Our First Dinner Together

Here is the only picture we took on our "wedding night" weekend. This is our first dinner as Mr. and Mrs. Koemans! From Sunday night.

Jason cooked the steak and I made potatoes and green beans! It was yummy!

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!

The Second Best Week of My Life

I know that a lot of brides are so stressed out they are miserable the week of the wedding. Or some brides have gone of the deep end and just want the wedding to be over with. I did not want to be "one of those" brides. Yes, I know that a lot of work is done this week, people are tired and tensions can be high. But I wanted to embrace it all. I wanted to make the best of it all - so that it was the second best week of my life (the honeymoon should be the best week). And so far it's working!!

Why is it working?

REASON #1: Prayer and time in the Word.

REASON #2: AWESOME HELPERS...

AWESOME HELPER #1 - MY MOM. She should be a wedding planner! Seriously! This wedding is coming together better than I thought it would...and it's largely up to her! She has worked on soo many projects, arranged soo many things, and given ton of her time and energy! I am so thankful for all she's done, and I know this week is going smoothly because of all the work she has done in the weeks before. She has...

Made our awesome favors (This is the sign I made to explain them).

Made our awesome pennant flags... And SO MUCH MORE!!

AWESOME HELPER #2 - My dad. He has surprised me with with the wedding planning business, because he's soo handy and soo willing! We need a dance floor...my dad says he'll build one and finds the wood for free!

We need ladder golf...and he whips not one, but TWO up.

We need hand painted signs...he finds legit barn wood AND offers to paint them!

He has done so much more too!

AWESOME HELPERS - OTHERS. There are TONS of other people who have helped in little or big ways, and everything is soo appreciated. Jason does his fair share, and he is planning ALL of our honeymoon so that I can be surprised! Lucy helped cut a bunch of fabric for us. Darlene made mints. Anna, Whitney, Karen, Rosemary & Corie are helping with decorating projects. Kylie is our day of coordinator...which is a big role. Kate is taking photos and videoing! Peter and Amanda are doing music and being the emcees. Stephanie is making and cutting the cake. The Heges are wonderful hosts to some of our guests, as well as helping on the actual wedding day. We have guys for a parking crew and guys for a tear down crew. Britten is painting our nails and Brandi is doing a spa night for the girls. My grandparents have helped with little projects and my grandma is hosting a bridal breakfast for us! The list goes on and on.

REASON #3: FOUR DAYS OF HAVING A GOOD TIME!!

Tonight kicks it all off... Tonight is a "spa night" for the girls and I. We our getting our nails painted, having snacks, and "pedi-soaks."

Thurdsay - bridal breakfast and my bachelorette!!

Friday - the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner!!

Saturday - THE WEDDING!!

It's all a blast! I'm soo excited and so thrilled to become Jason's wife!!

THE week

I love Jason. And it was meant to be! God even wrote it on this sandstone rock for me at the beach! (Yes, I just found the rock this way!!)

I'm still getting used to the idea that my wedding is within sight. It's not that I thought we wouldn't get married or anything. It's just that our wedding has always been so far off... Remember when I had a celebration cause our countdown was finally out of triple digits? Now I'm so close I could start counting the hours...which would be approximately 159. That's how close I am to taking on the married status, becoming a "Mrs.", being called a "wife", sharing a bed, paying bills, buying groceries, and cooking meals. And you know what? I'm crazy excited! It's going to be such an honor to be Mrs. Koemans, to be Jason's wife, and to share life with him. The thought of being a wife absolutely thrills me!

On a slight rabbit trail... My ring finger is kinda sad now, because I've gone back to wearing my old purity/promise ring - the matching band to Jason's. Now don't get me wrong, I love the meaning of my purity/promise ring, but I miss this pretty thing:

(Pretend my nail polish isn't chipping off...)

This beautiful ring is at the jewelry shop getting soldered with its gorgeous partner--the wedding band!! And in 159 hours Jason will place it on my finger as a symbol of forever--we will be soldered together!

This brings us back from the rabbit trail to the main topic-- I'm see my marriage to Jason as "limitless." Many people have been asking me questions like, "Lauren are you nervous?" or "Lauren are you ready for the big change in your life?" Yes, I wasn't born yesterday. I realize marriage is one of the biggest choices you make in your life and that it takes work. But I'm completely thrilled to be married and to work at it! I'm looking forward to these changes! These changes mean Jason doesn't go home at the end of the night. These changes mean I have the opportunity to love, bless, serve and satisfy Jason in a way that no other earthly person can. These changes mean we can embrace life together. These changes mean we can grow old together. The best is yet to be!

