Beautiful beach wedding...

Greg and I aren't very serious people. (Gasp, I know you're all so shocked to hear that!)

Don't get me wrong, we take our marriage and our commitment very seriously - loving and caring for one another as we are called to do. But a serious, boring, long wedding is just not for us. And in case you hadn't already heard, we made a last minute decision to run off to the beach and totally skipped out on our own wedding! Hey, you know what they say! Give 'em something to talk about!

Haha. That still cracks me up! We actually did play this for our guests as the wedding was about to start. The reactions were great. As I hid in the back of the church I could hear the whispers! "Are they really gone?!" "Has anyone seen them?" It was even funnier to hear all of the guests saying "Cheese" as Greg prompted them to smile for the camera. They were such good sports and we had a lot of wonderful comments about making our special day something to remember for years to come!


On a more serious note:

After about 5 months of planning and waiting, November 7th arrived and flew by! Everyone says to enjoy every second, because it's over entirely too fast. But truthfully, we couldn't wait for the night to be over. It was such a blessing to get to go home with my best friend - my husband!



I'll share more details, pictures, and stories as they roll in. Hope you enjoy!

Bridal Shower

Well, it's been entirely too long! I haven't updated this blog since before the wedding - and I think I have a few things to catch up on! First of all, I thought I'd share this picture of my bridal shower.
Terri, Heidi, Ang, Ash, Ally, and Laura - the most wonderful bridesmaids in the world. My shower was wonderful! The best part? Greg stopped in for a surprise visit and had the chance to share with the entire room of guests why he loves me! :) What a guy.

In His perfect timing!

Greg and I were talking last night about how much our lives have changed in the past year - reflecting on how we met, our first dates, and how we ended up here (about to get married in less than 3 weeks!)

To catch you up on life - Greg and I were both part of Koinonia Christian Fellowship while we were at Clarion. Unfortunately (or fortunately, considering it still worked out for us in the end) - Greg had already graduated and moved on by the time I started to go to Koinonia. He is 4 years older than me, so we really didn't have a chance to know one another. He says he remembers me, and to give him credit he describes what I was wearing, that my hair was straight, and that I was talking on my cell phone. He's probably right about that considering I photograph EVERY little thing and I have pictures just as he described, but I really don't remember the first time I saw or met him. Although, I will admit, Ally and I had a few conversations about Greg - the cute guy playing the guitar - when he'd come back to Koinonia for occasional visits. (And a few more conversations about him that I won't mention, but really makes me laugh now!)

We'd known of each other for years and that was it. As a matter of fact, I remember a phone call from Greg a few years ago. I ignored it because I didn't know what he could possibly want, and later called him back to give him directions to the elementary school in Rimersburg. (I can admit that I ignored his call now, because he's already asked me to marry him.) We also went camping once, with a group of friends and our boyfriend/girlfriend at the time. Still nothing, we didn't even talk.

Then, in April of '08, I let my friend Keven convince me that I should play in a softball tournament with him and his friends. I really wanted to play, but my glove was at home and my car wasn't running. For once in my life, my dad AND my papa were unable to help me - and both were too busy with other things to bring their baby girl her ball glove. At the time I was so annoyed - but I think back now and wonder if that was all in God's plan, because normally I would have NO problem getting home to get my own glove or having someone in my family bring it to me. (If you know anything about my daddy and papa, you know that I always get what I want and they would do anything for me.) So why wouldn't they bring me my glove that day? I think that was also part of God's funny little plan. Instead, I had to bum a glove off of Tom - one of Greg's best friends. And that's really where it begins. (I can NOT thank Tom enough!)

I returned the glove later that day, and in casual conversation told Tom and Harold that I had lost my insurance recently. I went on to say how I was hunting for a good man with health insurance coverage for me. (IT WAS A JOKE, PEOPLE!)

Days later, I got a message on aim from Tom telling me that his friend Greg would marry me so I could have insurance. We laughed and laughed and laughed. (ANOTHER JOKE, PEOPLE!) Greg and I talked for a few minutes through Tom, and eventually messaged each other so that Tom didn't have to play the middle man. We talked for days on aim, texting, or sometimes on the phone. We were just friends and both had our own relationship issues to deal with, but he made me laugh for the first time in months. It'd been a rough couple of months for me, and it was nice to have a friend who understood where I was coming from and who had the same feelings about life and love. He was my therapist, and I like to think I helped him out a little too! ;) We quit talking for a little bit after that, deciding it was best to work out the issues in our lives without the added drama of our friendship.

