Family Vacation

This summer was such a treat to go on my first trip to the east coast! Before this trip I had only been to 6 states and this trip added 7 more! We started the first week of our trip out on the beautiful North Carolina outer banks! 

We had quite the excitement when they found two dead bodies on the beach in front of our house. It turns out two men got in a knife fight and killed each other. So we decided to rent boats since the beach was quite full that morning. This is where my mother-in-law decided to tube and broke her shoulder. The incredible woman was so tough and put on such a good face for the rest of the trip. It wasn't until we got home that we found out it was so bad that she had a plate and ten screws put in her shoulder! Yikes!

After spending a wonderful week on the beach, we drove up to Washington, D.C. where we stayed for a few days. It was such an incredible place to be. I loved walking up and down the mall and going in to each historical place. The buildings have so much detail and hard work put into each one of them. Every single monument is just gorgeous. I could have spent weeks there!

World War 2 monument

Lincoln Memorial

Cathedral

The Capitol

 From Washington, D.C. we drove to Pittsburgh to take Candace and Brigham home. We got to stay in their cute home and see what life is like for them. We explored the city just a tiny bit and I fell absolutely in love with Pittsburgh!! It is a goal of mine to live there at some point in my life. Pittsburgh is such a cute old city with so much detail and history to it. We went through the Cathedral of Learning and I can not believe people are lucky enough to go to school there. One of my favorite parts of the trip was going to a Pirates game in Pittsburgh. Their stadium is beautiful as it sits on the river and gives one of the greatest views of the city while enjoying a baseball game. It was perfect. Needless to say- Stanton and I are now big Pirates fans and can't wait to move there someday!

Yes, we both have Pirates shirts on :)

 It was such a fun trip and a much needed break from work and life. I'm ready to go again!

10.12.12

We finally got pictures back so here goes complete picture overload...

The only word that can describe this day is PERFECT; the entire day was completely perfect from the weather to the food to the people to the ceremony and mostly because I was marrying the perfect man... How could the day get any better than that?!

A few picture from our bridals before hand...

The bridals were so much fun to take. This was the first time Stanton saw me all dressed up and it made everything feel so real! We did them about two weeks before the wedding and it really was one of my favorite days ever!

He wasn't allowed to turn around as I walked up...

He looked soooo handsome...

And he's all mine :)

definition of happiness

Bride

Groom

 The actual wedding day! 

Presenting Mr & Mrs Shields :)

VICTORY!

Best parents in the entire world!

We had a huge crowd waiting outside for us which was the best way to start our married life with all the people we love most!

Sisters!

One of my absolute favorites from the day.

Stanton and I are so lucky because we really have the best families in the world! We both scored big time having the greatest sets of parents and the most fun and supportive siblings in the world! We love our family!!

Best in-law's EVER! 

Best family EVER!

Cute nephews (missing Brigham) EVER!

Bridesmaids!

We were one good looking group!

Groomsmen

One of my other favorites. Cute father and son!

Not sure who this is, but I hope someone got him something to drink!

Funfetti Cake!

Father/Daughter Dance

Mother/Son Dance

I Could Not Ask For More

This is to put on record that Brantley earned the garter! If you look closely at the poor kid in red (although we cannot figure out who he is), this kid was dominated by Brantley's hands and someone else behind him. This is determination.. Well done B!!!

The end to the most perfect day! And the beginning of so many more...

Luckiest Girl in the World!

So... I promised to dedicate my whole next post to Stanton, and I thought I'd be writing about how exciting it is that he got home and that whole spiel, but I have a much better post to write.... WE'RE ENGAGED! Long story short his whole homecoming has been wonderful and clearly things picked up right where they left off :) I couldn't love him more!

The Proposal:
Stanton and I had a lot of things going on this week so our only date night would be Wednesday night. Stan asked me what I wanted to do and I said we should go to the airport! All through high school we would take Pete's Fish & Chips up the roof of the airport and watch planes take off and land and watch cars drive by. Secretly that is what he was hoping I would say- he just wanted me to think that it was all my idea. Well Wednesday came around and earlier in the day he text me and said he had a gift for me that he forgot to give me from Spain. (I feel like every other day he gives me something from Spain so I didn't think anything of it). So we went and got Pete's that night and were driving out to the airport. We happened to even talk about the ring and how it probably would be a few weeks before he could get it. Literally I had no idea it was happening that night. 
So we got to the roof of the airport and there was a guy standing enjoying the view and another car pulled up and people got out and set up a video camera and filmed planes taking off and then a security car came up and parked. We have NEVER had any other person up there at the same time as us so Stanton was very frustrated. He asked if I wanted to go somewhere else and I was like "No, this is our spot!" So we ate and finally people started leaving. We walked over to the edge and watched cars come and go and we were finally alone up there. We just were doing our thing and randomly I asked "hey, what was that gift you said you forgot to give me earlier?" Stanton said it was actually in the car so he went to get it and I saw him start pulling this huge bag out of the car and he yelled for me to close my eyes. So I did while thinking 'how on earth did he forget to give me something so huge?!' So he said to open my eyes and when I did he was down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I was so surprised and could not believe it was happening and all I could say was "Are you kidding me?! Shut up!!" haha. But then I said YES, put on my absolutely GORGEOUS ring and all in ten seconds everything I've waited for 5 years changed from hypothetical to reality! 


I am truly the luckiest girl in the entire world! I've wanted to marry Stanton for a looooong time and it feels so good that it is all finally happening! He is so good to me and truly makes me the happiest girl in the world! We are getting married on October 12th and couldn't be any more excited! 

Showing my family the ring!

At the airport

The best part is right after we got engaged we headed off to California to meet the Shields for the weekend. Uncle Broc took everyone out to celebrate our engagement at an amazing restaurant! But it has just been a fabulous and fun week and my new favorite thing in the world is to say the word 'fiance' and to practice my signature with my almost new last name! I can't wait to be married to Stanton Shields; I am the luckiest girl in the world!!!