Valentine's Day 2017

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you are having fun celebrating with your friends, loved ones or that special someone. 

This is our first married, and it's got me feeling all sorts of nostalgic and lovey-dovey. I wasn't planning or expecting to do anything special for Valentines. We had a date night on Saturday and splurged more than we usually do, so I thought that would be it for our celebration, but then Derek decided we should at least go get each other a card. 

So I wake up this morning, and find on the dining room table, a card, a box of chocolate, and the best part of it all, was this great letter that was just...great! Derek totally won Valentine's Day this year, hands down. To which he said, "Stop, there's no winning, I just wanted to make it special for you." Gah! He wins even more.

It all got me thinking about how two weeks after we met, I heard a voice telling me, “this is it, this is love.” The only way I can describe that feeling is when you’ve saved up your entire life to go on vacation and see the ocean for the first time. So you finally get to pack your bags, and head out and land on a beach on a beautiful island. You walk to the shore line and wade in, anticipating a gentle caress of the ocean water, but instead, the tides catch you unprepared and knocks you off your feet. It's beautiful and overwhelming and fills you with joy and nervous energy all at the same time.

Until last year, I've never had a boyfriend on Valentine's day & last year we were long-distance, so 2017 was literally my first card and box of chocolate from a boy! So to a certain extent, I have to admit I was a bit incredulous to the possibility that my prayers would be answered when it came to falling in love. We’ve all been there, we make our lists and check them twice, and we think we know and are ready for what’s to come, but you never really know until everything you want hits you in the face. Then, we get a chance to choose whether we’ll open your arms to it, or run away from it.

That moment for me was after I made a mistake, a totally unnecessary mistake born out of a mix of shame and lack of faith. I told a lie of omission, because I didn’t think it would matter. Unfortunately, for something that “didn’t matter”, the guilt of it ate me up inside, because a part of me knew I was falling in love and there was no room for lies or misunderstandings where we were going. So I confessed, and the way that my then-new-boyfriend handled it, and his gracefulness in that moment did it for me, and that’s when I heard that voice — quickly followed by a mini panic attack on my end like, “oh my gosh is this it?! oh my gosh is this it?! oh my gosh this is it!!!!” 

I had a great talk with my mentors about how to navigate different seasons in life and they said something that marked me forever. They said, the first thing they look for is a Word from the Lord. 

Sometimes we’re placed in situations that require an unshakeable trust in the things that the Father has said to look for in that season. Knowing His word gives momentary things a purpose. If you don’t have a Word from the Lord, get one: ask Him and He’ll find a way to show you.

So here we are standing on the threshold of the rest of the rest of our lives and whatever “it” looks like. I know that we’re still in the “ladida” honeymoon phase of our relationship, but I’m so grateful to know that through good times and bad times, I can lean on His Word over our lives.

Married! Our Vows

We got married this weekend! There’s so much to share about the wedding and the whole planning process, and how we managed to plan an entire wedding WAY under budget! But first, a funny story:

We both wrote out our wedding vows a few weeks to a couple months before our wedding, and on the morning of, we were both so rushed, we ended up forgetting to print our vows out! Who forgets their wedding vows?!!! Lol. And on top of that, Derek’s phone decided to glitch out and switched off right when it was time to read our vows. So we ended up coming up with things to say on the spot.

We ended up reading the original vows to each other later that night, which somehow felt more meaningful, but we figured we would also share them here on the blog too, for everybody who wasn’t able to come, and for us to be able to look back on this and remember.

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Derek to Joanne

Joan, I take you to be my wife. I will love you unconditionally and without hesitation, for it is your heart that moves me, your spirit that inspires me, your humor that delights me, and your hand I want to hold for all of our days. 

I promise to love you, to always strive to encourage and inspire you, to laugh with you, and to comfort you in times of sorrow and struggle. I promise to love you when life seems easy and also when times become difficult, when our love is simple, and when things become complicated.

I will love you forever and always. You are so many things to me, and I am sure you will be many more in our life together. No one is perfect, but with all of your strengths and weaknesses, and with all of mine, together we are perfect. You complete me in more ways than I could have thought possible.

I will be the joy of your heart, and I will be the food of your soul. I promise to wash away your tears with my kisses, and hold you with passion. My affection will know no bounds. I promise to love, respect, and trust you, and give you the best of myself, for I know that together we will build a life far better than either of us could imagine alone.

Joanne to Derek

Derek, 

This is maybe the most important thing I’ve ever had to write and I have no idea where to start. How do I begin to tell you and the world, how much you mean to me. I have found the one who my soul loves, and not just my soul, but my mind, my heart, every part of me, has found love in you, in the deepest truest sense.

