Starting Our Future Together

     Trying to plan a wedding can be a tricky, tricky proposition.  Between the stress of sticking to budgets and trying not to step on toes and hurt feelings, the whole wedding idea just doesn't sound too appealing.  Especially when so many weddings end up being less of a reflection on the two being married and more of a garish attempt at impressing and one-upping.  I mean, how many girls do you know read a magazine then try to repeat exactly what they see?  How many brides do you know have at least a half a dozen break downs in the months and days leading up to their wedding?  Sounds like such a magical time to me...(insert sarcasticness here).  So.  That being said...
     Sean and I were in the middle of planning our traditional wedding for September when we both looked at each other and had our light bulb moment...what the heck were we doin?  Neither one of use really wanted a "traditional" wedding.  We didn't want the stress, or the expense, or the added drama that almost always seems to go along with the experience.  In fact, we had originally planned to have a destination wedding.  But, with pressure from members of extended family (immediate members didn't mind...go figure) we decided to do it here.  Thank the good Lord we wised up before we got in too deep!
     So here is where we are now.  Our original plan was to get married then go on our honeymoon to Savannah GA.  Neither one of us had been there (long story, but important to me) and it just seems like it's perfectly romantic.  While I was looking around at different things, I found some places that do weddings in and around the areas...and there again the light bulb went off again.  So here is where we are...


Breathtaking.


     Our plans include the scene above.  Huge, old trees covered with Spanish moss.  Sunset.  Just the two of us.  Peaceful and perfect.  I'll be wearing a white sundress with my boots (gotta be different!) and Sean will be Sean...we are still working on what he's gonna wear.  Whatever he picks, he will look fantastic.
     The whole point of us going to Savannah to be married is that it will be us.  There won't be anyone to please and every detail will be what we want.  I will be able to focus on marrying my best friend and soul mate, and not worry if the candles are dripping too much or if my flowers were delivered on time.  I want to relax and enjoy our time together.  We plan to wake up and enjoy our day leading up to the wedding...nice and relaxing!  And that is what it is all about.  Relaxing and enjoying each other, and celebrating the incredible time in our lives as we start our future together.     

Just a 'Lil Thought Goes a Long Ways

     You know, I just have to say that it feels so good to be loved the way I am.  From the kids, my parents, siblings, and extended family to my absolutely best friend and love of my life...I am blessed far beyond what words could ever begin to describe.  My heart swells up when I think of all of the blessings I've been given and the fact that I am surrounded by people who love me for who I am.  Every day is a new adventure in our lives, and I'm never afraid of what may come anymore.  It's such an incredible feeling knowing that finally I have somebody who has my back no matter what.  I can be myself, he can be himself, and together we can all be a family full of love and laughter.  I watch as they wrestle, or we snuggle, or we all run around together and I thank God for the gifts that He's given to me.  Gifts I never ever thought I would be able to experience.  But, by God's ever present grace, I am blessed enough to get to.
     This Valentines Day (well, all through February so far) Sean has done his 14 nights of movies for me.  Each day, there is a sweet card he writes a clue in, and I have to guess the romantic movie we are going to watch.  In each note, he tells me some pretty incredibly sweet things.  Every day I'm blown away by his thoughtfulness and willingness to do this for me.  He could be like a lot of people and not think twice about it...or on Valentine's Day go "Oh crap...better order flowers!".  Or run to the jewelry store and pick up a meaningless pair of earrings.  I wouldn't complain, if it was some random day of the year, but that's not how I would want to celebrate Valentine's Day.  It should be Valentines Day every day...not just one day a year.  Thankfully, he knows me so well.  He has bought me fresh flowers every single week since we met...I've not gone without fresh flowers for well over a year now.  And according to him, I never will.  And I believe him.  Trust me, I'm not saying he shows me love by buying me gifts.  That's not the point at all.  The point is, is that he takes the time to show me he loves me by doing things for me that requires him to think.  Time that I know he could be doing a million other things.  He does things that take time and effort...not something that just requires him to pick up the phone and tell the flower people how much he wants to spend and give them his credit card number.  Every single day, he shows me his love for me, and for our family.  It's nothing for him to do the laundry, fix supper and do the dishes so I can do homework.  He will fix me a lunch to take to work if I'm working through my lunch hour.  He will stop by and bring me a coke and something to eat at work for a surprise.  Anything I need, he is there.  That is love to me.
     So I could really go on and on.  As I'm surrounded by all the crazy "it looks like Valentine's Day puked in Walmart" gimmicky gifts, I just want to say to take the time to do something meaningful.  Put some creativity in it...some thought into something for you significant other.  It doesn't matter where you are right now in your relationship...I promise it will make it so much better!   

