A Walk Down Memory Lane

I’ve given a brief summary of how Matt proposed when I wrote this post, but in honor of the anniversary of his proposal, I wanted to share the details.  Five years (and 2 days) ago I was about to embark on one of the greatest journeys in life! 

For those who don’t know, Matt and I were long distance until we were married.  He was living in San Francisco while I was in Austin at the time he proposed.  That particular weekend, he was supposed to be coming into town, but told me earlier in the week that he was going to have to work on a huge project and wouldn’t be able to make it.  I was disappointed, as our weekends together were really all we had at that point, but my week turned around a bit when a huge bouquet of roses showed up at work with a card saying he had booked a massage for me that Saturday to make up for his not being there. 

Saturday morning, I woke up and headed to get my massage (not having talked to Matt yet because of the time difference).  Afterwards, I went by the front desk to make sure I didn’t owe anything and the girl suddenly seemed a little excited and said “oh, are you Brittany?!”  I replied that, yes, I was, and she disappeared for a second, then came back with a flower and an envelope.  She told me everything was taken care of and I was good to go! 

I opened the envelope to find this…

{I should note that at this point, I still had no idea he was actually in town, I just thought he felt really bad about not being able to make it and went over the top to make it up to me!}

I proceeded to collect the following clues from all of our favorite places in Austin… from outdoor spots with great views, to the apartment of the friend who introduced us, even a stop at Sonic to get me my favorite Diet Coke (seriously, I pressed the button and the carhop came out with a large Diet Coke, a flower and my next envelope!)  Talk about knowing the key to my heart… :)

The next clues took me to Hula Hut (my favorite restaurant), GSD&M (my old work), and the deck at the house where I was living at the time.

{As I read the final clue, I finally realized that he was probably in town, seeing as how he said we had a nice evening ahead of us, but it still didn’t register that he would be proposing.} 

(Also, please note that he had to underline HOUR when telling me how long I had to get ready.  Apparently he didn’t want to be waiting in a suit outside for me… )

My last clue took me to Mount Bonnell, which is the highest point in Austin, and it wasn’t until I was on my way there and called a girlfriend to tell her about my fun game, who instantly said “ohmygosh! he’s going to propose!” that it finally clicked.  I drove right past my exit because that was seriously the first time that thought had gone through my mind! 

When I finally arrived, I “hiked” up the hill to find Matt, in a suit, with a bouquet of roses and another envelope!  He handed me the following letter…

I looked up to him with tears in my eyes when I finished the letter and he was down on one knee with a ring in his hand!  We had an audience by this point and after I said yes we got a huge round of applause!  It was far more romantic than I could have ever imagined my proposal to be! 

Matt had one last surprise for me after he proposed – he took me to a nice steakhouse for dinner afterwards where my parents were waiting to surprise me! (His parents would have been there, but they were living in London at the time!)

It’s so hard to believe it’s been five years since then!  A job change (x2), name change, a new city, new house and a baby later and we’re still going strong. :) 

Tag! I’m it!

Maury at Life on Mars tagged me in this little questionnaire going around the blogosphere and it was perfect timing seeing as how I have felt like I’ve been lacking in writing material lately (read: can’t finish a project around here because of a certain little one running around keeping me busy!)

Each person answers a series of 11 questions from the blogger that tagged them, then they tag 11 more bloggers and ask them more questions. Just a fun way to get to know more about other bloggers. (And yes, Maury, I did copy those sentences directly from your blog… thanks!)

1) What is one thing you can’t live without?

If my husband were answering this question for me, he would say either my computer or my iPhone.

While I will admit to being addicted to them, the one real thing I couldn’t live without would be my family. 

2) What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever eaten?

I’m not a very adventurous eater.  I guess maybe pheasant is unusual?   Unusual, but good when it’s wrapped in bacon!

3) Name one thing on your bucket list.

