Our Love Story...part two.

In case you didn't get the first part, you can read it here.

I was very active in my church youth group when I was younger.  The friends that I bonded with during those times are still the same friends I have today.  Unfortunatley, some things that were said as "kids" get carried with you for the rest of your life.

It was the second week that Phil came to the bible study.  Again, I had dance class, but this time, I made sure I looked a little more put together when I came home.  (yes.....I made sure my makeup was fresh, I admit it.)  Phil had come to bible study from class so he was riding his motorcycle, which I found to be extremely attractive.  The only problem with this situation was that I knew Phil had not given his life to the Lord.  Because of this, I kept my distance and tried very hard to hide the fact that I was liking him more and more each week.

One weekend, we all got together.  We had a fun day barbequing at a friends house and we all decided to go see the Ice Age movie.  (I think it was the first one)  I remember driving in my car with two friends to the theatre and one of them said, "So, who do you think Phil likes?"  We all decided it was the girl who brought him to the study.  In my head I knew it was me, but seriously, who sits there and says "you are wrong...he's all about me!"  Um...can we say conceded?  Plus.....some hurtful things were said about me during those youth group days which killed my self-confidence even as an adult.   (and yes....I still battle things even today)  So....I went along with the prediction that was made and tried very hard not to think of things.

By the end of the night, we were all saying good bye and it came time for me to say good bye to Phil.  He reached down and gave me a hug and I knew by the way he held me and by the way he looked at me that he wanted more than a friendship. 

I had to take a few friends home that night and after they got out of the car and I was driving home, I remember screaming at the top of my lungs at God.  (yes...crazy person I know....Thankfully it was 1am and there weren't too many people on the road to witness it)  I told God that I didn't even want Phil to think about asking me out on a date until he had given his life to the Lord.  I remember screaming "I won't go down that road again.  I won't get hurt like that again.  I'm happy just the way that I am.  Please don't let him ask me out until he has given his life to you!"  I remember crying because I didn't want my life to fall apart again.

The following day....he asked me out.

Our Love Story....part one

As my anniversary draws closer, I wanted to take some time and relfect on our story.  So many times we are asked how we met and we give a very simple answer, but neglect to give God the true glory of it all.  So...here is the start of it all.

I had given up.  I was tired of meeting the "bad" boys at college.  You know....the ones who just get you into trouble....who do not have the same beliefs as you.....who pretty much just drive you down.  So..I decided, enough was enough.  I wasn't going to date anyone unless we were equally yoked.  I had talked to my parents and asked if they would start praying for me to meet my future husband.  At the same time, I started praying.  Little did  I know, that we were all praying that my future husband would walk in the door to my house.

A few months went by and I had started a dance class with a friend.  It happened to be on the same night that my parents hosted a young adults bible study.  All of the friends I grew up with attended the bible study, so I would make sure I came home in time to see all of them.  Although I missed the study, I really enjoyed catching up with them afterwards.

One night, one of those dear friends decided to bring a guest.  So, when I walked in the door and turned the corner, there he was.  I knew instantly that it was him.  Here I was standing in front of Phil, my future husband, in my sweat pants with my hair tied back in a sweaty pony tail and my eyes black from the smudged mascara I had put on at 6am.  Wow....what an impression right?  He stared at me for a few moments and then said, "I know you from somewhere."

Years back...when I was about 16 or so, a bunch of friends and I got into rock climbing big time.  We were at the rock gym several times a week and Phil happened to run the gym at the time.  I remembered him from the gym so in response I said "Vertical Extreme."  He said "no...somewhere else" to which my friend chimed in and said "she went to Downingtown High School."  And that was it.  He remembered seeing me walking through the halls at school 4-5 years earlier.

He shook my hand saying "nice to meet you" thinking to himself...this is her.

to be continued......

Some watch football....others go fishing.

To some families, the start of fall means one thing........the start of football season.  The parties begin and through the cracked windows in many homes you can hear the E.A.G.L.E.S. EAGLES!!!! chant as you drive through the neighborhood.  But, does the start of fall mean football for my family?  NOPE!  Instead, fall strikes the start of fishing season.  Or should I say, the start of insanity?

My husband is a fisherman.  At times, I may even say that he is a bit obsessed.  He eats, sleeps and breathes fishing. At least one of our conversations per day, deals with fishing.  Yes....it's rather annoying to me, buuuttttt....it makes him happy.

