i'm going to the chapel.

so as you may have heard, jeff proposed to me last night with the most romantic 

and surprise setting filled with friends, family, and lots of champagne.

last week jeff asked if i would go on a surprise date with him this saturday. i of course said yes because we don't get to see each other often and i was excited to do something new. so naturally i got my hair colored and got a manicure, just in case. we have been talking about getting married for a few months, but i wasn't expecting it until christmas time or even later than that. 

here's how the day went

jeff picked me up at my house at 345 (which i thought was a little early to leave for a date, but whatever), my mom was by herself reading a book on the couch as we went in his car and headed out of town. before we hit the highway he made me put a blind fold on so that i would not know where we were going. at that point i was getting a little nervous, but i didn't want to get my hopes up if it wasn't going to happen.

so as i was getting a little carsick under this blind fold, we finally reached our destination. we got out of the car and walked toward the lake (where we had one of our first dates 4.5 years ago), it hit me then that he might be popping the big question. we walked toward the bench where we first held hands. he pulled 4 letters out of his pocket to represent every year that we have been together. each letter had promises to me from him, important things from our relationship and the last one said, "prepare to say yes". as i was reading this last letter, he got off the bench and down on one knee and pulled the ring out of his pocket. at this point i was bawling my eyes out and i was so happy. we hugged and kissed for a little bit and then got back in the car. we stopped at my dads cemetery to say a few words and then i started crying again.

we drove to my house after to show my mom the ring and Jeff's family was waiting in the kitchen to celebrate! i then saw a hand in the family room and as i walked in i saw my SISTER & BROTHER-IN-LAW & NIECE who had flown here all the way from california to surprise me. I was in complete and utter shock.We also skyped with Grant and Ahnika in California. And the Vataha family joined us as well. We celebrated with some champagne and toasts and then the next card came. Jeff came down with a suit and told me to put on a dress. I changed upstairs and there were flowers waiting on my bed. A few minutes later I was escorted outside and there was a limo waiting for us. 

He's such an unbelievable fiance. 

The limo then took us to Capital Grille where I could not really eat anything because my stomach was in knots, but Jeff enjoyed the food and chowed down. After the CG, we got back in the limo and we were driven to Boston. Another surprise. We showed up at the Liberty Hotel (where I used to work) and walked inside. I assumed that Greg and his girlfriend would be the only ones meeting us there, but as I turned the corner I had 5 friends waiting there for me to celebrate. My good friend Jess has known for a few weeks and orchestrated the whole thing. Thanks Jess, it meant so much!

After some celebrating, the night was over, but the planning has just begun :) We will probably get married in August of 2011 before Jeff goes back for his final year of Law School. We don't know any details yet, but we will start a wedding website soon where you can follow. 

Thanks for reading this novel. 

We could not be more thrilled to be engaged and we are so happy to start our new lives as one. 

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
1st Corinthians 7:13

Guest Blogger: A Tale of Two Courtneys

When my daughter Laila was born this past August, we announced that her middle name would be Courtney. Collin and I decided it was the only logical middle name to bestow upon her, given how our love story began…

Back in 1988, both of our mothers had baby girls and chose to name them Courtney. Flash forward five years, and the girls meet at Grace Chapel’s nursery school and decide they will be friends because it’s cool to have the same name. Our sisters became close friends, which allowed for our families to grow close as well.  The two Courtneys would have play dates often, and our families would spend holidays together and go to the Vataha house to watch the Super Bowl every year.

an example of the fun that was had by these little girls

(and what a great big brother my husband is!)

Courtney V had two super cute older brothers and I took a special liking to the oldest one. Our sisters continued to stay friends over the years, which allowed me more and more opportunities to see Collin. Of course, he was way out of my league because he was four years older than me, but a girl can dream, right? My crush turned into somewhat of a joke between my family and friends…I had a picture of Collin in my wallet and my locker – and called him my future husband. As a joke one year, a friend put his picture on a pillowcase that I then slept with for a while. Sounds stalker-ish, I know, but it really wasn’t – he was so unattainable (I thought) that it was always just a silly game. 

who wouldn't want to date this stud muffin?

There’s a lot that happened in between, but ultimately you know the outcome…he offered to be my junior prom date, we became boyfriend/girlfriend, got engaged and just celebrated 6 years of marriage and welcomed a beautiful baby girl…

our precious laila bug - born August 13, 2010

 

All of that to say that we love our Courtneys so very much and our lives wouldn’t be what they are if those little girls hadn’t become friends.  We are so thankful for them and are so blessed to have them as our sisters. Laila is going to love spending time with Auntie CoCo and Auntie CoDi and someday they can tell her the story of how her parents got together and why she got her middle name.

You can see the rest of Laila's journey on my blog here.

opi never fails

http://thevatahas.blogspot.com

a busy weekend.

saturday night, jeff, me, will, christina, elias and nicole 

ventured on a triple date in cambridge. 

sunday was a day filled with patriots, raffle tickets and a charity for kids. i won $100 gift card to maggianos 

{which is a REAL treat when you are dating a man in law school}

 and i won a trip for 10 to the cape to go wine tasting.

 i was real excited to say the least- the pictures don't do it justice. 

the unnatural world.

