Is it Thanksgiving?!

If only you knew how many remarkable blog posts would be on here, if only my brain had a recording device that could type everything that I think of while I'm either showering or running.

It's pretty insightful stuff, folks!

But alas, you will never know those thoughts.

Instead, you will be stuck hearing stories about my dogs or my current sickness or moving. And while your eyes graze across the page, I bet you never imagined the one writing this has two tissues sticking out of her nose whilst her fingers ramble away. Just revert back to the comment on "current sickness".

It's a beautiful sight over on my side of the screen.

And though he would never say it, I'm sure husband would beg to differ.

Sweet as he is, he would never whisper a word of how much he dislikes the fact that I have to lift those tissues in order to give him a kiss. And kiss me, he does.
True love.

Marriage is funny that way.

It brings about both beauty and hardship.

I feel like I've grown so much the last two years, that sometimes when I look back at the girl who stood at the altar to say "I do," I don't even recognize her.

Marriage is a beautiful thing in which two individuals, working together, achieve one of the most incredible acts ever known to man; they become one.  Not through some miraculous happening, but through a lot of bending, giving, breaking, sanding, fighting, mending, forgiving, loving and accepting.

No easy task.

It's opening yourself up to another person and giving them every part of you, knowing full well that they could crush you in the deepest way, but trusting that they won't . And vice versa.

Marriage is knowing and being known to the fullest and sometimes most embarrassing ways and yet still loving that person no matter what pet-peeves {or tissues} may try to interfere.
And it is for that reason that I am grateful.
Grateful for having the opportunity to marry my best friend.
Grateful for the fact that he puts up with my oddities.
Grateful that he allows me to dream and evolve, never once asking me to change.
Grateful that nearly four years ago, he had the guts to email a girl in Utah who he'd never met.
Grateful for his heart
Grateful for his love.
And grateful that he's mine.

Peachy with a side of Mondays

I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one who woke up this morning and wondered if I was in the movie "Groundhog Day".

{source}

Mostly because it felt like Monday came twice this week.

This thought kept happening over and over again today.

But then, I would remind myself that it was not, in fact, Monday, and Friday was right around the corner! Things got real peachy then!

So in a sense, we really get two Fridays!

I was superrrrrr happy about that thought.

But not quite as happy as I was Tuesday night.

Mostly because I didn't have to work the next day.

Mostly because husband didn't have to work the next day.

And mostly because I had a hotttttt date that night {husband}.

We got real crazy and stayed up past 9:30 {pm, that is}!

We had been hearing so much about this thing called Night Life that we figured we should try it out for ourselves.

We did.

It was pretty good. Mostly because we had awesome company. And mostly because we saw the new Spiderman movie. 

Not even going to lie, I couldn't figure out if I had more of a crush on the guy playing Spiderman or Emma Stone. It was darn good!

She's so great! Classically great. I may be in love with her.

But I have come to the conclusion that I like early mornings much more than late nights.

I'm officially a senior citizen.

Does that mean I get a discount now??

{source}

Oh hey, remember when I told you about how brave husband and I were trying something new? Oh yeah....we're cray-cray!

Well I told him I have a new life motto. It's called "Don't knock it before you try it."

I figured this was a much better motto than my last one, which was "Say I'll never do things and then end up doing them."

Like.......

Say I'll never have a long distance relationship......then date and marry a boy that lives 1,500 miles away.

Say I'll never move to Oklahoma.....then hear that song played at every major event while I live in Oklahoma.

Say I'll never move in with my in-laws.....then wake up to Matt's parents' smiling faces every morning.

I think you get the idea.

I either needed a new motto, or just needed to start saying that I'll never do things that I actually want to do.

I chose the former. I'm far too afraid of saying "never" anymore.

In honor of that new motto, I tried something that I told a dear deary of mine, was disgusting.

This dear, who shall remain nameless, had a habit of peeing in the shower.

Yes, you read me right.

Peeing in the place where you're supposed to be getting clean.

{And she wondered why I wore flip flops in public showers??}

I know, I'm totally grossed out writing this.

But you're about to be more grossed out by what I did.

