Our wonderful friends had been trying for months and months to get the two of us to meet. After many failed attempts, mostly due to my crazy work schedule, James was starting to jokingly think I was just a made-up person. Finally, he took the plunge and came into the restaurant where I worked and got my number. Our first date was at Commonwealth Brewery. I was late..of course, but I think I made up for it by entertaining James when I spilt my beer all over my pants trying to pet a dog. He kindly sat with me while my pants dried, and we continued to laugh and enjoy each other’s company. I cannot lie, after he left I was completely smitten and thought this was too good to be true, so fairytale-typical. But apparently, my clumsiness sparked some interest because James asked me out on another date. And another. And ....you get the rest.

It really was the most perfect day! We had a planned trip back to Huntsville before James was to leave for a nice long work trip. The trip started off with hiking/caving, birthday celebrations and of course reunions with friends. Saturday morning we both jumped out of bed to go do some hill sprints. The sprints didn't kill us so we ended up jogging up and down the hills back to the house. This, mind you, was the first time we had ever ran together, and it just felt so nice. James had to have known it was going to be a good day because I not only rinsed off in the cold outdoor shower after our run, but also jumped in the lake!! If you know me, this was a huge deal! But I am full of surprises too. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and hanging out with family and friends. Come sunset James asked everyone if they wanted to go on a sunset boat ride, and no one wanted to go....weird?! But, okay, I'm in with a sunset boat ride with my handsome man! We talked about romantic things, like "look how organized that boat house is", "I really like the way that patio wraps around", "look at those windows", but little did I know... James pulled the boat to a stop and got down on one knee. Now I can't lie, I cried! We then drove the boat back to the dock where everyone was cheering and popping champagne bottles. The next day we started spreading the news and we got to end the trip with Angie (my mom) and her husband coming up to visit and getting to meet the Caudles! It was so incredibly meaningful for James to have done this in a place where we plan to end up and to be surrounded by people we love. He has always told me "Nothing beats an Alabama Sunset" and that was surely one I will never forget!

We currently live in Virginia Beach with our little furball, Sophie, in the home we purchased about 2 years ago. If you know James, things be needing fixin'. So, we are constantly doing "Jimmy Projects". I am sure I don't help seeing as I always come up with crazy ideas of things to build but we love doing projects together! One of our biggest, and more recent projects, was a kitchen remodel. This is the space where we spend the most time seeing as we love to cook together, and now we get to enjoy looking at our hard teamwork that went into it. When we aren't cooking or dancing in the kitchen, you can always catch us outside! We love to fish, hike, walk to the nearby park, or we can even be caught canoeing through the Wildlife Refuge, which is one of our favorite summer weekend activities. When we aren't outside, we are normally inside watching a wildlife documentary (Sophie is a big fan of these) while playing an intense game of Rummy. *Which I might mention that I currently have the winning record to date! Virginia will only be home a few more years and then we plan to settle down back in Huntsville.