Recent Comings and Goings

As you can see, we have been terrible about updating our blog. We have had an incredibly busy spring. I have been hired to teach at Fenger High School in Chicago, and I am moving up to the windy city on July 1st. Patrick helped me find an apartment, I’ve only seen pictures. A guy that I work with told me that I should cry when I walk into the apartment, even if I love it, just so Patrick will feel like he needs to help ease my disappointment. However, I’m sure that I will love it, and there will be no need for tears.

I was lucky enough to have Deacon Bill from St. Joseph’s move all of my furniture and more up to Chicago this week. This was a tremendous help! Now, when I leave all I have to do is load up my dog Grace and hit the road.

The other news in our lives is that with all of the job searching, apartment hunting, and moving preparation, we’ve decided that it makes more sense to postpone the wedding. We will keep everyone updated and let y’all know once we’ve picked a new date.

The most recent big news in my life is that I’m a new aunt! My sister Ryan and her husband Jase had a little boy on June 10 - Tripp Wilkerson. Since I’m a proud aunt, I’m going to include a picture of him.

Here are Adrienne, Lauren, and I in awe of Tripp's handsomeness.

One More Thing

I was going to add this to the end of my post, but I thought it actually deserved an entire post of its own. I am SO happy that Patrick is coming to Shreveport this weekend - I cannot wait to see him. Long distance relationships are hard sometimes. I am also very excited to get to meet his parents. I'm trying to negotiate some nice warm weather and Southern hospitality for them, just kidding we always have both of those.

yada, yada, yada

I recently ran my second marathon. I am by no means speedy. A couple of my students asked me if I won and in what place I finished. I told them the person who won the Austin marathon beat me by 2 1/2 hours, but that out of the 4,000 people that finished the marathon, I came in in front of 1,000 of them. I know for all the astute people reading this that y'all, of course, realize this means that 3,000 people beat me. You caught me. I was manipulating the story so it didn't sound quite so bad. I think we do this a lot. Maybe we don't do it out loud, but we whisper these ideas to ourselves. We judge what's going on in our lives based on what we believe others around us would do or say or have done themselves. The reality is that my friend Emily and I trained for months and finished the Austin marathon. It was an incredibly hilly course, which was fine until the last 3 - 4 miles. Despite the hills, we both completed in our pb (personal best). Running a marathon all 26.2 miles of it gives you a serious feeling of accomplishment. It allows you to really see what you're made of and push yourself farther than you think you can go. When we compare ourselves to others, it can seriously diminish the real accomplishments we are making in our own lives at the pace that God is setting for us.

When I think about training for and running a marathon, I think there are a lot of comparisons that can be made to marriage. Patrick and I have been talking about a variety topics that engaged people discuss, and we have been through lots of experiences in our own lives, both separate and together, that have helped prepare us for this next step. But, I know that training only gets you so far. Marriage will test both of us to see how far we can go. It will cause us to live out our love in a real sacrificial way that will not always be as easy as it is now. However, I know that we are prepared to do this together, and I know that Patrick is the only person with whom I can even imagine taking this next step.


As I've been thinking about running and marriage, I've also been reflecting on the beginning of Lent this year and really wanting to pick a sacrifice(s) that seem(s) worthy. My friend Saba and her husband Ben are teaching in Rwanda this year, and they have both picked out thoughtful and inspiring sacrifices. I know that my time to make a decision is quickly running out, but I know one thing that I will give up this lent is comparing myself to others. It will let me say without any fear of judgment that I am proud that I finished the Austin marathon in 5 hours.

Also...I'm including a few pics from the marathon. I'm pretty sure that Patrick prefers posts with pictures, and I really do, too.

Adrienne and Allison, two of my sisters, came to Austin to cheer for Emily and me. It was great getting to hang out with them and relive a little bit of the college life. Here's one of my favorite stories from the weekend: We were walking around downtown Austin hoping to find a place to eat but not having any luck because it was Valentine's Day, finally our hunger (it might have been mostly mine) caused us to give up our search and return to eat at the hotel. On our walk back to the hotel we passed a few people who looked a little scary. One woman yelled at us. As we were approaching our hotel, Adrienne lifts the sleeve of her fleece and says, "Do you want to know a secret?" She then shows us her pepper spray, cocked and ready, just in case we got into any trouble. As a side note, we did make it back safely with no need for the pepper spray.


