and it has made all the difference. 🙂

June 13th was here- finally. Unfortunately, it was going to be a long day for Mr. Australia….oh, wait, I guess I can call him by name, can’t I? It was going to be a long day for Daniel, who got stuck in customs and then had delayed flights to deal with, and for me, who was tracking his flights and thinking that they were kinda taking half of forever to finish up. 😀

Around 11 that evening, we heard footfalls on the porch and a knock on the door- he had arrived! I opened the door and asked him to step inside- he was real! My family and I spent some time talking to him for a bit before we called it a night- the next morning was going to be an early one, as I was taking the kids to their 4-H forestry competition and Daniel was to go with us.

The next day, as anticipated, started very early. I remember hearing talking out on the porch that morning and headed out to see Daniel talking to a few of the “middles”. I was very much looking forward to having the opportunity to talk to him and was glad that we were finally in the same time zone- in the same country, state, town, and on the same porch even! 😀 We all small-talked for a bit and introduced him to a couple of our cats, and then it was time to head to Prattville for the competition.

The competition was a two day, all-day event, and it provided lots of time for us to be able to talk about various things as we continued to get to know each other. In addition, we got to see a lot of beautifully scenic rural Alabama backroads making our way down to the sticks. It was such fun!

Over the days to come, we began to settle into a bit of a routine. There was lots of coffee enjoyed…

My mama had also picked up a puzzle so that all of us could chat and get it put together. This was accompanied by ice cream on many nights…

As it turns out, Daniel likes ice cream as much as I do….we may have went a bit overboard acquiring it at times….

As the days went by, we were able to spend a lot of time in conversation, and found another pastime to enjoy together- washing dishes! I don’t know how many hours we spent washing them, but I’d reckon it is probably quite a high number. We talked, laughed, and just thoroughly enjoyed the time. 🙂

Daniel started introducing me to all sorts of different kinds of fruits…. lychees were one of the favorites that I tried!

And the fourth of July was rapidly approaching as well, so that meant it was time for us to introduce Daniel to a little taste of celebrations at our house. We typically do a large Independence Day bash, so now was the perfect opportunity to let him see how we par-tay. Or something. 😀

Fireworks o’ plenty were gathered up….

Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos on my phone from that, because I was taking them all on the big camera! Ah well. :p

I introduced Daniel to Kool-Aid….bless his heart….he’d never tried it!

It was also about this time that we started doing some bona fide sightseeing. Peavine Falls was the first official destination after seeing photos of the falls online.

And of course, summer wouldn’t be complete without more 4-H activities! It was time for day camp, and I was an adult volunteer for the two-day summer day camp. It was such a blast! (Made moreso by the fact that Daniel got to come along as well. 🙂 )

We got to visit a pottery studio one day…

And a stable one day…..

It was such fun!

Daniel and I were continuing our many, many conversations, and were still realizing that we were very like-minded and were headed in a similar direction. We continued to spend time together doing little projects around the house and sight-seeing, as well as going to church and visiting with friends. Tannehill State Park became a fun excursion after doing market days. 🙂

And then there was “Cow Appreciation Day” at Chik-Fil-A…..this photo brought more questions from friends, haha!! (“Who is that guy standing next to you??”) It was so much fun introducing Daniel to the amazing fun that Chik-Fil-A provides each year with this event. 🙂

Back to Tannehill!!

Daniel really encouraged me to cross the waterfall….which I didn’t want to do, but did anyway. It freaked me out majorly, but I am so glad I did it now! He, like my dear mama, encourages me constantly to step outside of my comfort zone when I wouldn’t otherwise. And, just like when mama does it, I always learn and grow from the experience and am very glad that I did it!

Besides, we got to take this nice picture of us together:

As the days went on, I found myself realizing that I was more and more interested in this amazing Australian fellow who had flown so far to come and spend time with me… I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but I had many conversations with my parents about how things were going and what they were observing. I’m so thankful to have had so many people with their eyes on the situation who were praying and encouraging me to seek the Lord’s will in however we moved forward.

On July 21st, Daniel asked to speak to Daddy for a few minutes. A little later, Daddy came and found Mama and I and said we (along with Daniel) would be having a discussion later on that evening, once the littles were down for the night. He didn’t say what the meeting was about, though I had my suspicions.

Now, this was rather funny…I had recently began teaching piano lessons professionally. The mama of my student that day asked if I had any plans for later. The only thing I could think was “Yes! I’ve definitely got plans for later!”, but, I simply said that I knew I had a workday I needed to finish up and then I’d do whatever else popped up. 😀

Well, as you’ve probably figured out, that day seemed to creep by. 😀

We sat down that evening and discussed many things, but most importantly, Dad asked both of us if we wanted to proceed forwards into an official courtship. Our answer? A resounding yes! 🙂 And thus a new chapter was started….

(and yes, more to come! 🙂 )