Year 5

 

He proposed. We got married. We celebrated year 1, 2, 3, 4 (forgot the film that year), and (just celebrated) year 5. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

It was another great year of marriage for us and a lot has happened in a year. One major thing, we became certified foster parents and had 2 placements. In November we welcomed a 6 year old boy into our home and said goodbye to him 6 weeks later. We then welcomed a 4 year old girl and said goodbye to her 4 weeks later. And now as I think back, I guess the 4th anniversary picture isn't as important as our 5th anniversary picture. You can't tell from the picture but having foster kids aged us! HA! And that little Polaroid picture will be our reminder that, by God's grace, we survived a year of marriage with kids!

To quote John Piper - "Marriage. The roots are deep. The covenant solid. The love is sweet. Life is hard. And God is good". Our roots are deep, and our covenant solid. For sure our love is sweet, and gosh darn it, life was hard this past year. But man oh man, God was (and is) so good.

I'll have to share more about our fostering experiences... but for today I'll just close by saying - Praise God for another wonderful year of marriage to a wonderful husband! <3

3 years

Last week, John and I celebrated 3 years of being married.  Our 2nd anniversary feels like it was just last month! But at the same time, I can't believe it has only been 3 years. It seriously feels like 30. It has been a rough year of marriage, but hallelujah we have not strangled each other (yet).

We celebrated with a great weekend and dinner on Wednesday at Pizzeria Mozza.

 
I swear, I think John was going to cry as he ate the bone marrow. I thought it was tasty too, but not THAT tasty!  I think this place is kind of pricey for pizza but it was nice to leave our South Bay bubble and head out to celebrate 3 years of not killing each other.

Cheers!

restin' and relaxin'

We originally planned to take a mini vacation last weekend to celebrate our wedding anniversary, but due to some unforeseen drama, there was a slight change of plans. We spent the majority of the weekend at my mom's house but we did have a few hours away to spend some much needed alone time!

Saturday afternoon, we went out to J-town to exchange my anniversary gift that my hubz bought me. He's not really great with surprising me, but he managed to secretly go to the jewelry store where we got our wedding bands to get another band for me. So I could stack my bling! They didn't have the exact ring that I got for my wedding band so he got a loaner ring to surprise me with, but we got to go back on Saturday and I picked out something shiny and new! Another super-thin band, this time in rose gold.

Then we were off to Spitz, a few blocks down. John tried this place before, but it was my first time!

I loved loved loved the fries! The wrap was also yumz, but sweet potato fries are my favorite and this place made them just right!

We had to kill some time before we headed out to meet some friends so we found a nice little cafe to hide out in.

They had some crazy fancy coffee and it for sure wasn't a Starbucks! I asked for the sweetest drink they had, it was not sweet at all! ... I drink my coffee wayyyyy too sweet. I pretty much get a cup of sugar water with a side of coffee. John, on the other hand, is a crazy coffee drinker. His drink of choice? Coffee with shots of espresso in it! Who does that?! At his coffee place, he had some Colombian coffee, brewed with a crazy siphon. Fancy Shmancy!

Finally, it was time to meet our friends for a surprise engagement party!

We got home, slept in, then off to a brunch date!

Yelp is my best friend. I found Starling Diner, with great reviews on the food and service. It was in this random residential area, and pretty crowded with the lunch crowd. We waited, and seriously, the food was worth the wait!

Too early for mimosas and screwdrivers?

We ate super fast, like crazy Koreans do, then we were off to the Long Beach flea market! The last time we were there, I practically furnished our entire house, but no such luck this time. We didn't leave with a single thing. But we still had fun oohhing and ahhhing at the random stuff.

We finished the night at the BFF's for a dumpling party!

This weekend wasn't what we originally planned, but I still had tons of fun! It was a tough week for us both, but we praise God for giving us times to just rest and enjoy each others company.

our story

My Johnny and I have known each other for over 15 years. We met as pre-teens at church and our moms became close friends. He and his brother would be over all the time to hang out with us sisters while our moms hung out. John was super duper shy so he didn't say much to me, and I hung out with his older brother most of the time.

