ENG 303- Narrative Piece

Imagine a place where clean water is unattainable. Imagine a place where any water is a two-mile walk there and back. Imagine a place with life on a dollar a day. Imagine a place where a mother goes to bed hungry because she puts her children’s hunger before her own. Imagine a place where a father begs for work just to bring home less than a dollar a day. Imagine a place where a child gets sick and all the parents can do is pray because there is no affordable doctor or even a doctor at all. I’ve been to that place.

Five years ago I took my first mission trip ever to Haiti. I was an 18-year-old high school graduate who knew no world outside of the US and could not even imagine the things I would see on my first trip to Haiti. I remember not wanting to go, and then once I was there I fell in love and left a piece of my heart in Haiti.

When I first arrived in Haiti, we traveled three hours in an air-conditioned bus. In that bus, I saw things I never even knew existed. I saw children begging, children un-clothed, and devastation everywhere. My heart was heavy, and I never felt guiltier for my own un-contentment in my life. That night we stayed in a hotel, before we left the next morning for a four hour drive in a “tap-tap” up the mountain to end at the mission in Seguin.

A “tap-tap” is the way of transportation in Haiti. It is a truck with benches on the back for seating. It is called a “tap-tap” because when passengers have reached their destination, they tap on the side of the truck so the driver knows they are ready to get off. We rode a tap-tap up a huge mountain, where several times I thought my life was over, because it was going to tip over. Haitians give a whole knew meaning to bad and dangerous driving.

As we went up the mountain heading farther and farther away from Port Au Prince, I saw poverty that was even worse than what I first saw. I initially thought when we landed in Port Au Prince that poverty could not get worse. But as we moved into rural areas, it did. We finally made it to the mission, where all the children in the village were so excited because they love when people come with RainCatchers.*

During my first trip in Haiti with RainCatchers, we made several raincatchers. Raincatchers are devices that take rain water, purify it, and then tunnel it in to a house into a 20 gallon barrel. Providing the people of Seguin with raincatchers has relieved the Haitians of some of the troubles of their lives. They no longer have to walk two to three miles just to get water that may or may not be clean.

I fell in love with the people of Haiti. I could not understand how they had so much joy, yet had nothing. It truly has made me think that less is more.  Upon my return to the US, I knew I would be back to Haiti. I did not know how and I did not know when, but I knew Haiti would forever be apart of my life and I would never forget how the people of Haiti changed me.

Since my very first trip to Haiti, I have been back about seven times. I have been back with RainCatchers. I also lived at a different mission, North West Haiti Christian Mission, for a month in 2009. After the earthquake of 2010, I was determined to do something to help. I went with Defy Thirst in March of 2010, following the earthquake of January. Then my dad and I decided we wanted to do something big to help the people of Haiti after the earthquake. With the help of my dad, my mom, RainCatchers, and SAPA we were able to raise of $60,000 towards earthquake relief. SAPA is the company my dad works for, and after we presented them with an idea for Haiti earthquake relief, they proposed that they would match dollar for dollar every donation they got from employees. With the money, we were able to build several houses for those in need. It was a great success.

Haiti is a beautiful country, with beautiful people. The people of Haiti will forever change me.  I may have served them a little, but they did more for me then I could ever do for them. I cannot wait for my next trip to Haiti, whenever that may be. 

God's changing my plans.

I've gone back and forth on whether or not to blog about this. I've prayed about it, I spoke with Dion about it. And I've come to the conclusion, that I don't have to hind behind it anymore. And maybe, just maybe, my story can help someone. So bare with me, it's a sensitive area of my life and my husband's.

When you get married, you start your life with your spouse, get your own place, and then start filling that place with little babies. And honestly, I have never wanted anything more than to have my own children. I have been maternal ever since my Mom bought me my first baby doll. I treat every child as if they were my own, and sometimes I truly think my nieces and nephews are my own a little too much. ;) So Dion and I decided we wanted to start to build our family.

