Our Grown-Up "First"

Something really new and exciting has been happening in our life together here lately...

We're renovating our house!

Well, I think you would call it renovating. We're updating some things in need of updating before we move in (Brandon moving there in July and myself in September when we are married). 


So far we've cleaned a lot, pulled up carpet (with a lot of help from our amazing friends Cameron and Jacqueline), Brandon has done tons of outside work, and we have bought our very first piece of furniture!


Now I'm a sap for sentimental things, and to me, this couch is a huge moment in our little families development. I can't say enough about it... this was our first purchase for our house that is bigger than a light bulb or some Windex, which naturally makes it HUGE.

It's an amazing couch. No, not just a couch. It is a retro-vintage beautiful piece of furniture that all of our house guests will get to enjoy.

(This is the beautiful print on the couch.)

I'm sure some of you are no cringing at the print, the colors, and the idea of this as a center piece of a living room.... but I'm madly in love with it.

When we first saw it, I "eek'd" out of excitement and HAD to sit on it. It was SO beyond comfortable. It looks like a couch from the 70s made over, which fits perfect in our house since it's naturally a pleasant 1980's orange and cream color on the outside. ;)

I'm in LOVE with retro and antique things. I love watching American Pickers and Pawn Stars and seeing all of the amazing things that people collect, and the amazing treasures that most people don't even realize they have. When we do build our own house one day, Brandon and I have already planned to have a Vintage-Antique-Retro room full of do-dads and what-nots we find places or already have that are old and from a very different time from ours and deserve to be respected and outside of a cardboard box. I think that's a big reason I fell so in love with this couch. It was so perfectly vintage and retro looking, and was an amazing piece to put together a living room around.

Brandon wasn't exactly thrilled with the couch at first. It took everything short of wrestling him down to get him to just sit on it. He sat down, and I could tell then he was surprised at how comfortable it was. He then got up, and started lifting cushions and checking out every little nook and cranny. He even picked up one whole side of the couch off the ground to thoroughly look at the legs, bottom fabric, and for any other things underneath. I begged that it was "fate" because it was officially 100 days until our wedding, and that it would match the living room and the rest of our house perfectly... after some careful consideration, he was sold.

After paying and making arrangements to later come pick it up with Brandon's truck, I thought about the future of this couch. I thought about the family and friends we would have over to our house to entertain or cook for who would sit on this couch, I thought about the laughter that would take place on it, the talking, the bonding. I thought about hosting a family member or friend overnight who would use this couch as their bed. I thought about coming home after a long day of work and crashing beside the love of my life on this couch.  I thought about when we would figure out who's "side" was who's and then get in play fights over sitting in the other person's place. I thought about  the day when two  more little feet would join mine and his dangling from this couch. I thought about how with those two little feet, spilled drinks and food were also to come for this couch. I thought about how if we had a daughter, she may want it in her own bedroom one day to have her friends over to come and laugh and play on this couch. I thought about the holes that may wear in this couch over time, and how we will work hard to keep it in the shape it's in. I thought about the repairs it may need over the years. I thought about Brandon and I, old and gray, sitting on this couch thinking about how far we've come and of all the memories made on and around the couch and about how special it is just because it was first and it was ours.

At one point, Brandon and I sat across from each other on the couch and we just sat in silence for a minute. What he was thinking, I don't know... but he looked at me and gave me one of his smiles- a challenging, playful, side-ways grin that is all Brandon- and I laughed and felt a flutter of absolute joy in my heart. He shook his head and laughed and sighed, and I joined him. Nothing else needed to be said... the couch was simply ours- and just like that, before we even got to take the couch home, I had another moment where I got to fall that much more in love with Brandon... another first, but this time, a first for this couch. 

So... this crazy-original-full of personality couch is so much more than just a couch. To our family, it's our very first "first" of about a billion more to come, and is sitting in our home ready to be a part of ten million memories that are just shortly on their way!

With a Comfortable New Place to Sit and 99 Days Left til We're Man and Wife,

Jordo

An Amazing Adventure Coming to a Close...

In the fall of 2009, I embarked on a journey (along with my Roomie :P) that has undoubtedly changed my life forever. I have had more adventures and fun in the past 3 years than should ever be legally allowed (haha!) and that's all because I chose to come to GWU. This is my last day here on campus sitting in a classroom, and it's surreal. I can't believe how fast this time has flown by. I've been thinking up so many memories from the past 3 years...

