The IT guy at work is my hero

Not only did my awesome IT guy create a countdown to the SECOND I say “I DO,” but he taught me about the magic of QR codes. Now I’m thinking about making some inserts for my Save the Dates using these cool little things. Here’s the first one he made me. He taught me how to do the rest so I can have it where when a phone scans it, it updates your calendar with our event. SO COOL. Thanks, Jerome!

 

Unsolicited advice

Don’t take this the wrong way. I love unsolicited advice. Most days. It makes me feel special in a way like… you care so much that you just have to tell me some random thing that you think will benefit my life in some way. Seriously. Thanks. I appreciate the thoughtfulness. I don’t mean that to sound sarcastic. I think it’s sweet.

But just so you can understand my twilight zone life, I’ve compiled a list of the most common pieces of advice I’ve gotten over the past two months or so by people who are super duper thrilled about our engagement.

• Elope
• Don’t elope
• Have sex soon so your wedding night doesn’t suck
• DO NOT HAVE SEX before you wedding
• Are you on birth control? Get on it asap so you don’t get super fat before the wedding
• Whatever you do, don’t take birth control! The rhythm method is fine
• Whatever you do, DO NOT do the rhythm method. My friend just got pregnant
• You better not get pregnant on your honeymoon
• You guys should try to get pregnant on your honeymoon

Welp, I’m not confused at all. But seriously, does anyone have any advice on the cake or something? Cake is awesome. And not awkward. And not unsolicited now since I’m asking. Thanks!

(I’m serious about the cake thing. So lost on flavors. It took Addison a month to decide what flavor and filling we wanted to try at our baker’s tasting. P.S. We totally got the baker who does the cake in the picture posted in an earlier post. We’re getting that same cake (just smaller) plus cupcakes! WHOOOO!)

Love is Blind part II

So…you guys know my track record for saying Addison looks like famous people, or fictional characters…or lego men (DO NOT JUDGE ME). But get this! Other people say it too. See, Addison. It’s not just me! (Shh…he secretly hates it…and by secretly I mean he says, “I hate it.” But it’s only cuz you’re so pretty!).

Well, since distribution of my favorite engagement photo (Addison’s least favorite), I’ve heard some interesting ones. My dad thinks he looks like a guy from an old western. (Can’t remember the actor’s name). I just like the photo because I think he looks like a movie star in it.

The other day someone who doesn’t know us too well commented briefly that he thought Addison looks like he could be Ryan Reynold’s brother. That is one I’ve never even thought of myself! (I’m losing my touch). I told Addison, who of course had no idea who Ryan Reynolds was (knife in the heart, babe. Get with the times). He then asked his roommates who the actor was, they obviously knew because they’re awesome and then nearly died choking on their dinner when he said that someone told me he looked related.

Harsh, roomies. Harsh.

So judge for yourself. Do you think Addison looks related to this adorable famous person?

(I think lego man is still my favorite).

We’re ENGAGED!

I wasn’t having the best of days yesterday. I threw on some sweat pants and an old camp counselor sweatshirt and headed to my 8 a.m. class exhausted. What made it worse was halfway during work (which is immediately after 3 morning classes), I realized my carrots had wilted in my lunchbox. If you didn’t know, I’m currently a blogger for HerCampus.com and SELF magazine’s “Lose the Freshman 15” program and without my snack, I was short on calories for the day. Aka. By the time I got home…I was dying and half asleep.

So as I made my Kashi frozen dinner, I called my mom around 5:00. But mid-convo I had another call come through. DeDee, who doesn’t usually call at this time, was on the other end with what sounded like incoherent sobs. All I could make out was that she wanted to stop by, so I immediately ended the convo with my mom and started picking up around my apartment.

But… she happily came to the door– nothing wrong with her at all– and smiled while handing me a clue:

“Where is the absolute first place you go when going on a road trip with Addison.”

I just looked at her. “DeDee…I have no idea what this means. I’m hungry and lightheaded.”

My initial thought was the bathroom (which Clayton agreed with me!), but it turns out it was the car. DUH. And Oh! His keys were magically on my counter.

“You might want to change,” DeDee said. She recommended a dress. I knew something special was happening (thanks for helping me not get engaged in a sweat suit, DeDee!).

