Amanda & Charlie
ABOUT US
First and foremost, I can say with certainty that this woman completely blindsided me and swept me off my feet. I could keep going about this, but let's talk about her. Amanda was born and raised in Gainesville, Florida. She is 24 years old, which means there was a significant period of time where our relationship would have been illegal (haha!).
Interestingly enough, I actually met her parents before I met her, and I loved them from the beginning. Bill, Ginny, Amanda, and Will have an awesome family dynamic, and I look forward to joining their family.
Unlike myself, Amanda is a perfectionist. She had never gotten a "B" in school until law school, and she was slightly disapointed with that. Crazy, I know.
She attended the University of South Florida in Tampa for undergrad, majoring in Criminology. In my backwoods Mississippi terminology, Criminology is learning how to study and profile criminals. She graduated in May of 2011 - a year early - with all of the honors that USF could give, without naming a building after her (yet). She was even named a King O'Neal Scholar (USF's highest honor) and she was asked to sit on the stage at her college graduation. Impressive.
After this, she interned with Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru) for a year (August 2011 - July 2012). She worked for Cru at USF and for a short stint in Miami.
Following this, she began working for her father's law firm. She did this for about a year before beginning law school at the University of Florida.
After the wedding, she plans to transfer to a Mississippi law school to complete her law degree. After completion of her J.D., she plans to take the Florida Bar Exam and work for her dad's firm remotely.
Amanda loves her Jack Rogers sandals (she's completely worn out 3 pair since I've known her), interior decorating and design, Publix chicken wings, me and Jesus. She is not too fond of my dog Meg's shedding hair, slow driving, being wrong, and working out (even though she does it almost daily and is great at it).
Amanda has truly swept me off my feet. She is the most caring, thoughtful, and loving woman I know. As each day passes, I draw closer and closer to her, and I feel our love for each other growing stronger and stronger. She is my best friend, and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with her.
This may be long, y'all. I have too many good things to say about this man. Charlie was born and raised in Kosciusko, Mississippi. His parents, Randy and Sharon, are some of the greatest people you'll ever meet... which is probably why Charlie turned out so well (or at least I think so!). He's 29 years old - about five years older than me, which I remind him of quite frequently.
After high school graduation and before college, Charlie enlisted in the Mississippi Air National Guard. He also made the very wise decision to go to Ole Miss for undergrad, where he majored in Civil Engineering.
During his second year of college, Charlie was deployed to Iraq to serve in the U.S. Air Force in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He returned home safe and sound on October 13, 2005, with only a small cut above his left eyebrow. I love the scar that he still has there, because it's one of those things that makes him himself! When he got home, he continued his degree at Ole Miss and graduated in August of 2008 (i.e. the year I graduated from high school - told you I like to rub it in).
​He started his Master's Degree in August of 2008 as well, and finished in December 2009... AND, he graduated with a 3.98 GPA! Have I mentioned that he's one of smartest men I know? That's probably why he was hired immediately after graduation! He began working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in January of 2010, and he's been working there ever since.
In 2012, Charlie made an even better decision to get his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida (located in GAINESVILLE, FL - my hometown)! He's been studying hard since moving to the "Sunshine State" in August of 2013.
Charlie loves his Teva tennis shoes, his truck, cheese dip (despite not liking regular cheese at all... weird, right?), the outdoors, Ole Miss, me, and his dog, Meg. Charlie does not like regular cheese, Mississippi State, or my driving.
He's honestly the kindest, strongest, most loving man I have ever met, and I am so incredibly grateful to him and to God that he chose me to be his wife. It's one of the most profound blessings in my life.