Honeymoon-Port Orleans Day 1

The wedding was great...a slight blur of time and events, but really good. Nothing major happened to hinder things and we had a beautiful day. For our Honeymoon we decided to go to Disney for a week. Sunday morning we flew down to Orlando and checked into the Port Orleans French Quarter resort.

 We asked for a room upgrade which they were able to give us, allowing us to have a view of the river. The river connects our resort by boat to Downtown Disney as well, which we did later in the week. It was nice and quiet the entire time.

 From out porch we could see and smell the campfire pit they came and lit every night for guests to use. We didn't have anything to roast or a free night to use it. Sorry to those who love campfires, but I will pick fireworks at Magic Kingdom!

 With our room upgrade we got two full sized beds instead of a King size bed we would have had in our other room. It was kind of funny having two beds but nice to have something to set things on too.

Welcome to Disney :)

The walkways between buildings

 This was the quick meal style restaurant at our resort. We enjoyed many meals here using our meal plan...which was a great deal! We got tons of food every time we ate...and it was nice not having to fork over extra cash for food.


  They had all these quaint little area's around the resort, this one had a fountain with a huge open lawn. They set up a movie screen at night and showed movies and we also watched families playing sports with their kids.

They had a pool and hot tub for us to use, but again when choosing how to spend out time we wanted to enjoy being in the parks. But the pool was really fun...

 I took this picture one night heading back to our room. The mouth is a water slide and the arched tail above was a walk way. Our first night was just getting settled and plotting out our week. I was so exhausted from the wedding and lack of sleep the week before that I passed out at 8pm. (I had been sleeping on an air mattress all week) Dan used the time to get our tickets for the next day and set up a taxi so we could go visit Hogwarts!

Getting Married

I am getting married this week...it is crazy how quick the time went. I am ready to be all moved into my new house and for us not to have travel time to see each other! I feel so blessed to have Dan in my life and am very excited about our new life together.

Monsters

I went to the Cake places to pay for the wedding cake and found a little friend I couldn't leave there...he just looked too cute!

 So I ate him....all of his crazy frosting too! The eyes were not edible, but a plastic ring.

And I think being eaten would make him a:

And this is a cute and funny book by the way. Dan and I got it at Barnes and Noble...I am enjoying it.

Going to the Beach

Dan and I headed back to Michigan this past weekend and had time to head out to the beach. We had fun watching the waves roll over the pier and crash as high as the light house. Here are some pictures from our time:

The Michigan way to go surfing :)

One of the best Pizza Places!!!

It was crazy seeing the guys walk out their with boards ready to jump into the waves. The wind was really strong but once you walked away from the beach area there was little to no wind, which was strange. I also got a video which you can't hear anything but the wind.

Cats

Yeah...I'm not sure that I understand it either.

They had an entire yard full...a different direction to go for lawn ornaments.

Zoo

I never would have guessed that this past week would be in the 80's...it is October. I am thankful for the nice weather and hope that it will last a few more weeks :) Seeing as it was such a beautiful weekend Dan and I sent to the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo with a couple of his friends from College.

They had pumpkins sitting all around and there were quite a few people there. The last day for the Zoo this season was Oct 9th but they have a couple weekends they open later this month for a kind of Halloween themed days. The Zoo was laid out well and had some great exhibits. One of them being Australia were we got to see Kangaroos up close. I also saw my first Black Swan!

They also had an Africa exhibit were you could feed giraffes and walk through a self guided safari. We also journeyed into the Rain forest of Indonesia (which I thought was funny because Indonesia has lots of islands with different habitats). They had some really cool animals I hadn't seen before...even an Orangutan, they are huge! Sadly a lot of the animals were too elusive for me to get good pictures. We finished up our tour with a replica of an Indiana Farm...which made me smile



Indiana Farm

 Of course we couldn't leave with out getting a drink of water :) We had a really fun time and I loved getting to wear my shorts one last time. Plus with it being 80 in the fall it is warm but not the unbearable hot that people don't like being outside for.

I don't think you ever get too old for the Zoo :) And we had a really great time with Pov (pronounced Paul) and Megan!

Birthday

My birthday this year was a land mark of sorts. I have to start by telling you about last year for you to fully understand. When I was living in Cambodia I felt that God was calling me to take a journey alone, something I had never done before. So with His provision of money I booked a flight to Beijing to spend a week in China. I had been to Beijing before and vowed I would be back. It was a thrilling experience for me for a couple reasons. I had never traveled on a vacation alone before and my friend Ines supported me by telling me that some journey's are for your soul. (Very wise words.) I was also going to be stretched because I was going to have to meet people every day, and be alone on my birthday...but my birthday was going to be great. (this is what I told myself)

On my birthday I have never felt as loved in my life by God as I did last year. I got to wear jeans and a sweatshirt (which is a big deal for someone who LOVES fall and has been in living in the land of eternal summer all year), eat a peach (they don't have those in Cambodia), bought a bracelet with little silver apples and purple pearls on it, got to visit a tea house (you have no idea how thrilled I was the entire time we sat sipping tea in our little cups!), and I stood on the Great Wall of China eating M & M's (another treat) and reading my Bible. As I stood looking over the breath taking view I knew that this next year was going to be amazing. I couldn't imagine how it couldn't be with a jump start like this. I couldn't wait to see how the year was going to play out.

