Our 4th Anniversary

Today is mine and James' 4th wedding anniversary.  I already told you how we met, so I thought I would share the proposal story.  Remember when I said that I love surprises and am hard to surprise?  This was one of those "totally caught me off guard" surprises :)  I didn't think he would ever be able to surprise me with a proposal...I was just sure I would know if one was ever coming.

It was a Sunday in February and I had just returned home from visiting a friend all weekend.  After unpacking my bag and sitting down to relax, James brought out a shopping bag and told me he went shopping over the weekend (my jaw dropped) and that he bought me something (I nearly fell over -- he's not one for gift giving)!! 

He then pulled out a Yankee Candle from a Yankee Candle bag -- holy crap!!!-- not only did he go shopping, but he went into a girly candle store -- WOW!!!  I was impressed right there.  I smelled the candle -- I liked it -- he did good!!  He then pulled out another candle -- I know, right?!?!  TWO candles?!?!?!?!  I thought, "Who the heck are you and what did you do to my boyfriend?!?!" 

I smelled the candle, said it smelled good and put the lid back on. He told me to "smell it again", so I did and gave the same response, "yes, it smells good".  He then urged me to "smell it again", so this time I looked at it and saw a ring around the wick of the candle :)  I forget what all he said, but I don't think it was much other than "will you marry me?"  (Sorry Buddy, I was still getting over the shock, so that part is a little foggy).  And of course I said, "Yes".

I said "Yes" for lots of reasons, but to name a few...... 
He is a very genuine, honest, hard working person who is constantly making me want to be a better person.  He teaches me a lot -- both in the educational sense and about myself.  He is my favorite person to be around and I look so forward to seeing him again when he is gone.  I knew he would be an amazing father for my kids -- I didn't realize just how amazing at the time.  He may be a nearly non existent gift giver when it comes to special holidays, but the kind of gifts he does give to me are everlasting and much more precious than anything he could buy in a store!

Why did we get married on Halloween??  It was only 1 of 2 days the venue that we liked had available for the rest of the year.  It took us awhile to find a venue.  We knew we wanted to have the ceremony and reception in one location and we didn't want anything formal.  We also wanted a place that would let us bring in our own caterer (to save money).   After some searching, we found a barn that could be rented out for events -- we went and looked at it and it was perfect and exactly what we were looking for.  We could have used a slightly bigger venue, but we knew we could make it work.  After we decided this was "it", the next thing to do was choose a date.  We wanted a fall wedding and the only 2 choices available were Halloween and a Saturday in August -- the hottest month of the year -- and this barn did not have A/C.  So, Halloween it was :) 

We decorated with pumpkins and hay bales, mason jars and floating candles, and fall colored Hershey kisses.  Instead of cake we had pumpkin bars and brownies (our favorite dessert).  It was a very informal event and we enjoyed every minute of it....we wouldn't change a thing! 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BABE, LOVE YOU!!!!