This takes us back to 2001. I was currently unemployed and not really looking for a job. A seasonal job just fell in my lap and I gave it an opportunity.
Little did I know East Carolina Tobacco Contractors would be the best job I ever had. I was going to be a “scanner girl” and it just so happen to be on my future husbands buying line. The first day I met Andy, I thought he was a really sweet guy and he had a very outgoing personality. Over the next several weeks I spent getting to know Andy and lots of the local farmers. Andy stood out over all of them! In the beginning Andy would always take lunch with the guys and a couple weeks went by and he started inviting me to lunch with “the crew” and then next thing you know Andy and I are having lunch together alone. Still we never had exchange telephone numbers.
One Saturday afternoon in July 2001, I received a telephone call from Andy. He invited me to the movies to see “Plant of the Apes” and have dinner. For those of you that have seen this movie, well I don’t need to explain. I thought WOW, Plant of the Apes….but I went anyway. I picked him up and we done the dinner and movie. He was really sweet and I thought when I dropped him back off at his hotel, maybe he is different than all the rest.
With Andy’s job it requires him to travel a lot and that meant that in the fall he had to leave for his buying destination for 3-4 months. During these months I would fly out to see Andy and when he would return home on the weekends we always had plans. We enjoyed getting to know each other for the next several months. Lots of phone calls and cards in the mail! (We still have all of those cards)
Andy’s return in the Spring of 2002 started a whole new level of our relationship! We spent 90% of our time together! Since I was married previously I had a daughter. It was very important to me how she felt and how she was treated by Andy. He was a great role model for her and treated her with respect just as he would his own. The year flew by. Courtney and I went on field trials with him, learned some dog training, and even learned about walking horses. He wanted us to be a part of whatever he was doing! We took a couple mini vacations together and alone too. We all seemed to enjoy each others company and felt complete when we were all together.
Over the next several months Andy and I continued dating and eventually the next couple months turned into the next couple years. Andy and I had been discussing marriage for several months prior to our engagement so our engagement was quick. On January 10, 2004 Andy ask me to marry him and on February 28, 2004, we got married! You see I am a planner on some things…..but most of the time I am spurt of the moment. In this short period of time, I bought a dress, made wedding invitations, created our program, ordered our cake, arranged our photographer, picked out our wedding bands, selected our flowers, planned a reception, had a wedding shower and planned every other little thing that has to be done when you get married. We almost did not make it to get our marriage license in time. The Tennessee courthouse closes at 5:00 and we got there at 4:45, just in time!
We had the sweetest wedding ever! We packed up the whole family during a snow storm for NC and headed to Gatlinburg, TN and got married at “The Chapel at The Park”. It was so beautiful. Sometimes at these little chapels you do not know exactly what to expect. Well our wedding was way more than expected! We had a great minister, just like the kind we would have had back at home. At our wedding Andy give Courtney a promise to love her necklace. He made a vow to her before he did me that he would love her as his own, and cherish her too. Today he still does this to her and me too!
The reception was perfect and the cake was great. For all of this planning to take place over the phone we could not have asked for it to be anymore perfect. We celebrated a quite honeymoon in a little log cabin with the best view ever! We saw lots of wild animals on the little creek right outside of our cabin.
Now almost 7 years later we have added 2 boys to our family, Connor and Carter and Courtney is the best big sister ever! It is such a blessing to have what we have.
I would have to say that 2001 was one of the best years of my life, it was the year I met the love of my life. It is my greatest desire to spend many more years with Andy as we watch our children grow into adults. God has surely blessed me and I am very thankful for all of his blessings.
