“This Is IT!”
As I sit upon the living room floor, Indian Style my pose of choice, I am struck by the reality of what I am actually doing. There, in the center of this room in the home in which I’ve spent the last 15 years of my life, I realize that I am ACTUALLY preparing the centerpieces for my WEDDING!!
“MY wedding”…wow… Two words I hoped I would one day use, but never imagined the gravity that they would carry. I’m getting married. Josiah is getting married. WE are getting married to EACH OTHER. Wow…amazing.
How did we GET to this point?? By absolutely NO ability of our own, THAT’S for sure.. There’s no Matchmaker like God, that’s all I have to say!
So-back to my original point-
The wedding is 15 days away…15 DAYS!! How can we possibly comprehend the meaning of the previous sentence! It seems so surreal in many ways- we’ve been planning, sure, but it feels like we are, in a sense, doing all of this for another couple! It hasn’t hit us, and I suspect that it will not, until the day OF the wedding, as I’m walking down the aisle to meet my groom, and as Josiah awaits my arrival at the altar. Even THEN! Perhaps it will feel as though we are playing dress-up…we shall see!
My parent’s have an apron that was given to them at one of their own wedding showers 26 years ago. Emblazoned upon a yellow gingham background, the apron states that “THIS IS NO DRESS REHEARSAL! THIS IS IT!”
One day, several years ago, I asked my dad what the apron was referring to. He explained how he and Mom had received the apron and that it was a “gag gift” from a friend referring to the actual wedding itself. At the time, I was fairly confused, and it’s only been through the process of planning our own wedding that I’ve fully come to realize the significance of the apron’s words.
Feeling so surreal, going through the pre-wedding motions- it all feels like pretend; like a dress rehearsal. But it’s not. It’s for REAL! We are getting married to one another, forever and ever! IN 15 DAYS!!
Bit by bit, it’s sinking in- we are absorbing it little by little… Josiah will be my husband, and I will be his wife. We can’t wait to take on these roles and discover what they mean for us separately and together!
Well…it’s past dinner time in Tennessee, so I must temporarily holster my glue gun, and embark for the kitchen. Perhaps I’ll wear the apron…
Josiah’s Side of The Proposal Story
Hey, everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I’ve officially uploaded my side of the proposal story. You can check it out here: http://josiahandamy.com/the-proposal/according-to-josiah/
Next we’ll be updating the Our Story pages, so stay tuned!
ENGAGEMENT PICTURES!!!
OH MY GOODNESS!!!! I have to tell you, if you have not yet seen the engagement photos, you MUST look at them!! They are absolutely perfect and couldn’t possibly be ANY better!!! Robert Briggs of Shades Of Grey Photography took the photos, and I can’t wait to see what pictures he takes of the ceremony and the reception!! We are going to have the BEST wedding album EVER!!!
Now, I must clarify that I am NOT a narcissist, and I suppose you may be thinking “yeah yeah..if you have to clarify, clearly you are!” But I swear that I’m not! I see photos with a childlike awe-I am amazed to see my image on the screen, the mirror, or held in my hand-it’s mind boggling! It absolutely fascinates me!! …Hence the reason why I have so many random photos of myself playing dress-up posted on Facebook. ;-) Photos are just SO INCREDIBLE!!!!
So, when I saw the engagement pictures, my fascination with photos hit a whole new level! I love these pictures! I can’t wait to hang them in our home together- to have our children stare at them and ask us questions about that time in our lives…these photos convey our love for one another and our joy to be getting married!
THIS IS ALL SO VERY EXCITING!!! I may require a tranquilizer before long simply to contain myself… it’ll take one big tranquilizer..wonder if I know anyone who works in a zoo.. an elephant tranquilizer should do the trick!
Goodness…I digress. My apologies. I thought that surely for once I’d end on the topic that I started with, but of course, all efforts were futile and I just HAD to start talking about needing an animal tranquilizer…[sigh]… I’m hopeless LOL
Enjoy the engagement photos! We will-for years to come!!
The Proof Is In The Bumblebees
Greetings and Salutations, one and all!
It’s been a substantial amount of time since I’ve written a wedding update! My deepest and most humble apologies!