{found here}

a memory maker and a bushel of apples later.

a few weekends ago, my good friends, jess and laura, and i decided to spend a night up at jess' parents house in Kennebunkport, Maine. her place is absolutely breathtaking. situated right on goose rocks beach and a ten minute ride from "the port". not to mention that a 

famous hollywood director rents this beach retreat out every summer for a month. 

when you wake up in the morning and smell a fresh pot of coffee and see the ocean glistening through the shutters, the view is simply glorious. i often daydream of her house. 

have i mentioned how amazing it is?!

anyways, i digress. we decided to do the "fall thing" and go apple picking and make some apple crisp. we ventured to giles family farm, it was the closest one and gorgeous views of the fall foliage. 

before we went apple picking we decided that we needed to document our trip, 

but i, the photographer of my friends, 

forgot my camera. 

so we decided to go to the country store and see if they still sold disposable cameras. 

we were shamed to be seen buying one, but 12 dollars later, we had that yellow memory maker in our hands and off we went to pick some apples. 

here are a few pictures from the weekend 

{pretty good photo quality for being a disposable, i might add}

the sales clerk documenting us buying an ancient camera

having some lunch near the marina pier in the port

enjoying some oktoberfest

walking through the port

we had to put our apple stick in one picture, c'mon.

jess, the farmer.

posed, i know.

laura, doing her thang.

trying to get the view in the background.

apple spokeswoman.

we didn't buy any pumpkins, oh well.

a successful girls weekend.

thoughts?

i know what i think about this issue. i would love to hear your thoughts. its a judgement free zone.

fall designs.

Now that I have an income (well more like an allowance), I will take all of these please. 
Thanks!
{Found Here}

And about that bag from K. Spade that I bought...It was way too small. 
But now I am really digging these fall bags from Emma Fox. 
My friend Nicole introduced me to them and they are unique and workable. 
Also if you live near the Bedford area, you can get them at T.J. Maxx or Marshalls for 
half the price. 
You gotta love living near the best branch stores in the United States. 

click on this video to make you smile. 

the precious laila.

have a great weekend everybody.

kate spade on sale.

i just purchased this arm candy [on sale ofcourse].

 you like?

rookie status.

my first week at my new job went a little like this...

-on my first assignment, i emailed out the wrong logo to my co-workers. what a great way to start off.
-i burnt a bag of popcorn in the office kitchen, which in turn stunk up the entire office and my boss thought i was burning the place down.
-my boss caught me playing solitaire and browsing us weekly. can you blame me?! they didn't give me any assignments.
-i transferred phone calls to my co-workers without asking if they wanted the call first. my mistake.
-i left my wallet in the second floors bathroom by accident. someone delivered it back to me a couple hours later. all my money was intact. praise the Lord.
-i came in late on my third day because i had a doctor's appointment that i couldn't miss. again, not my fault.
-my office is pretty casual, so on thursday i wore a more casual outfit. one of my co-workers said, "Wow, you already came down to our level". I think that was a compliment/approval?!
- i was asked to order liner bags for the recycle bin on an office supply website, i ordered 100 bags for $260. ya, i thought it was a little steep, but i did what i was asked. when my supervisor got the receipt she said that they were WAY too much. i canceled the order. i said those were the only ones i could find,  after about 10 seconds of looking, she found some bags for $50. i'm still a rookie.
-i put one of my co-workers coffee cups in the dishwasher when in fact he was just looking for a refill. oopsies. 

who wouldn't want to hire me?!

i start my second week tomorrow morning, hoping this week is a little better than last. wish me luck :)

the birds and the bees.

so normally when i go for a walk in the morning around my neighborhood, i plop in my headphones, get a rhythm going to see how fast i can get home and get done with this exercise,

but this morning it was different.

fall weather is the perfect temperature in the morning for a walk, not too hot and not too cold.

as i was turning the corner of my neighborhood, i noticed this BRIGHT yellow bush amongst the leaves that are turning into autumn colors.

in this yellow bush were about 10 or so bumblebees that were pollinating all the petals.

i stopped my feet in my tracks, pulled the plugs out of my ears and

just watched the bumblebees do their magic.

it sounds cliche, but it was such a great reminder of God's goodness and wonder in nature. i think from now on, i will stop and "smell the roses",

or look for those bees again because it put me in such a great mood.

here is a picture that i took from my phone of one of the bees. and no, this is not edited. the tree was really that BRIGHT.

sitcom maniac.

the fall line-up is always fun.

abc really knows how to pick 'em.

what shows are you looking forward to watching?

orange tones.

i love fall in new england.

i am definitely looking forward to this.

a fairy tale ending. again.

tonight i had the honor of shooting some of courtney and freddy's

"second wedding"

they got married on july 18th, remember?

since my sister and court's grandma could not attend the wedding, they decided to have a "VIP reception" in order to have everyone included. the reception was at the hyatt in huntington beach. here is a sneak peek of some of the "picniked" photos.

trip up the coast.

my mom and i drove up the coast to santa barbara to spend some qt with grant and ahnika.

on our way up, i visited my old pal, d. kiyoi at smashbox.

he told me some secrets about reality t.v., we reminisced about discovery class at gordon,

and ate a delicious salad in culver city.

always good times with this man.

if ever in santa barbara and looking for a place to stay.

venture to this hidden gem located on the famous and fun, state st.

the newly renovated chic hotel is known to be the "h&m" of motels. i think i agree.

this was our room.

make sure to rent these bikes (for FREE) and take a ride down to the beach.

lay out on this vegas like sun deck.

don't forget to visit the johnsons

...and for those of you bachelor fans, make sure to make a detour to

2351 Kanan Road in Agoura Hills to see this hidden spot.

so much magic has gone on in this house.