We're getting married!

The story of how Eli and I met is seriously like something seen in movies. It was the week of July 4th down in Panama City Beach, FL. Ironically both my friends and his were staying in the exact same hotel. The small talk began after running into each other on the beach and again that night, but nothing serious seemed to transpire. We all planned to meet up the following day, ending the night with a nice dinner that he paid for like the gentlemen that he was. Though this only appeared to be nothing more than a "summer fling", it meant much more to the two of us. Less than a month later, this southern boy from Tennessee came to visit me in my hometown in the mountains of North Carolina, and it is safe to say that the rest was history!

We planned to go out on a date that night, but I did not get home until 6:00 from work, so I had told him that I was not in the mood to go out. Instead he decided that we would have a home-cooked meal that he planned to prepare himself. By my surprise, I came home to a dinner table set up right in the middle of the living room with our meal and some wine. He even lit a candle for us! After dinner we decided to go for a walk with our dogs to watch the sunset from the top of the hill. We enjoyed the time spent together, wasting away the daylight while laughing, talking, singing, and dancing. Once the sun had finally set, we began to head back towards the house, but before I could go too far, Eli stopped me and said that he had something to ask me. He was on one knee by the time I had turned around to face him. In that moment, my mind went totally bizarre, tears were rolling down my face, and I was bombarded with joy! I do not remember exactly what I said, because I was so caught up in the moment, and could not believe what was happening! We are so excited to celebrate this next chapter in our lives with you!