I already crossed a big one off on my first date with Matt when he took me skydiving! (Please excuse the goofy look on my face – you try smiling normally when you’re falling from 1500 feet in the air).

And although I’d like to steal Maury’s answer here about going to NYC at Christmastime, I think I’ll answer with seeing the Northern Lights.  I haven’t researched much what this would take, although I think I overheard the Today show talking about it this morning and saying you’d need to go to Greenland for it right now? 

4) What is in your purse right now?

A lot more than is probably safe for me to be toting around.  A wallet, sunglasses, lipgloss, more receipts than I care to admit, Wet Ones, Johnson&Johnson Baby face & hand wipes, mum mums, empty mum mum wrappers, a paci, 2 sippy cups and a sippy strap, a brush, a pack of gum, a snack cup, 2 hair bows, baby socks, and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?

5) Is there a 2012 resolution that you’ve already broken? What was it?

I actually didn’t make any resolutions this year.  Boring answer, I know.

6) What is one thing everyone should know about you?

This is a tough one to answer.  I guess I’d probably say that I’d want everyone to know that I love the Lord and want them to know He loves them, too!

7) What is one of your pet peeves?

Being flaky.  There are a lot of small things that can get under my skin, but I’m not sure there is anything that irks me more than someone saying they will do something and not following through.

8) How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?

It depends on whether or not I wash my hair.  Maybe I shouldn’t have just admitted that.  Do you really wash your hair every day?  If I wash my hair, it takes me 45 min – an hour.  If I don’t wash my hair, probably about 20 minutes total.

9) What is your dream vacation?

I am a beach kinda girl.  I love to soak up the sun and listen to the waves crashing while I dive into a good book.  That’s really all I need, so although I’d love to head to Fiji or some other far away expensive, beautiful beach, I am just as happy heading down to Cabo (and maybe even happier because it’s only a 2 1/2 hour flight from home).  The picture below was our view from the timeshare Matt’s parents own that we mooch enjoy along with them!

Although Matt isn’t one to enjoy lying on the beach and doing nothing, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t mind tagging along when he gets to enjoy this…

10) If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?

I couldn’t decide whether I should get all philosophical with this one or keep it simple, so I decided to go with both. 

1. I wish I could keep Hadley from ever experiencing pain, fear or loss (realistically, I know that wouldn’t produce a very grounded human being, but we’re talking wishes here.)

2. A house with a playroom.  Toys are seriously taking over every inch of our house and I would love to have a big room with lots of storage dedicated to playing! 

3. A magic device that would allow me to press a button and have clean, styled hair and make-up on my face.

11) What is the greatest gift you’ve ever been given?

This little beauty right here…

I’m going to be a rule breaker (now you know something else about me) and not come up with my own questions because Hadley is waking up from her nap and I’ll never get this posted if I don’t end it now!  Consider yourself tagged to answer the above questions, though!  Let me know if you do – I’d love to get to know YOU better, too!

Our Love Story

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon with everyone else at From Mrs. to Mama and her “What's Your Love Story Link-Up.”  I’m late to the game, as the link-up has been up since the 7th, but I thought Valentine’s Day was an appropriate time to post this!  So, without further adieu…

 

 

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

We’ve known each other since February of 2006, and have been “together” since November of 2006, so almost 5 1/2 years!  We’ve been married for almost 4 1/2 years.

This picture below is in Matt’s car the night we met – with our friend Anne, who introduced us!

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

Long story short, we met through a mutual friend.  I was living/working in Austin after college and he was living/working in Houston.  He was in town with some friends for a Texas basketball game and was planning to meet up with {said mutual friend} Anne for dinner/drinks the night before.  She convinced me into coming out with them, and the group of us enjoyed dinner at Hula Hut and some drinks downtown.  Although I was dating someone else at the time, it was sort of obvious that there was a connection between us.  Matt sent me a message on facebook the next day and we gradually got to know each other and became friends over the next 9 months.  We swapped a lot of emails back and forth and the occasional text, but that was about it until the weekend Matt found out I had broken up with my then boyfriend.  He basically told me that he had been waiting for me to become single so he could finally ask me out – which he did, and the rest is history!

