I really need to post a REAL entry - update from the wedding 6 months ago and all that. Unfortunately this is not that entry, BUT I wanted to make sure some of you were properly updated on a very important developement. If you have me friended on facebook you already know this, but...



That's right! Caleb and I are expecting our first child in October (Oct 4th is the due date). We don't know if its a boy or girl yet, but we should know within the next couple weeks. Here is a photo of me and my baby bump at 18 weeks. :-)

18 weeks

Tags: baby

As of today it is only 33 days until my wedding day. :-)

Both Caleb and I are so excitedhappyanxious to be married at this point. It IS beginning to feel more real. Today I confirmed everything with the caterer and placed orders with Men's Wearhouse. There are a few other things that need to be done before the week of the wedding, such as meeting with the organist, getting my dress altered and cleaned, placing an order for the flowers, making sure my aunt has everything she needs to put together the personal shower, etc. I think after I get a few particular issues ironed out I'll be able to breathe a little easier, but for the most part things are good, because I am going to GET MARRIED!

Oh yeah, one other thing that has to be done this week - I have to pack. I've been packing up a box here and there when I have the time, but it will have to get more serious before Caleb comes down here to move all my things next week. Hopefully he will be able to borrow a truck from someone because we are hoping to avoid the $500 rental. :-P

Its weird to watch my things disappear...a little sad and exciting at the same time. All very emotional. Things are very emotional right now for my family I hate to think of what I'm leaving behind, yet I am so very happy to go...I need to go. I feel that I've been ready for this for a long time, but especially now. Even though my family will miss me, I think they are ready for it too. It's time to move on to the life they raised me to lead...and the life God is calling me to lead.

Tags: caleb, moving, wedding

Fwd from my dad:

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Isaac Phineas Moss

Son of John & Sarah (Swetnam) Moss
Grandson of Randall & Lori Swetnam
Great Grandson of Peggy Swetnam Bruening
Great Grandson of Jim & Lorene Royer

Was born

Sept, 1, 2007 @ 12:09 a.m.

8 lbs, 4 oz
21 inches
Dark Hair

Sarah is doing fine and catching up on her sleep.

Grandma Lori says he’s a handsome baby
Grandpa Randy says, “It’s official; I’m an old geezer.”


My mom holding Isaac, her first grandchild.

(You can view more photos here!)

This past Saturday, Caleb took me out to eat at 20/21 - a beautiful, delicious, fancy, extremely expensive restaurant at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Before arriving there he had told me we were merely going to view the museum a bit and then go to the Cheesecake Factory, but sprung this on me instead! Not only that, but throughout the meal he swayed between staring at me with this totally in love look in his eye that completely melts my heart - and texting someone on his cell phone. LOL

I did wonder if something was up, but really wasn't sure what it was.

After the meal, Caleb excused himself to go to the bathroom, but when he returned he began fumbling around in his pocket. He gave me this very loving, serious look and said "There is just one thing I need to do before we leave..."

(pause)

(thinking: "I wonder if he's going to do it...no, he's not, is he?!")

He whipped out his cell phone with a mischievous look on his face.
"It looks like Josh can meet us at the Cheesecake factory afterward, I just need to text him and let him know we're leaving."

LOL. The stinker! He was trying to keep me guessing - and he was doing a good job at it.

As we left the restaurant, he didn't turn into the parking garage - he wanted to show me around the sculpture garden, despite the freezing cold. So I walked alongside him, shivering so much that I did not notice the figure walking ahead of us, nor did I pay much attention to the candles in the distance.

We passed by the greenhouses, walked a path lined with tall hedges, and then continued to follow the path into the garden. As we turned a corner, we were greeted by a circle of glowing candles, with a dozen red roses in the middle. Caleb led me right to the center of the circle - but I still didn’t fully realize what was going on until he asked - "I wonder who left these roses here?"

THEN it hit me. I looked into his smiling eyes and just started to cry. He then got down on one knee and said "Elizabeth, I love you. Will you marry me?"

The "Yes!" was uttered before I even saw the beautiful sparkly ring he took from the little box. He placed it on my finger - and then I got down on MY knees to give him a big hug!

