Biltmore House, Natalie Grant, and PROPOSAL!!!

This has to be by far my most favorite trip and event so far. It was such a perfect special day and it couldn't have been any better. Ok, it could have been cooler! It was so hot! But other than the heat it was perfect. Johnnie and I got up early and headed to Asheville. The drive was not that bad and we found our hotel and Biltmore fairly easy. We started at Antler Village, which is a small part of Biltmore but pretty cool. We saw the animals, I held a baby chick, we toured the winery and had a wine tasting that was very refreshing, and then we drove down to Deerpark Inn for lunch. It was so good and so worth the money. It is actually the best place to eat at Biltmore for the cost since it is buffet. But it was so pretty. The restaurant is in the shape of a square and has a gorgeous courtyard in the middle. The inside is very pretty and the food very good. But you sit with all the doors open so you can see the flowers, birds and what other nature that may decide to show up. After eating and taking lots of pictures, we headed to the Biltmore House. Again this was a first for Johnnie and I was so happy that we are doing a lot of firsts together. We enjoyed walking through each room and reading about the history. Again, the only negative is it was very hot and the Biltmore House is not air conditioned! After our tour we went to the shops and walked around, we got something to drink and some ice cream, and rested for a minute. The Natalie Grant concert wasn't until 8 pm so we had two hours to fill. We headed towards the gardens as we hadn't been there yet. I wish we hadn't of been so tired because we didn't get to walk the whole gardens and I'm sure there were many flowers we missed out on. But what we did get to see was beautiful. We walked around and took many pictures, rested on some benches and headed towards the conservatory. It was warm in there but they did have some fans going so it wasn't too bad. We walked around and headed towards this bench in the corner surrounded by flowers. We sat and rested and talked. Before our trip we had bought each other cards to give each other. We didn't know the card the other bought, but fate had it that we bought the exact same card. We opened our cards and read them and told each other how much we loved each other. I was already crying from reading the cards that it took me by surprise to see Johnnie moving to his knees. And then I started crying more. Our conversation is special between the both of us but he did ask and I did say yes! We called our parents, my sister, and I pretty much yelled to everyone that walked by that I just got engaged!! We are so incredibly happy and in love and I can't wait to become husband and wife. So how do you top that? An awesome faith filled concert by Natalie Grant. She is my favorite Christian artist and I was so thankful to Johnnie for taking me to see her, when he would have rather seen KISS or Alice in Chains!!! But we both really enjoyed the concert and I felt God there with me that night. She sang one of her more popular songs "The Real Me" where she talks about how you see the real me, the insecurities, being vulnerable, etc. We both held each other and cried. We have both been in dark spots in our past lives that this moment meant everything to us. God has truly been in our lives from the start and he planned out our lives before we were born that we would one day meet and be together. It was the best weekend we have had so far! Saturday we stopped by the lake house on our way home and spent time with my parents. They are both so happy for us and love Johnnie so much. They also believe God brought us together at the right time in our lives. We played in the water and had lunch and then proceeded home. On Sunday we saw Johnnie's parents, sister, aunt and cousins and were just so happy to finally be engaged. Even though we have been planning our wedding for months now, to be engaged and have that promise that you have made to each other makes it all the more special. I will never forget this weekend. And God made that possible!

Oh the Places We Will Go!

I am so happy that I have found someone that likes to travel to places and do fun things together. Whether it be a day trip, weekend trip, or even longer. Our first fun day trip was to the NC Zoo. We had so much fun and the weather couldn't have been better. We will definitely make this a yearly trip as it is cheap and local.









Our next big adventure was the beach. I had not been to the beach in 10 years so needless to say when I saw the ocean I was a kid in a candy store. I even called my mom to tell her how pretty the water was! We had the best time and enjoyed every minute of it.



One of the highlights of our trip was Broadway at the Beach and Ripley's Aquarium. Johnnie had never been and I was so excited to share this with him.









I can't wait to see where our next adventures take us. We have such a good time together that I know no matter where we go or what we do we will always laugh and enjoy spending time together!