2009 in a nut shell

2009 was pretty much a roller coaster of emotions for me.

Let me begin by telling you that I GOT MARRIED! Now, let's work our way up to what I just told you.

In April of 2009, the love of my life, Luke, proposed to me. Of course, I was SUPER excited! I said YES!!! We had originally planned for the wedding to be December 16, 2009 but we just couldn't wait that long. So, we moved it up to September 19, 2009. About the end of April, my Poppie (Jess) took a turn for the worse. This hit me really hard. I had never been one to plan my wedding while I was growing up (I just always knew it would happen) but the one thing I planned was to have my Poppie marry me and my husband. Fathers Day was approaching and the doctors told us it could be anytime before our Poppie left his earthly body and joined our Savior in Heaven. My family and I prayed to have just ONE MORE Father's Day to spend with my Poppie before the Lord took him to be with Him. God granted us our prayer. The day after Fathers Day, on June 22, 2009, my precious Poppie went to be with the Lord. I remember that day so vividly in my mind. I remember my dad telling me, with tears in his eyes, that it was over. I dropped to the floor crying out. Why did God take my Poppie before my wedding? Who was going to marry Luke and I? I think out of my entire family, I was the one that Poppie's death hit the hardest at first. I wouldn't come out of my room. I cried for a week straight...and still months after, Luke would find me crying just because I longed to talk to my Poppie again.

I decided since Luke and I were getting married in September that I would take a semester off and plan our wedding while I worked to earn some money for us.

Three months had passed and it was coming up on my "big day." It was September 19, 2009, the day I had been dreading and looking forward to for a long time. Since my Poppie passed away before our wedding, I was forced to find someone else to take his place in our ceremony. I knew that no one could replace my Poppie but I needed to find someone that meant a lot to me. I had become quite fond of my Missions professor, Rev. John F. Plake. He was almost like a second father to me, giving me advice and helping me while I was at Evangel. I asked him if he would marry us and he agreed! The wedding went on without any problems and I had so many friends from Evangel there to support me too! I couldn't have been happier (with the exception of my Poppie being there). I know that Poppie was there in spirit and I think he would have been so proud of me and Luke that day!

Luke and I went on our honeymoon for 5 days then went back to our lives (as a married couple now) in Springfield. Luke moved into my (now our) apartment so we could live as one!

My mom came up to Springfield for Thanksgiving. She got to spend some time with Luke and his family too. It was nice getting to see her. I've rarely seen my mom since I moved to Springfield.

Christmas came and it was our first Christmas as the Partridge family without Poppie. Memaw gave us all a gift that had a little piece of Poppie in it. All of the girls got necklaces with his fingerprint and the guys got a money clip with it on there. I'm not going to lie, it was really hard to get through, but I'm just so thankful that I have a husband that was there for me through all of it.

The New Year came and boy was I thankful. Although we had our share of sorrows, overall, the year 2009 was not too shabby.