Shelby Dawne

What a blessing to have sisters!  21 years ago today my first sister was born.  We have always been close and there is no doubt that she is one of my very dearest friends.  Not only is she a physical sister to me but more importantly and infinitely more precious she is my sister through Jesus Christ.  How sweet to share such a bond!  I love you so much Shelb and I am so very thankful for you! 

In honor of Shelb's birthday, I wanted to share a brief list of things that I LOVE about her:

• Her love for Jesus and desire to grow
• I can be the real me around her--singing, dancing, emotions, and all
• I love talking with her!  Especially when it is late into the night
• She is one of my very favorite people to shop with
• She makes me laugh so hard and I love her laugh!
• She has a beautiful smile
• I know she has my back and I have hers
• She is a great running buddy!  I miss running with her (she totally makes it a good time)
• So many memories
• She is sincere
• She loves people.  Not the love that makes you want to please people, but she genuinely cares about others.
• She is one of the most compassionate people I know  

I could list many more things, but instead of continuing to go on, I wanted to share some pictures of my time spent with Shelb so far in this earthly life:

Love you Shelb!  Can't wait to see you again this weekend :)

Wedding Vows

Today I finished writing our wedding thank you notes--though I am not completely done addressing all of them.  Goodness gracious we have been so blessed!  While I have been eagerly anticipating the day I would be free of this task, I find my self a little sad it is over.  It seems like the real closing of our wedding day.  Praise the Lord that it isn't the end of the covenant we entered together with God!  In honor of finishing our thank you notes and acknowledging with joy that our marriage is continuing on without that, I looked back in my wedding folder today and found the vows I wrote to Michael.  I cannot believe it's been two and a half months since I spoke them to him in the presence of God and family and friends.  I thought I would share them as I celebrate God's faithfulness in our marriage thus far and look forward to the days to come! 

Michael, in taking you as my husband today I promise to put God first in my life, seeking after him daily so that through his grace and love I may love you better each day.  

I promise to be a strong support for you.  I will communicate with you honestly and affirm you in the leadership role God has given you.  

I promise to be on your team and stand alongside you in times of rejoicing, times of sorrow, and everything in between as we seek to glorify God with our lives.  

I promise to love you specifically, to bring you good, not harm all the days of my life.  I will practice humility both in asking for and giving forgiveness when one of us has hurt the other.  

Through God’s grace, I promise that you may have full confidence in me.  I will never leave or abandon you.  I will be your loving and faithful wife until death parts us.  

Seeing my handsome groom on our wedding day!

Learning to love each other more like Jesus everyday as we walk in covenant with one another. 

Pictures of our place :)

Well, in an earlier post I had said I wanted to post pictures of our new home.  It isn't completely ready yet (we need to get pictures in frames, paint a dresser for our bedroom, etc.), but this is the best it has looked so far! 

A view of our living room...yes we have the Olympics on :)

A different view of the same thing because you can see some different things :)

The back of our living room :)

Kitchen table and a bookshelf :)

Our lovely kitchen :)

If you came to visit, you would walk through that door :)

Our extra bedroom...good for exercising and random storage :)

bathroom--we are mad for our shower curtain!

pretty shower :)

messy and HUGE closet :)

The back of our bedroom

The front of our bedroom

I am just really happy about this whole arrangement :)

We are well blessed and so very thankful :) 

19 Years with a Brother

19 years ago today my brother Sam was born.  Now this changed our family in a number of ways: instead of a family of 4 we became a family of 5, instead of only daughters a son was added, and we gained the blessing of a family member with special needs. 

I don't think I really remember Sam being born (who can blame me, I was only 3 1/2 at the time) and as a result I cannot remember (or think) of life without him and nor would I want to.  Sam has been a wonderful gift from the Lord.  He is such a blessing and a delight.  It breaks my heart a little bit inside to know that I can't be with him today to sing his favorite songs (including happy birthday to him) and repeat his favorite lines from Veggie Tales. 

In honor of Sam today, I wanted to share some of the things I love most about him:

