Him...

I'm in love with this guy...

Ya Him.

He makes my heart swell with love.

I'm so thankful we can work together on our marriage.

I'm so thankful we can walk this journey together.

I love being married to him!

Father,
I said till
Death do us part
I want to mean it
With all of my heart
Help me to love you
More than I love him
Then I know I can
Love him more
Than anyone else
And bring him in
Your presence today
Make him what
You want him to be

Keep Falling In Love

In this new phase of our lives, I want to intentionally build habits that will strengthen our marriage and keep the passion alive. I've found some great ideas at the following links, and I'm going to be implementing them immediately.

25 ways to communicate respect to your husband / 25 ways to show your wife you love her

100 ways to make your marriage rock

30 day husband encouragement challenge

That's How We Celebrate!

We took a couple days to celebrate our one year anniversary!

Friday July 27 we enjoyed dinner at Montana Club, 

partially paid for by the gift card Jason won through his golf tournament!

Saturday July 28 began with an early morning tee time for Jason at the Ranch Club Golf Course, compliments of me! I joined him in the cart and we had a good time. The course is very pretty!

We continued that day with a shopping trip for a new vacuum, which left us with extra cash to spend since we found one for a better deal than the one we returned. I also got to shop for some sandals, which was my gift from Jason.

After a couple hours at the river to cool off and relax, we headed downtown to enjoy another dinner. We had planned on going to this new restaurant downtown, but when we got there realized it was not at all what we expected and quickly left. We chose the Silk Road instead, classy cuisine from all over Europe! We enjoyed a multi-course meal, all very delicious!

Monday July 30 was our actual anniversary, and we enjoyed a homemade dinner with Jason's parents. Jason also surprised me at work with a pair of Toms! And I gave him the gifts I had made for him (blogged about earlier).

End of Chapter One

Here we are already a week into chapter 2 of forever! It's amazing how time flies and how many things can happen in one year! Our first year of marriage looked like this:

Wedding Day -- July 30, 2011

We thoroughly enjoyed our wedding day! It was so special and for the most part exactly what we wanted!

Honeymoon -- Maui!

We played mini-golf on a glow-in-the-dark course! That was fun!

And more mini golf at a beautiful tropical course!

 Can't beat watching Hawaiian sunsets!

And it was super fun to grill on the rooftop!

We also got to visit an aquarium, shop, eat out, relax, take surfing lessons, and snorkel at Molokini. Jason planned our destination, what a great surprise!

Livin in LaGrange, WY -- August 2011 - May 2012

We were in La Grange WY because Jason was completing his last year of at Frontier School of the Bible. I worked in Nebraska (90 miles round trip) at a vet clinic during our time here. He graduated May 11! It was so good to finally not be long distance for college and to experience it all together!

Our first Christmas as Mr. & Mrs...some spent in Montana and some in Michigan.

In March we led a missions group from Frontier School of the Bible -- serving the lost and our fellow believers in Missoula.

In April there was Jason's senior banquet...

And also in April a mini-getaway to Westminster CO!

While there Jason ran his first major 5k race and I ran a half-marathon with my friend Jilanne. 

We also enjoyed a day of shopping and playing (including mini-golf again!)

Our first Easter as Mr. & Mrs...

And our first visit as Mr. & Mrs. to Las Vegas, NV, our soon-to-be home!

Our first half-marathon together! 

The Missoula Half-marathon on July 8, 2012.

And our second half marathon together...only 13 days after the first! 

The Buffalo Run in St. Ignatius on July 17, 2012.

Our first year of marriage has been wonderful. Not perfect, not without lessons and learning, but still wonderful. In some ways marriage has been different than I expected, mostly because of naive misconceptions about the reality of marriage. Overall though, marriage has been better than I expected! I absolutely love being married to Jason Paul Koemans!

"For better or for worse are so much more than only words...and I pray every day will be the proof that I mean what I say when I say, 'I do'"

Celebrate the Differences

Jason and I are very different in many ways. Most of the ways make me smile. Some of the ways I appreciate a lot. And there might be one or two ways that could be frustrating if I let them.

This last week I've been compiling a list of these differences, just for fun!

I always leave the switch on the overhead light in my car in the middle position so that the light turns on when my door is open and off when it shuts. I know when Jason drives my car, because the switch is always moved to the "off" position because he doesn't trust it to actually turn off when the doors shut. This makes me smile.

I rarely turn the air completely "off" in my car. I just adjust the temperature and/or fan settings to get the car comfortable. He turns the air completely off a lot. This makes me smile.

At dinner Jason eats one thing at a time and gets overwhelmed if I say things like, "Hey, are you gonna have some oven fries too??" I like to put a little of everything on my plate and eat a few bites of each thing here and there. This makes me smile.

I season my food while it's cooking and rarely add anything else once it's on the table. Jason needs salt and pepper on every meal and Worcestershire sauce on every piece of meat, no matter what other seasonings are on it. This makes me smile.

