Today for the first time, I realized that June is essentially over...not sure how we came to this point, but July starts in three days and there's lots to do!
Part of preparing is packing and getting ready for our upcoming vacation. We're really looking forward to our trip to Pelee Island this next week---breaks in any routine are always welcome. =) For one week, we'll be able to escape the heat and humidity of the south and enjoy just being...too often life overtakes us and we forget to "Be still" and even more often we fail to stop "and know that He is God."
We'll be driving to Sandusky, OH and catching a ferry to take us to Pelee Island, the southern most inhabited point of Canada. With no cable, TV, facebook, internet or cell phones, we'll essentially be "cut off from the world," but I can't wait. =) With no distractions, all that will be available is creation, conversation, books, running, swimming...sounds like the ideal situation to me! Before making the drive back home, we'll be stopping at Cedar Point Amusement Park for a day to catch a few rides...I'll be posting some pictures of our trip after we get back...
As far as the remaining events of July---I'll have about 1 1/2 weeks to pack everything in our apartment as we're moving the 23rd to another apartment closer to where Daniel and I both work. After we move, I'll have exactly two weeks to unpack and pack for my trip to Montana. =) It's going to be a busy month---all the more reason I'm excited to be able to go on vacation before it all starts!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
The Engagement Story...
Just for all those that never heard the story...
So I knew 'the conversation' had taken place between my Dad and Daniel on the phone over Christmas break...and I was dying to know what all had been said between them. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear everything from my upstairs bedroom...just kidding... =) Daniel called every night during the break and I tried in so many ways to try and figure out what had been said, but all to no avail. He knew exactly what I was doing and wasn't in any way going to cooperate with me...
I flew back from break a couple days early so I could spend some time with Daniel and his family before the last semester of my senior year began. I flew in late in the evening and Daniel met me at the airport with a beautiful red rose and a big smile. =) We spent the evening talking about break and exchanging our Christmas gifts...all the while I'm wondering if I'm going to get engaged before the semester started and trying desperately not to show my excitement...the evening ended quietly with plans to get up early the next morning, have breakfast and drive to Blowing Rock, NC.
The next morning (Jan 11, 2011), I got ready for the day and ate breakfast--Daniel wasn't hungry, but I knew he wasn't much of a breakfast person, so I didn't think anything of it. With some coffee for the road, we started out on our expedition. The drive was beautiful! With the snow on the ground (strange for the South) and the Blue Ridge Mountains, it was almost like being in my beloved West again...Blowing Rock was the quaintest town. Daniel and I enjoyed exploring all the little shops--the chocolate shop, the candle shop, a curiosity shop. It was a simple town, but utterly beautiful in its simplicity. Lunch time came quickly so we stayed in Blowing Rock for lunch. The food was amazingly good...at least mine was...Daniel still didn't seem very hungry...
The farther we got into the day, the more anxious Daniel seemed...but, maybe it was just the bad roads. We got back into the car and started to drive further down the Blue Ridge Parkway...until we hit the road block sign. The highway had been closed due to all the inclement weather the previous night. At that point, Daniel was showing obvious signs of stress. As we started driving back towards Blowing Rock, Daniel turned off onto a drive of a private resort nearby. We drove around and parked in the lot by the pond on the resort ground. The pond was nearly frozen, with a white gazebo on one side of it. We walked over to the pond and sat in the gazebo looking at the pond, the woods surrounding us and the sun starting to set in the distance...as we were reveling in the beauty (at least I was) we saw a beautiful white swan swimming in the only unfrozen spot in the pond. The beauty of the scene was serene and almost ethereal...
As I was standing in the gazebo leaning on the rail and watching all the beauty before me, Daniel put his hand into his pocket. As it was cold, I thought he was just trying to warm his hands up...but he pulled out a ring box, opening it and revealing the most beautiful ring! As I turned toward him, he began to propose. I stood entranced, hardly believing that this was actually happening. I had been waiting for this moment for so long, but now that it had come it was hard to believe. He said many beautiful and sweet things...but he asked me to marry him...and I said YES! =) The moment was priceless.
The remainder of the day passed in a dream. Shortly after, beginning to feel the cold, we returned to Greenville and went to California Dreaming for a wonderful dinner together...The day passed all too quickly, but it was a day that we will both forever remember.
So I knew 'the conversation' had taken place between my Dad and Daniel on the phone over Christmas break...and I was dying to know what all had been said between them. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear everything from my upstairs bedroom...just kidding... =) Daniel called every night during the break and I tried in so many ways to try and figure out what had been said, but all to no avail. He knew exactly what I was doing and wasn't in any way going to cooperate with me...
I flew back from break a couple days early so I could spend some time with Daniel and his family before the last semester of my senior year began. I flew in late in the evening and Daniel met me at the airport with a beautiful red rose and a big smile. =) We spent the evening talking about break and exchanging our Christmas gifts...all the while I'm wondering if I'm going to get engaged before the semester started and trying desperately not to show my excitement...the evening ended quietly with plans to get up early the next morning, have breakfast and drive to Blowing Rock, NC.
The next morning (Jan 11, 2011), I got ready for the day and ate breakfast--Daniel wasn't hungry, but I knew he wasn't much of a breakfast person, so I didn't think anything of it. With some coffee for the road, we started out on our expedition. The drive was beautiful! With the snow on the ground (strange for the South) and the Blue Ridge Mountains, it was almost like being in my beloved West again...Blowing Rock was the quaintest town. Daniel and I enjoyed exploring all the little shops--the chocolate shop, the candle shop, a curiosity shop. It was a simple town, but utterly beautiful in its simplicity. Lunch time came quickly so we stayed in Blowing Rock for lunch. The food was amazingly good...at least mine was...Daniel still didn't seem very hungry...
