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...

A little about me...

I figured my first blog should be something that would let people get to know me a little better. So… for those of you who know me well, and those of you that don’t know me well, I’m sure everyone will learn something! HA! Happy Reading…

1. My sister’s name is Rachael. However, I haven’t called her “Rachael” in probably 7 years. To me, her name should be Phoebe. So that’s what I call her! She acts just like Phoebe on the TV show Friends about 90% of her life, as long as it’s just me that is around.

2. My sister doesn’t call me Brittany either, she calls me Bernese. She doesn’t call me Bernese for any other reason that my favorite movie used to be Hope Floats. The little girls name in that movie is Bernese. At the end, her mom (Sandra Bullock) is going to marry a guy whose last name is Matise, and Bernese asks her mom if her name is going to have to be Bernese Matise. Ha! I always loved that part.

3. I hate coffee, but love how it smells. I would love to work at Starbucks just for the smell. But I couldn’t drink a cup of coffee to save my life. I hate it so much!! I’m such a Hot Chocolate fan!

4. I love cupcakes. They are the perfect size. I like how the little wrapper keeps the cake soft. I don’t like the edges of a normal sheet cake because they dry out. So, a cupcake to me, is the perfect piece of the inside part of a cake. I don’t like the icing on them though- I always scrape it off.

5. I had knee surgery a year ago, and I still have no feeling on the outside part of my right knee. One of my co-workers always teases me and says that some guy is going to put his hand on my knee to let me know he likes me, and I’m never going to feel it- and I will miss out on that special person.

6. Nothing makes me happier than for my Jeep to be clean and vacuumed out. However, it NEVER is!! Anyone who has ever gotten in the car with me to go somewhere knows how messy it is! It drives me crazy, but I never seem to have the time (or make the time) to clean it out. If it makes me so happy, you would think I would make more time for it. Maybe one of these days.

7. I am a TV junkie. I love, love, love any reality TV show. I don’t admit this too many people- so feel special. My DVR works on overdrive because of all the shows I watch. I don’t usually let people know that I watch certain shows, because I’m afraid they will make fun of me- so I record them and watch them when I’m home by myself! Ha!

8. I will not eat any kind of meat off of a bone. I can’t handle it. I love chicken, and if I have too, I will pull the chicken off of the bone and eat it, but as far as taking a bite into a chicken bone… NO WAY! I’ve never eaten ribs, or little buffalo wings. That grosses me out. While I’m on the food subject, let me just say that I pick out all the chicken in Chicken Noodle Soup. I have just recently found the Double Noodle soup at Kroger. It doesn’t have the chicken, and that makes me happy! AND- The round chicken nuggets from McDonalds freak me out. I only eat the ones that look like little socks. Okay, I’m done with the food facts about me.

9. I have been skydiving before. I loved it! I would do it again in a heartbeat. I think my dad would disown me if I did though. I thought he was going to kill me when I called him to tell him I had already done it.

10. I am a football, actually just sports in general, nut. I love sports! There aren’t many games that come on, that I don’t want to watch. Football is my favorite, with basketball being a close second. I’m probably one of the only girls I know that actually enjoys coming home on Sunday afternoon after church, and watching football! I once dated a guy that would test my “NFL knowledge”. I had to know who the quarterback was of every NFL team. On Sunday’s, I was always tested. I’m not sure if I could do it anymore… I haven’t tried in a while!

11. I cry during commercials alot. My sister makes fun of me. I try to hide it from her most of the time. The TV show 7th Heaven used to make me cry all the time. I would go into my room to watch it, so my sister wouldn’t see me cry.

12. When I was little, my childhood friend Kelly and I would always want to play together. My sister would always tag along… it bothered me so much. So, I would pretend like I heard my mom calling for her to come home, so she would leave. It worked every time. Sorry Phoebe.

13. I’ve never been fishing, in my whole life. I’ve always wanted to go- but never had anyone to take me. My dad has never been a fisher… just a hunter. Instead of taking me fishing, he would take me out to this old bridge outside Arkadelphia. We would throw coke cans off one side of the bridge, and shoot them when they came under. I am pretty good at that!!!

14. I hate Pink Razorback memorabilia. It’s NOT a Razorback color. I secretly want to open my own Razorback store here in Conway. I would have really cool stuff in there. But no pink… sorry!
15. My sister and I are 5 years apart. Several times a day we have “twin” moments. We will be thinking the same thing at the exact same time. It’s really strange. I’ll call her to tell her about something- and she will be picking up the phone to call me about the exact same thing.

16. I REFUSE to go to Walmart alone. One time when I was leaving, I was putting all the groceries in the back of my Jeep, and this car drove up behind me and said “hey!” well, when I turned around… they squirted me with a water gun. I was soaked! I didn’t even know these people! I screamed, and they drove off. I still have no clue who that was, and won’t go to Walmart by myself.

17. I can’t stand when someone touches my neck. I can’t wear shirts that are tight around my neck. Sometimes when I’m walking somewhere and its dark, I will have my hand up around my face so that if someone grabs my neck my hand will be closer to stop them. Sad, I know.

18. I hate bridges. I had driving over them, walking over them, everything about them. When I was little my dad and Uncle Wayne took me out on this train track late at night. We were walking along and one of my dad’s friends was under the train track and he reached up in between the boards and grabbed my leg. That might be where my fear comes from… but who knows. Heights don’t bother me at all… but bridges sure do!