As nervous as a turkey.. the week of Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for this year! We have been blessed with each other, a home, we still have jobs and wonderful families and friends. I am excited to be celebrating the holidays together. This year is going to be tough, things have changed so much in the past 6 years for our family but this engagement has brought new hope to me. I am looking forward to building a family and creating new traditions as we go. I guess that's what happens when you grow up. It's a bittersweet time. I'm thankful still yet for those people and traditions that I grew up with and the feeling of family and belonging that is irreplaceable. With that said judging by the cartoon above, luckily Brady and I aren't in charge of the turkey this year (hopefully no time soon). We have plans to be with family Thursday here in North Carolina then head out to Indiana on Friday to visit his family. I will be taking my first plane ride.....ever. I know I know.. I will be fine. It doesn't keep me from being a little nervous though. The only thing getting me through is the promise of shopping and sweet smiling faces when we arrive there. I haven't seen a lot of his family in a few years and I can't wait to hug them all! So wish me luck and I hope everyone has a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving.

HAPPY BEE-DAY SWEETIE!!

Howdy Kids!! This is Brady finally typin this blog that Jamie's been naggin' me to do! Haha! The past 2 weeks have been so exciting. Our trip to Alabama was really cool. Jamie's bridal portraits last week, my birthday, engagement pictures today, and Jamie's birthday tomorrow! Making all these memories with her is a blessing. I love her soooo much and I wish her a Happy Birthday!!

A Simple Kind of Man

Happy Birthday to my handsome fiancé! How you made it 22 years without me I do not know. I'm sure your mom had something to do with it :). I am so excited to say that this year will be our last birthdays waking up alone. Though I won't promise breakfast in bed or extravagant gifts I will promise to celebrate God's gift of you to me always. You are a driven, hard working individual you seek success in everything you do. You are a funny, sweet and helpful man. You love God, your family, my family and most of all through mood swings, break downs, silly questions and shopping trips you still love me . Your loyalty is unchanging and your friendship is true. I love you Brady Bee, you are my best friend. Happy Birthday , I look forward to many more happy ones together with you. ~Honeybee

179 days....

Only 179 days til he takes me down to the little white church.. or to the field at Leatherwood.. you know whatever works . I am so very behind with these posts. Hopefully I will catch up soon, but then again do we ever "catch up" ? Work has been hectic, finally the county fair and year end reporting are done so I can breathe a little bit. We have made decisions on the cake and the catering they are going to be great! I absolutely can't wait to taste and see it all. My future mother in-law and her friend came down a few weeks ago , we had a good time together and accomplished a lot. The guest accommodations, rehearsal dinner location and catering are all decided. Details coming soon! It's definitely coming together! We are both looking forward to a little break this weekend. We are headed to Alabama to stay with our good friends Heather and Shannon Slaughter! The race is at Talledega so it works out well for a visit with them. I know there will be tons of laughs and good times with good people I can't wait. Wammer jammer yellow hammer give em hell Alabama! (just thought I throw that in)

Yes we're still here!

Sorry for the long break in posts. We have been completely overwhelmed with work, getting Brady's house ready to sell and ours ready to live in. So yes that is a picture of a tornado which I feel like we have been living in for the past two months. In the meantime we had a visit from Brady's parents and an engagement party so I promise I will post pictures and details soon! We are working on other details for the wedding of course so as soon as we get those nailed down you'll be the first to know. It's finally starting to feel like fall, my favorite time of the year. Brady and I are excited to go to our first Wolfpack game of the year this Thursday night.. a little break from the norm and I can't wait!

Making progress..

We have made a decision. The venue for our wedding will be Leatherwood Mountains. It's located in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in the town of Ferguson in Wilkes County NC. It is a resort that caters to horse enthusiasts and it is absolutely beautiful. The wedding will be Saturday April 23, 2011. We will be having an outdoor ceremony in a meadow in front of an old cabin chimney. The reception will follow in a tent in an area adjacent to the ceremony. We are very excited to have our wedding here. There are also many gorgeous rental cabins available for out of town guests or anyone who wants to stay over. They also have a web cam they can face towards the ceremony for anyone who can't be there to see! If you want to check out their website you can here.The day we met with the folks at Leatherwood it was pouring the rain but still beautiful, let's just hope we don't have that same scene April 23. I wasn't able to take pictures of the area due to the rain, but we did get a quick shot of Brady and I at one of their barns. I can't wait to make more memories there!

