So. A bunch has happened since my last update, so this will be rather a lengthy blog.
To start it off, I'm engaged!!! Yeah it was a total surprise. It happened June 28th when I flew back into the airport in Nashville from Maine. He was there to pick me up. I wrote a good little story about it on our wedding website. I'll just copy and paste it:
"For the whole month of June I was gone to Maine for a Campus Crusade Summer Project. Parker and I were apart for 4 weeks, the longest we had ever been apart! So you can imagine how much I missed him! I flew back into Nashville and Parker was picking me up at the airport. I walked down the stairs to where my baggage claim was and there he was!! I was sooo excited to see him! I walked over and gave him a hug and kiss telling him I missed him and then I realized he had a LifeWay bag in his hand. I asked him what it was, thinking he just might have gone shopping while I was still on the plane to kill some time. He just said he had gotten me a little something extra for my birthday (my 21st birthday was a week before this). I would have asked more questions, but I was wanting to get my bags and get out of the airport as soon as I could. So I got my bags, filled up my Nalgene, and then we walked on over to the car. We were packing up the car and the whole time I was jabbering on about how great my experience in Maine was and all the funny stories that happened while I was gone. He then asked if I wanted my present. I reached in the bag and pulled out a new Couples Devotion Bible with my name on it. Only thing is, it had his last name on it besides mine. I looked puzzled and asked him what that meant and he was already on one knee with the ring in his hand asking me to marry him. I was soooo shock adn surprised and overwhelmed I couldn't look at him at first! Finally after getting up enough courage to look at him in the eyes, I of course told him yes! We drove back to the house and he talked about how he had planned everything the month I was gone, including buying the ring, getting the Bible and even talking to my parents before he asked me. It was perfect. :) Such a great ending to an amazing summer!"
"For the whole month of June I was gone to Maine for a Campus Crusade Summer Project. Parker and I were apart for 4 weeks, the longest we had ever been apart! So you can imagine how much I missed him! I flew back into Nashville and Parker was picking me up at the airport. I walked down the stairs to where my baggage claim was and there he was!! I was sooo excited to see him! I walked over and gave him a hug and kiss telling him I missed him and then I realized he had a LifeWay bag in his hand. I asked him what it was, thinking he just might have gone shopping while I was still on the plane to kill some time. He just said he had gotten me a little something extra for my birthday (my 21st birthday was a week before this). I would have asked more questions, but I was wanting to get my bags and get out of the airport as soon as I could. So I got my bags, filled up my Nalgene, and then we walked on over to the car. We were packing up the car and the whole time I was jabbering on about how great my experience in Maine was and all the funny stories that happened while I was gone. He then asked if I wanted my present. I reached in the bag and pulled out a new Couples Devotion Bible with my name on it. Only thing is, it had his last name on it besides mine. I looked puzzled and asked him what that meant and he was already on one knee with the ring in his hand asking me to marry him. I was soooo shock adn surprised and overwhelmed I couldn't look at him at first! Finally after getting up enough courage to look at him in the eyes, I of course told him yes! We drove back to the house and he talked about how he had planned everything the month I was gone, including buying the ring, getting the Bible and even talking to my parents before he asked me. It was perfect. :) Such a great ending to an amazing summer!"
And here's the famous ring shot. (note, yes I know my diamond looks blue, it's just the light. :))
I'm incredibly excited about getting married. There have been moments where I'll go to bed at night and say to myself "Do I REALLY want to get married now?" It's a shocking thing. But a good shocking thing. It's just freaky realizing that something you had dreamed about your whole life is about to come true. We haven't set an actual date yet, but we are hoping for June 6th of next year. So I'll have to be taking my time with planning, due to my busy busy upcoming seniro year. It'll be a blasty!
My trip to Maine......
