The life of an Oregonian is brimming with coffeeshops, umbrellas, beautiful surroundings and warm friendships. I had grown up a preacher's daughter with a loving family and much to be thankful for. Living the life of a strong, driven, independent woman was my philosophy. I most certainly did not need a guy to define who I was, especially in college. Sure I had lots of guy friends, but when it came to being tied down in a dating relationship...that just wasn't for me.
College was a time where the line, "I'm not looking for a boyfriend", was a commonplace occurrence that seemed to me to be exactly what I wanted. Sure if I found the right guy that would be great, but for now I was too busy doing my own thing to even think about settling down.
As graduation drew near, I began exploring places and opportunities for post-college. For some reason, I was drawn to the state of Texas. Maybe it was the idea of Southern hospitality and accents, maybe it was the cowboy boots and hats that pulled me in, or maybe that everything was bigger in Texas. Whatever the reason, I found myself in early August of 2010 packing my bags in the back of 1993 Camry and headed on down the road deep into the heart of Texas.
"You're going to find a Texas cowboy and never come back" they said as I stepped one foot out the door and the other into the great unknown. The dating scene was off my radar however, and my focus was on my Master's degree. I knew that God would bring the right man into my life someday, and little did I know that it would be one fateful day in April of 2011. The man I would marry would walk right into my life when I least expected it.
You never know what God has in store for your life until you are living it. He seems to have a way of opening up doors and bringing people into your life at just the right time. When we met, we hit it off right away and that Texas man seemed to be just the guy for me.
After meeting each others families and dating for several months, one day in December I went from being a girlfriend to a fiance. One minute you are dating a guy, and the next you are engaged and your life goes from a zero to sixty in no time at all with one little ring and a simple three letter "yes".
I created this blog to help document my wedding planning experiences and share with you ideas and stories of this journey of engagement and new chapter in life. I called it burlap and cashmere because it is a reflection of our journey in life. Sometimes life can be rough and course like burlap; shaping you and pushing you to change through the tough times. Other times life is like cashmere: soft, lush and comforting full of love and joy.
~Ashley Malee
