Seizin' the Day...@ Walker Way

The last year and a half has been something…to say the least. I probably should’ve blogged along the way or on a pre-wedding website…but I’ve been a little busy. ;) My last epic blog post came from my Magical Mediterranean Cruise in 2011…Who would have known that my life would change (for the better) just a week later.

On August 15th I met Leslie Walker…the person I am now legally bound to for the rest of my life. Not that you asked for it, but here it is…The Story of Us…so far.

After returning home from my Boss’s daughter, Jessica’s wedding…I was motivated and filled with hope that this would be the time I was ready to put it out there in the Universe that I was ready to find my “other half.”

So where does one go find people these days? Well the interwebs of course. ;) Ok so not everyone does this, but when you’ve got a crazy schedule and you don’t go to school or bars this is what you I do. So I signed up for yet another dating site, okcupid.com and began to scroll through the pages and pages of profiles until I came across this particular cute bearded guy with aviators on. This was his only picture and his paragraph was super short. Under the question “What do I spend my time thinking about?” he answered. “Quantum physics of course. ;)” I giggled (I blame my love of the Big Bang Theory) and clicked on his profile as a “Favorite.”

This was Saturday night when I clicked on him. Yes I was the one that initiated first contact, but I’m the kinda person that does not wait for things to come to them. I truly believe you have to go out and get it yourself…CARPE DIEM! ;)

Sunday, I heard back from the handsome stranger. After a couple of silly emails back and forth, our first date was set for Monday at Boston’s in Valley Ranch. (Turns out he lived just a mile from my office.) So he arrived and he seemed super nervous…most likely because it was the first time he’d ever met anyone he “met” online.

*FUN FACT: Leslie’s track record for online dating: met 1/married 1 ;)

He ordered a chicken pesto pizza and after we ate and talked and talked…and ended up talking on the sidewalk outside for the next 30 mins…not wanting to leave. It was a good…not great first meeting. I’m pretty sure we texted each other once we got home and we went ahead and arranged a second date at Benihana…for the next night.

We did the hibachi thing and decided the night was still young and so we went to see 30 Minutes or Less. We came out of the movie and hung out by my truck for the next hour. This was also when we would share our first kiss. ;) As we got into our vehicles to head home I tried to start my truck…and nothing happens. Thankfully, Leslie had not left yet. We quickly decided I had a dead battery. He took it out and drove me to Walmart, where we had our first shopping outing…to buy a battery of all things. Super romantic right? ;) I know that this was a small thing, but I would soon learn that he knew a whole lot working on cars. (I dug this a lot.)

I finally made it home and our date for Wednesday night at Dave & Buster’s for ½ game night was already set. After smoking him at Fruit Ninja, Skeeball and Table Hockey (at least that’s how I remember it) we went outside on that beautiful night and sat on my tailgate and talked. (There IS Something Bout A Truck ;)

This conversation contained two very important statements. He first called me his girlfriend on this night (awesome). But more importantly, Leslie also said, “What’s up with your toes??” …which was both hilarious and unintentionally insulting. ;)

After friending me on Facebook, he had gone through a bunch of my pictures and noticed that every time I got a pedicure, I would post a picture. Well on this night, my toes were not so fancy and he wondered why. Well this was less than a week after I got my Dallas Mavericks 2011 Champions tattoo on my foot…so it was still healing and thus no pedicure that week. I still laugh and give him a hard time for this.

*FUN FACT: Leslie goes with me every 2 weeks to get OUR toes done.

Thursday brought us to our 4th time meeting in 4 days. We decided to order pizza and watch The Social Network. (Yes, early in our relationship, we were only allowed to watch movies that starred Jesse Eisenberg.)

That Saturday was my bro-in-law, Eric’s birthday and Leslie met me at Stratos (a Greek restaurant that becomes a club on the weekends). Here we had a ton of fun and danced together for the first time. I could not get enough of his presence and knew in less than a week that I was HOOKED!

The next day was Sunday and I had to work Cowboys. After the game I got this distress text from Mr. Walker asking if I might be able to give him a ride the next day to work. He was having a lot of problems with his car and he had about had it! I caught him looking online at “sensible” family cars and I mentioned that I thought Mini Coopers were pretty cool…3 days later, he had the keys to a brand new 2012 Mini that I affectionately named, “Carolina’s Car.” ;)

That day was also the first time he met my Momma. School had just started and he was very sweet to help me put up bulletin boards in her classroom. Obviously, her won her over that night. ;)

The next day I got a notice on my door saying that my rent would be going up yet again, and that I had a week to decide if I wanted to stay. This stressed me out, but I would figure something out. Well, I mentioned this to Leslie and it turned out that his lease was up on the same day…3 days later, we were in my apartment’s leasing office…signing a new lease. We ended up staying at my place because he had about 1/10th the amount of stuff than I did.

*FUN FACT: He was okay with moving in with me because “He had nothing to lose.” (I found out this about a year later.) lol

September 1st came quick and I was off to my “home away from home” Costa Rica, alone and knew after 15 days, I wanted Leslie to join me for every trip or adventure from then on!

