Sleeping animals.

Fun day with lots of walking. As I lay here my arches are killing me... they've never hurt like this before! Ugh- how annoying!! Today we checked out of the LA Zoo.

It was pretty cool. Most of the animals were either sleeping out of sight or just hanging out in the shade. They said a lot of the animals would be in the shade because of the major "heat wave." Oh how funny, these people don't even know what hot is!! It was also kinda funny to see all the different types of people here. It was SO crowded, and we were definitely in the minority... welcome to the Great American Melting Pot!! But it was still pretty fun to see the zebras and chimps have their moments of craziness!!

After the zoo we were pretty much famished so we were off in the search of food! We ended up in Glendale at a little outdoor mall thing. We got In-n-Out again, and mom got hers from another little shop. We had a potato hurricane! It was so delish!!!

After lunch we went to check in to our new hotel, right next to the airport. It's huge, and were on the 12th floor!! A little different then our last stay. After we checked in we were off to see Manhattan beach! All the little houses were so cute, and we could definitely see how this could be a fun beach vaca! The beach was really cold though!! The wind and water were freezing!!!

When we were driving around looking at the beach and houses we came across a Joe's Crab Shack... if you know the Thaxton's then you know we can't help but eat some Joes!!! Me and dad shared our regular BBQ crab, and it was delicious!!

After driving around for a bit we headed back to the hotel and then spent a little quality time in the hot tub!!

So a good day to end our trip, now were off to traveling home tomorrow. I'm thrilled about getting back to my Matthew :)

The Trail of 100 Giants.

Day 3 in California consisted of DRIVING, and lots of it.

We were off on an adventure for sure! We headed out and turned the GPS on mute so we could go where we wanted. haha Dad wanted to take the scenic route to show us the desert on the way to the Sequoia National Forest so we ended up traveling there for a good 4 1/2 hours.

The pictures we got were totally worth it though.

It was all so pretty, and so different then Alabama or the South! For lunch we ate at Mimi's Cafe. The service was absolutely horrendous but they did send us away with muffins for breakfast! Oh man, now I must go on my soap box about the AMAZING Sequoia trees!! I'm not sure the pictures will do it justice. They are H-U-G-E!!!

They were spectacular! We walked on a trail that was a little over a mile called the Trail of 10o Giants. It was true, there were quite a few "giants." Please notice how teeny tiny we are below:

Absolutely magnificent! After driving back, which only took about 2 1/2 hours we searched for a fun pizza place but ended back at the hotel to get some made by their restaurant. It was yummy, and we pigged out!

So tomorrow another day... I hope we go to the LA Zoo :)

They got more bounce in California.

Oh how I love me some quality California time.

On Thursday I was off to Atlanta for a night at the Fox with my sweet friend Hannah. She got tickets to see the Phantom of the Opera for her birthday and she asked me to go with her :) It was a wonderful show that we both really enjoyed! After we got to experience some (what we think were) street racers and then a good time of hanging out at her apartment!!

Friday afternoon my intern friend Nicole picked me up to take me to the airport!! Ahh, boy do I owe her! We stopped at Willy's for lunch - which we heard was a "better" Moe's, we disagreed. And then she dropped me off and my airport fun began. Ever since my first flight to California with my dad when I was in 8th grade I have LOVED airports. I think its because they are a stepping stone of taking me where I want to go :) So I made it through checkin and security like a pro and waited for mom, dad, and Elizabeth to arrive on their late flight from Huntsville!

They showed up, and we boarded our flight and we were off to Cali. It was a wonderfully easy flight and now-a-days they even have internet to buy: that sure does make for a quick flight. We also got to watch some of the World Cup- it was funny when everyone cheered when different things happened. Also got to catch an episode of Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals and got a good recipe!

California day 1 and 2 went off excellently. When we got there we were off to Santa Monica Pier to hang out and have a fun happy birthday dinner for mom at Bubba Gump's!

Day 2 was spent in and around LA. First we headed up to Griffith Park to the observatory for pictures with the Hollywood sign!

Then we went to Hollywood and also got to get some yummy ice cream at Disney's Soda Shop. Some of our favorites that had visited there as well are the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus!

Then we spent some time in Beverly Hills (because "thats where I want to be!!!"). We drove through Rodeo Drive and some fancy neighborhoods before heading to In-n-Out Burgers for lunch! This is one of my fav's so I was super happy! It happened to be right by the UCLA campus, so that was neat!