We went to the car which had another clue which prompted me to to go to his house to look for the clue behind his Link  shield which he keeps mounted on his wall (from Ocarina of time). The next clue told me to go to the game room where we first met, but being tired and hungry, I didn’t want to drive.

Luckily, his roommate volunteered (or so I thought) and he drove me to the Student Union where I found the next clue stuck to a dart board with a dart. Now…this clue I totally didn’t understand.

“I’m in need of a good scratch, but I don’t itch. When you find me, you can’t scratch me.”

Huh? So I called up DeDee because I figured she had some doing with this and begged for some help. Eventually she helped me realize that it was referring to scratch off tickets (which Addison won’t let me buy lol). She suggested that Shinners (the roommate who drove me) knew where to get a good one.

So we drove to Hess where I went into the gas station where my friend actually was working (fun fact: He wasn’t in on it at all. It was a coincidence entirely!) and he and his coworker both said in unison, “Ask your driver. But don’t scratch it.”

SO I asked Shinners. Yup, in on it the whole time. He pulled out the clue with a scratch off ticker from his glove compartment.  This clue said:

“If Boone had a Hollywood sign, it would go here.”

I thought I knew exactly where that was, but before I could ask Shinners to take me there, Clayton runs out of the gas station shouting, “Out of the car, Nikki! You’re coming with me!”

So we got into his big truck and he drove me up the mountain where lo’ and behold. ANOTHER CLUE! Now, this clue was extra exciting:

“Ok…it’s time to get serious. Where would your perfect engagement take place?”

THE GAZEBO ON RIVER STREET! So we hurried along only to find— Clayton’s girlfriend and my friend Megan. Talk about let down (sorry, Megan!)

Her clue confused me too. At this point, my tummy was really rumbling so my cognitive skills were not entirely up to par:

“Tomato, Minestrone, chicken noodle + Michael Scott.”

Huh? They weren’t going to help me this time and I had to guess for myself. I thought maybe I had to go to my brother’s house since his name is Michael Scott and he makes Italian food.

Wrong. Luckily they helped me out when I wanted to go there. Turns out it was a re-bus to mean: Soup– Office. Ah-HA! The Supervisor’s office in the student union.

Yup, taped to the supervisor’s office door. This clue really threw me through a loop. It basically told me to go to the sex shop in Boone?!?!

Yeah…this had to be someone else’s idea. Addison won’t even look at that place when h e drives by it. Maybe they were trying to throw me off? Megan sure was trying to throw me off saying that the end wasn’t what I was expecting and she was going to laugh. I figured she was right. Shouldn’t get my hopes up, after all, he already faked me out once.

So Megan drove me to Night Secrets and there we found the happiest, beaming cashier lady ever. She hands me a clue and says, “You’re a lucky lady! Congratulations!”

I smiled. Immediately Megan says, “Congratulations for what? Getting the clue right?” At this point, the cover was definitely blown.

The clue was “Where did we go for our first fancy date. Hint: Meow, Meow, Meow. HOT!

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof! We saw the play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof! Time to go Farthing Auditorium, but Megan refused to take me. Then we turned a corner and there was Kyle! (Another one of Addison’s roommates and a good friend of mine). He happily drove me to Farthing but as we’re driving down Rivers St., I turn and notice Addison sitting in the Gazebo!!! Turns out, he thought we were in front of him and DeDee, but they were actually in front of us!

We go to Farthing and at the box office is another clue: “You know Charles Wilkes? You haven’t seen him in a while. How about a quick trip?”

DeDee pulled up behind Kyle (turns out my brother was supposed to be the last driver but couldn’t make it at the last minute) and she was like “Hey! Where you headed?”

And I was like, “DeDee! I left my phone at home so I don’t have Charles’ number!”

“That’s okay! We’re BFFs and I’m going there anyway to pick some stuff up.”

Yeah…right.

Charles is my brother’s old roommate who also works at the student union with Addison and me. He actually moved into Addison’s old apartment— where we had our first kiss.

Charles happily gave me the clue. It said something like: “Remember that perfect proposal spot? I think you may have forgotten something back there…”

So DeDee drops me off at the gazebo on Rivers Street— and there he is. Addison was sitting there with a long stem red rose. He gave me the rose and said, “I just wanted a unique way of asking you to dinner.”

…..Wait. What?

