I don't even really know where to start. I honestly can not believe all of the amazing things that have happened in the last month (and even within the last 72 hours!), and I am SO EXCITED to update all of you with everything big and small that has been happening around these parts over the last 30 days!

This past month has been a crazy busy time for me both personally and professionally. For those of you following along on my Instagram and Facebook page you probably know most, if not all of the exciting things I'm talking about - BUT - you might not know exactly how everything unfolded and that is what I'm excited to share with you all today!

So let's start at the very beginning, since Julie Andrews says, "It's a very good place to start. . ."

We've Moved!!

For the past year, Scott and I rented a townhouse, but as of May 18th we decided to move to a new place!
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We are now 10 minutes closer to Detroit (only a 20 minute drive now for downtown weddings, yay!!), and we have our own yard, laundry room, 2 bedrooms (one of which will be my office), and 2 full bathrooms! I am so excited to be able to plant a vegetable garden outside, have a fire pit for cool summer nights, and for the 1,024 square feet we will have for when we host friends and family!
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The part we dreaded the most was the actual moving part - I was not looking forward to packing - but we were determined to be completely moved within a week and a half. Ahh! We had so much to do related to the move in such a short amount of time, but it has all been worth it to be finished and settled before my jam packed schedule this month!

I think Darcy won the award for cutest distraction during the packing process because she enjoyed hopping around our aisles of stuff and hiding inside empty boxes! I love her cute curious self so much, and I'm still not sure who was more amused, me or her. :)

May 28th was officially moving day! I wanted to take a second to document this moment in our lives because my blog is about more than just pretty photos! This is real life as we said goodbye to our townhouse!⠀
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Dear Little Townhouse,⠀
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When we first saw you 1 year ago, we couldn't help but imagine all the new possibilities you'd allow us to have. Scott and I had been renting our small 600 sq ft apartment for the last two years and we were sick and tired of living on top of one another. We had no closet space and simple things like vacuuming involved a 5 step process of moving this box to move that box to get the vacuum out of the pantry.⠀
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We needed more space and there you were, townhouse, with your 900 sq ft plus additional outdoor space! Scott & I imagined having friends over, a home office for me, grilling out in the summer, and having lots and lots of storage! I'll be honest, though little townhouse, we couldn't afford you. Sure both Scott and I were earning enough and I had more weddings than ever that summer when we moved in, but we began to question if our rent money could be going towards something more important to us. We have dreams of traveling more and saving money for the next big steps in our lives together and renting with a high price tag just seemed like a waste at the end of the day. ⠀
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We took a good hard look at what financial priorities we had for our future & decided we needed to change. Just because we COULD afford to live here, little townhouse, didn't mean we HAD to. Scott & I decided that even if we had to go back to living small (at one point we looked at a 565 sq ft place!), the extra money we'd have would help us live so much more!⠀
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We hunted, searched, and prayed and we finally found a new home to rent almost by accident. You want to know the craziest thing of all?! Our new rental home has even more space, a home office, a yard, it has brand new everything, along with great storage, and we'll actually SAVE money! ⠀
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I think it is so crazy cool how if you speak your hopes and dreams aloud to the universe, it will send them right back to you! More and more everyday I believe you attract what you put out into the world!⠀
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We rented a 26' Uhaul and packed up our things with the help of Scott's family (we loaded up and unloaded at the new house within 4 hours). Although we have loved living here, little townhouse, we are saying goodbye. Forever!

We're Engaged!!!!!

"Now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story no one on earth has ever read, which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before." (C.S Lewis) I am beyond excited to share that. . . WE'RE ENGAGED!!

Scott and I have been dating for the past 6 years, 7 months, and 20 days, but he proposed on June 9th, 2017 at 11 PM! I am still pinching myself, and although I've re-counted the story a lot already to family and close friends, I don't mind sharing it again with all of you!

How He Asked:

It was a Friday, I was busy working my way through emails, wedding photography timelines, and answering questions from my brides, when Scott arrived home from work. Although Scott is my full-time second shooter and wedding day assistant, during the week he works for the local high school. He has such a teacher's heart and as he walked into my office that fateful afternoon at 4 PM he said, "Do you think you'll be ready to go to dinner at 6 PM?"

Normally, I work most week days until 6 PM and after looking at my half finished to-do list, I boldly said, "Yeah, I think I can pump out all of these emails and finish a few more things within the hour and then have an hour to shower and get ready for dinner." I should have known that an hour to complete tasks I had scheduled 2 hours for was not going to happen.

6:18 PM - Me: "Ok Scott I am all done with my stuff and I am SO SORRY it took me a little bit longer than I anticipated!"

Scott: "It's ok, just go get ready and we'll go have a nice relaxing dinner and maybe drinks."

At this point, I thought it didn't really matter that I was a little later than I said because we normally go out on Friday nights for dinner to have a night away to recharge from the week and get excited for whatever photo shoot or wedding we have on Saturdays.

8:07 PM - We are on our way to dinner! (Guys - I am SO glad that Scott was so low-key and had fluidity to his proposal plans because I was a rebel without a watch!)