I, Marcie, a confessed germaphobe, did the unsanitary.

I she-sheed in a place that only should be welcoming only soap and fruity shower essence.

I peed in the shower.

And it was disgusting.

Mostly because you're peeing on yourself {what I wouldn't give to be able to have some kind of aim}.

And mostly because the steam in the shower makes everything smell like urine.

But don't worry.

I bleached the bejevees out of that shower.

Because that was a disgusting idea.

But I'm only allowed to knock it, because I tried it.

So, my nameless dear, I will never understand your justification of this action.

But I do applaud you for your bravery.

So now it's your turn.....what have you been illegally "knocking" without first trying?? 

Confess!!!

I leave you with these beautiful {blurry iphone} pictures of fireworks from last night.

Because baby, you're a firework!

Herb Festival

Our weekend looked a little like this:

It was warm and cloudy weather {my favorite combination} with lots of time to enjoy it!

Husband had Saturday off work, so after a Zumba and weight class {that's right, I'm superrr buff! Okay, not really. But it's fun to pretend!} we were off to the Jenks Herb Festival!

I truly am a hippie at heart {actually, I like the term "gypsy" better} so places like that make my soul come alive!  There was everything from live music, to herbs, antiques and wineries! Not to mention all the fresh fruit and vegetables! Absolutely lovely!  I'm totally on board with anything that is organic and natural, which is probably why I'm completely obsessed with doTerra essential oils! But I'll talk more about that later.

I do have a funny story that comes with a piece of advice. I was talking with one of the herb vendors because I really wanted to find an herb that would help aid in digestion. The problem with that was that I wasn't specific about the type of digestion "aid" I was needing {there really are two types: stop and go}. Anyway, I was so caught up in my gypsy alter-ego and new herb fanaticism {lavender and peppermint were about the only ones that I could pronounce}, that I ended up with the opposite type of "aid" that I needed. I didn't discover that until I was home and researching the herb that I had bought! Luckily, I read the description before I made myself a cup of tea and will be putting that herb on the shelf until its aid is needed. So my advice: google before you buy....or at least before you drink. Oh, and don't let your gyspy alter-ego take over your common sense. 

But I did find an awesome company who makes 100% natural lip balm, lotion bars, soap and diaper balm. They are totally awesome and I'm SOLD on their lip balm! Their name is MaggieB Naturals and they have such an awesome story! I have never had a lip balm keep so much moisture locked in! Usually, you have to reapply about every thirty minutes. Three hours after I put this brand on, I could still feel it on my lips. So refreshing!

Did I mention husband's birthday is coming up?? Yes! He is turning the ripe old age of twenty-eight! So this weekend was also spent as an early celebration! So of course that meant some time on the golf course. He LOVES that place! But not quite as much as I love his sweet face with the dimples on the side! :)

How was your weekend?!

Pops

Last weekend, the husband and I met up with two of our dearest friends for one last kung-pow before they welcome their little baby in to the world! 

We met Linsey and Justin during our time during in Lawton and we're convinced that God created these two gems specifically with us in mind! They're the type of friends that everyone deserves to have. And we're blessed to say we do!

So down the road we went.

Down the Route 66 road, to be exact!

Down to Pops on Route 66.

Pops is one of those little small town treasures that make a drive worth while! It's impossible to miss with a huge soda bottle out front, taller than the building and glowing with multiple LED lights! And that bottle is only a foretelling of what's to come! Pops contains nearly every soda that's ever been made, proudly displayed in their glass windows which surround the building. But it doesn't stop there....step inside, back in time, to a 1950s-esque diner with all things delicious and over 600 milk shake flavors! We ate and drank {soda, of course!} to our hearts content! And then after that, it was time to be adventurous! Not only does Pops display many of their hard-to-come-by sodas, but they also sell them! Matt and I filled up our cute little carrier with six soda flavors that we had never heard of before. {My favorite so far has been the Black Jack's Blood Red Cola!}

Matt and I have determined that wherever we're living, however boring a place it may seem, that we will do our best to take advantage of the time we have there to seek out whatever secret treasures it has to offer! We consider this our way of looking at the glass half-full and living life with no regrets!

