The Day I Said Yes to My Best Friend

It was December 7, 2012. My Friday morning started out like any other. The only difference was that I had a text from Braden, which wasn't completely out of the ordinary, but it was a witty little poem asking me to FCA's tacky sweater shag that evening.

"I love you Jess, what more can I say

I guess I'll show you in a romantic way

I'll pick you up around 5:45

So that we can celebrate all the good in our lives

Dress nice because we will start our evening

at one of your favorite restaurants in Greenville

But this is just the start of our night,

Will you go to the tacky sweater shag tonight?"

I got excited and spent the day trying to figure out where we could possibly be going in Greenville. I have quite a few favorites and I couldn't settle on one! After class I started getting ready for our date that night. I had trouble picking out an outfit because I had no idea where we were going. I settled on a black and white dress with a red scarf that my wonderful friend Brinley let me borrow.

As promised, Braden showed up on time with 20 beautiful red roses in hand. He has only brought me flowers on one other occasion, our one year anniversary. He handed the flowers to me and said happy 20 months. At that point I didn't see any red flashing signs, because he is quite the romantic anyway. 

We got in the car and headed to downtown Greenville. We chatted like normal on the drive, but he mentioned that he had some exciting news for me once we sat down to dinner. Naturally, all I could think of was what this "exciting news" could be, and why did it have to wait until dinner? We pulled up at Nantucket Seafood Grill, one of my absolute favorite restaurants that I've only been to one other time on a date with Bray. I knew it was a fancy date night when we had the valet park the car. We were seated by the window where we could see people ice skating, it was such a beautiful backdrop for the evening.

We went all out, ordering an appetizer of crab cakes, huge seafood entrees, wine, and dessert. As soon as we ordered our drinks he finally found an appropriate time to tell me the exciting news. Braden has been co-oping at BMW Manufacturing for the past year, and that night actually marked his final day as a co-op. That was huge news and extremely exciting. The only time we had been to Nantucket prior to this night was right after he got his first pay check at BMW, how fitting right?

After dinner we were stuffed and felt the need to walk it off a little. We walked past the ice skaters and ran into Santa Claus, yes, I did say Santa Claus. I've got to admit that running into SC himself and seeing his sleigh made my night. 

We headed back to the car because it was so cold outside. I had no idea where our next stop was, but as soon as he pulled up at McPherson park downtown I knew something special was about to happen. This park is special to us, because this is where we first said I love you on July 15, 2011. At this point, I was thinking "okay, maybe it's about to happen here" thinking I had figured out what was going on. We got on the swings and he asked me if I remembered what happened there. I said of course, it's the exact place where he told me he loved me. Right after that moment, he jumped up and got on the rocking horse and pretended to be a jockey.. we can only be serious for so long!

We started walking around and after a few more minutes we went back to the car. I felt a little disappointed because I thought I had solved the mystery. I was sure that he was about to propose in the park. Well, I was wrong. When we got back in the car he asked if I wanted to head to the tacky sweater shag. With a disappointing sigh I said "sure." The drive back to Clemson was a little quieter, my mind was wandering trying to figure out when on earth he was going to ask me to marry him.. and the fact that I did not want to go to the tacky sweater shag!

We pulled up at the Madren Center, which has held many FCA dances during our relationship. I didn't think much about the Christmas lights on the dance floor, because I figured the Madren Center had held an event there. I'm one of caution, so when we started walking towards the dance floor framed by lights I thought we were somewhere we shouldn't be. He plugged his iPod into the speakers that had been set up earlier in the day. I figured out then that he had already planned this, and it was no coincidence that the dance floor was set up for two.

We shagged and danced to "our songs," three of them. As soon as Rascal Flatts "When the Sand Runs Out" started playing, he started dancing much slower. At this point, I could tell he was getting a little emotional. The song says "I want to be running when the sand runs out," so he asked me, "Do you want to keep running with me?" At that moment he dropped down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was overtaken by surprise, excitement, and emotions so those few moments are a blur to me. All I can remember saying is "IS THIS REAL, is this really happening?!"