I remember moving in Freshman year and being scared to death with Jessica (thankfully) by my side. I remember going to football games and sitting alone there for a little while, and coming back to the dorm to run laps while everyone was still at the game. I remember pranking Kara freshman year, and bonding with everyone over our next plan to trick her. I remember getting yelled at/fussed at/called down by Megan many times and quickly earning trouble maker status for nothing more than having fun. I remember going to The Kennel for late night food and sitting in the big comfy chairs near the karaoke machine playing Backstreet Boys. I remember long night talks about anything and everything with Rooms. I remember laughing so hard I spit a whole bottle of water onto the floor of our room. I remember blut-sag and the 2+ hours it took Ryan to figure that one out! Hahaha I remember re-arranging our room every 2 weeks just for the fun of it. I remember crying over nursing classes when the stress was too much to take. I remember basketball games and football games with the girls. I remember the (awful for me) club trips to Charlotte. I remember birthdays and decorating doors. I remember going to dinner with all the girls and just loving hanging out with them. I remember creating the M2 "keeping it classy" crew and making our own episodes of "Cribs: Dorm Life". I remember falling up the stairs in the caf. I remember the few times the food has been awesome in the caf! Haha I remember getting the loft (or Jorr Cliff to match the Jez Cave), and then almost breaking through the wall. I remember Martha and her sweet letters and notes. I remember her mopping the carpet. I remember giving her Jessica's little vacuum cleaner thing. I remember her leaving. I remember getting in fights with the new RA. I remember Amelia getting written up for singing in the shower. I remember how mad we all were. I remember having clinicals and facing my fears of my own abilities. I remember finding out just how much I love nursing. I remember Alpine class. I remember having panic attacks half way up the tower. I remember singing Zac Brown with Lindsey all the way to and from class. I remember "naked shower parties" with everyone. I remember videos of everyone singing in the shower. I remember videos of stick sword fighting. I remember videos of teddy bear emergencies. I remember Christmas secret Santa's. I remember prank gifts. I remember finding out that feminine deodorant spray blows up plastic Christmas ornaments. I remember making Christmas ornaments with Rooms. I remember decorating our door pretty darn awesomely for contests. I remember helping Ryan with his proposal to Jessica. I remember her calling me after and me being so happy for her. I remember all the long nights, the funny talks, the serious talks, the heart to hearts, the Leedle's and the damnitttttts, I remember Amelia climbing in bed with Jessica that night during bed time stories. I remember Jessica's comment in front of me and Crystal that day where we couldn't do anything but say "what?!" and laugh, I remember getting to help Waziri with Allison, I remember making trips to Yams and stopping at Cook Out for Rooms, I remember Rooms coming around to liking Yams, I remember going to Ihop for 1/2 off nights, I remember recording all of us in the car singing horribly to all our favorite songs, I remember adventures to the river, I remember adventures with Rooms when we just drove and hoped we came out somewhere we recognized, I remember laughing til I cried on so many occasions and having the most amazing time with some amazing people. 

Now that my time living at G-Dubb is coming to an end, I look at this past year. I've had what is undoubtedly the hardest year of my life, but I have also had some amazing things happen in this past year. I got engaged to the most amazing man and I have come to absolutely love my chosen career and have gained much confidence in myself... but being at school this past year has been hard. Not because I didn't want to be at school, but mostly because of my family and the things that have happened to us all during this year. My family has been absolutely rocked to it's core in the past year and a half. I can't even begin to talk about it all, and I really don't want to, but we have been shaken in a way that has caused us to have to completely rebuild ourselves. Anyone who knows me knows that I am beyond close to my family... and it's been hard to be away from them in a time where we needed each other so much (and still really do). I felt like when I was at school I wasn't able to be a part of the re-construction of my family. I missed so much... and I wanted to be there and needed to be there, and I resented my time away more than ever when I lost my Nana. I looked back and wished I wouldn't have missed the time I did, even though I know she wanted me at school and wanted me to succeed. 

But I can honestly say I don't regret a thing about coming to Gardner-Webb. How could I ever? Even in the times where I was so exhausted emotionally and physically that I wanted to quit and come home for good, I thought about all of the great things that I have had here from the start. I have met some of the most incredible people and made some of the most amazing friends, most of them that I had the honor of living with for 3 years. It's so funny cause when I look back, I think of all the times I heard horror stories about neighbors and hall mates and RA's and everything... and that's what I was prepared to get. But I got the exact opposite. Some of the people I've met and come to love while being here at Gardner-Webb have taught me some huge life lessons. They've taught me to be passionate about what I love, goof off when ever I can, step out of my comfort zone, and live life in every moment because you never know which one will be your last. I've met graphic designers, nurses, teachers, singers, sign language professionals, future psychologists... and each one of them have a special place in my heart and a huge place in the course of my big journey of life. 


I'm sitting here in this Nursing class room for the last time today, and in my heart I'm so happy and anxious and scared and somewhat sad. Leaving here will be so bitter-sweet, but I know all good things must end, and we all have to move on and away at some point and time anyways... being here and going through the things I have in the past 3 years has shown me that I can be brave, strong, and I can always pick myself up by my boot-straps if life knocks me down (through a lot of prayer and love and support, of course!)


