Why You Should Get Married (And Why I Did)

So a while back I promised to post a list of great reasons to get married. After much thought and some whims, here it is. Valerie, take note and start counting the days! Some will think this list is just so cute because we're newlyweds. But I firmly believe after watching my parents for 26 years, Andy's being married 36, and watching many other couples that you can be more in love everyday. I plan on spending the rest of my life falling more in love with my husband and learning more about him everyday. Marriage is hard work, but it's so worth it.
So here are your reasons to get married. They range from practical to romantic to wonderful.
They are in no particular order:

~There's 2 of you to do dishes now!
~Somebody else can hit the snooze.
~2 paychecks. (and twice the bills) :-)
~Snowball fights are more fun, so are the kisses afterwards.
~You can kiss whenever and wherever and for however long.
~Snuggles galore.
~Somebody tall to reach the tall cupboards.
~A handy husband to change your oil and fix your car.
~Someone to scrape your windshield for you.
~Someone willing to walk in the first snowfall of the season even though it's 11pm.
~Someone to do laundry with.
~A Best Friend who doesn't care how gross you are.
~Someone period. A Friend who's always there or will be soon.
~You can make each other laugh like no one else.
~Inside jokes that no one else gets.
~A Safe Haven for all your mistakes.
~Cutting down your first Christmas tree together.
~Knowing that even when you fight each other, you would fight for each other in a heartbeat.
~Making up after the fight. ;-)
~A combined family, more people to love.
~Falling in love forever with your best friend.
~Facing the world together as one.
~Getting mail addressed to "Mr. And Mrs."
~Being able to grow in Christ together.
~Teaching each other new things everyday.
~Have I mentioned lots of hugs and kisses?
~Having someone put their arm around you in church.
~Belonging to Him forever!
~Coming home to find the dishes done.
~Making dinner for 2.
~Having steak one night and mac & cheese the next, and it's okay with him.
~Someone to watch MacGyver & KnightRider with, and not tease you about it!
~Having 2 toothbrushes in the holder.
~Someone to keep you warm at night.
~Someone to warm up your cold feet, even under protest.
~Flowers!
~Having someone who knows you well enough to buy you Christmas socks and Bath Salts.
~Marrying an incredibly sensitive man who actually wants to listen.
~Having a guy who is the first to suggest driving around just to look at Christmas lights.
~Having him ask you to dance in the dark to your "new" old Christmas records.
~Having a scruffy face to rub and kiss.
~Romantic canoe rides on your honeymoon, while being attacked by bugs.
~Snow Angels that hold hands.
~Catching bigger fish than him!
~Cross country skiing with the one you love.
~Someone who thinks you're beautiful, cute, hot, and sexy all at once.
~Giving yourself physically to one person forever.
~Unconditional acceptance.
~Being love and loving in return.
~Agape love, unconditional.
~Knowing you'll never leave each other.
~Forgiveness, always.
~Knowing that this is only the beginning, Forever is waiting.
~One day at a time, you fight today, make up today, and tomorrow is another chance.
~Feeling God smile on this blessed union that He has forordained and blessed.
And Finally, possibly my favorite thing about being married is:
~Someone to go to sleep cuddled up with and wake up together with everyday for forever.

I've left out some things and I'm sure I've forgot some things that I might add later, but this gives you a taste of the little things that make up married life. It's not all romance and laughs, it's really, really hard work. But oh it's so worth it. I've made a sort of one-sided list, things that my beloved Andy gives to me, when marriage is really about giving and serving each other. Not just Andy giving to me, but us giving to and serving each other 100%. I fail so often at this, but I have an amazing husband who is committed forever and lets me try and try again. I can't get it right, but with God's grace, I'll keep trying.
So get married! :-) Everyone needs to follow God's timing and design for their lives, but if you're willing to committ to a marriage based in Him and to forever with each other, you'll have the chance to be part of the best thing you'll ever experience.
Andy and I got married for forever, divorce was and is never an option. Times can be hard and stressful, but we're committed to God and each other. He gives the joy and blessings along with the trials and hardships. We have God and each other.
I encourage you to view marriage the same way. Only God can keep it sacred.
So here's to love and forgiveness, laughter and tears, grace and mercy, a God who loves us. For only He and these can make a marriage what it is. A beautiful picture of God's love for His Son and us. May yours be a blessed one.

