Wedding Reflections

Ohhh goodness do I love being engaged. I waited my whole life to meet a guy like Matt, and we've enjoyed the afterglow of the new status greatly. The next reality check though: wedding planning.
I have not found a "Wedding Planning During a Recession" book yet, but from what I understand it most likely is a simple affair. You throw out the ridiculous expenditures and do the basics. Even those take planning, though.
I would say that Matt and I are in an interesting spot right now. We are engaged and want to be married as soon as possible. He is still looking for full-time work, and I've just moved back here after three years away (=taking a break for breather, will resume working in the fall). We live four hours apart from each other and weekends are our treasure. We had a rough week recently where being apart caused me so much anxiety that I was just not myself. It is hard - I need to be near him.

Matt has a unique living situation where he is housesitting for his family for the next couple of years while they are on an overseas assignment. This means free rent, which is a huge praise as he job hunts. So, it is best that he continues to search for employment and stay there.

And then there is me, on the west side of the mountains. I've basically decided that it is just time to move closer to him come this fall. Since we are waiting to live together until we are married, it means trying to find a place to live that will allow month to month or a rented room situation until we are hitched. Lots to think about...

Lord, we need jobs. And Your timing... (and Your help planning this celebration too... there is so much to celebrate!)

That is the update so far. I am so blessed to have found this man. ;)

Favorite Montana Moments...

Just some pics for now... it is seriously WAY TO HOT in this house to write. I need to cool off in an air conditioned store for a bit.

Stay tuned! :)

Here But Not...

I am back in WA - ohhhhh the time in MT was beyond glorious. I have a million pics and unfortunately I left my camera cord at my parent's house and I am out house sitting for my brother for the next two weeks! BOO! I just may need to make a trip out to see Mama soon anyway, so I will grab it then. I was really looking forward to the downtime here to catch up on editing and uploading pictures...

...and now I can finally get back to some blogging again! I have been go-go-go since getting back here, so this little house/doggy sitting gig is perfect for the next two weeks.

I say I am "here, but not" because honestly it is really different being back at times. A lot of things to get readjusted to all over again, being in the same time zone as Matt yet still four hours away from each other, and wishing I was there or he was here pretty much all the time.

I got back from MT on Friday and Matt met me for dinner Friday night and we did a marathon training run on Saturday morning together. Then we spent all afternoon together and with his brother and his family the whole evening. Church was on Sunday and some time at a local beach to beat the heat we've been experiencing in the area lately. Then it is another sad goodbye come Sunday night. I hate it :(

Everyone keeps on asking us when we are getting married. We decided not to set a date until he gets a full-time permanent job position. As many of you know, he has actively been seeking a job for close to a year now. This economy has been really rough on us, but we are grateful that he has been able to have a temp assignment the entire time he has been seeking employment. God provides!

I am looking into being nearer to Matt though - praying about moving to his town in September. It would mean needing to find a room for rent somewhere, so I could use some prayer regarding that! I sold or gave away most of my belongings in my last move so I don't even own a set of dishes or towels for that matter! I also will being my own job search in the fall too.

Montana was good for me to help me relax and unwind for a full week - and not worry about Matt's job situation, when we can get married, where I will live beyond September, etc. I just hiked mountains, breathed in that crisp air, delighted in my precious nephew, and ate good Montana cookin'. (AKA a lot of MEAT. UGH!)

So..happy Monday, all. I will put up some pics as soon as I can, and in the meantime, my Flickr account has most of the pics up until the MT trip. Enjoy!

:)
Ruhiyyih

Off to Montana!

Call me crazy - a spontaneous road trip with my brother and his family to where we grew up in Kalispell, MT.

We leave in the morning and by the middle of next week I will be on some hiking trails in Glacier National Park! I am so excited - I have not been back there in five years!

I will be back with some great pics, awesome memories, and my outdoors "tank" FULL.

Have a great week, all!

Busy Summer Fun!

I've been SO busy. Awhile ago I *had* to make time to roll down a hill at a local park with a former DC housemate, Lauren. We really are grownups...couldn't help it...
Matt snapped a pic of me when we were out to dinner with some friends. I was eating outside, in Washington state, with ferries going by...and we were treated to the dinner as an engagement gift. So wonderful!
The family was all together on the Fourth! Taraz, Mom, me & baby Daniel, Anne, Rue, Rahmat, Daisy, sister Laurel and Mehran and Matt on the ground. Dad took the pic!
Matty and his precious niece - fun family time!
Making my temporary room at my folks all clean and cute...this was the first part: steam cleaning the carpets to get rid of the "cat" - I had the sniffles so bad!

Time outside - last week on the camping trip, Matt was able to come up and join us for a night. We took the canoe out, and had a great time!
Fun with my sister-in-law, Anne, and her new little baby!

I put a ton of pics on my Flickr page - the July 2009 has most of them. I like to store them in cyberspace in case my laptop crashes...

This has been one busy month - I am really enjoying the time off and I feel totally healed from any trace of fatigue - I am running again and enjoying this season. What is next? Some housesitting and visiting in August - and then back to working. I'll temp for awhile until Matt and I know more about his job situation. If any of you think of it, could you pray for Matt to find a job? A lot of recent rejections have been really discouraging. We would like to set a wedding date :)

In closing, my older brother with his new son:
Too much fun!

Back Online!

So...a surprise happened: the camping trip that I went on happened to be only 2 hours away from Matt (instead of the usual 4 hours away that I am used to) - and mom let me just take her car from the camping trip to his town for the weekend! So, I just got back. I was blessed to be able to stay with a couple from his church and we hung out during the day.

I can't say enough how amazing it has been to be at home. To hold my baby nephew (I stole this pic from my mom's blog - she titled this one "Searchin' for Toe Jam" - what a cute face!) and see family is such a treasure.
I hope to get all my photos from the trip uploaded and edited later this week...and visit your blogs! My laptop is not hooked up to internet yet, so I am on my dad's for now.

As far as wedding planning - Matt and I are still waiting on him finding a full-time permanent position somewhere. That will help us know what time of year we can take off for awhile, where we will live, etc. We would really appreciate your prayers as we are in this "waiting room"...God is good, all the time!
So, just a quick update to let you know that I am alive and very well. Hugs to you all! :)

Ah Summer...

I have SO been missing in action lately - it is so funny, I thought I would have all of this downtime after moving back home and taking time off. It turned out to be the opposite - busyness! But, of a good kind and a different nature altogether.

I had a jam packed week adjusting back to life in WA. Then, the holiday weekend snuck up on me and I was absorbed with newborn babies, my hilarious family, and my wonderful fiance. I have so many stories to tell but, alas, I am off again on a camping trip that will take me away from the Internet for a whole week!

I will be back next weekend, and spend a good afternoon at the local coffeehouse uploading pics and telling these stories that are too good to keep to myself.

My mom posted some fun pics on her blog throughout the week - enjoy! :)

Have a great week all - I will be back soon!

Gratefully,
Ruhiyyih