Every single journey I’ve been on, has led me straight to you, and I can honestly say, I’ve searched the entire world, and haven’t found a man quite like you, or experienced a love anywhere near ours. We’ve shared so much in only a drop of time, but every minute I’ve spent with you has felt like minutes where I fit more and more into God’s plans for my life.

You and I fit, in the weirdest, but the best ways, and share so much in common, it’s obvious from a million miles away, that somehow, some way, He would have had us find each other. The road hasn’t been easy, my life before you, or your life before me, but look where we are now. Our love lays no claim to perfection, there have been obstacles we have needed to cross, but we did it babe, and we’ll continue to do it.

I vow to stand by your side through it all, to be your unwavering shield and support, to defend you in all my power, to be your helper and your best friend. I vow to love you and honor you before all others. Your needs are my concern. I vow to be the wife I was created to be for you, to never shut you out, to always talk to you, to always share with you and to always give of myself to you. I vow to respect your uniqueness, and to help you grow to the highest areas of your potential. I vow to love and take care of you and of our children all the days of my life, and to help you build the home you dreamed of. I vow to be yours forever, for better or worse, for rich or for poor, in sickness and in health, till death do us part.

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I get emotional even reading these again. Ahh, love! So what to look forward to are: pictures and probably my favorite post to write will be how to plan a wedding under $2000, because I’m super proud of what we accomplished in this planning process! Check back soon!

Derek's 27th Birthday!

The love of my life turned 27 yesterday, and it felt like I’d been waiting for this day all my life. Getting a chance to celebrate the life of the person I love most in this world, the person I pledge to love forever daily – what could be more special than that?

On Thursday, we went to shop for some supplies, but I banished Derek to Petco until I was done because I didn’t want him to see what I was buying or where it was from. I got some decorations, and ingredients for some treats I wanted to make for him, and I was set.

On the breakfast menu was french toast, cinnamon rolls, beef bacon and chocolate covered strawberries that I had stayed up all night making, lol, those were mostly for me. Speaking of which, isn’t it awesome being married, because everything they get to enjoy, you get to enjoy right there with them? Lol!

On his birthday, I got up early, made enough food to feed a small army and waited on him to show up for his first surprise – breakfast. I’d told him he’d be just be picking me up to go do something fun, and to text me when he arrived and I’d meet him at the car. So he didn’t know I’d cook or have anything ready at the house. When he got here, I ran downstairs with a little banner that said“Happy Birthday” and told him to come inside, and this was all set up. Plus mood lighting during breakfast, because that’s just how I roll, lol.

Yes I got a husband card, because we’re getting married in less than 40 days!!! 🙂

After breakfast, he opened his card which told him what the rest of the day consisted of, plus some mushy words from me, and then we headed out!

The second surprise was him and I taking a trip to the city, since we haven’t been there together since we moved to our little town. The third surprise was dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and watching Central Intelligence which had just come out, and because Kevin Hart is one of his favorite comedians. That movie is HILARIOUS, we definitely recommend it!

We walked through the city, went into some shops that are definitely worth going back to, including this store, Electric Gentleman, that sells jeans made from real, made in the USA denim, using the same techniques Levis used back in the day before jeans were mass produced. We got a couple of things for the wedding, and got Costco memberships. #adulting

The next day (Saturday) we celebrated Sabbath, by reading our Bibles and going into town to take some pictures and practice working the camera. We caught the tail end of the farmers market, and took a long walk on the beach and watched the boats going by. It was a pretty chill day.

Sunday, we went out to our wedding location with our friends who’ll be photographing the wedding, so we could get some test shots and figure out where the best places to set up for pictures are. You definitely have to figure out the lighting if you’re having an outdoor wedding, especially being at the beach and having minimal shade. After the photo session, I’d arranged a mini birthday-party involving our friends, which we ended up having back at my condo.

Our friends brought some steaks, I made some hamburgers, and we sat around the living room and talked for a couple of hours, it was a really good time. Oh and I made black forest, strawberry cake. It turned out pretty good. I didn’t remember to take a good picture, apart from taking this while I was frosting it, to send to my mom. So for the finished result, use your imagination, lol.

It was opening weekend at the ski resort we live by, so we got to ride the ski lifts to the top of the mountain. There was a lot of food, live music, and so much to see!

Long story short, it was a really great weekend and fingers crossed, I’m pretty sure I’m entering marriage with a surplus of wife points, lol.

Hun,

3 days were barely enough to celebrate who you are, and the impact you make daily in this world. I love you more than words can say. 

Your future wife, 

Jo