Vera Wang

Want to know what my fiance did today? 

.......

Today was a really long day so David thought he'd change that. Change that, he did.

Thank you for loving me and sending me some beautiful flowers, Dave!

Hey you guys! Next week we'll be at less than 200 days! 

How Do You Choose a Movie?

Tonight Tori, Meghan and I decided to watch a movie. Sounds like a nice relaxing night, right? Well, not so much at 116. We have a process for choosing movies. It may get a little crazy but bear with me. On rare occasion we'll all three immediately agree on a movie or at least fall back on a Harry Potter or two. Tonight we were not so lucky.

Tori really wanted to watch Percy Jackson, but neither Meghan nor I wanted to. If you've read the book and seen the movie you understand. So we began the process. 

First Meghan and Tori picked any movie they were interested in watching. 

Then they ruled out half quickly. Meghan hid two behind her back and Tori guess between her right or left hand. 

This was followed by a game of rock, paper, scissors. Whenever someone won the a game they got to choose from the pile of five. After five rounds Tori had three movies and Meghan two so Tori's pile of movies was still in and Meghan's was out.

So it was down to three movies and down to these tie breakers:

Whoever stood the longest and won each round got to keep a movie. 

Finally, I chose a number....

 and the first to guess won as did their movie. 

 Drum roll please...and the winner is:

What A Girl Wants. 

So all of that for a simple movie. The funny thing is, as soon as I got home Meghan and I put in Percy Jackson. I guess Tori actually persuaded us to watch it after all.

The Silver Fox, My Post-Train-Wreck Car

This is my car. Her name is Alverta Roberta by day. By night, she's the Silver Fox. I love my car. Sure, she shakes when I brake or sit at a light. Sure, she shutters on and squeaks when I shut her off. Even though she's not brand new she has been very reliable. I fear, however, that today was the beginning of the end.

My parents weren't the parents to buy their kids brand new cars, much less at 16. I don't remember being bothered by that then (and am grateful for it now) but I'm sure 16 year old Hillary grumbled on more than one occasion about needing a car. When I was a junior my parents allowed me to begin looking at cars. I liked my dad's car at the time and I believe I was interested in one similar to it. Some time around my birthday my dad took me by Raley Motors, owned by a friend of ours, to look at a Nissan that had just come in. I loved it. It was a different model than my dad's but around the same year. The only difference was it had no sunroof and it was champagne. Mr. Raley told me, to my disappointment, that someone else had purchased it. I was disappointed but it was, after all, just a car. That year my parents threw me a surprise party for my 17th birthday. I remember a few things from that party.

1. Tori worked really hard on it and pointed out in fun Tori-fashion how great everything was 

2. David Kizziah, my cousin's husband, taught me what to do while everyone is singing "Happy Birthday" to you. 

3. Jimmy Raley's birthday card wasn't from Jimmy Raley. It was from my parents and had a key inside. 

I was a little thrown by the card but quickly got over the confusion and ran outside to see my new champagne Nissan Altima that my mom had just purchased.

But that car has a sad ending, as many know. Just a short month later, on the way to church, I totaled that car.  I walked away with nothing more than a nose bleed, and my parents were so beyond relieved that I don't even remember one lecture (though they were probably in shock after I walked a way from being hit by a train).  

By the time I finished high school my dad's car had become mine, probably a little bit out of necessity and a lot out of me being a ridiculous high school age teen who needed a car (entirely out of sacrificially generous parents). Alvie traveled with me to Tuscaloosa and then to Nashville. Most importantly, since being in Nashville she has taken me back to Tuscaloosa time and time again and over these trips I have gone from a single girl to an engaged one. 

Alas, I believe she is dying. Today I was sitting at a red light and she stalled out and died. Luckily she started right back up but this is a first for this car.  I think that this is the sad beginning of the end. With a crazy year ahead of saving for marriage and a wedding to pay for I praying and trusting that the Lord will provide. 

Here's to hoping the Silver Fox shakes, rattles and rolls a little longer.

Marriage

Today in Class

On Fridays, I have Movement for Animators. This is the second (and last) drawing class for my program. The first three weeks we draw in perspective and the last seven we learn about human anatomy and how we move. Today we had to finish drawing a car in two point perspective. There were several things that were fixed in the final, but here's the (very) rough draft:

Introductions

Hi All! (or You All Everybody!)

Just a quick- or not so quick- introduction to who I am and what I'm doing here.

 This is me, Hillary. 

The facts: 

I exist to glorify God by enjoying Him forever and displaying that glory to all those around. 

I'm majoring in Digital Media and Animation with a focus in 3D Animation.

I love to read and want to write one day. I especially love fantasy fiction and am trying read more classic lit.

I am a horrible editor (so expect grammatical errors).

I love my big family.

And I love this guy....

 

 This is David. He's pretty much amazing. David is a film student at the University of Alabama and is VERY talented. 

David loves the Lord, his mom, art, film-making, hiking/backpacking/camping, climbing, reading, and me!

The picture above was taken over a year ago, just a few days before we began dating. 

In February this happened...

In case you can't tell, that's him proposing to me at Lake Santa Fe.  I talk about him A LOT. I just can't help it. He's my best friend and I love, respect and adore him. I can truly say the Lord is faithful to those who wait.

As a frame of reference, here's a quick glance at the names of those who will probably pop up often.

 This is my immediate family at Easter 2012 (obviously the family color was blue).

This is the Vaughn family. My older sister, Bethany, is married to Alex and has two kids, Sterling and Ann Elizabeth. They are also in the process of adopting a little girl or boy from Ethiopia. I am very excited to meet my new niece or nephew. Sterling and AE have already stolen my heart. I can't wait to meet the newest little Vaughn.

These two are numbers 3 and 4. Tori is my younger sister by just over a year. She lives with me and is a fashion major here at school. It's been really nice living with a fashion major and has extended my closet. It's also been cool to see how she stands out among people our age when it comes to dating/singleness. Tori just enjoys life and seeks satisfaction in Christ.

 Jameson, my not-so-little brother, brings up the rear. Jameson just graduated high school (two days ago). That stud is going to Honduras for two months this summer. He really wants to go to Union but I'm trying to persuade him to go to UA and into film since he'd be doing Digital Media anyways. 

And finally, these are my parents, now known as KiKi (Vicki) and KerKer(The Colonel). Enough can't be said about my parents. They raised my siblings and I in a house that feared the Lord and in the discipline of the Lord. Anyone who knows them, knows how wonderful they truly are.

I am glad that I finally have my blog up and running. I was waiting for two things. I wanted to design it and I wanted to get this in....

That's right! For my birthday/Christmas/David I got a Canon T3i! It is wonderful!

I wanted to document the craziness of this year and what the Lord is teaching me as I prepare to graduate and get married...in just 212 days!

Thanks for reading and following along this busy and exciting year!


Hillary