Yeah.  It’s over.  No more.  Pray for me. 

Well, I have some big news for all of you out there in Xanga Land.  After much prayer and discussion, Jake and I postponed our wedding this last week.  That’s right… just 11 days before the wedding was originally scheduled, we decided to delay.  We’re still getting married, just not next week.  We need to do some work on our marriage before we can actually get married.  He’s coming back here to Louisville for the summer and we’ll be doing some intensive counseling work.  We all know that I’m control freak.  Sadly, it’s something that has gotten way out of control and I need to figure out how to handle this before it destroys my marriage.  There are other things as well, but frankly, you don’t need to know them.  If you have questions, feel free to ask, just know that I might not answer. 

We appreciate your prayers as we work through things.  It’ll be a lot of hard work, but we both know that in the end it will pay off greatly.  We’re not yet sure when we’ll be getting married and won’t set a new date until after we’ve been in counseling for a bit and know how much we really do need to work on and how long it will take.  Rest assured that when we do reschedule, I’ll let you know. 

And, I know I have some brides-to-be who read this, so I’m posting this for you.  The wedding is one day, the marriage is a lifetime.  I lost sight of that in the midst of the planning and the stress of getting everything ready and moving.  Take twice as much time to prepare for the marriage as you are for the wedding.   

 This has been a good weekend.  I’ve gotten a lot done and have begun the crazy task of packing my house.  20 days till the wedding, 2 days after the honeymoon we move to CA for the summer, and in August, I’ll only have 4 days before we move to Grundy for Jake’s last school year.  I realized as I was sitting here that I’ll never have my home back again.  This was my first home and has been such a haven for me these past 20 months.  And now I’m packing it all up.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m very excited to be starting this next chapter of my life and to have a home with Jake.  It’s just….different.  Difficult in a way.  Makes me melancholy.  I’ve had some great times in this house.  God has blessed me so much here.  Meals with friends, Christmas open houses, scrapbooking nights, movies, endless games of canasta, sleepovers.  It’s been great.  But, now it’s time to move on.  To start a new part of my life, to create a home with Jake.  It’ll be in a lot of places for the first year or so, but that’s okay.  I’m discovering that my home is wherever he is.  Because I only truly feel at home with him.  In the first year of our marriage, we’ll move three times: to CA for the summer, then to VA for the school year, then back here to Louisville for a bit until we figure out where we’re going next.  It’ll be a crazy first year, that’s for sure.  However, I know that with the help of the Lord and the love of my amazing to be husband, we’ll make it through.  I can’t wait to start this journey with him.  I love you baby!

In 25 days, I’ll be a wife.  Are you kidding me?!  Somehow, it doesn’t seem real.  And somehow, it seems like I already am.  I just don’t get to sleep with him.  It’s been 16 months since Jake and I met and some days it seems like yesterday and some days it seems like forever.  I’m byond excited to spend the rest of my life with this incredible man.  I can’t wait to be married.  Sure, there are some details to finish up (seating chart anyone?) so, I’m going to use these next 25 days to work and get things done.  But in the end, I am so ready for June 7 to get here.  I can’t wait to walk down the aisle and see him.  I can’t wait to tell him I love him and promise him the rest of my tomorrows.  I can’t wait to become his wife.  It’s going to be the happiest day of my life!  Yay!

Now, in the next 25 days, there is a lot going on.  We’ve got to get the marriage license, I have a baby shower to go to, two concert of prayers, all of the finalization details (following up with people who still haven’t RSVPed), get a haircut, PFO for summer interns, programs, menu cards, seating chart, placecards, initial wreaths, unity candle, baskets, gifts, meetings galore, and packing my house.  We’ll most likely be living in Louisville this summer, but I still need to have things packed a bit.  Time to take my house and make it our house.  I did buy our bed last week.  Got a good deal on it at a store closing.  I love it.  Hope Jake likes it! 

Okay, time to go write a grant proposal for our commercial kitchen.  Anyone got $62,000 they want to donate?  Or a portion thereof?  Because we could definitely use it!

I have felt so loved in the past few weeks.  Now, I know that I am loved.  My parents love me, Jake loves me, my friends love me.  But I’ve had it demonstrated in so many clear-cut ways that it blows my mind.  The past two weekends have been full of bridal showers for me.  They’ve been tons of fun and I’ve really enjoyed getting to see my family and friends more than I normally would!  My Louisville shower was first and it was tons of fun!  My mom and dad drove down so my mom could go with me.  Greta made a super yummy carrot cake, my Sunday school class got together and gave us our pots and pans set plus another pan, my friend Martha Stewart (really–that’s her name!) made a beautiful afghan, and we got lots of other beautiful gifts.  This last weekend, my maid of honor and I headed up to Indy for my family shower and my friends’ shower there.  My family one was highlighted by the fact that I got to hold my new 3 week old cousin Becca.  Jake’s Mom and Grandma came in for these and his Grandma made us a beautiful quilt.  I have a quilt from my grandma already, and the one from his Grandma is gorgeous.  I love it!  We got towels, pyrex, Corningware, baking accessories, sheets, flatware, and my great aunt Nellie’s lemon cake recipe–a family prize!–plus tons of things that I’m forgetting.  My friends’ shower was a recipe shower.  Guests were instructed to bring a recipe and the dry ingredients to make it.  It was a great idea and I now have tons of yummy recipes to make.  I’m super excited to cook my way through all of that.  And, Jake’s grandma embroidered these adorable tea towels with patterns from the 20s and 30s.  I love them!