I like to plan ahead. Jason likes to be spontaneous and gets stressed if I try to plan too much too far ahead. This can be frustrating at moments, but we are learning to work together.

When Jason does the dishes, he puts them away as he goes. I leave them out on the counter to dry. I really appreciate that he puts them away right away, it makes the kitchen so much cleaner!

Jason is good a driving in the morning without falling asleep. I have a really hard time staying awake unless I get the perfect amount of sleep. I appreciate his ability to be a safe driver!

Jason hardly ever goes above the speed limit. I like to go 5 above most of the time. I appreciate his conviction of obeying the law exactly (and not getting a speeding ticket!)

I know there are more, and maybe I will add to the list later! I have found that our differences usually compliment each other or just give me something to smile about.

A Forever Kinda Love

"Marriage is a taste of heaven on earth"

Eric & Leslie Ludy

Being married to Jason is the best! God has blessed me and us so much. I can't believe I married such a handsome and wonderful, godly man. We have all the furniture we need, all the appliances and dishes and decorations. We have groceries. I have a job. Jason has a job. We have a great job and a forever love. We are so blessed!

Our wedding day was absolutely perfect! I loved every minute of it! And the whole week was definitely the second best week of my life, like I hoped! I will post pictures of it all soon, but I can't get on the internet much and my laptop won't get on at all, I'm using Jason's. Plus I don't have our wedding pictures yet, although I can offer you a sneak peak!

This is a summary of our wedding week and all the days since, when you haven't heard from me:

Monday, July 25: My best friend Monica arrived to town, so she did errands with me and we got to talk and hang out.

Wednesday, July 27: Spa night with my bridesmaids and friends. This night was a blast! Mel, one of my close college friends, and Kate, my college roommates, arrived for the party. I got to be with Hannah, Monica, and Heidi too! My good friend from work, Britten, who is a rockstar at painting nails came to do the bridesmaids and Mel's nails. Another lady I work with, Brandi, did a MaryKay spa treatment on our feet! Kate, Mel, Josie and I spent the night in my room, which was a lot of fun!

Thursday, July 28: My grandmom hosted a beautiful bridal breakfast at the Ranch Club for us! The food was soo delicious, the view was spectacular, and the fellowship will be cherished! This was also the first day we could be at Butler Creek Lodge, our wedding site. So we moved a bunch of stuff up there, started setting up rentals and other stuff. Thursday night the girls spoiled me with a lovely Bachelorette Party! Meaghan and Kate Gillett were there too, it was so good to all be together!

Friday, July 29: This was more setting up at Butler Creek! Jason and I were able to steal away for quiet moments at the creek or walking down the road. The rehearsal and dinner was a good time. Most of our family arrived in time for dinner and we got to spend time with them. My college friends Courtney, Amy, and Jen arrived after dinner and we spent the evening as a big group of girls hanging out in the loft of the Lodge! I love all my friends so much! Heidi, Josie and I slept in a queen bed together. I didn't get much sleep, but it was worth it to spend the night with my sisters!

Saturday, July 30: Was THE BIG DAY! The girls and I went to get our hair done in town at Burtons. We got there super early so I bought us all coffee at Florence Coffee Co and we went to Ft Missoula for a bit. Burtons did a marvelous job on our hair! We all looked soo pretty! Once we got back we all got ready with our dresses and make-up. Then there were pictures and lots of hanging out and laughing. Our bridal party was the absolute best! Our ceremony started a little after 3. From here on out you will have to wait until I post the pictures with the details of everything else that happened! =) For our wedding night we went to a secret location that held special memories for us.

Monday, August 1: We arrived back in Missoula and opened gifts. We also just hung out with my family and went to Mackenzie River pizza. We stayed the night at Red Lion on Broadway, because in the morning we were flying to....MAUI!!

Monday, August 8: At midnight my mom picked us back up from the airport and we spent the night in a TWIN bed at my house!

The rest of the week was spent with our families, playing baseball with Josie, and shopping and packing for WYOMING! Heidi got back from Germany on Friday, so we spent some time with her too.

Saturday, August 13: Jason in his Honda led my mom in her Yukon plus trailer and me in my Ford on the 13 hour drive to La Grange, Wyoming! We did stop at Goodwill in Billings, that's why it took a couple extra hours.

My mom stayed till Tuesday morning and we all worked hard to clean, unpack, and set up our new apartment! We have a cute apartment on campus, an 8-plex with 7 other married couples/families (Yes, half of them have kids/babies!) as neighbors. Our apartment has two bedrooms, a kitchen/laundry room, a dining/living room, and one and a half bathrooms. It's perfect too! All our furniture is from Jason's mom...either her old stuff, her mom's stuff, or garage sale stuff. The only thing Jason and I paid for is our desk, which was like $15 at an auction! We are soo blessed!

