It's been the most...

...lovely day!

I went to bed last night at 9:30pm, slept until 7:30am, ate a quiet peaceful breakfast, then went to check on my hubby. I wasn't going to lay back down, but he looks so sweet and peaceful laying there that I kissed him and snuggled up for a second. Then he started cuddling up to me. After that, I just stayed put and enjoyed my sleepy hubby! Snuggling is definitely one of the perks of married life!

Woke up two hours later to find that Justin had sent me roses and they were on the front porch! (Love that man!) We ate breakfast (a second breakfast for me!) and enjoyed the roses. I cleaned the kitchen and Justin started mowing the grass. I joined him outside and cleaned up most of the beds I'm going to plant in. Came to find out, under all the dead leaves, I have chives, mint and lavender growing away, ready to be picked!

After yardwork, we did some errands, picked up a few things at BigLots!, came home and ate a scrumptious dinner. Justin is going to go fishing soon and I am going to sew. First up: making some maternity pants. It looks like only my belly and not my waist is going to grow, so I'm never going to fit into those six 6 and 8 pants...I need a 4! SO, might as well take a pair or two and practice making maternity pants. They'd be less annoying than wearing pants that are constantly falling down! Also going to make a belly band for my pants I don't want to convert over. Then if I'm not super tired, I'll play around with other stuff. We cleaned up the back room and it's SO much nicer to sew in there now.

A very simple day, full of necessary stuff...but all with my hubby and gorgeous weather. It was the best of everything!

New Scissors

Justin a wonderful husband. I am realizing this more and more every day. I am blessed.

Today we went to see Justin's Pap. Just so happens JoAnn Fabric is right next door! (Ekk!) I asked to walk through since JoAnn's is about a 35 minute drive from our house and I never get to just "walk around". Justin obliged and followed me patiently through the store.

They are having lots of sales. My husband took one look at all the sales and was like, "Do you need anything? All this stuff is way on sale." Um, sure! I stuck with a few 60% off fabrics, because this is outside of the budget until Friday.

Justin noticed some scissors that were 50% off and was like "You should get some really good ones. You are always looking for good scissors at home and you cut a lot of things." Smile. Um, sure! I've been wanting new scissors.

It may not be a lot to you, but it's a lot to me to have a husband who not just allows me my crazy  hobbies, but encourages me in them. This is also the man who a few weeks ago said, "I want to buy you a new sewing machine. You sew a lot and I want to work overtime in the next few weeks so I can buy you a nice machine that will quilt and do all the things you wish yours did."

Ahh. It took some convincing, but I took him up on the offer. Now, to research machines that do what I want. What do I want??

Photo Credit to J.Ann Kramer Photography, taken at Nick and Heidi Poole's wedding in their awesome photobooth!

Getting into the mood for babies

Seeing everyone and their cute little babies on Facebook puts me in a mood to have one of my own. I lay awake at night sometimes and wonder just how she/he will look. Our first baby. I wonder and hope if they'll have Justin's lips and beautiful eyes, if they'll have my hair but his color. I wonder if they'll be cute or dorky. Either way, I know we'll love them just the same.

Getting into the mood.


It also scares the bee-jee-bers out of me. That the Lord would entrust one of His precious beautiful children to us. To raise, to love, nurture and teach all about Him. How good He is, how He loves them, the difference between right and wrong, rebellion and obedience. I want our kids to know Him and know what it feels like to be known by Him. I want them to love Him, to feel His love, grace, approval and mercy for their lives. I want them to know that they matter to Him, that they are special, just as ALL of His children are special.

And I want to cuddle them.....but maybe that's just because I'm a girl.

I'm so content and happy where we are, and honestly don't want to speed this time up for anything. I have an amazing hot husband and I'm not ready to share. But that time is coming sometime and we are preparing our hearts. Someday this family will we ready for a child and we'll welcome him/her with open arms.

Thank you Jesus.

Of My Thoughts

Lots of things running around in my head these days.

I really love my husband and even though we fight, I'm grateful that we love each other enough to think it's worth working through.

Dreaming about crafting this week as I've been working overtime at work for the past two weeks and haven't had my hands on anything crafty.

I am SUPER excited for Chris and Hannah Davis. I hate that they are moving all the way to Ketucky, but am SO glad it's in response to what the Lord has put on their hearts. I just know that Lord is going to do amazing things there! You should check out the church they will be planting, Destiny Church.

Thinking that I am in love with Anna Maria Horner's fabric line called Good Folks. Been thinking A LOT lately about making a quilt made of her fabrics....especially this zig zag one.

