Pinterest

I am a very crafty person, and that might even be an understatement because I work at a craft store just for the discount on supplies. So when I saw several of my Facebook friends adding their pins from Pinterest to Facebook, I knew I had to get on that and quick.

Suffice to say it is my new obsession. I love cooking, healthy, whole cooking. So I have found a ton of recipes I've pinned. But most importantly I am pinning ideas for our house. We need a new head board, and I absolutely fell in love with this idea. So as soon as I have some money, I am going to go buy some fabric and fabric markers to do this.

J's birthday is Friday, so I know we will be there then. I am making my manicotti for him. It's become a birthday tradition for him. I usually make a red velvet cake for him because that is what his grandmother did for him every year while he was growing up, but I don't think I am going to have time to do it this year with a training tomorrow night and then I'm working Friday at the 2nd job.

I have the weekend off this weekend, so I am planning to finish up the scrapbook between loads of laundry and cleaning the house. We will hopefully have our new sofa in this weekend! So I am sure J will either be watching football or plugging away with K on TGC stuff, but probably both. If we're not camped out at K's like we usually are on the weekend.

WE DID IT!!!!!

JUST MARRIED

10-22-11

Newark, DE

After years of waiting and years of thought, we got married on October 22, 2011 in a small intimate ceremony in J's parent's backyard. It was perfect, we were surrounded by our family and a few close friends and could feel the presence of those not present and those who are no longer with us. We couldn't have asked for a better day, well maybe a little warmer. The weather said it was supposed to be partly cloudy and it seemed as though the sun came out just for us as we said our vows.  We did not do the traditional vows; we struggled to find an officiant, so I wrote the ceremony before contacting several ordained ministers, including our own vows. Luckily we found the perfect one, Lorraine, and how perfect is it that her name is my grandmother's name?!

My parents (mom, dad, and step-mom) all came into town for the event and my dad was around most of the week following showing my step-momma around the East coast. It was nice having everyone there, though I do wish my sisters could make it. I really enjoyed the time with my dad and step-mom, I am a daddy's girl and despite the differences we have had over the years I am glad to see our relationship has grown stronger.

In the weeks leading up to the wedding, I spent a lot of time preparing a scrapbook of pictures of J and me growing up and then of us together when we were younger. It also served as a guestbook and some of the comments left made us laugh and made us cry. I can't wait to add more pages to this book of pictures from the wedding. I don't think either of us has stopped smiling in the last week and a half. I truly believe our love for each other, despite how difficult it has been, has grown and we are truly excited for the next stage in our life together.

In August, I booked our mini-moon, in fact it is pretty much what started the idea of getting married. There was a cute Bed and Breakfast in Henniker, New Hampshire advertising for a two-night stay on LivingSocial. I have never been to New England, and thought "this would be perfect!" So I booked the trip and for the last two months anxiously awaited to go. We arrived on Monday afternoon and pretty much slept the entire afternoon. The room came with a complimentary bottle of Chardonnay (and I hate Chardonnay but this was the best I'd ever had), we were surprised to see that my dad and step-mom had ordered us flowers and a cheese tray for our arrival. So we snacked on that for "dinner" before both passing out and sleeping pretty much until the next morning.

I wish I had taken a picture of the food. Our breakfast each morning was AMAZING, and that is a gross understatement. On Tuesday morning we had Espresso French Toast with a Mocha syrup. Then that night we ate at the inn and I had a lobster stuffed chicken breast with some of the best squash I've ever had and J had a fillet minion that was cooked to perfection. Wednesday morning we had cranberry apple pancakes. If I could live there I would be quite happy.

Unfortunately, due to the recent storms in the area many of the fall colors have blown away. I was able to get a few pictures and will edit this post as soon as I take the time to get them off my camera.

Thank you everyone for your well wishes and support. We are very blessed to have some of the best of friends and truly blessed to have a wonderful family. It means so much to us to have you all there in thought.

Moving Along

Things are moving along well with the wedding. We have 24 days left!!!
Everything is falling into place quite nicely. We're hoping for amazing weather, and can't wait to see some of our closest friends and family. We booked our caterers last week and they do rentals, so we are very excited with how everything is working out.

