The Love Story Of Us, Chapter 3

Rachel @ The Musing Of A Future Pastor’s Wife, is running this awesome carnival of Meetings, Marriages & Memories. Hope on over to her site and read more love stories of others!

Forgive me for not posting chapter 3 last week, we just came back home from our mission trip and for the life of me, I could not seem to get my thoughts where they should be to write.

Also this part of our love story is the hardest part for me to write.  I was not a saint in our courtship and this is the worse for me to tell…

~Chapter 3~

Our senior year continued down a bumpy road and besides the drama there really was not to much going on that was of any significance.  I turned 18 in January and was more disconnected with school than I was before and I also had the legal right to check myself in and out whenever I needed/wanted to, which did not help matters.

I got a job at the Census Bureau working full time, 2nd shift.  I would check myself out of school each day at around 2:15 and head to work and work there until 11pm.  It was one of the worse mistakes taking a job, especially a full time job, working those hours, trying to finish school.  I was throw into very adult situations and it was tough. 

I think Jeremy could see that.  He was there for me as much as I allowed him to be there.  There were some nights that he would swing by my place of employment to leave a note on my car, but for the most parts, I did not see him much.  I was so tired that most days I would drag into school when he was about to leave or soon after he left.  My school work suffered to say the least.

I met some guy at work that made fun of me for still being in school.  He hung out with me at our lunch hours with others from our work group and I quickly distanced myself from my “school” friends.  The end of my senior year was quickly approaching and I was caught up in work, so I let it sweep me away.

I broke up with Jeremy right before our prom and I really didn't see the impact it had on him.  I could not really see past my own life to see what or how I was doing things, really effected anyone.  I asked this guy if he wanted to go to prom with me and he said sure, so whatever was going through my mind that day, is anyone's guess.  I think my best friend was furious with me, but was more like whatever…it’s your life.  Jeremy made the decision not to go to prom, I am sure it would of been to hard for him to see me there with someone else.

The day of our prom arrived and the day was spent getting ready.  Gloria drug me to have my hair and make-up done and then we parted ways so I could head home to get ready.  I was ready to go and was waiting for my date to arrive so we could leave and catch up with the rest of the group for dinner then prom.  I waited and waited and the time for me to meet the others was quickly approaching and still my date was nowhere to be found.  Then I got the call.  He was not coming. 

I was more mad than anything and furious with myself for allowing this jerk to do this to me.  In retrospect, I deserved it, it was the same thing I did to Jeremy,  completely fitting!  So I was not going to prom, I made up my mind, called my best friend and told her to go ahead and leave without me.  She and my dad had other plans.

Gloria called Jeremy, my dad told me to stay dressed that I was going to prom and he drove me to Gloria’s house.  I thought they were waiting for me, but actually they had already left to keep up with the reservations they had made.  Unknown to me, Jeremy went to pick up the tux he had rented, got ready and was waiting for me when I pulled into her drive.  Wow!  If I could of crawled under the ground to keep from looking at him, I would of done just that.

He came to me and I went to say something to him but he told me to wait, not say a word, and that we would talk in the car.  Anything but having to talk to him in the car, ALONE.  Awkward to say the least because I knew that I was getting ready hear some thing's that I really did not want to hear, but knew that I he had a right to say what he would say.  We smiled for the camera and then it was time to leave.  As soon as the car door shut, he told me what he thought.  You know, I do not remember word for word what he told me, but I do remember that he said that this would be the last time that he would be there for me, and the only reason that he was there, was because he loved me.  After that, he said that we are going to put the whole thing to rest and was determined that we were there to have a great time and make memories.  Memories were what we made that night!

We got lost on the way to the hotel where the prom was being held.  In the middle of downtown Jacksonville we were driving down these road that we not fit for two young kids to be driving down.  The car in front of us stopped right in the middle of the road and this guy walked up and an exchange was made, I think a drug deal went down.  I just knew that we were going to be shot to death or something!!  We eventually made our way to the restaurant and then to prom.  It was so perfect!