As we got older we'd hang out occasionally but just as "church friends". I taught him how to knit and he taught me how to play texas hold 'em.

(When he had hair)

John was still super shy so we still didn't talk much until we were forced to spend a lot of time together for a short term mission trip to China.

(Before we boarded our plane.)

Being in China, adjusting to the weather, culture, and food was difficult for me but having Johnny there was so nice! I loved having him there with me and I didn't want to come home1 But of course we did. As soon as we got home, we found out that John's family moved 10 houses down from where my family lived!

Every night John and I would go running/walking together. He was my bodyguard because Gardena isn't really the safest city. We would chat about our day, share prayer requests, and just enjoy each others company. We would also drive to church together making the 45 minute drive our chatting time too.

People started to notice us spending more time together and people started asking questions. I denied it like crazy saying, "We're just friends!" or "He's younger than me, no way!" I was convinced that I didn't like him! Then one night, on our nightly walk, John tells me that he decided to leave for China to teach English as soon as he graduates. My jaw dropped!

I was sad because who would walk with me at night? Who was going to drive with me to church? But I didn't realize how sad I would be until we said goodbye to each other at the airport as he boarded a plane to China and I boarded a plane for Japan for another short term mission trip. I cried like crazy on the plane! Straight up bawling like a baby!

I didn't see him again until spring when I flew out to China to visit him. Now that I think about it, I'm kind of surprised I went out there alone, just to visit him. And the fact that my mom encouraged me to go, to see a boy, is pretty insane! Maybe we were both in denial! I really didn't go thinking, "I'm going to go see a boy I like." I really was going to see the guy I grew up with,the guy that was my carpool buddy, my running bodyguard, that younger dude.

Lookin' out from this amazing spot in Hong Kong, John confessed his undying love for me. Not really. He was so shy! But he was able to tell me that one day he'd want to marry me. I was so shocked I had no idea what to say. But that was the beginning of our dating journey! A painting of this amazing view is hanging in our living room to remind us of that day!

He finally came home 3 months later and we finally got to spend some time together in the same country as boyfriend and girlfriend! But not for long because a few weeks after he got home, we were back on a plane to China! This time it was my turn to live abroad!

From China, our whole team flew to Korea and that is where we said our goodbyes. Everyone else boarded a plane to fly back to America and I stayed behind. I stayed in Korea for a year, teaching English, and John and I continued our long-distance relationship.

John came to visit that spring and we spent our first anniversary hanging out in Korea, our motherland.

Several months later, I moved back home and we finally got to spend time together as boyfriend and girlfriend in the same country! We celebrated our 2nd anniversary in good ol' America and 4 months later he popped the question! See video here of me actin' a fool, and pictures here and here.

Engaged in August, married in April!

On our third anniversary, we got married! With 450 of our (parents') closest friends! Yes. 450 guests at our wedding. Our parents went a lil crazy inviting everyone they've ever met. The church was jam packed with people! We thought about looking for different locations since the chapel was on the smaller side but we decided that since we met at that church, it only seemed right to get married there!

Last year, we celebrated our first year of marriage with a trip to New York! This year, we'll be sticking around here but that doesn't mean we aren't celebrating! Being married is hard work, but I love it! I love being married and I am so lucky that God has given me such an amazing sinner!

So now as we celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary, we're also celebrating 5 years of dating. God works in amazing ways and he has given me a patient, kind, understanding, generous, dorky, nerdy husband who is a perfect match for me! Happy anniversary, my love!

will you marry me?

John and I will be celebrating our first year of marriage (and 4 years together) this Sunday (4/10). So, I think it's time I shared this gem of a video.

The bff's Ruby and Ellen plotted with John and they were able to pull off the ultimate surprise! I knew that John was going to propose but I had no clue it was going to happen that day. Me screaming my head off is proof of that.

Watch and enjoy. (Video made by Ellen)

Untitled from linda park on Vimeo.