Our First Year

I can’t even believe that it’s already been a year since we got married! It seems like such a long time ago that we had our wedding and went to the Yucatán on our honeymoon. So many changes and new things have happened. 

 Changes like... Moving across the country. Changing my name. Getting a new job. Meeting a lot of new friends. 

I basically started a new life. But I am so blessed with this new life! I have an amazing husband, a good job, and a great church! God has been so good to us this last year and I am so excited to see what He has in store for us for the future! No matter where He takes us, we will always be together as long as He allows us to be. The song that we danced to at our wedding always reminds me that wherever Calvin and I are, if we are together, we are home. 

 

 

 

One year down. So many more to go!  <3

Date Your Spouse

The other day Calvin asked me what I was doing on Saturday. I told him, “I’m not sure. Are you asking me out?!?!” And he said, “ If you want to go hunting with me…”  Needless to say, Saturday, after getting up at 4 AM, we went hunting. It was cold, uncomfortable, and we had to be quiet. Not exactly the ideal date, but we were doing something my husband was excited about and that made it worth it. I had never been hunting like that before so I thought I should at least try it. It was definitely not the most fun I’ve ever had, but I could see how much Calvin liked it. 

We’ve been married for a year this month. I can’t believe it’s gone so fast! Throughout this year I have learned so many things! Including, that it is so important to continue to date your spouse.

So when dating your spouse here are some things we all need to remember:

1.    Bring an open mind- It may not be exactly what you had in mind, but if he enjoys it, it’s at least worth a try.

2.     Take pictures- Not only are they fun to share on social media, but they are also a good reminder of times together. I may not be sentimental with things, but I do enjoy looking at pictures of times with my husband, our dates, wedding day, etc. It is fun to reminisce, especially with those you love.

3.     Make the most of it- I guess this kind of goes along with the first one. But even if it’s not something you may exactly choose to do, make the most of it. Instead of having a bad attitude when it's something you wouldn't have chosen to do, try to be open-minded. When looking back, I find the memories will be better and less regrettable.

4.     Communication- I am a firm believer that life in general, is just better when people communicate, especially husbands and wives. People can get into the routine of life and expect the other person to know exactly what they are thinking, then arguments happen, feelings get hurt, and grudges occur. But most of the time, these can all be avoided with communication.

We may be married and live together now, but that still doesn’t change the fact that we need to have that time that is set aside for just the two of us without the rest of life's distractions. Sitting at home on the couch and watching Amazon together and is fine, but if we don’t take the time to talk and continue to get to know each other, we will drift apart. I am so glad Calvin and I both try to be intentional with our time together. And I hope that you will be too, not only in marriage but in other relationships too.

We didn't get anything that morning... And will I ever go hunting with him again? Time will tell. Maybe if he asks nicely. 😉 But it WAS a beautiful morning!  (Also, if you can zoom in on the bottom picture there are six deer we saw outlined against the sky. So pretty!!)

Life Changes: Part 2

Hello all! Welcome to Part 2! This is the WEDDING POST!!!! 

 

 But before we get into that... The week before our wedding was a bit stressful. I stopped working the beginning of October to finish up planning, to finish packing all of my stuff for a cross-country move, and to say good-bye to everyone. On top of all of that, my dad's mom, Nanny, was on hospice. We had a lot of family around all the time. My dad is the baby of 7 so we had a lot of them and their kids coming to visit and spend time with Nanny. It was an amazing bonding experience for the family. There was singing of hymns and praying and reminiscing of old times every night. She passed away on October 5 surrounded by family members. Although it was a very sad time in our lives, it was also a time of celebrating! She was finally home with her Lord! We had her funeral the Wednesday before the wedding. Calvin was able to be there with my and I am so grateful!

 Most of the family who came for the funeral was able to stay for the wedding that Saturday. Thank you to all my aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who were there that week. I love you all! The way all of you came together to help set up the tent and decorate for the big day, amazing! So after the funeral it was down to wedding business. Setting the tent up in the backyard, getting food ready, cutting firewood to make room, and so many other things! And when Calvin's side got there it was cool to see the two families come together! 