Ah, Maine. It was the single most amazing thing I had ever experienced. I can still remember the morning I awoke in the Hampton Inn hotel in Nashville, packing my bags to go to the airport at 4:00 am (my flight left at 6:00 am). I teared up as Parker left me at security, not just because I was gonna miss him but because I was really nervous about leaving for Maine. I had no i
dea what to expect, even after talking to my friend Ashley (who was coming back this summer as a student staff) I was still anxious and nervous about meeting new people and doing different things and being away for a month. The Lord blessed me with Molly on my arrival day of flying between my flights to Bangor. Molly lived in Pennsylvania and we both learned that we were on the same flight to Acadia. We were both nervous and had the same fears and it was a blessing to be with someone to go through the baggage claim and security who shared the same fears as you. She was the best person God could have put in my path that day, we had a lot in common with each other and shared a lot of similar interests. To this day, after project, we still remain good close friends. I wouldn't trade her for the world.
dea what to expect, even after talking to my friend Ashley (who was coming back this summer as a student staff) I was still anxious and nervous about meeting new people and doing different things and being away for a month. The Lord blessed me with Molly on my arrival day of flying between my flights to Bangor. Molly lived in Pennsylvania and we both learned that we were on the same flight to Acadia. We were both nervous and had the same fears and it was a blessing to be with someone to go through the baggage claim and security who shared the same fears as you. She was the best person God could have put in my path that day, we had a lot in common with each other and shared a lot of similar interests. To this day, after project, we still remain good close friends. I wouldn't trade her for the world.I remember when Molly and I finally made our way into Bay Meadows Cottage (where we would stay the summer with the rest of the students) we were hoping we were going to be roommates in the same cabin. We learned after registration that they put us into different cabins. I was really dissapointed as I rolled my luggage to Cabin 18, my home for the next 4 weeks. I was welcomed with giant smiles into my cabin by Ashley, Shelby and Sarah, my roommates. God seriously co
uld not have paired me with a better set of 3 girls to live with. We all bonded and connected in a way I never had with any other roommates. We cooked together, laughed SO much with each other, prayed together, cried together, took walks together, talked about our faith, our hopes and dreams, our fears and shared our struggles. I remember just within living a week together we already felt like the closest friends. Since we've been back from Maine, we've talked and still kept in touch and plan on taking a few trips to visit each other. I love them all sooo much!!!
uld not have paired me with a better set of 3 girls to live with. We all bonded and connected in a way I never had with any other roommates. We cooked together, laughed SO much with each other, prayed together, cried together, took walks together, talked about our faith, our hopes and dreams, our fears and shared our struggles. I remember just within living a week together we already felt like the closest friends. Since we've been back from Maine, we've talked and still kept in touch and plan on taking a few trips to visit each other. I love them all sooo much!!!I learned so much that month in Maine about myself, my flaws and my strengths and how I can use the two together to make a better Mallorey. I learned how important it is to have close relationships, no matter what kind of personality you have. I also learned the importance of grace and truth in your relationships and also in your lifestyle and how they both have to be balanced in order to be healthy and to enable you to grow. I learned also the importance of taking responsibilty for my feeligs, thoughts, actions and to have boundaries in my life. We were able to connect all these ideas back to the Bible and what God's Word says about it. I was challenged by the material we were learning from our directors and even more challenged by our outdoor activities. I have so many stories with each of them, but I can't tell them all in one blog. I seriously didn't think I had the strength to bike 17 miles in one day, kayak all day long in the wavy blistery ocean, or rock climb up a 4 story cliff but I accomplished them all. I realized I had so much more strength in me than I gave myself credit for. I now have a lot of new loves in my life: like rock climbing!! I fell in LOVE with it! I had so much fun. It was the scariest thing I've ever done... but so worthwhile.
Not to mention, Maine was absolutley gorgeous. I took a whole lot of pictures that I plan to upload on flickr soon. I want to go back again, it is now my second home and always will be.
I remember so much, the last night we were together on project, I cried myself to sleep, because I was so upset about leaving. I got so close and had bonded to everyone so much, they became my family and I was developing that feeling of being "at home" with them. I haven't felt that way about many of my friends at home, just a select few. My heart was broken when I drove away from Bay Meadows. I had shared so much with them and they had shared so much with me in return, I felt as though they had a part of me when I left, and I still feel like they do. But it makes me happy, because that's what connects us all together. I know that I will still keep in touch with these people and that we will all be friends for life. I pray that God will somewhere 
sometime bring us back together, if it's in His will. (there's a picture of me and my activity group, we were all really close. I miss them so much.)
sometime bring us back together, if it's in His will. (there's a picture of me and my activity group, we were all really close. I miss them so much.)Now I'm back in Martin, TN taking summer classes with a wedding to plan. :) So much going on!!! It's gonna be a good year.
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