Flying in? Renting a car?

One of the logistical difficulties of having the wedding in New Lisbon, WI is that there aren't tons of close, economical airports. For those that are flying in, we recommend these airports:

Chicago - 4 hrs.
Milwaukee - 3 hrs.
Madison - 1 1/2 hrs.
Minneapolis - 3hrs.
LaCrosse, WI - 1 hr.

Hope that gives you some idea of where you might want to book flights to.

Also, if you are flying and renting a car, or just driving in from one of these areas, I've been contacted by a few non-drivers (or non-distance drivers) who would be interested in carpooling. If you think you'll have space, and you'd be willing to help 1-2 people get to New Lisbon, please let Charity or I know. We'll see what we can arrange.

Thanks a ton!!!

Where we're registered

Last Saturday, Charity and I went to a couple's house from our church. While we were there, they handed us a bag. Inside was a hand mitt and towel. It took us a second to realize that it was from our registry list. Wow! (Thanks K & F)

We hadn't really told anyone about our registry. We mentioned it as one of the things we did on a recent trip to Connecticut, but we hadn't 'announced' where we were registered. So we were totally surprised to get something from the list.

People have begun to ask, and even though the invitations are still a little while coming, we thought it would be good to let everyone know. After all, our wedding is only a few months off.

We've decided to register at 2 places. The first is Bed Bath, and Beyond. We love the store because it has (almost) everything we need to get our house going. We've been incredibly blessed by people's generosity over the years, but Jason's a bachelor, and Charity left a lot of her stuff behind in Wisconsin.

As for the 2nd place, like I said, we've been incredibly blessed. We do have some of the stuff that a couple starting out typically needs, so we thought we'd ask for something fun. When we thought about what one experience we really wanted, it was to have a (very) memorable honeymoon. Thanks to an amazing gift from Charity's Aunt Jo & Pam, we have an opportunity to spend our honeymoon in Ireland and Paris.

Of course, there's lots that we wanted to do over there, and we thought people would enjoy being "a part of the honeymoon". So we set up a honeymoon registry at Traveler's Joy. Take a look, it's pretty exciting to think that we're going to get to do all that, a once in a lifetime experience.

For easy browsing, we've set up links over there (--->) on the sidebar. We love you all, and are so glad all of you are in our lives.

Long Distance Dating...

On our last day in Chicago as we were walking back to our hotel, Jason made it official and asked me to be his " girlfriend ". I don't remember exactly what he said, but I remember teasing him about asking me out. Of course I said I would be very happy to pursue things and see where God leads us.

Thus began our long distance relationship. Let me tell you ladies, long distance relationships SUCK! However, they do have some bonuses. For a few hours every single night, I had Jason's undivided attention. Going out on dates is wonderful, but you don't get a lot of time to talk. When all you can do is talk, it really is great for a relationship. We were truly able to get to know each other!

We covered every topic imaginable. I learned that Jason enjoys talking on the phone more then most women I know! Sure, we talked about our daily lives, but we also talked for hours about religion, sports, politics, traveling, churches, theology...the list goes on and on.

We also prayed together and read scripture together. It was a wonderful bonding time for us.

Now with everything, there is good and bad. I mentioned earlier that long distance relationships suck, because they do. Its very hard being separated from someone you love. Im enjoying the dating life right now. Its always fun to get dressed up and go out for dinner, go to a movie, or spend a evening sitting in front of a fire.

I truly believe that we had a great foundation by the time I moved out. I knew Jason inside and out, and he knew me inside and out. Now that we were beyond the " getting to know you " stage", we could enjoy dating each other, with the knowledge that God had brought us together.

Meeting in Chicago

It snowed today in Philadelphia. Worst snowstorm in 3 years. It reminded me of Charity and my first meeting. We first "met" in Chicago last winter. For about 6 months, we had never seen each other face to face. Fortunately, I already had plans to go to Chicago for my 10 year college reunion. As many of you know, I attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Every February, they cancel classes and have a conference called 'Founder's Week'. We decided this would be a perfect time to meet up.

I flew out a few days before Founder's Week got underway. You've already heard about Charity's test for me with the kids at her church. After spending a weekend meeting her family and her church family, we headed to Chicago where my test awaited her. I wanted Charity to meet my college buddies and also one of my teens who's a current student there.

Most of the week (except for some reunion formalities) was spent traipsing around downtown Chicago visiting my old college haunts. In this picture, you'll see my friends Laura Beth (a missionary in Uganda), Drew (a groomsman and my best friend in college), Leo (another 'Dryer guy') and, of course, Charity. There were also tons of people not pictured in this one.

Charity was a great sport. It isn't easy having to tag along with a bunch of old pals who were preoccupied with catching up. It snowed that week too. But we weren't deterred. Whether it was walking a mile up to the pancake house we always went to on Saturday mornings, or going coffeehouse hopping (being sure to hit every place we ever went in 4 years at college), or walking over to Lake Michigan in the middle of a blizzard, poor Charity came along dutifully and without complaint.