If you know me, you know I'm a planner and a control freak. If I'm not in control, I just feel helpless. So, naturally, I wanted my babies to come when it fit in my schedule. I wanted to be pregnant by a certain time, so I would have a baby in the summer. Leaving me with one more year of school, because I wanted to have a newborn in my last year of school, rather than my first year of teaching. And I think this is where God began to laugh at me trying to plan every single ounce of my life.

So we tried and we tried, and no baby. We went to the doctor and had an atomic bomb dropped on our lives. I won't go into the details of why or who or what, but let's just say it will never be easy, natural or free for Dion and I to make a baby. This is something you are never prepared for, this isn't something they talk about in pre-martial counseling, and there is nothing that any one can say to you to make you feel better about it.

I'd say I've had a pretty great life. I've never had anyone close to me pass away, no sickness has ever fallen upon anyone in my family, so this was the worst thing that has ever happened to me. This is by far the hardest thing I have ever dealt with in my life and in my marriage.

I feel like I wanted to write this, because writing helps you get through things, and maybe I'll stop hearing the question "when are you guys going to have kids?" Trust me, if it were that easy, we would already have one! And I want people to realize how common issues with trying to get pregnant are. The more I've talked with people the more common it is, so if you are going through it, you are NOT alone.

I've also gone back and forth as to why this is happening to us. Most people doubt God's existence at all when terrible things happen, but that has not been the case with me. I've screamed at Him, cried to Him, and I still don't know why this is happening. Initially, I thought I was being punished, but then I thought why doesn't God care enough about us to fix this? I mean we all know He can. I've never doubted His existence, just His goodness. This is still something I'll struggle with day in and day out. I think part of God giving us this trial, is that it has brought us closer to Him. I pray more now than I probably ever have in my life. I am more thankful for every ounce of good in my life than I ever have been. I am thankful for days when I don't think about the struggle. And I am thankful for days that God is there when I can't get out of bed because it is all that I think about. I am thankful for my husband, even though this has been the hardest thing we've gone through he can still always make me laugh about it. So I know one day, we will have kids. But we will have kids the way God wants us to and when God wants us to. I'm not saying I'm so completely okay with that, and not struggling with it anymore, but I'm just saying I am not in control anymore. I'm going to have awful, horrible days when all I see are pregnant women and babies everywhere and I just want to stay in bed. But I am also going to have days when I am so thankful for tiny little things that Dion and my family do that get me through this.

Married Young: We get to grow up & grow old together.

Married Young: We get to grow up & grow old together.

If you married young chances are you have been asked one of these questions:

What is your rush, you have your whole life to get married?

You do realize you are leaving the party early by getting married so young?

Do you guys already have kids?

I seriously cannot count how many times my husband and I have heard these questions. When Dion and I got engaged, I was 22 and he was 20. We had people ask us to wait, and told us that we needed to finish school, become more established and that marriage could wait. Here is my problem with that, if Dion and I seriously waited until we had all our “ducks in a row” and had this perfect life formed and created before marriage, we very well could have been 45 years old by then. You are never ready for life, and life is never going to stop. Dion and I get to experience life together, we get to know the struggles of me finishing undergrad, working when I can, and him sacrificing putting off school to work full time. We get to build our life together, every struggle and sacrifice along the way. And also every victory, every moment where we both look at each other and think- hey, WE did that and we should be proud.

What is your rush, you have your whole life to be married?

My thoughts on this: you can never rush your own life. I suppose everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions, but that does not mean you need to voice your own opinions every time you have one. Some people want to be married as soon as they can, and there is not anything wrong with that. When Dion and I were dating before we got engaged, we consciously thought about the decision we were making to be engaged, and we had already decided that was the next step in our relationship. We got married because that is what we wanted to do. Why stay dating for years and years when we both wanted marriage? There is NO rush into your own life. Others may see it as rushing, but what you realize is that you have made this decision and it’s your life.

We’re not leaving the party; we’re living our party together.

In some people’s eyes we have completely done everything that they would never do. Get married in our early twenties and become committed to one person. We left every ugly, messy thing in our pasts and started our own lives together. I would not say that we are missing out on life by “leaving the party early.” Getting married does not mean you don’t have friends, or you don’t have fun. Although, I will say some friends do fade away because obviously your lifestyle changes when you get married, but that is the choice and decision we made. We still have fun, and we still do things separately. We are still individuals but we are also a couple. I don’t believe I left that party early, I just believe I got a great dance partner for the rest of the parties.

