A Wedding Along the Shore

Six years ago today, I stood next to a very handsome man and promised to be by his side for the rest of my life. Best. Decision. Ever. I love being married to Pete. He has encouraged me to explore new things (motorcycles, scuba diving, baking, running) and has supported me as I've made my way through some big adventures (a two-year church leadership program, my first teaching job, two pregnancies, grad school, a baking business). Without question, I am a better woman because of the man he is.

Pete and I met when I was asked to write and direct a drama for a sermon series our pastor, Ryan, was doing. After it was written, I met with Ryan to share what I had and talk about who could be in it. I told him I wanted someone big to play the modern role of Jesus, not the tall, scrawny way he was often depicted. Ryan told me he had just the guy. A week or two later when I met with the cast for the first time, there was Pete. And yes, he definitely caught my attention at that very moment. We started to talk during rehearsals, went to the same Bible study for a little while, and eventually went on our first date on December 11, 2005. Seriously, it was the best first date I could imagine. We made things official on January 7, 2006, got engaged one year later on January 7, 2007, and set our wedding date for six months later on July 7, 2007. Turns out, that was 7/7/07. Not intentional on our part. It was one week after the end of his first year of med school. It was a little tricky to wedding plan since so many venues and services were already booked by couples who had been waiting a long time to get married on that very day, but in the end, we had a celebration that fit perfectly for us. Such good memories.

July 7, 2007 was a hot day in Duluth. The girls arrived at the church in the mid-morning to prepare for the ceremony at 1:30. Our ceremony was held at Sacred Heart Music Center, which was once a large, catholic church.

Pete arrived a short time later. On his bike, of course.

Going over a few last minute details with his best man, Jim.

I suppose there aren't too many things to do while the girls are getting ready. What you can't see is that Pete has my wedding ring in his hand. Oh dear.

All of the photos I'm posting today are from our photographer, Deborah Sussex. Deb was incredible and perfectly captured our personalities and our day. This is the first time I've posted our professional pictures.

This jewelry was given to me by my Grandma Scott. I found the matching necklace at an antique store in Canal Park.

Oh, my mom. I love her.

And my girls. In the top row is Megan and Mindy (my cousins), and Kristin (Pete's sister). The front row is Jenny (my youngest sister), Becky (my maid of honor & my other sister), Erin (a dear friend from church), and Jessica (my matron of honor & long-time friend).

And the guys. Back row is Erik and Josh (Pete's friends), Tyler (Pete's cousin), Paden and Ryan (Pete's friends). The front row is Jake (my younger brother) and Jim (Pete's friend & best man).

At last, it was time for the ceremony to begin! All the girls hung out in a very cool room (as in cool ambiance, not temp!) upstairs.

The moms were ready to take their flowers to the front. The flowers represented our families and were placed in a vase together on the alter. We did that instead of a unity candle during the ceremony.

My dad wasn't feeling well the day of the ceremony, so my dear mama walked me down the isle. It was wonderful. My dad walked me down during the rehearsal the night before, so I was able to walk down with both of them!

This is Pastor Ryan. He's the one who introduced us and then did our wedding. That meant a lot to us.

The Olsen family with Pete's parents and his sisters Kathryn (left) and Kristin (right).

The Scott family with Jenny, Jake, Becky, Mike, and my parents.

After the ceremony and a few photos, it was time to jump on Pete's bike and head down to the train depot. I didn't dare ride my own bike because of my excitement of the day. Anyway, it was far more romantic for us to ride together. And yes, I purposely bought a dress that would fit on the back of his bike.

Once we arrived at the depot, we jumped on board a very classy train with all of our guests and rode up the shore while sipping on mini bottles of Coke, just like I drank practically every day during my 1 1/2 years living in Honduras.

I know this background doesn't look real, but that's Duluth for you! We were on the back of the train.

After making our way up the shore and back down, the train stopped so all of the wedding guests could walk to our reception in a tent along the shore in Canal Park.

We had traditional Scandinavian musicians playing with us as we walked, which was beyond fun. Then, in the tent, a live jazz group played while we had barbequed ribs and chicken and corn on the cob. It was exactly what we wanted for a fun, summer wedding.

Pete's buddy, Jim, gave a fantastic toast that turned out to be a re-enactment of what our first meeting could have been like if he had been there to play Pete's wing man. I got to act at my own wedding! It was hilarious.

Our sweet little flower girl and my cousin, Alaina, was just three years old when we got married. She did a beautiful job! She looked just as I had when I was her age. Adorable.

We had a little down time while we waited for the wedding party to gather for a group shot. Considering the 90-plus degree weather, it was a nice break.

