Our Summer Vacation

Federal Reserve Building

Dave got the chance to go to Virginia (Quantico-area) for training and asked me if I wanted to tag along. I, of course, said yes since he has family there that I've never met as well as it just being 30 minutes outside of DC. I've never been to the Nation's Capital but have always wanted to.

Chaunte' & Nicolette

We arrived Friday night (July 9th) and had dinner with some family (his aunt, uncle, cousin.. along with her boyfriend and his kids). We decided even though the weather was looking bad, we decided to head into downtown DC the next day to see the sights. Dave's cousin Nicolette is dating Darren, who's a law enforcement officer for the Federal Reserve so he knows his way around downtown ...and on top of that has free parking. (Parking in a garage cost $9/hour!!) We started at the Federal Reserve...and pretty much saw all the stuff I wanted to in one day. The Vietnam Wall, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, World War II Memorial, the Washington Monument, The Smithsonian Institute and some of its museums, The Capitol Building and of course, the White House.

Abe Lincoln

We had such a great time. It was really cool to get to see things I've only seen in my social studies/history books growing up or stuff I've seen on the video feeds at work. It was totally different than what I expected. I have to say my favorite was seeing Abe Lincoln. He was pretty cool and a whole lot bigger than I ever imagined. We also went over and saw a part of the Arlington National Cemetery and The Marine Corps Iwo Jima monument.
After leaving downtown, we headed back to NOVA (as they call it--Northern Virginia) for some dinner at this awesome pizza parlor.

Iwo Jima Memorial

Sunday, we considered checking out the Washington Nationals baseball game, but we decided to go with Uncle Steve back into town to see more of DC as well as the International Spy Museum. While driving through, we got the chance to see Ford's Theater as well as pass by the apartment President Lincoln was taken to to die. We saw the Presidential Portrait Gallery, the National Archives, Union Station, and the Verizon Center. After the Spy Museum, we decided to head out of downtown and go out to the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center out by Dulles International Airport. The museum features three levels of aircraft ranging from the Cold War era to commercial planes.. even the NASA space shuttle "Enterprise."

World War II Memorial

Dave had to go to training Monday and Tuesday so we stayed in a hotel near the facility he had class at. While he was working, I decided to shop as there is a huge outlet mall in the area and lots of local shopping.

Tuesday night we headed back to his aunt & uncle's to stay. We went to dinner at Wegmans. It's a supermarket/restaurant. They have everything from pizza and subs to steak and shrimp...all available for you to select as a meal and eat there. The whole second floor of the location we went to was a dining area. The store is huge and the prices are amazing! They're only located up north, but man, they would do great if they opened down south too!

The White House

Wednesday morning, we packed the car up and headed out...but before leaving town, we made a stop in Quantico at the National Marine Corps Museum. Dave and I really enjoy the place and got to see the new chapel they built at the top of the hill.

Overall, it was a great vacation. We had a great time and enjoyed the time away. Now, life returns to normal and we return to real life and work tomorrow.

My Bridesmaid: Melissa Gibbons

Melissa Gibbons is such an amazing friend to me.

We just met last year out of Folly Beach with a group of friends. She happens to work with Dave and was dating a guy Dave hang out with. It wasn't until sometime later we really started hanging out and something between her and I just clicked and we talked all the time.

Over the past year, we've done so much together... like hang out at softball games together, go to the Zac Brown Band Concert, as well as celebrate lots of occasion together.. including bridal showers and birthdays.

Cooper Rive Bridge Run

One thing we've done together is participate in the 2010 Cooper River Bridge 10K. I've always wanted to do it... but never thought I would. Melissa emailed me one day and told me she wanted to sign up and thought we should too. It didn't take much convincing as Dave and I had just done a 5K together in January. Boy was that a long run and an early morning. We didn't do too bad.. we finished the race in under two hours and had a great time along the way.

She's a person I enjoy talking with because we completely understand each other. Even though she sees Dave more than me, it's okay. =) She's more my friends anyway! Just Kidding!

I'm so glad the two of us have met and have become such good friends. I know I can always count on her to give me her honest opinion on something as I will for her.

I look forward to what's to come with our friendship over the years.

My Bridesmaid: Kim

Chaunte' & Kim -- Carolina News  2007

Kim Hanzlik and I met during our sophomore year of college..but it really wasn't until our senior year in our "Senior Semester" of the broadcast journalism track that we really became close.

Come to find, Kim was from Sumter and at the time, I was spending lots of time down there. So that made us click even more.

Kim and I worked together all the time in "Carolina News," the student-run news station. We hung out a lot outside of class and hit it off. We'd spend countless hours together editing our stories as well as working on our resume tape in what we referred to as the dungeon of this Carolina Coliseum.

After college graduation, we of course kept in touch. Kim eventually moved to Greenville because of a job. There she met the love of her life and is now engaged herself. I'm honored to be in her wedding come January and is so glad she will be part of our special day.

Our Honeymoon is booked!

I'm so excited!! Dave booked our honeymoon cruise this week!

We are going on a 7-Day Carnival Cruise aboard the "Legend" bound for the Western Caribbean.

Stops include Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Isla Roatan, and Belize. I'm so excited to be going back to Grand Cayman and Cozumel as those were the locations we went to last year when we got engaged.

We had such a fun time last year just in 5 days we wanted to enjoy it even more this year with 7 days at seas. I'm pretty excited about this ship as it's bigger than the one we were on last time. It has 12 decks, a beautiful steakhouse restaurant near the top of the ship (which I know we'll end up going to one night since Dave loves steak!)


