We're Engaged!

Past Halloweens!

It is October! My favorite month out of the year. The cool, crisp air...crunchy, colorful leaves...sweaters & boots, & knowing all of the holidays are coming up! Ever since I was little-I've been obsessed with Halloween. 

Now that I'm too old to go trick-or-treating (big super sad face)...coming up with what to do on Halloween has become a bit of a challenge. I live in a neighborhood that has 0 trick-or-treaters...so handing out candy is a no go. I don't "party"....so that is out too. When I stopped going trick-or-treating...it was in 2010. That year I invited some friends & family (it was only like...5 people-including myself) to a Halloween party in our basement. I made tons of Halloween-themed food, we played games & watched the original Halloween movie. In 2011, I went with my family to a different house to hand out candy. In 2012, I actually went trick-or-treating this year! I forgot about that. Ha. In 2013...all I did was dress up with some family & carve a pumpkin. Last year, I threw a Murder Mystery Party with my family. It was a blast. I cooked a fall-y meal & tons of Halloween treats. 

This year? Well....I've decided to just throw a party for some family at my house. My family is actually hiring a tarot card reader earlier in the day on Halloween. Then they're coming to my house to eat a yummy fall-y meal...with lots of halloween goodies & candy. Play some games, Pumpkin Carving Contest, Costume Contest (for the contests, Facebook friends will be the judges), & then settle down and watch the original Halloween 1 & 2 movies. 

Let me show you some of my past Halloween costumes. I have dressed up every single year of my life. 

My first ever Halloween..I was a clown & just under 8 months old.

 My second Halloween I was an Indian.

Once Upon A Time

He grew up in a huge, beach city in Florida & I grew up in small, southern town in North Carolina. 

He moved up to North Carolina not too long before we met...maybe a year or two? At this point I was still in the same town going to college- Alex had become a lifeguard, EMT, Volunteer Fireman, & a ton of other stuff that made me feel like I haven't been doing enough in my life! 

In the beginning of October 2011, we met online. So talking was the basis of our relationship. We asked each other a ton of questions. I remember thinking...This guy sounds perfect!

This picture is our first picture together. It was taken on our second date at a haunted amusement park  (Scarowinds)

We live 1 + 1/5 hours apart. So our first date was about a week after we began talking. We played three or four bowling games & then we decided to go to Applebees to get dessert so we could eat & talk. Neither one of us was actually hungry, we just wanted to talk more. Our desserts ended up melting all over the plates because we were so busy talking and not eating. We talked for 2-3 hours. I remember thinking that he seemed just as perfect as he did while we were texting each other. He was so sweet & there was never an "awkward silence" between the two of us. 

It was the perfect time of year for us to meet. It was the beginning of the holidays so we did tons of holiday type stuff. Like ice skating, carving pumpkins, haunted amusement park, decorating, etc. It didn't take me long to fall in love with him. I think we had been dating three weeks when I told my mom that I was going to marry this guy.

They say "you know when you know" - which was so true for both of us. 

He's so smart, cute, funny, & is obsessed with holidays & Disney stuff just like me.

He's the perfect gentleman-he takes great care of me, looks after me, protects me, makes me laugh, & always makes sure that I'm happy. Basically, he treats me like a princess.  He couldn't be more perfect if he tried!

Thank goodness back in October 2011-both of us did something that we normally would never do. & that is how we met.

PS....all of these pictures were taken within our first 2 months of dating. 

Orlando, Florida - Disney World + Friend's Wedding

I haven't updated all summer long because it has been busy! One of the reasons...we flew down to Orlando for a friend of mine's Disney wedding! It feels like Alex & I have been traveling all over this year. Plus side is I have mastered dragging my carry-on throughout the airport. Normally it would flip & flop all over the place.

When we landed in Florida, we went to pick up our rental car. It was late & we were tired & still had a 1 1/2 hour drive to the hotel from the airport. We were surprised when the car company upgraded us to a Camaro. *thumbs up*

The next day we had completely free because the wedding wasn't until Friday. So we decided to spend the day at EPCOT. I was able to meet Winnie The Pooh & Tigger! And Belle! I was super excited. Way more excited than a normal 25 year old should be to meet them :P.

It being at the end of June...in Florida...it was extremely HOT. 104 degrees hot. I couldn't take my sunglasses off because the second I did, sweat that was trapped under my sunglasses would pour down my face. Sounds miserable, but we had such a great time! And that night we met up with the bride to be & some of her family to spend Extra Magic Hours in EPCOT. Best thing ever. No lines...no hot sun...Perfect!

Starting the day off at EPCOT we were able to use (for the first time ever) Magic Bands. We felt like the super heroes on Captain Planet-but instead of rings...it was wristbands. :D

It's Tinkerbell!!!!!!

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

We stayed at the same hotel that we did when we visited back in the fall of 2013 because we love the place so much!

Washington D.C.

We rarely go "out". For the first time in around 2 years we went to the movie theater a couple of months ago...(for Fifty Shades of Grey...duh.) We try to save our money to go on a trip at least twice a year. Once in the Spring & then again in the Fall/Winter. 

This year we decided to go to Washington D.C. in the Spring. But our first day there, you wouldn't have known it was Spring. It was 50 degrees & windy-which just made it that much colder. The next day was better.

We saw everything we wanted to see-with the exception of Ford's Theater-& that is only because we forgot to get tickets until that morning & they were sold out.

We were only there two days & one night. In order to see everything we wanted to see we walked around 23 miles in two days. Needless to say-we are still recovering. 

We were able to visit :: 

The Capital

The White House

WWII Memorial

Reflecting Pool / Lincoln Memorial

Arlington Cemetery

Changing of The Guards at The Tomb of The Unknown Soldier

JFK's Gravesite

National Monument 

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Smithsonian Museum of American History (My faaavorite)

Smithsonian Air & Space 

Jefferson Memorial

Roosevelt Memorial Park (which we didn't even know was there...just happened to stumble upon it)

Korean War Memorial

If  you're going to visit there...& you want to see a ton of stuff but you're only there for a short amount of time...Just time it out. Figuring out exactly how long it would take us to walk from place to place really helped us keep track of our time. We turned out ahead of schedule on both days. 

Here are just of the few pictures we took...

Snow Day

I've lived in NC for my whole life. Alex, on the other-hand, only for a few years. So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when he told me that he had never built a snowman. So obviously, I had to show them how it was done.

We had the best time playing in the snow! We built snowmen, built a snow monster, snowball fights, snow angels, & I tackled Alex to the ground. It was such a perfect morning! I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.