Here you can see our ushers, Mike (my older brother), Brian and Seth (our friends).

Pete designed this gorgeous ruby ring for me at Knox Jewelers in Minneapolis. Many people have asked why I chose to have a ruby instead of a diamond. Now it's a bit more common to select unique stones, but not many brides had them in our area six years ago. We chose the ruby for a few reasons. One was that we hoped we would move to Africa someday and wanted to have something that didn't include a diamond. Another reason was the imagery of a ruby in the Old Testament. It represents knowledge and wisdom in many places. And finally, a ruby is mentioned in Proverbs 31 verse 10, "A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies."

Eventually, we got to dig into our cake, and yes, it was an ice cream cake! We had our cake made at Cold Stone, who served a few flavors of sheet cakes to all the guests. It was so hot outside that we went into the air conditioned hotel to take photos with it.

Turned out it was a pretty good option for us! We found a couple plastic spoons and ate to our hearts' content. How many brides get to do that?

At last, it was time for us to leave. I hopped on the bike... Well, I hopped on and waited for my man, of course. Once on, I tossed the bouquet to the girls from the back of the bike...

guests lit the sparklers...

and we were off!

We stayed in town for two nights before flying off to Jamaica for a week on the first part of our honeymoon. The second part was a week in complete solitude paddling and camping through the Boundary Waters. It was wonderful.

Happily ever after? I'd say so. Of course we have our ups and downs, but who doesn't? We're on a pretty big adventure together, and I wouldn't change it for anything. Six years down and many, many more to come.

Photo Friday (on Saturday)

* a little glimpse at the week that has passed *

Ella's Ice Cream Shoppe

Welcome to Ella's Ice Cream Shoppe! Saturday was our big birthday celebration with Ella's friends. The weather was perfect, especially after I spent days thinking it was going to rain and we would all have to be inside. Instead, we spread out through the back yard to play for the first half of the party, and then moved to the front for ice cream and gifts.

Ella and I had a lot of fun planning her party. Yes, I dealt with most of the actual work, but she helped me plan the details of what to eat and what we should do at the party. Play on the swing set? Okay! And that became one of the main events of the party. The photos tell a great story of Miss Ella's celebration. Thanks to my brother, Jake, for grabbing my camera for a while and taking some great pictures.

Pete found a little root beer keg!

Ella's cousin, Maira

Ella's cousin, Malena, making an ice cream party hat

Pete gave the kids Jeep rides around the block. That's better than renting a pony!

We were so happy to have so many of our friends and Ella's friends join us for her party. This was one of my favorite birthday celebrations!

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After the party, we did a little cleaning up, but some things just ended up in the kitchen for later. It's amazing how much energy it takes to have a party! I love planning and putting them on, but it's always lovely to relax afterward. So that's what we did. We stacked things in the kitchen and popped in a movie.

Pete left at midnight Saturday night to begin a 24-hour shift delivering babies. We're quite used to this, so I got the kids ready for church in the morning and planned to head out for the service at 9am. A little after 8, I plopped Sam in the middle of the living room floor with a few toys and took Ella up to pick out something to wear. On the way back down to Sam, Ella was ahead of me. As she turned in and saw him, she let out an exasperated, "Sam! Noooooo!" I looked in to find this.

One happy little boy shoveling blue sugar sprinkles into his mouth as fast as he could. Apparently, Ella had swiped a cup of sprinkles from the kitchen and was eating them in the living room before I took her upstairs. She left the cup on the floor, much to Sammy's delight. As soon as we left the room, he rolled his way over to her brightly colored cup and helped himself.

All I could do by that point was pop him in the bathtub in the hopes that his blue-stained hands and face would fade with a good soak.

 So much for making it to the nine o'clock service. After playtime in the water and a cuddle in his monkey towel, all was fresh again.

And, two hours later, we actually did make it to church. Thankful for that eleven o'clock service with a nice cup of coffee.

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Happy 4th of July! We're going to head to Pequot Lakes for a couple days to celebrate with my parents. Pete will be working, so I'll just be going with the kids. I love parades, fireworks, and picnics. What will you be doing to celebrate? I love hearing from readers. The community that I feel when writing and sharing so much with each of you and then hearing back is exciting! Feel free to leave a comment below!

The Road Back to Africa

one of the hospitals we visited in Kenya

Tonight Pete is working the last 24-hour OB shift he'll have during residency. While I wait for him to come home, I've been making meals for the week, cleaning the kitchen, and listening to the BBC online. At this very moment, President Obama is about to arrive in Tanzania on his current tour of Africa. As I listened to the radio, reporters were interviewing people in a cafe in the capital city, sharing thoughts on America's influence on the culture there and talking about local food, music, and daily life. With all the talk of Africa, my heart wandered there. It doesn't take a lot these days for my heart to be back in Africa, but listening to the interviews in the very place I want to be made my heart absolutely long for it.

