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"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abidethalone: but if it die , it bringeth forth much fruit."
John 12:24 KJV

As many of you probably know, our church, Christ's Covenant Fellowship, closed it's doors for the last time on December 5th. It was the culmination of a long progression of confusing circumstances, and many people were deeply hurt. My own feelings have ranged from despair and denial to hopeful wishing that maybe it was all one big mistake. Indeed, it is very difficult to keep from blaming, pointing fingers, and turning against our own brothers and sisters, but we have to rise above it.
There is no changing what has happened, we can only move on. CCF forever changed my life. I came a shy and insecure adolescent, and, approx. three weeks before it's end, I had married one of the elders' sons. 6 1/2 of my most formative years were spent in the teaching and fellowship of this church, with all the precious people who came and went. I will never forget the impact that special communion of saints has left on me.
Ridge and I are committed to continue in love and persevere for truth, and, no matter what happens, my hope and prayer is that we may all see beauty traded for the ashes.

*yawn*

A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book. ~Irish Proverb


On Sunday night, Ridge and I decided that we wanted to craft our own "staycation" the following day. We laid down some ground rules first:
1. Neither of us would be permitted to wear anything other than undies or jammies.
2. No amount of housework would be performed, except in the case of absolute necessity.
3. We would watch as many movies and eat as much comfort food as we liked, with little to no regard as to health or sanity.
4. We could sleep in as long as we wanted, and never make the bed in the course of the day.

We started the morning at 8:30ish with our usual coffee, and followed it up with a sermon video by Louie Giglio. Then we took a shower, and lazed about til almost noon, when we started Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. Not the most romantic movie, I know, but it was fun nonetheless. Owls with armor sound lame, but the battles were pretty cool. In the middle of that, we made a batch of shamelessly cheesy pasta shells, and scarfed down potato chips, carrot sticks, and pub mix for our side dishes.
Later on, we played Mancala, (I won) and Blink. (he won) We went on to eat a dinner of mashed potatoes with ground beef gravy, and watched Gentlemen Broncos. (which, at this point, I will stress that I do not recommend that one) We were both disappointed.
After getting ready and getting in bed, we spent our last waking minutes making up stories of fantasy dream houses in such exotic climes as the Swiss Alps, Tuscany, and New Zealand.
It was a fabulous day of reveling in love and laziness, and, in honor of our PJ day, I am posting the most amazing beds I have ever seen:

This one is my favorite.




Sweet dreams!

And So We Get Married....

Well, here are a handful of pictures from our wedding in October. We had about four cameras on the job, so we ultimately will end up with 1000's. The photographer got married; what can you expect?

I like this one so much. I don't really know why, I just think it looks cool.

When I arrived at the church, I ran around doing this, that, and the other. I've always enjoyed being a gofer for other weddings, so that instinct kicked in automatically. Once my maids were dressed though, I had to stop and say "Hey, this is actually my wedding! I need to get myself ready!"

Here is my sweet flower girl, Adeline Soderburg, who is also now my niece.


Ridge's younger brother Remington was the best man.

Ridge's friend, Josh, from CA. He is also a photographer, and, even though I haven't gotten to see him much, in my experience he is great fun.

Ridge's brother River, who is six months older than I am, and does love so to rub it in.

Here is my own brother, Christian. I think this is a fantastic picture of a fantastic guy. I love him! :-)
Somehow we missed getting a portrait of Roshua! If I find one, I'll stick it in here. He's also a wonderful B.I.L.

Here is the Christina Wu that I bought. As happens with many brides, I had a distinct idea of what I wanted, and ended up finding something very different. I loved the simplicity and clean lines, and though I didn't think I could do a big train, it was perfect.

Waiting for our "reveal." (which, by the way, I am very glad that we did. It was so helpful to see and talk to each other beforehand. The ceremony was much less stressful that way.)
(self-explanatory)

The guys had a fun time goofing off while we all got ready.

Finally, it was time to put on my veil, which I had fun sewing.

Megan was my Maid of Honor. We have been best friends since we were eight and nine, and she has had a real impact on my life. She also was so helpful with the wedding. Believe it or not, she sewed all the bridesmaids' beautiful dresses. Amazing.

My cousin, Rachel, who moved here three years ago, and I am so glad she did!! We have so much fun together now.

Anna Takahashi was introduced to me through Megan. She is a really sweet friend, and was so gracious to come all the way from San Diego to be my bridesmaid.

