Where in the world do I begin!?!
So much has happened since I turned 21 that Im still taking time to absorb it all. It all started with a trip to a Fire Expo & a lunch date that led to a whirlwind romance with someone I always had my eye on from afar but never thought anything would come of it. Boy was I wrong!
Every waking minute Donnie and I spent either talking, texting, chatting online, or making spontaneous trips to see each other since that simple day in Raleigh checking out fire gear and flirting over pizza and a BBQ sandwich at Carolina Ale House. Soon thereafter, we made random "meet me halfway" trips on I-40 on his days off work and in between classes just to smooch and walk around local shops for a few hours. Then it turned into a dreamlike- nearly Honeymoon style- weekend in Chapel Hill that we really fell in love. We knew from that weekend forward there was no turning back- ok so maybe he knew a bit sooner than me but still- it was evident that after that weekend, we were meant to be together. We even had a Christmas ornament made with the comment that "every year from now on we'll get one made!!" A week later I had a month long Christmas break from school and it felt like everyday we were together- golfing, lunches, dinners, mini-dates with Kylie, hanging out with friends, and so on. We shared our first Christmas together at my moms, and I proudly displayed our Christmas ornament on my pink mini-tree in my apartment at school. It all felt too good to be true. I had had such sorry luck with relationships, I felt there was no way in this world someone as handsome, loving, career-oriented, driven, romantic and just family oriented could be so interested in me- he talked about a future together so much I just knew that at any minute he was going to kidnap me in his truck and we were going to elope.
Thursday, January 21, 2010- the shock of a lifetime came while I was away at school and Donnie was home for work. I had been joking around since New Years about how everyone I went to school with seemed to be getting married and having babies. I made the statement that "Who knows what could happen in 2010?! For all I know, I could be a MOM this year!!" That definitely came true for us that night and the next morning as soon as he got off work, Donnie came to Raleigh and wrapped me in his arms and told me everything would be alright. Over the coming days- we notified his family and worried ourselves sick with telling my mom. When we finally did, it went 200 billion times better than expected and made us that much more comfortable with all the changes taking place. We said from the very beginning of our relationship- we are in this TOGETHER! We knew we loved each other, we loved Kylie, we loved this new life growing inside me, and that was all that mattered.
I had my first Doctor's appointment and got to see the baby wiggling around inside me- I learned I was 14 weeks and 1 day pregnant. It was the most amazing thing to see this tiny life moving around on the screen and to realize that it is inside of me- I really still can't believe it. To hear the heartbeat and to know this child was made out of undescribable love was so special to both of us. Donnie's entire family has been nothing but welcoming, loving, and caring towards me and towards this new child and of Donnie and I's budding relationship! Donnie and I had been talking of marriage since day 1 practically so when he asked my mom if he could marry me- she was nervous of course- but she made sure to remind us to be true to our feelings and do this for the right reason. We could hardly sit still and planned to elope for several weekends but kept changing our plans. Finally one day Donnie came up to Raleigh to get me for the weekend we had ultimatly decided we would get married on (March 6) and as we were laying in bed, I made the commen that I just didn't feel like going to class that day- it had been a long week and I was exhausted. So instead Donnie suggested that we.......
DRIVE ALL THE WAY TO TEXAS! And yes, 19-ish hours later we arrived in Crosby, TX after driving all day and all night long. By far the most spontaneous thing we've ever done- but it was a much needed trip. We both felt it was necessary for me to meet his family before I became part of the family and it really gave us that much more confidence in our decision to join our lives as 1. We spent 3 days shuffling nonstop around the Crosby/Houston area visiting friends, family and touring a bit of Houson- the rodeo was in town!! The drive back nearly killed us but we finally made it home and could only talk of the next time we'd go visit.
March 20, 2010 we gathered with my mom and her boyfriend, Clifton, Donnie's friends Kaela, Brett, Amanda, Ryan and my Uncle Rick at the Magistrates Office and said our vows. It was definitely a quick ceremony and when my mom made a joke about how quick it was the Magistrate was snappy with a quick reply that if she wanted to pay $100 for a ceremony he might could make it a bit more memorable. But to us, it was memorable enough! We went to a nice lunch with everyone then Donnie and I went to Raleigh to get some alone time and spend the weekend away from home. The whole way there we kept looking at our rings and saying "we're married!!" To this day we're still in disbelief!!
Our biggest struggle has been finding our own place. Donnie has been staying with friends, but when you're married with a child you'd like to have come and visit, and a baby on the way- you really really need your own house. Every day we were both online looking for properties- called several & found some that sounded good but could never get the ball rolling. We were in town shopping one day and just randomly called a number on our list and the realtor was willing to meet us that day for a quick appointment to show a trailer that he would begin showing the next day. We jumped on it and sped out to the Chinquapin area. Once inside, we knew the place was ours. It was beautiful, new, clean, and just had a great HOME feeling to it- not to mention, the huge garden tub in the master bathroom looked pretty amazing to my pregnant self and to Donnie's aching back :) We told the guy we'd let him know ASAP but he said to be quick because he'd already had 25 calls and this place would go fast. No sooner did we get back in our car did Donnie tell me to get out and go tell him we'd have the money that next day. We couldn't believe it that we'd just found a place and there was no way we were going to let it slip away. I was at his office bright and early the next day and signed Amanda Woods on the line and it became ours!
Thats pretty much the quickest update of how things have gone so far. This Friday I get the keys to our place and we will begin moving in this weekend!!!! I have my next appointment on Monday April 12 and Ill be 17 weeks and hopefully we'll get to know if we should buy pink or blue stuff!!! Things have definitely been stressful, but we've stuck by our motto that we're in this together and with that foundation beneath us we've been able to handle anything thrown our way from a new baby, broken down vehicles, finding a place to live, school, and 10 million other things on the list!!