Ella with the kids after church

It's been four months since we returned from our seven weeks in Kenya. Instead of it fading with each passing week, I feel the memories remaining strong. Ella hasn't stopped talking about "Acita," and often draws pictures of what she says are maps from "Duluth, Minnesota to Acita." Our mantle is decorated with stone elephants, giraffes carved in wood, and a little rag doll purchased at the hospital where we lived. I've changed the mantle decorations from time to time, but I always end up putting our far-away memories back up in that central location where we can constantly be reminded of what we have experienced.

Pete had a following of boy who couldn't wait to hang out with him

Thanks to Facebook and blogs, I'm still in contact with numerous missionary friends who are currently working in Kenya. The words they write make me feel like we're geographically closer to Africa than we really are. Their photos help me remember what we experienced and what we may experience when we return, because YES, we will be returning.

Daddy's first day in the hospital at Tenwek

I've mentioned before that my desire has always been to teach abroad. God put that in me when he knit me together. That's how deep it is. It's a part of my DNA. And it's a part of Pete's. Obviously, it's no accident that we ended up together. As `a team, we've been able to encourage one another to push in our education, the stuff we know we'll really need when we get to our long-term destination. I've completed a two-year biblical studies program and my master's degree and Pete is just 30 days from finishing residency. Education: check. So what's next?

Pete & Sam with our friend Amy

First, to answer the question of all questions, yes, being in Kenya confirmed that we want to spend the next chapter of our lives living and serving in Africa. We don't know just where in Africa yet, though. Perhaps Kenya, maybe Cameroon, possibly Tanzania. It's an awfully big continent. It will be Africa, but we're working on narrowing down the actual location. Currently, we're exploring all kinds of options. It's amazing how many people God has placed in our lives who have strong connections to hospitals and educational centers in various locations throughout Africa. We're soaking in everything we can on different options so we can make an informed decision when that time comes.

Faith & Ella enjoying their afternoon chai

That brings up another point. Timing. As mentioned, Pete will be finished with residency at the end of July. It will be the conclusion of seven intense years of training - four years of medical school and three years of residency. He'll take most of the month of August off so we can spend time as a family, and then he'll begin working in the emergency room in Cloquet (about 25 minutes from us) on September 1. Pete signed a contract with the Cloquet hospital the night before we left for Kenya. The contract was clearly orchestrated by a God who is mapping a path for us. The contract is for two years and includes a period of four consecutive months for us to travel back to Africa. It is our hope that we will narrow down locations during those four months away and then be prepared to make our long-term move at the conclusion of his contract. We're planning and praying that we will be able to pay off a large portion, if not all, of Pete's med school loans during the next two years.

hanging clothes with one of her friends

There's a whole lot of planning to do when preparing to move to a far away country. That goes without saying. We've known all along that chances are good I will need to home school the kids wherever we end up. That's a big reason why we chose to put Ella into the montessori school this year. We want her to soak up as much as she can while we're still in Duluth. I'm looking into resources for both Ella and Sam, home school programs that will be appropriate for each of them. Fortunately, I've got my strong background in education to help ensure we stay on top of everything. Sam is currently seeing multiple physical and occupational therapists and I am finding great resources to learn what will be best for him in the future. Knowing that we will always be near a hospital helps with our planning, since he may need continued therapies as time progresses.

missionary kids at preschool

There are so many other questions I feel that I could answer, but then this would turn into a short novel. We've been preparing for many years, and at last we're getting closer. We've asked countless questions of those who are "in the know" while observing the lives of those we admire who are raising families overseas. We've read books. We've read blogs. We've prayed and prayed and prayed. And in the end, we still feel that moving to Africa so that Pete can teach future doctors and I can teach future teachers is the only thing we can imagine doing with our lives.

Daddy & Sam

When we returned from our trip this winter, a friend asked me how I would describe our time in Kenya in one word. Goodness, one word? Seven weeks in a completely new culture, a place I had been dreaming about for years, with my incredible husband and our babies, and I am asked to sum it up in one word? Crazy enough, it didn't take long at all to come to me. Complete. From the moment we stepped off the plane, I felt more complete than I had in my entire 31 years. My husband, my Ella & Sam, God so clearly by our side, in Africa. There was no question.

I was complete.

Do you have questions about our plans to move to Africa? I would love to hear them! Leave a comment below and I'll try to answer in an upcoming post.