As soon as he proposed, my two wonderful friends Annabeth and Jen came out of the bushes, they had been taking pictures the entire time! Braden grabbed my hand and we ran towards the lake. Before I knew it, fireworks started going off over the lake. Talk about a perfect moment, I was still in such utter shock that it was hard to pay attention to the beautiful display going on in front of us! All I could do was look up and smile at him so big, I still had to keep asking "is this real?!"

We danced for a song or two and enjoyed the giddiness that had overtaken us for the past few moments. Once we got our bearings he said that we could leave. I wanted to call my mom, but he convinced me that my sweet friend Brin would want to see me call her and hear my moms reaction over the phone. Obviously not thinking clearly, I agreed, under normal circumstances I would've thought that was kind of random. We pulled into where Brinley lives and Braden started distracting me, he kept telling me to look at my ring and telling me about it. When I looked up we had pulled up to the clubhouse. I don't remember what he was saying, it's still all a blur, but the next thing I knew he had opened the door and all of our family and friends yelled SURPRISE!!!

We spent the remainder of the night celebrating with friends, taking pictures, and basking in the fact that we were finally engaged. I floated on cloud nine all night long, I hardly slept.

The moment I woke up I looked at my hand, it still didn't feel real.

It STILL doesn't feel real. I am marrying my best friend, the biggest blessing I could ever ask for!

Faith Without Deeds is Dead

Let's just jump right into it. The Lord has been teaching me so much the past few weeks. A reoccurring theme, though, has been that faith without deeds is dead. Did that hit anyone else over the head? Lately, I've been focusing on being active in activities that involve worshipping God. Whether that means participating in a small group, going to a worship service. or simply going to church. But, have I really done anything?

Debatable. Faith alone does not mean you're righteous.

I've been reading through the book of James and surprisingly it has rocked my world. I say that's surprising, but walking with the Lord always is - so really I shouldn't be surprised haha. This morning, James 3 was speaking right to me.

Verse 2 claims, "We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never in fault in what they say is perfect." Basically, everyone stumbles and we are no where near perfect. Verses 5, 8, and 9 all speak volumes about how our tongue is used to bring harm or to bring glory. Verse 5, "the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts." Isn't it funny how our tongue is the strongest muscle in our body, and it can do the most damage when it comes to speaking harsh or contradictory words? I never realized how much harm we can do with our words.

Satan has a way of tricking us into using our words for evil, rather than using them to bring joy to others. It may sound crazy, but think about it, when is the last time you vented about someone around you and didn't think twice about it. That vent session was an outlet to curse others - and that same tongue is used to praise God. See the problem?

I was not created to be perfect. God has created us to spread his wealth and to spread His good news. Our tongue can be used for evil if we're not careful and if we're not seeking the words to say from the Lord. Be mindful of your conversations, someone may overhear that vent session and you may lose your credibility. Some may hang on to your words, so use them to glorify the Lord.

Our words are a gift to speak praise and encouragement! Live a life of good deeds and pure words, the Lord will bless that by giving you "wisdom that  is pure, peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere" verse 17.

I needed that hit on the head. Who knows, maybe one of you did too!

Anyone else feeling the weight here? Maybe I should lighten it up a little! On a lighter note, here are a few gems from this past weekend and so far this week.

Of course I started out my weekend at home at one of my favorite places, Red Bowl. Our great, silly friend Burt tagged along and graced us with his presence.

This little guy was hanging out on the door when we got home!

Burt also helped while I was baking Papa's cake by decorating cookies to reflect his Clemson pride. I must say, he has quite the creative side!

The finished sugar free cake, I was so proud! Papa is diabetic, but loves sugar, so I had to make sure it was just as sweet and delicious as any other cake!

 Madre and I treated ourselves to a mani&pedi morning which was wonderful and relaxing.

