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We did it! Our marriage license has officially been registered for and I could not be more excited that the legal aspect is all taken care of.  We signed a few papers, crossed a few t’s and were out of there in about twenty-minutes.  We celebrated with chicken tortilla soup and a gluten free garlic baguette.  We will pick-up our license next Wednesday — only three days before our wedding.

It is cr-a-zy to me that in 8 days, 17 hours and 38 minutes, we will be pronounced husband and wife. My stomach erupts with nervous butterflies as I think about being a wife; being Daniel’s wife. I canNOT wait. The anticipation builds almost every day, with every new thought and realization that I will be real life Suzy-Homemaker. Will I be a good wife? How will I know what meals to make every single night? Will it be hard to adjust to living with Daniel? How quickly will we ease into a routine together? What will that routine look like? The more these questions swirl around, the more excited I become.

And not only excitement. Intertwined throughout is a peace. A constant peace that is serving as my reminder that this is good.  Daniel is so good for me, in all regards.  He is my constant and my best friend. Throughout all that we have experienced together in 12+ years of friendship, throughout all the struggles we have overcome during our last 3 years of best-friendship, God has allowed them to only make us stronger and grow us closer. I am so grateful for his presence in my life and his constant encouragement to be the best version of myself. He exudes contentment no matter the circumstance which is not my forte. He is truly the only person who has consistently experienced me at my worst and only seen the best in me. He is the embodiment of grace. He is magic. 💫

Okay, okay, enough of the sap.  While I love my man and cannot wait to be his wife (have I said that yet?) I am so looking forward to our girls weekend up north celebrating my bachelorette party.  The whole bridal party, sans B, will be making our way up to my favorite place in Wisconsin this weekend for a cellphone coverage-free weekend of girl talk, camp fires, cozy flannels, drinks and lingerie.  Count me in.

Saturday was the kind of fall day I always hope for — a turtleneck sweater and Pumpkin Spice Latte kind of day. I woke up early to pure sunshine and a nip in the air. After rushing my way through Starbucks, I met mom in the parking lot of Costco with her favorite drink and we were at the doors as soon as they opened… 9:30AM, on the dot.  Our errands took us all over this green earth, ordering the eucalyptus and decorations, my wedding shoes and more (maybe unneeded) decorations, for a total of seven hours. All our hustling paid off and now we only have about two more items to cross off our To Do list. I can’t help but feel as though we’re cutting it a little close especially with the countdown quickly approaching single digits until we say I do.

Daniel is now home, safe and sound, and I couldn’t be happier.  My emotions have been heightened the last few weeks with planning a wedding and all this entails so having his steadiness and constant support is much needed, something I didn’t realize just how needed until he was unable to offer it.  One thing that has been continually revealed to me by living life alongside Daniel are my selfish tendencies. He is a constant example of patience and grace, two things I struggle with almost daily. While I am quick to judge and become annoyed, Daniel is always the voice of reason and wisdom. He is gentle and kind and I find myself wanting to do better and to be better when I am around him. He challenges me to be the best version of myself and he truly does bring out the best in me. I am grateful every day that he chose me.

And because I am on such a My-Man kick, this stud made fires sans matches or lighters on their Boundary Waters canoe trip. Such a man’s man. I am so in love.

Swoooon.

Photo by one of our talented best friends Andy.

Today was the perfect Sunday; just what the Doctor ordered.

I have always been a fan of birthdays – celebrating others is my specialty (cue Enneagram Two-talk). Today, Daniel turned twenty-three and he is by far the easiest person to celebrate. I set my alarm for early – Daniel practically wakes up at sunrise – because I wanted to have breakfast made by the time he woke up. Halfway through making my surprise Huevos Rancheros, the fire alarm starts blaring and he walks out half asleep but not at all shocked, a sleepy smirk on his face. Later I asked if he was scared waking up to the alarm and his response? “No, I figured you were in the kitchen.” Typical Hailey. He was so happy with the gift I got him; a backpack he had showed me. He said he was surprised I had actually bought it because I have been so wedding-focused financially. Point for me!

We skipped church which is not the norm for us, and just spent a slow morning together in the apartment. He decided what we would do for his day and we talked minimally about the wedding – which I think benefited us both. We are so excited to be husband and wife in twenty-six short days but the constant planning and shopping and re-planning is starting to burn us out. (I guess this is why people don’t normally plan weddings in just 105 days…) So today, we put wedding talk on pause and planned a Hailey-Daniel day. An Us Day.

We lounged on the couch and sipped black coffee. We ran to Guitar Center and Daniel played just about every guitar, per the usual. We picked up Starbucks (Pumpkin Spice Latte for her, Salted Caramel Mocha for him) and headed to Kerlin’s for a family cookout. We spent the afternoon by the fire and playing with his nieces and nephews in the perfect fall weather, 65° and sunny. I crashed on our couch for a nap once we got home while Daniel packed for his upcoming Boundary Waters canoe trip .  We ended the night at mom and dad’s for the Packers game.

I could not have planned a better Sunday; it was exactly what I needed to recharge for the upcoming week and the next month that is already passing by at lightning speed. I love you, Daniel, thank you for being so easy to celebrate and love – here’s to many, many more birthdays and Us days to come!

10AM waffle bar and fruit parfaits.

Amazing women.

20 Questions (and only 5 wrong ✓).

A never-ending gift table.

The best Spotify playlist.

Celebration. Pure bliss!