32 Things That Make Me Happy

1. Lazy days at home with my husband and puppy.

2. Lucy kisses... and snuggles, and her soft furry ears.

3. Wine

4. Candles- I just bought 5 new ones from B&BW, on top of the collection I have in the closet.

5. Mexican food- any and all of it. Give me some guacamole, chips and salsa, enchiladas, tacos, beans, mexican rice, and best of all... MARGARITAS!

6. Netflix marathons, my current addictions are Gossip Girl and Revolution

7. Getting lost in a good book

8. Boat rides

9. Walking the beach

10. Fabric- all different colors and patterns.

11. Nail polish- specifically bright colors

12. Hobby Lobby- I could spend hours in that store

13. Freshly washed sheets

14. $1 new releases- Family Video has a special going, $1 for five nights.

15. Thunderstorms

16. Sunshine

17. Running- I'm no good at it, but that feeling you get when you are finished... totally worth it.

18. Flowers blooming

19. Organization- I have been cleaning out closets and it feels so good.

20. Weddings

21. The first snowfall of the year

22. Evening walks with my husband and dog

23. Spray paint- it is amazing how quickly it can transform just about anything.

24. Holidays, specifically Christmas and Fourth of July

25. Yoga pants

26. Taco Bell

27. Getting mail

28. Phone calls from far away friends

29. Popcorn on the stove

30. Taking pictures

31. The thought of having a baby- someday, as in a few years from now

32. Blogging- writing posts, making new friends, and gaining new followers

The Anniversary Series: The Honeymoon

Thanks to me starting school the Monday after the wedding, we were unable to take a honeymoon right away. Instead, we waiting until I was on winter break. We traveled to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic the day after I finished finals, and had the most amazing week long vacation. We stayed at the Grand Palladium and as soon as we arrived to the resort, we were greeted with cocktails. We knew then that we had picked the right place to spend our honeymoon. 

We arrived to our resort having no plans for the week. We just wanted to spend the week relaxing and sipping coco locos by the pool or on the beach, and that is exactly what we did. The pool had a swim up bar and people constantly walking around to take your drink orders. The beach had three different bars as well. 

We spent seven blissful days sun bathing, walking the beach, and trying every cocktail we could imagine.

Towards the end of the week, we decided to get a couples massage on the beach. It was Adam's first massage ever and he was very impressed. My favorite part: hearing the waves and smelling the sand. 

I spent the entire week trying to convince Adam to go zip lining with me, and when he finally agreed, I chickened out and assured him that we really didn't have to. Only regret of the whole vacation. 

Our seven days in paradise flew by far too quickly, and we can not wait to find the time (and money) to go back! We would recommend this place for anyone who is planning a honeymoon some place tropical!

Well, that concludes our anniversary series. It is crazy to think that tomorrow marks one year since we have been married. Where has the time gone?!

If you missed any of the Anniversary Series posts, you can check them out here:

How We Met

The Proposal

The Wedding

The Honeymoon

The Anniversary Series: The Wedding

It is so hard to sum up our wedding in just one post, but I will try my best!

When we were planning our wedding, the most important thing to us was that it be FUN! Adam and I have so much fun together, so we thought it was important that on our wedding day, everyone have fun with us. When the morning of the wedding came, I never felt nervous, not once. I could not wait to see my groom standing at the end of the aisle waiting for me, and I could not wait for him to see me in my beautiful wedding gown. 

After months of planning, the day had finally arrived, and I could not wait to be MRS. Adam Muszynski!

I spent the morning with my girls getting my hair and makeup done and dancing and singing "Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married" over and over and over. When we arrived at the church, I slipped into my gown and got pictures taken with my bridesmaids. I was then tucked away into our bridal suite where we cracked open a bottle of wine and relaxed. My flower girl ended up running into the room with a letter from Adam, and as I read it I thought to myself  "I am the luckiest girl in the world to be spending the rest of my life with this man."

I remember peaking through the curtains of the bridal suite and watched as guest after guest was seated thinking "Wow! All of these people are here to see Adam and I get married." And before I knew it the bridal party was lining up, and I was about to make my grand entrance. 