I heart Target....

and lucky for me my fiance just happens to work for that sponsor. It's a beautiful thing :) haha. I had the privilege to roll like a rock star and get a pit pass to attend the night race at Bristol Saturday night. It was so much fun being with Brady at work all day. (Although I'm not sure he appreciated me informing all his buddies it was "take your fiance to work day") I think deep down he enjoyed me being there. It was neat to see why he's always "so busy that he can't talk to me" every Sunday, I do understand it a little more now. He takes his job very seriously and I think that speaks volumes for his character. The rain came in early and I got a few blisters after my feet got wet :( you know me.. beauty first comfort second so after an hour of whining I finally gave in and wound up putting Brady's extra pair of black socks on and while I am balancing between two car haulers on one foot putting on socks with my flats (which is already bad enough) who walks up but Jamie McMurray can you say awkward? He was nice even though, and said "it happens". Brady set me up with a radio during the race so I could listen in on the chatter. I swear I don't know how those crew guys keep a straight face Juan kept cracking me up saying "I need another dwink guys"..haha. I was super excited that the 48 "drove up into the 42's lane " and I was there to witness it live, that was definitely the highlight of the day. It was a great day and I got to meet a lot of people that I've heard brady I mean, Phlat Stanley talk about. For those of you who don't know that's his nickname in the Nascar world, and I didn't hear a single person say Brady all day... so does that make me the future Mrs. Phlat Stanley?

Just singin in the rain

We ventured out this weekend armed with our Bojangles in hand to look for some items I want to use as centerpieces for the wedding. We didn't realize we should have driven a boat instead of a car! It poured, I mean poured all day long. Although we did find some great deals and I did feel a little more accomplished by the end of the day I was definitely ready to get out of the elements. We also looked at a gorgeous location for the wedding I think it may be the one, I'll let you know when we decide! Even though we were drenched (need I mention I HATE the feel of wet jeans) and looked like a couple of wet rats by the end of the day, it was a great time. It's the little things really that make me smile.

Our story....

Six years ago in the basement of a friend's home I was looking for a prom date, instead I found the love of my life. Although we've had times apart we have always kept in touch. I truly believe we each thought we'd wind up together someday. When we started seeing each other again in June I knew deep down it wouldn't be long, however I was pleasantly surprised after only two months.
I had to work late that Friday evening and we had a youth rally at church to get to, so when he started begging me to go out to look for acorns?! I was less than thrilled. He had "set it up" earlier in the week by telling me something about acorns being diseased this year? I didn't really pay that much attention to it, I mean after all I'm not really concerned with the acorn crop. Nevertheless, he was dying for me to go out into the pasture to help him get up acorns for me to take to the Extension office to have them looked at, and he was not giving up. So I stomped out the back door, crossed the barbed wire fence, looked down at my feet and realized I was wearing flip flops. I proceeded to rant and rave that I was not walking all the way to the oak tree in my rainbows (Little did I know this was the perfect set up for him). Brady immediately said "Oh that reminds me, I have a surprise for you, close your eyes and don't peek". He jumped the barbwire fence ran back to his truck , came back and allowed me to open my eyes. He was holding a new pair of cowboy boots I'd been drooling over for a while. I put the left one on and he knelled down on one knee and started taking the right boot out (I'm still clueless at this point). He said "I think there's something in this one". Then he pulled out a pretty brown ring box, opened up and it held the most gorgeous diamond ring I've ever seen, better than I'd even imagined, and he said "Honeybee, will you marry me?" I was frozen, shocked, and for a moment had a serious feeling that I was dreaming. When I came back around I said YES! We hugged and cried right there in the cow pasture next to the house. Need I mention that I felt horrible afterwards for being so hard on him about having to go pick up acorns? All of that was three weeks ago and we both still have the silly grins when anybody asked us about it. I love my ring and I love my Fiance and I can't wait to love my husband!

And so it begins...

Excitement, angst, joy, frustration, happiness, love, fear... only a few words that describe the feelings I have experienced over the past two weeks since receiving this rock. I can't even begin to describe how happy I am to be planning a wedding and building a home with this man. I guess I am a true believer now in 3rd time is a charm and absence makes the heart grow fonder. So we've pushed past my pouting about not getting a fall wedding due to a Nascar schedule. We are on to bigger fish, like WHERE IN THE WORLD are we going to have this shin dig, and on EASTER weekend at that. I resolve to remain as "calm" as possible, even though TheKnot tells me we only have 253 days til the wedding and I have over 300 things "past due" on my checklist, because I'd hate to lose him before we even get started. He's hanging on for the ride as are our parents, my friends and co-workers , and if anyone knows me they know that I am the Princess of Plans and I have been waiting my whole life to plan this one. I decided to write this blog because we have lots of friends and family that aren't all close by and we want to share as much of this experience with them as possible. I just keep reminding myself ... Breathe, and remember at the end of the day you will be married to your best friend, with fall leaves or spring flowers, rain or shine and that is what matters MOST to me.