Our Love Story---The Wedding

December 22, 2001

Our good friends, Adam and Kim Forry, were our gift receivers.  They stood outside with this antique sleigh.

My aunt, Reba, did my makeup.

Rachel, Krista, Brooke, me, Jen, Heidi, Jen, Melissa

We each lost a grandmother and another close friend within a few months of our wedding, so we had this tribute table for them.

One of my favorites.  I had these black velvet capes made for the girls and I wore a white fur cape and muff.  So pretty!

We rented "Charles Dickens" type costumes for our friends, and they sang carols as guests arrived at the wedding and reception.

My mom has BRILLIANT ideas.  She froze holly and greens in buckets (like an ice mold you would make for a punch bowl), and put a cup in the middle.  Then, she removed the cup and put a candle inside.  They lit the way into the wedding and reception.  They were BEAUTIFUL!  As the ice melts a bit it is even prettier.

I love dessert!  Instead of a cake, we had a dessert bar with this ice sculpture sleigh in the middle.  There were several types of pie, cake, pudding, cheesecake, cream puffs, candy, etc.  People LOVED this!

We opted to cut a cheesecake (my favorite) for our cake cutting.

Patrick's twin brother, Eric, giving a toast.

I loved every minute of that day.....and I love you more now than I did then.

Our Love Story---The Proposal

I reread my love story posts that I started over two years ago and realized I never finished the series!!!  I left you hanging with ring shopping, so today I will share about "the proposal."  I don't feel like doing all the links, so to read posts 1-4, just click on the "Our Love Story" category on the left.

I knew it was coming SOMETIME, so of course, I was suspicious during every date.  Patrick asked my dad to lunch, and they shared a quick meal at Burger King (my dad's suggestion since that's all the time he had), and Patrick asked him for my hand.  He made the trip to PA and back without me knowing!

April 6 was our 1 year dating anniversary, and Patrick had a special date planned for us.  He came to pick me up, and he was pacing while I was getting ready....he would normally just watch TV or relax on the couch.  He took me to a fabulous restaurant for dinner.  We had a room to ourselves with a fireplace.  I thought, "this MUST be the night."  Patrick dropped his fork, and my heart skipped as he bent to pick it up....nope.  Towards the end of dinner, he got down on one knee.....EEEKKK....tied his shoe and went to the men's room.  To Patrick's credit, he wasn't messing with me.  He had a plan for when he would propose, and this wasn't it.  He didn't have a clue that I was going crazy!  Once dinner was over, he took me to watch the sunset at Loch Raven Reservoir, the place where he asked me to start dating him.  We saw more than a dozen deer....it was perfect.  The ring was in his pocket.  THEN, a fisherman slowly inched his way towards us and was right in front of us at the perfect moment.  Back into his pocket went the ring.

We headed back to Patrick's place to watch a movie.  At this point, I lost all suspicion.  If he hadn't done it in the romantic restaurant or by the river with the sunset and deer, it was probably not happening tonight.  We parked outside his house, and as I opened my door, Patrick suddenly ordered, "GET IN THE CAR!"  I quickly closed the door.  There had been some gang activity recently in the neighborhood, and Patrick spotted a group of guys coming around the corner.  We drove away as they chased our car.  Thank you Lord!!!  Patrick had the ring in his pocket!!!  I suggested we go back to MY place for the movie, but Patrick was afraid my roommate would be there, and he REALLY DID want to propose that night.  After we had called the cops and drove around for a while, he convinced me it was safe.  AFTER the movie, he started talking about some of his favorite memories from the past year.  I started to cry.  He thought I knew what was coming...the funny part is after being suspicious the ENTIRE evening, I didn't think this was "it."  I just realized what a great guy he is, and I was overwhelmed by the memories.  He slipped a ring on my finger and said, "I look forward to a lifetime of memories with you.  Would you marry me?"  YES!!!

Despite the late hour, we called all our immediate family to share the news.