I wish I could go in to detail about every person who has touched my life while I've been here at Gardner-Webb, but there isn't a book long enough to hold that many pages. I just want to say thank you to all of my fellow Bull-Dogs for everything. For being there to share a shoulder for crying on, for being there to goof off with, and for just being such incredible and inspiring people.


Don't worry... I'll definitely be back to visit. :) Love you all. 


With Lots of Laughter and A Few Tears,
Jordo

Wedding Planning Adventure: Completed!

What better adventure to start off with on the new blog than the one that will begin mine and Brandon's life together as Husband and Wife? ;)

I've wanted to start a new blog for a while now to start recording some of mine and Brandon's adventures with our families, our friends, and with each other.

Nursing school is drawing to a close for me now in around a week and a half, so I'm hoping this Summer I will be able to post lots of blogs about "remodeling" our house, going on adventures to Pigeon Forge, Lake Hiwassee, and (hopefully) the beach sometime or other, and our day to day life together as we get ready for September and the rest of our lives...

Speaking of September, we're done with our actual wedding planning! :)

Brandon and I have bounced around between a lot of ideas for our wedding, and we have struggled a lot with finding something that suits who we are and what we want. We started out with the big-sha-bang church wedding. At first, this was a wonderful idea for our wedding, and it put us getting married at Brandon's church which means a lot to him and to me as I consider it my own church too. When our guest list quickly hit 300 to avoid hurting feelings, we decided that wasn't for us. Not only was I panicked about the stage fright I would have to endure having to walk down the aisle in front of so many people (I'm kinda a klutz, and being nervous makes it a LOT worse), but we realized we were getting away from what we really wanted our wedding to be about: Us and our amazing Love. When this idea got so big, we saw that it wouldn't be truly about us and that a lot of our day would have to be stressful and spent making sure everything was good for everyone else. It just simply wasn't us. We then moved on to our next idea... a destination wedding. We started out looking at Lake Lure for a Gazebo wedding that would have about 50 people. It was very hard to find those 50 people (when our previous guest list was having to be cut down SO much), and for $1000, a few hours with nothing but the venue just seemed like a rip off. We couldn't convince ourselves to do that, and we felt like this wouldn't be what we wanted. Our next stop was a cabin wedding in Pigeon Forge. We LOVED this idea. We were going to get married on a huge deck of a cabin where our families could stay for the weekend and enjoy a vacation and get-away as well as our wedding. We had plans for a bachelor party out on the strip for the Shades of the Past weekend, and a bachelorette party with pizza and Disney movies at the cabin. It seemed perfect. We had around 30 people planned for this, and it quickly snow-balled into around 60-70, which was no way manageable at this cabin. It seemed like no matter what we did it quickly got away from what we truly wanted: a small, intimate ceremony with the people who love us most in the world and who really wanted it to be about us. We were kinda at a loss for what to do...

Until we found the perfect solution. 

We cancelled the cabin we had reserved for the cabin wedding and down sized the wedding as small as we could possibly manage. We had talked a lot about eloping, but we really wanted our immediate families to be there. So... we had our solution and we started planning.

We're having our wedding on September 8th as we had originally planned but now in Gatlinburg Tennessee. We found a chapel that is rustic and enchanting and gorgeous and perfect for the two of us. We're having a private wedding that weekend with our immediate families only being his parents, my parents, my siblings, and his grandparents. We love the idea, and we feel like it perfectly matches who we are and what we wanted. We're going to go in to Gatlinburg Friday, stay Friday night, and have our wedding Saturday at 6:00 PM. Our wedding coordinator there at the chapel was amazing and so helpful with our planning. We're still getting to do all of the special wedding things we wanted to do for our ceremony like our own vows, a Unity Cross ceremony, and we get to have a Maid of Honor (Brenna of course!) and Best Man (Ronnie, Brandon's Dad) like we had wanted. 

Another wonderful thing about doing our wedding like this is that we will still get to celebrate our marriage with all the rest of our family and friends! On September 29th we're going to have a cook-out reception back at home where everyone can come and eat and play games and enjoy time together with Brandon and I and all of our family and friends. We're excited that we'll still get to share this time with everyone and get our actual ceremony the way that we wanted it to be from the beginning. :) We're still working on a place/time, but as soon as we know where this will take place, we'll update the wedding website and this blog to let everyone know. ;)

It feels so good to be at the end of planning for our wedding, and at the same time it makes us both all the more impatient for the big day to get here. We're so happy together, and so excited, and we both  just feel so extremely blessed that God sent us to each other when we needed each other most, and that we get to spend the rest of our lives with our best friend. We're ready for this big adventure to begin! :) 

With a Sigh of Relief and One amazing Wedding Chapel,
Jordo

For those wanting to check out the Chapel and our Wedding Website:

1. Official Chapel Website: www.logchapel.com

2. Chapel's Facebook Website (LOTS of pictures!): www.facebook.com/logchapel

3. Our Wedding Website: http://WestAndGodman.ourwedding.com