Back For A Visit

Andy and I just got back late last night from down where I went to college the last 2 years. It was good and weird to be back just for a visit. We spent Wednesday evening at church way out in the boonies with my best friend from school Valerie. Then we dropped off her fiance and proceeded to get lost on the way back to town. We made it back only 4 minutes late to drop Valerie off for dorm lock. I have to say I don't miss those days of having to be back at a certain time. Although these days Andy and I are usually in bed sleeping before dorm lock time. :-)
So Thursday we went to chapel with Valerie and I got to see a bunch of old friends. It was spirit week on campus so it was nice to see everyone more relaxed.
We took Anna & Valerie to get some lunch and then went around campus seeing some people. I even actually went to class! We went with Val to her Doctrines 3 class, which is kind of comical because I took Doc 3 when I was there. You can never be refreshed too much though. I'm sure I didn't listen as well the first go-around anyway.
Thursday afternoon we went bowling with Valerie, Anna, & Gianni which was a lot of fun and pretty comical when Val actually beat Andy. I of course had the lowest score and would be much to embarressed to tell you what it was. Although I will say most everyone else had double my score. Yeah, I know it's bad.
Thursday evening we had a lot of fun in the college coffee shop playing "Catch Phrase" with about 8 other people. It was a lot of fun and we laughed a lot. It was good to have a fun time with some friends.
Friday Andy & I spent the morning sleeping in and playing Frisbee Golf at the local course there. It's a pretty diverse course and I ended up going wading after a disc and we got a good picture of about 4-5 other guys climbing a tree after some stuck discs. It was pretty humerous to watch. Friday afternoon we spent in the coffee shop with Val who was working visiting with her and a few other friends. We also got the chance to talk to Mr. Hudson for quite a while and to catch up since we hadn't seen him since the wedding. He's my professor that did our pre-marital counseling and performed our wedding for us.
So then we headed for home with a couple of stops at Cabella's and REI where we bought some Christmas presents and managed to FINALLY find some 20 degree sleeping bags that zipped together for the two of us. So that was a big relief. We got home really late but it was a good trip. We did buy me some new "tennis shoes" at Cabella's in their "bargain cave". I really like them because they don't have any laces so I can slip them on and off in no time. Which is a big relief because Andy's always teasing me about not untying my shoes which is bad for them I know. :-)
So that was our weekend in a nutshell, but the biggest event went on inside of me.

I had a pretty hard time when all my friends were going back to school in August with feeling lonely and left out and whatnot. This trip served to comfort me that I was where I'm supposed to be. I love my husband and wouldn't trade him for all of my college days. I realized that despite the various opinions I received last year about my getting married and finishing college early, it really was the best thing for me to do. God's timing is perfect, not mine or anyone else's, and He knew Andy & I should be married this year. Plus it was really nice to be back on campus holding hands and not having to get fined for it. :-)

So that's about it, it was a good trip, but I can say with a very assured heart that it's soooo good to be home with my husband. And that's all there is to it.

Another Weekend Adventure

So the first weekend of October Andy and I again had a weekend adventure. Andy used the last of his vacation time and we went up to my cousin's wedding. We also spent the weekend staying with my friend Anne who was one of my bridesmaids and her boyfriend was visiting as well. We got to see a bunch of my family including my parents and my brother and sister-in-law and my nephew. You can tell my sister-in-law is pregnant which is pretty exciting and cute. So in less than 4 months I'll once again be an aunt and Andy will be an uncle!
So, we spent the weekend with family and friends and lots of activities. We went swimming and down the waterslides at the motels my parents stayed at, we played disc golf on a neat 18 hole course on Sunday as well as went for a really, REALLY long walk on Sunday down a bike trail. It was very windy all weekend so we didn't get to go bikeriding even though we brought our bikes.
So it was a fun weekend although we were pretty short on sleep. Oh well. I wanted to post pictures but it seems that our computer is not liking the idea.

Showers, Family, & Food

So over last weekend Andy and I went to see his parents and sister. His parents had a open house reception for us while we were there since so many people there couldn't come to the wedding. They had a "grocery shower" for us so that was a huge blessing. We got sent home with tons of food! For poor newlyweds this has boosted our grocery supply by lots. Although our kitchen counter is still covered with food yet to be put away.

We had a great weekend with the family. We went to the famous Falls Park where I finally got to go up in the observation tower and see the whole park from way up. Took some neat pictures. It was rainy Thursday-Saturday so that was kind of a bummer admittadly. We did some Shopping on Friday, hit Sam's Club and TJ Maxx where Andy finally got a nice fall coat. I actually found some Jeans that fit at Sam's Club and JCPenney so that was exciting. We also spent some time with Andy's friends Tom & Ryan and Ryan's wife Christine. They were all involved in our wedding, and we hadn't seen them since so this was good to see them.

