we three heaners

the village

2011-10-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

i know it's a cliche... a vociferously overused one at that... but parenting really does take a village.

a few weeks ago we had a visit with our amazing midwives and one of them remarked on how lucky little adeline is. she said, "in her whole life, the only hands that have touched her have been those of people who love her." not very many people can say that. and it is certainly true for adeline. what a wonder!

every single day i look at this impossibly beautiful child and i think to myself, "there's a whole world, right there, contained in that little body." when she smiles and coos at the ceiling fan or the starkly patterned table cloth or the faces of her parents, my heart breaks a little -- in the best possible way. when she makes that pitiful little face before letting out an ear-splitting wail, i can't help but laugh a little. her biggest tragedy right now is a wet diaper.

i know we can't keep it that way. i know we can't protect her from bumps and bruises and disappointment and heartache forever. and it's not that i really want a problem-free, pain-free existence for her. but if i'm being honest, i'd have to say that this time of shelter and protection and meeting her needs as perfectly as we can is really lovely. and the fact that it is so fleeting makes it all the lovelier.

but we really couldn't do it, this parenting thing, properly if we didn't have such a fantastic support system. our family, our friends, our small group, even our co-workers... they make this life path we've chosen... well... possible. because sleepless nights and diaper rash and gassy babies and crying jags (for both baby and mommy) and that all-consuming feeling of immediacy... it just gets overwhelming at times. and in those times, there's our village. a group of amazing, loving people whose hands we can trust with our little treasure.

and isn't that what life is all about? finding people and sharing life with them? and carrying one another’s hopes and sorrows and having faith when they can't find it for themselves? and bringing meals and changing diapers and taking beautiful pictures and generally helping to celebrate new life together?

yes. that’s what it’s all about.

anyhow, enough of my esoteric musings. here are some pictures to keep you company.

ain't she somethin'?

baby blue.
(taken by sarah kieffer)

this pic was taken at our welcome-to-the-world party
by our very own photographer extraordinaire,
sarah kieffer.
you should hire her. i'm serious.

addie's first trip to the apple orchard

tummy time!

so serious.

aviator baby.

addie loves daddy.

the fam.

the three heaner kids, great grandma ruth
and happy, well-loved adeline.

addie and our awesome midwives,
vanessa and jennifer.
they are like family to us.

mommy time.

kisses!

adeline likes to roll with her homies:
two plush puppies we've nicknamed
spike and bowser.

meet adeline

2011-08-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

she's a month and two days old, now... so we're a little behind in posting this, as seems to be the trend.

anyhow, here she is. our little bundle.

adeline meadows heaner
born 7/27/11 5:03 pm CST
in our home
5 lbs 1 oz, 18.5 inches tall

she is the sweetest thing ever. seriously. we're not even biased.ok. maybe a little biased.

a bit of a non-starter...

2011-05-06T17:26:00.000-07:00

so, our closing was put off. again. we should be closing next tuesday or wednesday. we've heard horror stories about short sale closings, so on the whole, this has been a pretty easy ride. and it's not like we'll be twiddling our thumbs (never did like that word... "twiddling." yuck.)

now we have more time to clean and pack our apartment. YAY!

in honor of not being home owners (yet), i thought it was time to post the promised video of our first little home. but when i tried loading it... well... that was a non-starter too. so pictures will have to suffice.

without further ado, i give you 2226 dupont:

the verdict is in.

2011-05-03T19:28:00.000-07:00

we had a "secret" ultrasound last week...

"secret" because we didn't want to get people's (read: our moms') hopes up just in case little baby heaner decided to keep us in suspense yet again.

well, LBH (little baby heaner) was a teensy bit more cooperative this time. the doctor who did it has been doing ultrasounds for 36 years and he said he was staking his good name on the fact that we'll be having a:

(that's not my tummy -- i'm only 6 months along, for goodness sakes! -- just thought it was a cute image)

yes. it's a girl. we couldn't be happier. bring on the frilly dresses and cute bonnets!

in other news: we're closing on our house tomorrow, so we'll have updates for you on that very soon.

much love to all.

best laid plans...

2011-04-22T08:20:00.000-07:00

well, you know what they say. even the best laid plans go awry. or something like that.

the house closing got moved back another week. we're looking at closing on may 5th now. which really isn't so bad.

we have flexible and totally amazing landlords (if you're looking for a lovely one-bedroom, ours will be available soon. you know... god willing and the creek don't rise).

we have friends who are willing to roll with the punches with us (or at least rearrange their calendars yet again to help us move).

we have a rocking realtor who keeps us informed, even when she doesn't have answers for us (if you're looking to buy or sell a house, whitney kieffer is the way to go).

and now we have waaay more time to pack and clean and prepare. the moving date has been reset to may 15 (she said, knocking on wood).

reality sets in

2011-04-20T12:06:00.000-07:00

it's official. our apartment is a mess. there are boxes everywhere. granted, they're packed boxes -- which is really what we're going for here. but still. we've done something to get ready to move (more like 80 things) every day, just to keep the proverbial ball rolling. and last night, tim-the-wonderful finished packing and cleaning the basement! it looks fantastic and was so much work. it was so lovely to come home after work and class and see that we were still making progress.

the other day, before the boxes had started to overtake every walking space, i took a little video of our first home together. maybe i'll post that at some point in the future for those of you who never got to visit our cozy place.

it's bittersweet. leaving. starting a new chapter together. owning something as massive as a house. becoming adults. it's exciting and frightening and a bit of a blur. but i'm starting to feel like, hey, this is actually going to happen.

one of the weirdest things about this whole process has been that we've had to stay ready for change at a moment's notice. frankly, that's made the past few months a tad stressful. we're never sure whether we're in for another long delay or a frenetic few hours of trying to get massive amounts of obscure paperwork together.

we had a visit with our midwife last week. she asked us how we were coping with the moving/house buying stress... whether we were fighting a lot or more cranky with each other... and the happy truth is that even though this has been a stressful time, we're doing really well. in fact, we are closer than ever before. rather than pushing us apart, all the change and the intensity has brought a peculiar (wonderfully peculiar) unity between the two of us. i'm guessing that has something to do with grace. and God's faithfulness.

but i'm just guessing.

(if you are dying to use your biceps (and proper lifting techniques), we'll be moving on saturday, april 30. pretty, pretty please let me know if you're coming so i can make sure to have enough food. i hate not having enough food. email lisaheaner@gmail.com.)

moving (possibly) quickly.

2011-04-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

hello, friends. meet our house. house, meet our friends. aren't you happy to know each other? things are moving quickly. or it seems that way, now. after months of uncertainty and set-backs, it looks like we'll be closing on our little house on april 28th afterall. we are excited. and packing like crazy. (wanna help?)

no answers... yet.

2011-04-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

i think the universe is trying to teach me something...

something annoying...

like patience.

we had our ultrasound on april fool's day.

and the joke was on us.

little baby heaner kept its legs crossed

for almost 45 minutes.

the ONE time they were uncrossed,

baby made sure a hand was there to keep the privates private.

little stinker.

so, we're in for another surprise (among many, i'm sure).

honestly, i was pretty disappointed to begin with.

but now i'm feeling a little better.

it will be fun to be surprised.

and it's not like we had any specific plans for

prepping the nursery or anything...

speaking of our future home...

we also had our house inspection on april fool's day.

turns out the joke was on us again.

the house had been winterized, but we noticed an icicle

on one of the basement pipes when we first looked at the house.

we notified the plumber.

he came out on friday and fixed those pipes

before de-winterizing the whole house.

unfortunately...

a pipe in the upstairs bathroom had also frozen.

when the plumber turned on the water main,

niagara falls appeared in the front main floor bedroom.

luckily, the plumber and inspector caught it quickly

and got a mop in there.

so there was no damage to the wood floor.

the ceiling is a loss, though.

and this puts our closing date even further off.

please pray that we'll have wisdom about this house.

we don't want to be stubborn or miss God's will for us.

but we really do love this house.

and it's such a fantastic deal.

so... we're waiting.

and learning to be patient.

and content in all circumstances.

(at least... that's the goal here.)

kind of a big day

2011-04-01T07:21:00.000-07:00

today is kind of a big day.

we've got our ultrasound at noon today.

i know, i know...

it was silly to plan an ultrasound to discover

the gender of our child on april fool's day.

but so it goes.

hopefully, we have an un-shy, immodest child.

i dreamt last night that it was a boy.

there's been a bit of scrambling since we found out that

we had verbal approval on the sale of our house.

we got all the paperwork together,

and are breathing a big sigh of relief that

THAT part, at least, is done.

we're hanging on to each other

and trusting that our God knows what we need

better than we do.

then tonight, we have our house inspection.

if all goes as planned, we could be in our new home by

april 29th!

big stuff, people. big stuff.

teeny tiny update

2011-02-23T11:10:00.000-08:00

we had our first visit with a midwife last monday. she was fantastic. and we got to hear our little one's heartbeat. i cried. tim grinned. the midwife smiled knowingly at us. it was perfect. tim was even able to record the heartbeat on his phone. we'll try to post it here if we can figure out how to be techies.

then we got some disappointing news: the healtheast midwives (and st. joseph's hospital) don't allow VBACs. our midwife suggested that we connect with the generations midwives (who DO follow VBAC patients) and st. john's hospital (which also allows VBACs). so i did. no luck. they're not taking any more deliveries in august and there isn't a waiting list.

i was devastated. so i contacted our birthing class instructor and she had some suggestions for us. we're going to pursue home birth. (!) i am really excited about this possibility, since it's what i've wanted to do from the get-go. i was discouraged from attempting a home birth by my medical doctor because she said i was too old -- but i'll only be 33 and i'm in good health. so... we're going to meet with this midwife in our home and see what she says. i'll keep you posted. keep your fingers crossed with us!

in other news...

tim is 29 today. last year of his twenties.

to celebrate, i surprised him with a trip to benihana. some friends met us there to surprise tim, as well. we had a great time and ate way too much yummy food.

then we went to see "the fighter." very good movie. it was a fun day. i'm building him a cake for his actual birthday. something scrumptious and decadent. i love celebrating this man. he is the joy of my life and i am the luckiest women on the planet.

happy birthday, timothy. i love you.

the waiting begins

2011-02-16T12:04:00.001-08:00

we put in an offer on a house last week... i know, right?!?

we were pretty excited about the whole thing.

only our second time out looking and we found

this phenomenal house for a ridiculously low price.

so, we went for it.

it's a short sale.

and now that the sellers have signed off on the deal,

we're just waiting to hear from the bank. i've heard rumors that this process can take months.

so we're trying not to hold our collective breath.

but our fingers are definitely crossed (maybe our toes, too).

we'll keep you posted!

where does the time go?

