What's Behind You

          I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…I’m a better writer when I travel.  I’m more inspired.  I’m more focused.  My thoughts are clearer.  The physical action of moving on to a new place, and leaving a place behind makes my metaphorical wheels turn.  It allows me to put things into perspective.  To see things pass me by out the window and realize what I’ve left behind and where I’m going.  And, today, as we drive back to Kentucky from Florida, I am reminded of all the things we left behind 10 months ago when we left our Jacksonville home.  But I am also in awe of all the things we have gained, all the blessings we have received, by making the move to our new Kentucky home.  This week flooded my mind with memories of good times past, but it has also filled me with a new excitement and anticipation for all the good times to come. 

In the last week I’ve gotten to celebrate my upcoming wedding with my closest friends at my Bachelorette party, spend time with my parents and play mini golf at the same place I’ve played since I was four years old, and reunite with the city that brought me love.  Florida has so many places and people who have had such an impact on my life, and, to be honest, coming back for a week was very bittersweet.  Wes and I had a conversation on our drive to Jacksonville about how much we miss the city and the people we left there.  We allowed ourselves to “what if” for a while.  What if we hadn’t moved?  Where would we have lived?  Where would we be getting married?  Would we be happy?  We played out the scenarios together for a while, but, ultimately, we decided that our move to Kentucky was inevitable.  We were destined for it.  Whether it was in 2013 or 2014 or some other time.  Kentucky was our future.  When I close my eyes I can see it all very clearly.  Our wedding.  Our house.  Our kids.  Our whole future laid out in front of me on the path that we chose together.

Jacksonville was so many things for us. It was a place filled with great friendships, the irreplaceable kind.  The kind you have standing beside you when you say, “I do”.  It was a place where we found our footing in our careers.  Where doors opened up for us and we were able to make a difference in the lives of our students.  I will always think back on that year with my Kindergarteners with happiness in my heart.  Seeing them again this week only reaffirmed how much they changed me, how much they inspired me.  Finally, Jacksonville was the place where we found each other, the place where we fell in love.  It is the place that will forever be the foundation for the love that will carry us through life, the love that will lift us up when things get hard.  It is the beginning of our love story. 

But Lexington is where the story unfolds.  It is where we will get married, have children, and grow old.  It is where we will build a life on the foundation we created.  Florida is filled with people and places we love, but so is Kentucky.  Florida was my half of the puzzle and Kentucky was Wes’s.  But now they are both ours: our niece and nephew, our first house, our wedding, our love story.  Nothing is his or mine anymore.  Everything is ours.  I love watching all the pieces of each of us come together in one perfect puzzle of a life.  And, although sometimes things might be unclear or hard, I love knowing that Wes is the person I have chosen to travel through life with.  No matter where life might take us, I know he will always be there, writing our love story right beside me. 

2013: A Year in Review

     One of my biggest regrets of 2013 is not blogging through it.  One of the things I love about Swamp Gravy is being able to go back and read about how I was feeling at different moments of my life.  As I reflected back on the last year, I realized this blog wouldn’t be much help; I missed a lot of important moments.  I can’t really explain why.  I don’t really think there is any one reason.  But I know that I want 2014 to be different.  I want Swamp Gravy to be a reflection of the excitement that I know is headed my way in the coming year.  But in the mean time, I want to take a moment to remember all the wonderful things, documented and undocumented, that 2013 brought.

     January started off pretty slow, in the usual January way, so Wes and I decided to pick things up and spend a long weekend at Disney.  I took about 100 pictures as we traveled around the world in Epcot, finding iconic places to pose in each country. 

     February brought a visit from Jim and Stacy, a surprise weekend in Amelia Island, and a special Valentine’s Day getaway to Fort Lauderdale for some much needed R&R and my first “Wicked” experience. 

     In March I ran my second 5K and broke all my records.  We had lots of visitors to sunny Florida and even ventured up to Kentucky over spring break. 

     There aren’t enough words to describe how awesome April was.  It was a pretty amazing month from the beginning what with celebrating my grandfather’s retirement and getting to see Taylor Swift in concert with my mom.  But it officially blew my mind when Wes got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.  I think April definitely takes the cake for the best month of 2013. 

