Bridal Shower

On Saturday, I had my Oregon bridal shower at my future mother-in-law's house and it was ABSOLUTELY adorable! Who doesn't love being surrounded by the people who love your momma Mary the most? It was such a special day for Mary and I am so glad that I could be there to bring all of her favorite gal pals together! Her friends are crazy talented... just look at this adorable cupcake dress! Belt, not edible.

This was the fireplace right by the front door and I posted on Instagram the 56 days until she's Mrs. Bennett sign. What I didn't mention on there yet, was that momma Mary's friend made earrings for EVERY SINGLE SHOWER GUEST. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!??? So excited for my initials to be tuberculosis--- TB y'all.

And now for the people! My mom, me, and my sissy Madeline. Notice the resemblance at all? :) Almost all of the Bennett girls-- we just needed to add Momma Mary who was parading around with her pals. (Me, Sophie (future niece), Jess (LB's sis))

I did manage to snag her for a couple of shots though! The lady of the hour! The moms! Max, LB's dad, and Mary worked their tails off in the backyard to make it awesome... and awesome it was. It was such a beautiful shower and I feel very lucky to be marrying into this family... which is totally happening because while I was gone LB got these bad boys mailed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (yeah... the invites were 4 weeks late... oops).

Genius

I have been genuinely stressed to try and figure out where LB and I will decide to get married. What I want, more than anything, is a simple, small beach wedding. The cheapest ones of course are in places like Mexico and the Caribbean. We are in the perfect position to be able to do a destination wedding: we are older, have a small group of friends, and really have no desire to do a big wedding. The only hick-up: Momma Mary (LB's mom) cannot travel by car. She can't sit in a car for more than hour which also means that plane travel is out of the question. I started to envision me begrudgingly planning a wedding in Portland and then having to deal with all of the nonsense that comes with having it so close to where my family is.

I was talking to a friend of mine about this (in response to yet another inquisition about when we are going to get engaged) and she said, "Why not somewhere in California then? That way Momma Mary can travel by RV?" GENIUS!!!!!!! Not to mention that LB loves Santa Barbara.

Here's what I realized through this realization: we all have plans and visions for things in our lives. We all can try as best as we can to make that vision a reality. However, we have to be willing to think a little outside the box sometimes in order to "get what we want." Is this all really about a wedding? Sure. But I am grateful that I have learned a little something about being able to be open to different ideas in all aspects of my life... big or small.