So, this weekend, to prepare for the BEST Stripped Bass fishing season yet, my husband and I traveled to our much loved Brigintine, NJ to rent a house.  Yes, that's right...we have rented a house just so he can go fishing.  For the next month, I will rarely see my husband during weekends and will be tending to our adorable 20 month old daughter alone....but hey...again, it makes him happy right?

Oh...and I would just like to say that I'm an awesome wife because I went on this house hunt being very sick and with no voice what-so-ever! I would have rather been in bed.....but I knew how important this was to him.  I think he gets a sense of pride being able to bring home food for the freezer. :)

In addition, he has entered the Stripper Derby.  So...basically, everytime he gets a fish he has to take it to the bait shop and weigh it in.  After the Derby ends, they total up all of your fish and you get a total weight for the season.  If you have the highest number, you win like $2,000. 

So....here's to renting a house for a month in hopes that hubby will have a good season!

Thankful for the little things.....

This week has been kind of crazy...and it's only Wednesday.  A few weeks back, my parents loaned out their brand new (well..used but new to them) Honda Pilot.  My parents take EXTREMELY good car of the vehicles, however doesn't it figure that the person opened the rear, driver side door into a tree.  Yes, I said TREE!  So...off to the body shop then went to find out that it would cost $800 to fix it and on top of that, my mom would be out of a car for a week.  Now..if I were out of a car for a week...it would give me an excuse to clean things up around the house, but since my parents live  in an absolutely spotless house...my mother would loose her mind.  In addition, she watches my daughter and my niece while my sister and I work full time so being stuck in the house with two rammy toddlers would be a nightmare.  So...my hubby and I decided to loan my mom my car for the week.  I'm currently driving my husbands truck while he drives his motorcycle.  Unfortunatley, he is unable to help pick up our daughter after work (since she obviously can't go on the back of a motorcycle) so I've been left to do the running around.  Granted, I don't mind, but when I'm running late from work and I have to pick her up and then rush home to get dinner done by a decent time...it's stressful to say the least, especially after a long day at the office.

All of that being said...I have to say that my husband has been AMAZING this week!  On Monday I came home to find him cooking in the kitchen.  I tried to help but he said.."no, you just go relax and spend some time with Bella."  Whoa!!  That almost never happens.  I'm usually the one in the kitchen cooking dinner while he sits and unwinds from his day.  Then yesterday, I got caught at work for an extra 45 minutes and I came home to dinner just about on the table, the trash had been collected through the entire house and was already out to the curb, some old branches that came down during a storm were out at the curb as well.  Then he says to me "Why don't you get out of your work clothes and get comfortable."  Who is this wonderful man?  I mean....I know that my husband had this side to him, but sometimes we just get so carried away with the things around us that we forget to do nice things for each other.

So...since I was feeling so relaxed and stress-free, my husband and I quickly bathed our daughter together  and took a family outing to his soccer game.  You see, Phil loves when I bring her to the games, but most of the time, there is just too much stuff to do so I don't go.  But...since he was being so helpful, I was able to go to his game and watch him play. 

The point in this long story is to say that I am so thankful for a wonderful husband who, without asking, makes dinner for his family and gets the chores done quickly so we can have time together as a family.  I'm thankful for a husband who takes the time to put his family first and let us know how important we are to him.  I'm thankful for feeling loved and taken care of. 

I'm so thankful for the little things that make life so much better.

And so the sewing begins.......

A few months back, well about 4 to be exact, I decided to start sewing.  My mother has sewed for as long as I can remember, so growing up, I would make a little something here and a little something there.  I always admired her gift, but never thought I would take on the art itself.  Well, now that I have a child of my own, I'm realizing how much cheaper it is to make these things yourself then buy them in the store.  In addition, my wonderful sister is due to have her second child (a boy) in January, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to start sewing simple little things.

So....off to Joanne's I went.  I bought my very first sewing machine with the help of my mommy of course.

My first project was this little stuffed animal holder that attaches to a crib.  I didn't really like it, but considering it was the first project I did on my own...I didn't think I did such a bad job.

Then....I started sewing a new diaper bag for my sister (pictures will come when it's finished.)  It seems I like to work on several projects at once...so part way through the diaper bag project, I decided to make something for my daughter Isabella. About 15 years ago, my dad had bought me a little bunny that sat in a wicker chair.  It was just something special that he had hand made for me.  He even took the time to make sure the fabric used for the bunny's dress matched my bedroom.  Well...now that the bunny has been passed down to my daughter, it needed a new dress. 

So....I sewed this..