Wedding planning has been progressing both rapidly and hectically! I was cool, calm, and collected during the beginning stages of the planning, but as the date swiftly approaches with the speed of a bullet train, my “Zen” planning demeanor has ducked for cover, and my new theme song resembles “Flight Of The Bumblebee.”
Not only that, but I received a ransom note several weeks ago from April the 3rd stating that it was holding my brain hostage and I would periodically receive “proof of life” on an unpredictable basis. No such contact has been made and I’ve begun to given it up for lost. The upside to that is I’ve found a new friend in the website Etsy and am confidant that I can order a brain handmade to my own specifications for a very reasonable price with a minimal shipping fee, upgrades available. They better use a ginormous amount of bubble wrap, is all I have to say…
Due to the absence of my physical brain, and keeping in mind that the brain is 80% water, I’ve just decided to up my water intake to make up for the deficiency…(logically, this makes sense, however, don’t hover over that thought too long..the paths of my brain..well…before it was kidnapped by Easter Weekend, were a lengthy and treacherous labyrinth of chaotic logic and blissful contradictions.)
In spite of the meshugeh (A few scattered words in Yiddish are also located within the afor mentioned labyrinth) pace of our planning, things are coming together exceptionally well, and we can’t wait for the “big day” to arrive! We are counting down…some moreso than others, Josiah’s countdown clock being evidence of that (watching the seconds ticking away is extremely disconcerting given the amount of things still yet to be accomplished!), but at the end of the day, settling into my bed, a sigh of relief and blissful expectation for the years ahead is uttered, the bumblebees settle down, and I fall fast asleep-that’s all the proof of life needed for me-excitement and joy, hope and thankfulness…it only continues to get better from here
An Act Of Defiance
At the encouragement of a friend to remember to update the wedding blog, I thought I would do a little reminiscing this evening! If you make it through the whole story, I will be extremely impressed…I got detailed again…but believe it or not, I actually cut it down. For one thing, I didn’t even tell you what we actually ate!! Well…you’ll see…and now that I’m posting, it’s the 12th, but not by much…
An Act Of Defiance
Today marks one year ago exactly that Josiah and I first spent time together as acquaintances/friends. It wasn’t a date or anything of the sort…but as you’ll hear, it could have easily turned into a very awkward situation!
We were both at church on Sunday, January 11th. It was a rare occasion where I’d gone to church by myself and was feeling particularly out of place. I was sitting near the back because I had arrived just after the worship started. At the end of the service, as people were beginning to mingle and others to leave, I was gathering up my things when I received a text from Josiah! A very harmless message, it said “Where did you go? I just saw you..” I believe my reply was something akin to “I’m still here-in the back. You’ll see my hat!”…(for those of you who have seen it, I was wearing my black and white fedora..it’s difficult to miss) Needless to say he found me, and sat down. We started chatting, and decided that since it was such a beautiful day, we should try to get some of our friends together and go to the park! As we sat and talked more, I decided that I did not feel in the mood for the park, that I wanted to go home and rest for a little while. I said, “Why don’t you go ahead and get everybody together and go to the park and then we can all go to a movie afterward?”
One of the goals of the afternoon, as far as I knew, was that this was an opportunity for me to get to know some of the church members better. I had expressed to Josiah that I didn’t know anyone very well and hadn’t been going out and doing much lately. He saw an opportunity and seized it! (Little did I know that he’d been trying to set up group activities for months in an effort to get to know me better as a friend!) So there we decided that a movie would be the event of the day (Josiah decided he wanted a nap too because he’d been pulling some long hours with work and school..and the fact that I balked on going to the park may have had something to do with it as well ;-), and that we would meet at the theater to see… M-m-m-mall Cop. Yes…I was thrilled at the prospect of paying $9 for a movie I wouldn’t even rent, but I’d already agreed to go and had poo-pooed wanting to go to the park, so I couldn’t very well shoot down the movie choice too! Josiah was so enthusiastic about wanting to see it…I couldn’t disappoint. We went our separate ways, deciding to meet at the theater for…goodness… I think it may have been a..well…whatever the showing time was, I called EVERYONE LOCALLY THAT I COULD THINK OF and invited them to the movie! And guess what…everyone was either busy or, wonder of wonders, didn’t want to pay 9 bucks to see Kevin James run around a shopping complex dressed in a security uniform.
