AHH! We gettin' married!

One day Charlie decided that his life was just too vanilla and that he needed a little spice in his life...that's where I came in! Actually, Charlie and I met working at a restaurant in Athens, GA called Hilltop Grille. I had been working there for a long time when a new food runner came in (Charlie) and we hit it off. We agreed to go to Terrapin Brewery with one of my best friends and just hang out. After Terrapin, my friend went home and Charlie and I grabbed dinner at Mellow and started hanging out for several months after that before making it "official." I didn't really give him a chance to meet any other girls in Athens! :)

The whole week leading up to our engagement was just...weird. Charlie was NOT being himself. He was super spaced out all the time, super lovey, and very "all about some Annette." He was about to go on a business trip the following week and I was about to go skiing in Colorado. However, it was also about to be our 4 year anniversary. We agreed that we would exchange gifts over the weekend in Rome. His parents were coming to Rome for an Easter picnic that my family was having at Berry College (which I didn't think anything of) and my mom was being especially nice about me throwing in all my favorite foods in the cart at the grocery store (she knew what was going to happen). On Saturday, my brother had his confirmation service (which lasted 3 hours) and we did not get home until 11:30 p.m. Once we got home, Charlie, very nervously, asked me if I just wanted to go ahead and exchange gifts right then. I love gifts, so I said, "Sure!" He told me that my gift was outside so I grabbed my coat and before I could fully walk out the door Charlie had already grabbed both my hands and was telling me that he couldn't see his life without me and that the last 4 years were the best years of his life. I did not know what was happening! Before I knew it Charlie was on one knee and my head was spinning. I kept asking what he was doing and if he was serious. He proceeded to grab the wrong hand (which I immediately corrected,) said yes, and just held onto him for a long time in tears. We were both shaking for a long time and it was perfect until my brother came out and asked if we were hungry and wanted to order pizza! haha We both started laughing! I looked at my brother, showed him my left hand, and instead of saying congrats and hugging me first...he hugged Charlie and said, "Welcome to the family man!" :)