Going to make an apple crisp tonight. Our neighbor George gave us a whole bag full of apples. Since many of them are bruised, they will make PERFECT crisp apples. 

Still working on a good way to get scripture onto the quilts the Lord has put in my heart over the last two years. Going to test out a few theories this week.

Trying to figure out a few days where we can sneak away in a few months and drive down to Kentucky so we can visit the Davis'.

And now, I'm off to fish with my husband since it is a gorgeous day out!

Sweet Moments

There are moments in life that are just sweet. I had one of those moments today.

We took a drive today out to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, also called the Pine Creek Gorge. It's about a 4.5 hour drive from Pittsburgh. It's all back roads highways with cute little run-down towns in between the Allegheny Mountains for the most part. We're planning on vacationing in Wellsboro here and camping for a few days in the Grand Canyon.

In short, it's scenic and gorgeous!

So we're driving along this beautiful little highway and Justin looks over at me, out of the blue, and says, "I really love you, you know that?"

And I just smiled.

So sweet. My husband is sweet and handsome and wonderful. (And he just threw a chip at my head.....but it was only in retaliation for the chip I had thrown at his head first.)

It's nice to get away.

Justin's 14 Layer Birthday Cake!

If you cannot see the delicious cake pictures, click here.

Happy 6 Months

It's been 6 months today since Justin and I were married.

Can you believe it? It's been half a year.

Truthfully, it just feels like we've been married forever, in a good way! I've almost forgotten what it was like to be single, to come home to an empty house, etc.

::smile::

I like being married.

We are (still) different.

Case in point.


Justin's side of the bed.

My side of the bed.

Sigh. Old habits die hard.

Stubborn Love

Stubborn love walks back into the room after a fight.
Stubborn love tries to see things from the others point of view.
Stubborn love tries to understand the others point of view.
Stubborn love forgives and forgets quickly.
Stubborn love doesn't continually bring up past mistakes.
Stubborn love takes a deep breath and tries not to yell when frustrated.
Stubborn love protects and defends to others.
Stubborn love assumes the best instead of the worst.
Stubborn love gives grace again and again.
Stubborn love doesn't give up loving even when things are frustrating.
Stubborn love sees the big picture instead of just today's misunderstandings.
Stubborn love is in it for the long haul.

hmmm.
reminds me of 1 Corinthians 13.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

Learning to Trust

A few weeks ago, Justin and I had a large fight and I ended up crying on the floor in our bedroom.

[Don't be too alarmed, I always end up crying on the floor. It makes me feel dramatically justified when I sit on the floor. Makes me feel more pathetic or something, I don't know. It's a quirk. Don't you love those?]

As I was sitting there with my Kleenex, I tried to figure out why I was crying so hard. Why was I reacting so emotionally to, truthfully, a small disagreement? The truth came out when Justin and I talked a little bit later. I was trying to explain why I was so upset when flying out of my mouth came, "How many fights can we have before you don't want to come home anymore?"

Shocking, but it matched what I had said earlier in the month right before Justin's granddad's funeral, when after a fight I looked at him and said, "I just don't know what I would do if I lost you."

I was struggling with trust. It's a difficult thing, not just sometimes, but I think all the time. Especially when people you love are involved. Loving anyone requires trusting the Lord with them. It also requires learning to trust them.

The Lord has really challenged me in this recently. I realized I was carrying a lot of stress, worrying about whether Justin would come home safe, worrying that I might make him really mad and he wouldn't want to be married anymore. The Lord was calling me to lay it all down at His feet. So I started praying, I started reading Matthew 6 and I started talk to Justin about it.

Through it all, the Lord gave me peace overflowing through everything. I remembered that He is good and faithful and above ALL things. That He loves me, and that is the most important thing. He reminded me of just how faithful He's been and how trustworthy He is. Remembering all of this, I felt loved and full of His peace. I can trust Him not only with myself, but now with Justin.

As we talked, Justin reassured me. That he loves me and that he's not going anywhere. His response to my shocking statements mentioned above were perfect. He looked at me, hugged me and said, "Just because we're fighting does not mean that I don't love you. I love you. I am not going anywhere. We're going to be married for a very long time."

I think the two men in my life are amazing and so patient with me. I am so grateful for the Lord AND to the Lord for Justin. Learning to trust now that I'm married has been a beautiful and hard thing, but it's been worth it. SO worth it.

What a Difference a Year Makes

For the last few months, I have just been in awe of how crazy (and wonderful!) my life has been over the last year! Oh my goodness, what a difference a year makes. So, without further ado, here's my year in review.