As I stood at the back of the church, I couldn't keep my eyes off my handsome groom. It took about 2.5 seconds for the tears to stream down Adam's cheeks. The ceremony was over in a flash... quickest catholic mass ever, at least for us. All of a sudden we were kissing and making our way back down the aisle as husband and wife!

We took pictures right after the ceremony and finally had a few moments to ourselves (well almost) during our private photo session. It was great to have some "alone" time, but the bridal party was waiting for us and the reception was about to start. 

We were welcomed in to the reception as Mr. and Mrs. to the song "I Gotta Feeling" and the song could not be more fitting. We did things a little differently and cut the cake before dinner, and as you can see, we got more on our faces than we did in our mouths. 

We shared our first dance together to "Then" by Brad Paisley. It was one of those songs that we knew the first time we heard it that on our wedding day, it would be the song we would dance to. Our time together on the dance floor was amazing. While all eyes were on us, it was great knowing that it was the first time all day we were able to converse without anyone hearing us. The song was over before we knew it, and we joined our bridal party at the head table.

The night only continued to get better from there. The toasts before dinner from our best man and maid of honor were seriously the best! I know that's a crazy thing to say, because who wouldn't think that one their wedding day, but both really did a great job of embarrassing Adam, complimenting me, and keeping the crowd laughing.

It wasn't long before dinner was over and everyone, and I mean literally EVERYONE was out on the dance floor. Remember when I said we wanted the day to be fun? Well it was a freaking blast. We hired a band from our town called CEYX and they play anything and everything. They knew how to get everyone on the dance floor and how to keep them there. The dance floor was full the.entire.night.

Overall, we had a fabulous day. It was perfect in every single way and we could not have asked for anything more. We got hitched, we were surrounded by family and friends, and we had an absolute blast! In fact, it was so much fun we have received multiple requests from wedding guests asking if we could throw another party like that for our anniversary every year. 

I really don't feel like I did our day justice in this post. It is hard to sum up the best day of our lives in just a few short paragraphs! If you would like to read more about our day, check out the following posts:

Our Wedding: Before The Ceremony

Our Wedding: The Ceremony

Our Wedding: The Reception

Our Wedding: The Details

Also, come back tomorrow for the fourth and final post in the anniversary series: the honeymoon. And in case you missed any of the other posts in our anniversary series, you may view them here:

How We Met

The Proposal

The Wedding

The Honeymoon

The Anniversary Series: The Proposal

Adam popped the question on March 5th, 2011. While I would like to say it was completely unexpected and a huge surprise, I would be lying. The days leading up to the proposal, I had a feeling it was going to happen. Adam had taken a few trips to see his parents without inviting me (which never happens) and had been acting very weird about our plans for that night. Here's how it all went down:

Adam had me convinced that we were attending a work party at a fancy restaurant, and had suggested I go to the spa beforehand. H had bought me a spa gift certificate for Christmas that I had yet to use, so he made me an appointment to have a day of pampering and he shipped me off. 

As soon as I came home, I could tell he was extremely nervous, but tried not to get myself too excited. When it came time for the "Work Party," we ended up in the fanciest restaurant I have ever been in. We spent dinner joking around about how perfect everything at the restaurant was. When Adam got up to go to the bathroom, a server came over to our table, took his dirty napkin and replaced it with a clean one. I got a kick out of this, and told him about it when he returned. I then told him he had to see for himself, and I left the table. Our food was delicious, and while I thought we were about ready to leave, a mysterious dessert plate with a cover appears on our table.

You've all seen it in the movies I'm sure, and I instantly knew what was happening. Adam told me to dig in, and I was in instant shock. Although I had a feeling he was going to propose, I didn't think it was going to happen during dinner, and I had a sudden moment of shock because I couldn't believe it was actually happening. I looked at Adam and kept saying "Oh my god!" "Is this seriously happening right now?" "I can't believe this is actually happening" I finally regained my composure as he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. He was shaking, his words were shaky, and I thought it was adorable. I finally managed to say "YES!" and got my first good look at the beautiful ring. 

Our actual dessert arrived immediately after, as well as complimentary champagne. Our server came over to congratulate us, and even noticed my manicured nails. 

