It is a little later than we thought, but you know Florida always has voting problems :)

This has been one crazy race all the way down to the wire. We want to thank all of you for participating. Please join us in congratulating miranda & david for winning the contest.

Ok this is something we have been waiting to finalize and now it is here. It comes down to these four couples. While we had the pleasure to meet mandy & brandon, and miranda & david in person we most certainly love all of them equally. So it up to you, the public to pick the winners. Voting will end sun at midnight est. Good luck to all, it has been a pleasure.

cheers
mandy & me

laura & gregg’s story

When we met, Gregg was a senior in college and I was a junior. Shortly after meeting, he asked me on a date to dinner and ice cream. That first date turned into a second, and then a third. Before long, we were inseparable. At the end of the year, though, we had a decision to make. Gregg received a scholarship to get his PhD at the University of Illinois, while I still had a year left in college in Atlanta. We talked about whether we should continue dating long-distance or end the relationship. We decided that as long as we were both happy, we would make our relationship work. We racked up a lot of frequent flier miles and enjoyed the weekends we spent together. I planned to move to Illinois at the end of the year, but the day after graduation I was offered an amazing fellowship in Atlanta. I eventually decided to take the fellowship in Atlanta and that year we racked up even more frequent flier miles. When the fellowship ended, I moved to Illinois. Gregg and I were finally in the same state, but not in the same city. I began graduate school in Chicago, while Gregg lived two and a half hours away. For the next two years, we collected Amtrak points instead of airline miles. I graduated from grad school last spring and moved to Champaign, Illinois. We were living in the same state and the same city for the first time in four years.

This past December when I was home in Sarasota, Gregg was visiting his family in Texas. Two days after Christmas, Gregg secretly flew to Sarasota to surprise me. On Siesta Beach, he got down on one knee and proposed. He said that he came to Sarasota to show me that he would follow me anywhere, because he couldn’t imagine spending his life without his best friend. Those four years of long-distance dating were long and hard, but I am so grateful we decided to stay together. Four years apart was well worth being able to spend the next seventy-five years with my best friend.

Gregg and I love to make each other laugh. He loves to tell me how terrible my jokes are, especially my joke about the pirate walking into a bar. We love waltzing in the kitchen and cooking extravagant meals, using every dish in the cabinet . We love exploring new towns and eating at new restaurants. We love sledding and hiking and laying on the couch and watching the food network.

On September 26, 2009, Gregg and I will get married on the six-year anniversary of our first date. The wedding will be in the chapel of the church where my dad is the minister and the reception will be at Selby Gardens. We are excited to bring our friends and family together, especially since our families will be meeting for the first time. We are not fancy or traditional, that is why we are having BBQ ribs and macaroni and cheese at our reception. That is also why we do not want traditional posed pictures with the wedding party in a line. We want pictures that reflect our silly and laidback personalities. We want pictures that capture the real moments and laughter of the day. Most of all, we want pictures that we can show our kids how in love we were on our wedding day.

miranda & david’s story

“I think I met my match. The man that makes me want to use all the cheesy nick-names and clichés—and not barf. Even his pick-up lines still make me laugh. He always listens to my rants, and finds ways to make me smile. While I know that planning a life with someone is going to be difficult, imagining a life without him is too painful. Somehow I know I would survive, but I am afraid of ever having to. I want to live my life with David.”

How I met number 117.

I should start by saying that by referring to David as #117, doesn’t make him the 117th man in my life… I passed that long before I met Dave…

Seriously though, our story begins on January 17th 2008 (that’s 1/17). I, Miranda, have been involved with Chick-fil-A marketing (Chick-fil-A is a southern fast-food chain) over the last 5 years. On this particular day I was working an event called “The First 100.” At the event, the first one hundred customers to enter into a brand new Chick-fil-a location receive free chicken for a year. In the south this is especially a big deal, although I am sure that a year’s worth of free food is exciting no matter where you come from. So as you can imagine, there was quite a crowd by 3pm the day before the store’s Grand Opening. I began my shift at 3pm not to end until 730am the next morning. 15 hours of basically just hanging out with various random people until they won their free food.

This is where I met David, but sadly for David, he was not in the first 100… he was #117. He was the knight on the white horse for a couple of my friends who were participating in this event. They had forgotten to bring a tent and David quickly went home to bring them his so they would have shelter from the monsoon. 117, and the title “Tent Savior,”were all I really knew of him. He was the most attractive out of the 125 people attending this event (101-125 raffle to win free chicken, or they can take the place of contestants who leave the property… so basically he still had a chance at chicken, although I think he won so much more!) and he was the such a gentleman, as he left the event to bring a tent for these two damsels in distress.