Do you guys have kids already?

This one is my favorite. It is SO completely sad that our society believes that most young couples have fallen into marriage because of some unplanned baby. It is also sad that some people do get married just because they ended up pregnant together. I respect those who put off marriage for a few years after the un-expected baby or the couples who just continue to date. Getting pregnant before your married does not mean you have to get married. And to answer this question, no we don’t have any kids. But we sure do plan to in the future!

Who’s Doing IT?!

Recently I asked my Facebook friends to comment on my status the age they were married at. 89% of the people who responded said that they had gotten married before the age of 25. Young marriage is becoming more and more common & I love that! Our generation tends to believe that we are still not adults into our twenties. Other generations have made us believe that, by saying “you’re too young to be married” “do you even know what you’re doing?” You are not too young to be married; the only thing requirement of marriage is that you realize you are making a LIFELONG commitment to that person. And that is something even 40 year olds do not realize today.

Growing up together

Marrying young, you get to experience the unique thing of growing up together. You get to figure out life together. Growing up is hard, why not do it with your best friend? Here’s what I figure, people change. People change in a year; people can change month to month. What you have to realize about the commitment of marriage is that through that change and growth you will be there and you are not going to check out. I firmly believe that many people get divorced because they argue their spouse just wasn’t who they were when they got married. Well, DUH! People grow, people change, and you just have to remember you made that commitment to stand by. I guess the perk of marrying young, is you go in expecting that change. I know in ten years Dion and I will not be the same people we were when we got married. And there is nothing wrong with that, growth is good. In ten years, we will have grown as a couple and as individuals.

Marrying young is not perfect, marrying ever is never perfect. We deal with things that 30 something newlyweds probably do not. We deal with the strain of me being in school, working here and there. We deal with a lot of things normal early 20 year olds probably are not even thinking about. But we get to deal with this stuff together. There are downs and ups to marrying young, but I am here to tell you that there are more ups! The best thing about marrying young, is that I got to bring in Dion’s 21^st birthday as his wife, the years in between and his 90^th birthday. I am happy I started my life with him so soon, that way I have less to fill him in on, he just gets to live it with me! J

“Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.”

1 Timothy 4:12

Power of Commitment

This is such a beautiful story. Things like this only happen with God.

We are family!

Family, it can mean several different things to any one person. It could mean love, hate, guilt, joy, laughter, pain, confusion. To me- family means being there. I adore my family. I adore each and every one of them and all their craziness. God gave each of these people to me as my life character list and I am going to share a little about each person with you today.

Husband- He is my rock. He is there to remind me that life is not always as hard and crazy as I can sometimes blow it up to be. He is my comic relief. That one person who can make me crack a smile when I want to ball my eyes out or punch a brick wall. He is the one who has to be reminded that sometimes things are serious and we do have to take them seriously. And I love him for each of those traits.

Mom- She is my best friend second to my husband. She is my constant. She is my warrior. She has been there to pick me up off the ground and to laugh nights away in the mountains of Haiti. She has always supported me, through every single one of my crazy ideas. She NEVER puts herself first, and sometimes we have to remind her that she needs too.

Sister 1- She is my third best friend (I am very lucky to have so many awesome best friends in my life). She is the optimistic, the one who believes against all odds we will all make it out just fine and not just fine, but better. She never answers her phone, but she knows exactly how to be there for you if you need her and exactly what to say. She is my younger sister, but I firmly believe she is my older sister.

Dad- He is the fixer. He believes that if it is broken, he can and he will fix it. We always call Dad when something is broken, whether that be our car or our hearts, Dad'll fix it, he always does. Dad is my motivator. He pushes me to be a better person. He is the prime example of becoming the Dad he wanted to be, despite the example of a Dad he had.

Brother- He is the calm one of the whole gang. He is the one you call when you are so far deep in crap you just want him to calm you down. (Which I did my junior year of high school) He is the guy that no matter the time between, he will always be the same caring, geniue guy who wouldn't leave you hanging no matter what.