(haha, that rhymed. Not intentional, I promise.)

January 2008: Trying to make it through my first respiratory season at Children's Hospital, fresh off of orientation.
January 2009: Hanging out with Justin, reworking my resume to apply to work with an orphanage in Moldova and trying to work up the courage to tell Justin that it "just wasn't working".

February 2008: Planning, organizing and speaking at Ground Level's Girls Retreat 2008.
February 2009: Telling all my friends that I liked Justin now, and that I just might be in love with him.

March 2008: Had my first overnight hospital stay as a patient, was despairing of working night shifts, changing to a new migraine medication and had just gotten the BEST present ever, a dishwasher.
March 2009: My laptop BROKE, was working furiously on making things for Etsy, photographing them and just thinking I might be in love with Justin. Since he helped fix my computer and all...you know. AND, the BEST part was that he became my boyfriend (officially) after talking with both sets of my parents.

April 2008: Was in a car accident that hurt my back and then pulled it again a week later lifting a patient at work and got/bought a new camera for my birthday (early present) and was STILL working overnights, becoming convinced of my need for the Lord every day.
April 2009: Loving loving Justin, caught a gastro bug from Children's that Justin helped nurse me through, sent Justin off to Thailand with tears in my eyes, bawled on my floor on the fifth day that he was gone because I missed him so much and decided that I "for sure" needed to marry him. It was here that my heart was convinced and I KNEW I wanted to marry him.

May 2008: Turned 24, working overnight, lost my phone and getting increasingly FRUSTRATED with my single status, signed up for TWO online dating websites to ease my frustration and emailed with Justin online.
Mary 2009: Turned 25 without Justin, spent the most wonderful weekend with him when he got back the next day, was blissfully in love the entire month and was engaged on May 31st!

June 2008: Liking my job again, repainting my entryway, decided NOT to go back to college right now, was LOVING taking an oil painting class over the summer, spoke at Ground Level and surrendered Justin back to the Lord completely (with many tears) since we hadn't emailed in a while and I was pretty sure he was never going to talk to me again (and cause the Lord asked me to).
June 2009: Wedding spreadsheets, counting down the days until the wedding, wedding planning, engagement photos and dreaming about the wedding.

July 2008: Met a another guy online, scrubbed my shower clean of black mold with vinegar and ordered new books online about crocheting. Exciting.
July 2009: Wedding stress, premarital counseling, obsessing about having to use plastic tablecloths at the reception and beginning to pack and MOVE my apartment.

August 2008: My sister had back surgery, I bagged a patient for the first time, saw my first T&A bleed, attended The Call in Washington, DC, stopped talking to the other guy after the Lord tells me that "he's not for you" several times, realized (again) that the Lord was bigger than all my failings and worries and took my first vacation on my own in Tyler, TX.
August 2009: I barely blog anything because I am SO consumed with spending every waking minute with Justin, planning the wedding, ordering things, coordinating things and STILL COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS!

September 2008: Repainted and redecorated the spare bedroom, knit my first pair of socks and become more and more unhappy with just how....mundane my life is.
September 2009: I experience the second best day of my life, my wedding day, I go on a honeymoon and we have our first "real" fight being married. We both survive.

October 2008: I go kayaking for free, decide that work REALLY stinks and I HATE it and spend a women's retreat crying on the floor becuase I just can't see how the Lord is ever going to do what He's promised in my life. I feel boxed into my life and VERY "stuck" where I was.
October 2009: I decide that falling asleep and waking up next to my husband is the best thing in the world, we buy a Canon Rebel, I become a Certified Pediatric Nurse and make some really great homemade tomato soup.

November 2008: I catch a vomit in my bare hands for the first time at work, make some cute cupcakes, begin to work on what the Lord spoke to me about at the women's retreat AND I run into Justin at a church function, we recognize each other and he asks for my phone number.
November 2009: A patient falls on me at work and I hurt my back, I get a horrible gastro bug that Justin gets, too, Justin and I realized just how different we are, I plan to kidnap Bethany, and suffer through 11+ days of yucky toncillitus.

December 2008: Justin and I go out twice, including on Christmas Day to see a movie. It is incredibly awkward and I'm not so sure this is going to work out. I dye my hair shockingly BLACK and worry what Justin will think about it.
Decebmer 2009: Justins grandfather spends 10+ day in the ICU and passes away, we spend our first Christmas together, and we both still can't believe how incredibly blessed we are to be married and have each other.