• Sam does not go light on showing affection.  He gives hugs and kisses all the time and if you're one of the select few, he will play with your hair (this is mostly Mom and Charley).  
• Sam has some groovy dance moves and he is not afraid to show them--pure joy and delight!
• Sam has very pure emotions.  What you see is what you get.  If he is excited you can expect giggling, a huge smile, and him 'tickling' his hands together; if he is sad you can expect big tears falling from his big, brown eyes.  
• Sam is a goofball and he really is quite clever.  Sometimes he might pretend he doesn't know who one of his favorite people is when they aren't where he wants them to be (for example, Sam loves the chorus teacher Mrs. West at high school but will many times pretend he doesn't know who she is at church).  Sometimes Sam will sneak upstairs to get a snack (bread, crackers, cookies, etc.) and if he succeeds in eating it all he will put the box or bag back where he found it completely empty.  If he gets caught, he will generally start dancing in order to distract us from what he's up to.  
• Sam loves to take people's drinks, he loves hiccups and burps, say P.U. skunk to him along with a few other words (gross, ick, nasty, feida) and you will have him laughing immediately.  
• He has a selection of songs he loves and a selection he does not want sung to him.  
• He loves being a part of the group.  For example, last weekend when Michael and I went to hang out with my family at the lake house we all sat down to play some Mexican Train Dominoes and Sam came over and plopped down with us at the table. 
• Sam loves pictures of himself and the people he loves.  We found a picture of the 5 of us with our cousins Jessi, Jordan, and Jackson from like 8 years ago and as soon as Sam saw it, he had to have it for himself to look at and admire, pointing out different individuals.  
• Sam in ornery.  Try taking him on a walk sometime...I promise he will try to walk in the opposite direction every chance he gets.  :)
• Sam loves routine and he knows exactly the way things should go.  For example, if we start driving down a certain street in Story City and don't follow through with going to Grandma's, he is not pleased.  At church he runs out of the 'sanctuary' and down to the high school Sunday school classroom as soon as he is sure the service is over (sometimes this is a little early haha)
• Sam loves pizza, cookies, pop, Subway, apples, carrots, beets, and potato salad (to name a few things).  
• Sam loves our dog Lacey.  He loves going and laying on/next to her when she is on the floor, he pets her every day, and loves when she and our other dog Libby wrestle.  
• Sam has the best smile and the greatest laugh. 

I could truly go on and on about the other ways Sam is a delight.  He is such a beautiful picture of joy and honesty and truth.  I am so thankful for him and wouldn't trade him for anyone else.  The only thing I wish was different about Sam is his lack of desire to talk to me on the phone or over Skype...this makes me miss him more when I can't see him, but oh well :)  I will just have to wait to sing him happy birthday another time.

Hanging out with Dad :)

Snack by the steps--I love this picture!

Family Picture after Jos came along :)

Hanging out on the trampoline--did I mention Sam LOVES the trampoline? :)

Vacation to Colorado and other western states a few summers back.

Sam giving Mom some love at my wedding rehearsal.

Sam and some of his favorite girls :)

Family picture at the wedding :)

Sam and I at his graduation party this spring--he rocked it!

Thirty-seven

Goodness gracious!  So much has happened since I last wrote...here are some of the biggies :)

• I married my best friend!  We had a lovely and well blessed wedding.  The day went more smoothly than I could have imagined and made all the months of planning worth it.  It was wonderful to be surrounded by so many family members and friends.  Here are a few pictures from the day: 

Michael's family

My family

Our wedding party (unfortunately my amazing personal attendants and beloved guestbook attendants aren't in this picture)

Bride and Groom

•  After our beautiful wedding, we went on an Alaskan Cruise for our honeymoon.  It was incredible!  We had a lot of time to relax, got to see a lot of God's majestic creation, and had some really good food.  I don't think we could have asked for a better honeymoon and we both are so very thankful to have gotten to take that trip.  here are a few pictures from that: 

After dinner one night

Enjoying the scenery around the ship

At the Mendenhal Glacier

Walking along the road in Sitka

Visiting Fortress of the Bear

Kayaking in Ketchican

The whimsical and romantic Butchart Gardens

After the wedding and honeymoon...

• We have spent a lot of time settling into our townhouse.  We are loving it!  I am planning to share a few pictures up here after we get a few more things finished up :)  
• We have gone to several weddings which has allowed us to see many friends and lots of family.  
• We spent last weekend with my family at a lake house further north in MN as they began their vacation.  It was a lot of fun to get to go and relax with them for the weekend.  
• Michael has been enjoying his job (Praise the Lord!) and I am still on the job hunt for the fall.  
• We have gotten to have several friends and family members over to visit our new place--I love getting to share our home with others so if you ever want to visit, let me know :)  

 There are many other things that have happened in the last 5 weeks, but as far as I can remember right now, these are the big ones.  Hopefully now that things are in more of a routine I will write more often, but we will see :)  And now I am off to bake some cookies and work on some thank you notes! 

 

 

 

 

The Final Three

Well it's Wednesday June 13, 2012...and I get married in 3 days.  Wedding week has been much busier and more tiring than I had anticipated and if all brides are like myself or have more to do I have no idea how they make it to their honeymoon without getting sick!  So far I am doing fine on that front, but my goodness I can see where sickness could weasel its way in.

I thought it would be nice to take a little break from the final details to reflect on my current feelings.  Here is how I am feeling 3 days before I become Bailey Olson.