**All pictures by the great Mel Haidle, taken at Lincoln City beach in Oregon on a very fun trip with the distance girls! Someday I hope to post more of the pictures with the girls!

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"

Roll with the Punches

There's been a lot of that lately - just rolling with the punches... Or the other way I like to look at it is - there's nothing God can't handle.

This week, and especially Saturday, was one of those "just roll with it" kinda weeks. Early in the week we suddenly found out some interesting information from the managers at our wedding location. There were new fees, policies, and they seemed less than excited about the number (165) of our guest list, when previously they had seemed welcoming and willing. Um, hello!! 16 before the wedding is NOT a good time to surprise us! My mom and I were pretty anxious, but I was trying to just roll with it. We feared they were getting "cold feet" and might close the doors completely...but we tried not to think about it. My dad called, they didn't answer or call back. My dad emailed, they didn't email back. Then on Thursday night at 10pm, they finally called back. It was a quick phone call. He said everything was great, nothing was changed, everything was a go. WHAT?! How could it go from being so bad to perfectly fine?? I'm still not even sure, but I do know that nothing happens that God can't handle!

Then on Saturday I was supposed to get my nails done at 8am, run errands and go to the bank at 10am, get my hair done from 11-12, and be at my bridal photo shoot by 1pm. I get to the clinic, where Britten was gonna do my nails, and Heidi is also working as the second receptionist. Well the first receptionist is suddenly very sick and has to go to the hospital, leaving Heidi alone. I tried to pitch in a bit, but I had places to be, so I couldn't stay long. The clinic doesn't close till 12 on Saturdays, and Heidi was supposed to help me get ready for the photo shoot. Now being the only one, chances were slim she'd get out in time to help. On my way back to get my hair done I get a phone call from them moving my appointment back 15 minutes. So I just pop over to help Heidi again at the clinic. I also call and move my photo shoot back 30 mins because I know there is no way we will now get there one time. I finally head to get my hair done, and then go back to the clinic to help Heidi finish up. We scramble to go as fast as we can, rush home, lace up my dress and get in the car, already late for my moved back photo shoot. I put my make-up on in the car! Thankfully my photographer is gracious and the weather also cooperated (the hour and a half of my photo shoot was the nicest weather all day!) I had a blast, felt so pretty, and really felt like a "bride." Although a lot of things happened that day that could have been extremely stressful, I was telling Heidi how you have to stay positive and "just roll with it," since the only thing you can control is your reaction or attitude to circumstances. I actually enjoyed the day, even though it was crazy!

I'm thankful to God for being in control and for already blessing our marriage. I'm thankful to Heidi for being tough and rocking the receptionist roll AND the maid of honor roll! I'm thankful to Britten for doing my nails...they look so awesome! I'm thankful to Krista for doing my hair...her suggestions and adaptations made my "bride look" better than I ever pictured! And I'm thankful to Jess and Booba for the fun time taking pictures!

Less than two more weeks!!!

I Did It!

Yesterday at work it suddenly hit me...

I RAN A MARATHON!!!!!

The whole rest of the week I didn't really think much of it...it just seemed like a regular thing for me to do. But it's really quite a big deal!

Let me tell you, it was so.much.harder. than I thought it would be! I just had to keep telling myself - "You didn't come this far to give up!" My first 13 miles was great, although my legs were more tired than normal because I ran a lot faster than my training pace (8:20 min/miles compared to 9 min miles). Then right after the 13 mile mark you go up hill a bit. My legs were never the same after that! It was so painful. I was going so slow, because my legs wouldn't move any faster! I clocked one mile at 11 minutes!! I never run that slow!

But I didn't come that far to give up. The gummy bears at the Cafe Dolce aid station tasted so delicious. Once I got to Higgins St bridge with less than 300m left, I sprinted as fast as I could because I wanted to be done so bad!!

I did it! It took me 4 hours and 18 minutes, and I was 17 out of 22 in my age group. I might run one again, just because I need to be faster! Ha. We'll see. I'm still feeling the effects of those 26.2 miles...but each day it gets a little better!