Blessed: July 2015

Can I just say, I had intended to keep up with this blog more frequently, but life kind of gets in the way. Anyways, one of my goals this summer was to get back into it, not necessarily for you (although I love to share), but for us, for our family. This place is kind of where our family started, and someday, I hope we can look back at the blog and remember all of the happy times and all of the really hard times, because Lord knows, we have been through and have been blessed by them all.

Today, I want to dedicate this to my sweet husband. Today is our 6 year anniversary. When I look back on the past six years, I see smiles, overwhelming joy, frustration and anger, and I see deep sadness. We have been through so much in the past six years and I can't imagine doing it with anyone else. We've been through the scary pregnancy and birth of our girls, we've experienced divorce, sickness, major surgeries and nothing compares to the loss of Brett's dad. But we've also shared so many happy times, like getting to see our babies grow into beautiful toddlers, building a new home and being blessed with my mom living five minutes away. We've grown in relationship with many new friends and have restored some broken relationships. We've been blessed with good jobs and our health. We have much to be thankful for.

I always enjoy hearing how couples met so I thought I would share our story. In the spring (April) of 2008, I was only a month away from graduating from college and starting to look for teaching jobs. I had been volunteering with the high school ministry at our church and co-led a mentoring program with a guy named Tony. I can't remember if Tony asked me in person or messaged me on Facebook, but he told me about his roommate and asked if I'd be interested in meeting him. The first time he asked, I said "NO"! Ha! At the time, I just wasn't interested or looking for a relationship, and didn't see the point in meeting him.

Well, thankfully Tony kept asking.. and finally, I said "sure". Tony agreed to introduce as after church some Sunday. That Sunday eventually came, and Tony was there with his girlfriend, Lindsey (maybe finance at the time?) and Brett. I remember walking up, and feeling awkward. Well, the conversation wasn't any less awkward. I basically said hi to Brett, talked to Tony, and then walked away. It didn't go well. Tony, being somewhat persistent, saw me later that night at our HS group gathering, and asked if Brett could call me and set up a date for coffee or dinner. Again, I said "sure". About a week or two later, Brett picked me up on a rainy April night for dinner. We went to Paisans. The rest is history, right? :)

We dated and had an amazing summer! That August, I moved to Milwaukee for a teaching job, and Brett stayed in Madison. We decided to continue dating and see how it went with the distance. We saw each other nearly every weekend, and in December of 2008, Brett proposed. After school was done that year, I moved back to Madison, we bought a house, and we were married on July 24, 2009 (only 15 months after having met).

One of our first dates in Madison

In Door County (how am I so short?!)

Up at Brett's parents' house

The cold night right after he proposed

After six years, our love has changed. I no longer get the butterflies that I used to or feel as giddy with excitement when he's around, but our love is is deep and profound. I can only imagine what it will look like in six more years. It has been through a lot, and I feel comfortable because I know that he will love me through anything. Our love will last because we choose daily, to love one another. We sometimes struggle to make our relationship the most important relationship with have (yes, even more important than our children), but it's something that we continue to work on. Brett is consistently one of the most patient, hard-working, and best guys I've ever know. I'm SO thankful he's mine.

6 years later

Blessed

Pages

Friday, July 24, 2015

Books 2015

6 years - The Story of Us