Girl gets brooches

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl asks for help.
Girl gets brooches.

I have been a youth pastor for almost 8 years. That's actually kind of how I met J, since he is a full time youth pastor when he isn't away in the Army. It's a little known fact on my blog... because for the most part I keep my photography blog about photography and my wedding blog about my wedding. But I have been working with these teenagers since a lot of them first entered middle school... and I've already graduated through a few groups. I adore these teenagers, and they become a big part of my life.

There's a very special girl in my youth group and her name is Shirley. She started coming a number of years ago and I have enjoyed every minute with her. She is not only a beautiful girl inside and out, but she is amazingly creative. She is into fashion design and photography. And she is really great at both! It has been fun to watch her grow up and develop into a young woman. I am blessed to know her.

A couple of weeks ago she brought me an adorable box that she had covered with pictures of me and J (who as I mentioned before is also her youth pastor). Inside were two beautiful pins for my bouquet. She said there was no special story behind them but she wanted to contribute to my bouquet. And I am so glad she did :)

I love getting all of these amazing brooches!
I am about half way there with about 30 brooches. I need about 30 more. So if you have one you'd like to send me (it can be old or new, with meaning or no meaning), I would love to get it! I am trying to collect them all by the beginning of February so I have enough time to put together the bouquet!

Boy uses webcam

Boy meets Girl.
Boy and Girl become friends.
Boy falls in love with Girl.
Girl falls in love with Boy.
Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl misses Boy.
Boy misses Girl.

I knew it would be hard.
I knew I would miss him.

But the thing is... J is not just my fiance. He is my very best friend.
For quite a while, we've been inseparable. We've spent every spare minute together, and even worked together. We've been together from the time we got up in the morning, until going home at night. Going from that, to not seeing each other for several months, and having limited contact... needless to say it is incredibly difficult.

I know that communication in the Army is limited when they are overseas. I get that. But I have been blessed with an amazing guy, who truly loves me. I have heard from many of the girls whose husbands, boyfriends and fiance's are overseas as well (or who have been in the past). I hear over and over how little they hear from their significant others. So when J got to the middle east, I was pleasantly suprised when I got a phone call right away. And then another. And another. And another.

I have continued to get phone calls, and emails throughout the time that J has been gone. Sometimes that means that he has to get dressed in his full fatigues, walk for quite a ways, wait in line, and call me from a phone there on the base. Sometimes it means balancing a laptop on a chair in the middle of their tent. But whatever it takes, he contacts me. He calls me, he emails me, and on a very special occasion, he will Skype with me!



I am so thankful for my hardworking fiance. I am so thankful for a man that loves me so much that he will walk across the desert in the middle of the night just to talk to me for a few short minutes. Over and over again.

Sometimes I feel a little like I'm 16 years old, and that cute boy in my English class looked my direction and smiled.
And then asked me out.
I get butterflies when I hear his name.
I find myself daydreaming about the next time I will see him.
When my phone rings and his ringer plays, I am a bit giddy.
And I've even scribbled my name and his last name across a paper or two.
Yep, I'm basically a glorified 16 year old girl.

But I am absolutely in love with this man.
And I am so blessed that he loves me just as much.
Maybe more :)

Boy gets leave

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy leaves for war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Boy sits in Indiana.
Girl misses Boy.
Boy gets leave.
Girl goes to visit.

My mom likes to say that the Army needs a wedding planner.
If you've ever known anyone in the Army... you have probably heard the saying "hurry up and wait." Seems to be the Army's unofficial motto.

So when the date finally came on J's orders to head out... I had no idea what would happen next. But I shouldn't have been surprised when he ended up sitting. And waiting.

In Indiana.

Right before shipping out, they gave the guys a few days off. But with the rule that they couldn't go more than 200 miles away from the base in Indiana. Well, California is a little farther than that. So... I hopped on a plane and headed out to Indiana. We had a great time and even headed over to Chicago while I was there!

Dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.


We walked all over Chicago trying to find this fountain. It's the one from the opening credits of "Married with Children". Which I've never even watched by the way.


Dinner at the Crackerbarrel.


When I found out there was a Tiffany and Co, I got VERY excited. I have always wanted to go inside of one. I started telling J how much I've wanted to go in and about the girl growing up with the Tiffany's bracelet that I used to stare at and love. I told him about the little blue boxes and how cool they are and all the wonderful things Tiffany's is made out to be. So we went to check out the store and it ended up being closed. I was disappointed but figured we'd move on. But J was determined to get me in there, so we came all the way back the next day.


We headed into the store and looked around and I saw THE BRACELET. J insisted that I try it on, even though I knew it wouldn't be coming home with me. We finally got a lady to help us out and as soon as I got it on my wrist and started smiling, he said to the lady "We'll take it!". I tried to keep my mouth from falling open in disbelief. As she was ringing it up, she asked if I'd like to wear it out or box it up. J smiles and says, "She wants the little blue box."


So out of the store we went, with a little blue box, a beautiful bracelet and a sweet memory of how wonderful J is to me.

It was such a fun day and such a nice gesture. He did something he knew I would love just because. There didn't have to be a reason, or anything expected in return. He did it just because he knew it was something I wanted. I love how thoughtful he is of me and how many things he picks up on without having to even ask him. He really pays attention. And he is genuinely romantic. It isn't forced or pre-planned. He doesn't have to think hard about it... he just is.

We had a great time, and I can't wait to see him again soon!

Girl makes a video

Boy gets orders.
Boy and Girl make memories.
Girl video tapes.
Boy leaves for training.
Girl misses Boy.
Girl makes a video.



Song: "Today was a Fairytale" by Taylor Swift

Girl gets a Ring

Girl loves sparkle.
Boy loves Girl.
Boy buys sparkle.
Girl loves boy.
Boy asks will you?
Girl says yes.

I knew a ring was coming.
I knew what I wanted.
I wanted to make it easy on him...
...so I bookmarked it on his computer.
And he got exactly what I wanted :)

The ring.
Ahhhh the ring.
We spent time looking around at rings... we even went to jewelry stores and tried them on. I knew what I wanted. I had lots of opinions. But I didn't know what he wanted to spend, and I didn't want to push just one on him. I didn't want him to feel like he had no say.
But when it came down to it, and I gave him several ideas of what I wanted, he wanted to know which ONE I really wanted. So I narrowed it down. But narrowing it down wasn't enough. He wanted to be sure that I had the ring that I liked the best because, after all, I will be wearing it forever. :)

And so, I showed him the one I really wanted.

And that is what I got!
I adore this ring. It is perfect.
It is sparkly and beautiful and flashy without being over the top.
It is absolutely gorgeous.
I think the most perfect part is the fact that he was so set on making sure I had what I wanted.
It was about me. It was about what I liked... what I wanted.
That beautiful ring will forever be a reminder that he has my best interest in mind.

Boy Proposes to Girl

Boy takes Girl out.
Girl doesn't suspect a thing.
Boy plans a picnic.
Girl thinks Boy is acting weird.
Boy proposes.
Girl cries.
Girl says yes.
Boy gives Girl the most beautiful ring.
Ever.

We knew he was going to be deployed.
We knew it would be for up to a year.
He promised not to leave without being my fiance.