The Peaceful Sounds of Silence

Good morning-

Today is one of those amazing mornings where I have had the luxury (and that's not an exaggeration) of taking my time and ambling through the first hour/hour an a half of my day.  Currently, I'm sitting in my kitchen, sipping my coffee out of my beautiful pottery mug given to us by one of my cousins at our wedding, hopefully eying our new birdfeeder to see if we have any takers, and my chinchilla and my pup laze in the background.  My husband sleeps upstairs and in the sounds of the silence (other than my tapping of the keys, of course) I'm just overcome with how lucky and happy I am in this moment.

Since my last post which chronicled one of the best days of my life (getting engaged to Pat), I have gotten married to my wonderful husband, passed and defended my comprehensive exams, passed my dissertation proposal, moved, and got to be part of a lovely wedding of an amazing friend.  Needless to say, it's been a whirlwind of a ride.  Our wedding was the most perfect day.  That's not to say that everything went perfectly, but it was perfect.  We had the most wonderful time with our huge families and great friends (as you can see from these pictures from our kickass photographer http://courtneypotterweddings.com/blog/2014/5/katy-pat-durham-arts-council-wedding).  Our honeymoon in Aruba was also such an amazing experience and I'm so glad that we made that happen. 

Looking ahead, there are so many things on the horizon.  Completing my degree, one day we'll look for a house and make our plans for expanding our family, celebrating my grandmother's 90th birthday, the marriage of some of my in-laws,  holidays and other celebrations, getting a job...  In between those, I have goals for decorating my house, getting back in the groove of staying in shape, reading some great material, staying in touch with those I love.  These are all so exciting (some are stressful), but here and now in the quiet, I just can reflect on them and think about them and feel lucky that I can do that before I take off running again.

One of the best days ever, to be continued by many, many more!!!

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, I also got the chance to visit the beach one last time before things got super crazy as the school year started again.  Pat and I made plans to run down to Carolina Beach for our first "just us" vacation in the two+ years we have been together.  I was so excited!  We began our trip by driving around Wilmington and managed to find the creek from Dawson's Creek-check that off Pat's bucket list!  We then went to our hotel and they were super sweet and allowed us to park even though our room wouldn't be ready for 4 more hours.  So, we got our stuff (we were already in our bathing suits) and parked it on the beach.

A little after that, friends of our who were actually heading out of Carolina beach stopped in to say hello AND to share with us, that our friends Robbie and Rachael had just gotten engaged that morning! We were so excited for them, but as I found out later, Pat was a little nervous at that point because he was actually planning on asking me to marry him that evening! However, he stuck to the plan and I am so glad he did!

After leaving the beach early in the afternoon, we checked in, took a dip in the pool, got some grub, and took a nap because we had been up since 5 that morning.

After napping, we then got ready to head out to dinner, but were so full from lunch we needed to kill some time.  So, we decided to head down to Fort Fisher.  The historic area was closed by the time we got there and the public beach was really full, so we decided to head down the overlook trail that said it was only about a mile long.

Let me tell you, it may have been a mile but it did not feel like it.  It took us an hour up and back and was full of many different types of terrain.  However, it was absolutely gorgeous and even with the horseflies, it was totally worth it!

 Look at these HUGE deer at the beach!

So after our trek, we had to reshower and get ready because we were super gross.  Then we went out to a tiki bar at the end of pier and listened to a band, watched the sun go down, had some drinks and enjoyed being together :)

We left before the bar closed at 10 (it was a Sunday) and walked back on the beach (great idea Pat) to our place.  The stars were amazing-I always think of my granddaddy when the stars are out.  It was the best day.

We found our access back to the road and Pat stopped to (I though) put his shoes on right by the gazebo.  However, then he stopped and started talking to me and I had no idea what was going on until he started reaching into his pocket, got down on one knee and proposed.  It was so dark that he couldn't see me nodding (couldn't talk because I was crying because I was so happy).  Of course I said yes to the best man I know! It was one of the best moments of my whole life! Pat had snuck in champagne and glasses into the room and we spent the next two hours calling our families to tell them our news.  Then, we had two more amazing days on the beach together!  Can't tell you all how happy I am-I'm the luckiest girl in the whole world!

 Here's where it all happened!

 Yummy donuts on our last day!

 There's my man!