 I had a hankering for chocolate yesterday but didn't want to put in too much effort. The outcome? Chocolate mug cake! Throw in 3 tbsp almond flour, 1 egg, 1 tbsp oil, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, a little dash of cinnamon and a little bit of vanilla - microwave for 2 minutes and there ya have it! Delicious!

Tay and I went on a spontaneous trip to Greer to see Kari Jobe perform.. FOR FREE!

She was seriously wonderful. The concert was exactly what my heart needed to refresh. Thank you for reviving my soul Jesus!

That's all I have for you so far this week. Happy Wednesday people, the weekend is almost here!

5 days. 4 locations. 1 big adventure with my best friend.

Braden and I had been planning a road trip to the beach for quite a while, but we had no idea where we'd be staying or what we'd be doing our entire trip. Taking trips like that are totally not in my character, I'm such a planner and everything always has to be organized. I don't know what came over me but I went into this trip with a completely open mind and with no expectations!

Our journey began on Saturday morning. First stop, Litchfield Beach for a Low Country Boil honoring two of our friends getting married in October.

We spent time hanging out with friends and meeting new ones while it poured rain outside. Despite the rain, the ocean view was still as beautiful as ever. We ate a delicious dinner of shrimp, sausage, corn, and potatoes (Bray and I stuck to the proteins) and followed it up with a game for the engaged couple. The rest of the night consisted of chatting and Q&A sessions for the two married couples who were there, it was a pretty entertaining evening!

The sunset over the marsh was breathtaking!

Next stop, Pawleys Island!

The next morning we had no idea where we were going to stay. We initially made a pact to not stay in the same place two nights in a row, so that made our trip pretty adventurous and kept us on our toes. We knew that Braden's aunt, uncle, and 4 cousins were staying somewhere in the area. We gave them a call, made a coffee shop stop, and headed to Pawley's Island to spend the day/night with them. The house they were staying in was seriously incredible, fully equipped with an elevator, movie theater, and workout room!

When we got there we went straight to the beach and played a round of bocce ball (Bray and I dominated, just sayin') and hung out on the beach with his family. The rest of the night was chill. We fished for a little while, had a delicious seafood dinner, and watched a movie in the theater. 

The next morning we headed to a water park! We spent a few hours climbing stairs and shooting down the slides until we were exhausted. It was so fun to reminisce on our childhood, water parks are still so fun no matter what age you are!

Once we returned to the house we packed up and it was on to location three, Charleston.

First on our list when arriving in Charleston was to get dinner, after the days festivities we were pretty hungry! On our last visit to Charleston we tried an Italian restaurant called Blossom that is located downtown. The service there is wonderful and their food is off the charts! In natural Paleo fashion we stuck to the protein and veggie heavy meals. I ordered the North Carolina Rainbow Trout with haricots verts, crushed roma tomatoes, roasted garlic, and pistachios. It was so tender and flavorful! Braden had the Oven Roasted Salmon Mepkin Abbey mushrooms, sautéed zucchini, all served in a tomato broth. Both meals were absolutely delicious!

We love the atmosphere and neat lighting at Blossom - it makes for a great experience in addition to the wonderful food!

Our friend Sarah graciously let us stay in her very Pinterest worthy apartment near downtown Charleston. She had a few friends playing at Tsunami so we thought it'd be great to support them and hear some great music. Well.. we can't resist sushi.. so we ordered dinner number two with no shame. I ordered the cucumber salad roll (my fav and Paleo friendly) and Bray ordered sashimi. We learned that we're not super fond of eating raw fish in it's simplest form.. I don't think I'll be ordering that again any time soon!

The next morning we woke up and decided to do a Crossfit workout. Doing workouts while out of town usually is difficult for me, but having Braden there to push me and cheer me on always makes it more fun! We ran a mile towards the ocean, stopping every minute to do 10 air squats, then running again unitl the next minute. Oh my legs, we ended up doing about 110 squats, talk about jello!

