Mr & Mrs Peters

This year is some sort of weird abnormality. We have had no weddings to go to. Zero.

Last year, we went to six. The year before that, I think the number was four.

You see, I really like weddings. I will admit, after my own wedding I was a bit burnt out and might have been a little overwhelmed at the multitude of ceremonies in 2008. But this is 2009 and I am ready and willing to partake in another wedding.

Here’s the real issue, folks. I really want to be a bridesmaid again. Slight problem- none of the friends who might realistically ask me to be in their bridal party are getting married anytime soon. Boo. Don’t you think it is a bit selfish of them to take so long “enjoying their independence??” Boo again. Get on it girls.

Sissy’s Wedding (Maid of Honor, wootwoot)

P.S. I really like this photo as I feel it truly shows one of my prevailing emotions from the day, ie, “Mess up my special day and I will cut you.”

My Wedding (Bride… Like being the head Maid of Honor)

Leesha’s Wedding (Bridesmaid)

Today marks the conclusion of my first ever blog “series.” Exciting, isn’t it? I have had a really hard time deciding what story should be the final entry leading up to Valentine’s Day. Here it goes:

Overwhelming Love

Justin and I spent our honeymoon in Hawaii. We visited the islands of Kauai and Oahu. Honestly, it was just an amazing trip. We slept, relaxed, drank our combined body weight in Lava Flows, saw the sights, and relished in our newly married state. (Take that however you wish)

The memory that sticks out to me the most, however, has nothing to do with the beach or romantic dinners or anything of the like. It was on our way home- we were on a crowded flight in the middle section of the plane. Justin had fallen asleep and out of nowhere I was just overwhlemed with how much I loved him. I sat looking at him and was brought to tears by the thought of ever losing him. (I make him promise me all the time that we will both live to be in our 80’s and will die at the same moment, in our sleep. Hey- it happened in The Notebook!! It could happen. JK.)

It’s sort of a somber moment, but I love the memory of being newly married and just bowled over by the depth of my love for Justin.

Have a great weekend everyone! We are headed up to Nor Cal to visit our friends Joel and Celeste. Stay warm

The Proposal

I graduated from college in December of 2006. At that point Justin and I had only been dating 7 months. Throughout those 7 months he had made it adundantly clear that it freaked him out when girls talked about marriage. So we didn’t talk about it much. I figured it would happen eventually, but honestly thought he would wait another year to propose. After my graduation ceremony his parents opened up their house for a reception in honor of Kelly and me. (They live across the street from the University and have a huge house. It’s perfect for entertaining!)

About an hour into the party our Dads gathered everyone together to say a few words in honor of Kelly and me. After they were done Justin said he had some things to say. He grabbed my hand and pulled me in front of the big Christmas tree and started saying all these mushy things. I will never forget what went through my mind… “Oh my gosh he is going to make people think he is proposing. He needs to stop!” Even when he got down on one knee and reached under the tree I thought it was some sort of joke. It wasn’t until he popped open the ring rox that I was like, “Oh crap… He IS proposing.”

Needless to say, I was absolutely shocked. I sort of panicked and just didn’t say anything. It got pretty tense in that room… everyone was waiting for me to say something.

Eventually my mom saved me from what honestly was the most uncomfortable moment of my life- all those people staring at me, and me just wanting to be alone with Justin, to talk. Basically what it came down to was this- Justin really wanted to surprise me. He wanted me to have no clue he was proposing. What he didn’t plan on was the fact that he might have done too good of a job at making me think it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. I was absolutely thrown for a loop and instead of being able to react emotionally as a woman normally does while being proposed to, well… I turned into Miss Logical.

The most important moment of that night came hours later, after the party. We needed to talk, but had no clue where to go. It was late and everything was closed. My roommates were sleeping and we didn’t want to wake them. It was in the parking lot of his Grandparent’s church that we REALLY got engaged. Sitting in his truck, after hearing his heart and why he wanted to marry me- well I made him ask me again and that time I cried and said, “Yes!!”

He took me home to my apartment and we quietly sat on the couch so as not to wake my sleeping roomies one wall over. We held each other close and both felt the joy of imagining the future and all we would get to share together. It was beautiful.

The Airport

You know that feeling you get at the beginning of a new relationship with something you REALLY like? It seems like torture to be apart for more than a day and every second together feels like magic…. It is funny now to look back on the days where (Mom- stop reading!!) I never wanted to stop kissing Justin and I was absolutely filled with butterflies every time we were in each other’s presence. Of course I still love kissing my hubby, but things change when you are married and live together! I will get to my story soon, I promise!

Justin and I hadn’t even been dating two months when I went on a series of short trips with my family and the youth group I was working with at the time. The trips all sort of overlapped and Justin and I knew we wouldn’t see each other for over a week- which feels like AGES to a new couple!