     With May came more Florida visitors and another Orlando trip.  Not to mention locking down all my beautiful bridesmaids and my first ever trip to Crab Island.

     In June I wrapped up my school year at KIPP and said goodbye to Florida…a bittersweet end to an amazing era that brought me more memories and life-changing people than I could have ever imagined.  But that ending was only the beginning of our new life in Lexington, which would prove to have a pretty amazing start. 

     July found Wes and me traveling from coast to coast.  We got to spend a week in California traveling up the coast and then another week at Hilton Head with his family. 

     August was full of adjustments as I got used to my new job and our new place.  Wes and I celebrated our one-year anniversary and even made it to Lake Cumberland for a weekend.

     In September I made it to Rupp Arena for the first time and we had our engagement pictures taken.  My parents even made the trip up to visit for the Florida/Kentucky football game.  Fall started to settle in on Lexington and I fell even more in love with our new city. 

     It was a busy fall break in October checking many things off of our “wedding to-do list”.  We celebrated both Wes’s and my birthday and even made it back to Florida for a dear friend’s wedding. 

     November was the calm before the busy of the holidays.  It ended with another trip back home to Florida, Thanksgiving with my Georgia family, and celebrating my parents’ 27^th anniversary.

     As it should be, December was filled with family.  Wes and I cut down our first Christmas tree and filled our home with the holiday spirit.  My parents made the trip up to Kentucky for the holidays and we had a Bunning/Downing Christmas in Maysville. 

     January will be here again in a few short days, but I am already anticipating all the excitement 2014 will bring: my first niece and nephew, a wedding to the man of my dreams, an amazing honeymoon, and maybe even a new house…the possibilities are endless.  But one thing is for sure…Swamp Gravy will be around for all of it.  Because I know if 2014 is going to be anything, it’s going to be inspiring.

I said "YES"!

So, I am writing to you today for the very first time as an engaged woman.  Yesterday, the man of my dreams asked me to marry him, and I would have been an absolute fool to say anything other than “YES!”  Many of my closest friends would tell you that I have been waiting not so patiently for this day.  Wes himself would tell you that I am terribly hard to surprise and one of the nosiest people on the face of the earth.  But, despite all that…despite all my many flaws, he still asked me to spend my life with him, and that, of course, makes him absolutely perfect in my eyes. 

The weekend couldn’t have been more perfect.  It started out with a trip to Orlando on Friday night with my mom.  Wes had gotten us Taylor Swift concert tickets for Christmas and, so, off we went for a super fun mother/daughter evening (and what I didn’t know at the time was my last night as a “single” girl).  The concert was wonderful and my mom and I had a lot of fun pretending to be "22" for an evening.  Saturday morning we got up and got ready to head back to Jacksonville.  My mom and dad had said they wanted to go to a nice dinner that night, and my mom suggested we get ready before getting on the road.  She insisted that we wouldn’t be motivated to get dressed up if we waited half the day to do it (little did I know, the wheels of a much bigger plan were already in motion). 

Back in Jax, my dad and Wes were supposed to be spending the day at a brewery on the river.  My mom and I were going to meet up with them when we got back to town, but we had to make a pit stop at my house first.  That’s when the most magical day of my life officially began….

I walked into my house to find a dozen red roses and an envelope containing the first of seven clues for a scavenger hunt that would eventually lead me to Wes waiting to ask me the most important question I would ever hear.  The moments I spent reading the note that sent me on my journey were probably the most surreal of the day as I began to think of all that it implied.  I had a couple moments of utter shock and then the frenzy started. I immediately started redoing my hair, touching up my makeup, adjusting my outfit.  I shouted to my mom that my hair was never going to be good enough.  Eventually, though, I just couldn’t wait any longer to see where he would send me and I accepted my hair for what it was and we set off on our way. 