We wanted to shop around so like typical tourists we hit up the downtown area. We walked up and down King street, went to the shops in Charleston Place, and through the market. We stopped in and ate lunch at a little cafe called Brents. We both ordered buffalo chicken salads and it was delcious! I loved getting to spend some quality time with my boy, in addition to seeing all of the neat places Charleston has to offer. We left with new tshirts, some pecan pralines, and other nifty little things.

It was so hard having these tagging along with us but not being able to eat them!

Sarah met up with us after we finished shopping and we headed out to the beach. Instead of going to a touristy spot, Sarah took us to Sullivan's Island. It was pretty windy but we still tried passing the volleyball around, needless to say that was quite the sandy venture. The view at Sullivan's Island is beautiful. Huge cargo boats are constantly passing by, and the beach was only accompanied by us and a few seagulls.

Sarah had plans later that evening so Braden and I decided to go out for a little date night. We have been dying to try some Thai food, and my little friend Alex has previously requested that we try a place called Basil Thai Restaurant. She's a trustworthy foodie so we thought it'd be a great idea! The restaurant itself is pretty small, but don't let that fool you, the foods flavor and spice are outrageously delicious.

I ordered the red curry chicken that is paired with basil and bamboo roots. It was the perfect amount of spice! Braden ordered the beef Pad Prik, which is paired with basil, bell peppers, onions, and Prik King curry sauce. Personally I think the name is kind of silly.. but it was still very good!

Red Curry Chicken in all its glory

Beef Pad Prik

I must admit, that meal definitely opens up the sinuses haha. We were both craving something sweet after such a savory meal, but since we are eating Paleo style that craving satisfaction was a little difficult. We thought Planet Smoothie would be a safe bet. We agreed on the Chocolate Chimp (cocoa, bananas, vanilla, and honey), we thought that was close enough. Well, to our surprise the cocoa was not powder, it was chocolate syrup. We exchanged a look of concern, but still agreed to give it a go. Not even half way through the smoothie we both asked if it was making the others tummy hurt.. yep you guessed it, our stomachs are no longer used to foods high in sugar since starting eating Paleo hardcore. We had to throw the smoothie away, but it was still worth a try right?

We decided to head back to my house in Columbia to spend a little time with my mom before heading back to school. I thought that I wouldn't make it home again until later this fall but I was so happy to visit one more time. We spent the day hanging out and taking it easy, and then had lunch with my mom at Texas Roadhouse. Mmm talk about some salad, steak, and sweet potato deliciousness!

It's back to reality for us, but it was so fun to have one last adventure before everything starts up in full swing. I'm always thankful for time I get to spend with my boy, friends, and family. It's a pretty laid back week on this end. I am going to spend that afternoon with Braden's family, I'm pretty excited to see all of them, it feels like it has been weeks! The rest of this weekend will be time well spent with newly married friends and our wonderful Crossfitters.

I hope you all have had a wonderful week, but I hope you have an even better weekend :)

Hometown Showdown

Although I feel like I've traveled all over South Carolina, NC, and GA this summer - I haven't made it home more than once! With classes starting in two weeks I really felt the need for some quality time at home. It was so refreshing to visit some of my favorite places and getting to hang out with my mom and old friends.

Here's a simple little recap of a few of my adventures the past few days.

Madre and I visited the new house and then headed to one of my favorite places to eat, Red Bowl. When I go home I usually have Red Bowl for at least one dinner meal.. and lunch one day. Ask my why I love it so much, I honestly have no idea, but it is so good! I got my usual, steamed shrimp with fresh veggies.

After dinner we headed to my second favorite hot spot at home, Yumilicious. Seriously, I have a mild obsession with froyo. This particular stop included some Dulce de Leche, peanut butter, and some vanilla topped with heath bar pieces and strawberries. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

The next morning I made a coffee stop and then headed to my old gym to get in the WOD for Crossfit. It's always so great visiting the Bodyshop, I can always count on a warm welcome! 