2010-12-28T18:58:00.000-08:00

it has been a literal age since i've posted. and, as usual, so much has happened that it will take a lot of writing to convey it all. so, i thought i might use this as our new year's/valentine's day letter. normal people like to write christmas letters. but, let's be honest, we heaners are not normal people.

i know it's not going to be surprising when i say that this past year has been one of both joy and sadness, gain and loss, triumph and... well... not-so-triumphant. because that's life. it's a mingle, a divine mish-mash. a glorious, terrifying mess and all the more beautiful for it.

we spent a good portion of this year just settling into marriage. we figured out that it takes a lot of work to maintain a healthy, loving spousal relationship -- it's even more work than long-distance dating. but even the hardest of the hard stuff in our life together has been full of beauty, joy and reward beyond measure. we laugh together. we trust each other. we forgive one another. we never run out of things to talk about. we like each other. a lot. it's easily been the best year of either of our lives. as cliche as that might sound, it's the gulldurned truth. yeah... being married is good business.

i started school in september. i was a little bit rusty and rather full of trepidation, but i made the dean's list in that first semester back. and that while working 30-35 hours a week and taking 12 credits. i'm bragging a little, but mostly i feel relieved. i also feel really grateful for a kind, generous husband. tim helped so much around the house and gave me space to study and freak out and study some more. next semester, for various reasons, i've decided to only take one 5-credit course. striking a balance has never been one of my strong suits. it always takes a while for me to get comfortable...

speaking of which, tim changed jobs twice this year. he was working at engen power products, managing the shop for the industrial battery supplier. when he finally landed a construction job in july, they were sad to see him go. but go he did, to a company called solid construction. the long-awaited construction job was less than ideal, though. it required a lot of traveling. and entry-level pay is... well... entry level. tim gave it a good go, but after three months, we decided that the impact the job was having on our little family was just too much. so, after a lot of deliberation, he decided he wanted to make a proposal to his previous employer, EPP. he met with the owner and explained what he wanted to do. the owner was more than agreeable, gave tim a raise and welcomed him back quite happily. tim's now the shop manager and in charge of increasing communication and efficiency in the company (so up his alley!). i couldn't be prouder of him.

now we're both back in school, though each of us is only taking one class. i'm taking spanish (still working, albeit slowly, on finishing that B.A.) and tim is taking psychology (working on a business degree).

we spent our one-year anniversary in myrtle beach, south carolina. the word lovely doesn't cover it. we spent nearly every day either at the beach or one of the many resort pools. we visited georgetown and walked the spanish-moss-draped historic streets.

(in georgetown, sc)
a really big (and apparently scary) gator

we saw too many alligators and crocodiles to make a girl comfortable. we ate great seafood and went to a really fancy restaurant called the library (it smelled like old books and creaky leather mingled with fresh rosemary and garlic -- perfect for this girl). we walked on boardwalks. we watched sunrises. we saw pods of dolphins. we read and played games and watched cable tv. we talked a lot and made some big decisions:

1) tim was going to quit his construction job (see above)
2) we were going to start trying to have a baby (yes. a baby.)
3) we were going to start looking for a house (yes. a house.)

we're still looking for a house. the baby's due august 18th, 2011. we are so excited. and blessed. and the teensiest bit nervous. i feel great. i haven't had any morning sickness so far, and though i'm often tired, i feel so happy that the exhaustion doesn't totally register. tim's reading a ton of fathering books, and i'm reading just as many birthing books. it's fun to research things together. also, we have incredibly generous friends. as soon as they found out we were pregnant, they started loading us up with lovely baby items. the news hasn't even been out that long.

what gains we've experienced this year have been tempered by loss. we lost two grandfathers this year. tim's maternal grandpa, lawrence joyce, passed away just before mother's day. we miss his singing, his laughter and his storytelling. his passing is a loss to those of us who remain behind. we are comforted by the knowledge that it was his time. and he went so peacefully home to Jesus. my paternal grandpa, clyde kieffer, passed away just before thanksgiving. he had five sons and each was able to spend time with him in the hospital before he passed away. much healing came from those final days together. i miss him in unexpected moments. now that he's passed on, i find that he occupied a large space in my heart. i know i'll see him again, but that now-empty space does ache sometimes.

grandma ruth and grandpa lawrence joyce

grandpa clyde kieffer

i think that's enough news for now. i promise to be better about posting this year. there will be so much to tell.

much love from the heaners.

back to school and other miscellany

2010-08-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

time is a precious commodity these days. so i'll try to keep this post short and to the point.

i started school this week. i'm taking 16 credits, which works out to be about 35 hours of actual study/prep/in-class time. i'm working full time, too. so that means there isn't much free time. i know i'll eventually figure out how to balance everything + make the most of every moment of the day. but this first week has been hectic, to say the least.

tim's been in illinois for work for the past three weeks. not sure whether we posted anything about this or not, but he got a job with a company called "solid construction." he likes being able to actually use his construction skills, but he's not overly fond of the traveling portion of the job. it's not like they go to exotic locations. for the job he's currently on "traveling" essentially means working 10-12 hour days + spending the rest of his time trying to figure out something to do in the teensy town he's working in, aside from watching cable at the super 8 motel.

we're homesick for each other + trying to make the best of things. thank God for cell phones.

in other news, my sister, kim, has moved into the upstairs portion of our duplex. she + her roommate are excellent neighbors + i've enjoyed having girly movie nights with them.

tim's mom just got back from a trip to kenya. we haven't had a chance to hear the stories yet, but we're looking forward to hearing them + seeing all the pictures of her adventures there.

we're quickly nearing the one-year marker. we'll be taking a weeklong trip to myrtle beach, sc to celebrate. actually, the way things worked out, the trip will be really economical. a few years back, tim won first prize at a church event -- a week at an oceanside condo in myrtle beach. we weren't even engaged at that point, so he never used the condo. we contacted the people who had donated the prize + they were thrilled that we were still interested in using it (seriously? how awesome are they?). so... essentially free place to stay in this goregous little town. also, on our honeymoon, our flights were overbooked + we chose to take a "bump" in exchange for a direct flight to hawaii + $300 flight vouchers each. so our flights to myrtle beach only cost us $145 total. heck to the yes! i can't wait to get out of town. a solid week together seems like an extravagance beyond imagining.

oh! and as an added bonus, one of my favorite high school teachers just moved to myrtle beach, so we're going to take her out to dinner some night. how fun is that?

we'll post lots of pictures when we get back.

appleton trip - pt. 2

2010-08-02T11:43:00.001-07:00

after our brief stop in appleton proper, we headed back west to aunt linda + jeff's place. we always enjoy spending time with them in their beautiful home.

as additional incentive, the adam kieffer family was hanging out. we had a great brunch together + much fun playing with winter + river.

here are some pictures so that you can share in the general adoration of the next generation of kieffers:

this is river's "i'm so cute you can't even handle it" face

and this is me proving that he's so cute i can't even handle it.

winter + tim hanging out in uncle jeff's workshop

we had to take 6 pictures in a row to get one where we were both smiling.

gosh, she's a cutie!

big sister pushing little brother in the swing

sibling love!

a little catching up to do

2010-07-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

sooo much has been happening. too much to blog about in the moment. as a result, we will subject you to a series of flashback-style posts to get you all up to date on the heaner family happenings.

we took a spur-of-the-moment trip to appleton, which is where lisa spent many of the happiest moments of her childhood, and (perhaps not coincidentally) the majority of the kieffer cousins live(d). adam + sarah + family were also in appleton at the time. so we had a truncated version of a kieffer cousins reunion at uncle john + aunt colette's place. the kieffer bros were in attendance, along with the always lovely abby. and we played some of the most hilarious rounds of "he said, she said" that have ever been played.

evidence of the somewhat twisted hilarity:

this is adam's "i can't believe you just said that!" face

and how cute is abby in her hat?
table-pounding funniness.

cousin adam vs. the unstoppable uncle joe

(joe, joe, supercool joe)

tim inhaling his watermelon

next to grandpa kieffer carefully cutting his pizza

giving up. or, love is risky.

2010-05-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

what if we stop having a ball?

what if the paint chips from the wall?

what if there's always cups in the sink?

and what if i'm not what you think i am?

what if i fall further than you?

what if you dream of somebody new?

what if i never let you win and chase you with the rolling pin?

well, what if i do?

cause i am giving up on making passes

and i am giving up on half-empty glasses

and i am giving up on greener grasses

i am giving up

what if our baby comes in after nine?

what if your eyes close before mine?

what if you lose yourself sometimes?

then i'll be the one to find you safe in my heart.

cause i am giving up on making passes

and i am giving up on half-empty glasses

and i am giving up on greener grasses

i am giving .... i'm giving up on greener grasses

i am giving up .... for YOU.... i am giving up

lately, i've been thinking about love. and marriage. and what it takes to really "make it." to have a love -- and a marriage -- that stands the tests of time, cultural influences, familial and scheduling pressures, raising children (or not), career choices, the loss of friends and kindred, the change of seasons, and myriad other things.

i've been realizing that i have all these little buried fears and insecurities that have to do with spending myself so completely on one thing... on one PERSON. it's a fearful act of trust and faith to be married. and i am such a flawed, frail individual.

i suppose that's the part of the question that only has one Answer. that somehow, i must reach out to the One who is Love incarnate... to give me strength to be more honest, more sincere, more trusting, more hopeful, more faithful, more sacrificially giving than i have the heart to be in my own power. and i must choose to do this day in and day out. to give myself up to the questions, to defy my own fears and just keep walking.

i look around and see examples of incredible longevity and joy. and i also see deep brokenness. i want my life, and our life together, to be the former.

i'm desperately hopeful. and, once again, i'm giving up.

six days + counting...

2010-04-16T08:52:00.000-07:00

i love traveling by myself. there's just something so completely wonderful about setting off on one's own, carry-on in hand, seeking adventure + good food.

the thing i love most about traveling by myself is the people watching. you can people watch when you're with someone, but it's just not the same. there are certain social requirements that come with traveling as part of a group. but when you're by yourself, you can just allow yourself to get swept up into the mob. you can stop + smell the roses without worrying about inconveniencing or annoying your traveling companion. in short, you don't have to be polite if you don't want to. you're free to explore + experience at your own pace.

in six days, i leave our lovelygreenspringtime twin cities for the east coast. mel + cody moved to ivycoveredhistoricbuildings princeton, nj last june. this will be my first visit to them. i'm totally geeking out about getting to see the princeton library. and take walks around the quaint little college town. and make food with mel in their little kitchen. and have long talks with the two oaks family members over a fantastic bottle of wine.

i'm trying to prepare myself for the inevitable itch to move to a new city that always creeps up when i travel anywhere. i love hearing new accents. i love finding new cafes and coffee shops. i love that eye-popping feeling when everything around you is fresh + unique + altogether different from your everyday life.

mel + i have planned a quick jaunt to NYC while i'm there. thanks to our sisterwiththekillerhookups, kim, we've got a sweet room at a posh hotel that's really close to the brooklyn bridge. we'll take the train from princeton into penn station early on sunday morning + do the manhattan/village/ellis island thing while the city is quiet(er). then on monday we'll do the brooklyn heights thing, walk the bridge over to manhattan + do the central park/met museum thing. depending on how tired our poor little feet are, we'll take the train back to princeton either at 4pm or 4am tuesday. we're playing it by ear (or foot, as the case may be).

speaking of playing it by foot... i bought some new walking shoes in preparation for the many miles i plan to walk across the great island of manhattan. friendly blog reader, meet my new shoes. shoes, be polite. say hello.

they look pretty ugly in the pic, but they're actually danged adorable for walking shoes. so flippin' comfortable + lightweight. i'm in danger of writing haiku in their praise. i'll try to keep that ill-conceived urge to myself, though.

so, i have the shoes. i have the plane ticket. i have the hotel reservation. i have the PTO. (i am grateful to you, oh thankless, mindless desk job. i love you for your benefits. we can still be friends once i've used you for them, right?)

the thing i'm most looking forward to? being silly + enjoying warmbowlofhonestysistertime with mel. yes. it will be good for the soul.

new jersey, here i come!

