anniversary

warning: this post may be overloaded with gushing about ross pinson. proceed with reading at your own risk.

we woke up early & enjoyed a quick little breakfast of sliced cherry tomatoes and hard-boiled eggs at our kitchen table.  the sun was just coming up on our drive to the airport; a brightly glowing grapefruit warming the cool blue sky and thin cotton candy clouds.  we just couldn't stop looking at each other.  thankfully, we'd both given up on stifling that pesky uncomfortable feeling in our throats last night and finally let it out; so this morning was calm and warm with love.  until we got to the airport, that is, but even that wasn't so bad.  i parked the car and got out with him, and we must have looked like a couple of high schoolers the way we were kissing and looking longingly into each others eyes. the whole goodbye scene was kind of silly, which was nice and it helped the tears go away.  but hey, the longest we've been apart since we've been married is a whopping two nights, and today we embarked on our 5 weeks of long distance marriage- so i don't feel too bad about being cheesy or a little teary or anything else for that matter.

i know it's easy to say right now, since i was just in ross' arms a few hours ago, but i feel really good about this season.  ross prayed over us last night and again this morning, and theres a peace in my heart about how sweet this time apart will be.  the way ross and i enjoyed every little minute this past weekend proved that sometimes we need a deadline to stop taking our time together for granted.  and speaking of this past weekend, i have to take a few minutes to gush & brag about how cool my husband is. 

we got back on sunday from what seriously felt like a second honeymoon.  ross planned every detail & kept everything as a surprise, and he completely swept me off my feet.

late friday afternoon we arrived in dallas and pulled up to an incredibly beautiful hotel, the adolfus. i fell in love with the gorgeous french style and had ross cracking up as i freaked out about all the beautiful furniture, mirrors, fabrics, etc. straight up swoon. 

we quickly headed out to catch our dinner reservations at a resturant ross picked out for the evening, nonna. mouth wateringly-delicious. incredible service, atmosphere and especially food. the lobster ravioli is to die for. 

 

afterwards we headed to the big event of the weekend/year: WICKED! i'm afraid even my most eleoquent descriptions would fall flat & i would fail miserably at describing what was by far one of (if not the) most entertaining, talent-packed, captivating performances i've ever had the pleasure of seeing. my super high expectations were puny in comparison to the reality. we had a blast.

that night we also had the pleasure of celebrating one of ross' best friends' engagement with a whole house filled with baylor people. can a day get any better?

yes it can. when we got back to the hotel, there was a bottle of champaign waiting for us. i was practically get whiplash from all of the surprises my husband had up his sleeve.  seriously, my husband is the man. 

we snoozed & snuggled our way through our breakfast plans, but managed to get up & going in time to meet one my best friends for lunch before the next surprise: rent bikes & ride all around round rock lake. the weather could not have been nicer and i was very grateful to be burning off some of the calories from friday nights praline nougatine semifreddo with pistachios and acacia honey (basically a fluffy little white slice of heaven).  we took lots of breaks to admire the views, and enjoyed riding by all the pretty houses an dreaming of one day (many, many years from now) owning a house of our own. 

that evening we enjoyed a couple of drinks at the adolfus so we could walk around and admire it some more before our next surprise: dinner & dancing at sambuca. loved it. we definitely want to go back. for us, sambuca has it all: swanky atmosphere, great food, live music, and a dance floor.  of course ross told the band we were celebrating our anniversary while i was in the bathroom.  so they called us out later in the evening to dance to the song ross and requested: brown eyed girl. 

and THEN, as if my heart wasn't already exploding with love and gratitude and shock, ross says to me,

"i know we said that the wicked tickets were are gift and we weren't going to do anything else, but..."

and pulls out from his pocket the infamous pretty little teal box with white ribbon and i couldn't keep from tearing up at the words that came with it, as he talked about this past year, our future, and especially the next 5 weeks. 

it was nice coming back to college station yesterday and enjoying a usual sunday.  unpacking, laundry, a game of tennis, a long walk and snow cones.  spanish salad and garlic bread for dinner and then a movie.  

