Two Years

September marks a wonderful time in the start of the relationship between Nick and I.  We met at the wedding of our friends on September 9, 2011.  We went on our first date and shared our first kiss on September 15.  This month really makes me reminisce about how cute we were together in the beginning and in all the time to this point.  I love remembering all the firsts and how all this greatness began.

Two years ago today, Nick asked me to be his girlfriend, which began this amazing ride of our lives together.  It wasn't some grand gesture, but just perfect for the two of us.  This day also marks 160 days until our wedding.  I am so excited and can't wait to marry my best friend and soul mate!

Last weekend, I found my wedding dress.  It's all starting to be so real!  My mom, sister, Nick's sister, and I headed to Santee, SC (a very small town between Columbia and Charleston).  There is a bridal boutique there that gets many donated wedding gowns (some even from the big designers and right off the runway).  Half of all profits they make by selling these dresses go toward breast cancer research.  I didn't get my hopes too high because every dress is pretty much one-of-a-kind.  So I tried on many dresses before I found a beautiful ivory dress that was very flattering and fit like a glove.  I tried on a few more after that one because I still wasn't exactly sure, but I kept comparing it back to the other one.  I put it back on and decided that it was perfect for me!  I also found a veil, and my mom even found a dress to wear for our wedding.  It's great to know that some of the profits from these purchases are also going to help others in need!

Now, I'm going to spend time with my wonderful man and enjoy celebrating two amazing years together!

Wedding Planning

So the wedding planning is in full swing!  We have officially set our wedding date as March 1, 2014.  Only gives us about 6 months to plan, but personally, I don't want a long engagement where I have to wait and wait to finally get married.  I've waited long enough to find the man ;)

We will be getting married in Lexington at Town Hall with the reception taking place there as well.  My mom has taken on most of the actual planning, and she is doing a fabulous job!  I've already been so stressed with school starting back and trying to get back on a "normal" schedule.  Super happy to have Mom's help!

Short post, but just wanted to give an update.  More wedding details to come...

An Engaging Vacation

Last week, Nick and I, along with his parents, took a trip up to Gatlinburg, TN.  We had a wonderful time enjoying all the touristy attractions there in Gatlinburg and nearby Pigeon Forge.  The Smokey Mountains were gorgeous!

                                          

We left on Thursday, and once we got checked into our hotel and had dinner we began walking "the strip" to check out the sights and sounds.  On Friday, we went to an entertaining dinner show about the Hatfields and McCoys.  The food was great and the show was a lot of fun.

Before heading out to walk around again that night, Nick turned on the first song we ever danced to together and asked me to dance with him in our hotel room.  In the middle of our dancing, Nick got down on one knee and proposed to me!  I, of course, burst into tears immediately.  I definitely said yes, and I am super excited to be marrying my best friend and soul mate!  My engagement ring was actually his grandmother's ring.  I am so honored that his mom has let Nick give me such a special piece of jewelry.

Currently, the ring is too small for my finger, so we will have to go get it resized.  Nick wanted to make sure I would have something shiny to wear until my real ring is ready, so we picked out a temporary ring.

The rest of our trip was so much fun!  We checked out a local cavern, went to the aquarium, saw another show at the Comedy Barn, went up into the space needle, ate A LOT of food, and walked around checking out as many of the shops as we could.

This was one of the best vacations I have ever taken!  Now it's time to get back into school mode.  And to let the wedding planning begin!

Time to Start Anew

I know it's been an extremely long time since I've blogged, but I think now is the perfect time to get back on track.  I desperately need to lose some weight and work on getting myself in better shape and more healthy.  It is also time for school to start back, which will hopefully help in putting me back on a more structured schedule.  I'm hoping that if I blog about what's going on in my life, I can hold myself to being more accountable in all things I want to work on.