(mel, i promise not to embarrass you -- or myself... or the rest of the sophisticated population -- with the dressflyingintheupdraft thing. not this time, anyhow.)

oops! i did it again...

2010-03-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

or, more precisely, i didn't do it... again.

it's been months since my last post. i always have the best of intentions. then i get busy, or what have you... weeks pass. then i have this sense that my next post had better be something really special to make up for the weeks + weeks of not writing anything at all. it's a defeatist cycle, really.

so, here i am, with nothing cool to say. no cool pictures. nada.

i have some fun birthday stuff to share (tim was 28 on the 28th of february - i turned 32 yesterday). but i have actual pictures to add to those, so i'll hold off.

mostly, i want to note a few small things:

1) i've discovered a new artist: lenka. love. her.

2) i also love the advent of 40 degree temperatures in minnesota. people (including me) pull out their toeless shoes, ditch the parkas + drive with the windows down. it's pure bliss.

3) went out for sushi + local funk music the other night with a girlfriend. i think that might be one of the best (and least expected) awesome combos ever. i'm just sayin'.

4) NYC guidebooks make for fun reading. it's like diving into the oxford english dictionary... way more information than a single brain could ever hope to hold, but lovely for that same reason.

okay... more soon. i promise!

the first christmas

2010-01-05T11:34:00.001-08:00

here we are. the year 2010. tim + i made it past the buffeting of the holidays, our hair + emotional capacity a little worse for the wear, but otherwise breathlessly grateful. contented, even.

we didn't mean to, but ended up doing four christmases. five, if you include the one that we celebrated "just for us." mel + cody were home from princeton. rachel was home from montana. we just really didn't want to miss anything. i will say, though, that this year was quite a bit less hectic than the previous one.

the tuesday before christmas, we went to a singalong that grandma joyce led at the pines (their senior living community). it was awesome. i mean it. then we went back to mom heaner's place to exchange gifts + consume mass quantities of christmas cookies baked by rachel + linda. uncle peter was there, too. we missed having jonathan in the mix, though... dang, we miss that guy!

we celebrated christmas eve with mark + kathy. just us + them in burnsville. we ate the best beef stew i've ever had, exchanged gifts, laughed a lot. then we went to the christmas eve service at their church + afterward drove around to look at christmas lights.

it was snowing like crazy when tim + i left for north minneapolis. in fact, i can't remember a whiter christmas than 2009's.

christmas eve night we spent at home, lights low, christmas tree + candles glowing. we read the christmas story out loud to one another. i cried at the part where john leapt in elizabeth's womb when she heard mary's voice. that part makes me cry every single time. i don't know why, exactly. but i love it.

christmas morning, we woke up + sang happy birthday to jesus (just like we always did when i was growing up) + had birthday cake for breakfast. we opened our stockings + our gifts to each other. we laid on the couch + just enjoyed being with one another. it was lovely.

then around noon, we left for momma k's house. kim + mitch, mel + cody, mom + the heaners. it was quite a crowd. we ate a feast fit for kings, drank lots of wine, played board games, took lots of pictures + talked our heads off. a very kieffer christmas.

we got to spend a night on the town with melody to celebrate her birthday (ON her actual birthday, no less!). matt's bar for juicy lucy's -- tim's first ever -- then to psycho suzie's for tots + some very strong tropical drinks.

on sunday following melody's birthday, we went to tom + elle's to celebrate with mel + cody, kelly + art + maddy + adam. good food, adorable kids, fun gift swap/steal.

for new year's eve, we had our friends bud + rachel cushing + kim kieffer over. we played board games, watched monty python, drank lots, ate even more + had a generally rowdy + amazing time. the perfect way to ring in the new decade.

this past weekend, after celebrating the first decade of the new millennium, we spent some lovely time with the adam + sarah kieffer clan, went to a housewarming party for our dear friend, rachel, and finally made a stop at our neighborhood library.

we've been meaning to visit the library for months now. tim needed a library card. and i needed the comfort of being surrounded by shelves and shelves of nothing but books. (i could never, ever switch to kindle. sorry amazon.) our library is in an abandoned brewery. i know... right? how much happier a place could there possibly be?

sunday, we stayed at home the whole day. we read our new library books, watched a kung fu movie (i heart donnie yen) + ate leftovers. it was lovely. i felt completely relaxed + so connected to tim.

today is the coldest day of the winter so far + i've a flat tire to show for it. i made it to work just fine. but was alerted to the deflation by a concerned co-worker. i'm glad it didn't pop on the highway. i'm endlessly glad for a husband kind enough to offer to drive to plymouth from fridley + change it for me in the subzero temperatures. stinkin' cars. stinkin' tires. gracious God. loving husband.

i've been thinking all day about how much things have changed for us since we got married. in some ways (all the best ways), nothing at all has changed. we still like each other. i mean, really, genuinely like each other. we still laugh at all the same ridiculous jokes we laughed at before. we still like to hold hands. kissing hasn't lost any of its appeal.

really, though, our love for each other HAS changed. i remember thinking on our wedding day that i couldn't imagine loving tim any more than i did at that moment in time. but i DO love him more. i loved him then with every part of my heart + mind. but now that love is a part of my very body. i love him in my bones if that makes any sense. i'm doing a terrible job of describing it. mostly, i think, because it's a mystery to me. but i like it. i like our love. and i think that's a good thing.

lazy sundays

2009-12-07T14:57:00.000-08:00

yesterday was lovely.

tim + i decided to be heathens for the day. we skipped church, slept in + generally indulged our need to just be together. no appointments, no dinner plans, no interruptions... just us in our little apartment... enjoying each other on a sunny december sunday.

on our last date night, we went and got our first christmas tree. it was such a perfect evening. we went to the most unromantic place possible to pick out our tree: the home depot. but it was a slow night there. so we pretty much had the store (and the tree lot) to ourselves. it was snowing, those big, quiet flakes that fall so slowly you can almost see them dancing, and the orange-y parking lot lights made it seem like we were in a really huge snow globe.

the tree lot attendants were so adorable when we told them that it was our first tree. they cut off a little bit of the trunk for a "fresh cut" and saved the little cutting for us. they said we should make an ornament of it... isn't that the cutest? good grief... it's the home depot!

anyhow, we decided to wait to decorate the tree until we had a little more time to really enjoy it.

so, on sunday, after a leisurely breakfast, i turned on some christmas tunes, made some hot cocoa + we were off. it was really fun to dig out all the old ornaments, passed to us from our loving moms. i have one of those "baby's first christmas" ones from 1978, a glitter-bespangled wooden star of david that i made in kindergarten, a hollowed-out egg with papier mache all over it (probably made in my brownies/girl scout days), and a noodle angel. tim had this gorgeous hand-blown glass tree topper. and i have to say, our tree is just perfect. it's short + fat + full of all the wonder-filled memories of christmases past. tim + i laughed + told stories + laughed some more.

after tree decorating, we did some thank you notes (still working on them from the wedding -- we're such slackers!), some laundry, some dishes, some cooking... i started work on some christmas gifts that i'm sewing. we snuggled up on the couch + watched part of the very depressing vikings game. and we finished up season 4 of lost. yes. we're addicts.

and then, to end the day of luxuriation in style, i took a very, very long, very, very hot shower.

it was a perfect sunday. perfect.

good grief!

2009-11-20T10:20:00.001-08:00

i've been slacking off... it's been nearly a month since my last post.

yesterday was the two month marker of being a married woman. tim was saying that sometimes it feels like we've been married two minutes, and sometimes it feels like two years. and he's right. it seems so natural to be together. but so new, too.

blah, blah, mushy stuff, blah. the point is, we're married. it's going well. we still like each other a lot. and from all accounts, that's a good sign.

we've been working our financial plan for the past month. it's gone pretty well. i've enjoyed the challenge of living on cash only. and i really appreciate all the communication that is necessary to make a budget (and a marriage) work.

the past few weeks have been s o . d a n g e d . b u s y ! we scheduled ourselves solid and found that it was really taking a toll on our energy + physical health, not to mention our mental health. tim came down with a cold. and i ended up in the emergency room on monday -- i have the i.v. bruises to prove it! we're both okay now. lesson learned.

we've begun a TIME budget... just being intentional about alone time, together time, family time + friends time. we'll see how it goes. but if the money budget is any indication, i'm looking forward to a serious reduction in stress levels for both of us.

we're hosting thanksgiving at our house this year for the moms, the joyce grandparents, uncle peter (mom h's younger brother -- a recent addition to the MN-dwellers), mom k's friend + former client, marge. hopefully, kim + boyfriend, mitch, will be able to stop by. but even without their company, we'll have a full house.

i was planning on brining the turkey, but realized the only place that's protected from the elements + still cool enough to store the turkey is the spider-infested garage. yep. brining is out. so i've switched to a orange rosemary recipe (though, per usual, i will depart from said recipe rather widely). i'm pretty excited about it.

i'm a little nervous about the gravy + the stuffing. historically, my attempts at gravy made rather poor showings. and i never eat the stuffing, so i'm fairly inept at making it.

* m m e h *

i guess that's what "the joy of cooking" is for.

i still have a whole bunch of hawaii pictures to post. AAANNNND all of our wedding pictures.

p.s. if you took pictures at our wedding, we'd love, love, love to see them. you can send them by email to lisaheaner@gmail.com if that suits your fancy.

over the moon: our honeymoon in hawaii (part one)

2009-10-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

day one on molokai...

we were literally the only people on this two-mile beach

on the far west end of molokai
breathtaking

a little windblown, but loving it

tim thinks this looks like a verizon ad

can you see the little yellow + black striped fish?

they were everywhere in the tide pools

super old, gnarled trees in the park

that bordered the two-mile-long beach

the halawa valley river ends in the ocean here

on the extreme east end of molokai

this is looking out toward the ocean

halawa valley -- looking up toward the mountains

my husband, flaunting his pectorals

at the halawa inlet

it's so green + gorgeous there

the view from our condo's balcony

the kalaupapa peninsula

the amazingly weird + ancient-feeling forest
up near the kalaupapa overlook

you can't even tell where the ocean ends + the sky begins

looking down a sheer cliff to the black sand beach

on the mountain top

kalaupapa overlook

we went out to the overlook twice in one week
and must've taken about three thousand pictures there

sitting on the wall at the overlook

the phallic rock

yes, we were there.

we went ocean kayaking + snorkeling

this is lisa about to disappear into a mangrove tunnel

the mangrove tunnel -- it was spooky + totally amazing

resting in the shade of the ancient fish pond

we happened to be there for the annual

women's outrigger race from molokai to oahu

women come from all over the world

to row 40 miles of the most treacherous spans of open ocean on the planet

we got up way early to drive to the far side of the island

to see the start of the race

this is taken at the harbor where the race started

a panoramic view of the harbor

it was way fun climbing around on all the lava rocks,

exploring the tide pools,

searching for sea glass... we could have stayed all day!

10.19.09 = one month!

