Living Simply

It's official. John and I are renting a little two bedroom house in Fruitport. We have it now, and John will probably move in come March. I will of course move in after we get married (which is in 85 days by the way). It is a little rundown, and there is no garage, no dishwasher, no hallway...everything is off the living room. However, it will be super cute when we are done with it! We started painting today, and it has been so much fun for us so far!!

Pictures to come...

Tomorrow I am meeting my sister-in-law's mom to work on our wedding invitations, then John and I are babysitting Ryan and Noah for the night. I am beyond excited. I miss spending time with my little "nephews." I don't see them nearly as much as I would like lately. Maybe John and I will just rent out Kim and Rob's basement instead ;)

Gotta Love the Beach Boys

Wouldnt it be nice if we were older
Then we wouldnt have to wait so long
And wouldnt it be nice to live together
In the kind of world where we belong

You know its gonna make it that much better
When we can say goodnight and stay together

Wouldnt it be nice if we could wake up
In the morning when the day is new
And after having spent the day together
Hold each other close the whole night through

Happy times together weve been spending
I wish that every kiss was neverending
Wouldnt it be nice

Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true
Baby then there wouldnt be a single thing we couldnt do
We could be married
And then wed be happy

Wouldnt it be nice

You know it seems the more we talk about it
It only makes it worse to live without it
But lets talk about it
Wouldnt it be nice

So I'm pretty lame...

John gave me a sewing machine for Christmas because I have been wanting one for almost two years and haven't been able to afford one. Although I don't know how to sew all that well, I am going to learn!

In all honestly, nothing gets me more excited than thinking about making a quilt, or scrapbooking, or knitting. Something about creating something out of scratch really gets me excited. The saddest part of all is I have this strong desire and really great ideas for so many things, but in truth I am not creative at all.

Why God would wire me with a creative mind, yet not able to actually put that creativity into motion is beyond me. I am determined, however, that I am going to keep trying, over and over, if that is what it takes to master the art of sewing...just call me Suzie Homemaker =)

I'm getting married!

On December 9th, John and I went to Detroit to see the Lions play the Cowboys because I had gotten him tickets for his birthday the moth before. After the game, we changed into nice clothes and went to Wolfgang Puck, a restaurant inside the new MGM. After dinner, he got on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was simple, yet very romantic and I was totally surprised! I could not ask for more than a man like John and I am so excited and blessed!!

If anyone is interested to know...the details are as follows:

We are getting married Friday, May 2nd 2008. The ceremony will be held at Olivet (our home church), and the reception is going to be at the Harbortowne Yaht Club.

Maid of Honor: Kim Peoples
Bridesmaids: Cathy Bradfield
Nicole Bradfield
Bethany Cramblet
Rachel Pitney
Angela Bridgewater
Katie Eikenberry

I am so excited to start my life with John!!!


P.S. Not that this is that important, but my ring is SO pretty!!

I made my first...

Apple Pie!!

The pie crust was homemade and everything.

And...people said it was pretty darn good!

I just may be a good homemaker after all =)

Meet John

Ok, So I thought I would tell everyone a little about the love of my life since most of you don't really know him that well. Here goes...

Name:Johnathon Guy Bradfield

Occupation:Assistant Manager for Wal-Mart. He loves anything having to do with management and business.

Age:24

Hobbies:Bowling, spending time with me of course ;) working, playing his bass guitar, playing cards or any game really...but all this pales in comparison to Halo 3 and Guitar Hero...


How We Met: John and I went to middle school together and were in almost all the same classes in sixth grade. He had a crush on me, but I thought he was too nerdy. Then after high school I became friends with his sister, and I would randomly run into him over the years. Finally, last March we ran into each other again and talked for hours. Then he asked me on a date. And the rest is history...

What we enjoy doing together: Playing cribbage, Going out to breakfast, watching movies, making out (just thought I'd throw that out there...), long walks, taking drives, having good conversation, people watching, and watching musicals.

What I love about him: He treats me SO good, we have the richest conversations , he loves God, he has a great smile, he works hard and is really passionate about his job (yes, yes, even if it's at Wal-Mart), he is very cultured, he worked at Pier 1 imports for over six years so he knows a lot about decorating and has great taste. Oh, and he always sends me the sweetest text messages =)

Random Facts: He hates Ketchup, he's currently working third shift, and when he was little he loved listening to the Spice Girls ;)

Ah, memories...

My dad was showing me some pictures of his Nepal trip from this summer that a leader from his team compiled from all the students, and as he was going through them I realized there were tears in my eyes. Not just for the many people in Nepal who have leprosy, are orphaned, sold into the sex slave trade, and poor beyond words, but also because I realized how far I have come since I was a teenager. In many ways I have grown in Christ and have seemed to have found my identity of some sorts in the world, yet at other times I see a materialistic girl who is so lost in trying to please others all the time and build this "life" that I have always dreamed of, I forget the rest of the world and how needy it is. I forget people are dying all the time of hunger and girls are being tortured sexually while I go shopping at the mall. I find myself suddenly longing to be the kind of person who has a heart and a passion to help those worse off than I. My trips with Royal Servants taught me so much, and as I look at some of the pictures below I am reminded of the days I honestly felt I was making a difference, or at least making some kind of contribution to others. I am going to frame these pictures, not just because they are amazing works of art, but because I want to look at them and be thankful God has giving me a heart for the poor, and help me get back to the place where I want to make what seems like huge (yet are really small) sacrifices for others.