This is a picture that Adri and Alli took of us after the race. We were laughing because they wanted us to pretend like we were running - don't worry this is not actually what we look like when we're running. I think this might have also been when Allison told me that she was soooo tired from walking all over Austin, and she just needed to sit down and rest for a little bit.

New Wedding Date!

August 22, 2009 - We just cannot wait! See you there.

Also, CONGRATULATIONS to Jordan today for running the Austin Marathon.

Great Job Baby!

Happy Valentine's Day!

One day, two or three months ago, I was looking on Craigslist for a free bookshelf. I came across a posting offering free art. I was happy to find out that not only was a local Chicago artist giving away nice art, but that it was in the context of an art hunt. He provides clues to where the paintings are hidden in Chicago, and then, finders keepers. In December, my roommate Jeff and I went out on our first art hunt experience. It was -7 degrees out. We came home empty handed and cold. But it was fun.



Fast Forward. Today was another art hunt. A Valentine's Day art hunt. 14 pieces of art hidden all over the city of Chicago. My roommate Brian and I went to lunch and then were driving around downtown, on our way to Grant Park to find some art. Just as we were driving by the BEAN in Millenium park I got a clue that there was a painting there. I was the first one to get it. So - today Jordan is in Austin getting ready for tomorrow's marathon and I am in Chicago - and I really hope this is our last Valentine's Day ever apart. Ever. Even though we could not be together, this was a pretty great and romantic Valentine's Day and I cannot wait to give my art hunt treasure to my lover Jordan. I also can't wait until Jordan is here and we can hunt some art together.

The art hunt really is an awesome, fun, and generous idea. I have a lot of respect for Patrick Skoff and Sam Brown, the artists, not only for their fantastic artwork, but also for taking the time and exercising some selfless creativity to pull off events like today's hunt. Thank you Patrick. You have an awesome name. Thank you Sam. Patrick would be an inappropriate name for you. Check out Patrick Skoff's website at: http://skoffpaintings.com - Buy some of his art.



One other thing I wanted to share with y'all. Two years ago this week, Jordan sent me a little love note. It was a "facebook gift." A little heart on an etch-a-sketch. Here is her note. I am a lucky lucky man.
"I spent 4 hours drawing this for you on my etch a sketch. The message is in code, so I'll have to explain it to you. The heart symbolizes my love for you. I bet you're having a real aha moment now!"

Jordan I love you so much. I cannot wait to see you. And marry you. Happy Valentine's Day Baby!

-Patrick

One of my favorite things in the world...

is telling people about my baby, Jordan.

-Patrick

Yall! It's Snowing in Chicago! So nice it is.

Jordan is in Dallas looking for a wedding dress. This makes me happy.

I am, oddly, watching a Big and Rich Summerfest concert on TV thinking about marrying a southern belle and how ladies should do the right thing and get married and save a horse...

It is snowing in Chicago today. I went to Starbuck's this morning and got a coffee. It was about 6 blocks away and it was snowing hard. It was great. Jordan didn't get to see a snowstorm like this when she was here. She will though. Sometime I am going to bundle Jordan up and take her to the lake during a serious snowstorm.

I can't wait for people to meet Jordan. Oh baby. I am a lucky man. Chicago will be a better, cooler, more beautiful city when my friend and fiance moves here. I know that Jordan will miss Shreveport and that Shreveport will miss Jordan. Jordan tells me about Airline High School and youth group and we talk about her friends and family. A lot. And I love it. I know that Jordan is leaving her home for me and it makes me love her even more. Right now, for us, the best thing is to spend some time in Chicago being married and having fun and building our relationship together in the coolest city in... Illinois...that is safe. I love Louisiana though - so we will be back to the south. Often.

Ok. I am just rambling. I am lucky and blessed. I know it. I am proud to be marrying a woman like Jordan and the people that know her know exactly what I am talking about. My friends and family will figure it out pretty quickly too I think. And since I am now embracing this blog as my (Jordan's) public forum: lets pray for an end to the fighting in Gaza and attacks against Israel - and a 2009 Cubs World Series Championship to welcome Jordan to Chicago.



I like blog posts with pictures. This is one of my favorites of Jordan. Two comments:

1. I get to marry the prettiest girl I know and have ever known and will ever know. I still cannot really figure out how this happened, but sometime somewhere I said the right thing I think. I am glad that I did.

