My Favorite Day with My Marine!

After being together for over two and a half years, there are lots of memories that I have with Brandon. I scoured my brain for the best of the best and had so much to choose from. Him proposing, us moving in together, the MC Ball, Family Day and Graduation...but then I realized that none of that would have happened without one single day. The day I met him.

We met in a pretty nontraditional way. We met on Facebook! After talking for a little less than a year online and eventually on the phone, we decided to meet in person! It was November of 2007 and Brandon had friends coming up to Atlanta so he came up with them. We met up first at the Georgia Aquarium. I brought Amanda and Brittany with me, just to be safe (you know how the internet is!). We had a great time at the aquarium, but things were just a little awkward. After that, Manda and Britt left and we decided to stay and hang out some more, just the two of us. We walked around Centennial Olympic Park for a while and got more comfortable with each other. We then met up with my friend Ryan at the Hard Rock Cafe! That was an experience, for sure! Lets just say Phil Collins in the Hard Rock gets a little crazy! Haha So after that, we walked back to my car and seriously sat there and talked for at least 3 hours. It was great! That's when we really clicked and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect first date!

I knew the day I met him that there was something special about him, something different than other guys I'd dated before. We started "officially" dating the next day and have been together ever since. I couldn't have met him at a more perfect time. Two months later, my mom's journey with cancer began and he by my side from start to finish, when she passed away in September of 2008. I am so thankful to have him in my life and truly blessed to have found my soulmate this young. :) I don't have any pictures of us from that day, but I do have pictures from the day!

I'd always wanted to go through one of these tunnels! It was really cool!

They had one of the biggest fish tanks everrrr. Blew my mind. lol

And the pretty (and huge!) Christmas tree in Centennial Olympic Park!

Here's a picture of us, shortly after we met! Wayyy before the Corps! Haha

My reason for this post, other than I love reminiscing, is the awesome giveaway from Nicole at Flip Flops and Combat Boots, and Melissa from Perfectly Distressed! Melissa was kind enough to donate one of her military signs to a very lucky USMC girl! And Nicole was awesome to host the giveaway as part of her blog's one year birthday! Happy Birthday, Nicole!

Here's an example of the sign that's up for grabs!

So if you're a USMC girlfriend/wife/fiancee like myself, head over and check it out! And check out Melissa's awesome creations at her Etsy page! :) Thank you Nicole and Melissa for the opportunity!