He asked... I said YES!

Eric and I met thanks to these two WONDERFUL/ CRAZY people, who really are great friends...

We were spending TONS of time together (we were pretty much inseparable after our first date)! We were getting pretty serious, I have to admit things did move quickly for Eric and me. After the first few dates, I knew he was the man for me. I found out later, that Eric was thinking the exact same thing- we were both afraid to say to each other. ha! From there, things started REALLY moving quickly. We talked about marriage, and both couldn't have been more sure. There was just one thing that needed to be done before anything else... talk to our parents. Eric was sure his parents would be super excited for us- and they were! However, I wasn't so sure about my parents! My parents loved Eric- but I just wasn't sure what they were going to say. After MANY long discussions and some very difficult questions answered- we had approval from both sets of parents! YAY! The only thing that we had to compromise on was the date. Eric and I wanted to get married in October. (yes, 3 months after we had met) we were that sure. However, my daddy wanted us to wait until spring. At our church, Upward Basketball is going on every weekend in January and February, so we decided we would get married the first weekend after Upward was over. We decided on March 5th, because I have always wanted to get married on a Friday night. The date was set! Only one problem still hung over our heads... ERIC HADN'T OFFICIALLY PROPOSED!!!

We went ring shopping- just to look around. Eric wanted me to show him what I liked, give him some options, and then he would come back and get the ring on his own. That way, I would still be surprised, but Eric would know he was getting me a ring I liked. We shopped around for a little while- I found I ring that I absolutely LOVED, but Eric told me it was too expensive. My mom and I made plans to go ring shopping that next Saturday, so I could report back to Eric what I found. The Thursday before that weekend, Eric and I both had gotten off work early. It was a gorgeous day! Eric asked me if I wanted to go to Little Rock. He told me that he wanted to take me somewhere. I said sure- so we were off to Little Rock. We ended up at Pinnacle Mountain.

 

I had never been to Pinnacle Mountain before, so I thought it was really cool. Since Eric hadn't told me where we were going, I didn't have on the appropriate shoes for hiking Pinnacle (I had on flip-flops)! Anyway, when we got there, he told me he had something in the back of my Jeep. I was really confused at this point! He got out a cooler. I am so nosey, it's ridiculous. I started asking a million questions! "Why are we here? What's in the cooler? Is there food in there? 'cause I'm really hungry! etc..." Poor guy! haha!  We started on our journey up the mountain. I got really thirsty, so I asked if there were any drinks in the cooler he had brought! ha! I think he was getting very frustrated with me by this time, so he stopped at the next little "rest area". He opened the cooler and inside there were sandwiches, drinks, and some chips. I was excited!! We started getting something to drink, and I noticed Eric wouldn't look at me. I thought he was mad at me because of all the questions... the next think I knew, Eric was down on one knee!! I was really confused now! All these thoughts started racing through my head. "Was he going to propose without a ring? and us just get one later?" I decided to stop thinking and just listen. Eric told me that there wasn't anyone else that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, and that he couldn't wait to start our lives together (confession: I don't really remember everything he said. I was way too emotional!) Then, Eric reached in his pocket and pulled out a little box! I was really freaking out now... I do remember the next words that came out of his mouth... "Brittany Layne, will you spend the rest of your life with me?" Then he opened the box...

It was the ring that was "too expensive"!!!!!

My first words were "You told me that ring was too expensive!" haha! He said "I may have lied, would you like to answer the question?" Of course I said YES! Stinkin' boy tricked me! But, I love him for it! He made the day totally perfect!

Boy Meets Girl

For so long, I looked around at people in my life and saw how happy they were with their spouse or significant other and became envious of those relationships. If one more person said to me, “someone will come along when you least expect it” I was ready to SCREAM! I was starting to give up on finding that special “guy for me”. I focused my quiet times on being content with myself. It didn’t happen over night, but after a while, God really started to change my heart. I was content in being whoever God wanted me to be (single or married). God was showing me other opportunities that I could get involved in. He showed me that life isn’t all about “finding that special someone”. My life had been so caught up in that concept that my relationship with God was suffering. Boy was He quick to change my outlook! I started becoming VERY involved in my church’s youth group. I have formed friendships with some very special girls that will last a lifetime!

I wouldn’t change that for anything. For the first time in my life, I was happy with how things were going.

Well, “someone came along when I least expected it!” GRR! I hate that saying! Some friends began to ask me about meeting this guy. I absolutely hate blind dates, I hate being set-up, it just never works out for me! I was very hesitant. However, my friends were very persistent. So, I told them that I would meet him…

Our first date was for sure nothing you would ever see in the movies. It was a Thursday (July 16th to be exact), the plan was for us to go out to eat, and possibly go see a movie. Well, I woke up late for work that morning, and things didn’t get better after that! I had the WORST day at work. It was raining and SO hot outside. For those of you with curly hair (that you try to make straight) you know what rain and humidity do to your hair! Ugh. I was in NO MOOD to go on a first date with this guy. After work, I called him and explained how bad of a day I had, and asked if we could reschedule. He was so wonderful about it! He told me that he completely understood, and rescheduling was fine with him! I got home, put on some comfy clothes, and curled up on the couch to watch TV. Not long after that, my phone rang, it was Eric. He just wanted to check on me to make sure I was feeling better since I got home. How sweet! After we talked a few minutes, he “casually” mentioned that at some point I was going to have to eat something. After talking for a while the plan was set. I would go to his apartment and we would go get something to eat. I did mention to him that I was in comfy pants and a t-shirt and not to expect anything great! Ha! (I put on some jeans and re-did my make-up before I left!) I got to his apartment, we went to Zaxby’s to get dinner, and then went back to his apartment to eat. By this time, I had totally forgotten about how horrible my day had been, and couldn’t get over how wonderful this guy was. I was skeptical though, anyone can put up a front for a first impression! After we ate we watched a movie, and then I went home. It was a very simple, and spontaneous. It was exactly what I needed. Thank you Eric, for being so great that day!

Wow... It's been a while!

So... I made this blog a while ago, and haven't done anything with it. Well, that is all changing TODAY! My friend Rachel made the comment not to long ago that I have so much going on in my life that I should really start blogging about it. I thought about this for a while. I went back and forth about writing down all of my personal stories and ideas. I came to the conclusion that at some point in my life, it will be really cool to go back and read all of these stories. :) Probably nobody will ever read this blog (maybe Rachel) so- what's it going to hurt. Here goes... this is my life. Nothing fancy... but it's me (and now Eric!) Here goes nothing...