Pops is one of those treasures. 

Next time, we plan on taking a blanket and taking advantage of the picnic-perfect fields surrounding the station! Absolutely lovely! :)

Be sure to mark your maps!

{Swoon}

Have I mentioned how much I love my man? 

Because I do.

This is one of the many reasons why....100 reasons to be exact!

He gave me 100 one dollar bills {for a shopping spree}. 

Attached to each one was a reason why he loves me.

♥{Swoon}♥

Have I mentioned that I love my man?

Because I do.

The Reception

Well it's taken me a year to post these, but I figured that now is as good a time as ever!! Here's a few pictures {and a few stories} from our reception....August 20, 2010!

I am sooooo in love with cameos!! I just knew I had to include one, somehow, into the day! And what better way than putting one on my bouquet! Have I also mentioned that I love our rings?! I LOVE OUR RINGS!! Matt's ring has wood inset into the sides of it, which fits him perfectly because he loves building things! My ring, well, is perfectly me! Read the story about it here!

Our cake was so delicious! We had two different flavors...coconut kiwi lime and orange sherbet.....fresh and delicious! It was even delicious a year later! {Yes, Matt and I bent the rule a little bit and ate our wedding cake a couple weeks sooner than our anniversary. But in our defense, we had no choice! My

Elephants and Meerkats

Every night, a line is drawn.  Not a metaphorical line, an actual line that divides our bed straight down the middle. Now, we're not prudes dating back to the days of "I Love Lucy" {oh, how I LOVE Lucy!}, but when it's time to sleep, we both like our space! Every once in a while {eh-hum....nearly every night}, one of us crosses the line and that starts a war that is usually only resolved by an intense game of footsies {i.e. kicking}.
Last night, when husband crossed the line, the usual "Eh-hum....you crossed the line" conversation got started. And after much practical debate, Matt looked over at my side and said, "Look how much room you have over on your side! Scoot over!"
"I can't help that I take up less of my half than you do of yours," I respond. He then looked at me with his big blue eyes and said, "Babe, in the zoo elephants get more space than meerkats!"
We both die laughing and leave the debate to be resolved another night.

This week dates a year that Matt and I have been married! I can't even believe it!! Marriage has been one of the greatest gifts God has ever given us! Matt challenges me in a way that no one else ever could and has been the greatest example of God's love and grace in my life. So this week, I'll be posting some of my favorite memories that Matt and I have had in our first year! :)

Thinking back to our first fight, I have no idea what it was about, but I just remember I was scrubbing the floor  at our house and I was so mad at him! The more I scrubbed, the more I cried and just wanted to hop on a plane and go home to Utah.  I had never been so mad at a person! But I also remember resolving that fight....Matt forcing me to talk to him and tell me every little thing that I was thinking...the good, the bad and the ugly {and believe me, there was plenty of ugly!}....then, he did the most amazing thing.  He gave me a huge hug and told me he loved me! He didn't run away as I wanted to, he stuck it out and we worked it out. That's when I knew, it didn't matter what we went through in our lives, we could get through it if we worked together and ran to each other instead of away from the problem. I knew God had brought us together for a special purpose! And now, a year later, whether it be fighting over our half of the bed or something much bigger than that, I know that as much as I dread the fighting, I love the resolving!! We always end up stronger, better and more in love than before. There's no one else's meerkat I'd rather be! :)

A Lovely Saturday Evening Post

Ok, it's more like a Saturday afternoon post, but evening sounds better for the title.

What a lovely Saturday!

The morning began with a lovely hour and a half jog.

Followed by a crafting afternoon that turned this:

Into this!

{I bought the case off ebay for $3.97 and the bow at target $3.39 for a pack of six. Super glue the bow to the cover and ta-da! Girlified iphone case!}

The day will end with a date night with my hubby

where we will watch

CRAZY.STUPID.LOVE.

How's your Saturday turning out?!

flowers and dogs and husbands....oh my!

