Holiday adventures and, oh yeah, I'm engaged!

Such a long time without a new post!

So many wonderful things have happened and I've been on the road a lot this month.  The most exciting and an important thing that's happened to me is I got engaged! I'll put it in chronological order, so we will get to that.

School ended well and I'm excited that I got through my first semester.  I did not necessarily love it but I learned some new stuff and worked with new material.  I'm not especially proud of any of it which is why I'm not posting pictures.  I hope that by the end of next year, or this coming semester, I will be able to compare it to newer work that I am proud and excited about.  Classes start tomorrow and, in all honesty, I'm not looking forward to it.  Something about the school institution and the demand to produce sucks the creativity and desire out of me.  It doesn't help that I'm still having a hard time driving myself to create work without an agenda given to me.  It feels like I've lost everything I once knew when it came to making art and now it's a requirement that feels forced and contrived.  Or perhaps it is because I have so many things in my personal life to look forward to that it just seems dull in comparison.  Like Harry Burns said, "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

Once school got out, Aunt Juls and I drove to Virginia to see my other Aunt Leezal.  It was a pretty long drive and Cedar was with us.  He needed to be close to me so he spent most of the time with his head on the center console and his behind up in the air on the back seat.  

 We only stayed a couple days but it was nice to see my aunt and uncle and to see the town of Fredericksburg.  It's an interesting little place with a cool downtown and about thirty or more antique shops.  We also went to a neat little local store that had antiques as well as items made by locals such as jewelry, art, etc.  They had a guy playing guitar and free popcorn when we went.

 Lukey and my old roommate Stella.

 We crossed Virginia to Maryland on this giant bridge a couple times.  My fear of heights has never been so heightened.  See what I did there?

 Santa and free hot cider.

 Once we made it back to South Carolina, Stigall and I started our own road trip.  We stopped to see my Papa and Dad in McCormick first.  I think Papa was secretly ecstatic that I brought a boy with me, as he is always asking me when I am getting married.  After that, we headed to Saluda to have dinner with Benable at the Huddle House.  I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before, but I'm a huge fan of the huddle.  I have fond memories of the place with family and friends and I've never gotten anything there that I didn't like.  Benable and I always end up at a local place for lunch or at the huddle house.  During the summer, when we were in high school,  we would hang out at the library, get coffee at the Caper House, and sit at the bar and eat at the Huddle while our friend Latrina did the dishes there.  It was a fun time.

It was good to see him.  He has been in Michigan for the last three years.  He just graduated from University of Michigan Law School and will finally have a chance to breathe and rest for a little while.

 Finally, that night we made it to Georgia to stay with my mom for a couple days.  We had Christmas Eve dinner back in Saluda with the family and Christmas day with Mama and Bryan.  Our Christmas Eve is a huge deal and if you don't make it you are sure to be gossiped about like the black sheep you will become.  Stigall wasn't familiar with the amount of children running around and wrapping paper being flung in the air as the little ones opened their gifts.  It's exciting to watch and to be a part of.

 I also had a birthday during our adventure.  It's not a birthday (or Christmas) unless my mom wears her robe in the picture above.  It's the robe she brought me home from the hospital in and a staple for being home for the holidays.

 Bryan picked out a delicious chocolate truffle cake for my birthday and Mama made one of my favorite meals of hers, hot dogs and coleslaw. Keeping the Christmas tradition alive, we also watched The Silence of the Lambs.  

On the road again.  After a couple days in Georgia, we headed back to our homes and left for Ohio that next morning.

 There we are, not an hour in, feeling good (and looking fresh).  Stigall drove the whole way.  The gps got us all turned around and we ended up being on the road for 12 hours or more.  It was a beautiful ride but a very long one.

Here's a clip of when we drove through the mountains of Tennessee:

Cincinnati

Ohio!

We stayed with Stigall's grandparents.  The peak of that was good, delicious food.  The pit was that is stayed on seventy eight degrees in the house.  The picture above is of the large field behind their house.  

Stigall and I decided to walk the property back there.  I won't go in to all the details because those are mine to cherish, but that is where he got down on one knee.

Proof!

There was a lot of smiling, excitement, a few tears, and a long, heartfelt prayer.  I realize how insane it sounds to be engaged two months and two days after dating someone.  But what they say is true: when you know, you know.  It's not just a gut feeling either; I have never doubted for a moment that this is the man God wants me to start a life with.  I'll spare you the gushy mushy details, but it is secure, it is good, and I cannot wait to start and spend a life with Stigall.

Most of my family got the news from the picture of the ring or through facetime.  You can't tell in the picture above, but Aunt Jewls is at the bottom left.  I think most of my family are still in shock (and relief) that I am finally getting married.  And so soon!  I told them when we first started dating that this is the man I'm going to marry and I know that it will be soon.  It's kind of crazy how God moves and spreads His will through our lives.  When I called my friend Cam, she said that she knew it was going to happen because while she was praying one night, she felt God tell her that I would be getting married soon.  She had told her mom the day before that she wouldn't be surprised if it happened around Christmas. She gave me encouraging words and said she knew not to worry or question it because it is good.  And because she knows, like everyone else does that knows him, that Stigall has a heart for Jesus. 

As soon as I got the ring, I kept sending obnoxious pictures of it to my aunts and mom.  

First time being engaged shopping at TJ Maxx!

First time eating spaghetti engaged!

First time making guacamole engaged!

He didn't really. But this is funny.

The first family photo while engaged!  Cedar stayed at a kennel while we were in Ohio.  We were tempted to call up there and ask to have him put on the phone so he could hear the good news.

By New Year's Eve we were spent from all the traveling.  However, we did decide that it would be worth the trip to Greenville to eat dinner at Bacon Brothers with the McAbees.  The girls sat on one end while the boys sat on the other, competing to see whose mustache was the best, I suppose.