Will You Marry Me?

Sigh....the beautiful question Jeremie asked me 3 years ago today that wasn't even a question at all.  What I thought was a trip to The Junction to set up our tailgate tent for the Arkansas game turned into Jeremie on one knee in front of the Chapel of Memories.  I was TOTALLY stunned!  Fortunately I get to re-live the moment any time I want since J hired a photographer to catch the moment.  (Infinite points for him...)

Our 2.5 years of marriage have been a BLAST and such a blessing.  Don't believe all the crazy "ball and chain" jokes you hear....if you marry your best friend, it's awesome.  Not to say there aren't challenges....merging two lives together is not easy...but at the end of the day.....you are together.
In honor of the famous proposal 3 years ago, J surprised me with this tonight:

In addition to the flowers and chocolate, I didn't take a picture of the deer steak, fried green tomatoes and mashed potatoes that we had for dinner....  : )

I know it sounds kind of silly to make such a big deal of an "Engagement Anniversary"...and we don't do this every year.  (I had NO idea J was going to spoil me with goodies tonight.) But if you know anything about our dating history, we dated about 4 years and were so ready to be married.  But every time it seemed like we were getting closer (with jobs, financially, etc.) something would get in the way, and our engagement was delayed about 2 years later than we had originally hoped.  It was a frustrating time for us, but honestly, it drew us closer together and closer to God.  And eventually, He began to open all the right doors at the right times (just love how He does that).  So for us, the engagement was a big step forward we waited for a long time.

BTW, J is totally bragging about how many points he gets for this, and also how many points his guy friends are getting points deducted for this......At this moment he is cuddling with Manny and whining about how I didn't get him anything.....For better or for worse, right???

The Wells Family Nacation

Last weekend, we took off a couple days of work and took a four-day-long "nacation".  And no, I am not misspelling vacation.  There are vacations, there are staycations, and this one was a "nature" inspired trip, so we called it a "nacation".  We wanted to get away for a few days, but didn't want to spend all weekend on the road, didn't want to go somewhere too exciting where we felt pressured to tour a bunch of stuff, and also wanted to bring the little buddy along.  Lake Blackshear fit all the criteria:

Lake Blackshear was a 2.5 hour drive through the most beautiful back-country roads lined with cotton farms and pecan trees.  On the way, we experienced all things southern by eating fried chicken in a town that is "Home of the Syrupmakers",  stopped at a country store that had homemade jerky, and believe it or not, saw a deer hanging from a billboard about to be " field dressed", if you will.  I'm not even going to get into Jeremie's encounter with a lady named Skeeter in the Dollar General.  Anyway, the remainder of the weekend was fairly uneventful.  We did a lot of hiking with Manny, who had himself a ball, and was so tired, he was snoring like a person at night.  Of course we watched a lot of football and had some delicious meals at the restaurant at the resort.  

The little buddy was so happy to join in on the fun.  Just like a man, he closed his eyes and stuck his tongue out for the picture.

Jeremie just couldn't resist climbing the tree.......can't take him anywhere...

We did spend some time in Americus, about 30 minutes from Lake Blackshear.  It had the most adorable downtown,  with so many beautiful historic homes and buildings.....and just look at what intersection we found.....here's to you Dad....

The beautiful Windsor Hotel....I think built in 1890.  

The highlight though was most definitely the quality time J & I got to spend together. Words can't express how blessed I feel to be married to my best friend who makes our marriage his top priority.  Even after 6 years of being together, hanging out with him never gets old.  Looking forward to many more getaways with my wonderful husband.  

Agghh.....the sunset at Lake Blackshear....I look at this and think:  We serve a Mighty God.  

Happy Halloween!

Our friends hosted a costume party for Halloween last Saturday, so we dressed up as Woody & Jessie from Toy Story.  We always enjoy dressing up....Jeremie initially acts like he's really not into it, but when it comes down to it, and there's a costume competition at stake, he's says he may as go big or go home. (Hence, he was making spurs for his boots the day of the party.)  I have to thank my dear sister in law for letting me borrow her handmade Jessie outfit. Jeremie's was fun to put together and I learned how to use fabric bond from spending a morning ironing the cow print fabric on a vest we found a Goodwill.  I think our costumes turned out great.  Yeehaw!

The party also included Halloween Trivia, Candy Corn Relay, and Name That Candy (blindfolded).  Boys vs. Girls, of course.  I have to admit, the boys won this time, as Brandy (see Belle from Beauty and the Beast below) identified butterscotch chips as chocolate chips.  There was an eruption of cheers from the boys as we lost....and they aren't letting us forget it.  We'll get them next time, Brandy....we still love you.  

We had a great time......

Just for fun....here are a few "blast from the past" pics from our former Halloweens together.....so funny to see how we've changed.....

2008.....about a month before we got engaged....

2006........I know...what was I thinking...blonde hair?

And that's right...this is 2005!  About 6 months after Jeremie and I met!  

Oh the memories....hmmm...what should we be next year????

The Wells Weekly!

So I'm a little late getting this edition out....last week was fairly uneventful, other than the fabulous costume party we attended, which I'll post about later.  So just a few thoughts for now:

1. IT'S NOVEMBER!!!!  Where did this year go?  Can I get an amen???  Although, November means that Thanksgiving is around the corner, which means seeing our families and eating all my favorite holiday dishes, such as my Grammy's amazing cornbread dressing.  It also means that Christmastime is NEAR!!!  I'm ALWAYS ready for Christmas.  Before we know it, J and I will be lugging our THIRD Christmas tree up our two flights of stairs and I'll be rushing to get our photo Christmas cards out like I do every year. Can I get another amen?

2.  I started reading through the Bible in a year.....last August...Obviously, I didn't make the deadline.  So I'm trying to get back on track.  The Old Testament sure is hard to follow sometimes, especially all the genealogy.  Thank goodness for commentaries.

3.  J's Shining Moment of the Week:  Instead of a hilarious comment, I will share a dear story about what J did last Wednesday.  I had a particularly busy/stressful day last Wednesday and topped it of with a dear ole trip to Wal-Mart.  I have to admit, I was in a FOUL mood when I got home and J returned from hunting.  My first sign of "foulness" was when J asked what was for dinner.  When I dryly replied "cereal", he asked what happened to the tacos I had mentioned earlier.  I assume I gave him some sort of "foul" look, because the boy GOT BUSY making tacos while I viciously scrubbed the dishes that had overflowed in the sink. He sensed my mood and sweetly told me I should go sit on the couch, relax, and watch "The Middle".  After a few minutes of relaxing and yummy tacos, I was healed.  I love that J can tune into my needs and help me "recover".
Single ladies:  marry a man like this.

4.  More points for J this week:  He hung the hammock we bought in Nicaragua: I see a lot of books being read in this spot...

5.  Speaking of Nicaragua, we had a Nicaragua Reunion party on Friday.  It was so great to see the team again.  What a special bond we have from an amazing trip.  I still feel so blessed for having that opportunity this year.

6.  I am done with the 30 day shred and started a new Zumba Dance workout today.  I'm not a natural but I tried to shake it as much as I could and Manny said I did pretty good.  : )

7.  Since I don't have many exciting things to blog about this week, I'll end with a favorite verse of mine:  "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to HIS will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him".
- 1 John 5: 14-15