It was a Tuesday morning...nothing special about the day. In fact, I would actually consider it a little too drab and a lot too hot! {I don't know if I'll ever adjust to this Oklahoma humidity!} Anyway, I received a wonderful kiss goodbye from my hubs {all of his kisses are wonderful :) } and we both set off on our separate ways to work.  We both had a busy weekend and didn't get to spend much time alone together, which is always disappointing, but just a part of life sometimes!
Early in the afternoon, Matt told me he was going to try to come visit me and needed the address to where I was going to be {I change locations almost daily with my job}. Of course I gave it to him, because I love ANY excuse that I get to see his sweet smile with the dimple on the side!  Little did I know he had something else up his sleeve.  Later in the afternoon, these came parading through the office and landed on my desk! :)

Sigh.....
Have I mentioned that I really, Really, REALLY love him?! Because I do.

In other news, Lola is about to turn 1!!! Which means that I'm googling "doggie birthday parties" like crazy! Here are some of my favorite ideas so far....

cake {in pink of course!}

{source}

game {bob for the bone}

{source}


party favors {from Lola}

{source}


outfit

{source}

Ok, now realistically, Lola wouldn't keep an outfit on for five minutes....whether it's her birthday party or a movie premier!  But one day, when she grows out of her "I like to eat everything" stage, I'll buy her a cute outfit! Until then, we'll stick to cute collars! :)

The Most Beautiful Face

Easter is upon us yet again! But before we get caught up in all the hubbub of the easter bunny, easter egg hunts and that new dress you've been waiting for an excuse to buy.....let's all just pause for a minute and remember the real beauty of this day. The beauty that came when a perfect Savior came and gave his life so that we might have life {life in abundance}. I can't even grasp the love that my sweet Jesus had for you and I when he was on that cross! That while he was up there, he was picturing my face and your face.  He was even picturing the face of that person you don't like! Yes, he pictured their face as well.  He pictured the face of those that would reject him. And still, he loved them. Oh what a deep and sweet love our Jesus has for us!! It brings me to tears just thinking about it! The greatest thing about about this day is that we're not just celebrating the death that brought us life, but we're celebrating the power that death could not hold down! Jesus defied everything in both his life and death when he rose from the grave.....all because of love. A love for me. A love for you. And a love for them. A love for us.
This sounds silly, but I've really been praying that those of you who read this will somehow be touched by the irresistible and life-changing love that God offers us in his sweet son, Jesus!  This holiday isn't about some religious ritual...in fact I don't think God ever intended for any part of our relationship with him to be ritualistic or religious! He wants our relationship with him to be real and tangible!  Even if it means that some days, when it's been the crappiest of days, you don't have to fake praying or conversation with him, you can just sit back and be still and know that He's okay with just sitting there with you! God is a real God and He is sooooo unbelievably good and head-over-heals in love with you that we'll never be able to comprehend it! This is a longer post than I intended, but Jesus' love has been the source of my real living and I get so excited talking about it!! So if you have time, watch the first movie and be open to letting God say something to you or stir up something inside of you {even if it's an emotion}!  I believe God can speak to us in many more ways than just the Bible or prayer.  After that, play this second video but don't even watch it {minimize the screen if you have to}....just listen to the words.  This song is so special to me {we even used it in our wedding!} and for me it's been a way to visualize the intensity and depth of love that Jesus carries for us!

I hope you have a very HAPPY HAPPY EASTER!! :)

the handy-man can!

Fact: I'm horrible at visualizing things! That's why when Matt first started talking about remodeling our kitchen and telling me all the ideas he had, I {kinda} freaked out! At that time, I was still living in Salt Lake so it made it that much more difficult to visualize things the way they could be. That's why he had to draw me this picture:

But before I get too far ahead in the story, let me start from the beginning. Matt bought our house about four years ago from some {very dear} friends. The house was built in the 70s, so it needed {a lot of} updating! He started by putting in harwood floors in the master bedroom, re-doing the entry way, knocking out a wall to open up the dining room and the living room and tearing out the {flourescent]} lights in the kitchen {thank goodness!!}. All that stuff was done B.M. {Before Marcie...me}.  When I came into the picture, all of the remodeling energies were directed at the kitchen. This was mainly for the fact that

Engagement Pictures! And a few other thoughts...