10:30 PM - After dinner, we grabbed some ice cream at one of our favorite places (Sonic), which is near our old townhouse. Since we still have the keys until the end of June when our lease technically ends, we headed over there to enjoy our desert!

We walked into our empty little townhouse which only has a few cleaning supplies and our kitchen stools left and I ate my Butterfinger Blast and Scott enjoyed his Banana Split Blast. It was during this time that my radar started to go up a little bit and I thought something hinky might be going on.

My first clue - At dinner normally once we finish eating, Scott is eager to get up and leave, but this time I still had a 1/4 glass of wine left to drink and he said, "No rush. Just enjoy your wine and we'll sit for a few minutes."

My internal thoughts: Ok that's weird. But then he made a point to speak with the manager of the restaurant who was an old friend form high school so I chalked it up to just wanting to talk to her.

My second clue - While we were enjoying our ice cream in the air conditioned townhouse, Scott seemed very warm and he was also a little quieter than is normal. Again, weird to be eating ice cream inside an air conditioned room and be sweating.

Sometime around 11 PM - The conversation turned to the townhouse, and how it had been a good stepping stone for us together. Scott also mentioned that our new house was going to be a great next stepping stone and that he wanted us to take things to the next big step in our relationship as well.

HEART FALLS OUT OF MY BUTT

Scott stood up and I said, "Wait. What's happening right now?!" I stood up too and Scott smiled the cutest, biggest smile as he reached his hand inside his pocket, said, "I think you know what is happening," and then dropped down to one knee.

I could not physically see at this point because I was crying so many tears and saying, "Oh my gosh, oh. my. gosh!" Scott now describes my reaction as an ugly cry, but they were definitely tears of joy!

I blinked a few times to clear my eyes, before hearing Scott ask, "Do you want to get married?" I don't think I'll ever forget his sweet expression or the way he popped open the ring box - que more tears - or the way his eyes seemed to get a little watery as well!

I replied, "Yes, of course!" and seconds later Scott had his arms around me in the best hug ever. We both laughed as took in this exciting moment in our relationship before I pointed out, "Ok now you have to see if the ring fits, it's the moment of truth!" Scott said, "Oh yeah!" More laughter and it fit perfectly!

With my new engagement ring on my finger, we called my parents and closest friends to share the good news before heading home for the night! As we hung up the phone at 11:48 PM, I said, "Aw and you proposed before the stroke of midnight!" and Scott replied, "Yeah only this won't turn into a pumpkin at the end of the night." as he pointed to my Sapphire stone, A blueberry maybe."

More laughter ensues as we head to bed!

The next day, Scott and I were in Ann Arbor, so we decided to stop by the Nichols Arboretum because all of the peonies are in full bloom! I figured it was the perfect opportunity to get my ring in front of the camera! **Still pinching myself that we're now engaged** ⠀
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After sharing the news of our engagement on social media, some people wanted more details about my new bling. Scott personally designed the white gold band and setting himself (with help from the jeweler, Marianne, at Carroll Ochs), which has a sapphire stone in the center surrounded by a halo of 22 small diamonds!
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It is so perfect! And I just love it because it is a simple and classic design with a unique twist. I have never been much of a jewelry person, and now with this ring I have never been more aware of drains, vents, messy cookie dough, and fabrics in my entire life! Ha!

We also got some "Just Engaged!" self-portraits of us! We will still get actual engagement photos at some point but wanted to document this moment!

The number one question people are asking us isn't, "When is the wedding or have you set a date yet?", but instead we are being asked, "Who will be photographing YOUR wedding?!" Who will photograph the wedding photographer's wedding??" Although we can't quite answer any of these questions quite yet (again, it's only been 72 hours since Scott proposed!), we are definitely looking into it because amazing photography and an amazing photographer is our #1 Must Have for the wedding and I know for myself and my own business I am already booking 2018 weddings!

When we know who our photographers are, officially, we will be sure to let everyone know!

Last, but certainly not least, Update:

I've Been Featured Online!

It is always SO exciting when my couples are featured online and, yesterday, a photo of Lauren + Marcus' beautiful black tie wedding at The Detroit Masonic Temple was featured in this article from MLive! Ahhh!! Click over here to see their smiling faces out on the dance floor during their first dance as husband and wife and to read the full article!

Thank you so much for following along with me on my photography journey and if you'd like to stay up-to-date with everything happening in my business please follow me @CourtneyCarolynPhotography!

If you've read this whole post and want to come along side Scott and I as we now start to plan OUR wedding day, please feel free to follow me on Pinterest or by signing up for my Newsletter (I'll be sharing wedding planning tips as I find them throughout my wedding planning journey)!

Love,

Courtney

Wanna catch up on our wedding planning journey?!

I’ve got all the details right here!

Part 0: Our Engagement Story

Part 1: Our Wedding Inspiration & Mood Board

Part 2: Our Wedding Photographer & Our Engagement Photos

Part 3: My 3-Day Las Vegas Bachelorette Trip

Part 4: Our Wedding Day at the Bay Pointe Inn

Part 5: Our Honeymoon at Walt Disney World (1/2)

Last Segment Coming Soon! . . . Part 5: Our Honeymoon at Universal Studios & Wizarding World of Harry Potter (2/2)

Join the Conversation!

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