2009-10-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

it's been a blissful month. tim + i were talking last night about how being married doesn't seem unnatural at all. it feels like (almost) nothing changed, because the transitions from singlehood, to dating, to engagement, to marriage have been so timely... so right.

anyhow, i thought it was time to post some photos from the wedding. these were all taken by my dear friend, kim howe. she + her husband live in chicago. kim + i have been friends since high school + it made the day feel so much more complete to have her there, sharing in it with us.

if you were at the wedding + took pictures, we would LOVE to see them. please email them to ldkieffer@gmail.com. we'd so appreciate it!

tim + honor corps member, bud cushing

walking in to the church + looking quite handsome

the hair + beauty ninja, briana stone

she gives fantastic hair treatments at

euphoria salon in st. paul

http://www.euphoriasalon.info/

i'm so not the photogenic type

mama k, kim k + mama roth, laughing it up

mom heaner in the background, waiting her turn with the hair ninja

the prettier half of our pro-photographer team

tamrah ryan

check out their work at http://ctryan.com/blog

me + my pretty mama

she looked so fantastic because she IS so fantastic (and hot!)

the programs

they look like letters because tim + i have written so many to each other over the course of our relationship

the confetti was made from antique magazines + construction manuals

the birds were made from antique sheet music

that originally belonged to lisa's aunt whitney's mother

(her name was hayden)

the door + window were salvaged from old building

originally, tim was going to build a chuppah

it's a jewish wedding element that is meant to signify

God's covering over the couple

the home that they will build together

the four open walls of the chuppah

signify the couple welcoming others into their love

and inviting them under the covering of God

we didn't have time to build one... so the window + door are a stand-in

the communion table

the two books are the one tim used to propose to me

and an old leather-bound volume of poetry

that we found on one of our bookshop haunts

the flowers are three different varieties of cosmos, my favorite flower
tim planted, tended them + picked these for me on our wedding day

honor corps members + sisters

kimberly kieffer

melody oaks

so pretty. and this photo is just way too typical of them!

honor corps members

melody oaks

bridgitte showell

again... with the gorgeousness

this is the breathless bride, waiting to walk down the aisle

from this point, everything was a beautiful, joy-infused blur

walking to meet The One

mom + dad met me at the end of the aisle

mom lifted my poorly-attached drop veil and...

WHOOPS!

off it came!

we had a good laugh... i'm not sure that anyone else even saw what happened.

taking a moment to take in

all the faces of our loved ones.

we are so lucky!

tim + i (with the help of mike, the pastor)

wrote every single word of the service

(except the pastor's charge to us + when he went "off script")

even the repeat-after-the-pastor vows

every single moment of that day was so full of meaning

this was part of that "off script" moment...

and, in my mind,

one of the most significant parts of the ceremony

i cry every time i think about it.

the ring

the kiss

SO happy.

cheesy married grins

man + wife!

costumes for the photo booth

one of the many board games available for our guests

flower arrangements by wedding warriors

abbey von gohren

robbie lewis

kari holmes

table arrangements by wedding warrior

rachel cushing

all the books, vases + candle holders were purchased

at thrift stores, yard sales or borrowed from friends

part of the dessert buffet

because what's a wedding without tootsie pops?

our "guestbook"
guests were asked to put a pin (with a little note)

in a spot that was special to them

we'll have the pinned-up version hanging in our living room.

all the notes will be pasted into our wedding album

the photo family tree

five generations of our history

the wedding favors were mix cd's

tim + i made about a jillion of these for each other while he was living in ohio

we thought we'd pass along some of the music we like best

the long hallway from the sanctuary to the reception hall

lined with borrowed mason jars that served as luminaries

it was a perfect evening.

perfect.

being married

2009-10-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

yeah... it pretty much rocks. i was emailing with my sister, melody, the other day. she asked me how it was being a newlywed. this was my response:

newlywed-dom is heaven, mel. i just teared up. gosh... so sappy!

but good Lord, i did not know it could be like this. i'm so grateful. so amazed. so breath-taken with God's kindness. so in love. so loved. i can hardly believe this is ME. this is MY LIFE.

last night, we stayed home + did laundry + worked on putting things away + watched episodes of lost intermittently. we laughed + talked + laughed some more. we fell asleep in each others' arms. i am SO happy.

we went to saturday night service at the church we've been visiting. it was a decent service... but the thing that blew me away was how close i felt to God + tim at the same time. it was so intense that i'm not even sure i can describe it. it was like i could feel God loving me + tim loving me + God loving me through tim. it was almost overwhelming. but so whole + peaceful too. at one point during the music/worship time, tim took my hand + looked down at me. and the look he gave me said, "i know what you're feeling. i'm feeling it too." and we just started crying.

i know it probably sounds really overly-emotional + dumb. but it was real. and i'm still sort of shaking my head over the whole thing. becoming one with Christ and with one another is so incredible + terrifying + so deeply, deeply good.

yes. i am in heaven on earth. which isn't to say that everything is perfect... it's not. we're not. but He is. and somehow, in His grace, that's enough.

also, i just wanted to say that we got the best photographers in the whole. wide. world.

cory + tamrah were nothing short of amazing from beginning to end.

i was going to try to post some of their work on the blog, but i couldn't get the images to translate to blogger... i'm far from savvy when it comes to these things. ANYhow... check out their blog site:

http://ctryan.com/blog/2009/10/02/lisa-and-tim-wedding/

and even if you don't want to look at pictures of us... visit their blog. they are SO talented. we will be using them to photograph every special occasion until they decide to retire. we are HUGE fans.

wedding rehearsal

2009-10-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

so, we're back from our honeymoon + loving the newlywed life. thought it was time to post some photos + details from our wedding. we'll do this chronologically. hopefully...

the party... with tim's brother, jonathan not pictured

sad!

(left to right)

kimberly kieffer

melody oaks

bridgitte showell

lisa kieffer

michael spencer

timothy heaner

timothy doran

nathaniel 'bud' cushing

jonathan heaner (not shown)

lisa's paternal grandpa, clyde kieffer

pastor, mentor, friend, officiant: mike spencer

(lisa's all-too-giddy face... is this seriously happening?)

honor corps members

melody kieffer oaks (lisa's sister)
bridgitte showell (lisa's friend-sister-friend)

honor corps member + lisa's sister, melody oaks

practicing the kissy face

honor corps member + lisa's sister, kimberly kieffer

and lisa's paternal grandma, jeanne 'nana' kools kieffer

tim's maternal grandparents

ruth indorf joyce + lawrence 'larry' joyce

lisa's mom, ann meadows kieffer
and lisa's paternal grandma, jeanne 'nana' kieffer

lisa's dad's wife, elle

tim's mom, linda heaner

and lisa's personal attendant extraordinaire, rachel cushing

tim's dad, mark heaner

and mark's wife, kathy heaner

48 hours

2009-09-17T15:31:00.000-07:00

in only two days i will be mrs. lisa dawnelle kieffer heaner.

yes. and amen.

we will miss (so very much) those of you that can't make it. you are in our thoughts.

and for the rest of you... we're so looking forward to seeing you there!

dotting the t's and crossing the i's

2009-09-09T12:23:00.001-07:00

only ten days left. i'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around that spectacular fact. maybe i don't need to wrap my brain around it so much as i ought to just ride the wave.

i've completed just about everything that can possibly be completed ahead of time. still working on the programs. sewing up a few loose ends (literally + figuratively).

i had my "wedding hair trial" the other day with the always fabulous briana. we darkened my hair just a touch + came up with some truly amazing ideas (i didn't know you could DO that with hair in general, much less my hair in specific). i love briana. she's a hair ninja + a fantastically fun individual.

the family tree is finished, as is the "guestbook." we've got costumes galore for the photobooth (though i am still looking for a remote shutter button -- i'm so out of it, i can't even remember the real name of the thing). board games - check. books - check. a mind-boggling array of bud vases, mason jars, votive holders, lanterns, hurricanes, teacups and candles - check. myriad friends baking up all kinds of yumminess - check, check + check.

last saturday, some of the wedding warriors and i set out for the lyndale farmer's market with one objective: pick out the flowers + get them ordered. little did i know how complicated this seemingly insignificant task would prove. abbey, robbie and kari were amazing, though (no surprise there), and we came up with the most beautiful ideas. let me be the first to say: if you can possibly get away with it, buy all your wedding flowers at the farmer's market. we picked out everything we wanted... no scrimping whatsoever + the total was still surprisingly low. i can't wait to see how everything turns out. i have such amazing friends.

OH! i can't believe i forgot to mention this: tim started his new (old) job on tuesday. he was promptly dispatched on a three-day trip to fargo, minot + several other points west. it's a little silly to me that i can spend so much time with the guy but still instantly miss him the moment he's gone. anyway... he has a job. a good one. thank you, God, for your provision + timing!

on sunday we sat down with mike spencer, who will be performing the ceremony, and wrote out the whole service. every single word. well, you know... with the exception of the homily + the charge to the couple. mike has to (i mean, GETS to) come up with that on his own. it was such fun working on our vows. after we had pieced them all together, i asked tim to read them back to me so i could copy them down in one spot. of course, i started just crying. every single word is so chock full of meaning. not only that, but i honestly mean every single word with every cell in my body. it's not like, "yeah... i guess i can agree with that." it's like, "HECK YES! HECK YES! HECK YES!" no holds barred. no shrinking uncertainty. just joy + excitement + hope + peace.

yes, i'm finally beginning to think that everything might just fall into place... yes. yes, indeed.

twenty five + counting

2009-08-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

yeesh. i can hardly believe i'm typing that.

twenty. five. days.

the time has gone by so fast. but so slowly, at the same time. i'm ready to be married. i could skip the getting married part right now. mainly because i am aching for a daily life that isn't packed with a trillion little decisions + detail upon detail to take care of. i want to go to work + come home + actually have an evening in which i have nothing planned, nothing on the to-do list, nothing spinning in the back of my mind, demanding attention from an already overly crammed brain. when i can sit on the front porch with a cup of tea + a book, listening to the sounds of the neighborhood... just me + the quiet.

and tim, of course. in this fantasy life, he would be sitting next to me with a book of his own, or working on something in the garage. near. comfortable. at home together.

don't get me wrong: i have loved nearly every second of our engagement. it's been so fun seeing all my ideas come to life. seeing God provide + astound us with His imagination + ingenuity. seeing my friends + family gather 'round in support + joy.

one of the projects i'm currently working on is my veil. i decided (perhaps a little optimistically) to make my own. it's going to be really simple -- just a drop veil (pics below). but i'm still a tad nervous about it. if anyone has suggestions about how to make it happen... feel free to leave comments.

in the meanwhile, keep on counting. i know i am!

things i love about tim

2009-08-18T12:52:00.000-07:00

1) he loves kung fu.
2) he has mad guitar skills.
3) he can leap tall retaining walls in a single bound.
4) he is gentle + strong.
5) he is flippin' hilarious.
6) his beautiful hands.
7) the way he laughs at himself when he thinks he's being funny.
8) he has the grossest he said/she said ideas. ever.
9) his honesty + transparency.
10) the way he so intentionally loves me.
11) he doesn't like to do the same thing over + over.
12) he likes to eat the food i make + finishes what's left on my plate.
13) that he plants + grows flowers to give to me.
14) he is a safe driver. (i'm serious -- i LOVE this about him)
15) he makes plans + follows through.
16) the way he looks at me when he thinks i don't notice.
17) kids flock to him -- they know he's safe + that he's genuinely interested in each one of them.
18) he's genuinely interested in any person that's open + honest.
19) he likes parties. i hate them. but i love that he likes them.
20) his spikey handwriting.
21) the way his skin smells.
22) the sound of his heartbeat.
23) when he gets punchy late at night + says the most ridiculous things.
24) that there's no discomfort in the silence.
25) i can say anything to him. anything.

i'm going to stop now... because i don't want everyone to start gagging. but, gosh... i love that guy. i love him so much.

cake + dessert ideas

2009-08-11T07:13:00.000-07:00

i must be hungry today... because all i can think about is what to have at our dessert smorgasbord.

i do want SOME healthy items...

but we definitely need candy.

i mean, this IS tim heaner's wedding.

mmm... snickerdoodles are my favorite cookie

courtesy of wedding warrior, mary nelson

cookies courtesy of wedding warriors

rachel heaner, robbie lewis, and many, many others

fresh apple pie

with grandma kools' crust recipe

you just can't beat it

trying to be healthy-ish

i can't wait to make my first

peach-blackberry trifle

yummmmm

round little brownies

with raspberries or mint

cheesecake courtesy of wedding warrior, emily short

this is called hummingbird cake

so good it makes you hum

courtesy of wedding warrior, rachel cushing

carrot cake is my favorite cake

coconut cake runs a close second

courtesy of wedding warrior, rachel cushing

ooey, gooey cream puffs

you'll need a napkin or three for these

flourless chocolate goodness

for all my gluten-free people

courtesy of wedding warrior

(and honor corps captain)

bridgitte showell

oh wow. i just can't wait to see all the sugared-up kiddos running around. tim will be chief amongst them.

only 39 days, my friends!

when i grow up...