Here's our engagement pictures....finally! The big day is approaching so fast, and if my calculations prove me right, it is exactly 47 days away from this very moment! HOORAY!! Honestly, I couldn't be more excited about the gift God has given me in Matt. He is truly a man of integrity and patience, sometimes I wonder how I could be so lucky! He challenges me in ways no one else ever has and I'm a better person because of him! Now granted, not everything is roses and rainbows. The closer it gets to the wedding the more emotions that are getting stirred up, which in turn makes me, at times, a not-so-peachy person to be around. Example: Thursday I spent the whole day crying. At home. At work. In the car. Even in the coffee shop. To Matt. To my mom. To my sister. To Heather at work. To Matt. To Matt. To my dad. To my horse. To my dog. To Matt. To the coffee shop. To my best friend. To Matt. To Matt. Did I mention to Matt?? And now to you reading this blog. Haha! Matt has been so patient and understanding through the whole process. I have the greatest friends and family to put up with me in my emotional state! There's A LOT of people (and a couple dogs and horse) that are going to be dearly missed! Like I said, I couldn't be more excited to start my life with this incredible man... but there's a lot of things about Utah that I'm going to miss!! Here's my short tribute to a few of those things:

Seriously, the best coffee EVER! To order: Mr. B's w/an Extra Shot :) YUMMMMM!!!

Mountains! Not only beautiful scenery, but killer workouts! Trail running will forever remain my favorite exercise routine!

Meet Cuddles. We've been best friends for 10 years. All the old sayings about a girl and her horse were probably written because of me and her! Seriously, I've never met a person that understands me as well as my horse ever has. She helped get me through the crazy teenage years and kept me out of trouble (and away from boys! I think that's why my parents bought her...hehe :) ) Her favorite past times include eating, pooping, eating, flirting with the horse next door, going on unsupervised adventures through the neighborhood (while i'm chasing her in my bath robe and towel on my head!), and stealing my peanut butter sandwiches. We sometimes call her Mr. Ed because she flaps her lips when she's curious about things. I LOVE HER!!! Enough said.

This is Mandi. She's two and my favorite running buddy! She enjoys swimming, laying in mud puddles, belly rubs, rolling in smelly things, eating smelly things and giving me kisses afterwards! She always manages to make me smile! Love her so much! :) XOXOXO

But anyway, back to the point at hand....there's some (not all) of our favorite engagement pictures!

Love, Love!

Love Story Winner!

I forgot to mention this in my last blog entry, but that's what updates are for! A couple weeks ago, I entered me and Matt's love story into a contest put on by http://www.thebrideandgroom.com/ to win either a free trip to Disneyland (1st Prize) or an overnight stay in the Blue Boar Inn, which, despite its name, is a high-end resort here in Utah (2nd Prize). I received an email last week saying that our story had been chosen as a finalist in the contest, and at the wedding expo, Marcie Jones and Matt Weiszbrod's names were announced as 2nd prize winners for our love story!! We were both sooooooooooooooo excited!!!! So, in celebration of our win , here's our love story and a picture from our first date! Some of the story is a repeat of our engagement with a few more details that I chose to leave out before, so you get double the love and more of an inside scoop of our crazy lives when you read it! :) Oh, and I'll just say right now that I promise the person in the picture is Matt, even though it looks NOTHING like him!! Haha he was so cute with his long hair, but thank goodness for haircuts! :)

Here's the story of how the most incredible man I've ever met asked me to spend forever with him! Here we go....