 Once the tent was put up on Thursday, it was decided that the inside of the tent was too dirty. So my dad got out his power washer and a brush with soap and we scrubbed the tent.

And then we decided that the walls needed to be on the tent. Thank goodness we did, because of the rain the next day.


Our day was, well I like to refer to it as, cozy. It rained all afternoon and evening. Thank goodness we had a tent big enough for everyone!

We were able to do pictures outside before the ceremony and the darkening sky made a beautiful backdrop. 

I love my girls!!! Thank you so much Ashley, Abby, and Kjer for being there with me on my day!!!! Love you all!!!

  Calvin and his guys: Thane, Ben, and Jack

I just love love!!

My parents have grape vines in their backyard that were amazing for photos!!! 

 Thanks to Rebekah Knight, Pete Carlson, and Cooper Black for all your work with the pictures and the video! 

I made most of the decorations by myself and with the help of my bridesmaids, friends, and my mom!

These paper flowers were a lot of work! I had them in my bouquet, my girls' bouquets and the centerpieces. Here is the youtube video I used to make them.

 This song is a favorite of mine and Calvin's. We know that when we are together, we are home.

We made this bunting because I wanted my wedding to look like it belonged in the shire. I got the idea from this website. We had toyed with the idea of having a destination wedding in Hobbiton, but decided against it. Although, a trip to Hobbiton is currently in the planning stages.




Even though it was chilly and wet outside the tent was warm and dry, for most of the day. It did get a little soggy over by the dessert table later in the evening... I know my shoes and the bottom of my dress were brown with mud, and I'm sure a lot of other people also had mud issues. But the kids seemed to enjoy it!

We didn't do much dancing. Our first dance, the mother-son dance, and the father-daughter dance.

We tried to get around to see everyone before we left, but I am sure we missed some people. But we are so grateful for the ones who were able to be there to celebrate our day with us! Thank you so much! And if you weren't able to be there we understand and would have loved to have seen you!

And here are some other pictures I couldn't help but share! My favorite day and my favorite man!! I thank God for such fun memories and for giving me someone so amazing to share these and so many more memories with! Calvin Knight, I am crazy about you!!!!!

And my final wedding picture for you all... Dun Dun Dun!!!! 

 

Gotta love the kiss!!!

Life Changes: Part 1

Hey everyone! It has been a while since I posted on this blog! So much has changed and I am so excited to share all of that with you!
So I guess if you have been reading my other blog posts the first thing you would notice is my name has changed! I am now married!!! Can you believe it?!!? It has already been 11 months! 11 months since I said "I do" to the love of my life! And if you were here reading my previous posts you would know that I have talked about him before. Last October I married Calvin Knight.

When Susan and I were on our road trip of the U.S. in 2016, we stopped to see Calvin. He let us stay with him, we all went hiking, and then we met up again at Crater Lake for the 4th of July. (If you are totally lost and have no idea what I am talking about, here is a link to the first time we saw him. And here is the link for the second time.) :) I didn't actually share anything in my blog about our relationship at the time, would've been awkward if we broke up. But we are still going strong, over 2 years later!

So the night we all went to Klamath Falls to watch the fireworks, Calvin held my hand and so it began. As we were getting rained on by little bits of burning fireworks, my heart was alight with love for the man next to me. (I had had a crush on him since we went to Bible college together 6 years before.) So we dated until February of 2017, when he surprised me in Michigan and proposed! I had no idea he was coming all the way from Washington and I felt so special! He and my friends had planned a small engagement party with people from Aftershock before he had to leave to go back to Washington and I had to go back to nursing school. But it was an amazing weekend! And here are some of our engagement pictures that were taken in May 2017, in Washington, by Andrew Sayers. Aren't we cute?!?!!? Hehe

We planned the wedding for October of 2017. We had toyed with the idea of eloping, but being an only child and my parents only daughter, I thought it would break their hearts if we didn't do a wedding. And looking back now, I am so glad we did. I would've regretted it so much. And even though the day was a wet and chilly, it was my favorite day! A day I will never forget and I'm sure most of the guests won't either! :D 
I must go for now. But next time I will share wedding pictures. Hope y'all enjoyed the pictures and post! Come back next time!