Our Love Story--- Part 4

This is why I rarely do series of posts...I am terrible at following through. Anyway, click here for Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Excerpt from my journal...

This was Patrick and my first Valentine's Day together. He planned a date for us on the 15th, but the 14th was nice as well. I came home from work to find a vase of the most beautiful red roses imaginable. This was the first DOZEN roses I ever received. My roommate had a few friends over for dinner, so Patrick and I decided to have a pizza picnic in my room. We spread out a blanket and sat on pillows. We ate by candlelight and even shared a dance...before Patrick had to study again.

I was VERY excited about our date on February 15th. I LOVE surprises!!! While we were driving, Patrick asked me if I was hungry. I didn't know if this meant we were about to eat a huge meal or if it meant it would be a while before dinner...he didn't give me any other clues. We were walking towards the restaurant (I thought) when he said, "We are going to do a little shopping before dinner." At that moment, we were ringing the doorbell of a jewelry store in downtown Baltimore. My knees were shaking. I was in complete shock. He met with the jeweler a few weeks prior and had done a lot of research. I was SO impressed! I tried on a lot of different rings. I told him what I liked and what I didn't like. I felt like a princess.

Lynn's interjection for clarity...

Patrick and I had a conversation about ring shopping before we were ever dating...before marriage was even on the table in any way. I think one of my friends was going ring shopping, and we talked about the general idea. I said I thought it would be fun and that my friends who had gone said they felt like "princesses." Patrick said he planned to buy a ring and completely surprise his future bride. Based on that conversation, I never thought we would go ring shopping. Patrick decided that if he couldn't completely surprise me with a proposal, he would surprise me with ring shopping. I loved it.

After shopping, we went to dinner, and for the first time we were really free to talk about the probability of us getting married. We were careful while dating to not make comments like, "when we get married... or when we have kids..." Being able to talk about the future together felt like a dream.

The next week, we went to visit a few more stores in my hometown. I had no idea what ring he would buy, where he would buy it, or when he would propose. There is more to this love story, but it will have to be continued...

Our Love Story---Part 3

After a series of LONG emails, where I assured Patrick that I did not have high relationship/marriage expectations, and that I thought it was going to be hard to get to know each other, even in a friend capacity, if we were not intentional about spending time together, we started spending more time together. (was that really one sentence?)



Patrick had very limited culinary skills. His diet consisted mostly of pasta with Prego, cereal, and sandwiches, with the occasional shake-and-bake pork thrown in. I volunteered to teach him to make stir-fry to add a little more variety to his mealtime options. The day we planned to get together was BEAUTIFUL, and one of the first warmish days of the year. He decided we should scrap the cooking lesson, grab some food at Boston Market, and head to one of his favorite spots along the river for a picnic. We took a frisbee, some cards, etc. What? Friends can have picnics along the water....right? Well, as it got dark and the stars came out, it was time for another relationship conversation. It went something like this...



P: "I really want to date you."

L: nothing.....I still didn't know if we were having the I-really-want-to-date-you-so-we-have-to-spend-less-time-together conversation again or if this one was different. So I waited to see what else he had to say.

P: Somewhat discouraged by my lack of enthusiasm, he goes on to explain that he DOES in fact want to make a commitment to date me. I can't remember all the words he used, or how I responded (except that I somehow said yes). But, then came the best line EVER...

P: "I know you don't give your heart away very easily, but I want you to know that from this day forward I am in active pursuit of your heart."



Gasp! Yeah, I know, I MELTED....he stole a little piece of my heart with that line.

Our Love Story---Part 2

And this is why I rarely do series of posts...I feel too much pressure to get the next one posted, and it doesn't usually happen in a timely manner. Sorry to keep you in suspense for a few days...

Now where was I...