And then he goes on and on about how for the past three years we’ve made so many memories and how he just wanted to remind me of some of the places that were special to us—- the game room for where we met, the top of the mountain for where we sit at night to watch Boone light up while eating fast food (I asked him about the sex shop and he said it was definitely not his idea. It was a ploy someone suggested to throw me off (don’t worry mom!)).

Honestly, I don’t remember too much about his speech because I was getting freaking excited. I do remember one part though because I interrupted him.

“And I just can’t grow old with you.”
“Wait….what??” I stopped him.
“Huh?”
“You can’t grow old with me?”
“OH! OH! I can’t WAIT to grow old with you. WAIT WAIT!”

Lol. That’s my man.

Finally he was like, “Actually…this is more than just dinner. I have a question to ask you.”

And he got down on one knee and asked.

I honestly couldn’t say anything except nod like a fool. Finally I just kissed him and then was able to mutter, “YES!” Just then, I heard cheering behind us. Some of our friends who were involved were behind us….including our photography major friend Nikki LaFaille who happened to take pictures during the whole thing.

I loved everything about my proposal and I love how Addison (w/ DeDee’s awesome coordinating help) got all our friends involved because honestly, our friends mean the world to us and without them, we would have never even won our ring. Like Addison said, our friends really do mean a lot to us in our relationship. We’re so thankful everyone of you guys!

I’m still on cloud nine and really exhausted still! Can  hardly sleep! But I am sooooo thankful to Simon G. Jewelry for helping us with our Perfect Proposal. AND I am so stoked to be the Future Mrs. Miller!

Love is blind

There was a point where every guy I ever was interested in looked like Clark Kent/ Superman to me. One of my favorite episodes of “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” had Lois saying to Clark, “Every woman in love thinks her man looks like Superman.”

While I have found my Superman in Addison, I’ve realized he doesn’t quite look like Clark Kent (though he did dress up one Halloween for me).

Still, there have been days where I’m watching a movie or a television show and all of the sudden I’m like, “Hey! That looks like Addison!”

Of course most times, my friends just roll their eyes at me. Like the time I thought Addison looked like Hugh Jackman in Austrailia.

Or there was that time I decided he looked like my favorite journalist, Anderson Cooper. Yeah… no resemblance at all.

But right now? I’m totally convinced he looks like a young Richard Gere.

Come on…you know you see it!

Then again…when I was in New York for months and months, there was that moment I thought Addison looked like a lego character I was working with when assembling a toy for Parents magazine.

Hmm…maybe love is blind? But you gotta admit…that Lego guy is cute!

Walls will fall before we do

Addison and I like to switch up “our song” every once in a while. Well, actually, we’ve only changed it once. Our first song was Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours,” which I heard for the first time at a summer camp I worked at, not realizing it was a super popular song everywhere else. And when two coworkers started making out to it (at work nonetheless), we decided it was time for a change.

And thus, our song is “Stay with you” by the Goo Goo Dolls.

Not a normal pick, we know. But while most couples decide to get super gaga over each other with songs about how romantic and perfect life is, we find ourselves relating more to this song. We’ve been through a lot with long distance and other things that have come and gone in our lives. And wholeheartedly, we’ve had to rely on each other to really get through.

The first time I ever heard this song, Addison was driving us late at night and it had just rained. I don’t remember where we were going. It was only around town, and I was half asleep with my head up against the window watching what was left of raindrops fall. Addison started singing along to the radio softly, like he always does. It was this song. It’s stuck ever since.

Will we ever change our song again? Probably. But that’s how life is and so are relationships– always changing. I’m just glad I’ve found someone I can grow and change together with.

“Stay With You” by the Goo Goo Dolls

These streets
Turn me inside out
Everything shines
But leaves me empty still
And I’ll, burn this lonely house down
If you run with me
If you run with me

I’ll stay with you
The walls will fall before we do
Take my hand now
We’ll run forever
I can feel the storm inside you
I’ll stay with you

Fooled by my own desires
I twist my fate
Just to feel you
But you, turn me toward the light
And you’re one with me
Will you run with me?