MEANWHILE… Josiah called some of his friends as well… (he now admits that maybe he didn’t try THAT hard to get anyone to come with us!) Finally, the time came for me to make my way to the theater. I drove feeling a mixture of nervousness and anxiety..would any of my familiar friends show up?? Did Josiah think this was one of those “test dates” where we were inviting friends along as a buffer in case we were repelled by one another?? Would any of Josiah’s friends think this was a dry run for something potentially more serious?? I was a bit of a basket case by the time I reached the theater and longed for the moment I could sink into that semi-comfortable chair and zone in on the movie screen. I arrived with five minutes to spare before the previews were to begin. I sent Josiah a text to see if he was already in his seat with the friends he had brought. None of my friends showed up…I was hoping his friends would include a couple girls in order to avoid that whole “which guy does she want to date?” guessing game that people sometimes play when they are extremely bored and see a girl with a bunch of guys.
Growing more awkward by the moment, the minutes slowly ticked by, one by one, until the movie’s start time was reached. Still no answer from Josiah, and no one had arrived that I recognized! I sent him another text. Finally, an answer! He had overslept! Something about falling asleep on his arms and having weird superhuman capabilities in a dream… He was extremely apologetic and promised he would be there as quickly as possible. When he arrived, there were no friends to be seen… I looked around in slight confusion. “Is anyone else coming?” The answer I’d been dreading was given. “No, everybody else is busy or doesn’t want to see this movie.” I laughed one of those less than surprised, slightly humored, “Ha!”s and stated that everyone on my end had expressed the same thing. Already late for the movie, I asked, “well what should we do now?” Josiah, always thinking on his feet asked, “Well, what other movie have you been wanting to see? We can hang out until it’s time for the next showing!” I scanned the board nervously, “Okay…hmmmm…well… I HAVE been wanting to see Defiance! But the next showing isn’t for another TWO HOURS!” Josiah smiled and shrugged, “That’s okay! We can get our tickets and then grab some dinner to kill time! Have you eaten?”
At this point I was spinning. Not only did no one else show up, but we were now talking about spending another TWO HOURS hanging out ALONE, going to DINNER just the TWO of us, and then seeing a movie BY OURSELVES!! It was almost too much for me to take in, but I tried to play it cool. After all, I didn’t get a weird stalker-vibe from Josiah. He didn’t smell funny, and I was sure, though I hadn’t been close enough to tell, but I suspected that he did indeed smell quite good in fact, and he seemed like a genuinely kind person. I was intrigued and had a strong desire to be his friend. Honest. At that time, I promise that ‘friends’ was the only thing on both of our minds. I just wanted to get to know him better. So, I nodded and said, “Okay, sure! We could go somewhere in the mall and just walk over!” Josiah approved of this idea. Since the mall is pretty much bare of any eateries, unless one wanted to make a meal of a cookie cake or order take-out from an ethnic man whose native country was NOT responsible for Chinese food but rather the chalupa, not labeling anyone in order to remain undescriminatory ;-), you were limited to one place, and one place only,…well, maybe two..well, okay… 3 ish, but one is a cafeteria and doesn’t count as a whole restaurant..so you had 2 and a half options, and I don’t eat buffalo wings no matter HOW wild they are, so opting against Mr. Wok and a series of vending machines and M&M encrusted cookies, we chose a place I hadn’t been in years—an American institution: Applebee’s.