• I feel excited!  Michael is driving here right now and I cannot wait to see him!  I am also thrilled to become his wife.  
• I feel tired.  There has been a lot of running around lately to finalize things...that combined with staying up late talking to my honey and getting up to exercise in the morning and I am pooped by the end of the day :)  
• I feel blessed.  My family has been a huge help in planning.  Mom has been running around with me in the mornings getting errands done and it has been awesome to that time with her.  My aunts have also basically taken over the decorating and it has been awesome to see the plans coming together.  
• I feel bittersweet emotions.  I am both excited to move to Minnesota with Michael and be around people up there and sad to leave home again.  There are so many things I am looking forward to getting to do in Minnesota but also so many things I am not looking forward to leaving here...Not worrying about it though, just seeking God's peace and trusting his goodness and timing and consistency despite my mixture of emotions.  
• I feel speechless.  Not the best word, but it seemed better than shocked or surprised.  I cannot believe the wedding is in 3 days.  I don't know how to express the strange feelings I have about my life changing in less than 72 hours.  I mostly cannot believe this time that I have been looking forward to for as long as I can remember is finally here.  Crazy :)  
• I feel NOT stressed.  I am really not concerned about things right now.  I am slowly crossing things off the list and taking one thing at a time.  God is good and our hope is that Saturday will be a day focused on glorifying him.  There is no point or truth  in worry or stress.  
• I feel thankful.  I am thankful for salvation, thankful for the wonderful man I am going to marry, thankful for our families and their support, thankful for our friends that are coming, etc.  

There are most certainly other feelings I have, but these are the easiest to describe.  I am content to be where we are at.  I am loving these last few days at home with my family and I am looking forward to the wedding day and celebrating with others!  Praise the Lord for his faithfulness and love!

A picture of Michael and me on our first day on staff at Hidden Acres.  This was the day we met.  Amazing to think of how our relationship has changed in the last 6 years.  Again I say praise the Lord for his faithfulness and love!

Reflection of the last 12 months

A year ago today Michael and I spent a lovely day just hanging out and enjoying the company of one another.  We went out to supper with coupons and then headed over to Jason and Claire's for a game night.  Instead of a game night I was met with a romantic room and a dreamy proposal.  I cannot believe it was a year ago! 

Michael is an amazing young man and I love him so much.  He surprised me and came down last weekend for a visit.  It was wonderful to see him and to just spend some time hanging out both with my family and just as the two of us.  Charley also had prom this weekend so here is a picture of the two of us with her :) 

I found it appropriate today to do some reflection on the last year of our relationship.  High points, low points, growth, etc.  And here is what I have to share:

• This has been a year of A LOT of time apart.  I do not kid when I say A LOT.  We were together for the months of (most of) May, September, October, November, and most of December.  Yes, 5 months with a smattering of weekend visits and two wonderful longer periods: our family vacation and spring break.  It has really taught us to treasure the time we have together and to make the most of it.  For example, this weekend we literally did not do much other than enjoy spending time with one another and those present.  No wedding planning was done and we left the house twice (a date and church).  The rest of our time was spent relaxing, playing games, etc.  It has been quite difficult to have so much time apart, but it has been very good for growth as well.  I am so thankful both for the summer at camp and my semester at home and truly would not want to do it any other way despite the difficulty of being away from him.  We have 47 more days of engagement, 39 or so that will be apart--hallelujah we are reaching the end!  :)  
• This has also been a time filled with planning.  It began with wedding planning...setting a date, choosing people to work with, colors, budget, honeymoon, etc...etc...etc... Needless to say, after a year I am pretty much over it :)  Which is good because there isn't much left to do.  We really only have logistics, confirmations, making a few more things, and a few minor details left and that feels awesome!  In the last several months our thoughts have switched more to future planning--living space, jobs, budget, cars, etc.  This is what we are more excited about right now especially as things fall into place.  Finally, I like to know when things are going to happen so at the beginning of each of our long separations I sat down with a calendar and tried to figure out which weekends would work for us to see each other and what would be best to do during those times.  It has been both good and exhausting :)  Praise the Lord that neither of us are so set in stone on these things that we have worried too much about any of this.  What a waste of energy that would be!  
• It has been a year with several big events!  Two of our dear friends got married in May, Michael bought a car over the summer, we spent our final semester at college together, I graduated and got a part-time job at home, Michael's nephew (August) was born in February, Michael has been working on his last semester of college, Michael got a full-time job at the place he has had his internship at which will begin June 1, and we signed a lease on a townhouse!  Big and exciting stuff! 
• There has been a lot of growth for us individually, but also as a couple.  I can honestly say that I love him more today than I did a year ago.  I think our way of handling conflict has changed a little bit.  Do we still have dramatic arguments?  Umm of course...but I think we tend to not get hung up on our arguments for as long.  We talk about it for a while, get it all out there, and then choose to forgive and move on.  Such a blessing to have a godly man who chooses to forgive me because he too has been forgiven a greater debt by Christ!  How beautiful :)  
• It has been a year filled with advice and marriage counseling.  What a joy it is to receive support from other couples!  We have also thoroughly enjoyed our marriage counseling and I am sad that it is coming to an end.  It has been good to take an honest look at our strengths and weaknesses as a couple, topics of marriage/life, etc.  It has opened our eyes to many things, and has made us all the more excited to join hands with one another under covenant between ourselves and God on June 16.  By his grace we (choose to) love one another and walk this life together seeking to bring glory to him as a unit.  So thankful for this time of marriage preparation!  Praise the Lord!

Those are just a few of the big things I came up with in my reflection.  It has been a big and full year and as ready as I am to be done with this period of engagement and physical 'apartness', I know that God has given us this time to strengthen us and teach us both individually and as a couple and I am content to rest in his perfect timing.  I love that my God is over all, in all and through all.  Hallelujah!