I ventured into the back corner of the weights room to do my Crossfit workout. The workout consisted of a 20 min AMRAP: 5 hollow rocks, 10 push ups with hand release, and 15 squats. I seriously couldn't feel my arms after I finished!!

That night my mom and I wanted to make a delicious dinner, and we decided to invite Paige to join us. Madre had been telling me about the local meat market's crab stuffed flounder, so we thought that would be perfect for dinner! We paired it with asparagus and a baked sweet potato, needless to say I couldn't have asked for a more delicious meal!

The crab stuffed flounder was SO good, and so low maintenance. You literally take it out of the package and stick it in the oven frozen at 450° for 30 minutes. The meat market preps and seasons it prior to packaging it, talk about an easy meal. I stopped by and picked some up to bring back to the upstate with me :)

After dinner Paige and I went to her small group through Radius Church. Paige had previously told me that my small group leader Katie also goes to small group, so naturally I thought it was a great idea to show up and surprise her! It was quite the success with lots of hugging and catching up.. we were kind of a distraction for the rest of the group - whoops! It was so good to see her!

We read through Galatians 1, I really enjoyed being a part of a small group that mixed girls and guys. It's cool to hear a guys point of view, plus they are much more confrontational and love to argue points which was pretty entertaining.

The next morning started off right, with a Thanks A Latte coffee!

When I worked at the Bodyshop I would always stop by this little coffee stand before work. The woman who runs the stand knows all of her customers, I love the fact that even when I don't stop by for a few months while I'm away at school she still remembers me. I always order a sugar free hazelnut coffee, seriously the best coffee ever!

Although contradictory, I got my coffee to go and headed to iHop to meet up with my great friend Lachlan. He attends the University of South Carolina so I rarely get to see him. We took the time to catch up and I enjoyed a little fruit bowl paired with my coffee. 

Later that day I had a coffee run numero dos. I met my friend Macall at Starbucks and we both got cold coffees. I chose the Caramel Light Frappucino.. mmm. We both had the intention to catch up a little, but that "little" amount of time turned into 3 hours sitting and chatting. I would not trade time with that girl for anything, she is so wise and so easy to talk to. I'm totally okay with hanging at Starbucks for 3 hours when it's time well spent!

In natural fashion, Madre and I made one last dinner date to Red Bowl. This time we decided to get side salads with cucumber ranch and a bowl of egg drop soup, of course this was in addition to my steamed shrimp and veggie bowl!

This morning I had breakfast with Paige at my last and final favorite place to visit at home, The Other Pancake House. We chatted about reuniting next week and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast. I ordered the "Bodyshop omelette" which is an omelette made with veggies and egg beaters, and I added in some turkey bacon and a fruit bowl. 

I think it's pretty obvious that I make a point to enjoy all of my favorite places while I'm home, while accompanied by a few of  my favorite people. I loved being home and seeing everyone! There's never a way to gauge how often I'll get to travel home, but hopefully it won't be too long from now.

I'm heading to Crossfit around 6 and I'm hoping this huge storm passes before then! 

I hope all of you are having a wonderful week so far!

Favorite Moments of the Week

It's only Wednesday, I may be getting a little ahead of myself but this week has already been too good to me! What better way to celebrate the not-necessarily-over week than to share a few fun moments that have already made my week! I'll run in reverse and start this list of fav's on Friday night.

1.) Date night with Bray

Braden and I love heading to Greenville for date nights - think about it, you can have dinner, dessert, and entertainment all in one place! Plus we've had so many run-ins with incredibly nice people downtown, so it just makes for a great date place. On Friday we headed to Tako Sushi, one of our favs, and we sat at the end of the bar where we could see the sushi chefs working their magic! We started off with the Pork Pot stickers which were incredibly good! I ordered the Cucumber Salad Roll, Bray ordered the Seared Tilapia Takos, so naturally we shared to get a little taste of southwestern and sushi.