We talked… briefly throughout the 9 or so hours he was at the event, but there was never really an opportunity for me to really get to know him. All I knew is that there was a spark. I was definitely attracted to him. By the end of the fifteen-hour shift I was exhausted and slightly distressed that I hadn’t spent more time around #117. But I left thinking I would never see or hear from him again. I didn’t even know his last name.

The rest according to David…

I can still remember my drive home. I refer to it as the drive of shame. Even though the rain clouds were beginning to lift, my spirits were not. I was completely disappointed in myself for not getting Miranda’s phone number. I don’t know what it was, but something was killing me about the thought I might never see her again. After driving half way home, I resigned I would not let that happen. So I turned the car around and went back to the Chik-Fil-A I had left a few minutes prior. She was nowhere to be found, and it was in that moment I knew I would have to resort to a method I had criticized so many times before. I had to find her on Facebook. All I knew was a first name and a school.Fortunately there were only 23 Mirandas at UCF and through the process of elimination and blind hope, I picked the one I thought was her. I remember hoping desperately I had picked correctly as this Miranda’s picture depicted a girl in a Kayak, and I love kayaking. It took me about two hours to craft the message that would accompany my friend request, and then I waited. A couple hours and about twenty Facebook page hits later and bingo… contact! After a few casual messages I found the courage to ask one simple question that would change the rest of my life, “Do you like coffee?”

The rest as they say… is history.

About Us. We like adventure. Traveling. People. Pictures. Food. Culture. Spontaneous Randomness. Being with each other.

Jen’s story

John and I met two years ago with a little help… I was a travel nurse that found myself back on the dating scene. (I had forgotten how hard that it is to date!!) Meeting people just to be friends with is a challenge when you move every couple months, let alone dating. With the encouragement of a great friend (and some safety tutoring) I signed up for a couple online dating sites. OK, so prince charming didn’t come first. Lotsa frogs….and scary clowns! I swore I was going to write a book. Maybe I still will…lots of stories to share from that HOT mess. Plenty to laugh about.

Then a Florida boy sent a tentative little note. Just to see…That started so much fun and romance I didn’t know what hit me. Speaking of CAPTURED. Whew! I didn’t know what hit me. I think the best kept secret of a great man found ME!

Needless to say, he was a good enough reason to stop traveling as a career. We have now been together for two years. He surprised me with a ring just last November.

Now begins the fun part. I did mention that he is a Florida boy…. so now we are in the beginning stages of planning our ceremony. He has two great kids who were raised to love Florida with passion also. So a wedding there is a no brainer. One more happy memory for them as we start our lives all together.

I have given you the VERY short version of the Beginning of our Happy Ending.

John’s story.

How to sum a life in five pictures…

I must say that am a fortunate soul. I have two wonderful and healthy children. I have a good job. I have a few close friends and one amazing friend…the best ever. I have a house…and some stuff. All except the last on that list are priceless…you can always replace stuff.

Where to begin…So, one day I found myself a parent of two with no spouse (no details…yikes, the pressure!). For the record, I maintained (and still do) a healthy relationship with their mom. I was happy and thought my life was pretty “normal” and stable; however, something was missing.

Having a very busy life, between taking the kids to school, work, home, homework, dinner, laundry… (we have equal time and responsibility) there was no time for dating. I decided that online was probably the best way to make the most of my time and meet someone to just spend time with and see what might develop.

Well…it’s not as easy as the commercials! I had quite a few “free dinner” dates…met a couple of…”interesting” individuals…and just about gave up on the whole thing. Until, one night, after a 15 hour day, I seemed to find the one “profile” that encouraged me to send one more email introduction.

She emailed me back and the next thing I knew we were “chatting” like friends…as if we had known each other for years. Not the kind of friends you grew up with or the friends some of you might have now…but the kind of friend that always has a place in your heart, even though you have never met.

That was two years ago…I NEVER would have imagined being here with her today. She was a travel nurse just passing through on an assignment. I was not looking for a long-term relationship per se - just someone to go hiking with, or the beach…or any sort of outdoor activity. I was looking for…well, a friend (ok - and maybe the slimmest possibility of loving again…busted!)

Jenny and the kids have an amazing relationship. We would have never made it far if they had not (reality check). Just look at the pictures and let them tell the story. Yes…we have both been married before (for those who were wondering). We are “educationally committed” to sharing a lifetime with each other and raising two souls to be loving and caring members of our society and our planet.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words…judge for yourselves. I think a picture cannot be truly described with words - but only with the imagination we dare to explore.

We would like to thank Laura and Dave for taking time out of their busy weekend to take these pictures. You captured the essence of our new life and gave us lasting impressions for reflection.