On Saturday we got to go hear Astronaut Mike Fossum speak. He went up in the shuttle this last July. The one that launched on July 4th actually. It was really neat to see all his video and pictures and to hear him tell of seeing space which he did refer to as God's awesome creation so that was especially cool. One little boy asked him when he could go up in space. It was cute! We also played some Scrabble with the family, who I all trounced just for the record. Andy was catching up and would have one except he put down "Froze" for about 30 points because of the z and where it was at, which enabled me to use my Q and U and put down "Quizes" for about 52 points which one me the game. Sorry Babe. :-) I was proud of how well he played though.

Sunday we went to Andy's parents church where Pastor Merv preached a great sermon. Sunday we also went for a 16 mile bike ride with Andy's Dad, sister Janelle, and friend Tom. We were supposed to make the full 25 mile loop but Tom was a little worn out and slow :-) and so it was just 16 miles. It was fun though! We finally managed to get all our stuff packed into the truck and made the long trip back home. And it was a loooonnnggg trip. I don't know when I've been so glad to get out of a vehicle before. Blech. Anyway, we unpacked, covered the counter in groceries and went to bed. And the groceries are still sitting there. It was a fun weekend though, nice to have 2 extra days off work and really good to see Andy's family. Enjoy the bazillion pictures that follow. :-)




This is a random bug that found it's way into our apartment onto our curtains. I wanted to kill it but Andy insisted we put it outside. So when a second one appeared again on the curtains I killed it before Andy could stop me. I personally think it was the first one coming back again but I've been told that it was slightly different from the first. Andy though they were cool 'cause they look like they're supposed to blend in with tree bark. I thought they were cool 'cause I killed it and it has blue gooey stuff come out. I wanted to see if it glowed in the dark but Andy wouldn't let me. :-) We're had all manner of bugs in our apartment now, these strange ones, 3 centipedes so far, which for the record are incredibly nasty and freaky looking especially when you're about to step into the shower and there is one in the tub, as well as some other unidentified bugs. I think the landlord needs to get an exterminator. Blech...I now officially don't like bugs.




The pretty and yummy cake at the reception.


These are pictures from the wedding reception. I thought it was cool that Andy's mom got Gerber Daisies for the tables. That's what our wedding flowers were and they're still gorgeous flowers!



I made Andy and his sister Janelle pose for a picture. I tried to get Andy to put his arm around Janelle and he wouldn't! Silly brothers!
















Pretty Gerber Daisies!


<---This is Andy's Dad when we were playing Scrabble. Below is his sister Janelle with their dog Buffy asleep on Andy's mom's lap in the background. :-)

These are pictures from Beautiful Falls Park. It was raining slightly but it stilled looked pretty from the observation tower. The building down below here is an old building they have redone into a restaurant. Hopefully we'll get to eat there sometime.




<--- This is Andy with his parents standing on the observation deck. The falls are to the left. My sweety and I by the falls. He's cute!



And last but not least, Our counter after we got home filled with groceries. Thank You to everyone who "showered" us with the blessing of free food. We can't thank you enough! THANK YOU!

One Big Fish & One Cold Woman

This is my husband Andy, who from the looks of it is apparently part human and part monkey.



So lately it's been a bit chilly here, which I love because out come the long-sleeved t-shirts and hoodies. And with the colder weather I actually shocked myself by wearing nylons with my skirt on Sunday. I almost promised after so many days of nylons at Pilly that I wouldn't wear them ever again. But we were running late and I didn't have time to think of other options. I will say that I'm vindicated by the fact that I haven't wore a skirt every Sunday to church. I know, all of you at Pilly are now aghast in either horror or jealousy. Anyway, that's a rabbit trail. So anyway, the point is that until today it's been rather chilly out, which explains why in these pictures I'm wearing so many layers. We went out to this old homestead place and walked around on Friday and then we went fishing on a local lake. First off I managed to lost my hook and lure by getting my line caught on the pier and then snapping the line, all within two seconds of getting there. Don't ask, I don't know what happened. So then when Andy got my line back in order I cast and I caught a 13 inch smallmouth bass. Yes I'm proud of it, yes I threw it back, and yes I would rather have eaten it. Andy's still learning to fillet fish so we're releasing them for the time being. Anyway, that was about all we caught so after an hour I was cold and hungry and ready to call it quits, so we did. It was fun though, I like catching big fish.