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

     I am in awe of how our holidays have been this year.  Never before have I been able to sit back, relax, and really reflect with a positive attitude the day after Christmas.  In years past, I have been stressed, irritated, and pulled in more directions than I ever cared to go and usually by suppertime of the 26th I was already dreading the next year's holiday season.  Looking back, I have to say that some of my most down, depressed times were during the Christmas season, so that only makes sense that it would bring around so much angst.  Seems that this most wonderful time of the year doesn't always bring about the most wonderful kinds of feelings for everyone.  But, as time goes on and things change...situation changes can bring around new outlooks and attitudes can change, too.  Thank God.  Because I am sitting here, the day after Christmas, with a ton of things to do, but not feeling one ounce of stress.  I enjoyed this Christmas season more than I ever have before in my adult life.  Sharing it with the ones I love, seeing their happiness, made the little bit of frustration I did feel well worth it.

The relaxed, happy family.  Nope.  No stress here!

 
     All through the kids' lives, they have known the truth about Santa.  I never agreed with the philosophy of telling them the truth from the get-go, but I never had a say so in the issue.  Well, the kids were really wanting to believe, so Sean and I really made it a point to make Santa as "real" as possible to them that we could.  We were doing okay; they each had moments of doubt and belief.  After the letter writing, stories, and movies we could cram down their throats, the culminating moment was when "Santa" himself called them on the phone Christmas Eve.  "Santa", or better known as Mikey the future brother in law, sounds just like the jolly 'ol man himself.  He seemed to know everything about the kids, and their faces just lit up every time he said something about them.  Jax, being himself, decided he would try and "trick" this Santa, and asked him the hardest question he could think of.  Who was the mayor of the town where he lived when he first started delivering presents?  I cringed thinking the gig was up.  But, without missing a step, Santa knew the answer.  Bergermeister Meisterberger.  All those years of cartoons really do pay off!!  After a very personalized note from him to each kid based on that phone call and they are believers.  Like Jax said..."You really do exist!"  One more year, at least, Santa is as real as he can be.

Jaxton...trying to trick Santa Clause.

Jordy's face lit up like a Christmas light when Santa called her.

      Before Sean came into our lives, the kids never experienced shopping for gifts for me.  Whether it was for birthdays, Christmas, or Mother's Day, they never had the chance to go and pick out whatever they thought I would want.  They absolutely love being able to do that.  And I appreciate Sean for taking them shopping (this year was on Christmas Eve...crazy guy).  Jaxton picked me out a beautiful necklace and earring set that is perfect.  He knows I like things that sparkle, and its a chain with a sparkly cross in my favorite color combo of purple and blue and black.  He really knows my taste...and put a lot of time into picking out the perfect one.  Jordy chose to start a charm bracelet for me.  The first one she got for me was the bracelet chain that had a clear heart that you can put small trinkets inside of.  She put a "J", a small girl that has her birthstone on her shirt, and a small tag that says "I love Jesus".  She chose each one, and I look forward to the many years of adding to it with the unique, special charms that signify the different events of our lives.  I loved taking the kids shopping to pick out Sean's gifts, as well.  Jax thought he needed a new basketball (what guy doesn't ?) and Jordy was pretty confused as to why he would need a "mouse" until we went to the electronics section and picked one out...since he asked for one.  The looks on their faces when we opened up our gifts that they chose were priceless.
     I am so blessed to have the family that I do.  Every single day, I thank God for them, and for bring our lives together.  We have all been excepted into each other's families, and that is never more evident than at the holidays.  Tyler is included in the gift giving, even though he has yet to meet my mom.  The kids are just as loved and included in the Eisensmith side, as well.  They talk all about their cousins...that list has grown immensely...seemingly overnight!  There is so much love and acceptance all around.  Family has a new meaning to us now.