After that we headed to a famous donut shop dad had heard about! It was really yummy!!

After that we were kind of worn out so we went back to the hotel to rest up before dinner! For dinner we went to a place called Claim Jumper. It was a neat little place with a good atmosphere and yummy food!

Job hunt.

Oh the job hunt continues.

Although I have enjoyed being back in Auburn, away from pulling weeds, the job search is hard. It's kind of emotionally draining. It's an on going process so hopefully it will eventually lead to something!

On the other hand, wedding plans are rockin' and rollin'. We have the church and reception site booked :) What a relief! I feel like I can sit back and relax now. Still trying to make minor decisions though! I think I've settled on a color theme, I know what kind of dresses I want for my bridesmaids, I know who will be my bridesmaids (; and Jeanna helped me find a photographer that I LOVE last night who I'm waiting to hear back from! I told my dad that he is kind of in charge of finding a caterer for the reception. I know he will find someone good for a good price! More details to come... and maybe an inspiration board?! If I can figure that out!! (ML inspires me!! haha!)

Check out our knot page for fun details!

Hello Auburn.

So, I'm back in Auburn... like for good.

On Wednesday I let the company, I was working with, know that Thursday would be my last day! It had come about that I may think about leaving sooner rather than later since I felt like I had different expectations of what this summer would be. When I heard internship and even after talking with the management of the company I had the idea that I would get to learn all aspects of the green industry! Four weeks into it and I was still on a Floriculture crew picking weeds, watering pots, and laying mulch. Stuff that in one weeks time I would have fully got the "gist" of what they do. I, as with the other interns, imagined getting to experience it all- like maybe a week with each crew, a week following the designer, a week in the office etc, etc. I talked to the VP, who was responsible for recruiting and basically being our boss, on Tuesday about what I was thinking and how I felt I wasn't learning anything. He talked to me with complete disrespect, and later I found out that he actually lied right to my face about some things. After that I just decided that was something I didn't want to be a part of any longer. So Wednesday night I packed up my car and I headed out Thursday after work. It was exciting to leave, after I had been a bit miserable, but I didn't like the idea of "quitting" or having to leave the other interns.

So now Im back in Auburn and now searching for a job! If anyone hears of any kind of opening with office, secretarial, or bank type jobs in Auburn or Opelika or even Montgomery PLEASE let me know as soon as you can.

The Big 2-0.

Nope, not me. I turned the big 2-1 in May. Now it's my Matthews turn!

I was so happy he got to come celebrate and spend the weekend with me in Atlanta! He decided to start the weekend off great by surprising me and showing up like 4 hours early :) When he got here I welcomed him to "Birthday weekend" (a Thaxton favorite) and "Yay, we're engaged weekend!" Friday night we just wanted to chill so we cooked up some Poppy Seed Chicken and rented Leap Year. It was a nice relaxing night!

Of course Saturday came around and we were up for something fun and adventurous! And an adventure it was!! We decided to ride MARTA into town and go to eat at The Varsity. The MARTA ride was easy... exciting for Matthew- his first time on a train! haha

Well, the real adventure begins when we got off at the North Avenue Station. We get off and decided to ask a police officer where the Varsity is. He points and tells us its behind the huge AT&T building- alright easy enough... we head that way. After walking around in that killer heat for about 30 minutes and still having no clue of where it was we called my dad to point us in the right direction. Wow, the police man had pointed us in the opposite direction... it was like two short blocks from where we got off MARTA. We decided we were thankful for a fun adventure anyways!! But by the time we got there we were starving. It was a first time for the both of us... that place was huge... "What'll ya have?!?"

We did later venture off to Ikea for another adventure. That place was nuts!! They heard you in and around like cattle basically! ha We hit up a new fast food Chinese restaurant for dinner- hoping it would out do Pandas... yeah right :( The rest of the night we spent planning... WEDDING planning!! Fun!

So Sunday was Matthew's birthday. Ever since we had seen Holeman and Finch on the Food Network on Chef vs. City we have been wanting to go eat there! Well the cool thing they do is at 10 oclock everynight they make 24 double cheeseburgers. That's it for the day... just 24. (Except thankfully their website let us know that you can get them at Sunday brunch- perfect!) I decided this was perfect for Matthew's birthday because he LOVES burgers. Well we both ordered "The Burger" with pickles, ketchup, and mustard on the side. The cool thing about these burgers are the bun, pickles, ketchup and mustard are all home made there! I don't even like pickles but I tried them and they were the best pickles I've ever tried! ha Matthew also got their special lemonade... the waiter told us that they put lemon zest in the sugar- it was really yum!