After prom we walked up to the top of some building and just stood there looking at the city views….again magical.  Now here comes the most romantic part of the evening or morning by this point…we drove until we found a “HOT NOW” Krispy Kreme donut sign and right then and there, started a long tradition of stopping for “HOT NOW” donuts!  To this day, Jeremy will risk life and limb for hot Krispy Kremes!

We eventually made our way to Gloria’s house where we met up with the rest of the group.  The next morning, I was scheduled to work….on a Sunday, overtime, no sleep.  Jeremy begged for me to call in, but I was determined that I needed to go, so again, work took first priority over us.

He drove me to work that morning even though I really didn’t want him too, you see that “guy” would be there.  I asked Jeremy to just park the car the in the parking place and let me walk, but nope, he drove me right to the door, and who was outside sitting at the benches….that ‘guy”.  Primal insistent kicked in, Jeremy knew it was him, even though they had never met, and the protectiveness in him wanted to get out and take of business, but I begged him not too. 

I quickly told him goodbye and that I would see him later and walked into the building not saying a word, straight to my cubical.  Not much was spoken between that “guy” and myself that day, or for any other day for that matter.  I was done, needed to get my focus back to where it needed to be and get my grades where they needed to be, because in a about a month we would be graduating!   

To be continued….

We Have Winners….

Okay, I did the number generator thingy and the winners are…

#3 – Sara 

#7 – April

YAY!!  Sara if you will send me your address, I will get your cross in the mail to you!  April, I know right where to find you and I will get your Wal-mart gift card to you as well!

Thanks so much for playing along!! 

It’s A Give-A-Way!! Yay!

I am slowing coming out of my mission haze…it was been a hard adjustment back to life after our mission trip, but I think I am finally getting there.  Our week in the Dominican was a challenging, rewarding and life changing event in our lives and my heart leaps with joy being able to share this experience with my hubby!

We did have a hard start to the trip with our luggage not arriving.  I can not explain the feeling of stomach dropping realization that you are in a third world country on a mission trip with nothing but the clothes on your back.  We were told that our luggage would not make it in until Friday, the day before we left, but we only had to spend two days without it.  I would say, that was a rough two days, but when we finally did get our luggage, there were some things I could of lived without.  I don’t think i would of truly come to that conclusion if I did not spend two days without it.  Next year, I will pack accordantly and also I will pack a carry on with all the essentials!!

Life is good, our hearts are forever changed and we are catching up on much needed rest.  I think even the teenagers were glad that we were home!

I will share more as the weeks progress but I wanted to show you what I got in the Dominican for a give-a-way!!  The pictures are bad, and I tried to take several but they just would not turn out.  This cross is truly beautiful!

   

It is a cross that is made out of Blue Larimar.  This stone is only found in the Dominican, and I love the way it looks!  I am giving this away to one lucky person! 

Also, in honor of our luggage being lost, I am also giving away a $10 Wal-mart gift card!  On most days it’s not a far stretch to say I loath Wow-mart, but when you are in a third world country with no luggage for two days, I would of been one happy camper to see that big ‘ol blue Wal-mart sign!  Yeah, enough said.

If you would like to be in the drawing for either one of these, leave a comment and I will draw for a winner in a day or so!  Good luck!

Dominican Mission Trip 2009

I have thought about this post since Sunday and I so wanted to share with you about our trip as soon as I walked through the door on Sunday evening.  It has taken me some time to put a few things into perspective before I was able to share with you. 

We had a great trip, a trip that was full of wonder, awe, work, sweat, tears, heartbreak, happiness, the unknown, refueling….I guess, I could go on with so many emotions that we have experienced, but we would be here for days.  

I will be honest, there were days I felt totally energized and there were days that I was checked out with overcoming emotions.  The sight, sounds and my thoughts sometimes becoming overwhelming.  There were times on this trip that God shown His presence so abundantly and other times where I was forced to rely on Him with all that I had. 

The picture above was one that I took when I was having a low point in the trip, where I was having to come to the reality that God had put me there for a reason, a reason that was beyond my scope of understanding.  This verse, Be still and know that I am God, was my verse for this trip and the above picture captures the full realm of my feelings. 