September brought Leslie’s birthday and spending time with his girlies, Brooklyn & Arieanna. In fact, the weekend before his birthday we made what I like to call “the most expensive brownies ever!” This happens when the kitchen that you’re trying to use has absolutely nothing in it! ;)

October was our first trip together…and what better place to go than Disneyland in California! We had a great time and realized that Disney was no place for kids! Just kidding…kinda. ;) On this trip we also drove to Huntington beach and spent an amazing day by the water, people watching and deciding that we traveled well together…especially when Leslie is “just along for the ride.” ;)

October was also the month that I introduced him to musicals. Westside Story was his first, and he actually seemed to enjoy it. I then realized he could be cultured…and it wouldn’t be too painful for him. ;)

*FUN FACT: We’ve done a lot together since we first met. Here are a list of all the things we’ve gone to including concerts, theatre, comedy and other random events. Bucherry & PapaRoach, Maroon 5 & Train, Zac Brown Band, Miranda Lambert, Kenny Chesney & Tim McGraw, Dierks Bentley, Savion Glover, Mythbusters, Million Dollar Quartet, Cirque du Soliel’s Quidam, Rent, John Leguizamo’s Ghetto Klown, Giant, American Idiot, Adam Carolla & Dennis Praeger, The Addams Family, Jekyll & Hyde, Jay Mohr, Pablo Francisco, Craig Ferguson, Christopher Titus, Bryan Callen, Medieval Times, Disney On Ice, Mesquite Rodeo and Scarborough Faire. That’s a lot of culturizing I must say. ;)

Halloween eve I was introduced to all the rest of the Walkers at his parent’s house (there’s a lot of them) and although I was somewhat nervous, it was a lot of fun!

November 1st, everything was officially out of Leslie’s old place and moved into mine.

November 6th, we had to see a guy about a ring…THE ring…MY RING…MY SNOWFLAKE!

December 23rd I was asked to wear said ring…after a conversation with my Momma. I was a super happy girl!

New Year’s Eve was my first time to New Orleans and the start of a now annual event with Leslie, Michaela & Brian. Lots of driving in a very short amount of time…but also a lot of FUN!

January…After hours and hours of contemplation, (yes we do everything fast) Leslie had picked a date, his birthday, and I had booked the placed…a 7 day wedding cruise outta New Orleans. An hour to book…9 months to wait for it. The dress was bought on January 22nd. It was the first on I tried on. :)

February 5th (Super Bowl Sunday) My Momma met his parents Fran & Ray and everything went really well…and kinda love that none of us cared about the Super Bowl whatsoever!

*FUN FACT: After everything was planned and booked, I found out that Leslie was not a big fan of WATER!!

That was sweet that he was going along with everything, but he should have spoke up! I was concerned, so I quickly decided we needed to take a short test run to make sure he was going to be ok on a boat for a week…on the most Important Week of our lives!

February 24th We set sail from Miami to Nassau, Bahamas. This was the first time out of the country for Leslie (on purpose). We had an amazing time. He couldn’t believe how blue the Ocean could be! After the cruise and a day on South Beach, he was ready to book the next trip. I was super relieved! :)

April 22nd we were on our way to Las Vegas Baby! (another 1st for Leslie) Here we saw LOVE and Zumanity. We walked the Strip and just chilled at the Hard Rock. Once again, lovin’ life together!

May was the month I got My Mini to go along with his. :)

June 29th Off to Daytona Beach, Florida! 2 days on the beach watching the water and the waves and the Bears, (Yes Bears, in matching pink swim trunks) …lunches on the pier and at the Inlet, hibachi dinner at Sapporo, fireworks at the Bandshell made for a perfect pre-4th of July weekend!

*FUN FACT: Okay, okay, yes I’ve taken Leslie to almost all my favorite places. Soon we will start going to places that are new to both of us…but in a min…we still have some surfin’ to do in Costa Rica! ;)

August 4th, Leslie finally got to use his Valentine’s Day present. Apparently driving a Lamborghini is fun! ;)

August 26th Was my Bachelorette Party. A great night with some of my most favorite girls in the World! I don’t think it was a coincidence that Magic Mike came out the month before. ;)
What could possibly top the year we’ve had??? How bout a 7 day cruise to Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel where I would come home as Mrs. Carolina Walker! (or so I thought)

The week was perfect and the 34 family and friends that joined us made it that much more special!! Of course I was sick as a dog ON September 20th 2012, My Wedding Day...but thankfully you couldn’t tell in the pictures! :) Seeing my Daddy the day after the wedding in Cozumel made the week complete!

October 3rd was the day I was going to legally change my name to Walker. Easier said than done. Well apparently we are the ONLY people in Dallas that have gotten married in another country. ;) The city of Dallas didn’t have a clue about what to do with our Grand Cayman Islands Marriage License. So after 2 unsuccessful trips to government buildings, I called Leslie in lears trying to figure out what to do. He said don’t worry about it and to meet himn at home. So we went to city hall and got a new Marriage license and got a judge to re”marry us” even though we never even saw him. All he had to do was sign the paper. We were back in the car and headed to lunch and back to work in under an hour. I was able to get back to the unsuccessful offices and got things done…and that’s why we have 2 anniversaries! :)

The night we got back from the cruise, there was a “wedding present” posted on the door saying that rent was going up AGAIN! Due to the horribly loud (has to be 600 pound monster) neighbors living above up, there was no way we were staying and paying for another year.
With the help of my old friend Oscar, November 13th we were able to close on our brand new condo!

Walker Way is where we spent our first married Christmas together…we even had snow!

*FUN FACT One of My favorite things that Leslie has said to me is that even if I was a dude, he’d still be hanging out with me…but he’s glad I’m not. He is the Male Version of Me and he is My Favorite. :)

So this brings me to now, January 22, 2013. The perfect time for a big announcement:

Nah just kidding…we leave for surfing in Costa Rica in 6 days…no time for big announcements here. ;)

much love