Ahh, we chilled for the rest of the afternoon. I tried on my new Under Armour shoes... which inspired the picture below haha. I'm just so proud of them :) Matthew opened his present... which really just consisted of just a grill brush... but that was to go along with the grill I bought him and was waiting for him in his apartment in Auburn! Surprise!!! Then Matthew was off back to Auburn :( That goodbye part is just SO hard! Happy Birthday Love!

Love Story.

So, here's our story.

The first weekend in January 2009 we were both off to Jackson, Alabama to help with the d-now at Judd's church. I didn't know Matthew, and he didn't know me. The first thing I remember is sitting down in the fellowship hall to eat and Dumas sitting there telling Matthew all about how I have and take a ridiculous amount of pictures! (Oh, how Im so thankful that wasn't a deal breaker!! ha) So through the weekend I purposefully would come up with things to ask him or talk to him about. haha, What can I say, I thought he was cute :) On the way home from this d-now it got around that we were all going to watch 24 at Ben's Sunday and Monday night. I made sure to be there, and later to find out so did Matthew. After 24 we went our separate ways... but coincidentally both ended up at the Opelika Wal-Mart looking for school notebooks! Even stranger than that after leaving Wal-Mart we both ended up in the Arby's drive through line. After that, I felt like something was up! We chatted on facebook a few nights after that before he asked for my number. Friday night he asked me to go to the Auburn vs. Alabama basketball game- and sit next to him and all his jumpsuit friends. I said yes, and he picked me up the next day at 11:15 to get good seats at the game! We hung out ALL day, literally 11:15 am- 11:30 pm. A few weeks later he asked me out on our first date! A few short weeks after that as we studied on my futon for upcoming tests he slipped me a little note that said "Will you be my Valentine? Check Yes or No" Of course I immediately checked yes! Shortly later that night he asked me (yes, I made him say it!!) to be his girlfriend- boy was it a big night :) Ever since then we have loved getting to know each other better and spending so much time together.

Now is where our engagement story comes into play:

Two Thursdays ago while at work in Atlanta I found out that I didn't have to work Friday. So first thing I thought, perfect I can get to Auburn and surprise Matthew before going to the beach Friday with his family! So right after work I packed like crazy and was off! I knew he was going on a bike ride at 6, so I hoped to catch him before he left. I didn't :( I got to his apartment knocked and got no reply! So I called him and "angrily" told him to get home because I was there! He got back and I told him dinner was on me, you pick the place. Something like Momma G's right now, or something like Logan's or Santa Fe after a shower. He said Logan's or Santa Fe, so I was off to my apartment for a shower! Shortly after he picked me up and we went on to Santa Fe. We had a yummy meal there, and he mentioned that we needed to go by Grandmothers to get a birthday present but first he wanted to go on a walk. So we got done with dinner and headed for our walk- he said at the Arboretum... and of course I replied with the Arboretum is scary at night! He said, "That's why I'm here!" We laughed and then went in. He said lets go down by the water and sit and talk a little bit. When we got down there he told me he made me something. Me and my big mouth said, "hmm, thats weird... you don't usually make me things!" haha. So he pulled a little picture book out of his back pocket. On each page was a significant event in our life. So he showed it to me and got me to explain what each page had on it.

Page 1 was where we met:

Page 2 was the first day we hung out together:

Page 3 and 4 was our first date:

Page 5 was our first Valentines:

Page 6 and 7 was our One year date:

(the picture of Hamilton's wouldn't upload for some reason!)

I had to get his help with the next page. He told me it was us right now, in the Arboretum.

For the last page he made me stand up and I flipped the page and he got down on his knee. Of course I started crying and he told me all the reasons he loves me and asked me to marry him. Of course I said Yes.

And then he had to remind me to put the ring on. After that we sat there and listened to a playlist he had made of some of our songs. Of course we were in a hurry to get back to the car to look at the ring AND call everyone :)

It was simply amazing, and I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with Matthew Ryan Watford! I also can't wait to become Mrs. Watford :) I am so blessed.

So far the only decision we have made is MAY 7th, 2011 in Huntsville, AL... Save the date :)