Sigh.
One year makes a WORLD of difference and that fact comforts my little heart.
Jesus is amazing. Praise Him for this amazing life.

So excited to see what will happen in 2010!
Happy New Years!

A Sneak Peek

A Sneak Peek of my Christmas Cinnamon Rolls!
Well....the dough at least.
They made up and cooked up fabulously.
You better hope you're getting a pan.

AND just a peek at the message I found this evening in the shower!
Justin is so sweet!
I love you, too baby!

Pretty Much the Best

I have the best husband in the world.

Now, I know that there are many of you out there that would argue with me. However, I would disagree with you. Justin Good is the best husband I know. And he's MY husband!

Seriously, I never thought marriage would be this good. I hurt my back at work on Wednesday. Normally, in the pre-Justin-years that would mean hours on the couch, cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner and painful trips back and forth to the freezer for my ice packs. Oh, I forgot. Painful runs in my car to Walgreens for pain meds. This time around, I am appreciating having a husband while I am sick.

Listening to me cry on the phone while he's at work cause a doctor made me mad.
Offering to take me to the ER if I really didn't feel good.
Stopping and getting me stuff at the store on the way home.
Taking care of all the housework once he got home.
Sitting on the couch with me for hours hugging me.
Lets not forget the really bad chick flic he agreed to watch.
Timing my minutes on and off the ice pack.

Seriously. I just look at him sometimes and can't believe he wanted to marry me. I am the most blessed girl in the world. I love our house, I love our relationship, I love working out all the small details, I love laughing with him, crying with him, kissing him. Sigh. Yeah, life is really good.

There are always the bumps in the road.
But now I get to figure them out with him.

Too Many Cookies....

Many people joke about gaining weight when you get married.

Let me tell you.
It's true.

HOWEVER, I will attest that it is not because we were just recently married. I attribute it to the fact that we like each. A lot. In fact, we like each other so much that when we were dating we spent all our free time together. All of it. Including the shopping-for-healthy-foods-time, the going-to-the-gym-and-working-out-time and the making-your-food-and-eating-at-home-time. You know all those important things that we (pretended) to do before. It started then. A year ago.

Um. Yeah.

Poor eating habits and no exercise is not our problem. We're just in love and enamored with each other rather than paying attention to what we eat and when the last time we moved off the couch was.

Right?
Yeah, that's what I thought, too.

So, Justin and I have decided that a little weight control is in order here. We're both at the heaviest we've been in years. So, we've started to try and address this issue. Here are a few things that we'll be trying to help us get "back to normal."

1. Advance Menu Planning!
Planning out all our dinners 1-2 weeks in a row. This way there is no question about what we're having and I ONLY go to the store to buy what we need. No extra high calorie ingredients in this cart. Saves on the grocery bill, too!

2. Stop when you're full!
Self explanatory. It is not necessary to feel full all the time. Truly. It's ok to feel a little empty at times.

3. Drink WATER!
Everytime you are hungry, drink water. You're probably only thirsty. Little Weight Watchers secret there I learned along the way. Keep water everywhere.

So, wish us luck and more exercise. We'll keep you posted.

Married Life

I can't think of a cute way to start this post out, so I'll just say it.

Justin and I are different. In many ways.

Yes, it's almost been two months and we've discovered in many ways that we are different. In some things it's laughable and cute, in other things we can't understand why-on-earth the other would do it that way! The thing that has really been eye-opening for me is the subject of cleaning and organizing.

I thought I was a clean person. I picked up, swept the floor (when it was visably dirty), vacuumed the carpet (when I couldn't remember the last time I did it), organized the closets (when things began falling out and I was bored) and generally kept dirty things away from clean things (like laundry). However, it has become clear to me since marrying Justin that I am a different type of clean person than him. Really, that's just a nice way of saying that overall, he's cleaner than me! Let me show you.

Justin washes the dishes before dinner, while making dinner and after dinner.
Kristen washes the dishes right before they get moldy.

Justin rinses dishes he puts in the sink for easy cleaning later.
Kristen lets the dishes dry out in the sink so they won't grow mold as fast.

Kristen buys groceries and puts them in the fridge, reorganizing so they all fit.
Justin reoganizes the fridge after each grocery run so that everything is easily accesible.

Kristen buys food and leaves it in the cardboard containers they came in.
Justin buys food and immediately takes everything out of the cardboard containers.

Kristen takes out garbage when it starts to smell.
Justin takes it out when it's full.