ross said he wanted to make our anniversary weekend extra-special since we wont be together on the 4th, and he absolutely did.  i am incredibly blessed to have him as a husband and best friend, and i'm also starting to feel pretty spoiled. the reason i wanted to write down all those little details is because i know in the next 5 weeks i'll be drawing from the fullness of our weekend and reliving it all.

i feel like shouting out elf-style "i'm in love, i'm in love and i don't care who knows it!"  can't freakin wait to drive back to the tiny college station airport in 5 weeks and pick him up.  thankfully, i have that long to try and plan a few surprises of my own. that ross franklin leaves a tough act to follow...

guess what

a certain handsome husband of mine just started a blog.  

he's the coolest. 

august 2

24 years ago, when one particular couple found out they were expecting, they did as many other soon-to-be parents do and picked out baby names.  if they were to be blessed with a girl, she would be named penny paige pinson. 

God took mercy by rescuing the baby from the inevitably unfortunate fate of a child with such a tragic name, and the couple was blessed instead with a boy: ross franklin.  

and now he's my husband. he's the best.

happy birthday, ross! i love you more everyday!

to: my future husband

{via east side bride}

dear ross,
it's cool getting presents for our future home.
love you,
katie

3 a.m. + marley & me

it's three in the morning and i just finished watching marley & me.
i also just finished crying.
for the first time in a while, i'm wasn't crying for fear of graduation or the real world...
but because i get to build my own love story
{with puppies, dancing, laughing, crying, fighting,
houses, jobs, babies, living}
with the most wonderful man i know.
i love you, ross.

Jesus, antiques & wine

ross & i escaped on a pre-marital counseling retreat just outside of the freakishly adorable town of saledo, texas. the class we've been in for seven weeks concluded with a retreat of more than thirty couples. we felt so beyond blessed to be around so many people in our same phase in life and wise, godly counsel.

i have a secret for anyone who reads this and is not engaged: although proposals, wedding plans, and dreaming of your life with the man of your dreams are all incredibly exciting and fun- the truth is: being engaged is hard.

just like everything that God created to be good, Satan creeps in and tries to corrupt it. besides attacks from the enemy, it is naturally scary to be on the brink of the biggest decision of your life. two are preparing to become one, yet are still not one yet. it's a weird time. but this weekend i feel like i came out of the desert and jumped straight into the coolest & clearest of streams. i am at peace & my cup overflows.

during our free time on saturday afternoon, ross & i ventured into a cool antique shop to find a treasure for our future home. while i was paying for a rockin' milk glass fruit bowl, i noticed the lady checking me out had a dutch accent. when i told her i studied abroad in maastricht, she got goosebumps: that's where she was from. small world.

we told her we were in town for an engaged couples retreat and that we would be moving to college station. i made a comment like, "well, it's not nearly as beautiful as holland..." but she abruptly stopped me and said,

"no, you make every place beautiful.
you have to make your home beautiful."

it's funny the people you meet and the way God speaks through them & says exactly what you need to hear. she also told us about a wine tasting festival, which we of course thoroughly enjoyed.
it was a good weekend.

yellow roses are my favorite

{from here}

it's one of those quiet, gray monday mornings. the sun decided to leave with the weekend and a drizzle contemplates entering the scene.

i'm feeling pensive this morning, thanks to the weather i'm sure. God's grace amazed me this past week in a new way. although i've been pushing my dear fiance away with the panic i'm feeling from all the changes swallowing my life, he stands steadfast in his love and committment. i love him for that, but moreso i love Christ who gave ross the strength to continue to stand by me. he even gave me yellow roses.

the sermon at church yesterday was about what exactly the church is. simply, the church is people. of course there will be corruption and discord within a church, it is made up of sinful people. while Christ waits for us with open arms and a perfect heart full of love, we push him away and run the opposite direction. this week i saw a glimpse of how a husband is called to love his wife- as christ loves the church. while i cause pain through my sin, ross continues to fight for me anyway, and forgive me before i even ask.

love is giving someone flowers when they least deserve it, and holding on to someone who tries to run away.

true love

I will not take my love away
When praises cease and seasons change
While the world turns the other way
I will not take my love away

