catching fireflies in the georgia skies.

That's right folks, IM ENGAGED, and tying the knot with the zeke squad come September 8, 2012! We could not be more thrilled and excited for the party that will be taking place with family and friends that we oh so adore!

I have so much to catch up on but first things first is the story of my so called "firefly." As you all know, the past couple of weeks I spent at home in Georgia and on vacation with my Mom's whole side of the family in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Before the trip to the island, Zeke jetted off on a plane to his first visit ever to the deep south! I was so excited for his arrival and to show him the stomping grounds of my beloved south. I'll get more into our high adventures in posts to come, but as for the proposal, that was unexpected and quite the surprise.

One night at home in Georgia, I decided to take Zeke firefly catching since he's never been before. Back where he is from, California, they don't have such a fly that lights up the sky, so he was pretty excited to grab our mason jars and catch the little boogers who glow in the night. I love firefly catching. When I was younger, it was a summer pastime with my neighborhood pals. We'd call them lightening bugs then, and sadly, we'd catch the lightening bugs at dusk and well... smash them and rub their glow on our skin so that our skin would too glow in the dark. Pretty sad and twisted that we used to do it, but I use the excuse that we were kids and we were curious and creative then.

My backyard is pretty spectacular, I must say. My parents have put forth a lot of hard work to make it as lush and beautiful as it is today. It's one of my many favorite things I look forward to when I come home in the summers, is to sit on the porch in my backyard telling stories, eating pie and watching the fireflies glow and listen to the cicadas "sing" their loud noisemaking songs. Even thinking of doing that right now gets me all hyper and giddy. I have such fond memories of spending time with my family and friends doing that. Along with my backyard comes the deep deep woods. I grew up exploring these woods as a kid with my friends. We did everything back there. We'd stay out late at night in the woods telling ghost stories in a circle spooking ourselves out still our skin crawled. We'd splash in the creek and hang around "pride rock" as we called it which resembled Pride Rock from the Lion King. I even remember the boys once hid in the woods and waited for us girls to show up and attacked us with paint ball guns. Now that was chaotic. We did all kinds of things back in the day that sadly I feel most kids at that age don't do anymore. But for me, Im thankful that I have those special memories and that they happened in my very own backyard.

Zeke didn't know this at the time, I guess he just felt that the moment was right while I took him back into the woods of my childhood and relived a pastime with him. It was  perfect timing because a heat lightening storm was rolling through and those are my all time favorite. We spent about a half hour trying to catch the fireflies, but we're having the worst luck ever. It was so dark that we'd lose the location of the fly instantly after it would glow. Finally Zeke screamed claiming that he had caught one! I was so pumped, so I crouched over to see the firefly in the palm of his hands but I couldn't see the guy glow. I was so confused, I thought for sure the firefly had died. And suddenly, I saw something slightly flicker... and it was a teeny bit yellow just like my firefly and then I realized that the Zoo had caught me a REAL FIREFLY, a beautiful yellow sapphire ring! My jaw dropped. He was proposing to me!! I was so caught off guard that I started laughing! I was so giddy. He just laughed too because we were so caught up in the excitement and in the reality of a special time to look forward to ahead. It was a special moment. One that meant more to me then I think he knows. Another special and very important memory added to the place that I grew up. Everything about those woods and my backyard have an even greater place in my heart now and I feel very lucky that Zeke is a part of it. June 22 was a night to remember. Thank the heavens above that the Zoo put a firefly on my finger so I can officially have him all to myself forever and ever. Can I get an amen to that?