We also booked a balcony room, which I'm pretty excited about. Last time we just had a window and every morning I would climb up into the window to sit and look out since it was such a pretty sunrise. This time I'll get to sit outside and enjoy the view from my own private balcony!

We've invited some of our friends and family to join us in our celebration. We have so many people traveling from near and far to be apart our special day and we want to be able to spend some more time with them rather than just getting to see them at the reception. So we are hoping for a large turn out of people that will get to spend time with us during our first days as husband and wife!


Until next time.....

My Bridesmaid: Amanda

Amanda

Out of all of my bridal party, Amanda Wagoner and I have known each other the longest. We first met at the age of 4 at Capitol View Baptist Church. We were in kindergarten together with Ms. Phiffer.

She is the person I have gone to school together with the longest.

We started in kindergarten, went through elementary at Caughman Road, moved on to Hopkins Middle and finished up graduating in the class of 2003 at Lower Richland High School. We were so close, Amanda actually graduated 9th in the class, with me right behind her in 10th.

We did a lot together growing up. We lived about 3 miles apart and spent time at each others house. We also rode to school every day together during our middle school years. She was involved in drama, me of course in dance. And the two departments did everything together so we were in numerous musicals and plays together over the years. She was also one of my dates for senior prom!

We may have had some ups and downs along the way, but it's a friendship in the making over the last 20 years! (Wow I'm old!) We went our separate ways in college... Amanda went to Lander for Pre-Vet. Ever since the day I met her she was obsessed with wild animals...especially elephants. Her dream was to always be a vet. She's currently attending Mississippi State for Grad School and will have her doctorate a few weeks before the wedding.

I'm so glad that she as a childhood friend of mine has agreed to take part in the greatest day of my life.

My Bridesmaid: Tracy

One of the first friends I asked to be a bridesmaid was my first college roommate -- Tracy Borczyk.

Tracy

I'll never forget the day I got the letter from the College of Charleston stating who I was living with and where. I couldn't figure out how to pronounce her last name nor did I know where in the world Palos Hill, Illinois was. I remember talking to Tracy's mom first because when I called, Tracy was at work. (I think she was a lifeguard).

Move in day came and Tracy and her parents were already there when my family and I arrived. We pretty much hit it off and became pretty close. We didn't have any classes together.. and we had completely different majors.. but we hung out with some girls in our dorm as well as some in another.

I think Tracy thought I was crazy as I only spent the my very first weekend in the Holy City there. Every weekend for the rest of the year I would go home to Columbia. I did drag her up with me once and we had a pretty good time.

Tracy joined Phi Mu during our freshman year and I remember her trying to get me to join but I kept telling her "Sororities aren't my thing. Why pay for friends?" (Shame on me since I joined Gamma Phi Beta a year later.) But I completely supported her chapter and went to some of their events and the house for dinner sometimes.

My favorite Tracy moment was the last night we lived in the dorms together. She knows this story, so I won't tell it to save embarrassment. But taking her to the airport the next day to fly home was truly hard as I was saying good bye to one of my closest friends.

I ended up transferring from CofC to USC after my freshman year, but Tracy and I did keep in contact and I got the chance to visit before Christmas during our sophomore year.

Even though we didn't see each other again until last summer, we have a bond that no one could ever replace. We started our "grown up" lives together, starting college and living on our own. Our late night trips to Sonic or jamming to music in the room, we had a blast.

I'm so thankful Tracy will be part of our special day. And even though we are both living in the same city (once again), we still don't get to see each other as often as we like, it doesn't matter. That's because our bond is strong and we'll be friends for life.

My Maid Of Honor

Chaunte' & Christie

My Maid of Honor is my childhood best friend, Christie King!

We first met back in 1992 when we both started taking clogging classes at Caughman Road Park. We along with some other girls formed the "Sassy Stomper Cloggers" and started competing within a few years around the southeast.

High School Pageant ( Winter 2003)

It wasn't until middle school when we actually went to school together because of district zoning, we went to different elementary schools. We both took dance classes at school along with clogging, until 1997 when our clogging instructor moved out of state. I joined another team and continued clogging while Christie turned to softball. Even though we went separate directions, we both still supported each other.

In high school, we both got involved in a lot of the same clubs as well as competed in the Miss LR Pageant together. My senior year, we got to share a special moment. I was crowned MISS LR and Christie was crowned MISS JUNIOR.

We both ended up attending USC together in 2004.. until she moved to Charleston to attend MUSC. I have to say I'm so proud of my best friend to see her achieve her dreams. For the longest time, I've always remembered her saying she wanted to be a pharmacist. Well one year from now, she will reach that goal. On May 20, 2011 (just one day before the wedding), Christie will graduate from MUSC with her doctorate in pharmacy. =)

Joe, Dave, Chaunte' & Christie

Now one of my favorite memories of Christie is when we got our nicknames for each other. We used to curl our hair with socks (clean, washed socks) so it was comfortable to sleep in. One day on our way to a competition, Christie said I looked like Medusa. And for some reason, my stepdad started picking on Christie, and started calling her Kristi Yamaguchi (I think it was a Winter Olympics year). So ever since then, we still call each other our nicknames.

I'm so proud to have Christie as my friend and was so honored when she agreed to be my Maid of Honor. I called her on the boat before we got off in Tampa but she didn't answer. She called me back a little bit later and I was so happy to share the news with her.

To a lifelong friendship!