I would say this is a successful holiday season.  Baby girl has the right idea!  If you can find her, that is.

 

Workin' for supper

     I have to admit...I'm struttin' my stuff around here tonight.  I win the award for most creative fiance/girl in the county.  For todays 25 Days of Christmas idea, I sent Sean on a scavenger hunt.  For supper.  Not a big deal, you say, but he is the one that usually does supper, since I have homework most nights and all.  This morning, his note informed him that he will be working to find his supper tonight.  And the fun began...
     The idea of the scavenger hunt was that he had to bring some of the different things for supper...problem is, he had to search around to find them.  I made up clues that would lead him to different things we would need for supper (plates, silverware, beer...you get the idea).  It all ended up with a picnic supper, complete with fried chicken (KFC style), blanket, and candlelight.  In the living room floor!  I started out easy enough.  We have our little message board that we write notes to each other on every day, and since our front door is metal, and the board has magnets, I wrote him his first clue and left it on the outside of the door.  That way he wouldn't miss it.  I even left on it the explicit instruction of do no go searching for any other clues until I said so...he swears he didn't.  Each clue led him to find an item for supper.  The last clue was attached to the blanket that was under the Christmas tree, telling him that his supper was actually a picnic.  The blanket is pretty significant...it's the one that we had our first date on (lakeside picnic complete with KFC) and the one he had spread out at the same lake when he proposed.  That blanket is a keeper!  After work I ran through the drive-thru and picked up supper.  After I sent him away upstairs for a bit, I put the finishing touches on the hunt, and slipped the food inside the blanket that was under the tree.  And away he went on the hunt!
     He did the search...all through the kitchen he went, looking for the different items we needed for supper.  Finally, he got to the blanket under the Christmas tree ("I was wondering why the blanket was under the tree" he says) and unwrapped the food.  Total surprise!  Can't beat a good fried chicken supper.  We had an amazing, relaxing time, plus it was a fun sitting back and watching put it all together...definately gonna use this idea again somehow. 

Ready to pull my hair out...but now I'm ok.

     Ever have one of those days, or weeks, or in some cases months?  Today was one of those days for me.  I really think it's been creeping up on me this past week, but the dam broke for me today.  The world was on my shoulders; nothing I did turned out the way I needed it to.  I wanted to snap a few necks to be honest, but thankfully, nobody got hurt.  Surprisingly, actually, I made it through the day without any major episodes, despite what was running through my head.  I guess it's one of the joys of being an emotional girl (yay me) and I can just chalk it up to that...but I dunno.  I won't bore you with the details (actually they are pretty juicy...but I'm not gonna divulge) of how the past week has been, well, kinda blah at times.  I'm really starting to think that there was some kind of announcement on campus telling everyone (especially anyone who don't speak English) to come to the clinic to see the dark headed girl and do whatever they can to make my day rough.  Cause they have.  Amongst other things.       I try to have a good attitude.  I really do.  But some days, all I wanna do is just sit down in the middle of the floor in the fetal position and have a good 'ol cry.  And trust me, I'm not above that.  And I probably will...soon.  Just cause it really does make everything better, somehow.  I guess that's one of the upsides to being a girl...if someone were to walk in on me sitting in the middle of the floor crying, they'd just hightail it outta there and not ask questions. 


Aren't you more relaxed from looking at the lights?