Little did I know, the night was far from over. Adam had booked us a hotel for the night and when we walked in, it was covered in candles and rose petals. We decided to wait until the morning to tell our families. We wanted the night to be just about the two of us and our future together. We spent hours discussing wedding plans, everything from the date to the colors of dresses and what song we would dance to. We talked about the events of that day, how nervous Adam was, and how I was completely expecting it, but in shock all at the same time.

The next morning, Adam and I traveled to my parents house to deliver the news. As I ran down to the basement to show my mother my ring, I could tell she already knew (apparently my dad is bad at keeping secrets). Adam had given my dad all the details and had arranged for my family and his family to meet in Frankenmuth for a celebratory dinner that night. During dinner, everyone admitted that they were very worried the proposal didn't go well. They were all expecting phone calls as soon as it happened. So I guess we did manage to surprise them a little bit. The rest of the day was filled with calling grandparents, family and friends to share the wonderful news.

It was a beautiful weekend full of love and I couldn't have asked for anything better. 

I would love to hear your engagement story if you would like to share it!

How We Met

The Proposal

The Wedding

The Honeymoon

Also, I am linking up with Sydney at Bumps Along The Way for the first ever Something Borrowed Link-Up Party

The Anniversary Series: How We Met

This Saturday, Adam and I are celebrating our first year of marriage! I thought it would be fun to do some personal posts this week so all my readers can get to know me a little better. The series will include how we met, the proposal, our wedding day, and our honeymoon. 

As an incoming freshman at Central Michigan University, I couldn't wait to get my dorm assignments to see where I was living. Within hours after receiving my letter, I logged on to Facebook and had a friend request from a random guy. After stalking his profile, I noticed he was also living in my dorm. My friend and I looked through his pictures, and while she instantly thought he was cute, I remember saying to her "he's alright I guess." 

Fast forward to the start of school, tuns out the random guy, Adam Muszynski, lived right across the hall from me. Our paths didn't cross much at first and it definitely wasn't love at first sight. He was the crazy partier who smoked and drank way too much, and I was the quiet studious girl who had a boyfriend. I got straight A's and he was on academic probation.

Second semester, I broke up with my boyfriend and started meeting more people in the dorms. At first, Adam and I hung out in groups, and gradually spent more and more time alone together, or as alone as you can be when you each have three roommates. He helped me get through my traumatic break up and had a lot of patience while he waited for me to become ready for a new relationship. 

Of course, I never imagined dating him, he was way too crazy for me and I had made up my mind that it would never work. It wasn't until I convinced him to watch Sweet Home Alabama with me an we started jokingly planning our wedding (which by the way turned out nothing like it). We started spending every free moment together, and I remember being sooo incredibly nervous to kiss him. 

Summer was quickly approaching, and we decided it wasn't worth it to start a relationship living so far away. 

Well, it was only a matter of weeks before  I made my first trip to Madison Height to visit him. After spending the weekend together, I decided there was no sense in  letting such a great thing pass me by. I ended up asking him to be my boyfriend, and the rest is history. 

I was immediately confident in what we had, and while I was trying to be practical, I really could see myself marrying him. We were never jealous, always trusted each other, made each other laugh, and rarely had anything escalate into an argument. 

While on paper it seemed like we were an odd match, we were able to find a great balance. I calmed him down a bit and encouraged him to focus a bit more on his studies, and he encouraged me to let loose once in a while and taught me that getting straight A's was not the most important thing in the world. 

Through our relationship, I learned a great deal of lessons about love and about life. It's funny how things works out though. The guys I thought was "alright I guess" turned in to my husband!

How did you meet your husband/fiance? I would love to hear about it!

How We Met

The Proposal

The Wedding

The Honeymoon

A Little About Melanie

I'm Melanie.

I'm a twenty-something, engaged, Exercise Physiologist still trying to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. I enjoy scrapbooking, DIY projects, photography, wedding planning, wine, shopping, and popcorn. 

This is my fiance, Adam and I outside our old dorm. We began dating in 2007 after living across the hall from each other our freshman year of college.

We are getting married on August 24, 2012.

I will be sharing wedding planning tips and details on this blog for your enjoyment, as well as other aspects of my life that I find interesting. If you have any questions along the way, please feel free to ask. Also, if you are in the midst of planning yourself and would like me to discuss a specific aspect of  our wedding, let me know! I am more than willing to share my experiences with all of you.