I love it when...

...things don't always go the way they should you want them to.
Well. It's done. I am now, and have been for about 28 hours... 27 years old.
No, this is not a complaining blog. It's a thankful blog. Looking back when I was in high school I dreamed (like most girls I'm sure) that I would go to college, graduate in 4 years, marry my boyfriend of at least 2 of my college years, find a great job and live... happily.
Right now I am 27, starting my last semester of undergrad work after transferring 4 times in 9 years, and am looking at four months (and about $3,000) standing between me and walking down the aisle to say I do to the love of my life. Was it all worth it? In a word, yes.

1.Did I want to be done having kids by the time I was 30? yes.
Now... I'm hoping to have our first by then.
2.Did I want to graduate college in 4 years? Of course. (Who doesn't?)
Now... I am thankful that what I wanted initially didn't work out, because the education field is really NOT where it's at right now...
3.Did I want to marry my college boyfriend? Yes. What girl doesn't think/dream/hope about marrying their first love?
Now... I'm glad I didn't. Because even though we were good for each other... I know that God had someone else better planned for each of us. Like I was told (probably in high school): when you think of your perfect guy... God will blow him out of the water (figurative) if you just give Him a chance.

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in things that we don't really see what's going on around us, we only see whats in front of us.

Getting to be the most wonderfully worse time of year...

Confused?
I love Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year. I really do. Wonderful food, and sharing, just plain sharing with friends and family. Whether its sharing gifts or sharing time, taking time to get together with loved ones seems like it all clumps together at the end of every year.
Why is it that we do this when its the worst weather of the year? Don't get me wrong... snow makes my heart melt. But snow, ice, and freezing temperatures... makes me wish Christmas was in June...
I've been blessed to not have been involved in accidents in the past, but when you're driving down the road and feel the tires slip, and you can't do anything but pray...
That scares me.
Will I ever move away from the Great Lakes area? I sure hope not... I'd really even love more to move back north to Michigan 'home' but still... wish I had a snomobile sometimes ;) How do you feel about the weather and the holidays?

Be Blessed <><
Christina

I might lose it...

No. Really.

Everyday I am afraid of something ruining my wedding... for example: my band won't be able to play at my reception on my wedding day. But things like that don't really happen when you plan things out ahead of time, right? Well, not unless you're me... some days I feel like if it's not one thing, its another... but everything will workout according to plan. I just need to pray, trust in God, and leave it in His hands.

In other news, Christmas Kickoff went well, but was cut short. I hadn't been to the Lakeview Square Mall in quite a while. Started at Barnes and Noble until Ms Allison and her momma and Lucas got there... walked around the mall for a while and was quite saddened to see how much of the mall was empty. So we went to find dinner at Don Pablos, and headed home... me back to the Fort, and Al, Luke & her momma back to Lowell/Saranac. See, because its Widow's Weekend, Allison's husband was cleaning out and sighting guns (I think, since its too early to 'hunt') and while he was shooting, her sweet little shih tzu Toby ran away... scared, most likely, by the guns. Well, the men were searching for the pup, and had not found him after a few hours while we were shopping. After dinner we called it quits so Allison could get back to her mom's house and continue looking for her little guy. Allison, I hope you have found Toby already, I don't know that I could function if I lost Biggie... We're praying for his safe return home! oxoxoxo

House cleaning and Christmas prep tomorrow after church. Enjoy the rest of your weekends, stay warm and safe... and be extra cautious... Guns are going to start shooting Monday, and the deer are going to be running for their lives -- literally.

Blessings,
Christina

Deer Camp 2010: 3rd Annual Widows Weekend & Christmas Kickoff

So it begins.
Third time around.
Andrew's left for Deer Camp. "What's deer camp, and widow's weekend?" Well, I'll explain it how I understand it. November 16th is opening day for gun hunting. In Michigan, and/or the hunting world... this is a pretty big deal. I say Michigan because from the people I've met in Indiana no one knows these terms. Every year the weekend before or after (depending on when the 16th falls) multitudes of men leave their homes and spend time in tree stands and cabins in the woods. Anywhere from a 3day weekend to a week long vacation as far as I'm aware. I'm sure some go-getters stay out longer.

Deer Camp: Andrew has gone over many of the past years up north with his dad and a few friends of the family to a cabin (they rent the same one every year) its the ultimate "guy's weekend" and they hunt, play poker, they might even smoke a few cigars out in the middle of nowhere.
Widow's Weekend: Since so many wives are left at home alone, and there's like close to ZERO communication via cell phone in B.F.E. Nowhere, this same weekend is dubbed Widow's Weekend... and its strange that although I never see Andrew through the week I really really miss him... give it two or three days and I crack... call his mom to see how she's doing and if she's heard from them...

To stay busy I have started my Christmas endeavours this weekend, this being my third year of Christmas kickoff. The last two years I was able to spend Widow's Weekend in Grand Rapids with my friend Allison, since her husband Mike was also at Deer Camp with Allison's brother... but this year is a first for me to spend it alone. Tomorrow we are planning on meeting up and going shopping somewhere in the middle between Fort Wayne and Grand Rapids... probably somewhere around Battle Creek, which will be nice to see a different mall. Not sure what I'll be buying, but I'll figure it out as I go along... I'll keep updated over the weekend
Be blessed,
Christina

198!

