one year down, a lifetime to go

photo credit: sarah shreves

A week and a half ago, Jamey and I celebrated ONE year of marriage. We heard a lot of things about the first year of marriage. One thing being that it would fly by, and another that it would be the hardest year. One was true, and the other could not be further from the truth. 

Time most definitely flew by for us. It feels like it was yesterday, that I was sitting in my old living room with my closes ladies, getting ready for our big day. I vividly remember being oddly calm and content, just ready for our special day to take place. One year later, here we are. I love reflecting back on this past year, and all of the memories and sweet moments we've made together, as husband & wife. I'm kicking myself for not posting more blogs about those moments, because I know one day my memory won't be as strong, and those special times will soon fade away. But alas, here I am now, making the effort! 

We were graciously gifted with a week-long stay in San Francisco by my wonderful Grandma. We spent the first week of June roaming the city streets of SF and exploring together. It was a wonderful week of getting away and being on a much needed vacation, but most importantly, celebrating our love together. 

[a few snapshots from our trip to san francisco]

On our actual anniversary (June 22nd),  we spent the entire day together, doing some of the things we love. We started the morning off in Long Beach (one of our favorite cities, which holds so many of our first memories together), and got breakfast at our favorite diner, Long Beach Cafe. This is also where we had our first impromptu "date". Oh, and if you ever go there, do yourself a favor and order the Cinnamon Pancakes... to die for! After that, we just drove aimlessly around the city and then started to make our way back home. We spent the afternoon being lazy together  and watching back-to-back episodes of Friends. W

e got all dolled up, and went out to a restaurant called Stubrik's, in Downtown Fullerton. We rarely spend a lot of money on going out to eat, but for this special occasion we definitely knew it was necessary! (Plus, we had a gift card from my best friend, so it was a no-brainer!). The dinner was delicious, and the atmosphere had a really neat vibe. 

anniversary date at stubrik's in fullerton

My favorite part of dinner was that we shared our reflections on our first year of marriage, and then we shared our goals for year two. We kept our goals to a minimum, and then we asked how we could encourage the other person in accomplishing those goals. I loved that. I love that I have the honor of living and sharing this life with Jamey. He is the best gift I could ever ask for, and he is a constant reminder of grace & unconditional love.

The first year of marriage could be described in so many words..."hard" is not one of them. 

Here's to year TWO, and to many, many more after that.

XO

Brenda

the time our souls connected

The season was fall, and the year was 2009.

We had known each other for a year, but had only recently started hanging out within the same group. Jamey was the kind of guy who you could instantly get along with. He's slow to judge and quick to engage. I had particularly associated him with a stage and limelight atmosphere. He was in a band that a lot of my friends would go see perform, and he just had the ability to display passion and personality via his microphone and electric guitar. He was a total rockstar. When he started to come around more, I was shocked to find out that he was more of a low-key, 

introvert by day and fierce rockstar by night. I was instantly intrigued. 

We initially connected on the fact that we both loved Jesus, but quickly after that we identified with our same love for Pop-Punk music. We were those twenty-something year olds who refused to let go of our early high school music. We would get so excited to talk about which bands we listened to 

(and still do), and which shows we went to. We agreed on practically everything when it came to our taste in music. Something I thought I'd never find in someone. 

I was from Long Beach, he was from Orange County-ish. I'm the type of person who has a lot of pride for the city I'm from, so when I heard that Jamey wasn't too familiar with LBC, I instantly wanted to show him around. We made plans for him to come to my place one random Wednesday evening. I was really looking forward to showing Jamey the places and spots that were really special to me. Most of the places I wanted to show him had to do with music, one way or another.

We started the night off by going to my favorite record store in Long Beach, Fingerprints. Neither of us (at the time) owned a record player, but I told him it was one of those places that brought me comfort. I loved walking up and down the aisles, and smelling the scent of aged music and books. I showed him the first CD I ever purchased: Lagwagon, "Plaidinum", and he of course laughed at the fact that I was into Punk music at 11 years old. I can also remember him spending a lot of time going through each and every record. Since I would frequent Fingerprints, I was done pretty quickly. He feared that I was bored and waiting on him, but it was then that I assured him 

I'm the type of person that will always be honest. I told him, 

"you don't have to worry about me not speaking my mind. I'll always be honest with you." 

Reflecting back to that specific frame in time brings such a smile to my face. Not much has changed with Jamey and I. I believe that moment was a very crucial and pivotal moment for us. My initial goal for showing him Long Beach was to help him to see how awesome my city was. But, it turned out to be so much deeper than that. I showed him a piece of myself, and who I was. I let him in, and that never came easy for me. There was something about Jamey that made me 

incredibly comfortable to share myself with him. 

The rest of the night was full of driving up Ocean Blvd., with former Drive-Thru bands as our soundtrack. I'm sure we ate good food, and I'm sure we shared a lot of stories. It kind of becomes a blur to me. But one thing I know is that I felt so safe around him. I ended the "tour of Long Beach" by taking him to my spot. It was this area that overlooked the beautiful ocean, but was kind of hidden. It was there that I opened up to him about all of my pain and sorrows. I sort of, unintentionally, let it all out. He had proved himself to be a good friend to me, and to be someone who wanted to know me at my core. He reassured me that he passed no judgment on me, 

and that he felt I was a good person. 

Although we were merely friends that one random Wednesday in the Fall of 2009, I believe that was the moment our souls connected. I believe that day was intended to happen. It's one of my favorite memories with Jamey, because it was the first time I noticed him, 

and I felt like he noticed me, too.

The rest is history. We are so in love, and so happy to be in each other's company. We still frequent record stores and he still takes way longer to look through records than I do ;). 

But, I still reassure him that I'll speak my mind when I need to. 

Engagement Photos:
//Fingerprints
//Fall 2012

Jamey, I love our love. I love that one random Wednesday in Long Beach that I got to share with you. I believe that although it may have been random to us at the time, 

it was intended to happen to make us who we are today.

XO

Brenda

[I originally got the idea to blog about this because of Dani's post, "Ideas for the Stumped Blogger". 

Thank you, Dani, for the inspiration to get out of my dry writing spell!]

*photo credit: Sarah Shreves

marriage: year one

Oh hey there, Blog. I’ve neglected you for a long while now, I am sorry. It’s not personal, I promise…

Two and a half weeks ago, I married the most genuine, kind-hearted, handsome man I’ve ever met. Since we said “I do”, my life has never been the same. Everything tastes better, sounds sweeter, and looks more beautiful. Life truly feels perfect. I am not naïve to believe that it will always feel this way, but I also am not negative enough to believe we can’t always strive for it to be.

When we got engaged, I heard many tips and advice from those who were married. Some great, some not so great. A common tip, or warning I should say, was that the first year was the hardest year. That frightened me. Who wants to walk into their marriage fearing the first year, and just wishing you could skip pass it altogether? I took that fear and I used it as motivation. To not only make year one not be the hardest, but instead the easiest & one of the best years of our marriage.

Jamey & I made the decision to write our own vows, and I am so happy we did.  When we exchanged vows, we put our entire hearts and souls into what we wrote. To my groom I vowed, 

“to always fight for our marriage & defend our love” 

and 

“to protect our love & not allow anyone or anything tear it apart”.

I want those words to not just be vows I simply said on our wedding day, but to be commitments I make to him on a daily basis. Jamey and I want to break the statistic of year one, and instead make it monumental & memorable. It is going to take work, and it will definitely take effort. But, we believe in our love, and when you believe in love, you have to fight for it; you have to defend it. The moment you stop fighting for it, or worse, when you feel you don’t need to fight for it -- that is the beginning of a downward slope.

So, to year one of marriage, I welcome you with open arms & an open heart. This year, I will be intentional to make memories, go on adventures & adore my husband. I will refrain from getting too content within our marriage. I will ensure that my Darling feels appreciated & cared for, on a daily basis. I will plan things out so that year one does not slip right passed us.

>>>>> 

If you’re married, I’d love to hear about your first year of marriage. 

Any regrets? Any proud moments? Please share!

XO

Brenda

1 2 8.

1 2 8   m o r e  d a y s  ||

I haven't written much about being engaged. It's absolutely amazing to me how fast time goes by. It feels like just yesterday Jamey was getting down on one knee asking me to be his bride. And now, we are only  one  hundred  twenty-eight  days away from starting our lives together as husband & wife. There are moments where it seems years away, and then moments where I feel there won't be enough time to get everything done! But through it all, each day, I have fallen more in love with Jamey than ever before.

We've been able to get a lot done for the wedding, which I am really happy about! We're staying organized and detailed, and we have a plan for just about everything! I have never been OCD about anything, but when it comes to really important events, I thrive off being organized. I created a wedding binder to keep all of our lists, contracts, ideas, etc. all in one place, separated by categories. I was so excited to show Jamey, and he said, "I didn't realize I was marrying Monica (from Friends)". I laughed so hard. It's really not like me, but I care so much about making this day, our day, so special.

One of my favorite things about being engaged, has been our premarital class. We are doing premarital counseling in a less traditional way. RockHarbor Church hosts a premarital class twice a year, and around 100 couples go to the class. We have both grown so much since taking this class, and I can already see the fruits within our relationship. It's taught us to communicate better and to understand each other more. We only have two more classes left, and to be honest, I think I will miss it! But, I know we will take the tools we've learned in class with us for the future.

Taken at our friend's wedding, 

shortly before we became engaged.

As I write this post on Valentine's Eve Day, I am humbled by how blessed I really am. I've spent many Valentine's Day solo, and have made the most of them. But, deep inside of me, I was always aching to love & be loved for forever. Now, I have found him. Jamey has my heart, and I am so glad I have his.

For those of you who are flying solo this Valentine's Day, have heart, love will find you soon enough & your story will be so perfect. For those of you who are sharing tomorrow with your love, embrace them & remind them that they make your life that much sweeter.

XO,

Brenda

once upon a time... i got engaged!!

So, it's been a while...

I'm ENGAGED!!!

This is quite the delayed response, I know. It all happened a few weeks ago (September 8th). I woke up to what I thought would be an ordinary Saturday, but unbeknownst to me, it was going to be one of the biggest days of my life.

I spent the majority of the day at the beach with my girlfriends, Alex & Rebecca. They both knew what was going to happen that night, but they were just distracting me for the day. After the beach, I went home and waited for Jamey to come pick me up. We had plans to go to dinner and then meet up with Jon & Alex for a night at Knott's Berry Farm. 

Jamey took me to a hamburger joint in La Habra/Whittier area called G Burger. We were running a little behind, so we ordered our food to-go. While we were waiting for our food, Jamey got a call from his grandma asking him to come help her move something at her house for her. She lived down the street from where we were at, so he agreed to help her (even though we were running late). We got our food and then took off. I asked if I could wait in the car and eat because I was starving. He said he would only be about 10 minutes. He came out and said that she wanted to say hi to me, so I got out of the car. We walked up to the backyard gate, and when he opened it there were rows of tea light candles and two cars he made out of cardboard boxes with license plates that said "Abel" and "Price". Needless to say, I was floored. He told me that Knott's was not happening, and this was a surprise date night. I was so excited!! We stepped into our cardboard cars and walked around the corner in their backyard to find a screen set up, more candles, a swing and a projector. He set up a mock drive-in theater for our date night! I was amazed at how much work he put into this. We love going to drive-in's so that was super sweet. He said that we were going to watch my favorite movie, "High Fidelity" because I made him watch it 3 years ago, but naturally, I fell asleep. We started the film, and I jumped right into quoting it and just being so excited for our date night! 3 or 4 minutes into the film, it begins to skip... he acts confused, and then all of the sudden it spliced into another film -- except this was all planned. 

Jamey put together a video of him taking my best friend, Becky, to look at the ring he wanted to buy for me, followed by him and his grandparents building the wooden box he put the ring in (pictured above) and then him asking my mom for her blessing.

Umm.... WHAT?! Haha!! I was laughing and confused and all sorts of emotions at this point, and then ending in a puddle of tears, of course. I was completely shocked and surprised. I kept thinking there's no way this is really happening! After the video ended, he had me stand up, he got on one knee and then asked me to be his bride. Don't ask me exactly what he said, because I have no clue -- I was too emotional to listen. But, I said yes and we held each other for a while. He then told me that his sister was hiding taking photos the whole time! She came out to take a few after photos, which was really special. Afterwards, he asked if we could swing by his parents house to show them. We arrived and he opened the door and I see 60+ of our favorite people yelling "congratulations!!". More surprises!!! 

The rest of the night was spent sharing our story, laughter, tears and just so much love. I kept thinking to myself, I just thought today was going to be like any other Saturday, but boy was I wrong! I was the happiest I have ever been, and to think, this is just the beginning? I am blessed. No, blessed is an understatement. This is the best season I have ever experienced in my life, and I am taking it all in.

To my fiancé, James Michael Price, you are the greatest man I have ever met, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life loving & serving you. I love you so much, and am inspired to give you everything I have, just to make this life of ours the best it can be. Thank you for being so thoughtful and creative when asking me to be your bride, I will never ever forget it.

[Here's how it all went down...]

Watching the beginning of "High Fidelity"...

Seeing his video & my mom come on the screen...

Him asking me to spend the rest of my life with him...

Putting the ring on...

I said YES! This was the best hug of my life.

XO

Brenda

On Being Twenty-Five

25.

On July 9th of this year, I gracefully turned the daunting age of twenty-five. I'll be honest, I was not looking forward to this age at all. Not only is it completely discouraging to no longer be able to say you are in your "early twenties", but somehow you feel you are obligated to have all of your i's dotted and t's crossed. It's an interesting age, twenty-five, but aside from the few additional gray hairs, and lack of constant energy, I'd be as bold to say that twenty-five has been the best year yet, and I'm banking on continuing this way.

I am grateful to have such beautiful people in my life. I know that it is because of them that I am able to look twenty-five in the face and embrace it. I am no longer afraid of being older, and I am actually really looking forward to aging (not in the wrinkly kind of way though, I could definitely go without that). Growing old is such a beautiful concept, especially when you find contentment with those who you'll be growing old with.

I was talking with my best friend tonight, and I mentioned how I never blog anymore, and that makes me sad. I have complete control over how much I write, and I don't have a crazy busy schedule, so why do I let blogging sit on the back burner? She brought up a great point, my life is pretty consistent right now. I have a boyfriend who I am madly in love with, great community of friends and an awesome job. It almost is more difficult to consistently document my life when it's pretty great.

My point to all of this is, one, to actually write a blog entry, but also because I want to share in the sunshine, and not just in the rain. I suppose I just never want to come across as someone who claims to have it all together, and rubs their blessings in everyone's faces. But, that is not my motive in writing, nor will it ever be.

So here's to being the beautiful age of 25, and here's to beautiful seasons of joy, and here's to life & all that comes with it.

I hope you're all well!

XO,

Brenda

With Every Season of Trial, Comes a Season of Joy

I truly believe that statement to be truth. I've seen it in the lives of those around me, and I most recently have seen it in my own life. If you've been following my blog over the last 5+ months, you would know that I experienced a season of trial, darkness and pain. I knew it was a season I needed to face, and that I needed to not run from. All my life, I have embraced running away rather than facing things head on. But, I am so grateful that I was surrounded by great support who encouraged me to stay put, and wait on God. I was able to survive that time because I knew God would soon bring me out of it, and give me joy. That is the beauty of His promises.

"a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance."

Ecclesiastes 3:4

I experienced healing, and with that healing came freedom, and with that freedom came joy. I've mentioned this joy a few times on my blog, so now I feel it would be appropriate to explain what this season of joy looks like for me. If you're interested, keep reading...

Joy comes in all forms, and I believe my joy ultimately comes from the Lord. In this season specifically, my joy has a name, and his name is James Michael. 

We have an interesting story, Jamey & I. From what started three years ago, and was more recently revisited, we've had quite the journey. We are the epitome of a miracle, and a relationship that has God's fingerprints completely all over it. From our start, the odds have been against us, and that in essence, was the reason we never could fully take off. He has always remained someone I admired and found comfort in. He has the heart of a servant, and the ability to love in spite of my crazy. (& believe me, I've had my share of crazy over the years). He has been the most patient and faithful person I've ever met. Because of all of this, we've revisited one another many times over the last few years. It never made sense to either of us, and it was more often than not, filled with pain and heartache. But now, we are able to look back and see what God was up to. We can see purpose in all of those rough seasons, because it was what led us to this season, our season of joy.

Our story doesn't make sense to most people, and it honestly doesn't make complete sense to either of us, but it's us. We realize that our story is in actuality God's story, and we have been given the privilege to be characters within it. 

Such little babies!
[3 years ago]

                                                            

I've never been happier, and I am so excited to see where God takes us. We are stronger than ever before, because of all the trials we faced both together, and individually. Everyday is still surreal, I can't help but to thank God for this blessing and this season of joy.

J a m e y , 

You are so dear to me. Thank you for being so patient with me over the years. And above everything else, thank you for listening to God throughout these years, even when it didn't make sense and when the world told you not to. I am confident it is because of your obedience that you and I are here, together. You're my favorite, darlin'.

XO

Brenda

A Non-Traditional Valentine's Day

I had a great day today.

It started off with meeting one of my favorites, Nicole, for lunch and a sweet stroll down 2nd street in Belmont Shores. I always love my time spent with this girl, she always knows how to make me laugh, that is for sure. We also had two little ones (twins, to be exact) join us for lunch, because Nicole was watching them. They're precious, right? I actually get to watch them for a bit tomorrow, which I'm looking forward to!

Then, I came home to get ready for my Valentine's date! Okay, so it wasn't a date with a boy, but it was with my great friend, Shannon! We are both single, and we wanted to be able to enjoy the festivities of this holiday as well! We went to Disneyland and rode a few rides, watched the end of the parade, got yummy Cinnamon Tea Lattes and sat on a bench on Main Street and just chatted. Oh! And, we took a picture with Minnie :) It was a wonderful night, and I am so glad I got to spend it with her.

So, all in all, my Valentine's Day was spent with two lovely ladies in my life, so I really can't complain.

But, then I came home, and ya know, things aren't easy. Things are not bad, by any means, but reality does hit once you get home, ain't that the truth?
The hardest thing about Valentine's Day, is not being able to share it with the person you love the most.

So, I'll leave you with this, because I am just in one of those moods.

David Ramirez, "Shoeboxes"

"Why did I hang onto your pictures?
Why did I hang onto that dress?
Because it kills me to see you, but it kills me not to
It kills me to remember & it kills me to forget
So I suppose you'll be in every song I sing
If not written in my words, you'll be hidden in these strings
Because how could I ever forget my first love?"

But hey, all you lovers out there, keep on loving. Don't take the person you love for granted. Remember, love never promised to be easy, and love never promised to always be full of great times, but loving that one person in the midst of those difficult times is what makes love so wonderful.

The worst thing you can do to the person you love the most, is to take them for granted. Make everyday "Valentine's Day", they are worth it.

XO
Bren