The farther we got into the day, the more anxious Daniel seemed...but, maybe it was just the bad roads. We got back into the car and started to drive further down the Blue Ridge Parkway...until we hit the road block sign. The highway had been closed due to all the inclement weather the previous night. At that point, Daniel was showing obvious signs of stress. As we started driving back towards Blowing Rock, Daniel turned off onto a drive of a private resort nearby. We drove around and parked in the lot by the pond on the resort ground. The pond was nearly frozen, with a white gazebo on one side of it. We walked over to the pond and sat in the gazebo looking at the pond, the woods surrounding us and the sun starting to set in the distance...as we were reveling in the beauty (at least I was) we saw a beautiful white swan swimming in the only unfrozen spot in the pond. The beauty of the scene was serene and almost ethereal...
As I was standing in the gazebo leaning on the rail and watching all the beauty before me, Daniel put his hand into his pocket. As it was cold, I thought he was just trying to warm his hands up...but he pulled out a ring box, opening it and revealing the most beautiful ring! As I turned toward him, he began to propose. I stood entranced, hardly believing that this was actually happening. I had been waiting for this moment for so long, but now that it had come it was hard to believe. He said many beautiful and sweet things...but he asked me to marry him...and I said YES! =) The moment was priceless.
The remainder of the day passed in a dream. Shortly after, beginning to feel the cold, we returned to Greenville and went to California Dreaming for a wonderful dinner together...The day passed all too quickly, but it was a day that we will both forever remember.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Introducing South Meets West
Seeing the number of blogs my friends have begun, I decided to start my own...and I've title it "South Meets West." The following story should clear up any questions about my choice:
Basically, being in a military family means moving. When we weren't oversees we were somewhere out in the northwest, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and such...in all the moving however there was never even a remote desire to be anywhere near the south.
Time to go to college came and where did I end up? I went to school in South Carolina. Even though I was in South Carolina, I determined I would never stay there after I graduated and I would never marry anyone from South Carolina...
My junior year In a professional speech class, I sat in front of this tall, blond guy...His name was Daniel, but as we never talked I didn't know anything more about him other than that he lived in Greenville. At the end of the semester we ended up on the same group class project. As the project leader, I experienced all the stresses of trying to encourage my fellow classmates to contribute to a project most could care less about. Daniel was one of the few that actually helped out on the project, and I greatly appreciated it. The semester ended however, and everyone went home for Christmas vacation.
The next semester started and I was intensely focused on preparing for my junior recital and taking a large credit load...my life consisted of practicing, studying and working...nothing else. Every once in awhile In the midst of the craziness of the semester I would run into Daniel in the hallway (He had a class in the room across from my french class). We would say hello...and that was about it. Every once in awhile we would talk about school or the weekend, but nothing more.
Then came the facebook friend request...and all was history. Ok...not quite. ;) In March Daniel called my dorm phone and asked me out for the first time. (My roommates thought this was great) We talked and found out we had several similar interests and tastes...talked about our families...After the first date we continued to see each other and went out to eat a few times. A few weeks later Daniel and I were officially dating. So here I was, dating a guy that had been raised for almost all of his life in Greenville, SC...I was doing two of three things I said I would never do...
Long and short of it, Daniel and I were engaged the following January and married in August...and now I'm living in South Carolina...and I've done all three things I said I would never do. ;) Hence this blog is truly the story of the South meeting the West. We have had several adventures and I've had some culture shock for sure, but it's truly been a wonderful life!
Basically, being in a military family means moving. When we weren't oversees we were somewhere out in the northwest, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and such...in all the moving however there was never even a remote desire to be anywhere near the south.
Time to go to college came and where did I end up? I went to school in South Carolina. Even though I was in South Carolina, I determined I would never stay there after I graduated and I would never marry anyone from South Carolina...
My junior year In a professional speech class, I sat in front of this tall, blond guy...His name was Daniel, but as we never talked I didn't know anything more about him other than that he lived in Greenville. At the end of the semester we ended up on the same group class project. As the project leader, I experienced all the stresses of trying to encourage my fellow classmates to contribute to a project most could care less about. Daniel was one of the few that actually helped out on the project, and I greatly appreciated it. The semester ended however, and everyone went home for Christmas vacation.
The next semester started and I was intensely focused on preparing for my junior recital and taking a large credit load...my life consisted of practicing, studying and working...nothing else. Every once in awhile In the midst of the craziness of the semester I would run into Daniel in the hallway (He had a class in the room across from my french class). We would say hello...and that was about it. Every once in awhile we would talk about school or the weekend, but nothing more.
Then came the facebook friend request...and all was history. Ok...not quite. ;) In March Daniel called my dorm phone and asked me out for the first time. (My roommates thought this was great) We talked and found out we had several similar interests and tastes...talked about our families...After the first date we continued to see each other and went out to eat a few times. A few weeks later Daniel and I were officially dating. So here I was, dating a guy that had been raised for almost all of his life in Greenville, SC...I was doing two of three things I said I would never do...
Long and short of it, Daniel and I were engaged the following January and married in August...and now I'm living in South Carolina...and I've done all three things I said I would never do. ;) Hence this blog is truly the story of the South meeting the West. We have had several adventures and I've had some culture shock for sure, but it's truly been a wonderful life!
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