Two Years Ago Today...

On this morning two years ago I was eagerly awaking to the joy of my wedding day! That day is filled with memories that are still so vivid and clear to me that I have the hardest time believing it’s already been 2 full years since those memories were made! Chad and I were blessed with a truly incredible wedding day, but more importantly we’ve been blessed by 2 years of living life together.

I sure love this man God gave me, and I thank Him daily for placing Chad by my side. In our second year of marriage we have:

·      Buried Chad’s dog, Hitch

·      Gained a puppy, Ari, that stole our hearts

·      Buried my grandfather

·      Buried Chad’s grandfather

·      Lead a LifeGroup for college students at Tech

·      Taken one awesome cruise (first vacation since our honeymoon)

·      Questioned God’s calling regarding the next step in our lives…

·      And now moved our lives across the state of Texas in response to His urging

This isn’t really how I thought our lives would look on our 2^nd anniversary, but I just want the world to know that I wouldn’t change a thing.

As hinted above, we’re in the midst of what currently feels like the longest transition period ever. I moved to Houston June 10 and have spent the last 10 weeks living life here while Chad bounced around between Lubbock, Midland, Houston, Chicago and now Phoenix.

Moving definitely stretches the limits of a person, and can bring out the deepest insecurities and weaknesses in our faith. If there’s one thing that’s been apparent to me over the last 10 weeks, it’s the fact that I need my husband. Not that I need him to complete me, or to make my life worthwhile, or to give my life purpose. That's not it at all. I’ve found those things in my Savior and in Him alone. But more in the sense that I need Chad to be where I am, because he the greatest gift from above that I have ever been given.  Chad and I make a great team. His strengths compliment my weaknesses.  

When I am fearful, he remains calm and laid back.

When I worry about our future and plans for moving and building a new life, he points to peace and reminds me that God has laid this path out before us so clearly that we’d be fools not to follow.

When I question our finances (for the 10^th time), he patiently shows me the numbers again, and again, and again. And then re-explains all those business and mortgage terms that my biology teachers failed to incorporate during my college years.

When I search for the reason behind this move, he first listens, and then tells me we may never know and quit wasting energy.

When I start to focus on the things we’re losing by moving so terribly far away from our families and support system, he points to the many things we may never know that we lost by never stepping out in faith.

When I need encouragement, he faithfully repeats the story of how we ended up in this place, and then I am reassured that we took the right step.

When I’m too overwhelmed to pray through the tears some nights, he sweetly prays in my turn (we take turns praying each night together), and for this I am truly grateful.  

Thank you for being the husband that I need. A man that is true to his word, reliable, and so much fun to be around. Thank you for making me laugh on a daily basis! I pray that I continue to learn to be the wife you need in life. Thank you for choosing me to walk through life with you! It's been my greatest pleasure! :) 

So, even though I didn’t intend for our second anniversary to be spent with myself in Houston and him in Phoenix, I wouldn’t have this any other way.

Here’s to our 3^rd year together!!! Moving does one positive thing for us – we now have a completely clean slate as we’re starting over. This means any challenges and blessings we receive will stand out even more as we reflect next year! I can’t wait to see how God has filled that empty slate! 

I love you, Chad! 

Thank you for being my husband. 

Our First House

Chad graduated with his MBA in May 2008, about 2 months after we started dating, and was blessed to get a great job in Lubbock a few months before graduating. So one Thursday afternoon I skipped one of my biology labs and we drove around town with a realtor looking at houses. :) We can't remember if we looked at 3 or 4 houses, but we both immediately fell in love with this one! It has been such a good home to Chad and now to us for that last 5 years! 

The previous owners built the house, and had painted every room a different color, so the house sat on the market for months before Chad found it. Due to this, they'd dropped the price quite a bit! So the weekend Chad signed on the home, we painted the entryway, living room, kitchen/dining, guest bathroom, and master bedroom. This was also the first time I met Chad's parents!

This sweet view greeted us every time we came home for the first 22 months of our marriage! 

View looking in the front door.

Into the living room.

 Living room/dining room.

Kitchen

Photobomb Ari.

Master bedroom - located off the entry way. 

Chad and his dad, Charlie, worked so hard to completely replace the master shower after we found a leak Memorial day 2012. They did a great job! 

My Mom and I repainted the master bedroom and bathroom Spring Break 2013 - it's my favorite color in the house - Benjamin Moore's Horizon. 

Master bathroom.

Guest bedroom.

Curious Ari! 

3rd bedroom (which we used as an office).

Guest bathroom. 

Laundry room.

Back patio with a firepit! 

Meet Ari

Remember how forever ago I told you about our sweet Hitch? If not, you can catch up here.