Front

Back

I have to say...I was pretty proud of myself with this one.  I didn't have a pattern and it was the first time I had to sew buttons.  Granted...is it the best sewing job in the world....no.  But...does my daughter love it and carry it around the house.  You bet!

So....here's to the start of a very relaxing hobby for me.

A Night with Friends

My husband and I had the wonderful opportunity to get together with some friends on Saturday night.  During the first year of college, I became friends with and amazing girl named Christie.  Our friendship was instant and it was as if we had been friends for years.  I know without a doubt that God sent her to me.  I was going through a hard time and she was always there to lift me up.

Through the years, Christie and I have enjoyed some life changing experiences together.  For spring break one year, I took her on her first plane trip to Florida.  (yes...we went to Disney World and loved every second of it.) Then, after graduation, we headed off to the beautiful country of Ireland.  We sat on a bus with a bunch of old people tour group and traveled around the whole country. It was beautiful!!!

Since then, we've cried at each other's weddings and rejoiced in the birth of each other's children.  (we decided to have an arranged marriage with her son, Matthew and my daughter, Isabella)  Everytime we get together, we realize that our husbands are clones of each other.  We have the type of friendship that no matter where we are...we will always be there for one another. 

Well (now that you have some background on our friendship) Saturday was the first time Christie, Meng and Matthew were able to come to our house.  I became a cleaning freak of nature!!  Suddenly, my house just wasn't good enough.  My husband had to clean off our patio...then I made him clean off our counters.  Sadly, I did not treat him with the respect he deserves as my husband.  (He graciously proclaimed me as temporarily insane and forgave me)  I made him take things up to the attic....and contimplated asking him to clean the attic.  HELLO CRAZY WOMAN! (I blame this cleaning insanity on my dad...)

Anyways, with the house a mess cleaner, my friends came over and we had a lovely night.  Christie and I talked babies...while Meng and Phil talked hobbies.  (I think they secretly made plans to go shooting)

So...although there are some friends that I am much closer to, I cherish my time with Christie and her family.  It's a friendship that I am grateful for and know will last a lifetime.

I'm back!

Let me start this off by saying that I'm sorry I haven't been a very good blogger.  In fact...you could say that I haven't been a blogger at all and that's a very fair statement.  Truthfully...I always had a hard time figuring out what to write about so eventually, I just stopped.  Never the less, I'm going to give it a second go around.

So...what better way to enter the blogging world (again) but to tell you a little about me.  You know...all those things that make me...well me.

1.  I am a very punctual person.  I can not STAND being late for anything.  In all seriousness, when I think I'm going to be late for something, my heart starts pounding and I literally start panicing.  I just hate it.

2.  I love being a mommy!  I think it's the hardest yet most satisfying job in the world.  My daughter, has truly completed who I am as a person.

3. I am horrible....I mean HORRIBLE at fashion.  I mean seriously...I have contimplated paying a friend to do my shopping and dress me.  It's just bad.

4.  I am compassionate.  So much so that I think I have to fix everyone's problems and carry the weight of the world on my shoulder.  My mom always says "don't pick it up" because that's what I do.  I take other people's problems and make them my own to try to fix things.  The hardest part is knowing that I can't.

5.  I'm an open book.  I have no secrets.  I don't think any question is too personal because frankly, I have nothing to hide.  I have no regrets in life.

6.  I love working with the youth at church.  Yes...its very tiring and trying at times, but truth is...those kids heal every wound in my heart with just one look.  The love they  pour out on me and my little family is just amazing.

7.  I love my job.  Yes...there are times when I wish I was a stay at home mom and wish that I could get together with girlfriends all day long or go to mommy and me classes (which I do miss but I'll write on that later.)  But truth is...my job allows us to have a good house and pretty much anything that we want (within reason of course) and for that, I will always be grateful.

8.  I am a strong woman.  I didn't have the easiest childhood, but everything I went through made me a very strong and determined person.  I'll never forget someone telling my husband when we started dating..."who ever marrys that girl better be a strong man, because she is one strong woman."  But...my strength is always found in Christ and with him I know I'll get through anything.

9.  My husband is my life.  I can't even think about life without him.  He supports me in all things and trys his hardest to protect me from getting hurt.  I have never doubted for one minute that we were made for each other.

10.  I love writing!  I used to write short stories and maybe one day, I'll start again.  But for now...we'll stick with blogging.

Well...there you have it.  Just a little peek at who I am (didn't want to make this blog too boring.)  I hope you enjoyed and I'm looking forward to sharing some more.

Until next time........