Halloween Weekend / Voo Doo Music Fest 2010

I feel like a year of your life that you'll probably never forget is the year you became engaged.  It's very unique because it's usually (in most cases) the only one year out of your life where you're in this type of transition. With that said, we definitely wanted to touch on some of the fun highlights from late 2010 that will definitely be a year we'll both never forget.

Anyone that really knows me knows that I am a complete music addict.  I have a vast base of bands that I love to listen to ranging from  anything in the indie/alternative, punk and folk arenas.  One of the things in the beginning that attracted me to Kristen's personality was our mutual appreciation for a lot of the same music. I've always felt a good taste in music demonstrates a unique personality and shows character.  Character that I've always looked for;  when you can genuinely enjoy something like music, art or film with someone you're in a relationship with -- it will take you a long way. 

Because of this appreciation of the same bands, Kristen and I go to a lot of concerts.  We love live venues, the atmosphere and seeing bands play in person that we listen to so much in our everyday live.  I had fallen into a slight Muse obsession right around early last year. I was listening to them constantly, so this is a band that Kristen became very fond of as well.  Once we found out they were playing in New Orleans at the Voodoo Music Festival AND it was halloween weekend, it became a no-brainer. 

On top of that, several of my friends were talking about attending the same festival so we were quick to get plane tickets and plan the trip. The full crew ended up being myself, Kristen, my brother Grant and our friends Chris, Mike, Levi and Gino. 

To this day, the show will definitely be in the top 5 best I've ever seen.  The production and sound were top notch.  Muse is like a modern day Queen. The music is very grand and the theatrics during one of their live shows is mind blowing. We basically went to the festival solely to see Muse (although it didn't hurt that Weezer was there), so we all hopped cabs and headed over to City Park on Friday night. 
The band played an amazing set -- here a few shots from the show....

The next day we got to see the city.  Aside from the show, this was something I was especially excited about.  I love the culture in New Orleans;  the food is awesome and I love how you can walk into almost any bar in the middle of the day and there's a dedicated blues band jamming out. 

Kristen and I headed down Canal Street with our friends and hit up the French Quarter for lunch.  We ate at a cafe right in the middle of everything.  There was a live band playing while we enjoyed some mimosas and watched all the crazy people passing by. From there, we turned up the heat a bit with some drinks on Bourbon street.  We found more live music, bull riding and even more live music.  Here's a few more shots...




Krissy danced up to the tip jar and dropped a 5 in for these guys -- they earned it!



That's me being terrible at bull riding.  These few hours were definitely another huge highlight of the trip.  We got to see Kristen "The Piston" come out for those few hours too.  She danced her butt off in the blues bar for what felt like hours.  It was hard to take her away....almost like tearing a kid away from Chuck E. Cheese.

After the sight seeing and drinks, we headed back to the hotel.... because guess what?  It was time to celebrate Halloween!  Kristen and I decided to use True Blood as inspiration for our outfits.

She makes a pretty sweet Sooki and I make a nice emo version of Bill

We headed to the madness on Bourbon street and had one of "those" nights.  Lots of drinking, the place was packed and I caught the biggest pair of beads you've ever seen in your entire life for Kristen.  We all know how girls are expected to obtain beads in New Orleans, so I had to step it up!

We made the best of our last full day and did some more sight-seeing and dining. We headed back to the French Quarter and had one of my favorite memories from the trip.  I ordered a pound of crawfish from a nearby restaurant, we walked down by the Mississippi river, and relaxed while getting our hands dirty with N'awlins best.

On the last night of the trip (actual Halloween night) we decided it would be fun to check out one of the famous haunted houses in the area.  Kristen, my brother and I got tickets and headed over to "The Mortuary."  It was not the same size and scope of something like Halloween Horror nights at Universal Studios, but for what we paid, the entertainment was definitely quality and we had a blast.  Kristen left marks in my back as usual from clinging onto my back like a little spider monkey as we went through the attraction.  All necessary battle wounds when going through a haunted house.

The next day came pretty soon after that (as well as a few hundred dollars lost  in the Harrah's Casino next to our hotel), and we were on way back to Orlando.

This is definitely a trip that I know we'll always remember in the year of our engagement.

- Smitty

Our Engagement Story....

It was Labor Day weekend 2010, and Gary and I had just made the 7 hr trek to Pensacola Florida (Panhandle) to visit his family. This is a beautiful area and where Gary grew up. We try to visit his family as much as possible throughout the year, so long weekends are always helpful.