It's gotten warmer out today and tomorrow it's supposed to be back in the high 70s low 80s. I like the cold better. Oh well. There's not too much else to report other than we had our first Sunday School class on Sunday and I didn't die, but I'm definitely in over my head and my 1st grade kids are definitely a handfull. They are fun though. I had my first ladies' Bible study last night as well, I think it will be a really good study. We're going to be studying Jerry Bridges book "The Pursuit of Holiness". I've read it before, and it's really good. Our first AWANA club of the year is tomorrow evening, so as you can see, our weeks are going to get busier. Next week we're headed down to Andy's parents for a wedding reception for us with all those who couldn't make it to the wedding. We're staying the weekend so I think it will be a good time. I have a cousin getting married the first Saturday in October so we're going up to that. I'm supposed to serve punch I believe. Hopefully most of it ends up in people's cups and not on me or them. So that's about it for now. I'm working on a Pros to marriage list to post sometime soon. I figure there are enough people out there complaining about their marriages that I should point out the many many wonderful sides of being married. I love being married and that's not just because I'm a "newlywed". I just figure it's a conscience decision that you have to make and decide somewhere early on or before you get married. Marriage is hard enough as it it without complaining about it and tearing each other down all the time. So I figure it's time I point out many reasons that I love being married. I'm sure others have done this, but I'm compiling my own personal list.
So that's about it for now, Hopefully I'll have that ready soon. I'll probably have more pictures to post after we go down to Andy's parents. Take care and prepare for the snow! I know I'm excited. I love Fall and Winter. :-)



This would be a very angled picture of me on the couch taken by my goofy husband. He makes me laugh every day.










This is me peaking from on the couch. We were watching the Twins and I was reading. Andy was obviously playing with the camera.

This and That

Andy commented that I posted the last two posts backwards as we went camping long before we went to the Twins game. Oh well, sometimes life feels backwards. Andy's 27th birthday was on Tuesday so I got to try my hand at making and decorating a cake. I was looking in all the stores for a cake decorating kit but all they had were the prepackaged gel or frosting stuff already made. Needless to say I was not impressed but ended up buying the gel stuff which we now know turns your mouth and teeth the appropriate color. So I'm still on the hunt for a real decorating kit. I got Andy some discs for disc golf for his birthday, so we went disc golfing after I got off work on his birthday. Andy's old roomate Jay came over for supper then we all went fishing where I tried out my new fishing pole and managed to tangle the line many times. We didn't catch too much, but we had fun. It's been storming a whole lot today, really big storms too. Our power went out for a moment but then came back on. It got so dark outside at one point that the street lights came on. I love storms so this was fun. Other than that, I've been feeling rather contemplative because if I hadn't finished a 2-year degree and gotten married, I would have had to be back at school today. I don't miss the rules and such, but I sure do miss my friends. I'm so thankful to be married to Andy though. I told him that I'd have had to be back at school today and he immediately said "I'm glad you're not". I asked if that was 'cause he could kiss me now. He says "Yup". :-) In other news, Andy's parents are coming for a visit this weekend so that will be nice to see them. We haven't seen them since the wedding so it'll be so good to spend some time with them. Otherwise, I've been asked to teach 1st graders in Sunday School starting soon. I'm excited about that. I'm also helping in Sparks in the AWANA program, so that's good too. Andy helps with the guys T&T so we'll both be helping in some capacity. I'm very excited about getting more involved at church. It's finally feeling like home, although I'm still lacking a solid girlfriend here in town so if you could pray about that, I would appreciate it. Andy and I will have been married 11 weeks on Saturday, which doesn't sound like much when you put it that way, but it's been a wonderful summer. I'm so thankful to be married to him and I wouldn't change it for the world. He's really my best friend and I wouldn't trade any girlfriend for him. Here's some pictures for your enjoyment:



This is Andy's birthday cake. So it was my first attempt and I can't say that it was the greatest, oh well, I'm learning. It tastes good anyway. And I did make my husband happy and use his full name. He always refers to himself as Andrew and introduces himself that way. I seem to counteract that whenever possible. :-) He still loves me.




This is my adorable husband out fishing on the night of his birthday. That's half of Jay in the background by the way. It was a gorgeous night and even though we didn't catch much, we had fun.














This is Andy and I on his birthday with his cake. And yes, the Twins are on in the background. The discs I got us are on the counter there as well as the filet knife Jay got him.

This is Andy's and my friend Tuan who is a specialist with the National Guard in Iraq. He was home for about 2 weeks on leave and it was so good to see him. Please pray for his safety as he works some dangerous missions.

Camping Trip

So a while back, right before my birthday, Andy and I took our first camping trip together. I'm just now posting the pictures obviously. I'm only going to post a few now but I'll post more later. It was a lot of fun even with me getting sick and a quick trip to the doctor. Here's some wit and wisdom for you: You'll never feel so gross as you do when you've been camping and smell like campfire and worse as you do when you're in a sterile doctor's office. :-) Oh well.