This picture represents the work that God sent us to do in the Dominican this year.

We worked on a community center in the community of Los Annones.  This community center will have a clinic, a kitchen and will serve as a place of safety for storms.  We also held a women’s ministry while I was there teaching women of the surrounding communities how to embroider and a kids time each afternoon.

 

This picture represents the refueling of our trip. 

The community that we worked in was a farming community and the ones from that community that helped us, needed a break to tend to their farms, as we needed a day to rest as well.  We went to a beach that was off the beaten path, for the most part it was just our group and a few fishermen.  It was an amazing day of relaxation.  I have never seen a beach that had rocks washing ashore instead of shells and as the rocks rolled with the waves it made the most tranquil and amazing sounds.

This picture represents the awe struck wonder of God’s perfectness. 

We worked in the mountains and everywhere you looked reminded you that God is awesome. From the scenery to the precious people that we spent time with, the presence of God was felt. 

I am going to leave you with several pictures from our trip.  I have so many more things to share from our trip and will do in the next several days. 

 

Dominican Trip Update

This is Jenny, Patrice’s sister-n-law and I thought I would share some information about their trip with you so far:

Here are Patrice’s tweets for the week:

heading to the Dominican!! almost to the airport let the panic begin!!8:28 AM Jul 11th

i have seen tuna cans bigger than this plane!! goodness i am not liking this!!10:56 AM Jul 11th

sitting on the runway having a mini melt down, have confirmed i am not the flying type!6:45 PM Jul 11th

actually only a few tearsl doing as well as to be expected!6:46 PM Jul 11th

we landed and our luggage did not!11:02 PM Jul 11th

it is now been 24 hours since i have last slept2:22 AM Jul 12th

This is from Jenny on facebook - last e-mail we received they still had no luggage and may not get it til Friday. They had eaten and they were heading to their camp from Santa Domingo at 2 a.m. Pray for them it was a long day yesterday. July 12th

our luggage arrived! too many amazing things going on to list!! July 15th --Praise the Lord I was getting worried for them.

I will post more as I get more pics. I hope everyone is having a blessed week.

This is their mode of transportation:

The Love Story of Us, Continued

Rachel @ The Musing Of A Future Pastor’s Wife, is running this awesome carnival of Meetings, Marriages & Memories. Hope on over to her site and read more love stories of others!

~Chapter Two~

Even though we had a quick introduction at the end of our 10th grade year, we really didn't know much of each other until our Junior year.

In my 11th grade year, I left the Flag Corps and begin playing in the percussion line in band. There is where my career in High School went down hill. Everything bad you ever heard about the percussion line in band, is all true. We were a bunch of animals to put it politely. We loved to get into trouble and made an art out of it. Jeremy and I became friends because not only because we had mutual friends, but we were together a lot because of band practice and Friday night games. Thus begins the rocky courtship.

Our senior year was filled with friendship drama, band drama and any drama that we could create. Most days I would show up late to school, and of course it would infuriate Jeremy and after he left to go to work, I quickly followed him out the door to adventures unknown. Besides our mutual friends I hung out with others that loved to get into trouble. Looking back on it know, it gave Jeremy something to do besides homework! HA!! Today I feel like if it were not for his constant interference and dad-like parenting he did during my senior year, there is no telling what kind of trouble I would of found myself in! Anyways…

Our courtship, my love, that I had for him was not that public because of our friends, and really beside Jeremy’s undying profession of his love of me to Tracey, another mutual friend that we to school with, and I went to church with, it would of been unknown to anyone! Well, people knew….I’m sure.

One day Jeremy handed me a note asking me out on our first official date. I laugh as I type this, because this date begins the “you drive, you decide” eating out dilemma that still haunts us to this day. He picked me up, and asked where I wanted to go. I of course, said I didn’t care, so begins the great debate of where to eat at.

I am sure, knowing Jeremy so well, that he had in mind where he wanted to go, but wanted the night to be perfect, so he would not say where he really wanted to eat at. We pulled into four different restaurant parking lots and left each one to arrive back at the first restaurant that we first pulled into (the one he originally picked).