Crab, fresh shrimp, tomato, asparagus, and avocado rolled in cucumber and topped with wasabi vinaigrette!

After dinner we strolled around downtown for a little while and then headed to a new froyo place called Yogurtini. Oh my deliciousness, I'm pretty sure we tried every single flavor and then had the hardest time deciding which ones we wanted! We went with a cappuccino, cake batter, peanut butter, and red velvet cake concoction topped with a random assortment of yummy fruits and candy.

2.) Lake Day with the Nichols Fam.

Saturday we headed to the lake with the Nichols clan. We spent the day cruising and swimming, and eventually went and met up with a few of his parents friends. The afternoon quickly turned into wake surfing lessons for everyone, including the little ones!

If that's not the cutest thing you've ever seen then I don't know what is!

3.) Afternoon Rain Artsy-ness

We've been getting a lot of rain the past two weeks, which I'm not a huge fan of because it makes me want to stay in bed all day watching movies. However, the rain has made for some beautiful rainbows on a daily basis. Aside from the mountains and sunsets, I think rainbows are one of the most magnificent showings of God's beauty!

Even Bray got in on the action and sent me this super artsy photo - which makes me extremely proud :)

4.) CrossFit at Home

This week CrossFit was closed on Tuesday so Braden, Elliot, Alex and I decided that we wouldn't let that keep us from getting in a good work out. We (as in Elliot) came up with the idea to have a hill sprinting workout on the dikes, which initially sounded like a great idea. We came up with a workout of 4 rounds: 10 push ups, sprint up the hill, 10 burpees, back down the hill. Yes, it was as intense as it sounds! Alex and I modified a little and did 10 below-parallel squats in place of burpees, we felt it was necessary to still be able to breathe :)

I felt these socks were necessary, haha

Pre-workout agility

Everything about that picture cracks me up. Bray's just straight chilling, while Alex does a cartwheel warm-up. I guess everyone has their own methods of stretching and warming up prior to a workout, haha!

5.) She-Crab Sweetness

I had a surprise visitor at work today. Yep you guessed it, Braden showed up with she-crab soup from JPeters in hand. He knows me so well, and knows exactly how to make my day with one of my all time favorite soups! I mean really, how'd I get so lucky?!

 Tonight little Alex is coming to CrossFit with me for a trial run, but I already know she's going to love it! After our workout, Bray and Elliot are going to make all of us dinner, while Alex and I make a summer peach pie for Braden's family reunion this weekend. A post will be coming soon on the pie making method and on all of the fun family reunion festivities!

Until then, I hope everyone has a fabulous week - smile because we're halfway to the weekend!

Twenty One

It has been quite a while since I've posted anything, so let's just say I have a lot of catching up to do! I finished up my Junior year in college, I still can't believe I'm a SENIOR.. wow where has the time gone?! I am working for the non-profit United Way this summer, which has been a huge blessing. Other than that my summer has been full of relaxing and days in the sun.

I just got back from Hilton Head Island where I spent my birthday weekend! I could not have asked for a better birthday where my time was spent laying out on the beach, riding bikes, and eating delicious seafood and yummy desserts!

Our first night on the island - heading to the Crazy Crab!

I'm so thankful to be able to witness their love of almost 50 years!

Corbin, Mary Miles, Braden and I one night before dinner

Key Lime Pie for our date night dessert at Ela's!

The best, I repeat, the BEST strawberry shortcake ever! Yummm! We celebrated my  birthday with cake before we headed to dinner, aren't you supposed to enjoy dessert before dinner?!

On the pier to watch the sunset while having dinner at the Topside Waterfront Restaurant!

My mama made it all the way to HHI to celebrate my 21st! 

The past few days have been wonderful, and now it's back to reality where waking up early is always on my schedule. But hey, I can't complain! I hope everyone has a wonderful week!