Oh the Joys of Raising Boys... and a Girl: F is for....

is for my FUNNY VALENTINE!

Valentine's Day is here once again. I think it is kind of a funny day. It is like the ultimate cheesy day and we all love it. I think even deep down guys even like it. I don't necessarily think we need a specific day to express our love to that special someone in our life, I think it should be done all the time anyway, but it is nice to have a day that reminds you of this very thing. Brad and I have celebrated 6 Valentine's days together and honestly I only remember 3 of them. The very first Valentine's Day we had and the first Valentine's as a married couple. Brad is very good at making things special and making me feel adored by him. Our first Valentine's day together he had this whole line of things that led up to me getting a beautiful silver bracelet with a little charm that had an L on one side and a B on the other... It stood for Lauren and Brad, little did we know at that time that it would also stand for Lauren Buczkowski. Our first Valentine's Day married Brad got me this Hershey kiss little jewelry box thing that played music (it was really cheesy) which Brad tries to incorporate into expressing his love to me. He also wrote out an entire box of children's valentine cards and had them scattered about. Last year Brad cooked for me and made me a wonderful dinner (something I had been asking him to do since we were dating). He did a great job but had an oven pizza just in case. There are always tulips involved since it is tulip season and my favorite flower. Anyway.. this year we are going to celebrate on Saturday... Brad has reservations somewhere and that is all I know.

Well Valentines Day is not just about us telling each other about our love, but it is also remembering or being reminded how much our heavenly father loves us. If we are reminded on this day just how much we love our special someone, it is hard to fathom just how much our Father in Heaven adores us.

I thought since many of you who read my blog don't know how the Buczkowski's met etc.. I thought I would share "our story."

Our story began on May 19th 2002. Several friends had gathered at Zaxby's on Lauren's Road, after church one evening. Oliver Lollis, a mutual friend introduced Brad and I to one another. In our first introduction, we both realized that we had been hired for the same summer job. In a few days, we would be heading for Memphis, Tennessee as summer interns at Second Presbyterian Church. My first thought, after meeting Brad was that he would be a very interesting guy to work with. (I was not instantly attracted, however Brad went back to his apartment to share with his roommate Matt about the pretty girl he was going to spend the summer with). Our second encounter was a few days after meeting at Zaxby's, when a group of interns from greenville, were meeting at Atlanta Brad Company to caravan to Memphis together. I was the first to arrive and Brad was the second. When I saw Brad's car pull into the parking lot, my stomach went into complete butterflies and I had no clue why. I was so excited to see him. On the drive to Memphis, I would constantly find reasons to call Brad and I found myself wondering why I was acting like this. Once we arrived in Memphis both Brad and I continually sought out one another, spending many hours talking and getting to know each other. After that first week in Memphis, I knew I had met the man I would one day marry.

Brad and I dated almost 3 full years, knowing the entire time that we wanted to get married. In March 2005 Brad and I, along with my family traveled to New Zealand to visit my brother, Brent who was participating in a study abroad program. Five days into our trip, we had a free day from tours, so Brad and I decided to spend the day, just the two of us in the city of Queenstown. We took an early morning walk around the Queenstown Lake, followed by breakfast at a little cafe' along the waterfront. We then decided to hike the Queenstown Hill hike, What we thought was going to be a simple hike, turned into a very strenuous uphill climb. Once we reached the top it was well worth all the effort to get there. The view was breathtaking. It was on this hill that Brad began to read 1 Corinthians 13 to me, applying the verses to our relationship now and in the future as husband and wife. He then asked me to read a verse in Genesis that had been very meaningful to him recently. So i began to read "The Lord God said "it is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him...." As I was reading I kept wondering why he had me read this verse. As I turned to my side, Brad was down on one knee with the ring in his hand. He said "Lauren, God said man is not supposed to be alone, so will you be my wife? Will you marry me?" I began to cry and the only thing I was able to say was "Are you serious? Is this for real?" I was so caught up in the surprise of the engagement that according to Brad it took forever for me to finally say YES!

We were married on October 22, 2005 and we have never been more in love than we are now!

A Picture Walk down Memory Lane...

Pictures when we were dating...