But she sure made an impression.

My former teen who's now a student said, "Jason, I love her, you have to marry her."

Lisa K. (Drew's wife) said, "Jason, if you don't marry her, I'm divorcing Drew, becoming a lesbian and marrying her myself." (she was kidding, I think, but luckily we don't need to find out!)

Lisa C. said, "She's so beautiful...you absolutely have to make her your girlfriend."

But it was Drew who voiced the prophetic words, "Jason, this weekend was really something special. I'm so glad that we got to be a part of what's bound to be a cherished memory."

He was right. Our first meeting went off without a hitch (almost, but that's Charity's story to tell). It was something special and a treasured memory for us. And for our part, we're so glad that so many people got to share it with us. Thanks y'all.

The Moment I Knew

Most ladies I know have a story to tell about when they KNEW they had found their husbands. I too, have a similar story.

Jason was finally coming to visit for the first time, and I was telling myself and my family, " we are just friends ". I picked Jay up at the airport and we had a wonderful time in the car before finally getting to my parents house in New Lisbon. This was the first test, how he would interact with my family. Saturday night was wonderful. We had tacos and watched movies. I remember going into the kitchen at one point with my sister and how excited she was about Jason. I went to bed really late on Saturday night wondering if I had FINALLY found my husband. Jason's next test came Sunday morning.

Everyone who knows me, knows the kids at my church in New Lisbon are just like my own family. If they didn't like Jason, then he wasn't the one for me. I asked Jason if he would like to sit in on my Sunday School class. I taught 4-6th grade. I was speaking on Daniel that day and one of the boys asked a question. I was stumbling through the answer when Jason asked if he could try explaining it. I was blown away with how easy it was for Jason to get down to their level. I remember thinking at that moment " oh my gosh, he's the one for me, I will marry that man " !!!!!!!!!!!!

I think it is so fitting that I had that realization during my Sunday School Class. I always knew that if I stayed faithful to the Lord, He would bless me. And he has. I now have a partner to serve the Lord with. Its exciting to see what lies ahead!!!

Book your rooms now!

Obviously you don't have to rush, but many have asked, so we decided to put hotel information up.

Charity's brother works at Best Western and was able to get us quite the deal for what turns out to be peak season in the Wisconsin Dells. If you'd like to make reservations, hotel information can be found in the sidebar.

(over there --------------------->)


Don't forget to bring a bathing suit!

She said, "You're kidding, right?"

Not because she didn't say yes (which she eventually did), but because she wasn't expecting it at all. Charity loves being surprised, but pulling off a surprise proposal took a bit of work and a little bit of misdirection.

When Charity moved out to Philly, the understanding was that as long as things proceeded as we were expecting, a proposal would come before Christmas. Being a student, there's a limitation on when we can get married. Summer and Winter breaks are really the only time. To get married this summer, we needed to do a little bit of planning when we returned to Wisconsin for Christmas. So already Charity had some notion of when it was coming. After all, we hadn't broken up, and that meant an engagement was coming.

I ordered the ring in the beginning of November and got it a few days later. I was pretty sure Charity didn't know. But just to be sure, I enlisted the help of Joy, her sister. We got engaged on Nov. 15, so the Thursday before, I texted Joy. "Wanna help me surprise Charity?" She called me back right away. I told her my plans, and asked her to tell Charity that I had ordered the ring that day (and was getting the next week). Meanwhile, all week long, whenever Charity asked what my plans for Thursday were, I was especially evasive.

"I need to run errands."
"Yeah? What errands?"
"I dunno, go to the bank, other stuff, not sure, bunch of stuff."

So Charity thought I had done something suspicious that Thursday. The truth is, I sat home and studied mostly. When Saturday came, she knew I'd be proposing soon, but not for a few days still.

So Saturday morning I picked Charity up. We had planned to take a nice, relaxing day off. We went to the mall. Then we went to a movie. Then we went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. This was the part that made me nervous. Cheesecake Factory had kinda become our place. When we first met up, it was our first real 'date'. After 6 months, we happened to be together again, and went to Cheesecake Factory. Somehow, though, she thought nothing of the fact that I wanted to go to Cheesecake Factory. (Probably because I made her pay!)

We were stuffed, and got our cheesecake to go. Brought it back to my house where we started a fire and put a blanket down in front of it. There we sat, drinking coffee and eating cheesecake in front of the fire in our future home. When we were done with the cheesecake, we cuddled and talked. I worked the conversation over to how much I was looking forward to the rest of our life together...

...which led to me asking her to marry me. I nervously fumbled with the ring box, and she was convinced I was just trying to freak her out and fool her. So when I asked, "Charity, will you marry me?", her first response was "You're kidding, right?"

I finally got the ring box open, and asked again. This time she said yes :)