.love story.

"every love story is beautiful, but ours is my favorite."

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?
We’ve been together since March 26, 2009, so about 3 1/2 years! We got engaged on March 27, 2011 and were married on June 10, 2012.

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}
We met his freshman year (my junior year) of college and I had a crush on him from the beginning. I was a Resident Assistant (RA) in his dorm. Though I didn't officially meet him until around March 2009, I had noticed him in the lobby, playing guitar and hanging out with friends. The first thing I noticed about him was the way he treated others (I mean, besides the fact that he is such a looker!); he was so kind and treated everyone with respect, plus he had a great sense of humor and a knack for making others smile or laugh. After a mutual friend introduced us, we began talking, hanging out, and chatting on AIM until 2 AM (does anyone else remember AIM? haha). We became unofficially "official" the night he made the first move and kissed me to let me know he was interested in me. We have been together ever since!

Alpha Phi Omega Formal April '09 ~ One of our first dates

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}
We've been married 108 days!

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? If not, where would you like to get married? 
We got married under a tree in my parents' backyard. It was a perfect day. =)

Our Ceremony

THE KISS!!! (And what a kiss it was!)

Our Venue - My Childhood Home

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!
Punk was the first one. =)

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.
– His selflessness – He is seriously one of the most giving people I know. Especially with me, our family members, his friends, and his coworkers.
– His passion – He is deeply passionate & committed to serving God; playing & creating music; and loving people. He has so many talents and gifts (it's a bit ridiculous!) and he chooses to use them to glorify God and serve others.
– His kind heart – He is compassionate, encouraging, loving, and incredibly supportive!

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?
It’s kind of a long story, so you can read it all here (under the "Our Proposal" section). But the short version is that he completely took me by surprise (because I thought I knew exactly when it was going to happen...a year later haha) and proposed to me in front of six of our dear friends (and a few other people...he was quite gutsy!). It was one of my favorite days ever. =)

Click HERE to view our proposal.

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?
He does a bit of both! He has brought me flowers for no particular reason, but it is mostly romantic stuff: songs, rose petals, candles, chocolate covered strawberries, etc. =)

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch? 
I am quite content having a night in with a movie and snuggling. I am definitely not opposed to a sunset dinner on the beach though either. =)
 

A picture from our honeymoon...we were cuddled up to watch a movie. 
 
10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?
Do more traveling! I’d love to see Italy, France, Australia, and Ireland (again). We would also like to go to Hawaii and the Caribbean.

11. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.
I can't give just one piece of advice so here goes: Communicate --> Instead of expecting your spouse to know exactly what you want, be honest and open (read: not hurtful...choose your words wisely) when communicating your needs. It saves a lot of time, tears, and guesswork on your spouse's part. Respect your spouse. Don’t speak negatively about him to friends/your mom/coworkers/whoever. Support him and encourage him to follow his dreams. Make it a priority to have time for just the two of you. Have fun together regularly. Oh, and keep dating!

12.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.

These images are from our ceremony, where we each washed the other's feet. 
 
Love, to me, is putting another before yourself and serving each other's needs first before your own.

Though it can be overused, I try to use 1 Corinthians 13:3-8 as a model for how I am to love Jake and others in my lifetime. I'm definitely far from being perfect, but I'm a work in progress.

^"If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies."

- 1 Corinthians 13:3-8 (The Message)

Cake Pop Deliciousness

Hello blog world! 

It's been awhile. I have so much to update you on...just trying to find the time to do it. 

A few weeks ago, I made some treats for a friend's party. My goal was to make these Cupcake Pops, but I quickly realized that my lack of experience with cake pops led me to settle for the basic version, Basic Cake Pops. I used Bakerella's recipe, adapting it to my preferences.

Ingredients:

1 box cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake) (I chose Cherry Chip!)
1 can frosting (16 oz.) (I used Cream Cheese Frosting.)
Wax paper
Yellow candy melts (1 lb. pkg.) (I used 1 lb. of white chocolate bark.)
Lollipop sticks (I couldn't find these, so I used skewer sticks. That didn't work out very well so I would find lollipop sticks if you can find them.)

1. Bake cake mix from scratch. Cool completely.
   
2. Crumble cake into a fine consistency in a large bowl.
   
   
   
   
3. Add a container of cream cheese frosting and blend together using a large spoon. Blend thoroughly.
   
4. Roll mixture into 1.25″ – 1.5″ size balls and lay on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. You may want to periodically rinse and dry your hands off in between.
   
5. Cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for several hours.
   TIP: You can speed this up by placing in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
6. While cupcake shapes are chilling, begin to heat up your chocolate bark.
7. Follow the instructions on the package for melting. Most recommend heating for 30 second intervals at a time and stirring in between. You can also do the double boiler method.
   
8. When you are ready to dip, remove from freezer and set up another wax paper covered cookie sheet.
9. I chose to dye the white chocolate two of my friend's favorite colors, purple and green, to make them more colorful. Just use some food coloring and mix quickly with the melted chocolate in separate bowls.
10. Take the cake pops and dip into the melted chocolate. Remove from chocolate, turn upside down and wiggle so that the excess starts to slide down slightly. If you want them to be lollipops, then go ahead and insert the lollipop sticks while the chocolate is still wet. Continue with rest of the cake pops. You can also leave some without the sticks. They’re just as cute as Cupcake Bites. (This is what I chose to do. Less hassle!)TIP: Dip end of your lollipop stick in the melted chocolate before inserting into chocolate bottoms.
11. I added some sprinkles to the cake pops as well.

It was really difficult for me, inexperienced chocolate dipper that I am, to dip the cake pops in the chocolate, cover them completely, and not poke holes in the cake pop. After I started using a spoon to dip the pops, the process ran a bit more smoothly. I'd like to work up to these Cupcake Pops, but I need to practice a bit more. 

Reviews:

Everyone who tried them seemed to love the "cake balls" and remarked on how cute and yummy they were. I'd definitely like to make these again!

Special thanks to my roomie and her boyfriend for the extra hands of help for dipping!

Until next time...

With love,

Amanda