1 Week

Well my Lucas left yesterday around 5:00 pm for the W.I.L.D. trip up in Canada with several others from church. I was supposed to be home by 4:30pm to see him off and say goodbye. Unfortunately, with the craziness of my job and still at a loss for sufficient coverage at the front desk, I ended up working till after 6pm and not getting home till 6:30-ish.

Major bummer.

But he left me this little note with his ring. (He didn't want something to happen to his ring while he was hiking and such, no worries.)

"I tried waiting up for you baby but I'm planning on getting in around 1-ish as of right now. I'm praying for you em and I love you so freaking much. protect my ring for me while I'm gone. Dang it em my heart is breaking right now having to leave without hugging you. I love you em, I'll talk to you soon."

You may be thinking, "it's just one week," big deal. But this is the first time we've been apart since we got married. Just when we were starting to get use to not saying goodbye, lol.

I decided yesterday that since I worked a 10+ hr day and I didn't get to say goodbye to him, I was going to treat myself a bit.

Below we have two 99-cent flatbread sandwhiches from Taco Bell, a redbox rental of "Just Go With It" (it was okay) and my own tub of B&J's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream. The perfect recipe for a relaxing evening.

So I ate my food, watched my movie, indulged in my ice cream, took a nice long bath, and went to bed.

This morning and all of today has been dedicated to getting our apartment back in shape. I've been deep-cleaning and organizing all day - and now that it's the end of the day, I'm not really sure what to do with myself.

It's weird being here in the apartment all alone. It feels like I should be able to see my parents or my brothers, or run down to see Katelynn. Maybe that's because I associate not being with Lucas, to living at home with my family during our engagement when Luke was working up here in MI. This is the first time I've been without Lucas where I didn't have my family with me. Don't get me wrong, I truly do love living here and I've enjoyed having today to get caught up on stuff...I think it really only starts to hit you most when it's night time and the silence and emptiness are magnified.

So here I am sitting at our dining table polishing off my chocolate fudge ice cream, wearing Luke's T-shirt, ring, and watching a little bit of Alias season 1 (thanks to big bro & Jeana.) Church tomorrow, and it will be nice to see friends :-)

Good night to all!

5 Awesome, Crazy, Exciting, Exhausting, Wonderful Days - Part 2

Saying goodbye was definitely hard for Luke. These guys mean the world to him and they've all been there for each other through thick and thin.

Once we all had said our goodbyes, it was time to continue our 5-day journey up to the mountains in PA for the Gotwals Family retreat!

The "Gotwals Retreat" has been a tradition we've been doing since I was a kid. This year was huge because Luke got to be apart of this special event. The drive seemed very long and we were both utterly exhausted. I knew I had to stay alert because I needed to keep Luke awake. It was rough.

It's funny because till this day the "Mountains" is all I know to call this magical place up north. I don't know the name of the town or anything like that. All I know is that the two cabins that our family stays in are called "Sugar Bush" and "Sugar Maple." When I hear, "We're going up to the mountains" I can instantly envision four-wheeling, jumping off the dock into the pond, fishing, spot-lighting at night, and playing cards with my cousins. I cannot tell you how excited I was to have Luke experience this with me.

This picture says it all. THIS was The "Mountains" to me.

From Left: Me holding Ryan, Seth, Brooke, Jesse, Robby, Lauren, and Eric

We finally made it in around 1:45am and in no time were fast asleep.

It's tradition to all eat together in the same cabin around the large rectangle table. Breakfast  usually consists of bacon, pancakes, eggs, etc.










It was so wonderful to be reunited with my family.






It's not long after breakfast that we're jumping in the pond or hopping on a four-wheeler. We just wanna soak up as much sun as possible.




These two just celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary in August and as their daughter, I feel so blessed to know that no matter what, they are committed to each other.


Feeling Sentimental :-)
Such a good looking couple if you ask me!




Anyway-

It was such a hot day that it was difficult to not jump into the smelly, fishy pond. I didn't swim long, but I definitely dunked myself several times so I could enjoy lying out.









Always ready for a silly face.. :-)


Just as people were starting to come out of the pond and get dried off, my Mother spontaneously got off of the bench, sprinted off the dock as she jumped into the pond. With all of her clothes on :-)


On my left is Jill, who my cousin Eric is currently dating. This was the first time I got to meet her and we really hit it off. She's a great girl who really loves God and I can see she makes Eric really happy :-)

On my right is Kim who I got to know this past year before I got married. She and Richie started coming to church and in the small time I had to get to know her, I grew such and admiration and respect for the woman she is. She really taught me a lot and inspired me to grow in a lot of ways. I desperately wish I could have had more time with her and that distance wouldn't get in the way of a really neat friendship that was starting to bloom. Richie and Eric are cousins, so they stopped by to spend the day with us. Their son Trevor is probably one of the cutest little guys I've ever interacted with!

Jill, Me, Kim

Trevor!

Our journey continued on as we said goodbye to The Mountains and headed back to good ole' Huntersville to finish out our last day in my hometown.








Part Three Coming Soon...

5 Awesome, Crazy, Exciting, Exhausting, Wonderful Days - Part 1

Wednesday after Luke got home from work we began are action-packed weekend by driving 7 hrs to good ole' PA! I surprised him with different-colored hair + bangs..lol

Luke was asked to be the best man in his good friend Dan's wedding, which was in New Jersey. We stayed with my fam Wednesday night to break up the trip and then Thursday morning we continued to NJ.





Why does this seem to happen a lot? 2 stinking trucks hogging the road..going slower than the speed limit and not allowing anyone to get past them...



Thursday night was the rehearsal/dinner. We met up with Luke's college roomie Cliff, who was also in the wedding, and his lovely wife Kaylena :-)





The 3 Amigos reunited again :-) It's truly captivating to watch the deep connection between these guys.. I know it was really hard for Luke to say goodbye to them.

It's ice tea they are drinking by the way :-)



The center pieces at the rehearsal dinner were beautiful! They used a tree as their wedding theme and it was used consistently and very beautifully.



The unity tree :-)



The day of the wedding..
My favorite part of any wedding is probably watching the face of the groom as his bride swiftly flows down the center aisle.









The beautiful bride, Kate.



The vows are what always get me! It's such a big deal to me..not something anyone should take lightly. Vowing to commit yourself to one person til "death to us part."



And of course..I couldn't help but replay vivid images of the day I vowed to love and commit to my Lucas.



As I watched Dan look at Kate coming down the aisle, I replayed the image of Lucas watching me walk towards him down the aisle.







Anyway.. :-)
But yes, their wedding was so beautiful.. Everything from the colors, to the music, to the inevitable love Dan and Kate shared.



During the ceremony both Kate and Dan's dad sang a song together that they had written about their children.. Very precious moment.





A good man <3













The reception was beautiful and the hors' d'oeuvres were mouth-watering.












Part Two coming soon! ;-) By the way..this happened back in July.. lol