This photo above would be me getting surrounded by the creepy fish described below. The little pink bow was what the fish was trying to eat. Andy liked them, they obviously creeped me out.



These fish may look harmless, but they're really very deadly. Okay not really, but they're kind of creepy. They swam right by us. I mean they seriously touched us. Several nibbled on some strings on my swimsuit until I tucked them away. I killed a fly that landed on the water and almost got bit by a fish eating it. It was funny and a neat experience, but kind of weird washing my hair wondering if the fish will be eating it.



This photo is me down by the lake. The water was nice, the fish, kinda creepy.












This was Andy getting ready to ride the bike trail by where we camped.

Twins Game

So last Thursday I took Andy to a Twins game as part of his birthday present. The Twins didn't win, but it was close as Justin Morneau came so close to 2 homeruns. He got one homerun, but the other two were just a foot or so from making it. Oh well, can't win 'em all I guess. We had a really good time though, minus the 4 crabby swearing ladies behind us. They were a little upset because people walking in the aisle were blocking home plate. So they yelled and swore at them. One of the ladies said she hoped they weren't ruining the game for us and Andy was like "Yeah, a little bit". Eventually they got up to try to get better seats, so that left us in relative peace and quiet to enjoy the game. We had a lot of fun with me experiencing my first "Dome Dog" and of course singing along to "Take Me Out To The Ballgame". We ended the day with some fruitful shopping and a nice car ride home together minus a few traffice jams. The crazy part of the daywas as we walked a few blocks from our parking spot to the Dome I looked across the street to see a man getting dropped off and realized I knew him. In downtown cities I ran into Pastor Paul, from our old "Campus Crusade" days back home. I had just seen him at Sal's wedding but Andy had never met him, so it was awesome to see him even for a few minutes. He was on his way to a meeting for his church planting. Who else but the Lord could orchestrate such a meeting? We did see Ron Gardinheir (spelling?) drive away after the game, Andy thought that was cool. Anyway, it was a great day. :-) Andy's birthday is tomorrow so I'm baking a cake tonight. Hopefully it's good. :-)
Below is Andy with his rally hat. It didn't work, they still lost. But he looks cute anyway. :-)















To the left is Joe Mauer batting. He's Andy's favorite player because of his sideburns. Don't Ask. Below is my sweetie and I at the game.


















To the left is me singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" while my husband sneeks a picture. :-) Below is my first ever "Dome Dog". I will admit it was better than a regular hot dog that's for sure.
















So this is Andy eating his "Dome Dog" with way too much stuff on it for my tastes. He looks like he's enjoying it though. Below is the big screen showing who was playing.

Our Home

Andy and I have finally entered a little farther into the technology age and bought a digital camera, so you might see more pictures here in the future. For now, here are a few quick snapshots of our home and us of course. :-)

Okay, so this on the left is our living room and the door into our bedroom. There's not usually a bicycle in our living room, but Andy's been replacing his tires (for the past week) so that's an added feature. Below is Andy in our bathroom, which is off the kitchen.

To the left is the view of the kitchen and back door from the living room, the bathroom is past the fridge and to the left. And that's about it, it's small, but we like it. :-) It's definitely home now. It's nicer to be in this apartment because of the windows in the living room and there isn't a wall between the kitchen and living room, which is nice to have it all open. P.S. That rose on the coutner is from my wonderful husband just so you know. :-) He's pictured again down below.

The last of the wedding photos

Alright, I'm getting sick of posting photos, so these will be it for now, Hope they help all of you who couldn't make it, we really did miss you!


This is probably my favorite photo of Andy and I, we're outside, which we love, and the look on my face says I adore my husband, and his is filled with love. Pretty perfect.















This is the entire wedding party right before the flower girls got sent home to take a nap before the wedding.










This is Andy with his guys: back row left to right: Jay, Ryan, my brother Caleb were the groomsmen, Alex my nephew was the ringbearer, front row is Tom and Andy, Tom was the best man.

This is the entire wedding party right before the flower girls got sent home to take a nap before the wedding.




Our wedding cake! I love gerber daisies.



















This is Andy and I with my parents, grandparents, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew.











This is Andy and I with all of my extended family that were there. And that wasn't even half of them! I have a huge family. :-)











This is Andy and I with my Grandma Hattie. She passed away 2 1/2 weeks after the wedding, so these photos of her are priceless to my entire family. I miss her so much. God truly works miracles because I prayed for years Grandma would be at my wedding.