A taste of our wedding…

Just thought I might share these so you can see what my husband looks like (plus, wedding pictures are fun!). If you want to see more, email me and I’ll give you the info.

(PS: Tracy, this is for you *wink, wink*)

 

Woot!

Our professional wedding pics are up! If you’d like to see them, email me at “mariekeluvsjesus at hotmail dot com” and if I know you, I’ll send you the info They are so awesome!

My toe is feeling a bit better…it’s just making my foot a little achey and it’s still bruised and swollen, but I can walk on it easier, so that’s good!

As far as the work stuff, Nathan didn’t take the position. We both didn’t feel at peace about it. I am hoping to meet with my dad (boss) this weekend about my future here, and I’ve sent my resume to a realtor for an assistant’s position that sounds like a pretty cool job, and also possibly flexible enough that I can have more options for classes when we go back to school.

Finally, getting into the INTERESTING stuff …. I’m working on a blanket for a friend of mine who is having a baby shower this weekend. It’s small, but I just started it last night, so we’ll see if I can actually finish it. It’s 44 rows, plus a border, and I’ve already finished about 6 1/2 in about an hour or so. Thankfully the shower is Sunday evening, so I can work on it all Sunday if I need to. It’s the Seija Set blanket from “Happy Hooker” (it’s really cool cause it has a little hole built in for a car seat/stroller buckle, so the blanket won’t fall out or anything). It’s striped and I’m using a dark blue, lighter blue, and cream for the stripes. I’ll post a picture after I get some more work done on it at Knit Group tonight (yippee!).

 

Coming back down to earth…

Ok, so the wedding madness is over. We’ve gone on our honeymoon. No major events till the holidays! Woot!!

I still have thank you notes to send out and we’re anxiously awaiting our wedding pictures, but for all intents and purposes, we now have a normal life again (well, except that we’re MARRIED!).

Anywhoodle, I’m starting to get back into some of my old hobbies that fell by the wayside. I’ve read more books in the last couple months than I have in probably the last year (not counting wedding-related stuff). Our schedule is pretty clear at this point, so I’ve decided to start getting myself out there a bit more. I’ve gotten together with one of my best friends, hung out with both my sisters on separate occasions (in the space of one week! unheard of!), and I’ve even managed to be Suzy Domestic and have had lots of fun cooking (and not as much fun cleaning up/neatening up the apartment).

Anyway, my point is…life is changing and I’m feeling like this blog needs a little bit of an overhaul.

Lately I’ve been getting the crocheting bug again (I have a blanket I’ve been working on for maybe a year or two now that I never got finished), and decided to either a) join or b) start a crochet group. Thankfully, I found one already in existence that meets regularly.

So tonight, I’m gonna be meeting the SB Knitters group (crocheters and spinners included) at a local coffee shop!! YAY! I’m so excited to make some new real life friends. Lately, all the new people I’ve been meeting have been online and as awesome as they are, I need some real life people. It sounds like a really great, diverse group and I am so excited!!

Finally, I am going to start posting pictures of my works in progress, as well as my finished projects (unless they are a Christmas present for anyone who may read this, LOL).

 

It’s been so long, I nearly forgot the website to …

It’s been so long, I nearly forgot the website to log in! Sorry to anyone still actually checking my blog every once in a while. I’m lame. I know.

I’ll post more later on, hopefully, but for now, here are some wedding pictures!!

http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k6/MrsMS/

We’re still waiting to see the professional ones, so I don’t have any links to those yet or anything.

We’re leaving for our honeymoon on Sunday and will be gone for a week (yes, it got delayed….due to illness).

Anyway, I will try to post more when we get back!

~Marieke (aka: Disappearing Bride)

 

101 days to go!

The wedding is getting closer and closer!

All the major things are taken care of, and now it’s getting into the smaller details.