Long story short, well the Applebee’s portion of the story anyway, we sat in a booth, I ordered the same thing as Josiah minus the chicken, I gave my lemon to him, we talked easily, I relaxed, confirmed what a neat guy Josiah was, decided I was glad I had agreed to come, and then the check came…all on one tab. She thought we were a couple. I was so embarrassed! But I couldn’t show it. I was apologetic and tried to give Josiah cash. He said “don’t worry about it. You can buy my ticket.” I tried to play it cool and shoved cash at him. “No, please! I actually have cash on me! Take advantage of it because I NEVER carry cash!” ….Somehow my logic made sense to me at the time…as it often does. Lord love him for not heading for the hills at the first sign of my spastic behavior. After leaving the restaurant, we made our way back to the theater, bought our tickets, and settled into our seats. The movie was great!-very well done…but I remember more about sitting next to Josiah than I probably do about the movie. It wasn’t that I was staring at him, but I was very aware of my surroundings. And…I thoroughly enjoyed being around him! I was having fun! When the movie ended, as they often do, we walked out to our cars. And then the awkward ‘Goodbye’ took place. Well, in my opinion it was awkward..but just from reading my words and how ‘awkward’ and ‘anxious’ and ‘nervous’ I say I felt, it’s a miracle that I didn’t malfunction or need rebooting. It was that awkward moment when you’re walking back to your cars and you don’t know where the other person is parked but you’re engaged in conversation and don’t know when to walk toward your own car…and are you supposed to hug like you would one of your girlfriends, or shake hands, or just…wave…or not say anything at all and just walk away? I didn’t learn the ‘goodbye’ protocol… but somehow I made it back to my car. It was a miracle. A downright, flipping miracle. I think I waved….probably….like a three year old…and then tripped.
ANYWAY, so as I was saying…two pages ago…today is the one year anniversary of the time that we first hung out on our own. And upon realizing this, we considered watching Defiance together…but then opted for that same Applebee’s instead. Long story short, well at least the Applebee’s portion, we sat in a booth, I gave my lemon to him, we talked easily, we both sat relaxed (though he was feeling a bit under the weather), I thanked God for this wonderful man, decided for the floppity-jillionth time that I was glad I’d agreed to marry him, and then the check came…all on one tab. He thought we were a couple. Well…he was right. Josiah is going to be my husband. Forever and always… For fun I dug in my purse for cash..and came up with a fist-full of coins..so I gave him a quarter in honor of the cash I threw at him a year ago. He smiled. I laughed. And so it was that an act of Defiance brought us together.
A corny ending, it’s true…but it just sounded so GOOD!
Bummed…
I TOTALLY just spent an hour writing an account of last year’s events, and it totally won’t allow me to copy/paste my entry into the text window! I’m BUMMED!! Hopefully when I see Josiah tomor-well, it’s ‘today’ now, but when I see Josiah tomorrow, I’m hoping he’ll be able to tell me what to do in order to post what I wrote!
Love to all!
TELEGRAM
WESTERN UNION
SHORT ON TIME.STOP.JUST BOOKED CHURCH.STOP.ELATED.STOP.CAPACITY IS “EVERYONE AND THEIR DOG”.STOP.ON TO THE RECEPTION SITE THIS AFTERNOON TO DISCUSS DETAILS.STOP.HAD TO SNEEZE.CAN’T STOP.TIME FOR A NYQUIL COCKTAIL.STOP.SNIFF SNIFF.THANK HEAVEN FOR PUFFS WITH ALOE.STOP.ALL MY BEST TO GEORGE AND THE CHILDREN, AMY.
TELEGRAM
WESTERN UNION
SHORT ON TIME.STOP.JUST BOOKED CHURCH.STOP.ELATED.STOP.CAPACITY IS “EVERYONE AND THEIR DOG”.STOP.ON TO THE RECEPTION SITE THIS AFTERNOON TO DISCUSS DETAILS.STOP.HAD TO SNEEZE.CAN’T STOP.TIME FOR A NYQUIL COCKTAIL.STOP.SNIFF SNIFF.THANK HEAVEN FOR PUFFS WITH ALOE.STOP.ALL MY BEST TO GEORGE AND THE CHILDREN, AMY.
Bring on the Crayons
The day has finally grown tired enough to begin settling into bed, and as the comfort of night peeks into the living room windows, I’m once again settled snuggly in front of the fireplace and Christmas tree. Poor Josiah is feeling under the weather and having some much needed quiet time at his apartment.