Eventually, weeks later when things settled down, he called me and conveniently said he bought an extra frosty and needed someone to share it with. So, I crawled out of bed pretending to be wide awake and headed to the parking lot of Nair Hall to share a frosty with my new friend. (He's been a pretty good friend ever since, and he still brings me chocolate frosties without warning - just like last night.)

The month of May held a lot of fun things - including a random road trip to New York with Greg, Tom, and Harold. The spur of the moment trip just to take a picture at the New York state line was so refreshing. I'm a planner, and it was kind of fun to be spontaneous for a change.
Later, I had the chance to meet his closest friends, Nate and Ash. Today, Ash is one of my greatest most precious friends, a real gift from God! That summer, we planned a random road trip to the beach on the 4th of July weekend. We drove for 8 hours for a few rainy days at the beach. We'd go fishing, camping, and out to dinner with friends. Sometimes spotting and mudding in his jeep. He was just always fun - and always making me laugh.

Our summer was great, but I was still convinced we were just good friends and probably always would be. (Even if he was pretty cute.) As a matter of fact, the first time he said "I am in love with you", I said "Are you drunk?"

So when did our hearts change? Why did we spend all of those years just knowing "of" one another, but never actually talking?

Looking back, I see God's fingerprints all over it! After all, it's in His perfect timing...

Mom

Sometimes I think of all the people who have helped Greg and I out with all the details of this wedding - from the apartment to the bridal shower to the wedding itself. I can't believe how many great people we have in our lives.

I know one person that I don't thank enough.

My mom has worked so hard all night painting centerpieces that I had in a box ready to throw away a month ago. (I had them outside on a nice sunny day. Just as I finished painting them, the rain came pouring down. The paint ran and they were soaked in seconds.) I was so tired of working hard at all of this so I threw them in a pile to burn - but she stepped in and fixed them. I'm crafty and she's not - so I have no idea how we ended up in this situation. But she managed to fix the horrible mess I made of those centerpieces. (Nobody will notice that she has paint every where and she's missing a few dots!) Hey, she says herself that she's the least crafty person in the world!

Second of all, my mom opened all of our response cards every single day. (I wanted to open them first, so she occasionally taped them back shut to make me feel better.) She'd say "That's just ridiculous that these were ripped open in the mail. Look at that, they had to tape them shut at the post office."

Finally, my mom always pitches in and shops for things that I just don't have the time or money to do myself. She bought me a table the same day that I told her I needed one. She bought hundreds of cans of pop for our reception. She (along with my grandma's) are making all of the soups and breads for the bridal shower. She tagged along to go wedding dress shopping, she's going with me to get my hair done, and she cleaned my apartment for hours before we moved things in. (Along with Dad, Kas, Julie, and Bob!) She's just been great.

If you moved in with my mom and I, you probably wouldn't know we liked each other. I think we can fight longer and harder than anyone else I know. (Just ask my dad, my brother, Greg, Ally, my grandmas, my grandpas, my aunts, my uncles...) Still, I love my mom more than any other woman in this world! She texts me 200 times a day, we still have girls nights, shopping sprees, and long walks to talk about how out of shape we are - followed by a bag of peanut butter m&m's that we finish in minutes.

Anyways, I'm just thankful that my mom is going to be such an important part of my wedding.

(Don't be alarmed if we argue that day, it's just us.)

A work in progress!

We are so thankful that Greg's aunt and uncle offered their spare apartment to us while we save for a down payment on a house. Most people don't really get opportunities to start out like that, and I can't imagine how we'd do this without their help!

It doesn't quite feel like home yet, and we've got a little bit of work ahead of us, but take a peak! More pictures will be posted once I get a chance to decorate and CLEAN!

That's my guy. I sent him to the store for a basic CD Player so that we could listen to some music while we were working on the apartment. He came back with this beast, and worked hard playing with it for a couple of hours. Guess ya gotta have some fun in life, right?

