Engaged!

This post is veeeery past over-due. My blog has been left in a dusty corner of the internet for awhile. With so many things going on in life, it's been a chore just to open up Simple Grounds and write. With that being said, a LOT of things have been going on that I haven't posted about lately. But I'm ready to get back into it.

Three weeks ago, Tony and I got engaged! It was incredible, beautiful, lovely, and so surprising! Without going into a loooong story and speal, I will tell our story with photos

–

Our weekend started with Tony surprising me early from my shift, all the while planning for my boss to let me off early. My bags were packed, the car was packed, and we were off. (He even had a bag of M&M's waiting for me, hehe!) He didn't tell me where we were going, what we were doing, or how long we'd be gone. We just started our drive.

Our first stop was the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas. Tony has been wanting to take a trip to this spot forever. So we finally did. He drank some free beer, and I snapped away at the beautiful historic building. It smelled like malt, but hey it was fun! After the brewery we hopped back into the car, anticipating another 2.5 hour drive. We arrived in the West Hills of Austin, Texas. One thing I've been wanting to do for quite awhile is stay in a vintage airstreamer. Waalaa! Tony worked out a night in a lovely vintage airstreamer through Airbnb. Thanks, Paul for being our host for the night and feeding us delicious banana bread and home-squeezed orange juice!

That night we headed over for a walk around Mayfield Park to hang out with some wild Peacocks. The cute little fellas let us feed them. If you're ever in Austin, you need to check this park out!

After a long day of driving, Saturday morning we headed out to the Longhorn Caverns State Park. Tony and I have a little mission to visit all the Texas state parks, so this was a beautiful one to add to the list. We took a tour through the caverns and enjoyed some fudge pops!

After a morning of hiking through some under ground caves, we headed to our next location. After a near 3 hour drive, Tony surprised me by pulling up to Enchanted Rock Natural Area. This has been a location we've been wanting to visit for awhile, and it was beautiful! When we arrived to Enchanted Rock, we had to hike out 2 miles through the hills to get to our primitive camping spot. (Next time we will definitely bring less stuff.) The heat, a back full of gear, and 2 miles is not a good combo. Thankfully, we met a really nice fella and his sweet daughter who talked with us during our hike. Camping out in the hills was absolutely serene and peaceful. Unfortunately, I fell asleep at 8 and missed the beautiful stars. 

I should've mentioned that we had to eat cold beans from a can that night... At least they were some delicious black beans from Trader Joe's!

 Sunday morning we woke up early, packed up, and decided to hike up to the summit of Enchanted Rock. An early foggy morning, it wasn't too hot and the landscape was just breathtaking. Prepped with a camera, cliff bars, and our CamelBak, we headed up to the top. After sitting atop the summit for some time, in awe of the view, Tony popped the question. He called me over from some place I was standing and showed me a wooden type box, and said, "Look what I found!" Laughing, I replied, "You didn't find that, silly!" "Yes, I did! Open it!" At this point, I knew what was coming, and tears started to fill my eyes. That's when he got down on one knee, told me I was the love of his life, and asked if I'd spend the rest of my life as his wife. Of course I said yes!

I couldn't have dreamed of a more wonderful engagement! We have already started the wedding planning process... a little stressful, but it is so much fun! We already have a venue picked out! Woohoo! I can't wait to be this handsome fella's wife!