Welcome Back!

Wow! I know, I know. It has been a long time since I have updated. A lot has changed in my life since June when there were only twenty days until I was to be married. Yes, a lot of change. I hope to recount all this change in the next few blogs to help you get up to date with me and see what happens to me in the future. For now I will give you a quick rundown.

I married Matt in the best and most fun ceremony of our lives. We will never forget the memories we have with all of our friends and family in one place.

We had a great honeymoon in San Diego, ate at fancy great restaurants (for probably the last time in 3 years!), went to the zoo, toured Catalina island on foot, and relaxed.

Matt and I packed up our life as we knew it in Durango, Colorado, said goodbye to our friends and drove to Seattle, Washington.

After twenty-two hours in the car, a week at my cousins, we found a cute little one bedroom house just North of Seattle in a neighborhood called Fremont.

We sold or got rid of everything in Durango, so we went shopping for everything new. After many trips to Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, and most importantly IKEA we have a house full of great new stuff to start a home together.

Matt looked and found a job quick. I, however, looked and looked, interviewed and interviewed, felt horrible and rejected, and finally after two and a half months found a job. I start Tuesday at a banking institution.

Matt started grad school, I started to figure out how to entertain myself without the company of friends or my spouse. I thank God that our dog, Basil, is still around because without her I truly think I would have gone crazy here.

To end: moving to Seattle, while it has been a challenge to me, has caused self-doubt and struggle, will turn out to be one of the best things to happen to myself, Matt, and us as a couple. I can’t wait to share more of my experiences of our move here, and what is next to come in my life.

20 days and counting!!

It has all gone by so fast, planning the wedding, figuring out every detail, that I can't believe we have only 20 days left until the big day.  I am getting so excited, but at the same time I cannot image the the whoe day.  Matt and I had our final pre-wedding meeting to map out all the big details.  Ever since we have planned out each minute of our ceremony it has become glaringly real that we are truely going to be married.  Before, all the planning just seemed like what you do when you prepare to get married, but actually sitting down, reading every word that will be spoke, imagining the events, it finally felt real!  Our ceremony is going to be very traditional and very classic, I am extremely happy with how it is going to go.  I can't wait to be a part of it, and have all my family and friends there to support Matt and I.

The Importance of Being….Intellegent

This morning Matt led a small group book discussion at St. Marks Episcopal Church on Brennan Manning's The Importance of Being Foolish. It was a two part discussion which started last week, but I could not go because I was visiting family.  However, today I joined him and was amazed at who and what I was listening to.  I love when Matt speaks at church and I love listening to his theories in Small groups.  This morning though I was amazed at his calm presence and intelligence he brought to the table to lead the group.  The group had a very different make up than the small groups we usually attend.  I say this because I am used to seeing Matt speak amongst our peers in the 20's, but today I saw him speak more eloquently and with such presence to a group comprised mostly of people over the age of 50.  He made them laugh, kept their attention, and most of all brought forth new ideas to a group of new people on the subject of the Emerging Church.  I became fully aware at just how smart and what a strong depth of knowledge Matt has on a wide array of Christianity.  I was amazed and am exited to be marrying him.

Hero…

My 96 year old great Grandfather has always, and will always be someone I greatly admire. Every project I did in high school about my personal hero was always about him. He is the most amazing, yet stuborn man I know. I love him with all my heart and am so glad he is still in my life today. From my earliest memories, he told me many stories from his life. His many jobs in mining, owning a restuarant, gambling his restaurant away, the love for his wives (his first wife died of cancer, and he remarried years later), and his time in the Navy. I credit him for my interest in History, and consequently my career path in teaching History. When Matt asked me to marry him my parents and I immediately knew we had to ask him to walk me down the aisle with my father. It would mean so much to me and our entire family to have four generations represented at our ceremony. When we asked him he started to cry, he said he would be there no matter what.

In September, his wife (she was as close to a great grandmother as she could be) passed away, leaving him lonely and sad. It was a very hard time for our family, he had to move out of the house he had lived in for 35 years into a small assited living apartment. My whole family tries to have someone visit him every week, but he recently got very sick and had to move into a nursing home. This was the ultimate worst for him. He flat out refused to go, but he had to. The doctors told my family he would need to be put in Hospice, they thought he was going to die. It was a horrible time for all of us. The people in the nursing home told us all he talked about was the wedding he was to be in. Like I said before, he is so stubborn, he refused to be labeled as dying, and miracously he got better little by little. The doctors said he wouldn’t ever make it out of the nursing home, but he HATED IT there. Well what did he do, he kept getting better and this past weekend I went up to visit him and help him move back into his apt. He isn’t 100%, but he looks great for 96 years, he now walks with a walker, but that is better than lying in Hospice. I love him very much and greatly admire his strength to make it out of the nursing home. When I asked him how it felt to be back home, he told me it felt great and that he was going to start some exercises soon. I asked him why did he want to exercise, and he said, “by God Kelli, I have a wedding to go to in July, and I am going to walk you down that aisle!”