Monday, August 30, 2010

Videos... that may or may not be embarrassing.

A few videos for your entertainment.



Nick, along with our photographer, Bryce, one of our ushers, Jordan, and Nick's old roommate, Jimmy.




Me, along with Allison, Lacey, Lindsey, and Abbey.



Hannah and my video that we made a couple days before I left to be a Baby Ruth in 2006.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Top 5 Favorite Disney Movies

Her List:
1. Enchanted
2. Lilo And Stitch
3. The Incredibles
4. Toy Story 3
5. The Emperor's New Groove


His List:
1. Lion King
2. Aladdin
3. Brink
4. Monster's Inc.
5. Toy Story

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Great books for a great price

Don't you love when you find exactly what you need for a great price!?

Nick and I will be reading through Sacred Marriage, by Gary Thomas, for our pre-marital counseling. Nick tried to order the books on amazon but ended up ordering 2 participant guides instead. These will be great for discussion, but we still needed the book! Since we live so far apart, we can't share the book, which meant we both needed one. So, I ventured up to Half Price Books a couple months ago in eager anticipation to see what kinds of marriage books they had. Guess what. They had one copy of Sacred Marriage for $6.00!! I was ecstatic, and bought it immediately. Well, Nick still needed a copy, but since he had paid for the participant guides, I said I would cover the books this time. So, today I went back up to the same Half Price Books hoping that maybe they got another copy in since the last time I was there. AND THEY DID! Just one! Hooray! So now we both have books and I paid less than $15.00 for both of them.

A friend also recommended For Women Only, and For Men Only, both by Shaunti Feldhahn. Since they are two different books, I was unsure if I could find both of them at Half Price Books. But I did! So I got both of them for the price of one! Hooray for half priced books at Half Price Books! So right now, I am reading For Women Only, and have already learned some great stuff! I can't wait to see what else we learn through pre-marital counseling!

I looked for others that have been recommended to me, but could not find them. Hopefully, better luck next time!

Learning from Long Distance

Anyone who has experienced a long distance relationship knows that it is hard work. Communication is frustrating, travel is expensive, and the time actually spent together is always too short.
While Nick is at camp, and not only far away but not able to communicate, I thought I would share about our experience with a long distance relationship and what I have learned from it. Perhaps Nick will add his input when he gets back from camp.

First, what I have learned from our situation:
- Communication is crucial. So is patience. It is so easy to read into certain words or voices over the phone, but that is not necessarily what the other person is trying to say. It is a lot better to me to ask what he meant than to assume he meant something else. This is where the patience comes in. Not being understood can be frustrating. Being asked, "what?" six times in a row can also be frustrating. But once I get frustrated, he gets frustrated, and then the time spent on the phone gets unpleasant fairly quickly. I have definitely learned a lot about patience over our long distance relationship.

- Nick cannot fully sustain me. Only God can. When something goes wrong, the first person I want to talk to is Nick. But sometimes, that isn't possible. Especially this summer, God has been teaching me to rely on Him first and let Him use Nick when He wants to. I have to remind myself of Psalm 55:22: "Cast your cares on the Lord, and He will sustain you."

- Appreciate every moment. I can honestly say I do not do this as well as Nick. I like my sleep. Nick would have us stay up all night if I let him. Sometimes I think he might be a vampire. Not really... but seriously. I don't think he sleeps. Anyway, time is precious, and when you only have 36 hours together, your actions and words should have purpose. Even if that purpose is just spending quality time watching Friends or Big Bang Theory together... :)


Next, I will share some ways we have made long distance more bearable:
- Skype/Video iChat: This is not only used for just talking. We have also been known to cook dinner together, watch movies/tv shows together, and dye Easter eggs together on skype. We also would do a lot of homework/reading while on skype. Not a lot of talking but the next best thing to actually studying together.

- Doing something together while we are apart: This summer, when we couldn't talk during the week, we both decided to only drink water while we were apart. Knowing that he was doing the same thing every time I ordered water or refrained from drinking coffee was comforting.

- Text messages- Ok, this sounds so silly, I know... But Nick didn't have text messaging on his phone until a little after we had started dating. I can't imagine not being able to text him random questions or thoughts or announcements... Well, I can imagine that, because that is how it is right now. ha. It's pretty lame.

Well, that's all I have for now. If anyone else has any suggestions for long distance relationships, please, feel free to share. We will start another 5 month stretch soon.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Picture Perfect

You know when you first start dating someone, but you aren't at the point where you are comfortable enough to take pictures together? Well, I think those pictures that do happen to take place are so funny, because there is a little awkward taste to them. I thought I would share our first pictures together with you, because Nick is at camp and I can't talk to him, so pictures are the best I can do.

This was the first picture we took together. It was actually before we were dating, and before I taught Nick how to smile naturally. Obviously.

This was the second picture we took together, taken on the last day of camp, after we had been dating for a few weeks. It was still pretty awkward. Like, what is up with Nick's hand?

This was the first picture we took of ourselves, at a Baylor football game. This was actually when I was helping Nick learn to smile naturally. He made such great progress!

This was still very early on in the picture taking comfort phase, at the Pine Cove tailgate. This picture is awkward because it looks like it is supposed to be a picture of just me and Kevin with Nick creeping on the side.

In this picture, a week later at a conference, Nick attacked me.
But after this, the pictures started coming more naturally, and things were no longer awkward.
Thank goodness.

Friday, August 6, 2010

New engagement pics, check them out!

Check out our new engagement pictures found under our Engagement Pictures tab! Thanks to Lauren Withrow who took them and edited them!

Some of our favorites:





Thursday, August 5, 2010

Top 5 Favorite TV shows

His List:
1. Chuck
2. Lost
3. Big Bang Theory
4. White Collar
5. Gilmore Girls

Her List:
1. Lost
2. Friends
3. Gilmore Girls
4. Chuck
5. Big Bang Theory

Well, we will basically always be able to watch shows together. Our admiration of Community and Covert Affairs is also growing.

Monday, August 2, 2010