Matt and I began our journey on the modern day fairytale-maker, Facebook. Actually, it started about three years ago when Matt's aunt and uncle started telling us about each other. Needless to say, neither of us gave it a second thought. No part of a long distance relationship sounded fun to either of us, that is, until last February when Matt sent me the first message over Facebook. We emailed back and forth for two months and had our first "phone date" on April 2, 2009. Finally, on May 25, we decided to meet in person in Denver, Colorado. His parents were on a family vacation in nearby Aspen and I had free flying benefits (one perk of having a flight attendant as a sister!) He drove a few hours to meet me, so we considered it our “meeting in the middle” spot. I can remember riding up the elevators at the airport, wondering and hoping that this person I had been talking to was as incredible in-person as he was on the phone! I got to the top of the elevator and saw tons of people eagerly awaiting their loved ones. Was I just not seeing him?? I scanned the crowd, my heart beating out of my chest, and resorted to my cell phone. “Hello!” said the other line. “Do you see me?” I nervously asked. “Yep, turn to your right.” As I turned, I saw him leaning against a pillar. I secretly laughed to myself because I knew he had planned it out that the first time I saw him, he would be looking cool and suave leaned up against a pillar, like something out of an old movie. (Later in our relationship, I used this as a teasing point, which he wholeheartedly denied, but later admitted that it was true and he wanted to look “cool” for me! Haha so cute!) After that, we were off to a fun-filled day! He had five envelopes with my name on it, and periodically throughout the day, he would hand me one of the envelopes that would give us directions to our next location. I never knew where we were going until we arrived. Our first stop was to a coffee shop, followed by indoor skydiving, dinner at a delicious Mexican restaurant and the grand finale was a walk under the sea in an aquarium (he knew I LOVED Disney’s The Little Mermaid!). And so began our monthly trips to and from Salt Lake City and Oklahoma! Matt told me later that that trip was the deal maker for him, but even before we met in Colorado, I had an idea that this was the man I was going to marry!

Flash forward a few months to March 1, 2010. Matt had flown in to Salt Lake to perform a wedding for his cousin, Ryker, who was getting married that Friday. (Matt is a licensed pastor and works with teenagers in a military town called Lawton/Ft. Sill, Oklahoma.) Wednesday afternoon, Matt and my dad had gone out to lunch, where Matt had asked my dad's permission to marry me. (For the record, my dad said yes!) He was scheduled to preach at our youth group on Wednesday night (which he did, and was so awesome!!), and afterwards we were going to meet up with Ryker and Heather to make sure all things were in order for the wedding. They lived up at Daybreak. Before we left to go up there, his Aunt Rhonda had called to tell us that Ryker and Heather had had a big fight so they were taking a walk around the lake to cool down, and that's where we were going to meet up with them. (I later found out that the "fight" was just a cover story for what happened next!)

Let me hurry and mention that Daybreak Lake was where we had our first kiss! It was July 2009, Matt had brought me up there to “set the mood.” I remember sitting on the dock, knowing he was going to kiss me and waiting for what seemed like forever for it to happen! There were ducks quacking underneath our dangling feet, and he kept telling me sweet things. I even remember him mentioning that the ducks were singing to me like I was Arial in the Little Mermaid. All I could think about was, “Oh please, just get it over with and kiss me!” Haha Matt is definitely the hopeless romantic in our relationship! And I love and appreciate every bit of him!

Anyway, back to the story: When we got up to the lake and got closer to "our" dock, I noticed there were candles lit up all around it. I just assumed it was something Daybreak had done, and didn't think any more of it. Well when we got up to the dock, I looked over and saw my best friend, Whitney, with a video camera. I looked over and there was a red velvet carpet rolled out with rose petals scattered all over it and candles all around the edges and floating in the water. He brought me to the middle of the carpet and said, "The candles represent the light that you've been in my life. There are 1,500 rose petals, one for every time that I think about you during the day. And this carpet represents the way I want to treat you for the rest of my life." Then, he got down on one knee and asked if I would marry him. Through my tears I managed to answer, YES!!! I wanted to soak in every bit of that moment. We stood there for awhile, and in between all the tears, kissing and hugs, we heard the flock of ducks that had been witnessing the whole thing take off flying! (In my mind, they were the same ducks who had been “singing” to me the night we had our first kiss!) The whole night was so perfect, and I felt like a princess! Every detail that went into it, right down to the fact that my best friend was there to record the whole thing, was absolutely perfect!!! I wouldn't have changed a thing! Even my ring was more than I could have asked for. He knew I had always wanted a different color stone in my ring, so he had two rubies put on the inside to represent the blood of Jesus. It was so special! We both know that it was God who brought us together, and it is God who's going to keep us together. Our relationship started out and is being sustained by Him. As long as we keep Him at the center, we know that even though difficult times may come, we have the God of the universe on our side! And all we can say is thank goodness for the love and grace of Jesus in our lives!! I not only get to marry the first man that I've ever loved, but I also get to marry my best friend and the one who challenges me the most to be a better person!! I couldn't be more ecstatic!!

