About us:
My name is Carly Stephens. I am a 22 year old Registered Nurse. I grew up in Stanfield, NC. I guess you could say I'm your average girly girl. I love bling-bling, make-up, pocketbooks, shoes...basically all pretty things! Casey Summerlin is my fiance. He is 23 and my exact opposite. He is a big, tough country boy. Casey grew up in Mount Pleasant, NC which is 30 minutes from my hometown. We have driven that route plenty of times to know over the past 5.5 years. Casey works as a heavy equipment operator which fits him perfect because he gets to play on big machines all day! He loves the outdoors, hunting, fishing, riding 4-wheelers....typical boy stuff. Casey and I just purchased our first home in Mount Pleasant. It is a historic home built in 1904 and we are in love with it. I found it one day riding by, (not for sale) and confronted the owner about selling it. I worked my southern charm and a year later its OURS! Most of our time is spent working in the house, making it our home.
How we met:
Casey was 18 and I was 17 years old when we met. He was preparing to graduate from highschool and I had one more year left. We met on prom night. Both of our highschools had prom on the same night. He was at the same bonfire my friends were wanting to go to after the prom. I didn't want to go and not know anyone so I made them take me home. Later that night, my phone rang and it was a crazy boy telling me I should have stayed! That boy was Casey. From that point on we talked on the phone everyday for hours just learning each other. A few weeks later we finally met when our group of friends went camping. Ill never forget yelling at him for not bringing enough blankets. I was freezing! I still tease him for it today. Casey says he knew that he was going to marry me before he ever even met me.
Proposal Story:
Can I start by saying how important the proposal was to me! We have been talking about the proposal since our first year of dating. I laid out some ground rules for the occasion. I wanted an extreme, extravagant, over-the-top, never done before proposal. I know my fiance well and he is the farthest thing from over-the-top. So I would always talk it up and make him think of something amazing, yet a surprise for me. That was my main concern, that I would be surprised. Before getting engaged, I already knew where I wanted to get married. Casey would drive me through a town called Gold Hill. Its a historic beautiful village we both fell in love with. It has a cute, perfect little white church which faces a park on the other side of the street. The park has a stone cabin-like building in the middle of it which is absolutely beautiful. Prior to the proposal we went to Gold Hill many times just to walk around and plan the wedding. I knew this was where I wanted to get married. Casey would always laugh and tell me, "whatever you want babe". Last January he asked me if I wanted to go for a drive which is something we loved to do and did almost every weekend. He was waiting on me in the truck and I was inside talking to his mother. His mom said to me, "Carly, what is his problem. Is he ever going to ask you?" and I said, "I dont know. Everyday I wait for it to happen but I doubt he even has a ring yet". Casey drove me to Gold Hill. We walked around the town, went in the shops, walked over to the cabin in the park and where I started my planning. After a good half hour of running around and inside the building I took a seat on the front steps. The sun was setting, but all I could see was Casey just standing there staring at me. He said, "Since everyone is giving me a hard time I better go ahead and ask you to marry me". I laughed and then he pulled out a little box with my ring (which of course I had picked out for years). I couldnt do anything but cry, like a little baby and he still laughs at me for that! The only thing I could think of is how perfect it was. It was so simple but yet it was all I wanted. It was the very last thing I expected and he knew when he saw my tears that it was a good cry!
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