17 Months...

Today is Niels and I's 17 month anniversary. We took advantage of Oma and Opa being here to go out on our first real date since Daniel was born. We went to see the movie Marley & Me. We had been looking forward to the release of this movie for months, especially since I had read the book and Niels had listened to it. In many ways, the book relates well to our short marriage, and seeing the movie tonight was a great way to remember the highs and lows of our own history. I had forgotten about the miscarriage that the couple endured, and watching it unfold on the big screen reminded me of where we were emotionally when I read the book, recovering from our first miscarriage. It was beautifully portrayed and I was pretty much an emotional wreck for the rest of the movie. I'm always drawn to movies that portray the reality of marriage in a positive light and seeing this movie tonight with my husband on our anniversary reminded me again how blessed I am to have married such an amazing man. I'm grateful for his love, for the miracle of our new son, for my improving health, and yes, for the unbridled joy of our Bailey dog.

Our 1st anniversary picture

Those of you who have been to our house have seen our stairway tradition. We have photo frames with pictures from our engagement and wedding, and more frames hanging in anticipation of our future anniversaries. We had a formal photo taken on our cruise so this picture will become our first anniversary picture. DJ is really making an appearance!

Happy First Anniversary to Us!!!

It was an unseasonably warm Ohio day, one year ago, that Niels and Jen became Mr. and Mrs. de Jong! Our first year has flown by. The financial crunch of two mortgages--Jen's GR condo is still for sale--has given us many opportunities to make sure we were on the same financial page. Jen's health has given Niels lots of practice in caretaking, which will be put into good use once baby de Jong arrives in December!!! Stresses aside, we took time to travel together: our honeymoon in Curacao, a trip to Vermont for a wedding, a trip to Arizona to see American mom and meet Gramma (plus a fun "just us" day to the Grand Canyon), several trips to Grand ol' Rapids and even a few local road trips around Ohio. We played host to our friends Gabe & Emily, and Gary from the Great White North, and welcomed Dutch Dad and Mom for Christmas, and American Dad, Jen's sister Liz and our godson CJ just this past weekend. We've loved getting involved with our new church family, and our friends from our new small group have spent many hours in our home. Our spiritual life has been a highlight, from the aforementioned small group, to finding a place to serve in our new church, to our daily prayers and devotions, and even leading a small group for adult children of divorce based on Jen's book. Now we know what people mean when they are more in love after marriage than before. It's been a wonderful year and we can't wait to see what year #2 has in store.

Seven Months of Wedded Bliss!

With leap day today, Niels and I are really celebrating a rare seven-month anniversary! Best of all, it's one of a few on which I've actually felt pretty well. No miscarriages, surgeries or anything! My sweet husband sent me an email today with a choice of restaurants. We've usually celebrate at home (the financially-crunched joy of carrying two households for 13 months...sigh), but I think Niels sees the opportunity with me feeling well, so out we go!

Our church just finished a series on marriage. I was very humbled to have been asked to offer input and feedback based on my experience as an author. We have also been asked to be part of the church marriage team. Driving home, God brought to mind how I have prayed that "someday" I would be involved in marriage ministry with my husband. God is so good!

As part of the series, the marriage team developed a "5 great dates" booklet with suggested activities and resources. (A quick plug for the original Great Daters, Dave & Claudia Arp). We've decided to use our anniversary
date to do each "date" for the next few months. Should be fun!

The big news of the month is that my condo is officially back on the market. I tried to sell it on my own over the winter, but alas, no luck. So we spent Valentine's weekend in Grand Rapids, working feverishly with Brooke and Andy, our caretakers/renters, cleaning, painting, de-cluttering and generally staging. If you know anyone looking for a great deal (we dropped the price...again), click on the link above.

Cool seven tulips artwork from InglesArt.net

Six months of wedded bliss!

One Month Down, A Lifetime To Go

Niels and I were able to celebrate our first month anniversary today. Bailey was first to congratulate us--with a 4am request to see the great outdoors. After Niels was back to sleep, Jen slipped downstairs to make a surprise cinnamon raisin loaf for him (Thanks Schmidts & Dudiczs. We LOVE the breadmaker!) But her math was off, so she got the enjoy the new loaf herself.

Once Niels was off to work, Jen worked on her gift to Niels...a new name! Yep! Jen Abbas is now legally Jen de Jong, according to the Social Security office. When she arrived home, there was a nice big package from Bed, Bath & Beyond. Thanks, Basses, for contributing to Jen's culinary collection!

Niels arrived home with red roses for Jen (yay, Niels!) and Niels arrived home to a good cooking test day. Yummy stir fry (thanks again, Schmidts and Dudiczs for the wok!) with apple juice in our new wine classes (thanks, Kennedys!) We played our own version of Go-Fish/Uno with the Mahjong set Jen got in China. And for dessert, Jen made a heart shaped cake.

The night ended with the very good news that Jen and Niels' very good friend, Mark Meyer, got engaged to his new fiance, Lori this weekend. We were very happy to inundate him with our newlywed wisdom and look forward to hosting the couple when they come visit us in Canton, hoping in November for the Viking/Packer game and Hall of Fame tour. (Lori, did you know the football Hall of Fame hosts wedding receptions?!? )