We ate at a Mexican restaurant called Cuco’s, which I had never went to before and it soon became my most favorite place to eat. We sat and talked, ate the most amazing chimichanga that I had ever put into my mouth and had the best time. To be honest, I really do not remember what else we did that night, but do know that we talked for hours after he took me home.

I think I knew then that we would be together, forever, but was to stubborn to admit to my true feelings, and besides, I hated it when Jeremy was right. I would not give him the satisfaction of knowing before I made up my mind that we would be together forever!!

The rest is to be continued….but before I leave chapter two of Our Love Story, I do have to mention something about the note Jeremy gave me that day, asking me out.

I have carried that note in my wallet from that day. after reading it I stuck it into my wallet and I never took it out and it has been with me since that day. It was the sweetest, most heartfelt, true love personified in written form, that touched my heart deeply.

I guess that is when I knew what true love was all about, and the love he had for me was more than evident. I read this a lot, and really have it memorized, but still pull it out and read it. On occasion when I am upset with him, I will read it, because it will put things into perspective and I realize that I do not need to sweat the small stuff! Here’s a picture of the letter…..so sweet!!

In 24 hours….

In the next 24 hours lots will be happening!  We will be at the airport getting ready to depart on our mission trip.  I am so sorry for the lack of updates on my blog, but honestly, it has been the busiest, most crazy week that I have had in a long time!

Speaking of crazy week, the devil has been having a blast, you know the “you are going a a mission trip and I am going to upset you anyway I can” kinda fun!  No worries here, we know that this next week, amazing things are going to happen!

Oh, by the way, I am an official twit!!  Yep, I thought I will update the trip through Twitter, so check it out!!  We’ll see how good it works!!

Just a few prayer requests:

We are arriving in the DR at 10pm and will then proceed to travel to the village we will be working in during the middle of the night.  Our travel arrangements have been very sketchy at best, but we do know that we will be finishing the last leg of the trip in the backs of pick-up trucks.  They told us it would be a rough ride. Please pray for our travel safety.  Most importantly, please pray for a peace to surround me like never before.  I am not a good traveler, especially in mountains in the back of a pick-up truck with someone else driving.  I will not even mention the plane trip, remember I don’t do planes…but I have happy pills from the doctor!  Yea for medication!!

Pray for Jeremy, he has the first time mission trip fears.  The unknown sometimes can be very scary.  Pray for his back and for no complications to happen and no pains at all.  we are just a bit apprehensive about his back, but are totally putting our faith in God’s hand that he will have no pain while we are there.  There are two others that are that have back problems and one is a teenager that just had a tumor removed from his back at the beginning of the year, please lift them up as well.

From the total mom perspective here, please pray for my children and my in-laws.  Jeremy’s parents are traveling from Florida today to stay with the kids.  We probably will not have cell reception and will be unreachable until we head into the city on Wednesday and as a mom, I worry so about something happening to my kids and not being able to know.  Jeremy or I have always been here with them, and this time we are both going, so I am a little on the uneasy side.  I trust Jeremy’s parents 100% and in an emergency situation, I am sure they would handle it much better than I would, but as a  mom I still worry!

I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us this week.  If for some miracle I can get a picture or two sent out on my phone, Jenny will post them for you to see what is going on while we are there!

Thanks for your prayers and I will try to update twitter as we travel….talk to you in when we get home!

(BFF, I will be thinking of you…maybe next year!)

The Love Story of Us

Rachel @ The Musing Of A Future Pastor’s Wife, is running this awesome carnival of Meetings, Marriages & Memories.  Hope on over to her site and read more love stories of  others!

~Chapter One~

Oh where to begin, The Love Story of Us, is a magical story of two love struck teenagers that feel madly in love at first sight. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and little butterflies fluttered all around us as our eyes met for the first time….NOT!  Starting a story is always the hardest part!!  I think I will break our Love Story into two or three parts.  That way your poor eyeballs will not pop out of your head from reading all the gooey mushiness about us!!