      So, the day ended up so much better than it started.  After I left work (better already!) I walked in the front door and just instantly felt relaxed.  The feeling of being home...priceless.  I had started the 25 days of Christmas with Sean for the month of December, and on the agenda for today was to go look at Christmas lights, something we both love to do.  We had planned to have a date night for tomorrow night anyways, so decided to roll it all up into one night...tonight.  We had supper at Louie's cause you can't beat fried green beans.  After a nice, relaxing supper, we had to run to Walmart.  Yeah, I know.  Romantic, hu?  Actually, everything we do is fun, so we enjoy our time together, even when grabbing groceries.  Then I was treated with Starbucks as a surprise.  Cause my baby loves me.  Then we set off looking at the Christmas lights.  There is something about shiny, sparkly lights and Christmas music and the arm of your future husband around your shoulder keeping you warm that melts away the day's stresses.  
     After the perfectly wonderful, relaxing night, the stress and chaos in my brain from the last few days has slowly started to fade.  And to top it off, as a bonus, I got my new pj's in the mail that I ordered from Victoria's Secret...pure cotton heaven right here!  And the free slippers are a bonus...talk about relaxed.  Hopefully this feeling will last.  Even if tomorrow is another sorta rough day, at least it's Friday.  That counts for something. 

Pumpkins, Prayers, and Package Deals

          So there is a big day coming up in a few weeks and since I'm a sappy, happy kind of girl, it's making me think back over the past year and how freaking blessed I am.  It's been a year since I've met Sean, and boy has our world changed...for the better, of course!  I'll do you a favor and spare you the details this time of how we met, but don't think I won't post that one at some point!  One thing that I have been blown away about though is how the kids and Sean have built their relationships over this past year.  You'd think they've always known each other; the respect they have for each other really says a lot about the type of man he is.  For a single mom who hadn't really brought anyone around the kids before, I was really pretty freaked out about how this was all gonna go down.  Considering Jordy had been my guard dog and would get mad when the little checker-outer guy at Walmart would chit chat with me~"Don't talk to my mom!" was commonly heard~I didn't have too high of hopes when it came to them meeting Sean.  I should have know better; he's a natural when it comes to kids. 

      We decided to do the big introductions at a pumpkin carving party where there were other kids around for Jax and Jordy to meet and play with, and we thought that way it would at least be be on neutral territory.  They did great, running around and being themselves.  When it came time to clean out and carve the pumpkins, Sean and the kids worked great together, making some pretty awesome pumpkins.  Come to think of it...nobody really wanted mama's help!  The highlight of the night though was at the end when it was time to go.  We were heading out to the truck, saying our goodbye's and thank you's.  I noticed the kids were pretty hesitant to go; really holding back.  Jaxton, my little man around the house who is just as protective as his sister, asked me as serious as he could "Mom, can Sean spend the night?"  After I quit choking on my spit (I seem to do that a lot when caught off guard) and gathering my composure, I explained how that wasn't a good idea and wasn't going to happen.  Then, undeterred, Jax asked if Sean could come over in the morning for breakfast.  Again, telling him that we will see him again, but that breakfast was a little bit too early, both of their faces fell.  They were genuinely sad that they had to wait more than a few hours before they could see him again.  Watching them that night, I could see a lot in the ways that they interacted together, ways that have grown and developed into a relationship that goes past the "my mom's boyfriend" stuff.  There's a real mutual respect, understanding, and love there that, even though they may not have chosen each other, they have accepted each other for who they are.  They've all made the best of being part of a package deal.  I have to say, though, that I seriously got the easiest part of the deal...16 year old boys are SO MUCH EASIER!  I know that it's not an easy road to have a combined family; there are many statistics on the subject that can make your head spin.  But I also know that many, many (probably billions, if that's possible) hours of prayers have been answered.  Many nights I've prayed for this.  Watching our new relationships develop with each other is so exciting!  The kids are thrilled to have a new big "brother" to look up to...even Jordy, who acts all exasperated that now she has two big brothers around but deep down she really does love it and is a goofball anytime Tyler is around.  I am so blessed that God has given me this opportunity and thinks that I am worthy enough for this family...