Country Roads, Take Me Home...

...to the place where I belong.
~John Denver~

As a kid, I grew up in a small town in central Illinois. Not too far outside the small town was a local landmark... a real gem... Allerton Park. The land started as the estate of Robert Allerton. He built his home in the middle of woods and fields, near the Sangamon River. The home alone is amazing, but the entire estate that he built up, beyond just his home, is breathtaking.

I should clarify, that after his death, Allerton donated his estate to the University of Illinois, and it's a state historic site, open to the public. There are acres and acres of trails through the woods, as well as over 100 statues, several formal gardens, and a huge meadow (that I certainly would not want to have to mow!)

Once I turned 16 and could drive around town, Allerton was ALWAYS one of my destinations. I spent many an afternoon driving through the park, wandering on the trails, or just spreading a blanket out at the Sunsinger, the park's farthest point, and reading a book all day long.

After moving away, every time I'd visit my parents, I would swing by Allerton during my visit. During the summertime, I loved to drive through the park to spy on any weddings that may have been taking place. I always thought that having a wedding at Allerton would be like a dream come true, but I just always assumed that it wouldn't ever actually happen for me due to cost.

A 3-hour rental of one of the formal gardens is $600, and if it rains, you are pretty much out of luck. Some of the gardens allow tents for an additional rental, but the location of my dreams, the Sunken Garden, does not allow tents. It seemed like such a gamble to spend a chunk of money for something that might not happen if the weather didn't cooperate. After much deliberation, we decided to bite the bullet. My fiance told me that I deserved the wedding of my dreams, and that we would make it happen, if at all possible. So, I took every last dime of my Christmas money and gave it to Allerton Park. Fingers crossed that mother nature agrees that this is where I should be married:

This Kind of Love...

...is what I dreamed about

Yeah, it fills me up

Baby, it leaves no doubt

This kind of love it's why I'm standing here

It's something that we can share

I can't get enough of this kind of love

~Sister Hazel's This Kind of Love



I am definately due an entry on here! I have a couple other blogs that I'm religious about updating, but this one has just slipped through the cracks for a couple months now!



Last I wrote, my love was planning a weekend getaway to the Windy City. And what a getaway it was! We spent 3 glorious days up there and they were probably the best days that I've spent with him.



We arrived to our hotel on a Friday night, after having gotten a sweet deal on priceline! We got a $150 room for $60 each night! We relaxed Friday evening because we knew we had a bit day in store for us on Saturday. The next morning we woke up bright and early & started the day with a dip in the pool & jacuzzi! After a quick shower, we were off to catch the bus to the Museum of Science and Industry. We were all bundled up because it was a cold, snowy weekend, but when we got to the museum, the silly boy didn't want to check his coat! I didn't understand why... I certainly didn't want to have to carry mine around all day, but I went along with it. This should have been some foreshadowing that there was something IN his coat that he didn't want to go unguarded!



We spent a few hours at the museum & had such a fun time, then took the bus into downtown Chicago. Next stop was Navy Pier. This is a special place for he and I because back in April he planned a date up here. That night when we had returned from our date, he told me he loved me for the first time! So I was very excited to be at the pier! It was all decorated with Christmas decorations (this was early December, by the way!) and a light snow was coming down. We walked a bit on the pier and then decided to go inside to do some shopping! We shopped, we ate, and then we went to this Christmas festival that was going on. Oh, and we even had a characiture drawn!



By this time, the sun had just set and the gentleman wanted to go for a walk on the decorated pier. It was windy and it was cold, but it was also beautiful! We had the Chicago skyline behind us, with a purple sky, and I quickly forgot about how frigid it was! I turned to look at the pretty skyline & snap a picture. I showed him the picture & he said it was nice, but why not take one more, just to be sure to get a good one. I turned around once again to snap a picture, and when I turned to show him, he was down on one knee!



There was lots of laughing, hugging, kissing, and crying. We were so happy!!! Everything about it was perfect, and I wouldn't have changed a thing! And the ironic part? The ring that he purchased was actually one of the rings that I posted in my last entry where I wrote about what my ideal ring would look like! He hit the nail right on the head! I love it because it's something he picked out and also because he had been saving for probably 5 months to pay for it. It meant so much to me that months earlier he was confident enough in us to go ahead and take that step.



After getting engaged, I think I beamed the remainder of the night. It was freezing cold, but I didn't even want to put a glove on because I wanted to watch it sparkle! We then headed to Macy's to pick out our first-ever Christmas ornament, a sparkly green ball that says "Chicago" on it. I think that will be my favorite ornament forever.