Sister 2- She is my plus 1 sister. I gained her when my brother got married. She is the one I can relate to. She is the one who can dig through our messy pasts together and just be happy and proud of how far we both have come. She is an encourager. She will be there when you need her, and be there to just say how proud of you she is.

Brother 2- He is the prime goofball. I gained him when my sister got married. He has seen me at my worst, and seen me at my best. He can pull you out of a civil war where you just lost your leg, and make you feel like you're on top on the world. Your problems are never problems when you're hanging out with him, they're just a good story.

"What else is family if not a commitment to keep showing up?" -Glennon Melton

Why Should You Take A Mission Trip to Haiti.

This is my first piece of publication for my ENG 303 class. This is an informative piece directed to an audience who has ever considered a mission trip to Haiti, and ways to go about making that possible. 

5 Tips on helping others get through hard times...

5 Tips on helping others who are going through a tough time in their life:

1. When someone wants your advice, 9 times out of 10 they don't want your advice, they want love. Each time you hear, "I need some advice", think to yourself that the person is actually saying "I need some love". Which is almost always the case, in my own personal experience. When someone is going through something hard, they want to be loved and to be listened to. So LOVE & LISTEN.

2. Quit saying "It all happens for a reason".When someone is going through a hard time, the last thing they want to hear is that their situation is occurring for some unknown reason. The reason is never appreciated until after the fact. And by saying this to someone it makes them feel that their grief or sadness is un-important because you think it is happening for a reason.

3. Let them grieve. It could take one month, one year, or ten years, BUT let that person have their grief. Never rush someone through a hard time, and make them fear as if their grief is too extreme. You will never know exactly how something in someone's life may affect them. And even if the same thing has happened to you, all people are entitled to their own reactions to situations. 

4. Be there.When someone is going through a difficult time, they just want people to be there. Check up on them, they will want people to be there, but don't want to necessarily ask people to be there. If you are lucky enough (and obviously you are important to them!) to know what they are going through, that means they trusted a piece of them with you, so be there!

5. Never say "It could be worse." While this may be the case, that something worse could have happened, telling that to someone going through a struggle will not help. To them, this paining hard time, is the worst thing to them, in that moment. 

You would think some of these things would be a no brainer, but sometimes people say or do these things, maybe unconsciously. Just remember, you were that important to your friend/family member/person for them to confide in you! Just listen, love, and be there!! :) 

What if we stopped trying to pretend everything in our lives is perfect?

Recently I've been reading this book called Carry On, Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton. There have been SO many things that have stuck out to me in this book. (So make sure you go read it, it's awesome!) One of the first things that stuck out to me was when Glennon talks about how women are constantly painting a perfect picture of their lives to other women. Get real, we ALL do it. We want people to think our lives are perfect, and wouldn't want to give them the idea that something is wrong, or that we actually don't have it all together like we may seem.

I find this so true in my life. Sadly, I've done this. I talk to other people and just tell them and highlight the things going great in my life, when in reality there are double the amount of good things going wrong! So many times, I've covered up the bad things in my life, to others, and pointed out only the good things. There are two things this does- keeps our true feelings and problems inside therefore not dealing with them and makes other women feel like man, that girl has got it all together! When in reality neither of them do.

Glennon decides that she is going to "put down her armor, and weapons" and just show her real self to every person she meets. She states, they're either going to love it, or run from it, which will tell her who she really doesn't need in her life.

Women spend most of their time convincing people their own life is perfect and that everything is just great. Life is great and it can be, but we all have problems, we all have horrible things happen to us, things we can't deal with alone. And God didn't intend for us to deal with and go through life alone, God gave us that drive inside of us to be with people, to talk with people, to share life's joys and life's struggles with one another.

So I think I've decided I'm just going to tell my life how it is. I don't need to spend my life trying to convince people my life is perfect, my life is ANYTHING but perfect these days. I want more people in my life who choose to still share in my life, even though my life comes with joy and yes with it's fair share of struggles and trials. I challenge you to do the same! Life is better together.  

