Her Big Day: Bride to be

Bride-to-be: Luwam George

Groom-to-be: Yonas Fessehaye
Location: Atlanta, GA.

Luwam & Yonas just tied the knot over the Labor day weekend so we thought we'd share their sweet engagement photos and "how we met" story during the same week! There is so much L-O-V-E in each photo, we loved it!

Tell us how you met one another: Yonas and I actually met through mutual friends a few years ago. Everyone always mentioned how we should be more than friends, but it really never crossed our minds until after a few years of friendship. Our friendship eventually blossomed into something more after Yonas made a couple of attempts to have a first date. I would always invite people along not really knowing if it was a date or not lol. The really awkward first date led to me marrying my best friend. J

How did he pop the question: I had my family come in town for my cousin’s wedding, so I was running all over the place preparing for their visit. After grocery shopping, I pulled up ready to park and I noticed that Yonas had stolen my favorite parking spot. So I left my car in the middle of the street (yes, I know, very dangerous) and I stormed into the townhouse ready to give him a piece of my mind. However, I walked into a pathway of rose petals leading to a big heart made out of rose petals with a box in the middle of it. I was in complete shock and totally caught off guard, just the way that he had planned. As soon as I told him yes, I would marry him, I told him that he needed to move his car out of my parking spot. Afterwards, we celebrated with chick-fil-a and wine. J It really meant a lot to my family and I that he proposed right before they came into town so I could tell my parents and brother in person that I was engaged rather than over the phone.

When's the big day: September 5^th, 2015

What are you looking forward to the most about your wedding: We are both looking forward to having family and friends from all over the world come and join us in celebrating our union.

What would you say has been the hardest thing about planning an Eritrean-American wedding: Hmm… the most difficult thing would be the guest list. Throughout the process of wedding planning, we had to keep a large guest list in mind. In some ways, it kind of limited the options available for our wedding.

Any tips or pointers for the couple planning a wedding right now:

The wedding is only one day (well, two in our case)! Do not stress out over it and remember: the most important thing is the days AFTER the wedding- the actual marriage. Also, choose your bridal party carefully- they will make the wedding planning much smoother and more fun!

Engagement photos by: Ayu Hailu (we highly recommend him!)

Thank you for sharing your story with us, Luwam + Yonas! Many blessings to you both in your new union, xx.

Introducing Our Guest Blogger: Chiropractor, Author and
Professional Speaker Dr. Rubina Tahir, DC

Are you dreaming about getting a good night of sleep??

Dr. Rubina Tahir, DC shares tips for successful sleep during wedding planning.

A wedding planning bride knows that one day she will come face to face with the stress fairy! The stress fairy is unlike the tooth fairy, you will not be waking up with money under your pillow. Instead you are faced with this uninvited guest following you around through the whole wedding process: finding a dress, talking to the mother in law, picking out flowers, securing a venue etc. etc.!

So how can you co-exist with your new house guest and still get a good night of sleep? There is a simple formula that every bride-to-be must know!

During times of stress our body is operating with a GREEN light. Always on the GO, speeding around the race track of life. Our nervous system is trained to operate in 2 modes: GREEN and RED. Evolution of humans paints a better picture: if you think about a bear approaching, your body signals into GREEN mode, “fight or flight”. You either get safely away from the bear, or it will eat you for lunch, either way you signal back into RED. During times of stress we rarely turn the RED light on. When you can't turn your head off at night in order to fall asleep, or you wake up in the middle of the night with trouble getting back to sleep, these are indications of an overactive RED signal. You are still running from the bear or in this case, the stress fairy.

Here is what you can do to beat stress and get successful sleep:

Turn off the Lights

Remember that a dark bedroom can help your body know it’s time for sleep. To help the body adjust to a regular sleep cycle, make an effort to distinguish between "daytime" and "bedtime". A sleep mask is an easy trick to help promote sleep! Try one that is scented with lavender to help your body wind down and turn off that green light.

Keep your Bedroom a Bedroom

These days, many of us have laptops, kindles, smart phones and other mobile devices that transform any room into an office. Problem: you will NOT associate your room with sleep. Keep your sleep room clear of TV’s, electronics and other devices that stimulate your brain and make it difficult to calm the mind and body.

Organize

Clear your mind. Write a To-Do list for the next day. This way the mind can finally relax, letting go for the time being.

Don’t count sheep, instead try this contract-relax exercise

Lie in bed and relax every muscle in your body. Start at your head and work down to your toes, tightening and relaxing each muscle one at a time. Relaxing muscles is part of achieving the first stage of sleep.

Eat foods rich in Magnesium

Magnesium deficiency is responsible for nervousness that prevents sleep.

Magnesium-rich foods include kelp, wheat bran, apricots, avocado, figs, kelp, almonds, cashews, blackstrap molasses, and brewer's yeast.

Get your B vitamins

The B’s provide a sedative effect on the nerves.

The best food sources of the B vitamins are liver, whole grains, eggs, fresh vegetables, wheat germ, tuna, walnuts, peanuts, bananas, kelp, sunflower seeds, and blackstrap molasses.

Herbal Tea Recipe

Half an hour before bedtime, drink a calming herbal tea made with:

Lemon balm

Lemon balm tea is extremely relaxing and induces sleep.

1 cup of boiling water over 1 tsp. of dried leaves.

Steep for ten minutes and sip slowly just before bed.

Chamomile Tea Bath

Chamomile's sedative qualities is a way to treat you to a spa like bedtime experience. Prepare a pot of chamomile tea made from dried chamomile flowers (loose chamomile is preferable to chamomile tea bags to get the best benefit from this healing herb). Allow the tea too steep for ten minutes. Strain the flower particles from the brewed tea. Pour the warm tea into the bath while the tap water is filling your tub. Immerse your body and soak away your stresses.

Questions?

Email: Chiro@rubinatahir.com

Twitter: @chirorubina

www.rubinatahir.com