He didn't let me stay on my knees long. :) He pulled me to my feet and said "Well you know, I didn't do this all on my own" - (then calling to the shadows) - "you guys come on out now!"

His brother Josh and friend Luke had been lurking in the bushes taking pictures. LOL Josh helped Caleb think up the plan, and from the moment we walked out of the museum, Luke had been walking in front of us to show Caleb where to go. They really did a great job surprising me - and it was such a beautiful surprise. As I told Caleb through my tears - its what I have wanted for such a long time. He is the fulfillment of all the dreams and longings I've had ever since I was a little kid...He's the best friend I've always needed and wanted. The love of my life. I am so humbled and yet proud to wear this ring. To be HIS girl. To be his FIANCE'!

*happiness!!*

:-D

-The Future Mrs Caleb Dahl

P.S. The wedding is scheduled for December 1st, '07.

It was September 6, 2006. I was busy with my schoolwork and guys/love/marriage was the farthest thing from my mind. In fact, I had recently come to the conclusion that such things would probably not be a part of my life for a long while, so I was intent on getting back into my college classes and being a more active support here at home. I was in no way looking for something to happen. But then it did.

The phone rang.

It was Melody!

And she immediately began with a rather shocking proposition.

"Remember that midwife friend I have told you about? Well she is looking for a wife for her son! He asked his parents to look, because he hasn't been able to find any nice girls himself. We were thinking maybe such and such person would work with Caleb. What do you think about such and such person? We thought we'd ask you about her because you know her better than we do. Would you mind talking to Maureen? Here, I'll three-way you in!"

Next thing I knew I was in a three way phone call with Melody and Maureen. It was quite hilarious and from the beginning! Within minutes it was concluded that such and such person and Caleb wouldn't work at all, but as we talked I found that my family had QUITE a lot in common with the Dahl family. And Caleb didn't sound so bad either! Maureen noticed this commonality as well. The next thing she asked was "So Lizzy, do YOU want to get married??"

(Thinking: LOLOLOL!!!! I can't believe this!!!)
Replied: "Um...yeah."
"Well would you be willing to email my son?"
(Thinking: Wow. This is nuts!)
Replied: "Well...yes. I suppose so. If nothing else ya'll seem like a cool family and I'd like to get to know you all better."
(But thinking: Yeah right, it'll never work out. However, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to make new friends...)

After that amazing phone call, Maureen sent me some photos of Caleb, to see what I'd think. I didn't find him repulsive looking, so that was good. ;-) But I wasn't about to email him first. I really wasn't sure what I'd do about all of this!!

A few hours later I got another call from Melody.

"Lizzy, I have Caleb on IM!! Would you like to talk to him in a group chat??"
"What??! You are kidding!! Melody, what are you getting me into??! You are crazy! He probably won't like me anyway....but sure, I guess so. Might as well. It's not like I have anything better to do. Ha!"

So I got online. Melody told me a couple of his reservations about the whole thing, before we started chatting. This actually made me feel a whole lot better because I saw that we were both thinking along the same lines. Because of past hurts we were both rather cynical and skeptical about the whole thing. And it WAS rather awkward chatting, at first! But he seemed interesting enough, and from what I could tell we certainly did have a lot in common regarding beliefs, vision and the like. So that was cool. I was skeptical, but decided I would not be opposed to knowing him better. :)

Towards the end of the chat he was told that he should email me first, because it was the gentlemanly thing to do. So he wrote me an email that read simply

"HI.

chivalry is NOT dead

-Caleb"

Ha! My response was a rather formal email telling him more about myself. Later he told me that my email was so grammatically perfect that he just about fell off his chair! (The truth is that I was nervous I was stewing over every word I said - so no wonder it was perfect!)

...And so began the interest. ;)

As the weeks went by, this interest began to turn into a friendship. Especially after my dad gave us permission to start talking on the phone - with the understanding that we should meet as soon as possible, that we might properly assess the situation.

