciting event for me. Unfortunately, I have been unable to view them since I made the mistake of mailing them to my parents' house in Georgetown, SC. :( Mom has given me the thumbs up and says they are perfect, I am sure I will agree!

We have a wedding planner, which (I am sure) will be of much needed assistance in the Spring when I am in the middle of student teaching. Fellow senior education majors have called me crazy and a bit looney because I going to attempt to plan a wedding and student teach all at the same time. Little do they know, I am always up for a challenge. Justin claims he could plan a perfectly fine wedding in a month and laughs at me when I talk too much about wedding plans. ( I guess that is a guy for ya! ) Although he picks at me about it, he is more than excited about the big day, too! :)

Anyway-- it doesn't seem like a lot right now, but slowly but surely, the plans are coming along. I will keep you updated as the BIG DAY approaches! :)

I will close with a couple engagement pictures! More to come later!

This one is for Justin....Dendrology Dude, himself! Justin can explain the cause of the holes in the middle of the firewood behind us. Just ask him! It really is amazing! :)

...And this decribes us! Wonderfully unique! We were unaware that this picture was even taken until we got the pictures back. This one ended up being one of our favorites!