New Years' Day 2011

On New Years' Day, Brandon and I went with his sister Brianna and brother-in-law Mohit on a double date! :) My first double date ever! Brandon's parents watched Brandon's nephew Ethan and the 4 of us went to downtown Portland and had a really great night.

First, we went to the largest bookstore in North America... it's called Powell's Books. There are like 6 floors of books and interesting things to do there. It was fun!

Then, we had reservations at The Melting Pot. Have you heard of this? I think Houston has one, too. It was so fun! There were 5 courses of foods and you dip everything in cheese or sauce or chocolate, etc. It was so nice and very cool. We were there for almost 3 hours! What an experience!

Also, I'm including a picture of Brandon's mom and Ethan. We love this picture.

Have a great day!

It must be true love... ;)

I subbed in Huntsville from September through December. Most of the time I was subbing at the high school or my favorite elementary campus. Anyways, I did an extended sub job at the high school for 3 weeks between Thanksgiving break and Christmas break. It was a GREAT position and I truly enjoyed it and I LOVED the kids. I was the sub for the business management/keyboarding/co-op teacher. So... all of that story was to set up the picture:

In one of my keyboarding classes, 2 sophomore girls would sit together at their computers every day when their assignments were completed and play this computer game called "Love Tester Deluxe". All it involves is plugging in 2 peoples' names and the computer gives the results as to whether or not they make a good couple. These girls were so funny & cute. They would sit and giggle as they plugged in the names of their friends to see if they made good couples. Very entertaining to watch... :)

So, one day, the girls said, "Ms. Frazier, what's your first name?... And what's your fiance's name?" I told them and you can see the results for yourself... Love is in the air! This is a match made in heaven!

The girls were really excited as the percentage was being calculated. As the number was climbing higher and higher, the girls would exclaim, "Oooh, Ms. Frazier! Nobody every makes it this high!" When it finally reached 92%, the girls were thrilled. I took a picture of it and sent it to Brandon. We've had many fun references to the mucho scientific "Love Tester Deluxe". ;)

More pictures

These pictures are from Silver Falls and our sight-seeing excursion to Oregon City on the way to Silver Falls. Of course, I took a ton of pictures that day, but these were the best! ;)

Proposal #1- Silver Falls

Brandon has asked me to marry him 3 times. The first one would have been fine, but we didn't have my ring yet. We actually had bought it, but it was being sized. He had some quirk with proposing with the ring. However, he took me to his very favorite place in North America on New Years' Eve and halfway through the 7.5 mile hike in the snow, he asked me to marry him. :)

His favorite place is called Silver Falls. It's in Oregon. This 7.5 mile hike takes you past 10 different waterfalls. It is absolutely gorgeous! Some of the pictures I am attaching I took inside a cave. It was so neat to be behind the waterfall while it was crashing down. We liked the caves! You get a little wet and it was really cold that day, but it was still fun. :)

Wedding Ticker!

Good afternoon!

I just added the wedding countdown at the very bottom of our blog. It's kind of hard to see, but I thought it was the cutest. I am hoping to blog some new pictures later today. Hope you're having a great Thursday!

Special Pictures

Here are some pictures that I love!!! These are all from Brandon's trip to Texas in November. :)The last 3 pictures are from a bonfire/weinie roast on the Friday night after Thanksgiving at Candice's parents' home in Spurger, TX. The last picture is of me, Brandon, Candice and Todd.

Our Wedding Venue

Check out these sites if you have time... They are all slightly different with different photos. Our ceremony site will be the Cathedral Arbor by the pond. This place is so special!

www.LasBrisasFarm.com
www.LasBrisasFarm.blogspot.com

Brandon told me today that I need to start blogging every day. I said, "Honey, most of my friends just blog about once a week." He wants me to keep in touch with everyone, especially since I'm so far away. :)

Also, I'm getting ready to add a wedding day countdown at the bottom off my page! It's 67 days from today, I think! :) I can't wait! Oh, and I attached a picture of my engagement ring if you haven't seen it yet!

I've got a wedding dress!

I got my wedding dress Friday!!! I'm so excited. It is really beautiful. I found it in Portland at a Brides Against Breast Cancer massive wedding event. Boutiques & private citizens donate dresses for a good cause. My dress is couture & so beautiful... it's a very sparkly, princess dress. I am very excited about the bargain I got! And it's the dress of my dreams. I can't believe this is happening!

I'm going to be uploading some pictures soon. I don't have internet access frequently & we stay so busy, it's difficult to find the time. Right now, I'm babysitting Brandon's 2 year old nephew. He's getting a nap, so I have a second to write!

We went hiking Saturday at one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Can't wait to show you the pix!

Oh, something else... Brandon & I are going to go through 6 weeks/sessions of pre-marital coaching. Our 1st session was Friday evening. It was fun! Our coaches are impressed with us. ;) After coaching, we had a date in Portland. It was a fun night! Oh, and Brandon proposed again, for the 3rd time. :) I love my man!

71 days until my wedding day!

Time is going fast! Only 71 days... I think it is 10 weeks away. Brandon & I have our first premarital coaching session tonight. I think it will be interesting. We are doing our coaching through B's parents' ministry. :) We will meet with a married couple 1 night a week for the next 6 weeks for coaching. It will be fun!

Brandon's parents have a non-profit organization/ministry called Marriage Team. You should check it out. I think the website is www.marriageteam.org. They travel & have coaching weekends at different churches around the nation, training couples to help save or enhance marriages. Different churches and denominations request/invite them. It is a very special ministry.

2011 is AWESOME!

I'm so happy! I am marrying the man of my dreams in April 2011! God has given me the desires of my heart. I am so blessed and thankful. :) My fiance's name is Brandon. He is the sunshine of my life. God sent him to me in June 2010 as a "Ray" of hope in a dark season. Brandon was and is a tremendous blessing and encouragement to me.

Brandon starts singing random songs to me if I say certain words... it's hard to describe, but so cute!!! For example, if I call him "Honey Bunch", he will sing the oldie "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch". He started singing an oldie that I've never heard last night. It's called "Sweet Pea" by Tommy Roe. Brandon likes to sing "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine" to me. As I was trying to think of a name for my blog, I thought... hmmm... he is MY sunshine and he sings to me that I am HIS sunshine... How cute since our last name is going to be RAY! :)

I am in Washington State right now. Brandon lives in Washington, about 20 minutes from Portland, Oregon. It is GORGEOUS here. I have been living with his parents since December 28. His parents live on the top of a ridge. The back of their house (where most of the living is done) faces Mt. St. Helens. Every morning I wake up and look out the window at a gorgeous valley, a variety of other hills and mountains and Mt. St. Helens. SO AMAZING!!! And Mt. Hood is visible about a mile away in the other direction. I love it up here!

I am planning to be here until the middle of March. I will go back to Texas to finalize the wedding plans and attend wedding showers. It is 72 days until my wedding day!