We’ve got 8 fur babies in the house right now!

Bond & Shere Khan (our resident cats):

Jerry, Elaine & George (5 week old foster kittens):

Katara (our not-so-little resident puppy):

Cash & Romeo (7 week old foster pups – Husky & German Shepherd mix):

Our place is a ZOO and I love it! I also love that I married a man who enjoys it as much as I do and supports my habit.

We recently went to my (Bangalore) to introduce Bear to my family, do wedding shopping and of course to visit with all our friends and family. We bought all our clothes and jewelry for the wedding as well as all the stuff for the bridal party. I can’t wait to see everyone wearing it all.

Bear and I decided for our Bridal Shoot coming up (with the fabulous Nathan Russell Photography and his incredibly creative wife and my friend, Amy) that we would go ahead and wear our actual wedding and reception outfits. Head to toe. We paid so much for everything and it’s such a waste if we never wear it again…plus the day of will be so hectic we won’t have a chance for fancy pictures. But those won’t be revealed until January. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite experiences in India (getting sick multiple times is NOT included):

Spending time with my loving (and sometimes out of control) family

My talented cousin doing my mehendi

Hanging out with the animals on my dad’s family’s farm

Getting out of the city

The sweet party my parents threw for us

And my absolute favorite was when Gaurav and I bought this motorcycle for my cousins – they are such good kids and work/study so hard and really needed something more efficient than the bus to get around. It was an amazing experience to be able to help them.

Hi! Been uber busy with moving into our house (eek! OUR house!) and getting everything set up. I’m eager to have everything decorated and furnished so we can have a housewarming but I’m also trying to slow myself down with only necessities now so there’s still more to do later…and to enjoy the process. Thanks for all the great feedback on the before and afters…I’ll post more soon. Once there are no more moving boxes in the house.

But we’ve also been chugging away at the wedding planning and the big thing this month was getting out the Save the Date postcards. We used our pictures from the Engagement Shoot and put a fun twist on it. Love the way they came out…and Bear did a fabulous job on the website as well.

What do y’all think?

No, not together. That would be bad.

For Bear’s birthday, I surprised him (along with some good friends) with a day of brewery tastings!

He had a great time and was properly drunk by 3 pm. As it should be.

But we’re not done yet..that was just his present. For his celebration we’re having a fun birthday BBQ, complete with a vodka spiked watermelon and margarita machine! We’re joining forces with Andrea for her birthday…can’t wait!

In the meantime we have been charging ahead at the house. Both the garage there and at my parents’ place is stacked to the brim with new and old goodies. We’ve been thrifting and shopping and garage sale-ing for furniture and decor. We’ve also got all new fixtures and lights. The painting is now done! The carpet upstairs is now done! The tiles are now installed! The cabinets and countertops should be finished by tomorrow and the flooring should be done by next week before the appliances arrive. Then we start filling ‘er up…

I think I’ll do a huge before and after once it’s all decorated but for now here are some of the paint and flooring (and new fans!):

Master Bedroom and Bathroom –  walls are painted a yellow color that took us forever to choose and then the ceilings are the same color cut with white so they are lighter and make everything look bigger:

Guest Bedroom – love the soft green stripes:

Game Room – had to have that red somewhere in the house (it’s been an accent wall in every place I’ve lived after moving out):

Still have to post the painting job in the office and all the cabinets…as well as the floors. Will update again soon!

A couple years ago on a trip to Napa, I looked up and saw the Southwest sign and thought how cool it would be to one day take pictures at the airport with the heart and wings as a backdrop. Bear and I spent so much of the beginning of our relationship flying all over the U.S. to see each other because of work and it only seemed appropriate we honor the airline that carried us around. So my fabulous friend and wedding planner, Lush Occasions, set it up for us and with the help of Southwest and Cory Ryan, we got the photo shoot we wanted! Fun bonus: the suitcase is the same one my parents used on their honeymoon!

See more here!

I wrote to Southwest about our shoot to thank them and they tweeted about us today! Our fun 15 minutes of fame!

WE’RE ENGAGED!!

Bear proposed to me on Sunday in a very sweet and romantic spot – one of the very first places we ever met (and the first place we remember ever speaking to each other) on the UT campus. He even made sure I was looking my best and someone was there to capture the moment:

I get internal tickles everytime I hear the word fiance/fiancee. And I introduced him as my boyfriend today. Oops!

I couldn’t be happier.

Last night Bear led me on a scavenger hunt through our apartment, with wine refreshments to help me (please excuse the pajamas, I was in the midst of a Gilmore Girls marathon when this happened):

We’re going to New Zealand + Australia!! It’s my dream trip that I’ve never been able to take. I couldn’t be more thrilled!

We celebrated with drinks and Plucker’s. This is Bear’s “This Beer Belongs to the Coolest Boyfriend In the World” mug. Very appropriate.

I think it goes without saying that I have the most thoughtful and sweetest man. Kangaroos and kiwis, here we come!