We're Engaged!!!

Patrick Asked me to marry him!

I said "Yes"

On the Phone with Mom giving her the exciting news!

So So So Happy!

It's perfect!

Showing off, sitting between the future In-laws

Oh yeah... He got on one knee and here's the picture to prove it

Our own private drive in theater

There was another surprise - there was a crowd of people inside waiting to congratulate us

Click here to see pictures from Thanksgiving....

Thanksgiving Pictures

Happy Birthday Charis!!!

So, you're 31?? Is that possible? Sorry if it embarrasses you but I just love seeing peoples' reaction when we reveal to them that you are the mother of 6... I'm continually amazed at your mothering skills. You are so patient!!! I don't know how you can handle the constant, "Mom mom mom mom mom mom." Are you aware that it drives me crazy when you don't answer them the first time? LOL!

Charis, you make me want to actually attempt the great challenge of parenting a child. Can't say that I want to try it with so many, but you make it look easy and fun. I joke about having a kid and giving him or her to you to raise, because I just know that you would do an incredible job. I only hope that I will pick up on your methods and use them when it's my turn. Of course, I hope my kids are smarter and cuter (since we are ultimately in competition :) This is a tall order, because it's just hard to imagine having cuter smarter kids)! Haha...

Anyway, thanks for being a wonderful sister, for being there to listen, and for being a positive influence growing up. You are so good at letting people just be who they are without judgement or unsolicited advice. Aww... I'm actually getting a little choked up just typing this - Thank you, Aunt Flo!

So, do something fun today and celebrate being a year older without aging one bit from last year or the previous 7 for that matter!

I love you...

It's Been a While...

Hello all! I know it's been a long time since I've blogged, but so much has been going on... I lost my job, I got a new one, I moved home, Patrick and I met in the middle and our parents met, and my calendar has been pretty packed during "free time".

New Job: I'm working for Liles Companies in Santa Rosa Beach. The work environment is great and I really enjoy working with my boss, Doug. We are doing web development, email campaigns, and a bunch of other stuff that's too complicated to get into. I stay busy, and most of my time here has been spent learning and training. I feel very fortunate to be given the job considering the competition out there right now.

Living back at home: It's nice to have people around again, but I do miss my little house in Seagrove Beach and my routine there. I'll get a groove, but that season is over and it makes me just a little sad, so I try not to think about it. I know that God has some great things lined up for the future.

The visit at Doh Doh's was great! We all got there Friday night, and Patrick and his parents got to hang out with my parents, Doh Doh and Norman. Thanks again Doh Doh for making everything so wonderful for everyone. I really really appreciate it! Saturday was fun... Summer came over for a bit and we had a great breakfast. Later a bunch of us drove out to Stone Mountain (I'd never been there) to hike and see the view, which is great by the way. There was a game of Dominoes - YES, I won! - and more good food. Church on Sunday was a bit of an adventure, when we just followed the GPS which took us to Buckhead Church instead of Northpoint. It worked out great, and we had a time convincing Dad that he was watching a 3D projected video of Andy Stanley, that it wasn't Andy in person. Ha! Technology is such an amazing thing! For lunch we were joined at Cheesecake Factory by Summer, DohDoh, and Samuel. The whole weekend was everything we hoped, and the only part I didn't like was the end when we all had to say "goodbye".

Now I'm ready for Thanksgiving with the Family & Patrick! I know everyone is pitching a bit of a fit that Patrick is by-passing Deep Creek, but I'm pretty sure that spending 4 days with the whole family under one roof will be enough of a Gauntlet to know if he can make it in the fmaily :) Should be interesting!

In other news, we did a Bonfire last weekend at Grayton Beach. It was soooooo cold and windy, but really was a great way to give Andrew the proper send off as he heads to Iraq for his deployment. We all made some new friends and shared some laughs - Nick got stuck in the sand because he thought that his XTerra was enough of a "4 wheel drive" to make it. I hate that we don't have pictures...

Baby showers, birthday parties, family fun, etc. - everything is keeping me busy and making the time fly by. Christmas is just around the corner... Dang - I'd better start shopping! here are a few pictures from the past few weeks...

Employed

I have a job! God is good!

Changes

I'm sure that news has traveled and you all know that I lost my job last week. The circumstances behind the termination of my employment with Alys Beach were a little mysterious, but it comes down to the condition of the Market. I loved my job at Alys. I brought in 5 new employees. I worked hard and cared very much about the success of the development. But, it is what it is and it isn't what it's not. As Patrick said, "God is not surprised." His timing is perfect and I am going to trust that He is directing all of my steps.

So now I join the game of employment musical chairs. The job market in this area is extremely competative right now and is becoming more so every day. Legendary and Sandestin have recently had some big layoffs which means more people are in my situation than I would like. I had an interview on Monday with a great company that is doing exciting world-changing things. I'm one of 40 applicants. Sheesh!

I mostly feel that this is just the push I needed to move my life up to North Carolina. Patrick and I need a chance to grow to know and love eachother on a normal day-to-day basis. I'm looking for jobs in Hickory, hoping to find something permanent that will give me the time off that I'll need in the late spring. I want to get out of the Office Admin box. There's an opportunity as a teacher at a Christian School. PR, Marketing, more Real Estate (probably not right away :))... the options there are a little better than here. Finding a place to live would probably be fairly easy, and the best part is that I can be near the man I love.