Lots of work to do in the bathroom. The floor was just nasty before. (Just being honest.) Greg's pretty much taken on this project himself.... He ripped up the floor, did some other manly things, and now he's replacing it.

Part of our bed! haha (Courtesy of Ash - who has helped us with so many things - from engagement pictures to furniture!)

Our engagment picture (taken by Ash) looks perfect above our dining room table. (Thank you, Gillis Family! Perfect table that I'm sure we'll have for a very long time.) We've done some redecorating since this picture was taken, so it looks much different. We actually have a second table my mom bought for us. It's in my scrapbook room because it's a little smaller and works perfectly there. We figured it was really nice to have two tables in case we ever have company for dinner or something. And no - we aren't hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year even if we do have two tables. ;)

Our kitchen area - filled with pieces from the bathroom. Greg's wonderful mom and grandma are planning on wallpapering the wall above the sink. I'll get pictures of that up eventually!

THE CD Player. Greg thinks it belongs above this lovely portable fireplace. (He has a lot to learn.) I'm tempted to paint this fireplace... We'll see.

My favorite chair in the world. I can just picture this in my library someday. Surrounded by colorful walls and fun paintings and lots of good books. (Thank you, Dan and Lori! I love this chair!)

Long set of stairs to get to our aparment. Can you imagine how hard it's going to be for GREG to carry groceries up these stairs? Just kidding. We do need to do something about the floor at the bottom of the steps. Just a "little" leak problem.

Family picture. :)

Planning A Wedding...

Let me tell you something about a planning a wedding: everything must be perfect.

That's what it feels like sometimes. Little girls dream of their weddings from the time they can talk and walk. They play house, have make-believe families, and work out all the tiny little details in their head before they can even drive a car. It's just what girls do.

Me? Not so much. I can honestly say I've never envisioned my wedding day. Atleast not in the stereotypical girly way. Don't get me wrong, there were many nights my best friend and I would sit up and talk about our prince charming - dreaming about a guy that loved and lived for God, a man great with kids, smart, and funny, throw in a nice smile. There were many moments when we'd walk by a jewelry store and peak our heads in at the display. Many nights I prayed for my husband, tired of what felt like a never-ending search for a half decent guy.

And then it happened. God answered the prayers of my heart, picked out a guy much better than I actually dreamed, and here we are. And guess what? Suddenly the world expects a beautiful over-the-top wedding - perfect flowers (that most likely will die that night), five layers of cake (that nobody will eat), and a stunning gown (that my children will scoff at someday). Hello!? I'm marrying my best friend, a guy in love with Jesus, a hard working, smart, funny, handsome man - and he's going to be mine! You're worried about the cake? Seriously? That's what I'm thinking and sometimes I mutter quite loudly.

So, I made my decision. I will not lose sight of the most important part of our day.

The flowers? I'll know what the flowers look like the day of the wedding. I sent Greg to suggest a few general colors, and moved on.

The cake? It will surely be beautiful! But I have no idea what flavor it will be and I will find out after dinner with the rest of the guests.

The dress? I bought the first dress I tried on. My reaction? "This is nice." "NICE?" the lady said, "We don't send brides home with a dress they think is nice." "But I like it." "We don't send brides home with dresses they like. You need one you LOVE." So we tried on ten more to appease my mother, Heidi, and the kind sales lady about to go into shock. An hour later, I left with the nice dress I tried on and liked the first time. It looked fine and it fit. I don't love it with every ounce of my heart and it's not the most beautiful piece of fabric I've ever seen. (Don't get me wrong, it's nice and I like it. You probably will, too.)

But lets be honest... On November 7th I get to marry my best friend. I love him and he is the most beautiful gift I've been given.

Suddenly the thought of that dress doesn't matter much at all.

Getting Started...

Well, I can't really say what would make me feel the need to create a blog - but here I go!

So many exciting things are happening in my life, soon to be "our" life, and I thought there just couldn't be a better way to share with friends and family. My hope is that this will give everyone a chance to keep updated on our lives - even if we're not so great at picking up the phone or visiting nearly as much as we should. Life is so busy - but such a blessing.

I look forward to sharing pictures of our new apartment, stories of newly married life, and any other day-to-day thoughts that I just can't keep to myself.