Family pictures + a surprise (#31DaysofMemories)
The Christmas of 2011 definitely ranks in the top 5 Christmases of my life for a number of reasons.
1. I had just gotten home from my 6 month internship in Peru and was more than a little excited to be with my family.
2. We celebrated Christmas in New York at my sister's which we had never done before.
3. We got to eat Ted's Hot Dogs in Buffalo. Nuff said. :)
4. While we didn't do big presents or big family activities, it was great (as always) to just spend time hanging out, playing games, watching movies and chilling as one big, happy family.
5. Oh and I got engaged to my best friend. No big deal. :)
It was 3 years ago today, December 23. We were all dressed up and heading to the courthouse. Not to get married. Geesh. Don't jump to conclusions!
We were all dressed up and heading to the courthouse to take family pictures. They had this huge lobby with a massive tree (it had to be at least 12 feet tall... way taller than Goliath) all decorated and it was the perfect place for a big family to get some Christmas pictures taken... complete with Where's Waldo costumes!
I was in a bad mood due to it being picture day (have I told you before I hate getting my picture taken? Well I do!) and my sisters had been teasing me. You see, I knew a proposal would be coming at some point because, well, My Love had shown me the Kay Jewelers bag once when we were Skyping from Idaho and Peru. But I didn't know how or when he was going to ask. And I was trying really, really hard not to get my hopes up for a Christmas proposal.
Anyway... my sisters were teasing me by saying over and over that we could just get married at the courthouse and be done with it. And well, that didn't make me very happy or excited. I was frustrated with the teasing, irritated with the picture taking and more than nervous about future plans (i.e. where were we going to live? where we were going to work? how was that going to all work out with him finishing school?). And so all of that made me one unhappy person when it came time to start posing for our pictures. Little did I know that my family were trying hard not to spill the beans or that something big was coming up.
We decided to take some in front of the tree and so we got a chair, placed it in the middle, had my grandma sit in the chair and we all gathered around her. But then I was told to sit in the chair and in my head I'm thinking, "What the crap? Why should I be in the middle? This is ridiculous!" But after a semi-stern look from my mama I did what I was told. And then I hear the voices of my family telling My Love to get his butt in the picture and he was refusing to. I finally just looked at him and told him "Get over here."
Well then I look up and he is coming towards me. My heart began to race, I was blushing as red as the Christmas bows on the tree and fighting back tears. I heard him say, "I can't be a part of the family pictures unless I am actually a part of the family." Then all I could see was him on one knee, asking me to marry him. At this point, the tears burst forth and I don't know if I actually said yes or not. But I had My Love, I had my ring and I had the best Christmas ever.
Well, family pictures turned into engagement pictures. And it turned out to be an amazingly fun time. We even staged our wedding in a courtroom with my dad presiding. It was silly, but great nonetheless (hey, that's just how the Holley's roll). And the rest of that Christmas vacation was spent smiling, texting friends, hugging My Love and buying my wedding dress.
It was most certainly a Christmas to remember.
1. I had just gotten home from my 6 month internship in Peru and was more than a little excited to be with my family.
2. We celebrated Christmas in New York at my sister's which we had never done before.
3. We got to eat Ted's Hot Dogs in Buffalo. Nuff said. :)
4. While we didn't do big presents or big family activities, it was great (as always) to just spend time hanging out, playing games, watching movies and chilling as one big, happy family.
5. Oh and I got engaged to my best friend. No big deal. :)
It was 3 years ago today, December 23. We were all dressed up and heading to the courthouse. Not to get married. Geesh. Don't jump to conclusions!
We were all dressed up and heading to the courthouse to take family pictures. They had this huge lobby with a massive tree (it had to be at least 12 feet tall... way taller than Goliath) all decorated and it was the perfect place for a big family to get some Christmas pictures taken... complete with Where's Waldo costumes!
 |
| Told ya we had Where's Waldo costumes! |
I was in a bad mood due to it being picture day (have I told you before I hate getting my picture taken? Well I do!) and my sisters had been teasing me. You see, I knew a proposal would be coming at some point because, well, My Love had shown me the Kay Jewelers bag once when we were Skyping from Idaho and Peru. But I didn't know how or when he was going to ask. And I was trying really, really hard not to get my hopes up for a Christmas proposal.
Anyway... my sisters were teasing me by saying over and over that we could just get married at the courthouse and be done with it. And well, that didn't make me very happy or excited. I was frustrated with the teasing, irritated with the picture taking and more than nervous about future plans (i.e. where were we going to live? where we were going to work? how was that going to all work out with him finishing school?). And so all of that made me one unhappy person when it came time to start posing for our pictures. Little did I know that my family were trying hard not to spill the beans or that something big was coming up.
We decided to take some in front of the tree and so we got a chair, placed it in the middle, had my grandma sit in the chair and we all gathered around her. But then I was told to sit in the chair and in my head I'm thinking, "What the crap? Why should I be in the middle? This is ridiculous!" But after a semi-stern look from my mama I did what I was told. And then I hear the voices of my family telling My Love to get his butt in the picture and he was refusing to. I finally just looked at him and told him "Get over here."
 |
| See? Doesn't this make way more sense than me sitting in the chair?? :) |
Well then I look up and he is coming towards me. My heart began to race, I was blushing as red as the Christmas bows on the tree and fighting back tears. I heard him say, "I can't be a part of the family pictures unless I am actually a part of the family." Then all I could see was him on one knee, asking me to marry him. At this point, the tears burst forth and I don't know if I actually said yes or not. But I had My Love, I had my ring and I had the best Christmas ever.
 | ||||||
| Told ya... Christmas bow red! |
 |
| I love my family's reactions. It's kinda great that they were all there. :) |
Well, family pictures turned into engagement pictures. And it turned out to be an amazingly fun time. We even staged our wedding in a courtroom with my dad presiding. It was silly, but great nonetheless (hey, that's just how the Holley's roll). And the rest of that Christmas vacation was spent smiling, texting friends, hugging My Love and buying my wedding dress.
It was most certainly a Christmas to remember.
 | |
| This was the only wedding our daddy has done for any of his kids so far... and it wasn't even a real one. Sorry daddy |
 |
| I love this man. |
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