2009-08-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

the other day, i was chatting with one of my dearest friends about the kind of person i want to be. and then, the next day, i found this quote on one of my favorite blogs. it so perfectly mirrored the essence of my heart's desire that i literally gasped when i read it.

she had a face like she had been crushed, but somehow survived, and squeezed every drop of compassion from her pain and painted it on her cheeks. she moved softly, without presumption. one might think she was pliable - such softness carries weakness with it. her secret, though, was that her beautifully humble exterior hid a strength no one expected.

let it be me...

just because it's friday...

2009-07-31T09:24:00.000-07:00

i thought i'd post some lovelies to celebrate the end of the longest week in the history of the world. good grief, i'm glad it's friday!

enjoy...

okay... so, normally i'm opposed to cutting up perfectly good books.

but some of mine are beginning to show mold spots.

this would be a lovely way to repurpose them

rather than just throwing them away.

plus, come on... seriously?

books + plants = gorgeous

the most adorable garden stationery suite i've ever seen.

+ wouldn't that butterfly bouquet be PERFECT for a flower girl?

* sigh *

so lovely + whimsical.

i love the shapeliness + simplicity of the vases + the white

so airy.

original cake ideas rock.

this is tim's IDEAL wedding cake.

such a fun idea!

trees are old friends.

wouldn't it be fantastic to be able to pull something like this off

at an indoor venue?

long, swirly veils = love

this is going to be us in less than a month + a half!

happy weekend!!!

moving week begins

2009-07-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

it's started. last night we went to our new place to hand in our first month's rent + pick up the keys. we had packed up tim's car with things we had been storing at his mom's house + so have even moved in our first "load."

our landlords are completely awesome people + we love their dog. i'm thinking we'll probably have them over for a beer quite often.

tonight i'm having some girlfriends over to the old place to watch the best show EVER...

meanwhile, i'll pack up the last of the kitchen stuff + begin the dreaded process of cleaning the apartment thoroughly. (erg)

at least i have the consolation of a clean new home... it's really spotless, thanks to theresa + eric (the landlords).

pics of the move are on their way...

our first home

2009-07-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

well... it's official. we have a place to live. (she releases the breath she'd been holding since the first of july)

we spent all of last week and some of the previous one looking. and looking. and looking. we found some gems + some real dives. but this was our favorite... and will become our first home together.

it's at the southeast corner of 23rd + dupont. north minneapolis is not my favorite part of the city, strictly speaking. but, honestly, our neighborhood is a little pocket of goodness in the heart of the dodgy side of town.

so... let me tell you about all the awesomeness that is encapsulated in our soon-to-be nest. front porch (i'm getting a porch swing!), fenced-in back deck (read: grill that won't be stolen), 1-car garage, free laundry (heck yessss), dishwasher, sweet woodwork, fireplace, french doors on the bedroom, newly remodeled bathroom, a backyard with space for a garden, wood floors, big picture windows... it's my dream place. i just completely love it.

here are some pictures. i can't wait to get all our stuff moved in. the super sweetest part of all is that i'll get to live there for six weeks before the wedding + before tim moves in. six weeks to make it a home for us. i'm so excited!

this is from the living room, looking into the dining room.

the entry is to the left (not pictured).

the bedroom is just off the dining room (on the left wall).

the kitchen is directly through the doorway on the far wall.

this is looking into the dining room from the bedroom.

the bathroom is through the bedroom on the left wall.

(not pictured)

kitchen with dishwasher + exposed brick.

love it!

on the wall opposite to the dining room
is a little sun room that will become
our office/guest bedroom.

this is our bathroom.

it's tiny, but gorgeous.

there are all these little "nooks" that are tiled into the wall.

the shower/bathtub is tiled floor to ceiling.

the owner did a really nice job of remodeling it.

so... there you have it! your own mini-tour of our new place. i'm planning more than a few dinner parties in the months following the wedding, so you'll have to come over + see it in person.

invitations

2009-07-20T09:45:00.000-07:00

i realized that i still hadn't posted any pictures of the invitations. i thought it was about time to do so.

we purchased all the paper, the stamp, the "belly bands" (ugh! gross), the envelopes, the adhesive + the printing for 250 invitations for under $140. the total cost to assemble one invitation was $0.54.

we were able to keep the weight of the invitation down by not including rsvp cards (i mean... who really uses those things, anyhow? just a bunch of wasted paper + postage), so it was only $0.44 to mail each envelope. tim's mom (who is a genius), bought about 750 "forever" stamps just before the postage went up. she was kind enough to sell them to us at the $0.42 rate.

so... each invitation only cost $0.96 to assemble + mail. pretty danged awesome, if you ask me.
a whole bunch of my girlfriends volunteered their cutting, folding, glue-ing, stuffing expertise + we were able to complete the entire process in four evenings.

i hand-stamped every single invitation three times + every envelope once. between the save-the-date cards + the invitations, i used that stamp over 1,250 times. i got our money's worth out of it, to say the least. but i tell ya what, if i never see that stamp again, it will be too soon for me.

alright... here are the pics.

the front of the invitation.

belly band. (such a terrible name!)
little swatch of paper, dictionary page background

with our initials + the date of our wedding.

inside.

close up of the inside

i used century gothic + edwardian script

information sheet.

this included info on hotels, how to rsvp, our wedding blog, etc.

there is a map to the church on the back.

the labels were a take on an idea i got from martha.
you can get the template here:

http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/goodthings/ready-and-labeled?autonomy_kw=labels

the labels wrap around the envelope so that the return address is on the back. pretty great, huh? especially if you're lazy like me + don't want to hand-address 250 envelopes.

i printed the labels on the same paper as we used for the center of the invitations. we used a rotary cutter to dice them up + that double-sided permanent adhesive tape that comes in the handy-dandy cartridge to attach them to the envelopes. we didn't have any trouble with the post office or with people receiving their invitations. i was a little worried, so... phew!

tying it all together - volume 1

2009-07-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

i've been to a lot of weddings in my time. roughly 72 in the past decade alone. i've been to weddings that cost the bride's family hundreds of thousands of dollars. i've been to weddings that took place in government offices. i've seen fountains of expensive, well-designed floral pieces. i've seen bouquets of wildflowers hand-picked that morning. i've seen brides freak out over the tiniest inconvenience. i've seen terrible things happen + watched brides laugh them off as no big deal.

my favorite weddings, though, have usually been the ones that are full of things that show the personality, the journey of the bride + groom. the ones where ingenuity + originality, rather than one's now-empty pocketbook is on display.

one of the things we are determined to avoid in our wedding is the tendency to spend tons of money on things that look pretty, but have no emotional or symbolic connection to our relationship. we've scrapped everything that felt like an expected motif or rote tradition + tried to incorporate things that felt like us.

we've entered the "fun" stage of the wedding planning. the invitations are mailed, the bridal party accounted for, the dress + suit purchased + fitted... now it's just the details. i adore details. + so, i thought i might clue you all in a little...

the color scheme: ivory-champagne-caramel-chocolate brown-black...

we want the wedding to feel like the well-worn pages of favorite volume of old poetry, or a sepia-toned photograph of a long-lost relative. rich + warm. faded + comfortable.

we've chosen this palette not for the look alone, but because we wanted to incorporate the feeling of history. i'm wearing tim's great-grandmother's wedding ring. it's been in the family since 1910. we're both interested in the roots of things. much of our time together has been spent whiling away the hours in 37-room bookstores, dusty map shops, historical museums. we love to go visit with our grandparents, to listen to their stories + the stories of those who went before them.

my dress is ivory. tim is wearing a black suit, ivory shirt + tie. the honor corps will be in black: the women in black dresses of their choosing with a wrap in varying shades of the spectrum listed above, the men in black suits of their choosing, black shirt + a tie in varying shades of the same spectrum. the only stipulation for attire (aside from the primary color: black) is that the honor corps member choose something that he or she would actually wear again.

i've purchased some pretty radical shoes. bright red satin slides. they look like something from the forties. i just completely love them. they don't exactly match the color scheme, but i couldn't be all wedding-y about the shoes. i just couldn't.

we've already covered the topic of hairstyle in a previous post. so i won't go there again. i guess the next thing to cover would be the ceremony space + all other elements therein.

we're getting married at hope presbyterian church in richfield, minnesota.

we'll have the main aisle roped off with ribbon + little paper birds made from antique sheet music, old buttons (that a sweet lady i met on craigslist mailed me for free) + twine.

i saw this idea of using flower petals to make a pattern up the aisle. loads of flower petals can get expensive, though. my thought was, "hey... let's make confetti from old books + use that instead!" reduce. reuse. repurpose. recycle. confetti is easier to clean up, too. i'm thinking big confetti... a la ticker-tape parade. about an inch wide + 2 inches long.

we will be using books in several ways: the ring "pillow" will be a stack of books (each significant in its own right -- a family bible, the book tim used to propose to me, a journal i've kept since childhood, etc.) tied together with ribbon. we'll use piles of books around the stage as foundations for candles, jars of flowers + the like.

as for the ceremony itself, we'll be doing things a little differently. we want to keep it short. 30 minutes max. i will walk myself down the aisle + my parents will be waiting at the end of it to give us their blessing. there will be no unity candle, though we will take communion together. grandma joyce will play a hymn during communion. there will not be the usual scripture reading. rather, rachel heaner (sister of the groom) will read an excerpt from one of our favorite books. we will use the traditional vows -- there's just something so holy + solemn that is missing without them -- as well as some that we write ourselves. the songs that we've chosen for the processional + recessional are far from traditional... so, uhhm... prepare yourselves.

tim + i wrote (+ continue to write) literally hundreds of letters to each other while we were dating. i have a box full of them in my bedroom. i saw this idea for programs that looked like telegrams + thought it was spectacular. it didn't really fit with our theme, nor did it have any real connection to either of us. but it started me thinking of the letters we wrote. i decided to incorporate the idea of written correspondence into the wedding by making the ceremony programs look like letters written from tim to me + vice versa. (i'm so excited about this! can't wait to make them.)

okay... enough detail for now. more next week.

it's almost real now...

