We become US

Ten years ago, our family............

met this family.

Right from the start, we just clicked. You know how that works? Some families come into your life and then fade out, and others stick. They stay. Sometimes........forever.

This boy.

At twelve years old, he made me crazy. I was far too high and mighty for my own good, and thought he was ridiculous and immature. 

But man, he had long eyelashes. 

Years passed, and we did everything together. Literally.

Rode horses..............

Shot guns.....

Butchered chickens..........

Attended political rallies and took weird pictures with weird people.......

Had water gun fights........

And whipped cream fights.......

Moved hay........

Did parades..........

Swam in lakes (and took more weird pictures).......

Went camping.......

Had camera wars.....

Kayaked in multiple little creeks in northern Arizona.....

Played in the water..............

Had  crazy birthday parties............

Birthed baby horses...........

Did some archery...........

  

Shot more guns..........

I took pictures and he drew them......

Did I mention that he's an artist? An ammmmmmmmmaaaaaazing artist?!? 

And somewhere, somehow over the years, the boy grew up.........into quite a man.

Strong.

Passionate.

Funny.

Loving.

Thinker.

Chaser after God.
And blessed with one seriously awesome set of hands.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, I came to rely on this man.....for everything. I wanted his opinions, his approval, his humor - but most of all, I just wanted him. Anything we did was never complete to me unless he was along. 

Two weeks ago, to my utter shock and complete delight, I found out that he kind of liked having me around, too :) He asked to court me with the intention of marriage, and after finding my tongue again, I said yes!!

I'm still slightly in a state of disbelief, but it's becoming more and more real each day.

Oh, and get this - we have always managed to end up next to each other in group pictures over the years..........

And even wrote LOVE on a wall in Wickenburg! :D

So now, there's an "us". And we need you guys to be lifting us up in prayer....because there's no way we can do this without God.

I'm so excited. And so happy.

And the man still has such long eyelashes :)

Commitment

Last night, Mom asked me to read an article she had seen going around on Facebook and give her my thoughts on it.....an article titled something along the lines of "Why Courtship Is Fundamentally Flawed." Without diving too deeply into the overall ludicrousness of the arguments he laid out and the solutions he proposed, there was one thing that caught my attention.

According to this man, he has "recently seen a spike in divorce rates among 'courtship couples'". (Interesting - I've noticed a spike in divorce rates amongst 'dating couples' as well.....)
Then came the punch line:
"The whole point of courtship was to have a happy marriage, not a high divorce rate."
WRONG! Happy marriages can come out of courtships or dating scenarios....as can a divorce; that's not the point.
But I digress.

I read that sentence to Mom, and her comment hit me.
She said, "You know - a happy marriage isn't based so much on what process you went through before the wedding day. It's based on two people who are completely and entirely committed......not just to staying married; there's lots of people who are just committed to stay married no matter what, and that causes nothing but two miserable people. It takes two people who are committed to working through things and having a *good* marriage, no matter what."

That's a huge distinction. One I'd never really thoroughly processed before.

Of course you don't get divorced - that was just a given for me. But a good marriage is so, so much more than that. It's two people completely given over to God and each other, purposing to work through problems, grow, and love.

No matter what. 

Marriage, Photography, and more..........

Happy Friday Eve!! Ha! I've not been doing so good about keeping up on posting my quotes lately. Hopefully I'll fix that over the next week or so! For now, here's a bunch of random ones........since they're arranged in my folder in alphabetical order, sometimes a bunch of similar ones end up together.

The theme of the evening? Marriage & photography.....plus more. Told you it was random ;)

This is so ME!!!! I love driving long distances by myself, windows rolled down, music blaring!

So, so true.

This is one of those personal hard-to-share ones.

Couldn't be said more perfectly.........your photographs reflect your worldview.

Encouraging!! Or intimidating??

Ugh, I hear this ALL. THE. TIME. Never responded quite like this, though.......

Beautiful.

Maybe not always true, but funny nonetheless :D

Comparing marriage to music.............does it get any more lovely than that?

Girls - remember this.
Lisa - remember this.

 Goodnight, friends!! xoxo

Blush

So, it's a known fact that I'm a bit of a good old-fashioned sap. I love knights in shining armor, damsels in distress, curls and red lips and dashing heroes.

But more than that, I love the message behind this song.

I had it sent to me by a dear friend quite some time ago, but never sat down and listened to it till last night. To say I was blown away would be an understatement. I was enthralled. For every reason I can think of, this song became my favorite. For the timeless (yet oft forgotten) message of chivalry, of innocent maidens, of love that could wait a long, long time, of true romance and Victorian style courtesy......all put to one of the most moving and beautiful melodies I've heard in a long time. They do an amazing job of portraying romance in an extremely beautiful and healthy way, and yet not taking away from the mystery and wonder and rapture of true love.

But I'll stop talking and let you hear for yourself.................I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

From Introverts to OCD

Bunch more random ones today! I love hearing which ones are your favorites!!! 

Yep, totally, totally me.

This one really speaks to me because I tend to be slightly adverse to change. I have to constantly be reminded that change is good....change means growth....and change is part of God's will.

The romantic side of me swoons.....

This is literally the motto that my piano teacher lives by. She has so revolutionized the way I play!!! 

Just too funny :) 

I tend to be less on the ADD side, but got a chuckle out of this anyways.

So, so true. This quote has helped me make many tough decisions.

My co-dependent tendencies needed this one :)

Yep, yep, yep. If a man can laugh at himself and life, he's bound to be a good one :) :)