So here are the things I hope to keep track of here:

• As I mentioned before, I need work on being more healthy.  A co-worker of mine has been eating primarily fruits, vegetables, and beans following the plan outlined in Eat to Live.  I have started reading this book and want to try to implement this into my life.  Hopefully adding a better diet to the exercise I've already been doing, I'll see some improvement in my weight and health.
• I'm starting my second year of teaching 7th grade science.  I'm hoping to grow in my profession and work on bringing more hands-on activities into my classroom.  I hope my students grow and learn so much in my class!
• Nick and I have been together for almost 2 years now, and we continue to fall more in love each day.  I want to make sure we continue to keep the excitement and fun in our relationship by trying new things and experiencing life together.

I'll leave it to that for now, but expect to share much more.

Kato

Back in December, Nick and I decided we were ready to adopt a puppy together.  As you know, I have Rosey, and Nick has a Yorkie named Java.  One Saturday, we headed out to Petsmart to look at the dogs the local rescues bring in for adoption.  We spotted Kato right away!  We decided to walk around and check out the others, but immediately came back to him.  After seeing how much attention he was getting, we put in an application as fast as we could and were approved to adopt him within a short time!  Here is our first picture together:

We picked the name Kato while heading home with our new baby.  He was about 2.5 months old when we got him and weighed about 25 pounds.  He is a retriever mix and loves to play.  Rosey and Java have taken to him very well.

We have really enjoyed being the parents of 3 fur-babies!  Here are some more pictures of Kato:

He's getting so big now!  He is almost 7 months old and is weighing in at about 70 pounds!

Here are they all are together!  Kato, Java, and Rosey

~Emily

Spring Break 2012

Last week was my Spring Break from school!  It started with an Easter weekend spent with Nick's family, who came up from Charleston to visit.  His nephew had a blast playing with the puppies and finding Easter eggs in the yard.  I had a blast playing the Easter bunny!

Nick headed back to work for a couple days while I worked on school work and enjoyed sleeping in late!  Wednesday, we headed to Florida for a little vacation.  Nick's parents took us down to the gulf coast of Florida.  I was introduced to some of his family and had some fun in the sun!  We celebrated my 26th birthday while we were in Florida.  We went to Hooter's (my first trip) and then had some fun by the pool!

We had a great time!  Sad that the break is now over, but looking forward to our next vacation in May!

I'm Back!!!!

Okay, so apparently the blogging thing only lasted a few months last year, but in my defense, things got a little hectic after my last post and just haven't had the motivation to get back at it.  But I've decided that since some things have changed in my life and all for the better, I'm going to try to get back into my blog!

Since the last time I updated I have met the man of my dreams!  We met at my best friend's wedding last September and have pretty much been inseparable ever since!  His name is Nick, he is 29, and he has a nice job in the IT field.  After walking UP the aisle together (as in I was a bridesmaid and he a groomsman), we chatted and had a great time together at the reception!  Another of my best friends made sure to give him my number, and he didn't waste any time in getting in touch with me later that night!  A little under a week after the wedding, we went on our first date and made it official a week later.  I pretty much knew I was falling for him by this point and have tried my best to make sure he knows how much he means to me ever since!

Okay, now that I've got the lovey stuff out, here's how the rest of last year played out:

I have still not been successful in obtaining full-time employment, but I have been continuing my teaching at Congaree Elementary and really enjoy working with my students.  I decided to leave my work with the marching band at Airport and join up with the staff at Lexington (my alma mater).  I really feel like I've made the right decision because these kids at Lexington really try their hardest, and they all seem to actually want to succeed!  I have been having a blast working through marching season last fall (especially with our third place/bronze medal win at State Championships) and into our current Winterguard season that concluded this past weekend with circuit championships up in Rock Hill!

I have gotten into some really good books over the last few months, reading The Help, Hunger Games, and now Catching Fire.  I seemed to have forgotten my love for really good books before a few months ago, but have made my way back into reading again!

In the last month I have begun taking two online courses to help me obtain my middle level teaching certification that will hopefully help me land a full-time job in the upcoming school year.  I've found it to be a little stressful getting back into the school swing of things, but have managed to make time for the school work again!

Well, I think you have pretty much been caught up now!  I promise to try harder to continue posting and maybe actually get some more people to read this!

~Emily