I’ll stay with you
The walls will fall before we do
Take my hand now
We’ll run forever
I can feel the storm inside you
I’ll stay with you

Now come in from this storm
I taste you sweet and warm
Take what you need
Take what you need
From me

Wake up this world
Wake up tonight
And run with me
Run to me now

I’ll stay with you
The walls will fall before we do
Take my hand now
We’ll run forever
I can feel the storm inside you
I’ll stay with you

“Baby Firefly” or “The Brown Coat Baby”

That’s what people are calling Addison and my future child because of our promise to name our future child in honor of the show. I made the Facebook group a couple of weeks ago, but nothing much came of it until Nathan Fillion himself retweeted for us. Now look at Twitter! I searched “Couple Firefly” and tons of results showed people campaigning for us. THANK YOU FIREFLY FANS!

So what’s the name? Still not sure. But someone made a great suggestion on the Facebook Group today: Nathan Fillion Roberti Miller.

But of course River and Serenity are both still high up in the running as well as the unisex version of Jayne. But I’m sorry to say, I think Mr. Universe and Badger are trailing behind.

Please continue to vote!

The Mountain Times published an article about us!

Sweet surprise today. I’m no longer in NC at the moment because I’m visiting family for Thanksgiving, and I was bummed to find out I missed the article about Addison and me in The Mountain Times. However, they published it online too!

Addison was a real goober when it came to the interview. We were interviewed separately and when I asked him what he said, he– being the quiet type– really didn’t say anything helpful in letting me know anything at all. Well, that’s Addison.

Reading the article though really made my heart melt. By now, you’d think I wouldn’t be surprised by Addison’s super sweet side. But it’s always refreshing to me. Maybe that’s why I like him.

Thank you Mountain Times! I swear, we live in the best place on earth!

Check it out! Made my day! And please! Continue to vote for us even though the numbers are no longer showing (to be honest, I like it better that way).

OMG NATHAN FILLION RETWEETED!

So that surge of votes yesterday… was because my favorite actor and idol, NATHAN FILLION.

Yes, Captain Malcom Reynolds, Captain Hammer, and Richard Castle himself….retweeted to his almost 700, 000 followers about my contest.

Thanks FIREFLY FANS! WHOOO!

Man, I hope the copious amounts of tweeters following him join in. That would really help a poor couple out.

And to all those haters out there who say that I do not know all my friends on Facebook and that it’s okay to generate different IP addresses because you assume I’m doing it too (and yes, I’ve read your posts on message boards)… There’s no nice way to say this, but get a life.

Stop being mean and just please make the competition about your couple and their love and leave the mean comments about the others out of it.

I had a celebrity endorse me. I’m not cheating. But you know what, even if we lose, having Nathan Fillion retweet = a win in our  book.

Best. Day. Ever.

So please, join the brown coats and help vote for us! We may not win this thing, but we won’t go down without a fight. Take that Alliance Forces. Who knows, maybe this will end up better than the Battle of Serenity.

(Whoo, I’m totally geeking out. But hey, at least I wasn’t like Addison who seriously stopped breathing and then started hyperventaliting because of the news. He’s so cute.)

Another reason why I think Addison is the perfect man for me

So it was an interesting weekend to say the least, and being discreet as possible, Addison got into tense discussion. (Which of course ended fine as they always do. It doesn’t even matter what it’s about).

But later at church someone mentioned this blog. I made a comment that Addison doesn’t read it, which he responded that yes he did. I asked him how many entries were on it.

His answer: 5

Real answer: 18

We laughed about it. It wasn’t a big deal. But later that night apparently he went through and caught up on all the blogs. He later sent me an instant message quoting one a while back about a pet peeve of mine and how Addison is one of the only people who does not engage in that pet peeve.

He sent me this quote from it:

“That’s why I love Addison. If this is my biggest pet peeve, then he- for all intents and purposes- could be considered perfect. Not once has he given me a reason not to bend over backward for him.”

He then typed, “I guess I gave you a reason not to bend backward for me” — referencing the vague situation mentioned at the beginning of this post.

I told him that once in 3 years is not a bad track record.

Besides, the fact that he went through and read all those posts and owned up to his mistakes really means the world to me. And it’s his sweet heart that is always looking to make things right and to make me happy that helps me realize no matter what happens, what we say or what we do, we can get through anything.

Yup, I have the perfect man alright. Even if I do get frustrated with him every now and then. But hey, no one is perfect. But Addison sure is perfect for me.

I only hope I can be the same.