The story of us, to Mary Reese

I dated your daddy two years before getting married. I knew right away that he was an incredible man. I had to beg him to take my phone number the night we met and nervously waited for four days before receiving a phone call from him. He was well worth the wait.

After about three months of dating, your daddy graduated from UGA and began a 2 year leadership program through his work. The position meant that he would move every six months, for a total of 4 rotations. Throughout the first half of our long distance relationship, he lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana and Weathersfield, Connecticut. While living in Connecticut, he proposed to me at a beautiful bed and breakfast in Mystic. I was ecstatic to say the least.

Soon after our engagement, he began his third rotation in Portland, Oregon. This was by far the hardest because of the three hour time difference and the cost of air travel from Atlanta to Portland. Thankfully, I had lots to do to keep me busy. For 6 months, your Gran C and I (and a wonderful wedding planner) planned the wedding of my dreams. The ceremony was held on August 28, 2004 at Athens First United Methodist Church.

After a honeymoon to St. Thomas, we packed up a big yellow moving truck (that broke down no less than 5 times throughout our journey) and headed to Lowell, Massachusetts. We lived there for 6 months, amongst cold weather loving yankees who couldn’t understand a word of what we were saying. Looking back, our time in Lowell was  magical. After nearly 2 years of long distance dating, we were finally together! We learned so much about each other and laid the foundation for a solid, loving relationship.

Lowell marked the end of your daddy’s leadership program and soon after, he accepted a long term position in Charlottesville, Virgina. We were thrilled to be moving back to south and loved the idea of  being able to hop in the car to visit loved ones back in Georgia–even through that short ride was still about 7 1/2 hours.

During our four year stay in Virginia, we visited many vineyards, welcomed JuJu-Bea, Bill, and Nene as our neighbors, and delivered a healthy, beautiful baby girl. Long before we talked babies, we decided that if we ever had a girl, we would name her Mary Reese. Mary is your Gran C’s first name and Reese is Danny’s maiden name. We love that you are named after your grandmothers.

When you were 11 months old, we got some very exciting news! Your daddy was offered a position in the Atlanta office. The news meant that we would celebrate your fist birthday back home, have family and friends close by, and be able to cheer the dawgs during football season!!!

We’ve been back home a year and half now and have never looked back. Sweet Mary Reese, you continue to amaze us. We love your southern accent, your silliness, and your warm kisses and hugs. We also love that in 6 and a half more months, you will be a big sister. We are blessed beyond measure and are so thankful to be your parents.