A Stratton Family First

So here's the deal...I have heard about the wonderful world of blogging for quite some time now, and No, it's never sparked my interest....until now I guess. I have always held and will always hold friends and family close to my heart, and I've learned that this is by far the best way to keep them updated about us and for us to know what's going on in their lives. Just so we're clear, I am sure that I (Alisha) will be the only one contributing to "our" site, but please know that Shawn love's you, too :^) and I will be speaking for both of us. This could actually be a good thing - I can make myself shine, and Shawn, well...not so much! I'm kidding.

So where to start? Let me just tell our story...

Shawn and I met through his sister Heather (shout out to Heather!). I was at Piedmont Park walking my little darling Annabelle, and Heather noticed how similar our dogs looked.

Getting to the point, she learned that I had a lot in common with her brother, and she was crazy persistent to get us to meet each other. Our first encounter was at her house, and well, let's just say Shawn did a lot of talking and I did a lot of listening. The crazy thing was that I was connecting with every word that came out of his mouth. So yes...I was quite impressed, but it just wasn't enough. We met a second time right before we were leaving for our summer vacations (Shawn to Cali, and me to NYC). All three of us went to this cute 70s club and danced our hearts out...some better than others haha. Before we went our separate ways, Shawn held my hand and the connection was definitely there...and strong. We kept in touch every single day for that summer via text messaging, phone calls, e-mails, etc. and literally fell in love in a month (Shawn also had a $1000 cell bill waiting for him at home).

Shawn and I began dating the day he got back home. It took an enormous amount of sacrifice, patience, prayer, and driving every weekend, but ultimately it led to our engagement.

Shawn, the romantic and sports fanatic that he is, proposed to me at 8pm on Friday April 13, 2007 in Braves stadium at the 755 Club overlooking the outfield. Being that he had "fake proposed" to me several times leading up to this event, I did not believe him at all...until I saw the hostess snapping photos of us. It was by far one of the most amazing nights of my life. My first answer was "Shawn, this is neither the time nor the place to play around!" followed by an "Oh my gosh...you're serious," to an "Of course! Yes!"

Shawn and I were married three short months later at 5pm on Friday July 13, 2007 in Smithfield, Virginia. We both agree that this was the happiest day of our lives. We spent two amazing weeks in St. Maarten for our honeymoon, and we are looking forward to many more travel opportunities together as husband and wife.

We moved into our new, College Park home together in July after the honeymoon ended. Shawn is currently teaching Spanish and coaching Varsity baseball in Dekalb county, but he recently signed a contract to work at my school in August. I teach Spanish and coach Cheerleading and Soccer to a vibrant group of middle schoolers at Woodward Academy. We keep very busy, but we know it's all worth it when summer vacation comes around...paaartay! Shawn, Annabelle and I live a very eventful life, so I'm sure we'll have lots of news to come!

Enjoy!