7 Years NOT Married

TODAY July 26th 2015 marks seven years of being together with my amazing husband. SEVEN YEARS! Like what is that? In seven years a child learns to eat solid foods, walk, talk, read and start learning right from wrong. A lot can happen in seven years AND BOY a lot has happened in the past seven years!

July 2008

Kyle and I first met at our Christian Camp July 13th '08. We had mutual friends that introduced us (kind of) and I remember spotting him around campus here and there. I thought he was cute of course but he was a chaperone at the ripe old age of 19 and I was still a student going into my senior year of high school at 17. We did however exchange numbers after I so boldly asked for it. I was always pretty oblivious to boys and their feelings towards me and didn't even really know how Kyle was feeling but I didn't care I still asked for his number. I was thinking that when we parted ways MAYBE we could get together since we both had cars and there are roads that go between Connecticut and Rhode Island so there was a possibility to see one another again after camp. We have an ongoing chicken or the egg debate as to who called the other first. PRETTY SURE it was Kyle because I wasn't going to have asked for the exchange in numbers AND THEN make the first call on top of it! I'm not that progressive but Kyle will stand by that I called him first because well, that does just sound like a giddy 17 year old having a crush on the cute army dude she just met that was also a Jesus lover. I remember the first week after camp we talked every single night sometimes until the sun came up and I remember being thankful it was summer so I could sleep in until I had to work at 330. 

He came over the following weekend. We had about an hour and a half in between us so whenever we would go visit one another we obviously stayed over the other persons house. ALWAYS would sleep in the basement of the prospective house which was good because then I had time to wake up and put make-up on before we saw one another after emerging from the basement (oh how that has changed rapidly). He asked me to be his girlfriend by changing his status on Facebook. We knew that we were dating but that just made it official...el oh el. 

Merrill's Batman Birthday Celebration!

First weekend meeting the in-laws

I remember being TERRIFIED to meet his family. Oh and I haven't mentioned by now but this was my first official relationship of my life besides this kid who kissed me under the rice table of pre-school. A rice table was much safer than a sand table. Anyway....this was REAL DEAL STUFF and I didn't know how to act meeting his entire family in one sitting the first time I drove to Rhode Island. He is one of four and all of them were in relationships/ marriages so all significant others were over because we were celebrating my father-in-laws birthday so needless to say I WAS OVERWHELMED. I think I did alright because well, they still like me, and talk to me, after seven years, I think. They still invite me over so that's a good sign. :) 

My Soldier

Kyle like I mentioned earlier was in the military. A wonderful soldier. I am so proud of my husband for so many things and am especially proud to have been by his side through a deployment and four years of his military career. I firmly believe that his deployment helped us to grow so much. That year apart helped us to learn great communication skills because that's all we had was the phone and a short period of time to talk to one another. Looking back I want to slap that Emily for being SO EMOTIONAL ALL THE TIME. Honestly don't know HOW Kyle put up with me because it was so immature how I was always answering the phone holding back tears saying "I miss you so much" when it was far harder for him. I loved that time apart as weird as that is to say. I think it made us the people we are today. Him coming home was the most wonderful part. Oh my goodness having spent months apart and then be able to embrace one another is the most wonderful feeling in the world. Look how happy us crazy kids were! 

HAPPY HE IS FINALLY HOME

When we first got married we were broke. We weren't poor per say but we were just making ends meet. Even in the first few months of marriage it looked scary because I didn't have a job until about April (four months after we got married). God always provided though and my greatest struggle in faith is NOT TO WORRY. Even after seven years and 4 1/2 years married, I still think that for some reason God won't provide. I don't think those words exactly but I still worry about bills and working but I have all I need to live and maintain a quality life so yeah I'm basically thinking that God won't provide WHENEVER I WORRY. We were blessed to have such a cheap apartment when we were first married but it was in a not so good area, and you could feel cold air coming into the apartment when you were standing about a foot away from the windows as well as no outlets on the counter to plug in essentials like, you know, coffee. I could go on and on about the flaws but it was a blessing in every way to live there. God is good ALL the time. Those first three years of marriage really helped us to grow and learn.  

7 Years Later in Omaha :) 

NOW HERE WE ARE, seven years later. Older and wiser than those two kids at camp but amazed at how far we have come and how things have turned out for us. The day I met Kyle I never expected to marry him, heck I even was scared to date him. I was also thinking to myself the first person I call my boyfriend I am dating with the intentions to marry them. Hence why it took me forever to get a boyfriend because well not a lot of 16 year olds want to date to get married. Having the same religious beliefs and lifestyle was very important to me so even when I met Kyle and things seemed so good on paper I was still hesitant. I'm so happy I said yes, then I do, and yes to every adventure after that and ahead of us! Happy SEVEN YEARS Kyle! Thankful for God's constant blessings in our life! 

An Overdue Post-3 Ways To Acclimate After a Big Move

WHOA...I haven't written a blog in over three months and I'm sure you all have been DYING to ready my non-english majoring high school level writing. Kyle actually was the one who brought it up last night before bed saying"you know you haven't written a blog in a very long time". I was half asleep already and just said "yeah I know life's been boring." It really hasn't been all that boring though...it's been quite exciting actually! SO below, because I like bullet points and lists, I made a list of one hundred FOUR ways to acclimate after a BIG MOVE. (Don't know if you're planning a move or anything and even if you're not all these things can be don't to just spice up your life and bring some JOY!)