First of all, I just want to put it out there... I am, by no means, good at this. I quite honestly forgot I had a blog for the last few months... SORRY! But I happened upon it today and realized that my last post was 304 days away from my wedding. It's been 106 days since then. Whoa! I don't know where the time's gone!

I've started another semester at IPFW and contracted senioritis... and a side case of wedding brain. It's pretty severe however I am not contagoius haha! Let me explain:
Senioritis: a severe lack of motivation that sometimes happens when one is so close to the end goal and at the same time so ready to be done already that they just. dont. care. It's pretty bad. Only made worse by Wedding Brain...
Wedding Brain: Well, in short, my wedding (what I like many other girls have dreamed about for 20 years) is coming up - did you see I've already lost 106 days! - This is the most important day of my life, and because of that, there is little else that I care about. I feel horrible for saying that. OF COURSE I care about other things... my fiance, family, friends, job, school... its just that I feel like my wedding takes up 70% of my thoughts right now, and it can only get worse until it gets here... I'm done for!

I might need to start writing about this... its therapeutic, right?
Blessings,
Christina

304

I have to tell you, I'm a little excited. Well, a little more than excited. 304 is the countdown until my wedding day. Yep, I have it down to the day, thanks to http://www.theknot.com/ for a great resource for budgeting, planning, etc... and I find myself checking it every week or so to see if there is anything new or exciting that I need to stay on top of. Giddy, is a word that I would use... or ecstatic. I've been in a few serious relationships, and I have always known that I wanted a great career, an amazing husband and wonderful children. The whole shebang, you know? Well... enter reality. The first two relationships I was in were good while they lasted, but for one reason or another they just weren't right. In that time frame [2002-2007], include a memorable year at Huntington College (now Huntington University), a year back home at Jackson Community College, most of a year at Grand Valley State University, almost a start at Grand Rapids Community College that fell through, two years working in the restaurant biz, a move back home and a restart at Jackson Community College part time, and 6 part time jobs within the same year until I met him. The one.

After my move home in 2007 I was wondering, worried some, that I might be too late to find the right guy, didn't know what I wanted, where I was going, and what I was going to do with my life. By 2008 both of my past two serious relationships I was in I had gotten married. And had kids. Needless to say I felt like 'Good Luck Chuck' on a slightly smaller scale. So I went out with friends, had fun, tried to forget about it all and just figure that something would come along when it was time. Although I hated the wait, I was right.

My friend Kim and I had a few months of living the dynamic duo broke single girl lifestyle near the end of 2007 and into the start of 2008, and one night she had planned a game night... her new guy was coming over and I had wanted to try a new recipe (she is Vegetarian so I had fun experimenting with that) and so she invited a few others to come over and play games. I was standing barefoot in her kitchen when he walked in. I was pleasantly shocked at his appearance, not one that I would peg for Kim, thinking he was her new guy, when I was surprised to find that he wasn't her new guy... he was her friend who had just moved home... single... and good looking... wearing a black button down shirt, belt buckle & cowboy boots. The night progressed after Kim's boyfriend showed up, and Andrew and I really hit it off. At night's end he walked me to my car, asked if he could call me, gave me one of the best hugs I'd ever gotten, and said goodnight.

In case you didn't know...

• he called me the next day :)
• asked me to be his girlfriend 3 weeks later
• told me he loved me shortly after that <3
• started talking about our future sometime that year during the 10 weddings we were invited to
• told his mom I was "marrying his dad" after she was harassing him for acting like his dad about a year later (this embarrassed me a little)
• & asked me to be his wife on my birthday this year, just short of our two year anniversary

Things are falling into place quite nicely, and I couldn't be happier for it <3<3<3
Keep up with us on our wedding website http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/christinahurd&andrewjensen

& love like craaazy

You may know this song. For me, it holds so much more than lyrics in a verse, it's a chorus. Stuck in my head and reverberating through my bones. Be a best friend. Tell the truth. Overuse I love you. Go to work. Do your best. Don't outsmart your common sense. Never let your praying knees get lazy. & love like crazy.
As I grow I learn more and more everyday what each of these mean. Today I am stuck on [tell the truth]. It's so simple and yet so difficult for so many people. When I was little I would lie sometimes... to my mom or dad, and they could see right through it. I don't have much of a poker face, and because it never worked for me... well, I stopped trying altogether. A good habit to have. I make a point of being honest with everyone around me, no matter if I've known you all my life or just two minutes. Ask me anything, and I will tell you what I know. If I don't know... I'll probably be able to direct you to someone who does.
My biggest issue with this [mainly today] is that I was unknowingly pulled into something that I had nothing to do with... and it was because someone was trying to cover their own tracks and victimize themselves for sympathy.
This ties in with [be a best friend] because that is something else that I strive for... loyalty. I am faithful to my friends, the people I know who will have my back, people I would defend to the ends of the Earth. I am loyal to my friends, and throughout a certain situation have tried my best to back my friend without getting involved... without getting in the middle of things. I have done what I thought was necessary, and stayed on the curb, and yet I still have gotten sucked in. Is it because I let myself?
Possibly. I have an issue with people who dislike me for no reason whatsoever. If you don't like me... fine. That's your decision, but at least tell me why. There are certain things... certain bait that I bite at. It's a flaw, and one that I am aware of...
Blameless? Maybe not... but I'm not one that goes out looking for trouble, drama... not a fan. Have an issue with one of my friends and I will stand beside or behind them for as long as necessary. Have an issue with me and I'll jump in the ring head-on...