One, two, THREE day weekend!

When daddy heard I had a three day weekend, 

he requested a blog post a day...

Sorry, dad! ;)

One blog post at the end of it all 

will hopefully do just fine...

Friday night was girls night.

While Stephen was celebrating a classmate's birthday, 

four girls from the WWAMI program

and four wives 

(of four men in the WWAMI program)

got together do do what we do best...

Get dressed up, 

sip on caramel apple martinis, 

and talk, talk, talk for hours!

A fun night it was :)

So thankful Jackie put the evening together!

Saturday was a lazy day...

just what the doctor ordered :)

Stephen and I slept in, 

studied, baked, read, watched movies...

It was marvelous :)

Sunday was church day!

As always :)

And I think we found our church home!

It's a smaller community, 

similar to the church we attended in Corvallis,

it's called True North.

I'm really glad I had the day off 

to go with Stephen :)

After church I attempted an art project!

Another one I found on Pinterest :)

It was super easy and simple, 

only took a few minutes!

I had a plane white lampshade in our bedroom,

so I took a sharpie to it!

I wrote the lyrics to our wedding song on it.

Marry Me, by Train...good song :)

After, I cleaned our house from top to bottom.

We were having guests for dinner!

(Which took two hours to make! 

...I haven't quite perfected my skills in the kitchen.)

Aaron and Rosie came over to caesar salad with hard boiled eggs, homemade cheese breadsticks, and chicken and spinach stuffed shells. 

It was a process, but it was delicious :)

Then!

We carved pumpkins!

I've carved pumpkins a few times 

when I was little, 

but the last time I had was two years 

ago in the Delta Chi kitchen...

This was our first Facebook photo :)

Truth?

I quit my job that day 

so I could be there to carve 

that pumpkin with him.

And to think what might have 

happened if I hadn't...

I might not have been doing it again last night.

But I was :)

And I am forever grateful :)

The boys!

The girls!

My favorite part of the weekend, though?!

Getting to tell everyone we are having a NIECE!

Yup! 

My big sissy has a sweet baby girl in her tummy :)

On FaceTime in the doctor's office!

She loves me already :)

That baby sure is going to be loved :)

Not only does she have the greatest mommy,

she's got a pretty good aunt and uncle, too ;)

Happy Monday, all!

Hi to my mommy and daddy!

Miss you and love you always!

eleven.

In celebration of the 11th day of the month,

I am going to share our story.

Though I'm sure the only people who read our blog 

already know the story...

I'm going to bore you anyway.

Because it's a good story :)

Stephen and I met in dance class on October 1st.

It was the first week of school, 

on a Thursday, 

and the second day of dance class.

Thanks to his friend and roommate, Ben.

(Thanks, Ben!)

Ben had attended the first day, solo.

He came home and told Stephen,

"You need to join this class! 

There's a couple cute girls in it and there's not enough guys!"

(Something like that)

Reluctant to pay out of state tuition 

for a one credit dance class,

Stephen agreed to go the second day and try it out.

I was sitting on the bleachers with the rest of the class waiting for the instructor's direction when I saw them walk in from the corner of my eye.

He was tall.

He was blonde.

And he was going to be mine. 

As soon as Mr. Green told us to get up 

and get a partner,

I jumped off the bleachers, 

(I was sitting in the front row. There wasn't actually any jumping involved. I really just got off the bleachers quickly.)

turned around,

pointed right at Stephen,

and said, 

"wanna dance?!"

We only got to dance for a few minutes 

before we had to switch partners, 

but I continued to flirt with him 

from across the room. 

(Secretly laughing at the guy I was dancing with, googly eyes, the whole nine yards.) 

I was determined to talk to him again 

before we all left,

so I made sure I was walking out of the gym 

the same time he and his friend (Ben) were.

Turns out they were both heading home 

and their home was across the street from mine.

Crazy (convenient) coincidence.  

We parted ways and I walked into the Kappa house.

Not a minute later my phone was to my ear 

and my mom was on the other line.

"Mom! Today I met the boy I'm going to marry!"

She laughed. 

And, admittedly, I did a little, too.

But I knew, 

without a shadow of a doubt, 

that he was going to be mine.

I knew little about him.

He was extremely tall and extremely good looking.

(He was my ideal man, truly! Tall, blonde, blue eyes.)

He was a Delta Chi.

He was from Fairbanks, Alaska.

(Which I thought was crazy! I had never met anyone from Alaska!)

He wanted to be a doctor. 

And I was convinced he was a Democrat,

due to his "Eskimo" shirt with a peace sign, his skinny jeans, and patterned TOMS. 

(I was very wrong, indeed.)

I knew he was going to be mine

because he already was.

It was like he was made for me.

I knew it.

I felt it.

(It was about a year later I learned that this wasn't just my first encounter with Stephen, it was also my first encounter with God.)

Stephen, the gentleman that he is, walked me home from class every day for the rest of the year.

It took him nine days to ask for my phone number

(Nervously and awkwardly on the front steps 

of Kappas as he dropped me off)

And it took him eleven days to kiss me. 

Which is my favorite part of the story :)

It was the first time we'd hung out 

outside of dance class.

It was October 11th, a Sunday. 

There was a big sorority/fraternity 

celebration that day

and we'd spent the whole day together. 

It was getting late and Stephen started 

mentioning how he should get home. 

