5 days

Andrew,

By this time next week we will be married and exploring Hawaii together. My intentions of telling you 20 something reasons why I love you failed. Not because I couldn't find 20 something reasons, but because I was busy enjoying all the reasons while we were together the past week and a half in our new little house without internet.

Here I am though, 5 days away from becoming yours forever, trying to find the words to articulate all of the feelings I am having right now. To tell you the truth, it is just not possible. That could be because I just spent 8 solid hours studying for the biggest test of my life, or more likely because I am deeply in love with you and my brain cannot do what my heart feels justice.

The searching part of my life is over. I have found everything that I want in a companion in you. There are no other guys I need to meet because I have found the only one I will ever need. I have everything that I could ever want in a husband, partner for life, father to my babies, grandfather to my grandbabies, and most of all best friend. We will be with each other through everything and anything life can throw at us, and be together even at the end of life.

This is why I am marrying you in 5 days.

I will spend the rest of my life trying to fill all of the roles and supply all of the needs that you have for a wife, and I pray that I will do it with the grace, beauty, and love that you have shown me.

I love you. To the moon and stars and galaxies and back a trillion times.

Allye

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come:

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it our even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me proved,

I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Shakespeare, Sonnet 116

Long picture post

Hi!

I'm alive.

But have failed my blogging commitment exceedingly.

Since I have last written lots has happened.

Monica and I went to canton where we nearly sweated to death and met this little lump of love.

He was seriously one of the most heart melting creatures I have ever set eyes upon. He tripped over his own ears and when he drank water out of a bowl his ears just bobbed along side in the water. It took some serious strength to not bring him home with us.

I haven't stopped begging Andrew since. He's growing a great distain for all things puppy.

I don't blame him.

On every grocery list and to-do list we would make I would write:

-Get puppy.

Even though we didn't come home with a new puppy, Monica and I happily obliged to love on these two. Monica and Bret's furbabies (my nephpups) (riduculous, i know), are the sweetest.

After spending some time with the Burketts, I got to hang out with my pal Allie for a day. She took me to the airport and I was off for a 10 day visit with my honey.

We began the unpacking journey in our amazing little house.

It's such a great little place. We already love it.

I spent a great deal of my time in New Orleans cleaning feverishly. Anytime I got tired of cleaning I just thought about how much less I'm going to feel like cleaning after spending 10 days in Hawaii.

Here's a glimpse of our little neighborhood:

And our amazing (work in progress) backyard.

Being there setting up our house made me so much more excited about moving. Not that I wasn't excited before, there was just a good deal of apprehension, which is partially still there, but not nearly as much.

I'm so excited to start our new life together.

It was great for me to get plugged into some of the ministry Andrew does in NOLA while I was there too. I helped our with the baseball team Andrew coaches.

They are a rowdy, crazy, untrained group of little boys that can make any calm and rational person decide to pull their hair out and jump in front of a moving vehicle, but I already love them.

I already want to adopt 4 of them.

These always help ease apprehensions, too:

Just one week until we get married.

Garsh, I cannot wait.

Side note: I take my NCLEX (nursing licensing exam) on Friday at 8am. I am slightly overwhelmed/stressed/worried about it, which I believe are normal feelings. However, I could definitely use your thoughts and prayers! Also, my car kicked the bucket today. Thankfully, due to generous friends (allie and family), I am borrowing a car to get around until we figure out what to do.

Awesome times ahead, for shizzle.

I'm a bit sleep deprived (hence the for shizzle), sore from moving, and extremely ready to be in Hawaii.

I've been staying at my friend Amy's house for a short stint since Julie and I moved out of our apartment. I have been spending time chatting with her about marriage, life, babies, anything/everything in between, and playing with her sweet kiddos. I haven't touched my computer in a couple of days due to that and the madness of moving.

Tomorrow I'm going to get to see one of my longest bffs Monica and her hubby, and on Friday Monica and I are going to Canton (which I could not be more excited about). I'm not so excited about having to suppress my puppy fever in dog town though.

After hanging with Monica I get to see Allie and hopefully Robyn.

And on Saturday I'm going to NOLA to see my man!

It really couldn't get any better.

Well, it could if I DIDN'T suppress my puppy fever...but Andrew might die/not talk to me for the rest of our lives.

I choose happy husband over puppy.

I'll continue saying that for as long as we shall live.

I do.

Speaking of I do's, we will be I do-ing in approximately 20 days.

DANG GOOD news, because I am READY.

Here's me playing catch up on my way too lofty goal of blogging every day. Shoulda known bettah.

22. Andrew, you are so smart. This kind of relates to your creativity, but I really do love how smart you are. I may be just slightly dumb, so keeping me around is definitely going to make you look REALLY good. I am constantly asking you "what does that mean?" when you say a big word or are telling me about something you learned in seminary or "who is that?" when you're talking about history, musical legends, or famous artists. I love how you think, and ponder. I will always learn something new being your wife, and I love that.

21. I love how much you love music. Even though I sometimes give you a hard time about your massive record collection, deep down I like it a lot. It's such a neat hobby, even if it means I have to endure countless pawn shop trips and digging through bins at thrift stores and garage sales...it's actually kind of growing on me. I love dancing with you to the crackly sound of a record and I love dreaming of us teaching our babies how to dance to that same sound. Your mixed CDs are my comfort when I'm missing you and needing to feel some extra love, you put together the best mixes. Seriously, quit your day job and make mixes for a living. Actually, maybe wait until I find a job to do that.

20. I love how much you love your family. It's a natural, simple love that is inspiring to me and makes me excited for us to start a family together, even if it is just the two of us for a (long) while. Your love for them is evident in the way you tell stories, talk on the phone with them, and light up when we're all together. I feel such thankfulness to be joining a family that is filled with so much love.