I am a fortunate soul…I am blessed with three by my side. I wish only that all of those reading this and seeing these pictures will take a moment to reflect on your own fortunes and your own pictures or another form of art, and not just remember, but imagine.

We have a wonderful life..not perfect…but that’s what allows it to be wonderful. Amidst all the chaos, we still make time to play and laugh…and dream. With that, I’ll close with the words of a pretty great writer, “…love will never let you learn, just beg you to believe.”

mandy & brandon’s story

Our Love Story
Chapter 1: The Day We Met
Chapter 2: The First Date
Chapter 3: I Told him”I Love You”
Chapter 4: He Told Me “I Love You Too”
Chapter 5: The Proposal

Chapter 6: The REAL Love Story
I could tell you how we met, how we dated, and about how he proposed. I could tell you why he’s cute, why he’s funny, and why I totally and completely adore him. Of course this is all VERY important to me, but any person of our age has seen, heard, and experienced it all before. Boy meets girl, boy likes girl, girl likes boy, they fall in love, and live happily ever after. If you have heard one story, you have heard them all. Every girl is a princess with their fairy tale prince and story book ending…but what happens in between it all? What makes the boy like the girl and the girl like the boy? What happens when the cameras shut off and the audience goes home? I believe what constitutes the magnificence of a love story are the emotions and thoughtfulness that go on in between the “chapter headliners”.

To briefly introduce us, we both graduated from Florida State University last Spring and moved to Atlanta to start our careers. We both work long hours, don’t get to see each other enough, and our time together is often spent catching up on lost sleep. It has been hard for both of us. We have few friends close by for support so we have only had each other to lean on. Sometimes we fight, but because we are both so stubborn and yet so passionate the fight usually ends with fighting over who loves the other more.

The moments that touch my heart the most in our year and half together are not necessarily the grandiose proposal or the obvious steps he took to assure his love for me in front of others. What touches my heart the most is his passionate love for me when it is just the two of us, when no one else is watching. These moments and often wordless expressions are what will always stand out the most when I think of how to define our love. Recently, I came down with the worst food poisoning of my life. Brandon was at work and I was home all alone. In my head, my hypochondriac of a self was dying from the worst case of Salmonella known to man-kind. I thought I was going to die all alone in my apartment because my poor, hard-working fiance wouldn’t be able to come home from work to comfort me in my suffering. Of course he was on the cell phone, frantic with worry because I was turning a probably mild case of food poisoning into a terminal disease. In less than an hour, he somehow found someone to cover his shift and was soon home by my side. I will always remember how he looked when he came home. The expression on his face was completely impromtu and totally unpremeditated. A person could have read his heart on his face. When he burst through the front door, the worried look on his face said “I love you” more than any romantic action he has ever or will ever attempt to take. I can’t explain it nor can I even expect another person to understand, but when I think about how great our love is, his expression at that moment reflects it all. That priceless face said “You are safe because I’m here”. It said “If anything ever happened to you, I couldn’t survive”. That face said “I’ll love you forever”. That’s how I know he will love and protect me no matter what. Not just because we will say our “I Dos” or our “through thick and through thins”, but because he has already proven that he will go to the end of the earth (in my mind) for me. Here in lies the depth of our love story. That face…it is my love story. It is my happily ever after.

Of course we are ALWAYS learning new things about each other. Some days I think Brandon and I have sooo much in common and other days I feel like we couldn’t be any more different. We both love food, wine, sunny days, and taking the dog for walks. I like to read. Brandon would rather watch tv. :) I like salad. Brandon would rather have ice cream. We both like people, we both majored in hospitality, and we both work for different hotel companies. I work for Hyatt. He works for Marriott. I want to do more outdoor activities, but Brandon hates bugs. Brandon likes to wake-up early. I have enough trouble waking up. Brandon prefers his coffee with more sugar, less cream. Give me the carton of cream, I can skip the sugar. We both LOVE the show ‘LOST’ and family guy too. We are both passionate about each other and can’t wait to get married!

Meet Miranda & David one of the finalists in our wedding coverage giveaway. Their story will follow so I wont say much about them and let you discover it for yourselves. One a side note, I had a bad encounter with fire ants. The 30+ bites on my legs remind me just how badly they always kick my butt.

mandy & brandon are of the finalists in our wedding coverage giveaway contest. While their wedding is taking place in Sarasota they still reside in Atlanta but they didn’t hesitate to make the drive for their e-shoot. Obviously with that said, I had a lot of pressure to perform at my best. 64oz of coffee and some steroids did the trick I guess:)…ok ok just go look at the pictures already.

couldn’t resist the pretty shoes.