I thought he was very handsome and exceptionally funny... as did most people, I would later learn. He led our training class for two days. On the third day of training, he showed up just to "check on the group." A mutual friend would later tell me that she knew he had developed a crush when he showed up on his day off. Flutter!!! After training, I would often see Shawn during parade shifts that he worked at the Magic Kingdom. One night, after much encouragement from my friends, I got up the nerve to ask him if he wanted to join me and my friends for a movie. He countered with an offer to join him and his friends at a local bar. FInally, we decided to go off on our own adventure to the beach in the middle of the night! We drove to Cocoa Beach after our night parade shift where we talked and walked along the water's edge among the skittering crabs. We decided at one point to crawl up into the lifeguard chair for a better view. Little did we know, the chair wasn't anchored. So when we both stood up on the front to climb down, the chair toppled over. The chair landed on my ankle leaving me a small cut and a big bruise. I would carry a bump on that ankle for years following that evening. It never bothered me though as I considered it a souvenir from our first unofficial date (May 27, 2000).
Shawn picked me up at my dad's house for our first official date. I was about to have my wisdom teeth removed the following day and was extremely nervous. To ease my anxiety and make me smile, he brought me a lovely peach rose and a Sebastian the crab plush, just like the crabs we saw on the beach. I was so impressed by his thoughtfulness. He took me to dinner at Pebbles Restaurant and, following dinner, we took a stroll through Downtown Disney. As we stood along the water, Shawn leaned in and kissed me. It must have been just midnight then, because the fireworks from the nightly New Year's Eve show went off just as our lips met. It was magic!
After a lot of growing up, growing apart and finally growing together, we were engaged on December 25, 2008 and married September 6, 2009 in St. Augustine, Florida. Our "first born", Teddy (a yorkshire terrier), our son Samuel Preston Kramer (born January 2012) and daughter Avery Anne Kramer (born September 2014) round out our family of five.
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| September 6, 2009 |
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| Baby Sam & Teddy
Shawn is currently employed by The Walt Disney Company as an Entertainment Production Manager, and I work mainly in our home as a full-time mom and part-time property manager for my family's real estate business.
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