4. Make Friends

Seems like a really easy thing to do but not everyone is going to like my quarks, outgoing personality, hyper and loud self! As much as I like to think that everyone likes me I just know that that's not true. AND GUESS WHAT that's ok. I am not going to change who I am as a person to make others like me. That's called being fake and I like being REAL. I will say that Kyle and I have made some really WONDERFUL friends out here that are genuinely kind, fun, and caring. It really makes all the difference when you are invited out or can invite people over! So if you're planning a big move of sorts make sure to put yourself out there. Invite people over, say yes to when YOU'RE invited out. Omaha has become so much like home in part by the friends that we have made that have showed us how AWESOME Nebraska can really be!

3. Get an Animal 
MY CAT IS THE BEST. Hands down, no questions asked. If you know me, I have become a crazy cat lady unlike any other. AND WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWN that would happen but if you met Frankie, you'd fall in love too. I had a previous post all about how we got Frankie and how important he was for the loneliness Kyle and I were feeling when we were on opposite schedules. You don't have to get a cat (obviously I think dogs are equally as cool) BUT it is nice to have a companion if you didn't have a spouse or significant other around. Frankie just makes me smile. He makes me laugh when he is being crazy. When you're in a new place that is still unfamiliar even after having been around for months, it is nice to have that companion that just solely loves you!

2. EXPLORE and Go Visit Your Family Back Home

We decided to go home to Connecticut and Rhode Island to visit our families after only being residents of the midwest for a short four months. We were a little home sick mainly just missing our mommy's and daddy's. Siblings too! We ended up driving a nice short 24 hours back to the east coast. We also brought our cat with us which was QUITE the experience! He ended up being MUCH better than I expected in the truck and I think it had a lot to do with the anxiety drops that I got from my vet. He was so chill and just wanted to sleep on the very uncomfortable dashboard but it was adorable to have him along for the ride! We will NEVER do that again because it was just SO MUCH TIME spent in a truck, but we did end up saving hundreds of dollars because it was so much cheaper than buying a plane ticket. When we got to Connecticut first to visit my parents it was nice to just be able to relax and enjoy the time with family. We were there for 1 week and didn't do anything out of the ordinary. My one request was to get a delicious Lobstah roll (Lobster for all you people that aren't from the east coast). The second week we spent in Rhode Island with Kyle's family and it was also wonderful. I have a  few good friends in CT but the majority of friends reside in RI since that was where I was living for the past 4 years. It was wonderful to spend time with them and tell them all about the move, our adjustments to the mid-west, and all the fun things we've been up to like just working and getting a cat. I thought I would never be ready to leave but to be honest, towards the

end of the second week I was ready to get back home to my own bed, my own kitchen, and my own bathroom. Lord knows how much I love my deep bathtub. I almost felt bad that I was ready to leave because I love my family so much and I do miss them all everyday but we were just trying to skirt around the inevitable drive back home. Home....it's weird to think that our official home is now Nebraska. I think going back to visit our families really set in reality that now it's just going to be made up of visits whenever we can afford it. Makes me really appreciate the love I have from both sides of the family.

One thing that I was a little mad about is that we really haven't done a whole lot of exploring in our new home state! Granted we will live here for quite sometime (until I finish my schooling and Kyle gets the training at his job) and have ample opportunities to explore but I feel like we are letting the mundane work life get in the way of our fun! We can die and meet our maker at any moment in time and I want to know that I didn't just work to pay bill and on days off sleep because I was too tired from working all those long hours.


1. Find a Home Church and Love Your Husband (or wife)
This was the most important thing for me when I moved here was finding a Church! God really has blessed me with this community of believers and the fellowship that we have together! I had been praying for YEARS to be led to where it is I would feel most encouraged and service my savior best and it's amazing that he has answered that prayer right here at Grace Bible Church. If you're not religious then this probably won't matter to you but being a part of something that's bigger than this world is something unexplainable but also the best feeling you could ever have. So many people have talked to me about how they feel "empty" or "missing something" trying to fill a void with sex, drugs, alcohol, money, people, their job, basically ANYTHING of this world. I have not felt like that ever since I have accepted Christ as the ruler and Savior of my life. This Church that I am now apart have has reaffirmed my love for the Lord in a way that I never expectedI. I have made wonderful friends that motivate me to be the best servant of Christ that I can be. This is number one because if any of my fellow Christian brothers and sisters know what it's like to be apart of a church that gives you a glimpse into how Heaven will be, that's the best feeling in all the world! HANDS DOWN.

One of the biggest things to acclimate after the big move is just continue to love my husband. I read a wonderful post the other day from a friend that said "there are a million different ways to say 'I love you', 'put your seatbelt on' 'watch your step' 'did you eat' 'get some rest' you just have to listen" and I LOVE THAT because I say 90% of those things all the time on top of saying I love you probably 100 times a day but it's really important to keeps saying those things. To show that no matter where we go, what we do, home is wherever I am when I am with you! I love my family and Kyle's family but ultimately, Kyle and I are a family (Frankie too obviously). I can't make everyone in life happy I can only focus on the man that I wake up to everyday, that I pray for everyday, that I make dinner for a couple times a week (you thought I'd say everyday I don't have time for that working the night shift at the restaurant I'M NOT PERFECT). Sometimes I feel like my words are never enough for how much I truly love this man. It can only be a gift from God to know this love and if I love my husband this much, it is almost UNFATHOMABLE how the creator of the world could love such a sinner like me to save me from my sins by sending His only begotten son. All love is a glimpse of God and his love for us. I love you Kyle! Sorry to get so mushy in public like this but you'll get over it!