I flew back from San Francisco with my family late one night and the next morning I was due to leave for a camping trip early in the morning. Justin was in the middle of a stretch at work and the airport we flew into was quite a ways from where he was living at the time.

Let me paint you a picture of what happened at the airport that night.

We got off the plane and my little sister and I went to the bathroom. I proceeded to pop a big zit on my face and decided that I was sick of wearing my hair up…. (Who was I going to see at the Ontario airport at 10pm anyway?? Might as well let the frizzy, unbrushed hair out of its ponytail to run free!) The 4 of us then headed to the baggage claim area and waited for our luggage. The theme song for the Disney Electrical Light Parade came on and so of course I then felt the need to dance around with my dad… In short, I looked like an absolute spaz. Right at that moment I saw one of our bags come around the corner. I leaned in to pick it up and just as I was lifting it up I heard a man’s voice from behind me say, “Let me help you with that.” I turned around to dimiss this obviously way-too-forward man and saw none other than my lovely boyfriend Justin. I am sure I screamed and jumped on him… I was inwardly horrified at the birds nest on my head and the red pimple on my face but my heart soared anyway!

We only got to spend a few minutes together that night, but I will never forget how special I felt that Justin drove all the way out to Ontario (on a work night when he had to get up very early the next day) just to see little old me.

He’s a keeper, right?

Ouch!

As many of you know, I am not the most athletic person in the world. In college I went out of my way to take PE classes that required me to do the bare minimum, physically. You would be amazed at how much time and energy I wasted trying to figure out how to get out of having to run or “jog”…. (Which is just a word people use to make you think you aren’t having to run. It’s the exact same thing. Trust me.)

My last semester in school I took a lacrosse class with Kelly. Not a great idea considering it’s a sport that requires not only a lot of running, but also puts you at risk of being hit by a heavy ball that goes flying at speeds which should be illegal. One day I was on the field doing nothing but trying to look like I actually cared about the game. I realized I didn’t know where the ball was and said out loud, “Where did the ball go?” It was at that point that the ball hit me, and I screamed.

What does that have to do with Justin, you ask? Well, he picked that day to come to the fields and watch our class. I had no clue he was there until it was all over. He said something to me like, “Wow… you really don’t do anything during the games, do you?” So much for making him think I was athletic.

What I REALLY remember from that day, however, is what happened next. I had to go to my nannying job an hour or so later but he said he wanted to take me to coffe. We went to the Starbucks down the street and I ordered my drink and went to get us a table while he paid. When he came to the table, he had a present for me with him. Most of you know how much I love Christmas music, right? Justin bought me the Starbucks Christmas CD that day, just for the heck of it! It was such a sweet gesture, and that is something Justin is wonderful at. He tries to make me feel special and loved on a regular basis, and likes to surprise me with things he knows I will appreciate.

In honor of the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday this weekend, I thought I would devote my blogging this week to tales of my love story with Justin.

When I first knew he wanted me… wanted me BAD.

After Justin and I had been on a handful of dates he decided to drop a bomb on me. In a nutshell he informed me that he wasn’t looking for a girlfriend, that he didn’t want to date me exclusively, and that right now his main focus was on work. So basically he wanted to date me, but he wasn’t going to commit to anything and he might still date other people. Ouch, huh? I was hurt of course, but I wasn’t that shocked. Things had been going too well on our dates so naturally I had to expect that something was bound to go wrong.

I decided to give it another week or two and then move on. I don’t date more than one person at a time and I was not crazy about the idea of him dating anyone else but me.

About a week later he invited me to go over to one of his best friend’s house… (You think I would have picked up on the fact that he was introducing me to his parents and friends which is a little abnormal for someone who is just dating casually… But I didn’t.) We were about to head over to Matthew’s house and Justin said, “Oh, I forgot… I got you something.” He explained that he just happened to be at Bath & Body Works buying soap and that he bought me some lotion… He then pulled out a big bottle of my favorite B&B flavor at the time- Coconut Lime Verbana. Days earlier I had mentioned in passing that I was running low on my current bottle (I must have had it in my purse or something).

And that’s when I knew that all his fancy talk about “focusing on work” was a bunch of bologna.

What a year it has been! It brings me a lot of joy to look back on the year and all the wonderful blessings we received.

January

We visited Bryant and Amy in Utah and enjoyed the snow…

February

Bryant and Amy found out they were pregnant. Yay!!

Biola celebrated it’s 100th anniversary. My parents took us as their guests to the Centennial Gala.

March

Justin and I both had our birthdays… Our gift to each other was new couches!

Skyla enjoyed the nice Spring weather.

April

We celebrated Mom and Donna’s 50th birthday with a fun night at the Pirate Dinner Extravaganza and a party at our house.