I will not leave you all alone
When striving leads you far from home
And there's no yield for what you've sown
I will not leave you all alone

I will give you what you need
In plenty or in poverty
Forever, always, look to me
And I will give you what you need

I will not take my love away
-matt wertz

the bachelor is dead.

ahhhhh.

clearly we have an interest in love, and we are looking for it in all the wrong places. thankfully, everyone tuning in last night was fully disgusted with an exaggeration of the shows norms: empty promises and a selfish desire for who makes you happy at that moment. once the excitement produced by the show dies, so does the feelings the 'happy couple' once mistook to be love.

where is the love?

it's with this pretty lady. no wait, never mind, i think it was with that one. waaaiiitt a second, let me go back again.

maybe as a society we are finally realizing the problems with this behavior. at least jason was good for something.

story telling

"Tell your marital story. Tell it to your kids, your friends, your brothers and sister, but especially to each other. The more your story is implanted in your brain, the more it serves as a hedge against the myriad forces that seek to destroy your marriage. Make your story so familiar that it becomes part of the fabric of your being. It should become a legend that is shared through the generations as you grow a family tree that defies all odds and boasts marriage after marriage of stability, strength, and longevity." -Jerry Jenkins

{from here}

i love this challenge to embrace, built, and stay loyal to our story. in our premarital counseling class this weekend, we talked about how even before sin entered the world and Adam and God had perfect community with each other, Adam still needed a partner. obviously, since marriage is the most sacred of gifts God gives to man, Satan will try to attack and destroy it. he's doing a great job in america through our distorted media and self-gratifying culture, but the fight is not over and it's gaining more attention. every marriage is a ministry.

husband of the future

{from here}

this will be my future husband in 60 years,

dancing his heart out.

valentines pt. 2 & 3

definitely the best valentines day weekend of all time.
we kicked it off with our "let's wine about valentines day" party. obviously, i don't believe there is anything to whine about- but i'm all for wine parties and puns.
{side note: hosting a party is one of the most humbling activities... the first hour or so my roommates and i looked around and thought to ourselves, 'i thought people liked us...we just need one friend to come over...' turns out we do have friends, thank the Lord. they just all happen to like to be fashionably late}
i'm also pretty proud of our decorations:



ross went above & beyond as usual. he spent all evening on an incredible dinner. he didn't even let me help. our one and only 'engaged valentines day' could not have been more special.



one of the best parts of this weekend (which is saying a lot) was our premarital counseling class. we discussed roles & responsibilities of the husband & wife in a marriage. i don't know what life is like without the Bible as a guide and Christ as a role model. obviously, i fail all.the.time at trying to die to self and live like Christ calls us to, but that is the most exciting and daunting parts of marriage: you have to die to self in order to fully love and live!

"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself."

Ephesians 5:21-28

valentines pt. 1

{from here}

valentines came early this year, as it always should! our tribe celebrated with affirming & silly valentine cards {i printed off ones like above} some were made with construction paper, others came with butterfly tattoos, and they were all awesome.

we talked about the amazing healing, strengthening, and teaching powers of
community, communion, meditation (Christian fused with Eastern),
and free association writing. in fact, our homework for the week is to meditate on a verse, and also write as much as we can about it- stream of consciousness style.

i'm thinking it might be a good time of year to write about the word love for a minute,
and see where your thoughts and pen take you. it might make for a nice valentine's card, too :)

also, miller and i made this rockin' pink cake. needless to say, we are pretty proud of our first multi-layered cake!

breath of fresh air

ross and i were talking the other day about how crazy the whole wedding planning process is.
countless hours are spent searching, thinking, planning, budgeting, changing the plan, etc...
...all for one day.

what would it be like for us to spend HALF that amount of time praying for our marriage, our future, and for God to refine our hearts. how did we get to spent so much on one day?

thankfully, wedding planning really hasn't been stressful- it's been fun. we got a lot done this weekend, but the best part was that we started our premarital counseling class! it was like a breath of fresh air. a cute married couple in their early thirties teaches the class, and two other couples are in there with us. this is by far the most exciting part of the engagement period.

one of the first verses we read in the introduction to the course is:
"By wisdom a house is built and through understanding it is established, through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures." proverbs 24:3-4

this class is already water to my soul.

reading for class

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments; love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no, it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his highth be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's c0mpass come;
Lover alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, not no man ever loved.