Justin does a load of laundry 1-2 times per week so it never builds up.
Kristen does all her laundry ONCE a month in a laundry blitz.

Justin scrubs the top of the stove when it's dirty.
Kristen scrubs it when it starts to gross her out.

Kristen works on organizing projects when she feels like it.
Justin works on organizing projects a bit at a time all the time.

Kristen organizes by placing things in piles.
Justin organizing by finding things a home and putting them there.

Whew! So yes, we are different. We're both learning to adjust and give grace and help when necessary. We have not fought over these things, but there have been tears on my part. It's not Justin's fault, I just know I should be cleaner and I feel guilty when Justin ends up doing all the cleaning.

I am adjusting. Really, I just had to look around for my big-girls-pants, pull them on and get to work. This week (since the tears) I'm trying the clean a bit every day thing. It's going well. Justin has noticed and thanked me and it hasn't been too bad. The house is cleaner. Well, it doesn't look destroyed somedays and spotless other days. We're finding a happy medium.

Overall, marriage is great, even when it means changing and adjusting.

I'm just thankful that he chose me. (I still look at him and just wonder that God gave him to me. I am a blessed woman!)

Here.

I am still here.
Still being in love.
Love coming home to my husband.
Loving being married.

I love lots of things right now and think my life couldn't be ANY more perfect.

Justin is even more amazing than I ever thought and we are more different than I ever thought.
It's wonderful.

Hard and wonderful and oh so worth it.
But, truthfully, there are more wonderful moments than hard.

Trying to wrestle up some determination to study for my CPN (certified pediatric nurse) test this Monday....but failing miserably. The puzzle, cooking, eating, reading fun things on my swing knitting and loving Justin have won out more times than I can count.

The only thing I am relying on is that I don't feel a crazy urgency to study. Usually when I need to, I can't deny it in my spirit and I just haven't felt that way about it. Of course, I could be totally wrong- I might need to be studying like crazy and will fail because I didn't. But then I could pass easily and be glad that I didn't waste beautiful fall hours with blue skies studying.

Oh well. Whatever. I should study. No excuses for my laziness.
:)

Life is good friends, Jesus is sweeter than ever and I am enjoying this time to dive into both.
Love.

P.S. - The chocolate pots and tomato soup from The Pioneer Woman's blogs site were AMAZING. Actually the chocolate pots were downright dangerous. So dangerous. Don't make it. Really. You might love it too much and want to drink the entire batch in one sitting. And no. I didn't. I restrained myself. A bit. :)

It's been a while

You can contribute that to the fact that Justin and I chose not to have internet access at our house. Or the fact that I just haven't felt like it.

Whichever.
Up to you.

I've been well. Happily adjusting to married life.

BTW, I LOVE falling asleep and waking up next to my sweet hubby. BEST part of the day. Even though he likes to cuddle and I like to squirm. And flip. And flop. Like a fish. Numerous times before I fall asleep. He's a very patient man.

Life is starting (just barely) to settle into a routine. Dishes are being done (more than I used to do them), laundry is being done (differently than I used to do it), things are becoming organized, shevles and art have been hung on the wall, numerous different types and styles of curtain have been rejected by me (I still can't decide what curtains I want in the living room, or artwork for that matter), thank you cards are being wrote (we promise they will all be out by Christmas) and life is (slowly) settling.

It's wonderful. It's hard, this getting used to living with a new person, adapting to each others preferences and routines, but it's wonderful.

I've started to feel like Suzy homemaker since the weather has gotten a bit colder. Thus, evidence:

1. I feel like knitting again! There are three beautiful yarn stores near my house that I plan to check out this week.

2. I feel like cooking again! This past week I made Halloween (meatball) soup with baked peach cobbler for dessert. It was yummy. And tonight I've been purusing The Pioneer Woman's website looking for yummy things to cook/bake. I found several.

Like this.
This.
This.
Oh, this one.
This.
And this one.

Yes. Yum.

Sorry. One more.
I couldn't help myself.

3. AND I can't wait to bust out the sewing machine and convert my tab-top closet curtains into cute pocket-top ones and possibly sew up some living room curtains if I can find material I like. Oh yes, I'm itching to start working on my yellow baby quilt again.

Sigh.

I love the fall.
I love being married.
I'm fight my first cold of the winter.
The library is my best friend.
And I am starting to find my way around the North Hills without having to call Justin or Annie to tell me where I am and how to get the heck back to where I'm supposed to be. You know, in the next town or county over.

Life is good. Jesus is sweet.

