What an amazing weekend!  The whole thing was supposed to be a surprise, but it just didn't quite work out that way.  Monte was in Louisiana for the last month for training, and our time on the phone had been quite limited!  So, I thought a surprise trip was in order!  I had it all planned out in my head; I was going to fly down to Fayetteville, take a taxi to Monte's apartment complex, and wait.  I was going to surprise him at his mailbox or have someone in the office call him to have him pick something up that was "mailed" to him.  That wasn't how it quite worked out.  But, that's ok!!  Monte needs time to prepare for all the goings on around him, so it's probably good I didn't just show up out of nowhere!  And besides, he saw right through me, as I suspected, and knew that I was coming up.   

While we were together, we actually got a lot of planning done!  We picked out our invitations and RSVP cards, and now all I have to do is figure out how many to order!  We also got a really good start on our guest list!  Once I have numbers, I can get so many other things done; food orders, invitation numbers, space enough to accommodate everyone, etc.  Not only this, but we finally decided on dates for the honeymoon, and will be making the reservations very soon!  It's all coming together, piece by piece!

Aside from planning, we went back to one of the jewelry stores we visited during our hunt for my engagement ring.  This place has an in-house designer, and Monte wanted to see if they could custom design what he wanted for his wedding ring.  It turns out, they can!  We spent some time with the designer, and drew out what Monte had envisioned.  The designer seemed to feel as though it would be a fun piece to design, and certainly unique, which we both love!  However, it may take a while.  Due to a high volume of custom orders for the Christmas season, he won't be able to get started until January!  But that's ok... he assured us that Monte's ring would get their "full attention," and that he would make it worth our wait!  I know Monte is excited to see how it turns out, as am I!!

This weekend wasn't just about wedding planning.... thank goodness!  We got to spend some real, quality time together!  We stayed in for the most part, and skipped our normal two-stepping date.  It was nice to order pizza and watch tv... just be a normal couple for a while!  We watched college football together too, and both of our teams won!!!  The Wildcats beat Texas and the Red Raiders beat Mizzou!  Fortunately, this eliminated SO MUCH trash-talkin, you don't even know! 

When Sunday rolled around, it sure was hard to get on the plane... it seems like it ought to get a little easier to leave each time, since we're getting closer and closer to Monte being back in Kansas, but that's just not the case.  Six months, folks, six more months.

Until next time!