I really do not have any sort of wedding planning update; in fact, the only thing on my mind at the moment is how incredibly blessed I am! I have an amazing family and a collection of friends that anyone would be envious of, and to top it all off, I’m entering into another wonderful and Godly family!
One of my family’s dear friends has been spending this early evening with me and my mom, and she asked, “When was the first time you began to suspect that he was the one for you?” I stopped and sifted through all of the memories we’ve made within the last 10 months, remembering hints here and there, but I had to admit that one of the first things that really began to get me thinking that perhaps Josiah was “The One” was when we were just hanging out as friends, and we went to a burrito place downtown. When Josiah chose a table for us, he made sure to choose a table that had Crayola Crayons in a tin cup sitting on it. I told him, “I’m so glad you chose this table! I wanted one with Crayons!” He smiled sheepishly and said, “That’s why I chose this table. I knew you’d like that.” I drew nervously throughout dinner. :-) Later upon going back to the restaurant, we realized all of the tables had crayons hidden among their napkins, but at the time, Josiah chose the one table that he saw that bore the coveted Crayolas. It was a simple gesture. A sweet gesture. A thoughtful gesture. And it began to melt my heart.
If you had asked me a year ago where I saw myself at this point, by Christmas 2009, I almost guarantee that you would have received some sort of either dour projection or a shoulder shrug. Never in my wildest dreams would I have foreseen all that has transpired in a year to bring me to the point where I am today. But that’s God for you! He takes our muddy messes and creates beautiful masterpieces out of them! Thanks be to God for His mercy and redeeming grace!
So, as I sit toasting like a marshmallow before the fire, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire “Holiday Inn”ing it up in the background, I can’t help but be overwhelmed with thanks. I am infinitely blessed, and I couldn’t imagine being happier than I am at this moment. Let those wedding bells ring out, and lets get this show on the road! I’m marrying my Prince Charming, and I’m ready to shout it from the roof tops! Praise God for second chances,…and Crayola Crayons in tin cups..
Bring on the Crayons
The day has finally grown tired enough to begin settling into bed, and as the comfort of night peeks into the living room windows, I’m once again settled snuggly in front of the fireplace and Christmas tree. Poor Josiah is feeling under the weather and having some much needed quiet time at his apartment.
I really do not have any sort of wedding planning update; in fact, the only thing on my mind at the moment is how incredibly blessed I am! I have an amazing family and a collection of friends that anyone would be envious of, and to top it all off, I’m entering into another wonderful and Godly family!
One of my family’s dear friends has been spending this early evening with me and my mom, and she asked, “When was the first time you began to suspect that he was the one for you?” I stopped and sifted through all of the memories we’ve made within the last 10 months, remembering hints here and there, but I had to admit that one of the first things that really began to get me thinking that perhaps Josiah was “The One” was when we were just hanging out as friends, and we went to a burrito place downtown. When Josiah chose a table for us, he made sure to choose a table that had Crayola Crayons in a tin cup sitting on it. I told him, “I’m so glad you chose this table! I wanted one with Crayons!” He smiled sheepishly and said, “That’s why I chose this table. I knew you’d like that.” I drew nervously throughout dinner. :-) Later upon going back to the restaurant, we realized all of the tables had crayons hidden among their napkins, but at the time, Josiah chose the one table that he saw that bore the coveted Crayolas. It was a simple gesture. A sweet gesture. A thoughtful gesture. And it began to melt my heart.
If you had asked me a year ago where I saw myself at this point, by Christmas 2009, I almost guarantee that you would have received some sort of either dour projection or a shoulder shrug. Never in my wildest dreams would I have foreseen all that has transpired in a year to bring me to the point where I am today. But that’s God for you! He takes our muddy messes and creates beautiful masterpieces out of them! Thanks be to God for His mercy and redeeming grace!
So, as I sit toasting like a marshmallow before the fire, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire “Holiday Inn”ing it up in the background, I can’t help but be overwhelmed with thanks. I am infinitely blessed, and I couldn’t imagine being happier than I am at this moment. Let those wedding bells ring out, and lets get this show on the road! I’m marrying my Prince Charming, and I’m ready to shout it from the roof tops! Praise God for second chances,…and Crayola Crayons in tin cups..
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