SURPRISE...

WE'RE ENGAGED!!!

As I have mentioned in quite a few posts, there is nothing I love more than fall, and even better apple orchards in fall. So this weekend while we were in Connecticut Marc, being the romantic guy he is, wrapped all my favorite things in to one huge surprise that took my breath away.

We got into Connecticut late Thursday night and Friday morning went for a drive to "see the leaves around town." Marc had been telling me he wasn't sure if we would make it to the apple orchard because of rain, but it was a beautiful morning so Marc took me on a scenic foliage tour around town that ended at the top of the hill in the middle of an apple orchard overlooking a sea of colors.



We pulled over and got out of the car to take pictures and while I was snapping away Marc pulled a puzzle box from his pocket and asked me if I might be able to think of the five letter code to open the box. For those of you who have seen the Da Vinci Code this might look familiar. This puzzle box also has a place in our relationship. At the beginning of our relationship Marc sent me on a scavenger hunt and the final task was to use the french word for heart to open the box. This time the code was different but I managed to open it with the word apple and found these words inside...


When I looked up Marc was in front of me down on one knee!!!

I was completely surprised and I could not think of a more perfect fall morning, I think I may be the luckiest girl in the world.

There is not a day that goes by that I don't find more reasons to fall more in love with Marc, and now he has managed to make fall and apple orchards even more magical for me and has completely taken my breath away. I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with this wonderful man.

Oh and have I mentioned that he picked out my dream ring all on his own without telling a soul about his plans...


This is a morning I will never forget...

Fall In Connecticut

As I mentioned in the previous post, fall is definitely my favorite time of year, and for two years I have really missed every little part of the season. This year I finally got a little glimpse of fall. Marc's friend Eric from high school was getting married so last Thursday we headed to Durham, CT where Marc grew up to spend time with the Guillemette's and go to the wedding.

I have spent an entire month getting excited for this trip. I couldn't wait to escape the heat for crisp fall weather and I couldnt wait for the colors. Not to mention Marc's hometown of Durham, is an adorable small northeast town that makes fall feel a little more magical. And did I mention the town of Durham is home to Lyman Orchards, the biggest and most beautiful apple orchard I have ever seen. We were afraid we might miss the leaves, but it turns out we visited at the perfect time.

The colors were amazing!!!








This trip was extra fun because both of Marc's siblings, Christina & David, were home for the weekend and we got to spend time with the entire Guillemette family at once, which doesn't happen very often. Friday night we drove to Massachusetts and I got to meet Marc's grandparents and Aunt on his Mom's side. We went to dinner to celebrate his grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary and then headed back to their house for cake, champagne, and cards. Unfortunately the only pictures I have are of Marc's pot for dinner. But there are some great group shots that I hope to get a hold of and put up.



Saturday we went to the wedding. Eric is one of Marc's oldest friends from high school and I got to meet Eric and Meg for the first time. It was fun to see such a wonderful fall wedding. The wedding was at the River House at Goodspeed Station, a beautiful wedding venue in Hadam, CT. The ceremony was outside on a deck overlooking a wall of fall trees and despite the freezing cold it was beautiful.





Unfortunately before the weekend was over Christina and David had to leave, so Saturday night we all had a last family dinner with a wonderful home cooked meal. Unfortunately Marc had some sort of 24hr bug, but he did manage to sit at the dinner table with us and enjoy the company.

Sunday we spent the day with Marc's parents checking out the leaves around town and of course we spent plenty of time picking apples at Lyman Orchards.
















Sunday night we ended the trip, flying airplanes with Marc's dad



Bright and early this morning we headed home for Houston. Now we are back in the 85 degree weather and I am missing fall like crazy. But it was a wonderful trip and I am so glad I got a taste of the magic fall, even if just for the weekend.

My Favorite Time Of Year

I miss a lot of things about Minnesota, but I will have to say the time of year I miss Minnesota the most is Fall. My four years there were my first experiences with fall and I never got enough of it. I love the changing leaves, the cool weather, the yummy hot coffee drinks, the clothes, and most of all the apple orchard. And at St. Olaf I think I had the best of Minnesota fall, the campus is covered in beautiful colors and Fireside Apple Orchard is just up the highway. So every year around this time when it is still 90 degrees in Houston I really would give anything to have a little bit of fall.

So even though I can't have the cool weather, and beautiful colors, and the apple orchard the one part of fall I make sure not to miss out on is the decorations. I might even love fall decorations more than Christmas decorations. It brings a little bit of the wonderful season inside and I this year I went all out. My mom and my Godmother are always sending me wonderful fall treasures that I love and every year I can't wait to put it all out.

A random assortment of fall around the house:







I even made up some fall arrangements for the front flower baskets:


This year I got a little creative with candy corn:


And since these pictures were taken I even have a few more candy corn additions from my mom that really complete the look :)

A few Halloween decorations. These are my newest decorations that I put together this year:




And my favorite decoration of all, my apple orchard: