Married Life...

...so far consists of waking up, showering, getting ready, running errands, cleaning, eating, playing video games, watching the Fast and the Furious Movies in reverse order, building lots of fires, and praying my crazy eyes out! All of these things fun, but all of these things, alone.

I have been Mrs. Alyssa Duncan for 13 days, 1 hours, and 11 minutes...and only got to spend about 15 hours with my husband before he left.

But here's the thing, I'm not telling you this to make you feel sorry for me (us), or to make you think I'm not holding up, or that I don't like being married if this is how it is turning out....Because here's the TRUTH:

I LOVE being married. If there was anything in this world that I know I was meant for, it was this. He is my BEST FRIEND, the man that I love with all of my heart, my sweetheart, my dear. To try and imagine my life without him, is like trying to imagine life without my consistently beating heart. Even from 2000 miles away, he still calls me every night to tell me he's safe and that he loves me, he lets me babble away even though he's worked a 14 hour day and needs rest, and he still comforts me after I've had a bad dream.

Yes, I am counting down the days until he gets home. But I am thankful that he is staying in Miami for now (to assist Southcom). It will make his return trip easier and makes me feel more at ease about his safety. I am also thankful for such an amazing church family. We have received a plethora of prayers for his safety and his general well-being. That means the world to me.

Now the PR guy from Northcom is writing an article about Chad and what he's doing down there to assist Haiti and Southcom. He is with three other guys but they chose to write about him. I am so incredibly proud. The guy who is writing the interview sent him a list of questions to answer about what he is doing. The last question asked him if there was anything else he would like to add. His response was:

"I got married the night before I flew down here to
USSOUTHCOM and my new wife, Alyssa, has been beyond supportive and
understanding during this rough time."

After I wiped away the giant crocodile tear that rolled down my cheek in reading this, I thanked GOD for sending me a wonderful and amazing man. I am so in awe.

In conclusion, married life will be much better after he is HOME. But married life nonetheless, is incredibly fulfilling. And beautiful. So beautiful.

Big News!!

Big news might not even be big enough to describe this one....

GIGANTIC NEWS

There, that's better.

So....here's what's up. I found out on Monday that Chad would have to go to Florida for a week for a Hurricane Preparedness Workshop next week (Jan. 18th through the 22nd). I was bummed that he'd be gone for a week, but oh well. C'est la vie. Well, on Thursday morning I find out that Chad is getting deployed....to Haiti. He has to go down to help re-establish communication in a country that has had 60% of its buildings demolished by a 7.0 earthquake...that number has risen, as well as the number of those found dead. The country is a mess, and they needed Chad (and three other awesome guys from his work) to go down there and do what they could to repair some of the damages. At first, this trip was only going to be fore 2 weeks....then it all of the sudden rose to a month. A MONTH! That meant that he would get back on the 15th of February....which as most of you know...is 4 days before our wedding. He would be exhausted, smelly, and need to relax. I was REALLY bummed, because that meant that I would lose the man that I rely so heavily on for emotional and relational support for a month. There would be little to no communication once he got to Haiti. But God spoke to my heart and said, "Child. Be still. He is going to help. He won't be in danger. Trust me. Calm your fears. I am GOD."

So I resigned myself to this fact, and got ready for a long, hard month. The next morning, I got a call from Chad. Their flight was being postponed until the next morning. He wanted to know if I wanted to go get dinner that night, so that we'd be able to spend a little more time together before he left. (Of course I wanted to!!!) So I called Blair, the girl that I work with, and asked her to switch me shifts (as I was scheduled to work that night). She agreed (which I am so thankful for) and I went into work at 10. As I was working away, I realized we may want to try and get our marriage license while he is here, as I heard that getting it by proxy is a huge pain. So I called the County Clerk and Recorder and asked what the requirements were....turns out we didn't need his SS card after all. All we needed was our id's. BUT-she also told me that once you have the license in your hands, you only have 30 days to get married, get it signed, and then get it back down to the County Clerk and Recorder. CRAP! Our wedding is scheduled for the 19th of February....which is 4 days over a month. Now, yes we could have waited until Chad got back, as he was scheduled to be back 4 days early) BUT-there was also a chance that he wouldn't be back until the day before the wedding (as he told them he HAD to be back by that day). SO-to avoid risking him not being back in time, we went down to get it yesterday AND................................