We met for the first time October 20th. It was really weird and akward at first! It was hard to believe that the person standing next to me was actually the guy I had been growing to like over the phone and through email. It was just hard to put the two together! But we went on a "date" Saturday, to the museum, to my sister's house, bowling and then a movie, and though the weird tension and awkwardness had not disappeared, I was starting to decide that I liked him in person as well. ;-) After the movie we drove to dinner and talked about how odd everything was. Why couldn't we just act normal??! Then we both started freaking out a little. Caleb said he wanted to tell me something but he wasn't sure how I would react...and then I was REALLY scared, but I wanted him to tell what he was thinking! He said that I'd better show him where to drive, because he was about to drive off the road. LOL!

We arrived at Applebees and parked. Then we talked a good while. He said he was trying to decide if he should go forward with our relationship, that he was totally freaked out about it...but that he'd be an idiot not to. I said it felt as if we were about to jump off a cliff...but if he jumped, I'd jump. And in the course of our conversation, we somehow let eachother know that we both liked the other. :) Then everything felt so much better! No more awkwardness! We were able to relax, eat dinner, drink a beer, and just be happy about it all. We had a very good night.

It was a few days before I left for Melody's wedding, that Caleb and I became "official." And we had a fabulous time in TX together. I met his mom for the first time...it was great. The more I get to know him, the more I like him, and the more I find commonality and kindredness - and COOLNESS! And I know this is JUST the beginning!

Yes, I like my man a lot. ;-) God is doing an amazing work in both of our lives, and I am so thankful!

sirshannon just posted more photos from Jake and Rita's wedding. Go here to see!

Tags: friends, wedding

Here are some public pics of the wedding, specifically for those outside my friends list.
(This might take a while to load)

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Tags: friends, photos, wedding

Yeah right.

Here you have it in their own words - feminists not only hate men, they hate the traditional (biblical) family:

"How will the family unit be destroyed? ...[T]he demand alone will throw the whole ideology of the family into question, so that women can begin establishing a community of work with each other and we can fight collectively. Women will feel freer to leave their husbands and become economically independent, either through a job or welfare."
In "Female Liberation" - Roxanne Dunbarr

"We can't destroy the inequities between men and women until we destroy marriage."
From Sisterhood Is Powerful, (ed), 1970, p. 537 - Robin Morgan

"The nuclear family must be destroyed, and people must find better ways of living together.... Whatever its ultimate meaning, the breakup of families now is an objectively revolutionary process.... No woman should have to deny herself any opportunities because of her special responsibilities to her children...."
"Functions of the Family," WOMEN: A Journal of Liberation, Fall, 1969 - Linda Gordon

"We are, as a sex, infinitely superior to men..."
One Woman, One Vote, Wheeler, p. 58 - Elizabeth Stanton

"All sex, even consensual sex between a married couple, is an act of violence perpetrated against a woman."
- Catherine MacKinnon

"All men are rapists and that's all they are."
Author; (later, advisor to Al Gore's Presidential Campaign.) - Marilyn French

"Men who are unjustly accused of rape can sometimes gain from the experience."
Vassar College. Assistant Dean of Students - Catherine Comin

"I want to see a man beaten to a bloody pulp with a high-heel shoved in his mouth, like an apple in the mouth of a pig." Ice And Fire - Andrea Dworkin

( The Hate Continues... )

I have many more quotes, but some are so offensive I don't want them on my journal. If a group of men talked about women like this you can be sure that they'd be charged with some sort of crime. These are the women of feminism - bitter, calloused, foul mouthed, communist/socialist, hateful and power hungry. Great role models for the young women of today, don't you think?

But of course, it's all men's fault.

Tags: family, feminism

I love the imagery Doug Wilson uses here:

Marriage is a dance. It is a ball, and in this dance the gentleman bows and the lady curtsies. In doing this, they both submit to the other. They submit differently, but they both submit. This is not a matter of tyranny, but rather is one of the demands of the dance. Those who want to make everything the same want what can only be described as a romantic and erotic ruination. If they both bow, then they would strike their heads. If they both curtsey, that would be creepy. He bows, serving her. She curtsies, serving him. God takes it all, glorifies it, and returns it to them, thirty, sixty, and one hundred-fold.

Tags: doug wilson, marriage