{fun fact: our first official date he surprised me by taking me SKYDIVING!  AND – fun fact #2: we were married one year – to-the-day- from our first “official” date!}

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}

See #1 – we’ve been married almost 4 1/2 years.

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding? If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?

We were married in Austin at the Smith Family Chapel and had our reception at Riverplace Country Club with about 150 guests.

 

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

I wish I had a fun answer for this one, but I really don’t.  We call each other the usual pet-names… babe, hun, etc… but that’s about it!  Boring, I know.

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

He is loyal; I never have to wonder if he’s going to have my back.  He would do anything for me and Hadley; seeing him love our daughter brings an entirely new level to love.  He’s a hard-worker;  he doesn’t ever ask for recognition, but works harder than anyone I know.

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

I have to start with a little background first.  Matt and I were long distance until we were married – first with me in Austin and him in Houston, and then he moved to San Francisco for 6 months for work.  His work schedule when he lived in San Francisco was insanely busy.  We saw each other as often as we could, but even on weekends when I went to visit him, it wasn’t uncommon for him to still be working when I arrived late in the evening.  So, the weekend of April 14th was arriving and he was supposed to be coming into town.  He called me early that week and said that they had a huge project and he wasn’t going to be able to come into town anymore and he would schedule a flight for the following weekend instead.  On Thursday (I think) of that week, a fun delivery arrived for me at work – a huge bouquet of roses with a card letting me know that he was so sorry he couldn’t make it and he had scheduled me a massage appointment for Saturday morning to make up for it. 

Saturday morning arrived and I rolled out of bed, threw on some sweats and headed to get my massage.  Afterwards, I checked in at the front desk to make sure I didn’t owe anything and the girl had sort of a goofy smile on her face and said “Oh! Are you Brittany?”  I replied that yes, I was and again, just wanted to be sure that everything was taken care of.  She walked in the back room for a second and came back with an envelope and a flower and told me that I was good to go!  As I was walking to my car I thought “wow, Matt is really sorry he couldn’t be here this weekend – so sweet!”  I opened the card to find a single piece of paper that read: “Now that you’re relaxed, the real fun begins; A little game I made up just for you; Wander over to where you just had your nails done; You may just find your next clue!”

To keep this from getting longer than it already is, I’ll jump ahead here and let you know that my clues led me on a huge scavenger hunt to all of our favorite places around town (including a stop at a Sonic where he had a diet coke waiting for me with my clue & flower!) and ended at Mt. Bonnell (the highest point in Austin, overlooking the lake) where he proposed!  He even gave me time to shower and freshen up as my second to last clue was at my house (he told me I had ONE HOUR – haha).  After he proposed, he had made dinner reservations at a steak house downtown where my parents were waiting to celebrate with us!  (His parents were living in London at the time, otherwise they would have been there, too!) 

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

Ummm, neither really?  I guess if I had to chose I’d say flowers & teddy bear (does anybody really give teddy bears outside of 8th grade?)

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

Well, would anyone not like a sunset dinner on the beach?  That’s not exactly feasible for us right now, so we are much more of a “pop a movie in and relax on the couch” couple.  Especially after having Hadley, our Friday nights typically consist of going out to eat around 5:30, coming home to get Hadley down and then watching a movie on the couch.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant other one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

Once our kids are older, I’d love for us to travel more – particularly, I’d love to go to Greece and Italy.

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

No big plans here!  I’ll probably make steaks and we may watch a movie on the couch. :)

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

We’re not big gift-givers for Valentine’s Day, so no, I don’t expect anything!

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Be your spouse’s biggest fan.  If you’re always in each other’s corner, you approach life together and can get through anything. 

14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.