WE GOT MARRIED.

Yes, you read it right. Let me explain. Like I said, we did this to avoid risking him not being back in time. It was the only (easy) option. It also felt right. I believe God knew what He was doing in nudging us in this direction. Sooo......we took my parents, Chad's mom, and his brother down to the Country Clerk and Recorder's. (Chad was literally driving up as we had to leave to get down there on time, so he was still in work clothes....jeans and a polo....and I put on a short white dress.) We walked in, to the wrong building. We walked in, to the right building, sat down, filled out the paperwork, swore an oath that we weren't lying, gave our information, and then she gave us back a preliminary copy of our Marriage License. To allow us some privacy, she recommended we go out into the lobby and fill out the information on there, sign it, have our witnesses sign it, and then bring it back in. (Colorado is a self-solemnizing state...that means we don't have to have an officiant there, we basically married ourselves in front of God and our family.) We brought it back in, she ran it through the system, put the official seals and signatures on it, and then we were ready to go! We then went out to the lobby again and then exchanged rings under the SUPER cheesy, 80's style-drive-in-chapel-in-Vegas style arch. We kissed, and it was a done deal!

Here are the important details:

We are still having the ceremony on February 19th. We already have family coming into town, I still want to wear my dress, we already have his tux reserved, and we just still really want the WEDDING feel in a ceremony. We didn't want our legal ceremony to be IT. We are also still having our reception/barbecue party in June sometime. So I suppose, if you tilt your head and squint your eyes...we are having 3 weddings. :) That's okay! Weddings are so fun, we not make 3x as much fun! :)

I now live at Chad's house (which is really our house now). I will be here for the month that he is gone, and if he comes back early (there is a slight possibility of this-be praying), I will still live here. We are by all means, MARRIED.

I will be changing my name. I am going to go into the social security office on Tuesday (as Monday is MLK day) and begin the process. That's right. I am now MRS. ALYSSA DUNCAN. Soooo cool. :)

Anyone who doesn't read this blog, will be very confused as to why we are all of the sudden married. Sorry! It is a REALLY long story and a blog seems to be the best way to fill mass amounts of people in about a really complicated (but wonderfully blessed) event in our lives. Even if asked about what is going on, I will most likely say, go read the blog....as I can only tell the story so many times before I lose my voice....;)

Anywhoooo....that is all for now! I will keep ya'll filled in about when I hear from Chad, if he comes back early, and how things are going with February-ceremony-planning. We love you all and are very glad to have you all as a part of our lives!!

I also ask that you don't text/email/call Chad with congratulations at this time. Whereas he will be very happy to hear all of those....when he gets back would be a better time. He is in Florida and will be VERY busy these next few days, weeks...however long he is there before he heads to Haiti. So to avoid overwhelming him with your well wishes right now...I just ask that you wait until he gets back. Thanks so much for being understanding!

God bless and have a wonderful day! (Please, also, keep Chad and the trip and flights and everything in your prayers. Prayers for my sanity would be much appreciated as well!)

Wedding Website!

15 billion hours later....I am done with the wedding website! Yay!
Go check it out, and let me know what you think!.
I definitely welcome any ideas/suggestion for improvement!

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/AlyssaPruitt&ChadDuncan

As of today....wedding invitations have all been made (and I've decided I'd love to start my own wedding invitation making business, how cool would that be??) but not mailed out yet. As long as Steph and I can get them all addressed today, they should go out tomorrow. Phew! This wedding stuff is hard work....:) I will try and post pictures soon. :)

Signing off with a Chad quote:

"Thanks for being you and thanks for being mine." 12-06-09

The Scoop on the Big Bamboozle

Just in case you didn't know....Bamboozle=wedding in this case. :) So I've had a TON of people ask me, "When's the wedding gonna be?" "Do you know yet?" "How about now?" This is only normal, as we ARE engaged and WOULD like to get married some time in the next century or so....Of course you're all going to be curious!