Marriage: Year 1

One Year Later

Mr. & Mrs. Diondray Sanders 

EST. 10.5.12

Well, technically Dion and I will celebrate our first year anniversary on October 5th, but I figured I will go ahead & write this blog post since we will be in and out out town the next few weeks.


Wow. One year. Seriously, where does the time go? First I'm engaged, and those 10 months of engagement just drag by because I was so excited to be Mrs. Dion Sanders, and then our perfect wedding day flies by and here we are with one year of marriage under our belts.

I can't and won't say that marriage has been easy, but marriage also is an amazing, crazy ride that you get to take with someone who chose to take it with you. Dion and I have been "together" for 3 years now. Dion and I always knew we'd get married, and half of my friends joked that we were pretty much married before the day we got married. We've always been glued to the hip, and honestly has always been our policy. My advice for future married couples, those dating, and those engaged is to get honest. You seriously cannot live a life with someone if you keep things from them. Dion and I know each other deepest and darkest secrets, and although our pasts are not pretty, we both accept them as they are. We still choose to love each other because we both know we wouldn't be who we are without them. So again, my advice is get honest with yourself and get honest with your spouse.

Marriage is can be hard, because even though it's just you and your spouse, it's also you, your family, your spouse and his family. It's definitely hard to make everyone happy, but we've learned that what comes first is us, and what we decides together determines what we do. The best advice my sister and my dad gave me on my wedding day was that Dion and I are now a family and our family comes first, and that nothing comes before or above us. Dion and I have learned that we can not always make everyone happy, and we will never be able to make everyone happy, but as long as we're doing what we decide as a family, the rest will fall in place. So some more advice, make your decisions as a couple.

Now, let's get to the fun of marriage. I absolutely love getting to come home every day to Dion. I love the way he can crack me up after an awful day, and how he reminds me not to take life so seriously. And how I remind him, he sometimes needs to take life a little more seriously. I cannot even express in words how opposite Dion and I are. He is loud, outgoing, funny, and loves to dance and just be silly. I am quiet unless I know you, I loathe dancing, and I am way to serious for my own good. I love good food, Dion would stick to McDonald's if I would let him. I will say that we both love a clean house. I sometimes joke to him, that the only reason he married me is because I scrub clean way too often. Then there are the few areas we are the same. We LOVE Vampire Diaries, he's probably embarrassed I'm saying that, we love going to the movies, and we love not leaving our couch on our days off together.

Marriage is not easy, it's work but it is so worth it. We both work at it, daily. That why I feel so many people get married and divorce. Their idea of marriage is roses and happiness, which IT IS, but it is also a choice. You have to choose to love, serve, and respect your spouse everyday. Dion and I have been through some trying times this year, but I wouldn't change it and I wouldn't go back in time and not be married to him. God brought us together, and with God and our work we will stay together. I am so grateful to have spent an entire year with the most amazing man and I am so grateful that God blessed me with this man. Happy 1 Year Sweet Man!

And I added a few wedding pics for the heck of it. :)

If I could write a letter to me.

Dear 16 year old self,

It's 23, almost 24 you! I'll start with telling you what you're doing and where you're at in life. You're a student at EKU majoring in Middle Grade Education and you are almost done! Yes, you're 23 and no you have not graduated yet, you just took a long route through. You went to 3 different colleges and changed your major 3 different times, and took off some semesters here and there to live in Haiti and some short term trips there as well. That trip your dad dragged you on to Haiti after your senior year changed your life forever! You also married a very handsome and wonderful man last October. He is great! So don't waste your time with any of those boys and remember that God has got Dion waiting for you! Surprisingly, you own a dog! I know you can't believe that! Your passion is kids, which you already know that because you've had a passion for kids since the moment your little sister was born. If I could tell you anything, it's that you need to realize who is most important to you. All those fights you've had and will have with your sister, Janelle, won't matter because we are BEST friends now and have been since the big move to Michigan. Michigan will be the hardest thing in your high school career, but I am here to tell you, that you made it through! Just know that everything falls into place in ways you didn't think God could do. Your parents will mean more to you than you ever know, so quit being so hateful to your parents. Your siblings will become your best friends, so stop arguing. You'll meet the man of your dreams when you're 20, so hold on! And although, at times you've been thinking God has left you, He didn't, He won't, and He hasn't yet.

