reasons why being an engaged woman is thoroughly more exciting than just being an unengaged woman

one morning you might just wake up and find yourself engaged.
(let's hope you remember exactly how it happened. i do, but that's beside the point)
in a matter of minutes you go from being unengaged to engaged, and you might just ask yourself, 'is it really all that different?'

yes.
yes, it is.
being engaged (no big deal) i can give you an honest answer on this subject.
in those moments when you went from being unengaged to engaged, your life completely changed.
let me tell you why.

1. the jewelry.

all of the sudden you get a permanent and hopefully gorgeous addition to your left hand. an addition that tells the world 'i am taken!' you are required to wear this ring a ding ding at almost all times, and you will most likely find yourself getting distracted and or blinded by its striking beauty and overall sparklyness more often than not. and you'll find that others will care to inspect your left hand quite a bit more than they used to. and you know what that means: manicure!!

2. the title

once upon a time you were the friend. then you were the girlfriend, and that was nice. that transition was fairly easy. girlfriend can mean a whole slough of things, the commitment level there isn't all that defined. the transition from girlfriend to fiance is a little more abrupt. fiance means one thing: you're getting married. you are a fiance. you have a fiance. people ask if this is your fiance, and you might be taken aback, because all the sudden the answer is yes. and it is great.

still in friend phase...

and a little friendlier...

3. the pinterest account

all of the sudden people taking your pins a lot more seriously. in december i posted just for kicks. all of the sudden my pins have meaning. post more than two yellow and brown themed pins on your wedding board and you might get five texts asking if yellow and brown are your colors. (they aren't)

first pic post mission. looking good.

4. the conversation

whether you are talking to someone you know or someone you just met, you might feel the need to tell them that you are recently engaged. usually this will evoke some type of congratulatory remark and then depending on the gender of the person you are talking to they will either say a. i want to hear the whole story, b. let me see the ring, c. when are you getting married?, d. welp, see you later, or perhaps some combination of all of the above. you will find that most of your conversations include some mention of wedding plans, wedding dates, or gushing about that oh so perfect fiance.

really precious m and a in the sand? yes please.

5. the look

this might be my favorite change. up until that moment when it was all official everything was, well, unofficial. things were up in the air, and it was just fine. then four simple little words were said and everything became more fine. after those words all of the sudden something happens. when you look at each other, it's completely different, because all of the sudden you are looking at the person you are going to marry. for sure. you know it, and they know it. you might even say it. 'we're getting married!' and in that look all the excitement and surety and love and sparklyness is captured, and it's magical.

pre-engagement look.

not quite magical, yet.

so there you have it.
i'm engaged.
it happened on january 1st of 2012 in the early morning hours, right after we had rung in the new year. it was simple and it was sweet and it was absolutely perfect.

starting the new year right.

i'm engaged, and i love it.
i love that i have a sparkly ring on my finger. i love that people ask to see it. i love that i get to talk about it. i love that i get to plan a wedding. but most of all i love andrew ashby barrett. i love that i get to marry him and that everyone gets to know it. and i LOVE the way he looks at me.

our first post engagement photo. extra awesome. 

(i promise, the ring is there behind his finger)