Living and Learning: March 2013

It has been awhile since I last wrote on here. Things have been moving quickly and I am trying to keep up. I feel the older you get the faster life moves. I am now a wife to a UNITED STATES MARINE, and almost a college graduate.

Will graduated from bootcamp on November 30th. It was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever felt. We went three months of only writing letters back and forth to each other and just a few phone calls at the very end of his training. My heart has never swelled with so much pride as it did the moment I saw him in his uniform for the first time.

Our first hug in three months

Wills family and my best friend Brittany and her son Brayden, my godson all went up to Parris Island South Carolina to watch him graduate. Family Day, Thursday November 29th all the Marines did a motivational run in the morning. It was freezing!! During that run was the first time I locked eyes with Will. His smile was huge and the tears just came pouring out. That feeling of finally being reunited after so long is something I can't even describe. After the run we waited about an hour (talk about teasing us) for them to come into the building and be dismissed for liberty. We spent the five hours together with his family walking around the base and hearing about what he had been doing the past three months.

The next day was his graduation. After graduation I finally got to bring my Marine home! We went to Tallahassee for a few days then headed home. On our way back to South Florida, Will surprised me with a trip to Disney World. We were planning on getting married the following week but I still had not officially been asked to be his wife because he wanted to wait till after he became a Marine to ask me. He hid my ring in a bag of clothes I brought him. I looked every where for that ring even in the bag but I couldn't find it. I guess it was better that way because I didn't expect him to ask him while we were in Tallahassee or at Disney. He said he just wanted to go one last time because there was no telling when we would get the chance to go again. Our movie has always been Beauty and the Beast so we were very excited to go see the new Fantasy Land. The grand opening had been pushed back so we didn't think we would be able to see it anymore. He had a whole plan of asking me to marry him in front Belle and the Beast or at the new restaurant Be Our Guest but changed it because he called and they said they were closed so he made a new plan to ask me in front of the castle. It was romantic and very special.

When you get engaged at Disney everyone is so nice!! We got bride and groom mouse ears and even got them engraved for free. As we were enjoying the park we walked over to the new park area just to see what it looked like and realized parts were open. They were doing a soft opening of Be Our Guest. They were totally booked but they were able to squeeze us in. It was AMAZING. The perfect day and the perfect man. I couldn't have asked for a better man to marry who was so thoughtful in how he wanted to ask me to be his wife.

Before dining at the Be Our Guest restaurant

Our napkin at Be Our Guest Restaurant with my beautiful ring

We got married on December 7th, 2012. It was a very small intimate wedding with our close family. We were missing a few others but it was such a special day. The night of our wedding we got the best news ever. Wills recruiter called and told us that Will was able to stay home for the holidays and didn't have to report back to Marine Combat Training till January. It was the best wedding present we could have asked for. Having him home for our first Christmas as husband and wife was the best. Here are some amazing pictures my niece captured of our wedding. She is so talented at the age of 16. I can't wait to see where her career takes her.