Ah, yes, Patrick was NOT calling me. Turns out he was in fact interested, but he was trying to be cautious. He wanted to get to know me and not rush into a "relationship." He did eventually call me, and we began emailing and spending limited time together (mostly in groups). As Sarah and Jason expected, we did have several friends in common. There were a lot of people at our church that were our age, and every Sunday, a group would go out after church to play volleyball, have lunch, go hiking, go swimming, or participate in some other fun group activity. We both started going to these outings more regularly. I was attending a Christian Fellowship group at Hopkins (that my roommate took me to after I moved to the city having never met her or seeing our apartment....another amazing God story I'll have to post sometime). Patrick went to Hopkins for undergrad and was working there on a research team when I met him. He attended this group at some point during his time there, but had stopped going. He conveniently started going again after he met me....

Eventually, we had our first "define the relationship" conversation. It didn't go quite the way I expected. Patrick really wanted to continue being friends, but he wanted to guard against spending much time together alone. He wanted to be careful not to lead me on, and I think he really envisioned us being friends for a while and then waking up one day to discover we were in love (sort of the Joshua Harris, I Kissed Dating Goodbye type philosophy). Problem was, we were already attracted to each other! However, we backed off talking so much on the phone, limited emails, and tried to just spend time in the groups I mentioned.

I guard my heart pretty closely. I was attracted to Patrick, but I was careful to not get attached to the idea of us becoming a couple. A friend from high school came into town and invited me to dinner. We went to Ruth's Chris (yeah, not such a cheap night), and I think it just about killed Patrick. We continued as friends for a few months (occasionally having a repeat conversation about not spending too much time together), and then something changed....

Valentine's Carnival and Our Love Story---Part I

 Kristen at We are THAT Family is hosting a special Valentine's carnival this week with some FABULOUS prizes.  Click on the button above to find out more.

In honor of this holiday, we are sharing stories or tributes to these wonderful men God has brought into our lives.  Since I have never really shared much about our love story, I thought this might be a good time.....

Many of you know Sarah from Short Stop.  For those who don't know, she was my roommate in college, and I was able to watch her love story unfold with her sweet hubby, Jason.  Sarah and Jason were driving one day and they had a conversation that went something like this..., "Do you know who would be perfect for Patrick?"  The other replied, "Lynn."  "Yeah, that's what I was thinking."  Patrick and Jason worked together in a Christian bookstore.  They had never set up anyone before, but they decided to give it a try.  I think Jason's conversation with Patrick went something like...

J: There is this girl we think you should meet.

P: Okay.

Sarah and my conversation was a bit longer....she made sure to explain that she didn't think Patrick wanted a girlfriend...don't have high expectations....many more details about what he looked like, where he worked, his personality, etc.  Patrick and I were going to the same church but had never met, and we had lots of friends in common.  Sarah said she thought we should meet.

In January of 2000, we planned for the four of us to go out to dinner.  We had a wonderful evening with great conversation.  I fully expected to get a phone call soon after that date...but I didn't....  Stay tuned!

Honeymoon Pictures

Addendum...since a few of you asked...we were married on Dec 22, 2001 (6 1/2 years ago). Thank you for those that used words like "younger" to describe how I look in these pictures and not words like "thinner." Seriously, did I REALLY look like that before pregnancy?!?

A friend asked me recently about our honeymoon after reading #5 on this post. I thought I would dig back and share some photos. Now, this was back in the day before we owned a digital camera (how did we ever survive?!?), so these are scanned from prints. The quality is not nearly as impressive as when you see them in print, especially for the last one, but you can get the idea.

As a refresher, we went to a beautiful resort, Ladera, in Saint Lucia. Our room literally only had three walls. We had our own private plunge pool (a small pool with a waterfall, tree in the center, about 4 feet deep). The first picture is taken in our room! I am sitting by the edge of the pool, with the ocean and the sunset behind me. This was such a happy place...

The twin Pitons which we could see from the restaurant and the larger pool on the resort.

This is Patrick and I in the restaurant. Unfortunately, the picture came out a bit dark here. The restaurant is also open to the outside with a beautiful view. In the morning, they had water guns on your table to ward off the birds...Patrick thought this was just slightly cool.

Have I mentioned before that I love vacation?