Songs that may make an appearance at the reception...

Meet the Groom!

The thought occurred to me awhile back that with weddings, only about half of the people involved know the bride OR the groom, and rarely do people know both. Therefore, I thought it would be a great idea for Eric and I to tell you about ourselves our future spouses so that you will see him/her through our eyes.



Perhaps writing this blog the day after we had a fairly significant fight--of which Eric was mostly oblivious--isn't the best time to write it, and yet, I feel as if it is the best time, mostly because we resolved our issues. This involved tears (from me), apologies on both sides, and a solemn resolution to never fight again, sworn with a pinky promise. My heart currently overflows with love for this man, so this is probably the best description of him that you'll ever get out of me. ;)

A quick bio to get out of the way before I get down to what really makes Eric Eric. He grew up in Chehalis, WA, land of the rednecks--I say that with affection and really like Chehalis myself--and comes from a small immediate family--parents: Dan and Lorene, older sister: Monica--that is part of a much larger extended family. (We have that in common.) His dad is a band teacher, so the whole Judd clan is fairly musical. Eric plays several instruments (trombone, bass and acoustic guitars...) and has a wonderful baritone voice that he will use to sing me to sleep over the phone when I'm having a terrible day.



I'm getting ahead of myself. Bio! Yes, bio. He went to high school in Chehalis, went to Centralia Community College, then transferred up to the UW for a degree in computer science. When that didn't work out--and this is actually a good thing--he went back to Chehalis for a pastoral internship where he earned his license to preach. At that point, he wanted to finish his BA and opted to come to Northwest University to get a "make your own degree" in General Studies--how else would you combine all of that book larnin'? He and I met at NU and walked in 2008 after a somewhat tempestuous friendship.

While at NU, I got to know Eric, and I liked what I saw. We were on brother/sister floors (yeah 600!) so we went to a bunch of events together. Being the sister floor RA, I was required to attend as many intramural football games as I could manage, so I got to watch how Eric and a few of the other older guys on the floor managed their team, being the leaders who reminded their teammates to cool down and keep good sportsmanship at the forefront--a difficult task when playing other teams that only played dirty.

The first quality that attracted me to Eric was when I heard his heart for missions. We somehow ended up sitting next to each other at Cheesecake Factory for a floor event and started talking about life in general. He told me that he felt called to missions. I asked where, and he told me that he said he'd probably end up somewhere in the Middle East since no one really wants to go there and that's where the Gospel is needed most. At the time, I was feeling a pull to Muslim ministry, and let me tell you, that sort of a connection on a spiritual level can be pretty intense. Of course, it was probably a whole year later that we actually ended up getting together, but that night I thought, "He could be the one!"

Eric has this way of being himself and enjoying me being me that is very refreshing. The relationship I was in prior to our relationship was one where I felt like I was boxed in, where I wasn't recognized for who I was, and if I tried to be myself, I was overwhelming. Being stifled is no way to live, and Eric not only loves everything about me--my quirks included--but encourages me to be me and to pursue those hobbies that light me up from the inside--NaNoWriMo 2009 is a prime example.

If I were to think of adjectives for Eric, I would think of "strong," "level-headed," "stable," and "compassionate." Eric is probably the most even keeled man I know. It usually takes a lot to shake him, and that is such a blessing to a girl like me who feels like the waves of life have her going up and down and all over the place. He's the voice of reason in my ear when emotions and hormones make me think that the world is over. Also, it takes a lot for him to lose his temper, and I hope I don't ever abuse that quality in him.

As I mentioned earlier, music is important to the Judds, and Eric loves music. He loves music in the same way that I love music. His tastes are very eclectic, and I never know what I'll be listening to when I hop up in his dark green Ford Explorer. Sometimes, we'll listen to Jack Johnson, sometimes Sufjan Stevens. Other times we'll listen to Johnny Cash, bluegrass, or Tuvan throat singing. Actually, I don't think he has a cd of Tuvan throat singing, but he's definitely a fan of the unusual when it comes to music!


[Here's an example of Tuvan throat singing.]

Eric has a great sense of humor that ranges from sarcastic to dry humor to the absolute ridiculous. It's highly entertaining to joke around with him, and almost as great, it's pretty entertaining to watch him interact with his current roommate--who is also one of his coworkers. Combined, they are possibly the best comedic duo around. :)

What else can I say about Eric? I think what it comes down to is that...and I know this sounds so incredibly cheesy...he completes me. I feel like he's my other half, my missing half, and that we fit together in ways that I couldn't have imagined. We balance each other. He's yin, I'm yang. (AH! Eastern mysticism in our Christian blog!) You get the picture. Honestly, I can't imagine being any more blessed with a future spouse than being with Eric.

All that to say, I hope that those of you reading this who currently don't know Eric have the chance to get to know him as I have. :)

Finally

I got all my Save the Dates done. It was the lazy way to do it, but they're done and that's all that matters. Plus, Beff hasn't finished hers.....hahahahahahaha (win!)

Bethany > Eric

I haven't done half of my Save The Dates yet. It's a simple email, and I'm daunted by going through Facebook profile by profile to extract email addresses. Holy lazy.

She got hers done a month and a half ago. Clearly I need a secretary or personal assistant.

From waaay out there

I decided to post something random, mostly because we haven't posted anything in over a week. Currently Beff and I are talking on the phone about having a clean room when we're married. I'll take 20 to 1 odds on it not lasting a month.

Meanwhile, most of the wedding stuff is nailed down. I've been lax on sending out Save The Dates, I personally need to get that taken care of. I'm thinking perhaps I'll start making everything a competition between me and Beff, just to keep life interesting. Watch out babe, it's you and me now!

Save the Date!

No gift registry!?

I've heard about this one a few times, so I thought I'd throw down our reasoning in 3 easy steps.

1. We're in our mid-twenties, not our late teens. Both of us have lived on our own for a little while now, and have accumulated necessities to "make home" as it were. We don't need towels, dish rags, rugs, chairs, tables, lamps, etc. because we already have them. The bulk of a wedding registry is already filled out by either myself or Beth, so it would be redundant to set one up.

2. We're not materialistic. Kind of pretentious to label ourselves as such, but it's true: what we don't already have we don't really need. Toys are nice but not necessary, and create a lot more clutter than they're worth. I personally have enough clutter as it is, and need to unload a lot of junk that I'll never use. I'd hate to add to that pile. Besides we have each other and that's really all we need.

3. Our ultimate goal is missions. This really is the clincher. We both are trying to order our lives such that we will be overseas in full-time ministry. Our personalities are such that we desire no attachment to any particular place: we won't be owning any land here, nor will this necessarily be "home" while we're "over there". We will be where we will be, and that is as far as we are willing to take it. It behooves us, then, not to fill a particular space (in, say, a rented storage unit) with belongings we can't take with us. Both of us have enough stuff to "make home" already, and we will probably be unloading a fair amount of it before we step into our calling. We would rather save money spent for junk for us, and give it to a local charity instead.

So there it is. I believe the only thing we will desperately need is a bed, and maybe a couch. We'll probably just be asking for gift cards to Ikea or what have you. Regardless, please don't be offended that you can't buy stuff for us. We love you and we do appreciate your thoughtfulness and sincerity of heart in giving us gifts. We would rather be blessed with your friendship and attendance at our celebration, and that really is all we need and want.

EDIT: We have a mini registry at Target.