Nathan’s graduation is Friday and today is his last day of finals! I am so proud of him! He has grown so much in the nearly two years that I’ve known him and I truly admire him for how he has totally given his life over to God. I am constantly amazed…

He’s also doing so well with improving himself not only spiritually and intellectually, but physically also. He has lost 35 pounds so far on Weight Watchers!!! I’ve been struggling to get past the 19 pound mark so I know what kind of work you have to put into it and I am so proud of how he’s become a healthier person. For us, it’s not about looks, but about being healthy and treating our bodies right and he has made a bigger change than I have in that regard!

I love you hon!! ♥

 

Wow

So many awesome things are happening in life!

Since starting weight watchers, Nathan and I have been feeling 100 times better than we ever have! We still have our days, but it’s so cool to be seeing the fat disappearing and more muscle showing. I feel stronger, more confident, and I can really comfortably fit into a size smaller! Even my watch has had to go one notch tighter!

The one thing that’s been a bit frustrating is that for the first few weeks of weight training, I haven’t been losing weight. I know this is most likely due to increased muscle mass and less fat, because I can tell my body is changing, but it was still frustrating me. Especially after learning that if I kept going at the rate I was going, I’d get to my goal 3 months prior to the wedding! Maybe it will take me a little longer, or maybe I won’t totally be there by the wedding, but that’s ok with me now. I know I’ll look beautiful no matter what! And I don’t have to worry about my dress cause it fit me perfectly when we got it and it can be taken in if need be.

Also, Nathan and I started pre-marital counseling a couple weeks ago and since that session, our relationship has already been improving immensely! God’s really been blessing us as we’ve been seeking Him more and spending more time with Him. A couple things that were issues aren’t really issues anymore. God’s been providing for us (we’re finally getting a car – and a reliable one in good condition too!) and I can’t wait to see what He has for us! This weekend Nathan and I will be sharing our answers from the book we’re going through for our counseling, and then going through some questions together. As we’ve been digging deeper into our relationships with God, our relationship has deepened to a new level as well. I feel like we’re much more emotionally and spiritually connected than we ever have been and it’s so wonderful!

In 6 months and 27 days I will be marrying the most wonderful man that God could have ever placed into my life. I am excited about the journey between now and then. We have the rest of our pre-marital counseling to go through, along with all the wedding planning and preparations. It’s gonna be such a joyous day – and even more so for the process we’ll be going through to get there! I am so excited to become Nathan’s wife and to step out on the rest of our journey joined together with a purpose for God’s Kingdom!

~Marieke

 

15 Pounds!

My rate of weight loss has been slowing a little lately. I’ve been going up 1 lb, then dropping 2, then going up. There’s been a lot going on, plus I started the weight training program (Buff Brides) recently, so that might have to do with it also. At least I’m losing weight, though!

Nathan bought me a new scale, so now I can keep track of my weight at home, too! So sweet of him to do that for me

In other news, being engaged is CRAZINESS! No wonder so many brides go postal about wedding stuff. They’re just using it as an outlet for all the emotional stress involved in preparing for marriage.

Nathan and I just started pre-marital counseling and it’s gonna be AWESOME, but it’s also gonna be a tough process. There’s a lot of spiritual crap that we need to get rid of to really be ready for marriage. The spiritual effects of being engaged are very interesting. A friend of mine told me that when you’re dating, Satan’s scheme is to try to push the couple together in unhealthy ways (physically, emotionally, etc), but when you get engaged, it shifts. Now that there’s a commitment and movement towards a lifetime commitment, he tries to pull a couple apart. We are definitely feeling that full-force and it’s quite the spiritual battle.

I know that with prayer from our friends and family and prayer times together, we’ll be able to persevere through all the difficult moments and become even stronger as a couple. I’m excited about what God’s gonna do in our lives, as freaked out as I am sometimes about the exact process of how that’s gonna happen.

I’m so glad to know that I can trust God in all this and that He has our best interests in mind! He’s on our side, so we can conquer anything that comes in our path!

 

Wedding Website

Yes, I have joined the ranks of insane engaged women! It’s official!

Nathan and I have a wedding website and for those of you who are interested in details, I’ve got lots of my ideas and such up there, as well as what is set.