We got engaged on September 7th, 2009. The wedding date started out as being sometime. :) We didn't know when we'd be able to get a house, and Chad, who has spent his life in barracks, apartments, or with roomies, really wanted to get an actual house. I totally didn't object to that! So the hunt began...a few complications came along the way, and I wasn't really sure if we'd be getting married in the next year. It was hard to find a decent house, with land, close to Peterson, kind of close to my job, with at least 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, garage, etc. We were both becoming discouraged, and then Chad finally told me if he didn't find a house soon, that we would just get an apartment and plan the wedding for some time in the summer. Out of sheer goofiness, I made up a date, March 26th, as being the date that I'd LOVE to get married by. I didn't actually think it would work out that way, but a girl can dream can't she?? :)

Well here's what happened...Chad had it set up with a friend, Braden, of his, for us to stop by Braden's house after I got off of work one night, to look at some furniture he had for us. Braden and his wife just had a baby, and they were looking to get rid of a few things to make room. Chad gave me directions before I went into work and afterward, I followed them to a little house off of Constitution and Peterson. He told me to text him when I pulled up so that he could meet me outside and usher me in, to introduce me to Braden and his family. I did just that, and he came outside, took my hand, and led me in. We got inside and I looked around. There were a few pink couches that matched the ones Michael and Donna gave us, a dining room table, and a bunch of boxes. "Well, what do you think?" He asked me.
"I think everything here will go good with what we have. "
"Well, it is ours."
"Okay, well we should look through it all."
"No, this IS ours. This is our house."
It finally began to sink in....."What???"
"It's ours. I signed for it today."

Then it fully sunk in. I couldn't think, or talk, or laugh...so I cried! Haha! I just started blubbering and crying and walking around in circles. I couldn't believe it!!! After I finally calmed down, he explained the entire story to me...how he had been going around in secret, planning this all for weeks...Michael and Donna let him borrow the trailer to move his stuff out of their storage shed, Gary helped him lift some of the heavy stuff up the stairs, Braden lent the use of his good name....:) I was so amazed! I am such a hard person to surprise (because I'm very good at reading minds ;) and I just couldn't fathom that he actually pulled this off!!! He had been telling me for weeks that my Christmas present was HUGE and I would probably get it early. Never did I imagine, this is what it would be though!

Sooooo.....long story long....we have a house now! It is JUST the right size, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2-car garage, good sized backyard, in town, and close to Peterson. Perfect!!!
Back to the wedding story....:) So because we finally have a house, we were able to start making wedding plans! Yay! We started out with sticking with my "dream date"...March 26th. But then one day, Chad asked me how I felt about getting married Valentine's Day. I thought that sounds amazing! (But then a few days later he decided it sounded too cliche, so we switched to February 13th.) Well, when we called Westgate Resorts to book our honeymoon, the only dates they ended up having open (after 3 phone calls) was the 20th-28th. That meant we had to leave on the morning of the 20th, and therefore, get married on Friday the 19th. :)

There, I said it. Chad and I are getting married on Friday, February 19th. Here's the thing, though. To keep things really small and intimate, we are only inviting family. I'd LOVE to have ALL of the friends I've ever made and all the family I've ever had there...but that requires a great deal of planning, coordination, and a REALLY big church. :) We decided that rather than finagle with all of that, we just wanted to have the closest people in our lives there, to witness the joining of our lives under God. It's not because I don't LOVE all of my amazing friends, or Chad's wonderful friends that I've heard so many great stories about. It's not that at all. We are doing this because it is going to be easy and simple. That's all. :)

BUT-here's some really good news....we DO want to include all of those people who aren't coming to the wedding in the celebrating of our marriage, so sometime in June (when the weather gets warmer), we are going to host a barbecue at the church Chad and I attend (Meridian Point Church here in Falcon, Colorado). We are going to invite ALL (and I do mean all) of our family, friends, and the very special, and important people in our lives. It is going to be a very casual, laid-back, fun-focused party to celebrate our marriage. Let me tell you, it's going to be a blast. Burgers, brats, fruit salad, great music, cake (mmmmmm!), and a knee-slappin' good time!!! :) Be watching for invites in the mail around April or so....:)

So I hope none of you are offended and I hope all of you understand.
We love you all!

Signing off with a Chad quote as always.....
"Life is better knowing WHEN I'm going to marry you. " Chad, 12/09