My girlfriends and I celebrated Kelly’s birthday with a wine tasting mini-weekend in Temecula. Way too much fun!!

May

The entire (well, almost) Peters Clan met up in Oklahoma for a reunion. It was beyond amazing and we routinely think back to all the fun memories from that trip.

All the cousins at Chili's

Justin and Bryant visiting their Grandpa's grave.

Amy and me with Grandma

June

Dad’s Birthday!

July

Sheri and I threw a baby shower for Amy.

Justin and I had a great time at a wedding with friends on the 4th of July.

Justin built a wall in the front yard.

August

We flew to Utah to help set up the baby’s nursery.

Putting together the swing... only 2 months to go!

The boys building the crib in the living room

Jim & Stacey came to visit from Washington and we went to an Angel’s game with Jim, Stacey, Ben, and Chris.

September

Liz & Sam were married in a beautiful beach ceremony. We enjoyed goofing around during the reception with Justin’s former roomie, Jaime.

Jaime is still bitter that I stole Justin from him!

We celebrated our anniversary with a trip to a luxurious resort in the desert. (Thanks, Hilton discount!!) On to year number two of wedded bliss!!

October

On the 20th, our nephew Stone Creek Peters was born. We both cried hearing him scream over the phone. It was really hard to wait a month to meet him, but we were thankful for cell phone photos along the way.

On Halloween our Grace Group joined us for treats! Brayden, our nephew, dressed up as the world’s cutest skunk…

November

Finally, we got to hold little Stone in our arms!

For Colleen’s birthday we all made a trip to Palm Springs to relax, shop, and eat some great food! We all had such a wonderful time, and were sad to come back to the “real” world.

December

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas season with family and friends…

We look forward to a wonderful 2009 and cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for us. We pray that you and your families have a safe and peaceful New Year’s Celebration!

Today Justin and I celebrate our one year wedding anniversary. We just returned from a great weekend away in the desert where we relaxed and ate delicious food at every meal. The hotel we stayed at (through my lovely Hilton discount) is a beautiful property that was initally built in 1926. Many famous stars like Clark Gable and Katherine Hepburn have stayed there over the years. We were in a “casita” with our own private patio and a very spacious room as well as a gorgeous bathroom. It was like being in a house and not a hotel because there wasn’t anyone above or below us. There were a total of 42 pools around the resort complex, but we only had time to visit 3!

 While it certainly was nice to get a luxurious weekend away, the most important part of the last few days was taking time to think back on our first year as a married  couple and looking forward to our next year together. We are so thankful to all of you that in some way or another have supported us through this first year (whether by helping us move, making memories with us in our new home, or praying for us along the way). God has been so gracious to bless us with amazing family and friends, stable jobs, a great church family and a sweet little puppy. (Happy Belated 10th birthday by the way Skyla!! Mom loves you!)

I will leave you with this picture that was taken one year ago- September 29, 2007. I promise to post some pics from our trip soon!

This Sunday marks 9 months of Justin and I being married. I am all about celebrating even the smaller events in life, so I thought that in honor of this occasion I would create a list of the top 9 things I have learned in my time married to Justin, thus far.

9. Apparently, men do not find it acceptable to “just have a bowl of cereal” for dinner.
8. The whole “let’s take turns giving each other back massages” thing NEVER works out to be fair. (I always get jipped with a 2 minute massage)
7. Letting your alarm go off six times in a row while repeatedly hitting the snooze button is not a good way to put your husband in a good mood. **Technically I learned this one from my college roomies, but I am being reminded of how much people hate it.**
6. My version of clean is totally different from Justin’s. (his version of clean requires a lot more attention to detail than I am willing to spare)
5. No matter what justification I come up with, I am going to be in BIG trouble if I wake Justin up for no reason when he is on a day off. (I really hate being awake in the morning by myself. I guess I am like a 5 year old in that respect)
4. When you have an uber-friendly husband like Justin, you must always be prepared for people to come over to your house. This means it is a good idea to always have some sort of easily made food in your pantry or freezer.
3. Being a homeowner is super hard work! But, with the right attitude and an idea of what you want to accomplish in mind, it is totally possible to make your house a home… even on a newlywed budget!
2. I always used to get confused with turning up/down the water pressure on things. JP taught me this really cool saying that has totally changed my life… “Rightie tightie, leftie loosie.” (I am not kidding when I say that I whisper that to myself multiple times a day now)
1. Marriage (to the right person) is one of the best things in the world. Having Justin as my partner on a day-to-day basis makes everything more fun/enjoyable. God is good!

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Oh, and for all of you that are wondering… I SO gave in and ate the donut at work on Friday. And it was so good that only half of me felt guilty (that would be the half that had to come home and do a zallion ab exercises before bed to avoid feeling like a pig all weekend).