2009-07-06T16:24:00.001-07:00

i'm currently printing the invitations to our wedding. that makes me happy in ways i cannot even name. i think that the elation comes from the sense that, once the invitations are out, i will have jumped one of the final hurdles.

not sure if that sense is in any way based in reality... but for now, any relief is a good thing.

yep. we'll take it.

up next: find an apartment.

i'll post pictures of the invitation making process sometime this week. for now, though... keep your fingers crossed that the printer doesn't give up on me!

Those pictures I promised

2009-06-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

I am a poor blogger. But I have pulled myself up by the bootstraps to bring you these photos.
This is the book which held the ring when I proposed to Lisa. It took a lot of work to write in and design and create the cover. I don't have much else to say. The photos speak for themselves. The other picture is Lisa wearing the ring.

The book. I designed and burned the cover.

A view of the binding

The place for the ring which I cut out.

Lisa wearing the ring!!!

yipes!

2009-06-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

i just stole a glance at the countdown calendar + realized... *gasp* i only have 92 days left!

i felt the following emotions upon said realization in the following order:

excitement -- i get to marry my favorite person on the planet in approximately three months!!! i never have to say goodnight to him + watch him drive away again. i get to see him every morning when i wake up. i get to make a home -- a real, honest-to-goodness home -- with someone (not just anyone... but MY someone).
fear -- i will be getting married. marriage is a BIG DEAL. (no... really?)
panic -- are the plans for the wedding sufficiently under way? am i missing something? have i got all my bases covered? i just really, really don't want anyone left holding the proverbial bag. i want everyone (me + tim included) to enjoy the day + be entirely relaxed.
peace -- i know that i know that this is the right person, the right time, the right place. i love him completely. i am loved unabashedly in return. and the wedding? well, it's just a party. it's going to be great.

breathe, lisa. just breathe.

is there really anything better?

2009-06-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

last night i got together with some of my favorite ladies on the planet for good food, wine, chocolate + an abundance of laughter, honesty + brainstorming.

robbie had the camera, so i don't have any pictures of her from last night. but i found a really cute (+ quitessentially robbie) picture on her facebook so that you could all bask in the radiance. :)

so stinkin' cute, robbie!

abbey, fresh from france,
shows us how to
enjoy every moment to the fullest
and still look delightfully sophisticated

kari has some serious
dessert building skills...
not to mention one of the driest
+ most wonderful senses of humor

mmm...
wine+good company = happy lisa

a little help, ladies...

2009-06-05T09:43:00.000-07:00

okay, girlfriends... time to voice your opinions. i'm stumped on choosing a hairstyle for the wedding. i realize i've got some time before i need to make the decision. but i just got my hair cut (yay, briana!) + so the hair thing was on the brain.

i guess i'd be open to guys' opinions, too. i'm just betting, though, that not all that many guys read this blog. or, if they DO, would care to comment on how i should do my hair.

anyhow... i've found some pics of hair ideas that i like. feel free to comment or post pics of your own. i need help -- on oh, so many levels -- haha. if seeing the dress would help, i can send you pics of me in it.

i like the idea of wearing my hair down, since the dress is strapless. but i'm not addicted to the idea. i think i would prefer to have it off my face for the most part, so the idea of wearing it half-up appeals to me. i'm thinking i want a cathedral veil, with really simple fabric (so it won't distract from the dress). i'm not into tiaras at all. at all. my hair is naturally wavy. it's also very thick, so by the end of the day, it's usually pretty straight because the weight of the hair pulls out the wave. i don't want anything super high maintenance or with lots of hair spray. i want it to look soft and natural (if possible).

okay... so, here goes...

i like the little bits of bling in the hair.
i often wear my hair pulled off my face this way.
i like how innocent + organic this style looks.

not so much the 'do as the color.

i'm thinking i'd like to darken my hair a few shades

+ i love this color with the reddish highlights.

i like the little braids.
not too many of them...
but i'm into texture.

this is a lot more "done" than the other styles,
but i like the piece-y-ness
mixed with the smooth bangs.
the veil is really close to what i was thinking.

i think this is gorgeous...
again, it's the sleekness
mixed with the texture that appeals to me.

aside from the fact that her face looks like

she's getting her mugshot,

i think this is a gorgeous idea.

side-swept bangs, and a little messy in back

with bands of silver just behind the bangs.

(i'd use gold or champagne colored bands)

summer beach hair.

lovely.

so, the longer part of the hair is a little "done"

for my taste,

but i adore the use of very loose braids.

okay... so that's what i've got. now, let's hear what you've got!

fun @ the saints game

2009-05-26T06:24:00.000-07:00

as you may know, tim recently graduated from the carpentry program at HCTC. i'm SO proud of him. as a graduation present, i planned a day chocked full of "guy stuff."

the itinerary:

12:30 - humongous hamburgers at fuddruckers
1:30 - mini-roadtrip to ritter farm park in lakeville, mn. hiking, throwing around a football...
3:30 - trip to fleet farm (the MAN store)
5:00 - trip to home depot (the OTHER MAN store)
7:00 - saint's game (it's tough to beat outdoor baseball... especially when the home team hits a grand slam to pull ahead by one run!)

we probably took this picture when the saints were still behind by three runs

can they do it?

tim smells a comeback

wahoo! saints win!

(actually, i'm the winner in this scenario. isn't he just the cutest?)

hot, sunny days = pent up creativity

2009-05-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

it's a beautiful day in minneapolis. sunny + 85 (it was 30 three nights ago).

i want to be outside. by a lake. on a blanket. drawing or reading. sunglasses at the ready (to reduce the white-paged glare that often disturbs the outdoor reading/writing/drawing thing).

instead, i'm auditing claim after claim in a stuffy office building. the office atmosphere isn't stuffy... just the air in the building. i am grateful to have a job. but... there are honestly days where i'd rather be doing anything else.

so to stave off i'm-stuck-at-the-office blues, i'm posting some ideas that i stumbled upon during the weekend. hope you enjoy!

i really like the color scheme + bell jars. the old clock is adorable.

yummy summer-y treats!

i think i'll do something akin to the image on the left

with the tall cocktail tables at my reception.

though, i'll use a different color ribbon...

hello?

vegetables as centerpieces = genius

*sigh*

my friend, abbey, sent me this photo + the next

of some lovely summer arrangements she made.
love.

love, love.

love, love, love, love...

LOVE!

tim is graduating!!!

2009-05-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

tim is graduating on wednesday. i couldn't be more proud. i was looking on the school's website and found some photos of the distiguished graduate:

nice muscles, tim!

he's the one with the saw...

there's also a video. tim is one of the interviewees!

http://greenhouse.htc-mmvp.com/

come to the open house on tuesday (may 19) from 2-6 p.m.

directions:

take 7 west from 494 to county road 101
turn left on county road 101
got to the second stoplight -- excelsior boulevard
turn left on excelsior
take the first right onto spring lane
follow spring lane as it winds around
take your first left – i believe the road is cynthia lane… but i’m not positive about that
it’s a cul-du-sac and the house is on the right

also...

2009-05-13T13:16:00.000-07:00

as of last night, tim + i are the proud owners of two tickets to paradise. tim did all the research + planning (that's my boy!). as of 9:30-ish on the morning of 9/21/09, we will be on our way to molokai!

also, i have to say that i did not expect to enjoy planning a wedding as much as i have (and am!). working on a tight budget only makes it more fun... because it means being even more imaginative.

i've had much help + support so far. BIG HUGE THANKS goes to janell roth. she is a genius + has helped me flesh out my ideas. she's also been fantastically tactful when i've suggested something completely ridiculous or tacky. i am so blessed by her friendship + willingness to share her ideas + time.

more BIG HUGE THANKS goes to tim for being so long-suffering + chill as i have changed ideas about thirty thousand times. this is the difference between introverts + extraverts: if tim were planning the wedding, he would gather + sort ideas quietly, in his own head for weeks + weeks + weeks. then when he finally had everything settled, budgeted, + arranged, he would talk about carrying out said plans. i, on the other hand, feel the need to discuss every. single. idea. ever. possible. as it occurs to me. out loud. but tim has been a major trooper, + therefore, deserves major props. i give them willingly. you rock, baby!

yet more BIG HUGE THANKS goes to my honor corps of wedding engineers: bridgitte, melody + kimberly, who act excited about everything (even if they couldn't care less), who are supportive beyond reckoning of my flights of whimsy + imagination, who are amazing friends + sisters, all. i love you, ladies!

some more lovelies

2009-05-13T06:26:00.000-07:00

i've been finding FANTASTIC ideas online. places like
http://apartment34.blogspot.com/,
http://greenweddingshoes.blogspot.com/,
http://bklynbrideonline.com/,
+ my personal fave http://www.i-do-it-yourself.com/.

i thought i would share some of them. even if i don't use them in my wedding... they're just too gorgeous -- hafta spread the love.

umm... hello?

what a simple, inexpensive + completely ingenious idea!

*sigh*

there's something so soothing + lovely about candlelight.

i appreciate the mismatched lanterns

on the shepherd's hooks.

what is it about muted colors and beautifully bound books?

i like that the stem part
(i'm sure there's a really snooty official word for this,
i just don't happen to know it)
of the bouquet above is so slender.
not a fan of the bouquets that feel like
you're carrying a football.

okay...
not a slender stemmy-bouquet-thingy.
but i adore the embroidered handkerchief.
adore.

i'm not sure if i've made it clear that we're back to an evening wedding.

yes.

7 p.m.

you can now mark your calendars in ink.

we're going to do the reception right at the church. i had thought about trying to do it at some really cool loft or art studio in northeast, but the expense + the time commitment for the attendees were major deterrents.

we are still planning on a humongous dessert buffet.

none of the pictures below quite capture what i'm thinking of,

but they give the gist.

i'm open to new thoughts and ideas. or tweaks on what i'm showing you.

let me know if you've seen something totally wonderful.

i LOVE brainstorming!!!

inspiration

2009-05-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

inspiration is everywhere. you just need to look for it.

for me, in planning this wedding, inspiration had been hard to come by. originally, i was thinking of going sort of asian-themed. tim + i both love kung fu + asian food. the clean lines + simplicity of asian design really appealed to my aesthetic sense.

but the more i tried to make the picture fit, the more it felt unnatural. i couldn't capture the essence of "us." i really wanted to incorporate family history. i wanted the wedding to feel unique. not so much like a one-time event as a visual + sensory expression of our relationship, past, present + future.

i have a friend named janell chan who is a complete genius when it comes to making beautiful weddings happen. she lives in california, so i started picking her brain via email. we decided to ditch the green, ditch the asian + go for something more "historic" in feel.

i started looking online and found inspiration in the pictures below. enjoy the preview!

guess what i've got hanging in my closet...