So there is our prize-winning love story ladies and gentlemen!! I just found out that they posted part of the story on thebrideandgroom.com 's website! Here's a direct link if you want to see it:

http://blog.thebrideandgroom.com/honeymoontravel/second-place-winner-love-story-contest-congrats/

Ring Picture

So I finally have a decent picture of my ring to show you! And just in case you were wondering, my ring is the one with the huge diamond in the middle! :]] Like I said, Matt did such a good job!

Special thanks to Monica (http://www.photoumbra.com/) for sending me the picture! It's perfect!!

The Engagement

After countless emails, phone calls, text messages and facebook messages asking about the engagement story, I've decided that instead of having to tell and re-tell the story, and for the sake of not missing out on any important details, here's the story of how the most incredible man I've ever met asked me to spend forever with him! Here we go....

For those of you who don't know, Matt and I began our journey on the modern fairytale-maker, Facebook. Actually, it started about three years ago when Matt's aunt and uncle started telling us about each other. Needless to say, neither of us gave it a second thought....that is, until last February when Matt sent me the first message over facebook. We emailed back and forth for two months and had our first "phone date" on April 2. On May 25, we decided to meet in person in Denver, Colorado. The day started out with coffee, followed by indoor skydiving and dinner and ended with a walk under the sea in an aquarium. And so began our monthly trips to and from Salt Lake City and Oklahoma! That trip was the deal maker for him, but even before we met in Colorado, I had an idea that this was the man I was going to marry!

On March 1, Matt had flown into Salt Lake to perform a wedding for his cousin, Ryker, who was getting married that Friday. Wednesday afternoon Matt and my dad had gone out to lunch, where Matt had asked my dad's permission to marry me. (For the record, my dad said yes!) He was scheduled to preach at our youth group on Wednesday night (which he did, and was so awesome!!), and afterwards we were going to meet up with Ryker and Heather to make sure all things were in order for the wedding. They lived up at Daybreak, and before we left to go up there, his Aunt Rhonda had called to tell us that Ryker and Heather had had a big fight so they were taking a walk around the lake to cool down, and that's where we were going to meet up with them. (I later found out that the "fight" was just a cover story for what happened next!)

(And let me hurry and mention that Daybreak Lake was where we had our first kiss!) When we got up to the lake, and got closer to "our" dock, I noticed there were candles lit up all around it.

I just assumed it was something Daybreak had done, and didn't think any more of it. Well when we got up to the dock, I looked over and saw my best friend, Whitney, with a video camera. I looked over and there was a red velvet carpet rolled out with rose petals scattered all over it and candles all around the edges and floating in the water. He brought me to the middle of the carpet and said, "The candles represent the light that you've been in my life. There are 1,500 rose petals, one for everytime that I think about you during the day, and this carpet represents the way I want to treat you for the rest of my life." Then, he got down on one knee and asked if I would marry him. Through my tears I managed to answer, YES!!! The whole night was so perfect, and I felt like a princess! Every detail that went into it, right down to the fact that my best friend was there to record the whole thing, was absolutely perfect!!! I wouldn't have changed a thing! Even my ring was more than I could have asked for. He knew I had always wanted a different color stone in my ring, so he had two rubies put on the inside to represent the blood of Jesus. It was so special! We both know that it was God who brought us together, and it is God who's going to keep us together. Our relationship started out and is being sustained by Him. As long as we keep Him at the center, we know that even though difficult times may come, we have the God of the universe on our side! And all we can say is thank goodness for the love and grace of Jesus in our lives!!

So a special thank you to Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Randy, my best friend Whitney, and most importantly, thank you, Jesus, for bringing us together! I not only get to marry the first man that I've ever loved, but I also get to marry my best friend and the one who challenges me the most to be a better person!! I couldn't be more ecstatic!!