So the year followed as such:

1. Visit Thailand

2. Run a half marathon around ancient temples

3. Get home in time for Christmas

4. Meet Dan

5. Run a half marathon in Disney

6. Move in with a great room mate

7. Find myself falling in love with Dan

8. Get to spend time with friends and catch up after a year of being gone

9. Plan and surprise my dad for his birthday

10. Get engaged.

11. Buy my wedding dress :)
12. Love every heart breaking minute as a counselor
13. Get to return to Cambodia to see friends
14. Spend time with family (who I missed like crazy)
15. Go Camping
16. Watch Football!
17. Find myself thrilled with the thought of getting married.

What a year...and even though I knew, as I stood on the Great Wall, that other birthday's wouldn't be able to live up to it I didn't want to trade that moment for anything in the world. It was a moment of triumph in my soul, of discovering the healing that God was doing in my heart and life, and finding out that I can do and be more than I ever thought I could be. I found me.

So this year...I was a little sad the night before. How do you say good bye to such an amazing year? I had been changed. So for this year I slept in, had lunch with my roommate, went shopping alone and had a great conversation with God thanking Him for this past year, and than had dinner and cake with the love of my life. Maybe it wasn't like last year, but I didn't need the Great Wall this year. I just needed to feel loved by the people who love me. Last year was about going at it alone; this year and all the years to come are about living life with others.



October

I love fall...which is why I wanted to get married in the fall. The cooler weather, crisp colors, and great smells. What's not to love? They now have Pumpkin Spiced Chai, you can go to bonfires, Football is back in season, and Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I also had a fun way to start this month by having a Bridal Shower on Saturday. The fun surprise was having 3 of my friends from college there.

We usually try to get together at least once a year, all of us. And in the next few months we get to see a lot of each other between my wedding, another one of the girls weddings, and our December in Chicago weekend. It was so much fun spending time with them this weekend, even if it was only a couple hours. We always laugh and have a good time together.

I love celebrating life with them :) And it is fun to think that for three of us we have been friends for the last 10 years!

Family weekend

The last full weekend in September Dan and I headed up to Michigan for a Bridal Shower put on by my Aunts on my mom's side of the family. The bonus to this weekend was getting to also attend my Grandparents 70th wedding anniversary. It is amazing to think of how long they have been married and inspiring. I had a great shower and it is the last shower my aunts have to throw as I am the last cousin to get married.

Us with my Grandparents

Almost our entire family...a few people couldn't make it

Sunday was a great time of family fellowship before Dan and I had to pack up and leave. We are in the process of moving my stuff down from Michigan which means bringing as much stuff as we can any time we are up there. Thankfully my parents were willing to do a car swap so I could get more stuff down in their Suburban that what would fit in my car. And my car would have looked funny pulling the trailer full of furniture :)

Colts Game

We had a fun surprise last weekend, tickets to the Colts game :) There is nothing quite like the rush of walking into the stadium and not being able to talk because of the oppressive noise that fills your ears. It is knowing you are stepping into an experience that is bigger than you and you get to join in. If you have never been to a professional sporting event, Go...put it on your bucket list!

Because even in the middle of loosing the game people always found something to cheer about. As an athlete myself I can only imagin the thrill of playing in front of that large of a crowd.

Car

I think the pictures says it all....what is there really left to say? Thank you downtown Marion for making me smile :)

6 Months

A dozen roses and dinner out with the man I love :) What a great way to celebrate 6 months together! I can't believe how fast the time has gone and we are both so excited to get married. I feel very blessed having him in my life and love thinking about our future together.

Golf Again

Dan and I decided last Saturday we wanted to go out for lunch. Since we journeyed to a city near by we looked up what else would be around to do. Putt Putt golf came up and we had fun last time we played so we went again. We loved finding this place...it was no back yard, next to the tracks course...but this place in the middle of a business park had a lot to offer :) They had small rapids and area's with a "rough" for the balls and it was quite challenging.

Let's get this game started!



In the rough 



The course

After an exciting game (which I won this time!) we decided to try out their batting cages. I have not hit in a long time and neither had Dan but it was still fun. I had to swing at Baseballs which is different than softballs. After batting we went and had some frozen custard at the stand next door (still in the middle of the business park).

We finished up the day with a movie and popcorn with friends. What a great way to celebrate getting our wedding invitations out :)

Labor Day Weekend

The plan was to go to Michigan to see family and head to the Mackinaw Bridge. Going to Mackinaw for Labor Day weekend was something I grew up doing with my mom's family and they still do every year. But with college and work these last 14 years I haven't been able to go. Dan has never been there so we thought it would be fun to head up for a couple days. And than Saturday morning before we left my sister's house we found out they were having rain for the whole weekend. So we decided to post-pone our Mackinaw trip. We stayed at my sister's for most of Saturday and enjoyed time with the family.

Stephen brought in a turtle for the kids to see, I drove Stephen's new tractor, and we finished off the evening by going out on a double date with Stephen and Michelle.

Watching him walk to the pond

Mr. Painter Turtle

Tractor Time



Out for our Double Date


On Sunday we went to church twice :) once with my parents at their church and than to Mars Hill. We read "Love Wins" in our small group and it dawned on me that Rob Bell's church was 20 mins from my parents house. I asked Dan if he would like to go so second service us hoping to hear Rob speak. We didn't get to hear Rob on Sunday but their assistant pastor spoke who is also really good.

Sunday afternoon we spent time with my grandparents before heading to Grand Rapids. I wanted to show Dan the park I worked at for 4 summers. It was a beautiful day and it felt surreal being back at the park. I loved getting to show Dan around.

I always forget how pretty the park is in the summer. We finished up Monday with packing up the car with some of my things. I am starting the slow process of moving things from my parents house to our house.