2009-04-27T06:25:00.000-07:00

that's right. it's a wedding dress.

it's MY wedding dress.

if you're curious, drop me an email at lkieffer@acclaimbenefits.com and i will send you a link so that you can see the dress online.

unless you're tim. then, you're just plumb out of luck.

picture time

2009-04-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

a friend recently commented on the extreme lack of "you two" photos on our wedding blog. to which i responded, "what the heck are you talking about? there are TONS of photos of us on there." she rolled her eyes and let the matter drop.

imgine my chagrin upon further investigation. so! this is my attempt at redemption (sorry, sarah! you were right.)

this was taken literally moments after i said, "YES!"

a very, very, VERY cold day at minnehaha falls

his + hers pumpkins

at tim's cousin's wedding (congratulations, jamie + jenny!)

happy hug in autumnal appleton

the heaner siblings at thanksgiving

at tim + kelly walk's wedding -- boy, does my tim look good in a tux!

the mandatory road trip photo

gooseberry falls

lake superior in january. brr! (good thing the captain is here!)

don't mess with us! he knows kung fu!

beach hair (tim's first visit to vero beach, fl)

see? he really DOES know kung fu. or at least has the outfit.

my first visit to ohio as tim's girlfriend

the girly version

2009-04-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

as promised, here is the "she said" version of the engagement story. complete with visual images for your enjoyment.

i had a feeling that a proposal was imminent. in fact, i think i commented as much to some of my girlfriends. tim + i were coming up on our 2-year dating anniversary, so i thought... that seems like a good time to propose.

i thought that if he did it, he would do it on the actual day of our anniversary (february 20). we got all gussied up + went to a fancy restaurant. the food was INCREDIBLE. we had a good time just talking + being flirty.

now, just to be clear... i was not holding my breath, waiting for the proposal. a while back, tim + i had our worst fight ever. i won't go into all the nitty gritty of it, but the outcome was that i realized that i had been (unconsciously) trying to control the relationship... move it in the "right" direction at the "right"time. and that in doing so, i was not letting tim take his place in the relationship as the leader and chief pursuer. it was a painful lesson, but i was able to let go and just live in the moment. i didn't need to know where we were headed and when. i could just trust God to lead us. and i knew that i could trust tim to hear and heed His leading. i was completely at peace about the whole deal.

so when tim didn't propose that night, i kind of figured that he was waiting until he finished school. and that seemed wise + okay to me.

i knew that he had all kinds of fun things planned for the next day. it felt pretty cool to me that he had taken all kinds of thought and preparation to surprise and spoil me for our anniversary. we went to breakfast at the place that has sort of become "our" place... the egg and i. has a leisurely breakfast. we talked + talked about all sorts of things. it was so good to have some time set aside from the bustle of life to just be together + communicate about the important, deep things + the trivial, silly fun things.

after that, he took me to a paper store + a my favorite bookstore. we browsed around. the perfect kind of day so far.
now, in order to understand the awesomeness of the next part of the day you need to know this: i am a bookstore connoisseur. i pride myself on knowing all the cool spots to find old books at good prices. so when tim pulled up to our fourth destination, i was befuddled. he found a lovely little hole-in-the-wall shop called whitney books + prints. there were piles of gorgeous old books, stacks of antique art prints, old maps (sigh!), and a shelf-full of photo albums overflowing with photos of old buildings in minneapolis + st. paul that don't even exist anymore. there was a mint condition two-volume first edition copy of uncle tom's cabin (available for the reasonable price of $9,000) that i drooled over (but not ON). tim gave me a dollar figure and said i could buy whatever i wanted with it. i could have stayed all day. i finally settled on a late 19th-century illustrated volume of greek history. the owner threw in a 1910 yarn catalogue + knitting guide for $1. when we left, i was euphoric. literally grinning from ear-to-ear. i was so impressed that tim had found such a jewel of a store.

after we left the store, tim was oddly quiet. i thought i had worn him out, spending so much time in a book store. so when he said there was one more place on the docket, i was a little surprised. when he pulled up to uncommon grounds, i thought, "oh good. a place to sit + relax." i can't remember who suggested exchanging gifts there, but i thought it a good idea. it was the place of our first official date + seemed appropriate.

i had been racking my brain for weeks, trying to come up with a good anniversary present for tim. in the course of some organizing, i happened to come across an old journal. inside was a list i had made several years ago. i had just come out of a series of really damaging relationships + had decided that i was through with dating for a while. i went on a silent retreat shortly afterward, + during that time, i asked God what he wanted in a husband for me. i made a list of qualities during that weekend. it was pretty specific. i hadn’t looked at the list since tim + i had started dating, but when i was reading over it i started to cry. i realized that tim was (IS) every single thing on that list. and then some.

the match was too uncanny not to share with him. so, i printed up the list + used wine + tea to dye the paper to make it look old. then i tied it up like a scroll with a ribbon. i wrote him a card that explained what the list was + how amazed i was at reading the list + realizing that God had given me exactly what i most deeply longed for without my even looking for it. that he had given me timothy.

in retrospect, i have to say that it was pretty cool to have been able to give that list to him even before he proposed to me (though it was only a few minutes before).

then it was my turn to open a present. i seriously had no thought whatsoever that he would propose that day. so, i was completely engrossed in the moment and blissfully able to soak it all in.

i opened the book and immediately started crying. i saw the date of the first entry in the journal + realized that he had been laboring over this gift for nearly two years. my tim! the same tim who, when we first started dating, had a difficult time telling me how he felt. the same tim who gets physically worn out after a long conversation. the same tim to whom words do not come easily had spent literal years finding words to tell me how much he loves me.

he asked if he could read some of the entries to me. yeah. no problem there.

as he read, i felt my heart open wider than it has ever been open, for as long as i can remember. the words he read to me were so poetic, the sentiments so honest and heart-breaking. i felt like the most beautiful, the most treasured, the most loved girl on the entire planet. i felt like the princess of the world. i had never felt that way before. i had never let love touch my heart in that way. i was smiling so widely and crying so hard i thought my face would crack.

and then, in one movement, he turned the page and got down on his knee. i was almost too overwhelmed to realize what was happening. almost.

he took my hand, looked into my eyes, and asked me to be his wife. i couldn’t speak for the tears, so i kissed him until i could recover. and then i said, “yes. yes. yes. i love you. yes.”

he slid the ring on my finger. and then he explained that the ring had belonged to his great-grandmother. it was her engagement ring. and that it had been in the family for 100 years. i feel so honored to be wearing his family’s history on my hand.

i feel so honored to be loved this well, this deeply. to be accepted for who i am. to have such a wonderful friend, on whom i can pour all the love and desire that is in my heart. to be so graced with openness and ease of communication. to feel so safe, so protected, so treasured.

and to have the heart of this man. i do not feel worthy. but i do feel so happy.

productive weekend

2009-04-06T08:48:00.000-07:00

accomplished:

1) wedding dress purchased
2) first money fight of our relationship resolved amicably
3) marathon registration event at bed, bath + beyond completed without incident
4) picked up the newly-reinforced and resized engagement ring from the jeweler
5) beginning to shop for suits for the guys
6) looked for airline tickets for honeymoon
7) verified that the church is available for an afternoon wedding

wahoo! i'm so proud of us.

photographer

2009-04-01T09:07:00.000-07:00

huzzah! we have a photographer. (wipes nervous sweat from brow)

cory + tamrah ryan -- photographers extraordinaire -- actually had the date open. i am SO pleased. i love their work and truly enjoy both of them as people.

check out their portfolios at:
www.ctryan.com
http://ctryan.com/blog

excitement and the grand plan

2009-03-26T06:11:00.000-07:00

people keep asking me if i am excited to get married. my response is always the same:

"of course i'm excited. but not the jumpy-squealy kind of excited. the this-is-just-so-right excited."

what i mean by that is that it goes way deeper than the word "excited" can convey. because excitement fades. it leads up to something and then, after the "something" occurs, it's recedes... like the ebb and swell of the ocean. what i feel is entirely different than that. it's more constant. longer lasting. it's inside my stomach, almost a tangible sensation. when i think about giving my life to tim and him giving his life to me, i almost ache with the joy and wonder and awe of it.

and then i feel the sheer majesty of god's plan for his whole people. i realize that human love, marriage, parenting, friendship... these are all minute pieces of the grand plan: for the creator to show his greatness through his unending, unfailing, unchanging love for (relatively) insignificant and faithless people. he amazes me. because we are not insignificant to him -- even in all his greatness. we are of infinite worth to him because he chooses to make us so.

and all of these startling ideas and realizations are bound up with the "excitement" i feel about marrying tim. because i know that the great god is a part of it. or rather, that we are a part of him.

rethinking the plan

2009-03-25T10:52:00.001-07:00

well, last night after financial class, i took a good, hard look at our wedding budget. and i realized that my plans had gotten larger than my pocketbook. SO! now it's time to get creative.

i was explaining to tim the way i plan events: i get a picture of the end result in my head and then figure out how to get there. and since my old picture had to be thrown out the window, for the most part, i need to get a new picture. and that is the stressful part for me. once i have a picture, i'm good.

so... here's hoping for a new "best" picture.

there is only one (very unsophisticated) word for this...

2009-03-20T11:40:00.000-07:00

are you ready for it?

"wow."

i just keep saying that word over and over.

last night, i was talking to God about my worries and concerns. of course, finances came up among the myriad other concerns. but really, worrying about my finances is just a symptom of something deeper. for me, it's this: i do not believe that God wants to pour out good things into my life. i believe that he wants good things for me in a vague, overarching sense. but i have a difficult time comprehending a God who would allow me to " feast on the abundance of [his] house; and give [me] drink from [his] river of delights."

as i was talking to him about these things, i realized that i had this sort of cap-in-hand, beggar mentality. and i thought, "well, that's kinda lame." so i just told him that i wanted to trust him. to believe that he wants good and has good in store for me. not only the overarching, nebulous kind of good, but the deep, deep, spirit-satisfying kind of good. and i left it at that.

this afternoon, i got an email from a friend of mine. she's been in my life to varying degrees for the past ten years and has been a sister and a friend to me throughout. the email was from her and from another friend of mine -- one who has been a wise voice and a safe harbor for me more times than i can count. it said that together they wanted to bless tim+ me with the flowers and decorations for our wedding.

i started crying (of course) immediately. here's why: God knows me so well. he knows all the dreams and hopes i've stored up. not for my wedding, so much (although, of course that figures in), but for the whole of my life. he knows the disappointments and the failings and the just plain old disbelief that i've had. and i knew that he decided to show me that he Loves me. yes, Love with a capital "L." that he cares, really and truly, about the girly parts of me that i often hide in embarrassment. that he cares enough to move my friends' hearts to be his hands.

all of that is just a tiny expression of his amazing-ness. he is entirely awesome and altogether beautiful. i am his. he is mine. and his banner over me is love, hope and peace in abundance. not because i deserve it, but because he says so.

wow.

decisions, decisions

2009-03-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

well, things are coming along.

we've got our date.
the ceremony site.
the pastor.
the wedding party.
the colors.
the theme.

i've even tried on a few dresses. (big, huge thanks to bridgitte and melody on that one. they took great care of me after my brain fried.)

now it's all just details.
we found a photographer that we love, but need to work it into our budget.
we know where we'd like to hold the reception, but need to talk to the right people.
we know exactly how we want our save-the-date cards to look, but need to actually make them.

i'm actually really loving all the planning. and i'm so aware that i have fantastic people that i want to share all this with -- and who want to share it with me.

and here's the real kicker -- in exactly six months i get to marry my favorite person on the whole planet. i feel like the luckiest, happiest girl ever.

p.s. i will be giving the girly version of the engagement story in the next week or so. just compiling evidence. (!)

Proposal

2009-03-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

The story of how I came to ask for Lisa Kieffer's hand in marriage...

I learned some things about Lisa early in our dating relationship.
1. Lisa really likes books
2. Lisa loves maps
3. Lisa loves to receive letters
I stored this away in my mind. When we had been dating for about 3 months I saw a beautiful hard cover leather bound journal.
I had this idea: I should buy this and write letters to Lisa in it to give her later. Although I did not know at that point that we would get married I cut out a spot in the pages for a ring to fit.