LOVE,
Your 23 year old self

Dion's SURPRISE 21st!

So my awesome husband turned 21 last week, and Saturday night I threw him a surprise party. I know what you're all thinking..."he just turned 21?" "Wait, how old are you?" "Why'd you all get married so young?"

I will quickly address all those questions. Yes, I'm 23 and he just turned 21. Yes, I realize I "robbed the cradle." We got married because we love each other, and hey why wait? And no we do not have any children.

So now that is behind us, we can talk about Dion's awesome party- I had it at my parents house, where I got him to come to because I said we were dog-sitting while my parents went out of town. He said when he got there he knew something was up because I kept asking him when he was going to be there.

I was just impressed I lasted a whole 12 days before the party without telling him. I love surprising people but I also love telling them too early because I love to make people happy! One of my favorite things to do is make people feel important on their birthdays and I am so happy I was able to make Dion so happy!

We had a big cookie cake (which he only eats cookie cake) and THREE dozen Spalding donuts. Because he loves them and so does the rest of the state. (If you haven't had Spadling donuts you haven't lived.) And we also had 200 chicken wings from Indie's and if you haven't had chicken from Indie's, you also haven't lived.

Parties are awesome & I love hosting them! We had a great turn out and I had a lot of help from some awesome people. The next day, Dion even told me he had always wished for a surprise party & I'm glad we could all make that happen.

Questioning God

Lately I have been going through some really hard times in a certain area of my life. Dion and most of my family know exactly what it is, but for my blog, I'll just leave it un-spoken. During this time, I really have been so angry at God and really questioning God. I have gone through many stages during this time and thought I'd share.

At first I was so angry at God. I did not want to talk to Him, I did not want to even put Christian music on. In my opinion, I don't think there is anything wrong with being angry with God or questioning Him. We get angry with every relationship in our lives, why would our relationship with God be any different? We get angry with our spouses, families, and friends, and then we grow from that. If I never got angry with God or I never questioned Him, I honestly feel my relationship with Him would not grow.

I recently have been reading a lot of the book of Job. If there is one Bible character I can relate with lately, it's definitely Job. Job was pushed to the limit, at the hand of Satan, but at the time he blamed God. Which is exactly what I have been doing lately, and which is exactly what Satan wants. In chapter 7 of Job this verse has been me lately:

"I cannot keep from speaking. I must express my anguish. My bitter soul must complain." (Job 7:11)

All I have been wanting to do is blame someone, cry about it, or just shut God out. 

I need to realize that the circumstances in my life are not because God is punishing me or because God is cruel, I need to realize it's not God at all. It's not easy, and it won't be easy. There are going to be days when I question God and get angry with Him because of this trial. But I still need Him, because without Him, this certain circumstance will over take me. 

So for now, I'll just rest in this verse:

Isaiah 55:8-9

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says theLord.
    “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
⁹ For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so my ways are higher than your ways
    and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."

This song has been me lately! Thanks to my sis, Ciaara, for sending it to me!! (Just click the link)

Take Me to the King

Remembering Haiti

I remember the first time I went to Haiti. I was so overwhelmed, so puzzled that a country so poor was just 200 miles off the coast of Florida. My first trip to Haiti packed in so many emotions: envy, joy, sadness, anger. Envy of the joy these people could find amidst their recasting poverty. Joy that the people their gave me and all the little kids. Sadness that these people had to live the way they did. And anger that people allow this type of poverty to go on without doing anything about it. I've been to Haiti over 7 times now, and I've lived there for a longer period before as well. If you ever read Mountains Beyond Mountains it kind of goes through the stages of how Haiti makes you feel. 

At first you really want to fix it, you believe with all your heart you can change it. And to some extent you can. Then you just get fed up and realize its too much of a problem. I remember reading in one book about Haiti that there are two things people feel about Haiti, at first you feel you can fix the whole country and solve all the problems, then you realize it would be better to blow up the country (without the people there of course) and start from scratch. Which is how I felt at one point. There are so many problems that Haiti has, not that all countries don't, but you just can't simply fix it. 