Jason started classes and work at a ranch yesterday. I started work yesterday as a veterinary assistant at a vet clinic that is about 47 miles away in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Yes, the drive is long, but the job is a blessing. I will work 40 hours in 4 days, then get three days off, although I will work every other weekend.

We are loving married life and aiming to keep Christ the center so that our love will be the forever kind.

I will post more about each event mentioned above, including adding pictures, as I can. It's a bit tricky with working so much and with our internet being sketchy, but I will get it done eventually!

For Better or Worse

I am so excited and at peace about marrying my best friend Jason Koemans and for spending the rest of my life with him! I know without a shadow of a doubt that Jason is the one God picked just for me. He is perfect for me. And he is so wonderful. I know that for better or worse, he will always love me and be by my side. How do I know this? Many many examples...but one specific one happened over the course of the last three days of this week.

You see, on Wednesday, Jason and I could not get on the same page about anything. Due to both of us being very tired and not seeing much of each other this week, we let down our guard and that's where small, simple things turned into big, complicated things and caused conflict. Needless to say this carried into Thursday as well. Talking things over by phone and text only wasn't helping either. Neither one of us made big efforts to respect or love each other, although small glimpses kept coming through. Yes, you would call this conflict. But to clarify, it was not a fight...no name calling, screaming, etc. Just lots of miscommunication, frustration, rash statements, and tears (on my part). But hey, these things are part of life...part of "what lovers do."*

Finally late Thursday night, we finally got to see each other. We held hands and talked it all out, face to face. (Solving conflict is much easier when you're together and can hold hands!) It was really rather simple to resolve! We both acknowledged how we'd wronged each other and apologized specifically for what we had done. We then talked about how to learn and grow from this. We are working on the love-respect cycle. Jason has to show love to me, even in conflict, and I have to show respect to him, even in conflict.

Now why does this situation of conflict let me know that Jason will be there for better or worse? Well, I would put conflict on the "worse" side of the line. But at the end of our conflicts (which are few, by the way), things are always better than before the conflict. None of our conflicts have torn us apart or left things damaged. I always find myself more in love with Jason and even closer to him after a conflict. We both are taking active steps to learn the best ways to resolve conflict and to stay loving and respectful in conflict.

Conflict is part of life and marriage. It's how you handle conflict that makes it "good" or "bad." I know that there is no one else on earth that I want to battle these conflicts and "for worse" with. Jason will always fight for me and for us, and his heart has the best intentions. We are both imperfect people, and we must learn how to live and love inspite of our mistakes. I don't fear mistakes or conflict within our relationship, because he is loving and forgiving, and we learn together.

Jason Paul Koemans, I promise to love you for better or worse. And I promise to work on respecting you, even in "the worse." I love you more than ever before.

*a line from my favorite song, "Crazy Girl"

Early Changes

Ok you might have noticed that this blog is now "published" by LC_Koemans. And you might be saying something like, "Now Lauren, isn't it a little early to be changing your last name?" But this is what happened. Someone hacked into my gmail (email) and so I just wanted to get rid of that account. Jason and I were planning on have a joint email anyway, so we both thought I could just switch to our joint email. So I have a new email (but it's still linked to get mail from my old one! YES! I'll email you the new one too) with my new "soon-to-be" last name!!!! It's kinda fun!! Because I changed my email account, I had to change my whole gmail account, which includes this blog!!

Also, on side note, if you want to get an automatic email every time I post something, please comment and let me know!

Love and Marriage

"Marriage is not just spiritual communion and passionate embraces; marriage is also three meals a day, sharing the workload and remembering to carry out the trash." Joyce Brothers


"You can create love every day by acting in a loving way and not worrying about whether you are feeling loving." Ellen Kreidman


"Love never thinks in terms of 'how little' but always in terms of 'how much.' Love gives, love knows, and love lasts." Joni Erickson Tada


And finally, a love story that you better read!! It's so precious! I think they should make a movie out of it!!

The Art of a Good Marriage

excerpt from 

“The Art of a Good Marriage”

by Wilferd Arlan Peterson

"A good marriage must be created.

In marriage the "little" things are the big things.

It is never being too old to hold hands.

It is remembering to say, ”I love you" at least once a day.

It is never going to sleep angry.

It is having a mutual sense of values, and common objectives.

It is standing together and facing the world.

It is forming a circle that gathers in the whole family.

It is speaking words of appreciation, and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.

It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.

It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.

It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.

It is not only marrying the right person -- it is being the right partner."

Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts

"Love must be learned, and learned again and again; there is no end to it."

In Him All Things Hold Together

"A Christian marrige is [not] one without any problems or even a marriage with fewer problems... But it does mean a life in which two people are able to accept...and love each other in the midst of problems and fears...[and] without constantly trying to change [each other]-- because they realize personally that they have been accepted by Christ." Keith Miller