About every ten minutes or so 

he'd say he needed to leave, 

but then we'd just keep talking.

(About everything! I was so twitterpated!)

We finally made it out of the Kappa living room 

and onto the front porch,

where he continued to say he needed to leave,

but wouldn't actually leave.

I was getting cold, 

and truthfully, a little impatient. 

I could tell he wanted to kiss me.

And, yes! I wanted him to kiss me!

So I gave him an ultimatum.

I said,

"You can either kiss me goodnight like I know you want to, or you can turn around and walk home like you've said you were going to do for the last hour."

Needless to say his face turned every shade of red.

But he kissed me goodnight :)

We've been inseparable ever since!

It's been three months since our wedding day,

and the best two years of my life. 

<3

God gave me Stephen, and Stephen gave me God.

The two best decisions in my life.

I am forever grateful.

HOME.

HOME 

is where your HEART is

and where your HUSBAND is

and where your MOM is

or all of the above.

This weekend Stephen and I traveled 

up to Fairbanks to see our FAMILY!

(My most favorite way to spend my time)

On the plane!

We got in on Thursday night 

and my parents picked us up from the airport.

(which was weird, because they don't live there!)

We went straight to the church 

to help set up for the banquet,

then headed home for some much needed Zz's.

By Friday morning Jeff and Sherri 

(Stephen's parents) were back from New York.

The six of us spent a lazy morning 

eating breakfast and swapping stories. 

It was so awesome to have my parents 

there with us at their house!

Moose on the loose!

Once we were all awake and ready, 

we headed into town to see 

Jon and Steph and meet Triston!

Their little home is the cutest 

(Stephanie's an amazing decorator!) 

and their sweet little boy is PERFECT!

We spent most of the morning fighting 

over who got to hold him :) 

Loved getting to catch up with them, though! 

After, we dropped Stephen off at a coffee shop to study, Sherri had a class to teach, and the rest of us went to the church to finalize the set up. 

We all met back up for a yummy lunch at Guliver's 

(best wraps in town!)

Stephen, my parents, and I snuck into 

Sherri's 2:00 economics class and got to 

watch her teach for a bit :)

We've heard nothing short of her being an amazing professor and all we've heard was true! 

It was fun to see her at her podium :)

We ran a few more errands in town (including a trip to the UAF bookstore and a purchase of some sweet blue sweatpants) then headed back to the Wall's to get ready for the banquet!

...Which was amazing!

My mom's photos looked SO good displayed 

and everyone LOVED them!

The amazing photographer :)

The food was delicious (especially the desserts!), 

the entertainment was fun, 

and the speakers were amazing!

My mother included :)

She did such a good job 

(even despite her fear of public speaking!) 

Her stories were true and heartfelt.

I'm so proud of her for getting involved, going to Thailand and experiencing what she did, and sharing her story and motivating others to donate and get involved. 

Almost all her pictures were sold by the end of the night, and so much money was raised to support Partners. 

If you're interested at all 

in Partners and their cause, 

please read more on their website 

or on their Facebook page. 

Friday night ended in blue sweatpants, 

silly games, wine, laughs, and so much love :)

Saturday, my parents and I got to do 

a little exploring on the island.

(Stephen's parents own land (an island) on the Tanana river at the edge of their property. This is also where Jeff has cleared an airstrip for his plane...it seems like everyone in Alaska has a plane!)

It was a little chilly but a beautiful morning! 

The airstrip and the plane!

My cutest parents :)

Sad Stephen is inside studying :(

The backside of the island and the gorgeous view!

After our walk, while Jeff was getting the plane ready to take my parents out, the three of us went into town and had ourselves a little photoshoot on campus and a yummy lunch at LuLu's :)

Then, (and maybe my mom's favorite part of the trip!) 

my parents went flying!

My mom with Jeff Wall and my dad 

with Jeff Barney (Stephanie's daddy).

In her words, "It was SO fun!"

They both loved it :)

And how could they not?!

The view is amazing!

Daddy in the plane with the other Jeff!

When they got back the guests started to arrive!

We had a yummy dinner (thanks, Sherri!) and lots of good company :)

baby Triston :)

baby Emmett :)

Sunday was church day!

With the Sanders :)

My parents and I volunteered in the 

toddler room during the 9:00 service,

where my dad was a huge hit :)

A sweet little girl cried when her dad came in to get her, clung to my dad's neck and said she didn't want to leave! 

...I know Addison, I like him, too ;)

Oddny was speaking at church 

(an amazing woman dedicated to Partners who took my mom and sister into Burma. She's got some amazing stories to share, read her blog!)

Her talk was incredible, of course!, motivating us all to take a leap of faith.

Next was a yummy lunch of moose burgers 

at the Barney's house (Stephanie's parents). 

Everyone we love most was there to share in the afternoon, 

it was perfect :)

Stephen and Triston :)

My favorites :)

Grandpa and Grandma Wall!

The rest of the day included more studying for Stephen, a nap snuggled together with my parents, and a very tearful goodbye in the Fairbanks airport. 

My parents are on their way home to Pocatello 

and Stephen and I got home late last night. 

Though we don't know when we'll see them next, 

we are so grateful to have 

spent this weekend with them.

And with Stephen's parents, too!

The four of them are more than an inspiration to us. 

WE LOVE YOU!