Jeremy and I met in high school, Middleburg High School, the home of the Broncos class of 1990, to be exact!  If I recall the first time I met him we were both towards the end of our 10th grade year.  We had mutual friends in band.  I was in the Flag Corps, Jeremy played the horn.  We really never had crossed paths even though we were both in the marching band.  Opposite ends of the spectrum, I suppose.

LaDonna was my running mate at the time, we lived down the road from each other and she rode to school with me everyday.  Actually we stayed in lots of trouble it seems because we rode to school together everyday, besides the point.  Jeremy on the other hand, rode to school each day with Gloria, my soon to be best friend.  Those two were the good doer’s and seemed to stay out of trouble.  LaDonna and I would sway them to the dark side eventually!  HA!  Again, whole other story!

I lived in the country, Jeremy lived in the city, opposite ends of the world it seems and our high school was smack in the middle of both our homes.  I do not recall the very first meeting we had, but I think it was in the hallways.  I also think that was the first time I meet Gloria and if you will, I am pretty sure that was the first time all four of us were together and that begins a very rocky road of a friendship of four.  We all couldn't seem to get along at the same time.  There was always drama and Jeremy and I were always fighting about something!

I guess the Love Story of Us, is the classic romance novel, where boys meets girl, and girl likes bad boys with attitudes, not the straight laced kind of guys like Jeremy!  Isn’t that how romance novels go? 

Jeremy will say he was in love with me at first sight.  To this day he says we loves me more, but actually, he just loved me first.  He knew that day we met that we would be together, forever.  My thoughts when we first met was not his.  I guess to explain our love story you will need to know our personalities to understand the full just of our beginning.  I suppose we will start with me first….

I was a girl that did as little as possible to get by in school.  I hated going and seemed to get into trouble from time to time, like everyday.  I despised authority and hated to be told to do something  I could of made great grades, but didn't because I would not do homework because, it simply cramped my style.  I aced tests, and therefore I would pass the class.  My favorite class was English and I excelled in that class only.  The others, were just a necessary evil that had to be done.

In my senior year, I took two band classes and a music theory class along with the staples to get a diploma.  I was such the high achiever in those days!  I partied, rolled in late everyday to school and skipped most afternoons of school, again not the model student!  I did attend church every time the doors were opened and was very active in my youth group.  I totally lived a double standard life and rarely got caught and/or was in trouble with my parents.  I think school brought out the worse in me!!

Jeremy on the other hand was the model student.  Made great grades, did his homework each and every day and extra credit whenever he could.  I think I can count one hand the days he was late to school and I am sure he was late because Gloria made him late, not because of his own doings!!  (Sorry Gloria)

Jeremy’s senior year, he had an English class and a study hall.  He left everyday at 3rd period and went to work at Prudential.  He was responsible, had a job, a car that he brought and paid for, and basically had a plan for his life unlike myself.  Jeremy was very close to his family and every chance he would get, he would be ether at his Granny’s house or in Georgia at his Aunt’s &  Uncle’s house.

So how did two polar opposites ever get together to begin their love story?  Find out in Chapter Two (July 13th), the first date….

Our Wedding Album

Rach @ In His Hands, is hosting this awesome carnival, and of course I look for any excuse to show my used-to-be skinny self my wedding photos!! My Hubby and I were married on May 4, 1991 and this year celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary! Before you take a peek, scanned pictures are not the best, but I did my best….Welcome to our garden wedding!!

This is one of my hubby and me right after the wedding.

Jeremy & Castillo the family dog, he wanted to be in all the pictures and finally had to be locked in the house for a few of them, so we could have a dog free photo!

The first of these pictures are of Jeremy and his sisters, Jenny & Amy. The next one is my bother, Chuck and me and the last is another of Jeremy’s sisters.

Here is Mike, Jeremy's Best Man, and LaDonna, my Maid of Honor….both of them are so much alike and didn’t like having to be in the wedding, but because they loved us so, they suffered though it. In just about all the pictures, either they didn't smile or their eyes were closed….we have seen happier prison photos!!

Right before getting married.

Right after getting married!

Getting ready to leave….

This was our last photo, and one of my favorites even though Jeremy’s eyes were closed.