In the mean time, I'm going to enjoy this time with my family and make plans for a pretty big event in my life. With the holidays, it's all going to fly by! Baby showers, birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years! Come January, I will most likely make the move. Lord willing I will have had a successful job interview during my two weeks in Hickory for Christmas... He has a plan I just have to step into it. I appreciate your prayers and all the encouragement!

Hickory/Boone/Blowin' Rock

My visit to NC was everything I was hoping for and more! I was introduced to Patrick's world and all the wonderful people in it. Hickory is a great town with all the necessary amenities and charms. I got to stay with Patrick's parents, who made me feel so welcomed and comfortable! They had fresh flowers next to my bed and made sure I had a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. I guess Patrick had given them ample warning of my dependence on caffein to wake up each day.

Friday: Patrick showed up at the house in the morning to pick me up. He was fairly early, which shocked his parents a little. It must be love! :) I got the grand tour of Transportation Insight where Patrick works. Everyone was very nice. It's a neat place, and they all had good things to say about my boyfriend. It made me so proud.
From there we went to the bank where Mrs. Berry works. The welcome was overwhelming! All of her co-workers are evidently faithful readers of my blog. It was so funny because they all already knew me to some degree and were following the story of our Love. Great fun!
On to Boone - a beautiful drive up to the mountains. I got just a bit car sick, but once we had lunch at Our Daily Bread my stomach settled. We got to go to Footsloggers, Jason's outfitter store - very cool! He is so nice and it was entertaining to watch he and Patrick interact. The ASU tour was next. What a great school! Kind of made me wish that I had gone there.

Saturday: We woke up early so that we could go to the ASU Homecoming Parade that Patrick was driving in. It was cold cold cold when we left but quickly warmed up to a sunny 72 degrees. The weather could not have been better! Once the parade was finished we walked all over campus, down to Duck Pond Field, and then back to the other side to meet up with some old friends. I met tons of alumni, professors, current students, etc.
Instead of going to the game we decided to go for a hike up at Price Park. There I met some very curious cows (see pictures below). They followed us up to the wooded area where we strapped up the hammock and stared at us like we were doing something terribly wrong. We were getting uncomfortable as one of them got closer and closer. Definately was a Kodak moment...

Sunday: Church, lunch with friends, a tour of Hickory and some great time with the Berrys. I learned to ride the Segway, which by the way is great fun! At this point, we were starting to feel the wonderful weekend coming to an end. We had to both work to distract one another from getting really sad. We had as much quality time together as we could. The trip was full of great memories and stories, moments and discoveries. I did not want to leave.

Beautiful Sunday

Sunday was great!

After church, a crowd of us went to eat at La Paz for lunch, which is always good. We made plans to join the Shoreline lifegroup for some V-ball and frisbee at Morgan Sports Complex. The weather was perfect and a bunch of people showed up to play. Later that afternoon, Shoreline was holding a baptism service and picnic at the Crab Trap, where we celebrated new beginnings and great food while watching the sunset. It was perfect in every way! I really do love this place! The water is different from day to day, the sunsets each unique and inspirational. I left around 6:45 to meet up with Mom and Dad to see "Fireproof", which I was able to enjoy despite the over-acting. The message was strong and I did shed a tear or two.

This weekend I'm so excited to be going to Hickory and Boone to meet Patrick's family! It's the ASU homecoming, so I'm sure we'll be super busy and I'll be meeting a lot of people who know, admire, and love the man I love & admire. It will be wonderful to see Patrick on his own turf, in his element, amoung his people. The autumn leaves will be showing off their colors and the temperatures will be low - it's the perfect time to be in the Mountains. I Can't Wait!

The Ma/Summer Meet In the Middle Weekend

Patrick and I met in the "middle" this weekend. After a long pleasant drive to Atlanta, I arrived around 9 p.m. at Summer & Josh's house where Patrick was waiting. We had a wonderful weekend together, chilling out with Luke, Summer, and Josh. He also got to meet Doh Doh & Norman and got to go to Fellowship Bible Church - which we both really liked. Most of our time was spent just talking and staring at eachother. We are constantly trying to come up with the possitive aspects of having our relationship long-distance. We are trusting God's timing and believing that we will have the wisdom to recognize it and know what the next step is for us.

We went to my favorite Thai place in Roswell - Rice

We had a wonderful dinner, perfect weather, great background music, and a romantic atmosphere.

Of course, any place is romantic if we are there

Just before we were planning to leave I managed to sprain my ankle pretty badly goofing off during our photo shoot with Summer.

My hero

Watching Summer play Tennis - She's pretty good!


Just sitting by the lake before I hurt myself

Kiss me, you fool!

Patrick checking out my ankle - It was the size of a tennis ball in about 30 seconds

Josh watching Summer play

They Won!

There he is!
Big Smile!

Thank you Ma for the has money! With gas prices, it was a huge blessing!

Thank you to Summer & Josh for their hospitality!

Thanks for the contributions to our "Meet in the Middle" weekend!