After Hitch died little Turk was quite the sad, clingy, pathetic pup. He refused to leave our side, and insisted on sitting in our laps at all times. This was endearing for a few days, maybe even a week. And then we started to realize how much Hitch entertained Turk. Even though Turk was a little rude dog at times, he really, really missed Hitch. So we started discussing getting a puppy. Chad was interested in getting a vizsla. They are Hungarian hunting dogs, and he had seen some on our trips to Hungary. We googled "vizsla breeders" and lo-and-behold there was a breeder in Odessa, TX, and she had a litter ready to go. Now yes, I did think this was quite fast after Hitch's death, but it all fell into place so perfectly. We drove to Odessa one Friday afternoon to "look at the puppies". And we fell in love with this gal... 

 Ari

The skies on our way to Odessa sure were gorgeous!

First photo! In the breeder's home.

Given that she's a Hungarian dog, we decided she needed a Hungarian name. This proved to be challenging as most names that Hungarians would choose for their pets have a billion consonants in them and would never be pronounced correctly.  Therefore, we went through our favorite names that we've encountered while in Hungry. And the name 'Ari' won!

On the car ride home. Notice the toys... we stopped at Target and I ran in to grab those toys. She whined for maybe 10 minutes and then slept the whole way to Lubbock. 

The next morning. Turk sure was excited to see her Friday night, but Saturday morning he was a bit confused as to why she was still in his house. 

Sweetest puppy dog ever!

This was taken on my birthday a few weeks after we got her.  She and Turk are BOTH cuddly dogs!

One of MANY walks/runs taken during her first few weeks with us. She had more energy that both of us combined. 

She grew so quickly... can't believe she a full grown Vizsla now!

She's not a fan of this coat.

I'm so glad we opted for a little vizsla girl. She is sweet, loving, eager to please us, SMART, and so much fun! She's brought much joy and laughter to our lives in the last 6 months! 

Two Years Ago Today...

Two years ago today I was in my surgery rotation for PA school. It was a Tuesday, and it was pretty cold outside.  As I drove (way to early) to work that morning a song played on the radio that I loved so much I memorized the words and then immediately scribbled them down. The song was "Hundred More Years" by Francesca Battistelli. Francesca was on the morning show and sang the song live, then they played it again shortly after.  The lyrics to the first verse and chorus are below:

"Diamond ring and twelve red roses
Everything she ever wanted
All those dreams and now they’re finally here
She’s so young and he’s so perfect
They waited for love and it was worth it
She wants to feel like this for a hundred years
All this life still yet to live and they can hardly wait

They can laugh they can cry
Their future looks so beautiful and bright
They can dance under the moonlight
Cause God is smiling down on them tonight
And she wants to stay right here
Make it last for a hundred more years."


I still love that song. I got out of my car in a wonderful mood as I thought of how that song described perfectly how I felt at the current stage of life Chad and I were in. We'd talked marriage. Ok, fine. I'd been ready to get married for a really long time by this point. But dear Chad was the wise one. He preferred we wait until I finished PA school. The holidays had come and gone, so I figured he'd propose on a weekend, or maybe Valentine's Day. Needless to say, I thought this was just a regular Tuesday!

Tuesday also happens to be the day that Chad (and now myself) help with a college Bible study. He had been attending this Bible study for several years, and brought me along after we started dating. The leaders of the study, Billy and Tammy, are special people that make every single person feel loved and welcome.

I finished the day at work, and my friend Natalie texted to say that she'd like to go to Bible study with me that evening. Now this was convenient because we lived next door to each other! I told her we could sit at the back of the room and slip out early since we had to be at our rotations early the next morning. She agreed, and then asked me to wear something cute with her. Good thing she said something or I would have been in scrubs that were two sizes too big.

We headed to Bible study, and she offered to drive. When we got there we ate dinner like usual. Then Billy, the leader of the study, asked me if I'd mind reading some scripture before we started. I happily agreed to do so! He then informed me that he had a special Bible that I could read it out of. Truthfully I was kind of offended, did he think I forgot to bring my Bible tonight?!  As everyone finished eating dinner and started moving over to the living room to start the bible study, Natalie suggested we sit on the couch. I told her that wasn't the back of the room and we'd have to stay until it was over if we sat square in the middle of everyone. She said that'd be fine. Billy prayed, and asked me to come read some scripture. His instructions were simple: read the highlighted text on the page that is bookmarked. He handed me the Bible, and ran his fingers across the bottom where my name was.  I glanced at it, and opened the Bible to the book marked page. On the bookmark was tied the most beautiful diamond ring.  I'm sure people thought I couldn't read, as I just stared at it. Chad got up and walked over. He took the ring off the bookmark and got on his knee, and asked me to marry him! I'm pretty sure I said "yes" at some point in time! ;)

The Bible with my new last name! 

Realizing there's a ring tied on that bookmark!

Chad helping me get the ring off the bookmark.

He pops the question!

I collapse and say "yes" all at once!

Obligatory hand-on-chest photo that must be taken after every proposal. 

the ring!

Chad reading the highlighted scripture. 

 Ephesians 5:25-33

Photo's with the ring and Bible taken by our engagement photographer, Erin Woolsey.

To sum it up, that day 2 years ago was the best Tuesday ever! Here's to many more years to come!