With Gratitude

There is so much in life to be thankful for.  As I mentioned a few weeks back (here), Dan & I are going to be married in a catholic church. As many of you are probably aware, in order to be married in a catholic church a couple must partake in a form pre-marital counseling (pre-cana, engaged encounter, engaged couples conference, etc).  Dan & I opted for the engaged couples conference.  Not sure what to expect, we spent 5 hours of a Sunday afternoon in June with complete strangers who are also engaged (and were all equally as unsure of what was about to happen) and two married couples who were our instructors. Well, we survived, and it actually wasn't that bad!  It was an afternoon of stories, role playing, and deep prodding Q&A to ensure that we, as a couple, were planning our future, hopes, and dreams together.  (and not once were we put on the spot or uncomfortable) I can  honestly say that there was not one question that Dan & I had not already considered, however it was a nice break in all of the craziness of wedding planning to get back to focusing on the reason all of this is occurring: each other. A part of the homework assignment that came out of our class was to describe "one action step we plan to do in order to realize our dream of being an extraordinary couple."  While I won't bore you with the long winded answer that we came up with, I will share a portion of our answer, a portion that we started that very night.

It is important to both of us that we remain grounded, both in life and in our relationship and commitment to one another.  (*note grounded does not mean not continually pushing ourselves to reach for our dreams) A way to accomplish this is to always remember and acknowledge the things we are thankful for; our families, our friends, our health, our home, our jobs, and most of all each other.  So we have made a pact to discuss DAILY at least 3 of the things we are thankful for (no, you are not reading The Secret right now even though it may sound like it). 
  So where am I going with all of this... since this is a wedding blog, I thought that I would take today to acknowledge all of the people with whom I have the privilege of working with towards turning my big day dreams into a reality and who have become more than just vendors (hate that word - does anyone have a suggestion for something better?) but friends.

Our fabulous planning & style duo Sarah & Lucinda

The lovely ladies @ Gourmet Galley

The unbelievably talented  Anna Sawin

The super sweet  Jennie Fresa

The magical (really, I cannot WAIT to talk about our flowers) Yumiko

And... something else to be thankful for I just won my first blog contest EVER!

A Paloma's Nest Dish - what a fabulous thing to win!  I am overjoyed and want to express a HUGE thanks to Wendy at JustWenderful

Finally, before I step off my soapbox, I have to thank from the bottom of my heart, all of our friends and family, specifically our wedding party, and Dan's and my parents - without whom this wouldn't be happening!

Ok, enough of me for one Monday - what are YOU thankful for today?