The Proposal

Knowing we wanted to get married and soon, I knew I had to fill in people that "needed" to know about us. So April came and I finally spilled. It was hard for me to open up to certain people about our relationship again because of a past experience. I didn't want to jeopardize our relationship at all because of someone else's manipulative actions. 

Summer was coming up and that meant he was getting block leave a whole two weeks. He was coming to Texas for a week and I couldn't wait. It was the week of July 4th. It was going to be the week when he finally proposed. (We had been talking about it so I knew it was coming) My only request was that he asked my step dad for his blessing and permission for us to get married. I knew that was something my s-dad would have wanted him to do. Regardless of his response or the out come we were going to get married, having his blessing on the whole situation would have just made things a little smoother. 

The day's went on and on, we were coming up on the end of his time in TX and still he hadn't gotten up the courage to talk to my s-dad about it yet. His second to last night in TX we were watching a movie and my s-dad told J to go in the garage to help my mom with something. I though it was very odd, I mean why didn't he go help her. Hello we're watching a movie here but whatever. The evening went on and I eventually had to take him back to his hotel were he was staying. 

On the way there he explained to me how he had asked my s-dad about us getting married. Instead of just making all three of our lives easy and agreeing and saying yes his response was...."You've gotta take that up with her mom." He replied asking if he'd be digging his own grave by asking her. 

We spent the whole drive back to the hotel trying to go over every single option and scenario possible. That was it, there was no way this was going to play out the way we had talked about and pictured. We might as well hang it and and go with plan B, I was frustrated beyond belief. (there's a whole back story to the way and reason's I felt the way I did and kept things the way I did but that's not for the blog, at least not now) How in the world could he leave it up to her. What was he thinking. I was heart broken and at a loss for words, he looked to me for encouragement. He said he needed encouragement and support to be able to go in the next day and talk to her about it. I had nothing, nothing at all. It was not a good place to be in. 

Sitting in the car in the hotel parking lot he took my hand and slipped off the ring he had mailed to me months prior. Said if he saw my hand with out the ring on it, it would help him find the courage to ask her. Next thing I know he's slipping my engagement ring on my finger, followed by "your mom said k". "Wait what, I'm not looking, take it off, you can't do this tonight, what are you talking about she said k, when? I don't understand." 

Mean while I'm sitting in the driver seat looking out the window with my eye's covered. He told me that apparently at some point that evening my s-dad had already gone and given my mom a heads up as to what they had talked about and that was why he had sent him into the garage so they could talk. That night in the garage he asked my mom and she said "k" along with something along the lines of "as long as you don't take here away". (the later part of the conversation I didn't find out about till months after we were married.) Really "k" was her response, typical. I told him that I couldn't go back to my house tonight with a engagement ring on my hand. I mean he had literally just talked to my parents about it. Don't ask me why but I couldn't talk to either of them about it at the time. Yes I know it sounds silly and getting engaged is suppose to be one of the happiest moments of my life and trust me it was. Chalk it up to my past and the experience's I had with previous relationship being ripped apart by someone who felt the need to have complete control over ever aspect of my life. So after much convincing I told him to take the ring off and ask me tomorrow. And that he did. 

He called J & A back in Hawaii and told them I said "no." For the record I did not say no, I never would have said no. I just asked him to wait till the next day. And he did. I picked him up that next day and we grabbed lunch for Schlotzsky's and headed to the park for picnic. It was then he asked "ok, can I give you the ring now, or are you going to say no again." 

I kindly excepted and we were Engaged. There was never a getting down on one knee "Will You Marry Me" moment but I was and am ok with that. From the beginning things were a little untraditional with our relationship, so why start now right. 

The day before and after we got engaged. I'll have to pull up my other pictures this weekend!!!

sidenote: I still to this day wear that very first ring he mailed almost 8 years ago on my right hand. Its nothing fancy at all. Its a thin band with 3 Hawaiian Hibiscus flowers on it. Its bent and molded to my finger and I never take it off. I'd be just as devastated if I lost it, as I would with my wedding rings. 

sidenote: There was never a moment when either of us asked each other out, or we became official boyfriend / girlfriend. We just kinda rolled with the punches and went with it. We've always said and celebrated November 29, 06 as the day we got together. The day of that random phone call that I never expected to get. 

New York City Day 3

Sunday morning we work up a bit early and headed out to the Museum of Natural History. We were meeting up with one if the Hubbs friends that we were stationed with in Hawaii. He's now a recruiter and lives in Queens, NY. He'd never been to the museum himself so it worked out perfect. 

We were to lucky to have a subway station right out side our B&B it's worked out so well. Especially coming back late at night when we are completely exhausted. 

We arrived right on time but of course the Subway and Traffic stalled A from getting there when we did. It's ok we enjoyed some Starbucks and did a little people watching while we waited.

Dinosaurs remind me of my Spouse, aka Sarah. She loves them, she's a true kid at heart still. 

 Hubbs and A hadn't seen each other since they both left back in 2011 but you never would have known that. They picked up right were they left off as if they had talked every day over the last two year. It was so great to hear them share stories and do the whole "Remember…." We had a great time and the museum it self was huge. Military got in free so that saved us a total of $44 dollars. We seriously could have been in there for days and still not have seen everything there was to see. 

Below is a view from out of one of the window on a upper level. I though it was really neat, it was a gloomy day but so pretty at the same time. When we got to the museum we really didn't have to wait at all to get in, thankfully because the line to simply get into the building was wrapping around the block. Talk about crazy. 

After the museum A had to head back home. So the hubbs and I went to lunch across the street at a place called Cafe Frida. It was a little mexican joint and well we all know you can't go wrong with mexican food. Fabulous!!! Although hubbs made a comment that this was the first mexican restaurant that we'd been into that didn't serve chips and salsa. FAIL!!! 