Haiti will always have a place in my heart, and I will always try to go back and do what I can. I am thankful for the opportunities I've had to go there and see first hand what poverty is. As much poverty as that country has, I truly believe Haiti's people are some of the most fascinating, strong, and joyous people I have come across. Someone who can still smile, even though they haven't eaten in a few days or even weeks, that's the joy I envy. 

ENG 303

I have been using my blog my personal reasons in the past, but now I will be using my blog for my ENG 303 class. There will posts of my writing in this blog, so get ready for it! :)

My amazing parents!

Today I am wishing a very Happy 27th Anniversary to my wonderful parents! My parents are truly the best parents in the world, and I know I'm biased. I am so thankful Dion & I have such a phenomenal marriage to look up to. My parents' marriage is a real marriage, with real problems, with real trials, with real love, and with real commitment. As a child I saw my parents fight and argue, but I also saw them love without conditions and sometimes they even gross me out! We always tell them to get a room! I love the realness of my parents' marriage. Some people are firm on the belief that you do not fight in front of your children and I definitely disagree with this. I saw my parents fight but I also saw them passionately love each other. I am glad that I saw my parents fight, but that is real. There are some people who live in "la la land" and believe that when you are married you don't fight. This is not the case, and I've known that before I even met Dion. When you love someone, you argue, that's just a fact of life.

I love my parents, I love their marriage, and I love that they have always been honest and genuine in their marriage and in their relationship with my siblings and I. I can't wait to see what God holds for the next 27 years of their marriage!

God's timing is perfect...

I feel like I should already know how perfect God's timing is, however every time I am "waiting" on Him, I tend to forget this. When I was waiting on God to bring me my husband, I felt like I was waiting forever. I remember praying from the time I was in high school for my "future husband" and I also remember that I did not meet Dion for what seemed like a really long time. Although I know if I would have met Dion earlier or at the wrong time we probably would not be married now. And that is exactly how God's perfect timing works. God knew exactly at which point in my life Dion and I needed to meet so we would end up marrying each other.

As I now am struggling with waiting for something else in my life, that I will leave unsaid for now, I find myself once again questioning God's timing. I need to remind myself how perfect the time was when Dion and I met, and how that was all made possible by God. I need to remind myself that God knows what He is doing, even when I doubt Him. (Yes people, Christians too doubt God) We live in a world of instant gratification so it is sometimes hard to wait on Him. We want everything now and exactly the way we want it. So for now, I'll just wait and keep trusting that He knows what He is doing, after all He has known was He was doing with my whole life thus far, He won't quit now. :)

We met George W!!!

While visiting our friends, Rob & Brittany Ross, in Dallas, TX last week we bumped into George W. Bush. I have never been more star struck. Meeting celebrities is cool, meeting former Presidents is awesome! Regardless of your political party, or if you liked George W or not, meeting him was too cool! It was definitely a once in a life time experience. I remember saying to him, "My mom wishes you were still the president!" And he replied "I am so glad I'm not!" haha- such a down to earth guy!

Marriage- month 8 :)

With our October wedding almost 9 months behind us- crazy it's been that long- we have journeyed through this crazy ride of marriage with many ups, but also some downs. I remember when we first got married, countless people telling me that the first year of marriage is the hardest. I don't have any other year to compare this year of marriage with, but I will tell you we had our trials. But we also have had so many great times.

The weirdest part of marriage- and also the best- is waking up every morning and knowing that this man is going to be there every morning until the day I die. It blows my mind to think that he choses me day after day. Because after all love is a choice, because if it just is an emotion it becomes a fleeting emotion. So day in and day out, we both CHOSE to love each other. Not because we have to, but because we want to.

Life has its trials and has its challenges, but there is not one person in this world I'd rather face those trials and challenges with other than Dion. I cannot wait to see what the rest of our lives hold, and where God takes us. I am so happy that God handpicked Dion for me, and me for Dion.