the busiest & best year of my life

Remember in my last post, almost a yr ago, i mentioned that i was going to date soon? well, I'm married to that man! I've never dated while in school, partly bc i always have to spend so much time studying.

I need to back up and tell u how we met. Last fall, my car didn't work. I prayed that it would bc if it didn't, I knew I would have to take the COTA bus to school. I dreaded that. Dad said, "You never know, you might meet ur husband on the bus!" I ignored it bc he and mom have said things like that before. When I got on the bus for the 1st time, I saw him....Knowing that a lot of people on the bus are creepy, I didn't talk to him. When he 1st saw me, he thought I was gorgeous. He didn't talk to me bc he didn't want to come across as being too forward. This went on for 2 weeks before God decided He was going to take action since we weren't. 1 day, the bus was so full, that I had to sit next to him. We started talking and haven't stopped. If we weren't treading very carefully and guarding our hearts, we would've known that we were meant to be together. We started dating on New Year's. We got engaged March 16 in a park. during the dating and part of the engagement, I was in school. I had no time. Of course, the closer our wedding date got, the busier we were with planning.

The wedding was very small and sweet. I slept well the night before. I didn't expect that. I also had 1 of my bridesmaids over for a sleepover the night before. I wasn't nervous at all the day of the wedding. That kind of surprised me. That next step in Paul's and my relationship seemed so natural. The wedding ceremony and reception were in a park. the weather was great! We wrote our own vows. The pix are on fb. The honeymoon was great! We went to Hocking Hills for a few days.

We have a Bible verse that fits our relationship. Ephesians 3:20-21 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine...to him be the glory." We marvel at how God orchestrated our lives so we could meet! We're amazed at how perfect we are for each other!

Since the honeymoon, we've been adjusting to life as a married couple, living in my parents' basement. It's been hard, but good. Paul has a job at the kmart store. I'm looking for a job that'll give us enough money to move out. We know where we want to live. It's just down the st from where we are now.

Life's been very hectic lately. Our car's not working. We have a great mechanic, though! My mom broke her ankle a couple weeks ago. She was in the hospital for several days, then in rehab. She's coming home tomorrow.

Paul moved my dad's piano keyboard downstairs. It's on my desk, instead of a stand. Dad hasn't used it much lately. I'm getting back into playing it. I'm also studying the book of Job.

Dec '10/ Jan '11

Hey ya'll, I'm finally getting this out. I started it late last month. I went  on a retreat with my church called, Faithwalkers. I wanted my next post to include everything that I learned from there. Well, I thought you might want a post before that happens, since it could take at least a month! The drive there was amazing. The retreat is in Asheville, NC, so we had to dive through mountains. I'd never seen mountains, so i was in awe. The 1st night at the conference, I was sick. I had a migraine and was nauseated. I suspect that was from the 8 hr drive even though I took dramamine and the drive through the mountains, with the altitude change. The rest of the time there was amazing! The main thing I learned was a reminder: Satan knows our weak spots, which buttons to push on each of us. I'd been praying for a while about how to wear the spiritual armor. God answered that prayer while I was there. I was convicted of pride, also. I learned that when I decide to not pray and say I'll do it later, I'm really saying that I don't need prayer, that I can do it on my own. "...God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6 NIV

On the way back, the girls in my car really helped me in another area I was struggling in. While talking about it, we drove through half the state of KY!

I had something to look forward to coming home: 1 of my best friends was going to ask me to date him on New Year's Day at midnight. I know it's kind of cheesy because so many people do it then, but we're both cheesy! In March of last year, my best girlfriend and my mom had challenged me to not look at every guy I saw as a possible hubby. I met my boyfriend in Oct. We've challenged each other in our faiths and to mature as people.

I need to back up and catch you up on something else! After Thanksgiving, we returned a dog we'd just adopted. She didn't fit in the family for many reasons. We, then, went to the Crawford County shelter after seeing their ad on craigslist. From there, we adopted a lab mix pup. Just recently, my cat, Maggie, has been sleeping in my room with my new dog, Feliz, and I. Now, Pumpkin, mom's cat, and Maggie have been upstairs with the dogs.