The first clue sent us to KIPP, where Wes and I both work and where we first started to spend enough time together to realize what we somehow missed for so long.  Once there, I was supposed to Instagram a photo and Wes would send me a video with the next clue.  His sweet video clue sent us off to O’Brothers where he and I had dinner for our first unofficial date (unofficial because I asked him).  We sat at a table outside for hours and everything started to become a little clearer.  We shared stories about ourselves, and, although we had known each other for two years, it was like I was getting to know who he really was for the very first time. 

The next clue sent my mom and I to get coffee and a manicure.  I have a wonderful man who knows me so well.  He knew I would have been humiliated at the state of my nails without a manicure.  He really took care of every detail. 

Then, it was off to Memorial Park, where I was mildly suspecting he might be waiting.  But I was wrong and the next video clues sent us to Chan’s Chinese (our absolute favorite) and then to EverBank Field to take a picture with the jaguar statue. 

Finally, I received a clue that said I was headed to see Wes.  Although I thought I knew what I was coming, I was still very nervous.  I couldn’t wait to see him!  We arrived at our last stop (the Friendship Fountain across the river from the Landing) and my eyes immediately started searching for Wes.  Once I found him, I just wanted to soak everything in.  I walked to him (too scared to run because of my treacherous shoes) and we smiled at each other the whole time.  When I finally reached him I just wanted to kiss him, so that’s what I did.  Of course, that’s when we asked me to marry him, and the rest is history. 

My dad was able to capture the whole thing on camera, which I was so grateful for.  It was wonderful having both of my parents there to celebrate with us.  The hour after his proposal is kind of a blur.  There were so many phone calls to make that I barely remember the many sweet conversations we had.  My hands were shaking the entire time.  It wasn’t until the four of us were at dinner that I calmed down enough to soak it all in. 

Today, our first full day as an engaged couple, has been pretty normal as far as Sundays go.  Except that it hasn’t been normal at all.  I can’t stop staring at the stunning ring on my finger.  I can’t stop saying “fiancé” this and “fiancé” that.  Grocery shopping and email checking and house cleaning never was as exciting as it is now that I know I am beside the man who, for some amazing reason unknown to me, has decided he wants to share his life with me.  Honestly, I can’t believe the two years I spent as this amazing man’s friend and the last eight months I spent falling in love with him led us to this moment: the first of many ordinary, yet somehow absolutely extraordinary days.

2012: A Year in Review

As the year 2012 comes to a close, I felt it only appropriate to reflect back on all the things it brought me.  Some of these things I planned for, but most of them took me completely by surprise.  And, well, for the first time in my life, I am really really loving surprises.

In January, I kicked off the year with family in Wisconsin.  We rang in the new year in a state of utter relaxation as snow gently fell outside.  Then it was off to Atlanta to meet up with some friends for the Passion Conference where we were reminded of what was important and got refocused before getting back into the daily grind.  

In February, my mom and I met up with some family and friends in New York for a girls weekend stacked full with food, fun and fantastic Broadway shows.  

March brought spring break and my first venture to McGuires for St. Patrick's Day.  

With a twist of events in April, I decided to up and move across town into my perfect little apartment.  That's when things really started to change for me...

May was the calm before the storm of change.  With visits from my parents and explorations into my new corner of the city, it was as though life was preparing me for its take off.  

I finished my commitment to Teach for America in June.  When summer vacation kicked off I headed to Fort Worth for my cousin's wedding.  

July found me back in Jacksonville catching up with friends and starting my new job at KIPP VOICE.  I also made a Big Girl move and bought my first car!

In August, it was off to Orlando for a week of KIPP Summit and I began my year as a Kindergarten teacher.  

In September I checked something off my bucket list and ran my first 5K.  

October found me falling in love with this guy on a beach in Cocoa.  We celebrated our birthdays and flew to Kentucky, and I realized I had found a happiness with him I never even knew was possible.  

In true Florida fashion, November found us on the water soaking in the sun and relishing our new found happiness. 

December led us to many adventures: Eric Church in concert, dancing under Christmas lights, and playing in the snow.  

And this New Year's looked quite a bit different for me than the last one, or really any other before it.  Because this New Year's looked a lot like the rest of my life.