After lunch we stopped by a few local stores to do a little window shopping and then to a local pharmacy because well I still wasn't feeling myself. I knew I had to break down and finally get some meds. in my system if I was gonna beat this crud. I stocked up on day and nightquil along with some throat lozengers. We headed back to the B&B to relax a bit, it kinda worked out perfect because it was pretty rainy and nasty out so we really didn't want to walk around in that. 

After a much needed nap I woke up feeling so much better. I even had my appetite back, which was great seeings I hadn't eaten a whole lot in the past 2 days. We freshened up and headed out to dinner. 

We went to a little Italian place called Trattoria Pesce Pasta. I went with the Chicken Parm and let me tell you it was the size of my plate. It was HUGE. I didn't get any pictures of it but it was pretty fabulous, I had a side of steamed broccoli which is one of my favorite veggies and it was so good. The hubbs had been talking about Tiramisu all evening and how he wanted some. Me never have had any before didn't really care one way or the other. We caved and gave in and I have to say it was pretty tasty. It was a wonderful evening out. Thankfully it had stopped raining and the sky's had cleared up from earlier in the day. 

Washington DC ~ Day 2

Today we checked out the Monuments & Memorials located around the City.
"The National Mall"

First stop was Thomas Jefferson Memorial / Monument
1743-1826
I liked the outside of this one better than the actual statue its self. 

Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial / Monument
1882-1945
Along with his pup Fala, he had a whole section of the park dedicated to his memorial.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial / Monument
1929-1968
"I Have A Dream"

Korean War Memorial 

1950-1953

Abraham Lincoln Memorial / Monument 

1809-1865

In 2007 it was ranked 7th on the List America's Favorite Architecture.

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Constructed in 1922~ 2,029 ft long, 167 ft wide, 18in deep on the side, 30in deep in the center.
It holds approximately 6,750,000 U.S. gallons of water.
(currently under a $30.7 billion dollar construction that started in November 2010 )

Vietnam War Memorial
1969-1975
(I don't remember the exact dates, the dates online varied)
The walls with thousands and thousands of names listed on it just left me at a loss for words.

World War 2 Memorial
1939-1945
Resulted in 50-70 million fatalities, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.

Washington Monument
Completed in 1884
The worlds tallest stone structure and the worlds tallest obelisk @ 555ft tall.
(currently closed to the public after the Virginia earthquake in August of 2011.)

~DAY 230~

The Campaign and Bush Hat

Here's a little History on the "round brown" that the Drill Sergeants have to wear. 

A veteran of numerous campaigns in the field, steep in traditions, and in active service in various styles from 1850 through 1939, the campaign hat is the most appropriate symbol for a Drill Sergeant. The campaign hat appeared on the scene again in early 1964. THe present style of the campaign hat evolved from the straw or felt slough "Hardee Hat" of the 1850's through the center crease designs of the 1880's, to the present day modified "Montana Peak" which was adopted in 1911. 

In late 1971, Headquarters, Continental Army Command (CONARC) received approval from the Chief of Staff of the Army for permission to include women in the Drill Sergeant Program. In February 1972, six Woman Army Corps (WAC) Noncommissioned Officers from Fort McClellan, Alabama, were enrolled in the Drill Sergeant Program, at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Upon graduation, the women were authorized to wear the female Drill Sergeant Hat. 

BG Mildred C. Bailey designed the female Drill Sergeant Hat. The design was taken from the Australian Bush Hat. The first female Drill Sergeant Hat was beige in color. The beige hat was replaced by the dark green female Drill Sergeant Hat, however the style remained unchanged. The green hat was put into use January 1983. After the green Drill Sergeant hat appeared, the beige hat was slowly phased out of the system. In 1984-85, a proposal was made for females to switch to the Drill Sergeant Hat worn by male Drill Sergeants. Female Drill Sergeants at Training and Doctrine Command posts opposed this idea. In June 1985, General John A. Wickham Jr., Army Chief of Staff, stated that female Drill Sergeants would continue to wear the original female Drill Sergeant Hat.  

~DAY 166~

Night @ the Museum

DAY 76

or not, may a day @ the museum :)

(I took this one here for the spouse, she <3's her dinosaurs )

We decided to check out the South Carolina State Museum today. I'm not big on museums but again I had heard great reviews about this one so I was excited going in.

A three story building full of Art, History, Natural History & Science. A bonus was the Body Works exhibit they have going on right now as well. (pictures weren't aloud in there) When we were in Vegas we were able to tour the Body Museum they had there and I have to say it was much bigger & more in detailed then the one here in SC.

We had the most fun on the 3rd floor that was full of science related gadgets, that were interactive. The first one below you had to balance yourself on and see how long you would stay there. It was alot harder then I though it would be, I tried showing the hubbs up but it didn't work. lol Not to worry he didn't do to hot himself either.

This one here was a closed in triangle, you had to go under a short wall to get in. It was pretty cool, enclosed with mirrors you could see yourself go on forever and ever. I felt like a kid playing around with all the fun stuff they had from pulley systems to testing your grip or hearing the delay in speech.

The museum took you back to before dinosaurs and though the Civil War. Taking you decade by decade change by change, through the Revolutionary War, Plantation Life, Native Americans, Mill Life and so much more. Below is a reenactment of a typical kitchen from the 1920's CRAZY how things have changed so much over the last 91+ years.

We had a really good time at the museum, I'm so glad we decided to go. We spent about 2 hours there looking at every last display and exhibit. I'm proud to say we did learn a bit more about SC and its history. A bonus was the gift shop afterwards it was so big and had some of the cutest things. Tons of stuff for your kitchen to, I came across the perfect sign for my wall talking about "The South". (I am going to have to go back for it for sure)