Sonnet 116, William Shakespeare

thank you, the beatles

{from here}

truer words have never been spoken.

it's good to think about what we love here on earth.
we get to feel a brief ray of God's warm love
when we enjoy the people, places, and passions
he's generously given to us.

today is a dreary friday, but its friday and i love it.
i had coffee at common grounds with susan this morning,
and i love susan
(and coffee, for that matter).
i love the flower on my bedside table,
the fact that every friday feels like christmas eve
while i wait for ross to get here.
i love the challenges that school provides,
and the beautiful campus we get to walk on.
i love riding bikes, making cupcakes, my roommates, our house,
the gentlemen of kappa sig, my tribe, my last semester...
friends, family, so much more!

i love love!

what do you love today?

a photo journal

a journey to aggie-land & san an

making decisions together, {because of this little sparkly}

traveled back, ross was silly.

matched wine with chocolate.

num nummy.


we played a really fun game, which required lots of thought...


...and ended with crazy drawings and funny phrases.

Jesus for president.

t-minus 6 months!

ross franklin booked our honeymoon yesterday.
non-refundable, of course.
no turning back now, this is happening :)

we're engaged!

{Our Story}

It's hard to find words when you are overflowing with joy.

I haven't blogged for some time now, but I can attribute my lack of contributions to my continued state of speechlessness. I feel like my heart is making my throat too full, but that doesn't sound pretty.

The week before my birthday, Ross asked that he and I spend all day Saturday together to celebrate my birthday, and I gladly agreed. We planned to start out the day by making breakfast, then visit the Cameron Park Zoo for the first time, then check out a local winery, eat dinner at 135 Prime, and finish the evening with a walk around campus and maybe enjoy some of our newly purchased wine and my house.

The weather was gorgeous and we accomplished all of the fun things we wanted to do. After dinner we strolled around campus only to find the Christmas tree was not lit, and a homeless man tried to sell us his bike (bless his heart, Ross was so anxious he eagerly gave the man some money and told him to keep his bike too). We eventually came upon my favorite building on campus, the Harrington House. It is a beautiful historic home, and I was able to spend some time in it this summer when I worked for one of Baylor's facility managers.

I noticed a light was on, and Ross and I peered through the windows. While I looked through one, Ross pulled out a key, unbeknownst to me, and opened the door and whispered, "it's open." i followed him in and suggested that we probably shouldn't be in there. He continued to wander through the house, and I suspiciously followed him.

As soon as we came upon my favorite room with a beautiful stained glass window, I stopped in the doorway. Candles and flower petals were scattered across the room, and Ross started to play music from his ipod speakers some of favorite songs. I knew what he was doing but I couldn't believe it.

We danced in the candlelit room with pounding hearts, tear soaked faces and the sweetest words. Most of what Ross said is a hazy memory, but I vividly remember the sight of him getting down on one knee and asking me to marry him. I dropped to the floor and said yes, and started laughing with joy and excitement. Before we left the room we prayed together, and I don't think I have a sweeter memory.

To my surprise, right as we walked out of the house a white stretch limousine pulled up and whisked us away. We sipped on champaigne, laughed and repeatedly exclaimed, 'i get to marry you!" We pulled up to my house to find a surprise party with our families and dear friends from both Waco and out of town. I was completely shocked, overwhelmed, grateful, and full of love. Thank you so much friends!

Thankfully, after celebrating with everyone, Ross and I were able to escape for one last ride around Waco in the limo, which included a trip over the suspension bridge.

Anyway, I can't believe I get to marry such an incredible man, and I am so excited for us to start our life together. I just had to get that all out there and now I can continue with blogging as usual. Can't wait to explore all of the wedding blogs : )

I should note that I am currently in the middle of finals, and I have never studied less before...I've been a little distracted.

true love

ross asked me to marry him
& i said yes!