If you’d like to keep updated on what’s going on with the wedding plans, feel free to check it out!

www.freewebs.com/mariekeandnathan

 

Got engaged…fell off the face of the earth

So yeah, it’s been a while, ha! It’s now 8 months and 6 days till Nathan and I tie the knot. It seems to be coming so fast already, and it’s just gonna go by faster.

I’ve kinda taken a break from wedding planning to enjoy Christmas and the season. I was forced to initially cause I got sick and now I’m realizing I need a little break so that I can process all the emotions and craziness of the engagement season of life. I just want to enjoy being engaged and enjoy spending time with the people close to me (especially Nathan )

It’s so easy to get caught up in the busy-ness of Christmas (or Hanukkah) with all the parties, shopping and whatnot and forget about what’s truly important.

So, in these last few days before Christmas and before Hanukkah begins, enjoy the time. Take a moment to savor the crisp winter air, the holiday spirit, and thank God for all He’s blessed you with!

 

I’m engaged!!!

Yes, it’s true! Here is the story for your enjoyment!

Nathan and I recently hit 10 months of dating (November 8th) and Nathan told me that he had plans for us on Saturday the 12th. He told me we had to be somewhere at a specific time in the morning, so he’d have to pick me up at 7am.

The night before, we were hanging out and cuddling and Nathan decides to take off my rings, saying that he “wanted to wear them”. He’s weird (as am I), so it didn’t phase me too much. He actually did put them both on his pinky for a little while (they only fit about a 3rd of the way down, hahaha!!). But then he put them on his desk and I had a feeling he was up to something. I didn’t think too much of it though, cause for all I knew, he was doing that early as a precautionary measure.

So, the next morning he picks me up at my house and we go to Jack’s Bagels and pick up some lox and bagels to eat for breakfast.

We went up to the Riviera Theater, which is this old theater that plays artsy, foreign, and independent films that come in to town. The building is pretty old and right next to it is a courtyard with a beautiful fountain in the middle. We ate on the steps facing the fountain and just talked for a little bit.

Then, Nathan said we needed to go on to the next thing, so we walked back to the parking lot, but Nathan walked right past our car and I started wondering what was going on.

We walked into the theater (by this time it was 8am and NO theaters in Santa Barbara ever show movies that early – especially on a Saturday morning!). We walked right past the staff and the box office and right into the theater. I asked Nathan “What’s going on?” and he said not to worry.

Nathan got us to our seats and we sat down and the movie started. The moment it started, I recognized by the music that it was “Garden State”, our favorite movie and one that holds a LOT of sentimental value to us. Nathan had arranged for a private showing for us! I DEFINITELY knew something was up at this point, but a part of me was so thrown off, I wasn’t totally sure what was gonna happen next.

We watched the movie and had a blast enjoying a theater to ourselves. We talked as loudly as we wanted, didn’t have to worry about blocking views or bothering anyone. The thought crossed my mind that we could even burp out loud if we wanted to and I said so to Nathan, so he obliged, haha.

When the movie ended, we walked out, but Nathan stopped me right before the doors to the lobby area. He hugged me and gave me a kiss and told me he loved me.

Then, he opened the doors and I saw a pathway of white, pink and lavender rose petals. I exclaimed “oh crap!” as the realization hit me that this was it! An odd thing to say, but oh well!

He led me along the pathway out to the top of the front steps of the theater where there was a bed of white rose petals. He started his speech (none of which I remember) then got down on one knee to continue, including a part of a poem he had memorized. Then he asked me “Would you give me the pleasure of being my wife?” To which I of course replied “Yes!”

We hugged and savored the moment, and then he yelled inside “She said yes!” I thought at first that perhaps he was telling the staff cause he was so excited, but then my family starting coming down the steps in the lobby! They had been the ones to come and lay out the rose petals for us. They congratulated us and took lots of pictures. We were wondering where my dad was, when he pops out of the bushes across the driveway with a video camera in hand! Nathan didn’t even know he was gonna do that!

Then we all went out to brunch at Anderson’s Bakery, downtown to celebrate!

I’ve got one HECK of a guy!! I love him to death (obviously, hehe)

(and for those of you curious about this, our date is set for August 26th, 2006)

~Marieke