One activity Gary and I love to do is go fishing together. Since he grew up on the beach, he was practically raised with a fishing pole in his hand. From my end, I grew up in a little town called Terre Haute, IN where I basically spent every other weekend fishing in the pond behind my Dad's work. Gary knows I enjoy this so much that he even bought me a pink fishing pole...so cute! Needless to say, I didn't think twice when he suggested we wake up early to go catch some dinner at the beach.

THE PROPOSAL....

It was Saturday, Sept 4th, and at this point we had been together for about 3 1/2 years. Thinking back on it, I had a hunch a proposal may happen in the next year or so, but the thought of it happening at this exact moment didn't cross my mind. I mean, we were just going fishing, right?

We started the day at 8 am, and I threw on workout clothes, hair in a pony, and no makeup. After gathering all of the supplies and bait, we headed to Fort Pickens (a beachy state park with the remains of an old fort). Fort Pickens is a long, narrow strip of beach where one side touches the Gulf and the other touches the Bay. We walked all the way down the strip to the point where the Gulf and Bay meet and setup shop there. This is where is happened (photo taken from a Facebook post Gary later sent me):

Gary knows how much I hate baiting my own hook when we have live bait, so being the gentleman that he is he offered to bait my hook for me. At this point, I was sitting on a towel staring at a random crab in the sand and really just relaxing. Gary was baiting my hook...or so I thought. He casually walked over and dangled the rod in front of me.............THE RING WAS ON THE HOOK!!! Being the "Blondie" that I am, I still didn't get it at first. I remember seeing something shiny and thinking "what is that, a lure?" All of a sudden, he got down on his knee in the sand and asked me to marry him. I definitely got it at that point. :)

After I said "yes," he shared with me the engagement endeavors which brought me to tears and hysterical laughters. One of the things I thought was so sweet was to find he had circled this date MONTHS ago as his proposal goal when he started his new job. I also found out that the day I thought Danielle stood up our shopping date about a month prior (which I was so angry about!) and Gary was "golfing" turned out to be a day they were tag teaming on ring details. Ha, guess I can't be mad anymore! I also found out that Gary had met with my Dad earlier to ask for my hand--so thoughtful! All of this happened right under my nose, and I am normally SUPER difficult to surprise!

The beach was pretty desolate at the moment, but I was so excited I jumped up to find anyone I could share the news with. In this case, a random couple walking down the beach. "We just got engaged!!!!" (holding up the ring) "EEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" (dancing around excitedly with a huge smile).

From this point, we headed home to share the news with Gary's family and my family. Later that night, we went out and celebrated the stepping stone of our next chapter. This pic pretty much sums it up! :)

<3,

Krissy

A Saturn Dealership

That's right, a Saturn auto dealership is where we first met.

One of the greatest things to ever happen to us is we so happened to share a passion for local minor league sports.  Myself on the management side and Kristen as a dancer.  She has 3 teams under her belt and I have 2.  Before we both dove into the realm of advertising, we worked for the Osceola Ghostriders of the World Indoor Football League. 

Kristen's sister Danielle also worked for the team as the dance team coordinator.  Danielle actually joined the team going into the 2nd season around the same time as myself.  Kristen had already been a dancer for the team in its first season.  Danielle coming into the picture was a huge blessing; she re-tooled the dance team which inspired Kristen to remain on the team.  She questions whether she would have danced with them for a second season if Danielle had not come along.

One role that Kristen and I shared in common was networking event duty.  I would go to the networking events around Kissimmee trying to sniff out potential sponsors and the dancers would come along to mingle with fans / local business owners and look pretty.

The first large scale networking event of the pre-season was at a Saturn dealership.  Kristen and Danielle both happened to be on the line up that night.  I arrived a little early to partake in the crappy food and get a lay of the land.  I was also anticipating Danielle arriving with a dancer where we would rendezvous and plan our attack of the event.

I spotted Danielle walking with "the other dancer" as they approached the door.  I went up to greet them and this is the moment where Kristen and I first met.  We shook hands, smiled at each other and went into the event. 

I immediately liked Kristen for several reasons.  The most obvious being I thought she was gorgeous.  Beyond that, she went on to really impress me at the event.  She went around the room talking with the local business owners and really working the room.  Later in the event she even intoduced me to the head of marketing for Saturn and ramped me right into a sponsorship conversation.  I closed that deal for $10,000 cash a few weeks later.

I also used that as inspiration to hit on her.  I told her that with the commission I make on the sale that I would have to take her to dinner to thank her....that dinner went on to be our first real date!

Looking back on the Ghostriders in general, it was a silly point in my life career wise.  Aside from that, it was the greatest decision I ever made to come work there.  Without that team, there's a chance we'd never find each other.  Then again if you believe in fate, maybe we would have met her in some other way -- but I personally liked the way it happened.

- Smitty