This week I bought stuff to finish our centerpieces. We have 4 tables of 8 and then a sweetheart table. The centerpieces are oil lanterns and mason jars with candles. I need to get some fall gems and beads to fill some of the mason jars to add some dimension to them and I also need to find Christmas lights to string up. Other than that, rings have been ordered, other decorations bought, food and catering ordered. Things are going quite smoothly. I believe James and his parents are going to meet the caterers for a walk through of the backyard tomorrow and then we hope to get to Mt. Hope Winery for our wedding favors this weekend or the weekend of my birthday.

The past few weeks have been a struggle for me. I have SAD and the weather has been very dreary, so that isn't helping any. Couple that with the fact that I have a minor outpatient surgery tomorrow and I feel like I have been a basket case. We have had some really nice sunny days the past few days though so that is helping a lot.
For those of you who don't know what Seasonal Affect Disorder is, it is basically a specific form of depression that is heightened during certain times of the year. Mine just so happens to occur in September and towards the end of February into March. It's not fun to deal with and I am beyond grateful to have people in my life who understand and try to help me out.

James has some exciting news to announce soon, and I can't wait to announce it. We are very excited and happy about the latest developments, as it impacts not only his future but our's as well. I wish I could say more, I really do, but we're kind of keeping it under wraps at the moment until we, well really he is ready to go public with it.

It's exciting time in the Hathcock Household.

Our Story

We always seem to get asked how we met and how long we've been together. The most frequently asked questions when you're meeting and making new friends. I'd like to say out story is like a romance movie, and in many ways it is, but not everything has fallen into place or been perfect for us in the 13 years we've known each other and been a part of each other's lives.

We met when we were both 15 at a YMCA sponsored teen leadership program. We rode the same van to the little college in Pennsylvania, where we spent a week getting to know each other and following each other around like love sick teenagers. If you've never met James, he has the charisma about him that everyone loves and adores. He's not necessarily intending to flirt, but he is quite charmer. And his smile just lights up his entire face. When he smiles your heart can't help but race. We spent a wonderful 6 months together, before the distance got to be too much. He lived an hour away from me and let's face it, at a time when cell phones were not economical at all, and when you're relying on your parents for you main transportation, trying to keep up a long distance relationship was hard. However, we remained very close, talking frequently online and getting together when we were in the same area.

In the summer of 1999, we went to Australia where we spent 3 weeks traveling together as part of a group of high school students with People to People. At that time we were both 16 and able to drive to see each other, so we thought we would make another go of it. Upon arriving back from the trip, I learned that my family would be moving to Texas in December. We were both heartbroken, but made the best of the remaining 4 months we had together. I officially moved January 23rd of 2000 and James and I decided that we'd stay in touch and see how things paned out over the next few years of our lives.

In 2001, I came to visit James in Delaware and despite the 2 years apart, it was as if nothing had changed between us. We briefly joked about marriage before realizing that although we wanted to be together, I wanted to finish college and he wasn't ready for that kind of commitment at such a young age.

Over the course of the next 5 years, James and I spoke often. Offering advice on relationships, friendships, life, careers, and lending support in rough times. In December of 2005 however, we stopped talking for about 5 months because I needed my space to work on some personal issues I was having. It was a very rough time in my life, full of adjusting to post college and married life to my first husband. Truth be told, it was a time I needed my best friend, but felt the way our past had worked needed to be left out. After 5 months, I'd had enough and it was like a weight had been lifted off my chest to be able to talk to James again.

In 2007, my marriage ended, and I moved back to Delaware. I truly missed the area and it was where some of my best friends still resided. James and I reconnected and eventually moved in together. In September 2008, we bought our first home and in October of that year he asked me to marry him.

I would be lying if I said that things are always great and we never fight, but we are both passionate people and we are both very opinionated, so fights are frequent, but we love each other and grow more and more in love with each other everyday.

So here we are, over 13 years after meeting. Finally, getting married this year, really trying to get a family started (more on that another time) and excited for what the future holds for us.

Welcome to our blog

We're James and Maggie. We've been together just over 13 years. We are finally getting married October 22nd. We have 2 dogs and a cat and live in Delaware. James works in IT doing network administration. I am a program manager for a local non-profit and do billing for a local construction company.

This blog is primarily for our family to keep up to date on what we're doing and what's going on in our lives. It may turn into something completely different as we both love to write about various other topics that interest us.