One of the coolest things we did was at each shower, the guests got a little journalling box and were asked to write down a piece of advice or encouragement for our marriage.  We took pictures of each person there and my bridesmaid Amanda decorated a beautiful scrapbook for me to put them all in.  I love learning from people who have been there and done that, so I really appreciate it all.  The funny part–my favorite piece of advice came from my cousin Hannah who is 17: “In your later years, do something to remind yourselves of why you fell in love to begin with.”  What good advice! 

So now, I’m wading through the Thank You notes and trying to get all of those done soon.  Life is good.  In 44 days, I’ll be a married woman.  Whoa.  6 weeks from Saturday.  I can’t wait! 

I received word this week that one of the high schoolers from my home church was killed in a car accident last Sunday.  Normally, I would not have known this young man.  However, Kale Nicholson was an extraordinary young man.  He was with us last year on the NOLA spring break trip when I was a chaperone and had returned the day before he was killed from this year’s mission trip to NOLA.  Kale had this innate ability to draw in those who were typically on the fringe of the crowd.  I saw him do it throughout the entirety of the week we were in NOLA, and not just with the kids from our group.  He did with the other students who were there as well.  It was incredible to watch.  Kale was one of the first ones to start calling me Mom and made me feel like I was no longer on the fringe of the group.  When I stepped on the nail, he held my hand and made sure I was okay.  He gave me a piggyback ride to the bus because I couldn’t walk.  He checked on me and made sure I was okay.  “Clear the way for Mom!” was said when I had to go to the bathroom.  He impacted my life greatly in just one short week.  My heart aches for his parents, hus younger brother, and for those who knew him.  I pray that they will be able to see how invaluable he was and how much he loved the Lord.  I also pray that they will take the hope, acceptance and love that he carried within him and pass it on and allow it to spill out of their lives as well.  I don’t know that the youth group at Indian Creek has ever gone through something like this.  They didn’t while I was there.  It’s rough, that I know firsthand from losing dear friends in college.  Life is so incredibly precious. 

Kale, thank you for the lessons you have taught me.  Thank you for the 16 years you gave us.  May we all remember your spirit and carry your memory on. 

Kale, standing on the far right, with some of the other guys from the trip last year. 

It’s a glorious day today!  My little weather.com buddy says that it’s 71° outside and it’s sunny and bright blue skies with nary a cloud in them.  GORGEOUS!  We ate lunch outside on the picnic table and it was fabulous.  I did have a wasp land on me, which was not so fabulous, but I shooed it away.  All good there.  I’m just glad to have some days of sunshine and warmth.  The cherry tree in my backyard is in full bloom.  I need to go take some pictures of it.  I’ll have to do that tonight because it’s supposed to rain again starting on Wednesday.  Until Monday.  I’m tired of rain.  I want blue skies and sunshine.  I want to sit out on my patio and get a tan.  I want to open my windows and hear the birds sing and feel the breeze.  Boo hiss for rain.  Go away!

Today is 2 months until the wedding.  Crazy.  Seems like just yesterday we got engaged.  And now, I’ll be a wife soon.  Yippeee!  I can’t wait.  My first bridal shower is this coming Sunday and I’m super excited.  It’ll be so much fun.  Then, I have two more the next weekend.  I’ll be busy writing thank you notes for sure! 

We have two work teams in from Michigan this week out at Emerald Hills.  We’re so glad that they’re here!  And, a work group from Center Christian Church in Mays, IN where I’m good friends with the youth minister is coming next month.  I’m super excited about that one because I’ve visited the church several times and am looking forward to working alongside them at Emerald Hills.  Please pray for 5 days of consecutive sunshine–we need it to dig the basement! 

One of the things I love about life here in Louisville is my Sunday school class.  They are amazing.  We ask questions, we don’t have to follow the set lesson plan, we laugh, we are honest and real, and it’s the best Sunday school class I’ve ever been a part of.  The Foundations Class has been such a blessing in my life over the last 2.5 years.  A few weeks ago, we had a new couple join and yesterday, the husband, Joe, was baptized.  How awesome to see him begin his new life in Christ!  What a joy!

