Salt & Light: A little Valentine's Day fun

What Caleb made for me :) - psalm 34:3

So since today is Valentine's Day (or at least it was when I first started writing this) and I needed a new post anyways I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to talk about my very special Valentine and maybe brag on him a little...or a lot ;) I saw these questions from my lovely friend's Jessi Williams blog and thought they were pretty cute so I stole them- thanks Jess! hehe

So here they are...

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

Well this is kind of an ambiguous question because I don't even know how long he would say! We dated for a year in high school and about 2 years later we are back together...and its been about 4 and a half months. Feels like a lot longer though! ;)

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

First of all, this is going to be an extremely long answer! I'm first taken back to good ole myspace! haha Since we went to high school together I kinda always knew who he was but I left him a picture comment that pretty much started the whole thing! We started dating after a few awkward months of talking and ended up staying together for a little over a year. We clearly both really liked each other, but we weren't really the guy and girl that we needed each other to be at the time. Its a whole lot more complicated than that but basically we had a lot of growing up to do and a lot to learn about ourselves before we could focus on each other. So I went my whole senior year of high school and first year of college without him. In that time so much happened and we both changed so much. I can't even begin to explain how we ended back together this past fall. It is a long story and I'm not even sure how it all happened, I really didn't think it ever would. I think it finally came down to both of us realizing we wanted to give it another shot because 2 years later we have never let our feelings for each other go. So here we are about five months into this again and I couldn't be happier!

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}

Definitely have never been married but I would not be dating him if I didn't plan on marrying him! :)

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding? If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?

I will definitely get married at my home church in St. Albans. And there is no doubt it will be big! I have a lotttttt of family!

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

I call him Leb and he calls me Jo :)

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

Only 3 things?! I'm not sure I can narrow it down!

First and foremost I love the intimate relationship He has with the Lord. I would never ever date someone who doesn't love the Lord more than they love me. He has such a genuine compassion for the church and he is constantly giving of his time and resources to help make it the best it can be.

Secondly, I love his unwavering drive and determination. He seriously is one of the most motivated people I've ever met. If he says he is going to do something he means it! He accepts what cannot be changed and does the very best he can all of the time.

And third, besides the fact that he is clearly GORGEOUS, he is also extremely talented in so many things. Drumming is without a doubt his most obvious God-given talent. Watching him play drums is one of my most favorite things. I have never met a drummer who is better than him yet he somehow manages to remain so humble about it. He could be playing drums for any kind of band but he chooses to play worship music and he spends countless hours practicing and working with our worship team. He has become a very influential member of our team; he has the most amazing visions for our congregation and I know God is going to lead him to follow through with them.

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

No proposal yet! haha And I wouldn't dare even mention my ideal proposal because I want him to do it in his own way. He knows me well enough to be able to think of something I will really love and appreciate.

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries and rose

petals?

Well rule strawberries out automatically because he hates them! lol But I would say he is none of them! He is so creative and he will come up with something much better than all of those! I am not much of a teddy bear kind of girl myself but flowers anytime of the year are nice!

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

Hmmm...well we don't live anywhere close to the beach and most of the time we are just watching tv on the cough haha BUT when the weather is nice we both really love being outside and doing fun stuff. He pretty much does it all- scuba diving, repelling, jet skiing, snowboarding, hunting, running, paintballing- I think the list is endless! So I enjoy doing any of those with him!

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant other one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

I literally have a list of countries that I want to visit and maybe if it weren't so long I'd be able to see them all! But one place I know we are both dying to go is Australia! So I think we'd spend the day sight-seeing and do some scuba diving (as long as there are no sharks) and then go visit Hillsong church! Yeah, that'd be like the best day ever!

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

Well it's technically not Valentines day anymore but unfortunately I was stuck in class until late evening so he came over when I got home and we exchanged gifts and just had a chill night! Any day I spend with him regardless of what we do or where we go is always a special one :)

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

Nope I did not!

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Assuming that God is already at the center of every single aspect of the relationship I think the absolute best thing anyone could do is pray! And I don't mean pray apart from each other or pray silently, I mean get together go somewhere quiet and take turns praying out loud for each other- that your relationship will be pleasing to God and ask for the wisdom and strength to make it so! I remember the first time Caleb and I did this and maybe it felt a little awkward at first but being so open with each other and hearing him talk to God in his own way was the most beautiful, most intimate time we have ever shared together. It truly does do so much for our relationship and I think we need to make it our goal to pray together everyday! You should make it yours too. [Just be smarter than we were because a couple weeks ago we were in the middle of praying and my parents walked into a dim lighted, completely silent room and it was an extremely awkward moment for all of us- especially when they had no clue what we were doing! Haha!]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So that was kinda fun I suppose! I just am really so thankful to have Caleb in my life. He is everything I could ever need and then so much more. As complicated and emotional as I can be sometimes, he sure is patient with me and he makes sure he lets me know how special I am and how much I mean to him. I could literally go on and on about him but for the sake of everyone else I'll end there and tell him the rest personally :) I hope everyone had a special day, with or without a valentine because really the only true love we need comes from the One whose steadfast love is better than life! (Psalm 63:3)

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures at the moment...