365 days later...

June 20, 2009, I said, "I do" to my best friend. 365 days later...we're both still alive! Kyle White did such a great job with our premarital counseling by preparing us for all of the ups and downs of married life. The first six months flew by me like a race car in the Indy 500! I wondered why people tried to tell us that marriage was hard and was something you had to work at every day. Then reality kicked in, and I suddenly knew what they were talking about!

Marriage is one of the hardest, yet rewarding experiences I have ever gone through. I never really viewed myself as a selfish person until I got married. I never noticed how much I had put myself first in the past 21 years (which should have been my first sign of selfishness...) until this last year.

There are so many things in a marriage that force you to go against human nature: thinking of others first, putting yourself second, and making sacrifices to name a few. All of these selfless choices help make you into a better person, though. Marriage is great, and I'm excited to see what God wants to teach me next through this journey with Zach.

Speaking of our anniversary, maybe some of you are wondering what we did to celebrate this joyous occasion. We took a road trip! One of my close friends since childhood jumped on the bandwagon and married the love of his life on June 19th.

We stayed with Zach's brother and 7-month-pregnant-sister-in-law in Indiana Friday night and Saturday night. Our itinerary went as follows:

-Friday morning we packed up and drove nine hours to Lafayette, Indiana
-Saturday morning we drove to Wadsworth, OH for the wedding
-(Zach was only 40 minutes away from his good friend from OWU, so he ventured up to Cleveland, OH and came back for the reception)
-Saturday evening we stayed for one dance at the reception, then headed back to Lafayette at 9:00 P.M., which put us in at 2:00 A.M.
-Sunday morning (our anniversary!) we made the nine-hour trek back down to Kansas City

24 hours in three days was quite tiresome, but so worth it! Weddings are a monumental event, and I was so glad I could witness Andrew and Brittani's special day. Seeing Andrew's face as he saw Brittani for the first time that day made me tear up, and made everything worthwhile. It was also great to be able to hang out with the fam for a little bit and as usual, the road trip with Zach was very fun indeed!

Zach and I have a tradition that we started last summer while trying to stay awake on our drive back from Michigan. We sing every single song and chant that we learned in Sunday school and VBS as kids. Even though we grew up in different churches almost seven hours away from each other, it turns out we know all the same songs!

Needless to say, on our way to IN from OH we had to bust out the songs again. I wonder what other people thought if they turned their heads to see a man and woman screaming at the top of their lungs and waving their arms around. If you were on the inside of Salena, you would know we were acting out and loudly singing to "Father Abraham"; however, it probably looked like we had bees in our car from the other side of the window!

That's all for now. Hopefully my next blog will be telling you all that we finally found a good car for Zach for a great price

What's new in KC

Alright, JJ, I have finally given in to this whole blogging thing, so here's my fresh start. Zach and I have been living in Kansas City for almost 4 weeks now, and it's wonderful! I absolutely love it here and would even consider staying here for a bit longer after Zach graduates from Nazarene Theological Seminary.

Last weekend we headed down to one of the farmer's markets in downtown KC, Missouri (only a 10 minute drive from our apartment!). I have never experienced anything like that, and we had so much fun!

Our our way there it looked as though we were walking through a typical downtown. We saw several people turn into an alley, so we decided to see what was over there. When we turned the corner, I felt like I was walking the streets where Aladin would have lived! Suddenly we were in a block-wide swarm of people, fresh fruit, giant bags of spices sold by the scoop, pastries, fresh nuts, and more. How amazing! Needless to say, we will definitely be making more trips to KC's River Market.

We love all the adventure and excitement KC has to offer. Even a typical trip to Wal Mart is fun because everything we see is completely new to us. I love how my 10 minute drive to the grocery store takes me through four different cities! It's crazy how everything is so intertwined together.

Speaking of driving, Zach and I are still sharing my good, old, faithful car-Salena. We were hoping to have a vehicle for Zach by now, but things don't always go as planned unfortunately.

Today was our "deadline" that we set for having a new car because my 1-6 shift started this week at the bank, and Zach needs to leave around 5:00 for youth group at the church in St. Joseph, MO. Since Zach needed to leave before I would be off work, I figured it wouldn't be that big of a deal to get in a workout and just run back home after work.

The other day we clocked how far it was-5.7 miles. Even with being in track for 6 seasons, I have never run that far straight. I have not worked out at all since we moved, though, so I figured I need to suck it up and go the distance.

My manager, Jeric, knew about our car situation and asked how I was getting home. With a hesitant smile I told him I was running home. He just stared at me with his jaw slightly dropped. Oh great-maybe this is really as far as I keep trying to tell myself it's not. He then asked me which way I was taking back. "Well, since the only way I know how to get home is the interstate, I have no idea. That's why I have my trusty GPS with me that I will be running with!"

Being the nice guy Jeric is, he walked over to his computer to try and Mapquest the fastest way for me. Unfortunately since our apartment is .1 miles off the exit ramp of I-29, you have to cross the interstate to get to our apartment. "Don't worry, there is another way," Jeric said. "Oh wait a minute, it's been blocked off from construction for the last two years." Long story short, the only way home a runner can take has turned the 5.7 mile run into a 6.5 mile run.

Remember people, I am a jumper not a long-distance runner. This is definitely not sounding appealing to me, but I'm too stubborn and shy to ask anyone for a ride since I have known everyone for only one day. Jeric comes to my rescue once again by telling me the other employee that was closing with me would love to give me a ride. Hallelujah!

I have yet to work out, but I guess I'll save that 6.5 mile run for another day...or week...or month...