At the same time, the earth is coming back to life.  The grass is getting green, daffodils and hyacinths are blooming, the forsythia bushes are coming out.  My peonies are breaking through the soil and the cherry tree in my backyard is beginning to bud.  I love spring.  This winter has been a long, dreary one.  There’s been a lot of rain and a lot of cloudy, overcast days.  I’m ready for blue skies, green grass and good ol’ Mr. Sunshine. 

Wedding planning is going well.  68 days!  Yippee!  Invites go out tomorrow and that’s been consuming my time lately.  I’m ready to have them done and in the mail.  Once those are out, I have to do several design things and keep on plugging on.  My showers are in 3 weeks which is very exciting.  I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at those! 

Emerald Hills is going really well.  We got another 29 Partner yesterday, so we’re up to 20!  WOO HOO!!  Now, the main things is that we need 5 straight days of no rain in the forecast for them to start digging out the basement.  We’ve not had that in almost 3 full weeks.  I went out to the land last Tuesday and took pictures of the different prayer shelter sites and took some really awesome pictures.  I’ll upload those in a bit here. 

Have a beautiful first week of April everyone!

The newly completed barrel roll at the ropes course

   

Spring flowers!  This last one is one of my favorite pictures that I’ve ever taken I think.  I love it!

Hope everyone had a great Resurrection Sunday!  I had Emily, Echo and Julie over from the office and we had dinner together.  It was most fun.  I made a new recipe since one of my guests doesn’t eat pork.  We had a roasted chicken and it was super yummy.  I’ve never roasted a whole chicken before in my life.  Prepping that thing was way nasty.  I had to separate the skin from the body and then put a rosemary cream cheese mixture in between and…well….let’s just say GROSS.  But, the chicken was very moist and yummy.  We also had rosemary potatoes, apricot salad, rolls, and deviled eggs.  For dessert, I made my grandma’s apple crisp topped with vanilla bean ice cream.  YUM! 

While we were eating, I noticed white stuff falling from the sky.  At first, I thought it was cotton because we would get that all the time from the cotton trees at our old house in Indiana.  Surely, it wasn’t snow.  Then, I realized that I don’t have any cotton trees near my house and it’s the wrong time of year for that.  Yep, it was snow.  And there’s snow on the ground this morning.  Yuck.  It’s spring time!  NO MORE SNOW!  I want blooming trees and crocuses and daffodils and tulips and green grass and warm sunny days!  I’m ready for spring to be here.  Because the end of spring means the beginning of the summer and that means the wedding will be here!  Just 75 days to go.  In 11 weeks, I’ll be a married woman.  A wife.  Whoa.  It’s hard to believe.  I find myself pinching my arm quite a few days lately.  I can’t believe I’m getting married!  Yipppeeee! 

Here’s a HUGE prayer request for you all.  Jake had an interview last week with the attorney general’s office in CO for a summer internship position.  It would be an amazing opportunity for the summer and would, Lord willing, open a lot of doors for future work.  Please be in prayer for this.  We’ll find out next week if he got it.  Right now, he is in the top 5 out of 50 applicants.  We both really want this, but please just pray for God’s will to be done and for peace for Jake and I either way.  Thanks!

There’s a song by Rascal Flatts called Every Day Kind of Love.  I love that song.  It’s all about how the tiny things are what matters and how the singer loves the every day kind of love he has with his wife.  I love the every day kind of love that I have with Jake.  Yesterday, we hung out at the house.  He got over here about 11:30 and we just chilled.  Went to the grocery store last night, but other than that, we hung out on the couch and watched TV and I worked on addressing more invites (I’m so close to being done!) and spent time together.  I am so looking forward to doing life with him.  It’s nice to fall asleep on the couch while he’s watching some random sci-fi show or be in the kitchen cooking.  Last night, he made dinner for me and had it ready when I woke up from a small nap (my head hurt).  Let me tell you, it’s awfully nice to wake up to yummy smells coming out of my kitchen.  Definitely something I am not used to! 

His test was cancelled on Saturday and we have no clue when it’ll be rescheduled.  Pray about that one, please.  It messes up a lot of our plans and will cost him a pretty penny in gas money to get to a testing site for the makeup.  We had 12″ of snow on the ground and it’s gorgeous.  Sadly, it’s melting.  I don’t like that.  I want the snow to stay.  I love it. 

The funniest part of today:  we were flipping through the channels and oen of my favorite shows on TLC came on.  It’s called “Say Yes to the Dress” and is all about wedding dresses!  Well, Jake thought he would be sly and try to get some details about my dress and veil out of me and kept asking me what I thought about certain things.  It was hilarious.  Entirely way too funny.  No way on earth will I be spilling any details to him.  All he knows is that it’s white and long.  The rest he’ll know in 90 days when I walk down the aisle toward him.  Until then, my lips are sealed!