Psalm 90:17 is my prayer right now for Justin and I as we pray about what life will look like together here in the next few years. We're excited to see what the Lord has in store. He is so faithful and beautiful.

There you go.
Some of the thoughts on my mind. Nothing too deep, just me being me. Hope you're enjoying your fall.

the MAN I'm about to marry...

...is amazing.
and I didn't think I could go another second without telling you all how wonderful he is.

Seriously, my heart is just overwhelmed and overflowing with joy.
For the Lord to allow me to be committed in marriage to Justin Good is more than I could ever have asked for.

This is a man who was worth being choosy for. He was and IS worth years of being picky in who I dated, who I liked. He was worth being single while all my friends getting married. He was worth all the tears I cried as I came home from these weddings because it wasn't my time yet. He was worth the wait. Two hundred, a million times over, he was worth the wait.

This is a man who loves me extravagently. If you think that he tells you often on Facebook how he feels, you should hear how often he tells me. I never have to doubt for a moment his love and dedication to me. He tells me, shows me, proves his love to me over and over and over again, always in a sincere fashion. This man is genuine.

This is a man who loves the Lord, deeply. Justin is committed to serving the Lord, to glorifying Jesus with His life and to leading us, and someday our family, in loving and following the Lord. Not only does He love the Lord, but he is willing to be corrected by the Lord, taught by Him.

This is a man thats willing to admit when he's been wrong. Towards the Lord, towards me. And even though these incidents are few and far in between, he doesn't hesitate to apologize and make amends.

This is a man who speaks volumes with his eyes. He blesses my heart just by the way he looks at me. As if I'm the only woman on the earth. I feel warm and fuzzy inside when he looks at me. It's just this look of pure devotion. Refer back to how often he tells me he loves me and....whoo. It's enough to make a girl swoon.

This is a man who acts like a man and treats me like a woman. He opens doors for me, does the heavy lifting and fixes things when I'm fed up with trying to fix them.

This is a man who works hard at his job so that he might provide for me, and one day our family.

This is a man who believes family takes precedence over ministry. A man who will sit with me on the couch after my night shift, talking, making sure that I feel ok, reassuring me, hugging me even though it makes him an hour late to work.

This is a man who understands what marriage means. What the Lord meant a husband to be to a woman and a wife to a man. Of the covenant relationship we are entering into. He understands and he embraces it. He is excited for it. He is excited to be my husband, to protect me, lead me, provide for me, to be my covering, to love me as Christ loved the church. It's no small feat, to love an emotional complex woman with unwavering, unconditional, covenant love. Yet he embraces it. Can I emphasize that enough? He embraces it. It and I are not a burden, something that he is to do because the Lord says to. This is his heart, he desires to spend his life learning to love me like this.

This is a man that I can laugh and be silly with. We make milkshakes, we watch the stars, we go for bike rides and hikes, we throw Scrabble pieces at each other and flick water in each other's faces while we wash dishes. We laugh! We are silly and mushy and crazy. I love it. I love him.

This is a man who comes home with Java Chip ice cream when he knows I've been craving sweets all day. Need I say more?

I love him.
I'm so excited to be his wife, to learn to serve him, submit to him, raise a family.
I can't wait to give him children. To see his eyes light up the first time he feels the baby kick.
I can't wait for all these firsts in our lives.
First house, first baby, first pet, first time I am called Kristen Good, first time we eat pancakes for dinner. All those great things.

So lastly, I leave you with this:

7 DAYS!

He's the best

Friday morning I opened my door to go to work

and was surprised to find these taped to my screen door.

I then stepped out onto the porch
and noticed something was in my mailbox.
These lovelies.

Feeling all happy and loved inside,
I walked to my car and was (again) surprised
to find this written on my sidewalk in chalk.

"Roses are red...

violets are blue....

I wrote this silly ryhme...

because I love you."

(This is what my fiance does at 2:30am in the morning when he can't sleep.
I love him so desperately much and oh just can't wait until Sept 6th.)

The next day my neighbor commented on the sidewalk
and how cute it was and sweet Justin was to have done it.
She said, "Kristen, you are a lucky girl."

I agreed, although I would call it something other than lucky.
I would call it blessed.
I am VERY blessed.

Justin is the kind of man I've waited my whole life for.

The kind who comes over to hug me when I'm hurting.
Who holds me until all the tears are done.
Who makes me chocolate-peanut-butter-milkshakes.
Who prays for me and over me.
Who loves me unconditionally.

Amazing.

...one last picture.
The back of the card he made me.

He's sweet.
(and that's an understatement.)