Ridge's sister Raijoice. She has been a great friend, and though it's only recently been official, I feel like we've been sisters for a long time.

Raydeemie is also Ridge's sister, and she is such fun! We always have something to laugh about together.


We were/are so happy!

Now, that's a big family!!

Tyler Rasmussen (videographer) let us pose by his cute, cute, CUTE VW.


No. 1
No.2
No.3
So now, 6 1/2 weeks later, we are settled into our daily routines, and enjoying marriage very much. We have so much fun together making up parodies and silly faces, discussing doctrine and morals, drinking coffee and running errands. Having each other in every aspect of our lives has been such a wonderful learning experience, and as fabulous as being "in love" is, being committed to love makes it so much more beautiful.

“Love means the body, the soul, the life, the entire being. We feel love as we feel the warmth of our blood, we breathe love as we breathe air, we hold it in ourselves as we hold our thoughts. Nothing more exists for us. Love is not a word, it is a wordless state indicated by four letters.”
- Guy de Maupassant

New Habit

I've always loved the library, and now I get to enjoy it more than I ever did before. We come here once or twice a week to use to the internet, and the huge stack of books by my side of the bed testifies to my having found other occupation here as well. Three of my favorite new books are:
This was a fun little book. I enjoyed the tips for choosing clothes and putting together outfits suited to one's one particular style and age.
I really like this one because:
1. I don't do a lot of makeup
2. when I do wear it, I want it right
3. I don't have loads of money or patience for anything complicated or expensive.
And lastly, a fun cookbook I found, written especially for the first year of marriage. Unfortunately, many of the ingredients are a bit exotic (read: expensive) but still a fun read nonetheless.
Tune in next time for: Wedding pictures finally!

You made my frown turn upside down, and now my worries are gone

I can't write much now, because I'm just using the library internet, but our wedding & honeymoon were just fabulous. Everything has been so much fun. We had ten days to enjoy ourselves in Whitefish, Missoula, Philipsburg and the Flathead. We did whatever we wanted, whenever the fancy hit us, which meant visiting toy stores, eating paninis, riding a carousel, and listening to Owl City nonstop. Now we've settled into our own little routine, running errands together, and putting the final touches on our apartment. Guess I'd better get going. I just wanted you all to know that I didn't just fall off the face off the Earth. Hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving!
(by the way, I am going to be s-l-o-w-l-y revamping my blog a little, so let me know what you think!)

Well, it's one week until the wedding, and I probably won't be posting any more as things get faster & crazier. Don't worry, I'll come back, and I'll still come by to see if you all are behaving yourselves. So, for a little pre-hiatus eye candy, I thought I'd share something special I found. Even though I have my dress, it's still fun to look around at all the lovely ones available. I recently found this boutique that has gorgeous vintage wedding dresses. (as well as prom, jackets, and other goodies) Here were some of the (in my opinion) highlights:
Get your dose of Jackie O. with this little white number. Perfect for a laid-back tea and cookies reception in a garden.

I'm not good at pulling off a big collar, but I think this one is just so pretty. It makes me think of old-fashioned ladies posing for a portrait.

Whimsy and tailoring in one piece is no longer a contradiction. It's fun and care-free, yet snappy and smart as well.

This one really took my breath away. It's obviously not modern, but I cannot say that it looks old. Just pure, sweeping, classic beauty.

Okay, so it looks a little like a christening gown. Or a maternity dress. Or a nightie. It's still adorable, and for those brave enough to try a gathered empire waistline, I say God bless 'em!

To be quite honest, I don't think I could ramain sober and reverent in a dress that says "play!" as much as this one.

Fit for woodland fairy nuptuals, the ragged hem is faciful without looking like a costume.


I hope you enjoyed seeing my little gallery. If you really like them, go to their site. And, if you are ever in the market, most of these dresses are realistically sized, and reasonably priced.

More Engagement Pictures

Last week, Ridge and I went to Eagle Bend with Rebecca Carstensen and Laurel, to get a few more engagement shots. Rebecca will be doing our wedding pictures, so it was also nice practice. We had fun by this pretty pond.

This one is my favorite.

Other than my unsightly armpit, this is a nice one.

We tried a few times to get the reflection just right.

The fall colors were so pretty!

Up on the rock ledge.

It was a lot of fun.