>>Fast Forward>> to February, 2009.

I spoke with both of Lisa's parents in the 2 weeks leading up to the day. It was the most excruciating thing to have to hold my feelings of excitement and joy inside after they both gave their permission and blessing for me to marry their daughter.

I already had some ideas about how to propose. Now I just needed to fine tune them. I had a couple days off of school earlier in the week so I researched bookstores in Minneapolis. I found one which she had been to. I found another one, a tiny hole in the wall shop that sells old books, maps and art prints as well as photos of old buildings. I was so excited to take her there. I was really hoping she had not been there before.

Friday February 20, 2009-
Our 2 year anniversary. We went out to a fancy restaurant in Minneapolis and talked and enjoyed the evening baking brownies at her appartment. Then, the following morning I picked her up at 10 to celebrate our anniversary. I had a secret list of places to take her. We went out for brunch at The Egg and I in Uptown where we have gone on numerous dates. It was wonderful to just relax and talk and eat a great breakfast. Then we went to a bookstore, and a stationary/paper store both of which she had been to before. In between each destination I would tell her to close her eyes so I could look at the secret list so I could see where we were going next.

-Side Note-
I wrote the list because I have a bad memory and I was so nervous leading up to the day I didn't want to forget where to go. I had butterflies and tornadoes and rollercoasters in my stomach for the whole week before. I wanted the day to be perfect.

Next we went to the tiny bookstore she had never been to before, Whitney Books and Prints, in Minneapolis. She absolutely loved it! I was so proud to have found such a great place she had never been. She would have stayed all day if she could.

I had remained calm and collected all day up untill this point: We left the bookstore to go to Uncommon Grounds in Uptown, where we had our first date. When we arrived I scoped out the coffee shop and was relieved that it was mostly empty. I was terribly nervous as I carried our drinks to the table. I thought I would spill the drinks and burn myself..

After we had talked for a bit and sipped our drinks we decided it was time to open our anniversary gifts to eachother. I opened mine first. It was wonderful. In the gift was a list of 30 things that Lisa wanted in a husband, along with a card telling me that I was ALL of those things. And then some! It was an amazing gift and I felt so loved, appreciated and valued.

Then, I gave her my gift. The book. Wrapped in a map. As she opened it and saw what it was she started crying. I knew that she knew what was in the book. Not the ring mind you, but letters filled with my thoughts and feelings about her. Dreams and hopes, memories of us. I asked her if I could read a couple entries to her. I untied the string holding it shut and opened it to the first bookmark. I read 2 entries to her that expressed how I see her. That I am amazed every time I discover something new about Lisa. My heart jumps when I hear her voice.

Then I turned to the second bookmark. I turned the book around so she could see the ring inside the pages. Stepping into the isle I got down on my knee and asked her. Lisa Dawnelle Kieffer, will you marry me? She was bawling, surprised and glowing, she kissed my mouth and then said yes.

I was on top of the world

Some of my deepest hopes and dreams are comming true. I am engaged to an amazing girl! I admire the way she loves people. She takes time to listen and ask questions. She loves and values children. She cares and nurtures with the heart of God.

I am honored and humbled that Lisa wants to spend her life with me. Learning and growing. Walking though lifes joys and sorrows. Growing old and learning to love God, eachother and people. I am simply blown away.

Timothy

how we "met"

2009-03-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

this is a really long, really involved version of the beginning of our story. i feel like i should offer a prize to anyone who actually takes the time to read it. umm... how about a tootsie pop? or a mix cd? or something...

tim and i have known each other for almost twelve years. but back then, he was 14 and i was 18. BIG difference at that age. we went to the same youth group. and actually, his sister, rachel was one of my jr. high youth group girls, so we girls hung out quite a bit. timothy would hardly talk to me in those days.

after high school he went to YWAM. i would get periodic updates and such, but there were a few years in there where we didn’t see each other much. then he came back to minnesota and started attending the church plant that i was worship pastor at. he joined the worship team. and even though he still didn’t talk much, he wormed his way into my heart. not in a romantic way (AT ALL), but more of a “what a special person he is!” kind of way. he was back and forth between YWAM and minnesota for a few years. he’d come and give updates after trips and such. and he’d always play on the worship team. when he wasn’t there, we missed his quiet humor and his steadiness.

he finally came back to minnesota for good about, gosh, six (?) years ago. he joined the worship team full-time and so we saw each other twice a week. that’s when we really started being friends. looking back, i see that God opened my eyes to really "see" tim, pretty much from the get-go. most people don’t notice the awesomeness that is timothy -- his gentleness, his humor, his depth, his kindness, his all-out wackiness -- because he is so introverted and doesn't always share what he's thinking or feeling. but i somehow always had this deep appreciation for him as a person, a respect for who he was as a man, and an excited and confident expectation of what God would cause him to be in the future. that allowed me to give tim a lot of encouragement and support as well as to really care about him as a friend, way before we had romantic feelings for each other.

meanwhile, tim was being mentored by our pastor and was really starting to come to grips with the pain created by certain events in his life. he and i would have long talks about family, and forgiveness, and healing. tim also started working on getting comfortable hanging out with girls one-on-one. so (this is so CUTE), he’d take girls from our church out on pseudo-dates. he took me to a minor league baseball game once. another time we went to the art museum. he was so sweet and gentlemanly on our “dates” but i never thought of him as anything but a friend.

we lived in a community house together for a few years. we cooked for each other and had “family fun nights” and all kinds of stuff. we kept getting closer, but still, i never felt anything for him except sisterly affection. until... one summer, we were having a church picnic and tim was playing basketball with a bunch of neighborhood guys and at some point during the game, he just whipped off his shirt. i did a double-take. seriously, people... that was the first time i ever noticed that tim was an eligible, attractive man. i had never, ever, ever had that thought cross my mind before. it was like a lightning bolt. i tried to put it out of my mind, because i was a leader at the church, he and i were living in the same house, and i thought he was way (haha) too young for me. but, if i'm being honest, i would have to say that things were never quite the same after that -- at least under the surface. not so much because i saw that he was totally ripped, but because of the epiphany i had upon noticing him as an available guy.

a few more years passed and i moved out of the house we’re living in, but tim and i remained close. around the beginning of 2007, a bunch of people from our church were thinking about moving to ohio to help sort of re-plant a church there. i was close to several of them and so when tim decided to go for a visit and offered to fly me down with him to check it out, i jumped at the opportunity. we stayed at the house of a young couple in the church. he did stuff with the guys, i did stuff with the girls, but we got to spend a lot of concentrated time together, just the two of us. more than we ever had before. at one point, i was telling all the single girls (and there were a LOT of them at that church) how awesome tim is. what a great husband and dad he’ll be. how cute and athletic he is. you know... trying to pave the way for him a little. and one of the girls says to me, “why don’t YOU date him?” i laughed and said (famous last words), “umm… because that would be weird!”

the weekend we were in ohio, the men from the church went on a retreat and tim went with them. i hung out with the ladies and had a great time, but found that i was missing his company. when he and the guys came back to the house we were staying at for a party, i was so happy to see him and kept thinking to myself, “why am i so happy? i’ve never been this happy to see him before…”

on our flight home, tim and i talked about everything that had happened on the five days we were there. and then, inexplicably and with no premeditation, i started crying my eyes out. poor tim is just sitting there, like, “are you okay???” and i am just nodding and crying like an idiot and saying over and over, “i don’t know why i’m crying.” now, let me just tell you: i cry all the danged time. but i always, ALWAYS know why i’m crying. this time, i seriously had no earthly idea. and that troubled me greatly.

so my friend, bridgitte, came to pick us up at the airport. we took tim to his mom’s house and i got out of the car to give him a hug like i would always do. i got back in the car and bridgitte (who knows me better than anyone in the wide world) said, “what happened between you two?” i looked at her in disbelief, “nothing!” i say, truthfully (or so i thought).

that night, i was laying in bed, asking myself over and over “why was i crying? why was i crying?” and it hits me.

i was crying because i was sad tim was moving away.
i LIKE tim.
oh my GOSH!!!!

i seriously freaked out for the next two weeks. i talked to my friends, i paced the floor, i journaled like a mad-woman. i didn’t know what to do. it was so unexpected. and such bad timing. and i didn’t even know if he liked me back! after two weeks of spazziness, i decided to just let it go. he was planning to move at the end of february. and i seriously did not want to mess up our friendship. and i'd only had a crush on the guy for point two seconds -- it would be easy to get over him, right?

i took a week-long trip to washington, dc over valentine’s day week with some of my girlfriends. tim called me on valentine’s day (not KNOWING what day it was because, let’s face it, valentine’s day is laaame) to see if i want to hang out when i got back and before he leaves for ohio. i’m going “be calm. keep it cool, lisa. it’s just a friendly call. it will be good closure. just keep it cool.” but iwas SO jumping up and down inside. we decided to hang out the next sunday morning and afternoon before church (our church met at night).

he came over and we watched a kung-fu movie (one of our favorite things to do together). after the movie, he turns to me and starts talking about all the things he appreciates about me and how much my friendship has meant to him. i was trying SO hard not to cry. i told him how grateful i was that we were friends and how much i cared about him as a person. i told him about my hopes for him in the future and how great i think it is that he’s following God and going to ohio, even though i’ll miss him. all the while, i’m telling myself, "this is probably the last time you’ll have with him – make it good. don’t leave anything important out."

and THEN… he just leans over and kisses me.

i was shocked. completely shocked. i was even more shocked that i kissed him back. but what shocked me the most was that he was a really good kisser. TIM HEANER!

(what comes next is horrifying. prepare yourself.)

then he gets up off the couch, looking very confused and says “i have to go to church. i’ll call you.” and LEAVES!!!!!!!

i just about died. i literally kept my phone in my hand for the next 24 hours. i only put it down to brush my teeth and go to the bathroom. i just kept thinking “PLEASE let him call. PLEASE let him call.” the agony, people. the agony.

but he called me monday night to ask me if i wanted to go out tuesday, to which i calmly answered, “yeah. that would be good.” we made arrangements, i hung up the phone and then started running around my apartment jumping and screaming like something out of a cheesy teen movie.

i was so nervous he was going to say that it had been a mistake or that he didn’t really feel that way about me or that it was crazy to get together just as he was leaving. but he took my hand in his and said, “lisa, i really care about you. i have strong feelings for you and even though it seems like poor timing, would you want to date each other?” i started cry-laughing and said of course i did.

hilariously enough, he told everyone that I kissed HIM. even his MOM! we’ve since got the story straightened out and he’s rather proud, i think, of the fact that he “busted a move” as he calls it. i’m so glad he did. otherwise… who knows? we might never have said anything to each other and we would have missed all this joy and healing and growth and amazingness.

the date is set!

2009-03-06T08:34:00.000-08:00

09.19.09 @ hope presbyterian church, richfield, mn.

the date appeals to my pattern-loving side. and i have to say, i'm pretty danged excited to have something (other than the fact that we ARE getting married) set in stone.

tim did a great job of taking charge on this. he talked to the pastor of the church, the building scheduler, got the site reserved and the minister (mike spencer) approved. heck yes, my man has planning skills.

now the fun stuff starts -- save-the-date cards, decorations, dress hunting...

p.s. we'll get "the story" and some pictures up here post haste. sorry for the wait, grandma!