2. Jordan! - Open your freaking eyes! You are driving a vehicle with children in it, most likely. And your eyes are closed. You are probably freaking sleeping! I mean, I am planning on having children with you and you drive with your eyes closed and asleep...are you serious?

I would like to give a special shout out to my little PB. Love it.

-Patrick

Love

So...inexplicably I'm awake at 12:45 at night. Since returning to Louisiana last Friday, Patrick and I have become big fans of video chatting. However, I have fallen asleep twice talking to him, for those of you who know me well...this is not a surprise. At all. Last night my family came in and found me asleep with my phone in hand and laptop open in front of me. Falling asleep early comes naturally and easily for me, which is why being awake this late on a school night (for those of you who don't know, I teach high school English) is pretty crazy. Maybe it's the time of night, maybe it's all the talk of wedding plans and moving, but I am full of thoughts tonight.

I am going to be moving away from Shreveport in a few months, which on one hand is awesome and I couldn't be happier; however, on the other hand even the thought of leaving behind so many friends and my family has already made me cry a little bit. I always thought that I would be a world traveler, but as it turns out, I have found my niche here in Shreveport. Here's the thing though, I am leaving Shreveport and moving to begin a new life with my best friend. Friedrich Nietzsche said, "It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages." This makes me happy because I know that Patrick and I have a solid and authentic friendship that will help us to enjoy life together even more but will also assist us in getting through tough times together.

Another topic on my mind is love...due to the whole marriage thing and the being in love thing...Here are some things that I love about Patrick, and I know that I could list many, but I will stick to just a few for today.

1: He is friendly to everyone. I know this might sound obvious, but that's not the case for every person you meet. Patrick smiles and says hi as we pass people on the street. He makes conversation with strangers, AND he genuinely cares about what they say. I am ecstatic that I get to marry a man that will set such a great example for our children of how to love those around them.

2: Patrick loves to cook and loves good food. This is incredibly important because I love eating good food. I also enjoy cooking, but I know that Patrick is going to have to give me some pointers. My friend Emily and I will go for long runs and after the first 30 minutes all I want to do is talk about what we'll eat when we're finished. My point in telling this story is that if Patrick hadn't recognized bad food, then we would have been in big trouble. Admittedly, I probably think about food a little too much, but I get to marry someone who also loves good food.


3: Patrick is good at recognizing the needs of those around him and doing what he can to help. Case in point: please notice the picture to the side. Here I was in Chicago, and I had been a little cold. Patrick bought wood to make me a fire in the fireplace. It was awesome, by the way. He will also give up his seat for women who are standing, which I think is so gentlemanly of him.

4. Patrick also falls asleep while video chatting. This probably sounds like a weird thing to love about him, but it's true. We have both fallen asleep video chatting. We both have busy days and wear ourselves out to the point of exhaustion. I do not yet have a picture of Patrick asleep with video chatting, but when I figure out my new webcam, I will take one and post it. The most important thing about his sleepiness is that it is just another thing we have in common.

I could go on and on, but I will save more reasons for later posts. It boils down to this...love will make us do crazy and wonderful things. Yes, I am sad about leaving all of my family, friends, and youth in Shreveport, but, on the other hand, I can't wait to marry Patrick and move to Chicago!

Covenant Handshake - Jordan and Patrick's love story

The last few days have been really great for the two of us. We have been catching up with family and friends, sharing the exciting news of our engagement. Jordan and I have been talking a lot about how many of Jordan's friends have never met me and how most of my friends and family have never met Jordan. We have shared a lot together during out friendship over the last 5 years. We also know that even some of the people closest to us in our lives do not know much about our relationship together and the love that has grown between us since we met over Christmas, 5 years ago. We want to share our story with you so that you can start to get to know us together a little bit now.

We met in Shreveport, LA in 2003 working on a project to provide people with new housing opportunities through a community building approach. Over the next year, Jordan lived in the Allendale neighborhood of Shreveport full time, and Patrick drove from South Bend to Louisiana every chance he had to help build houses for the neighborhood project. During this time we became fast friends. We spent a lot of time together and shared some very meaningful and formative experiences with one another.

Over the last three years we have kept in touch with each other sharing life with one another over the phone. When we would talk it would always be great to catch up and share our lives with each other - but it was also a little sad to hang up the phone knowing that we were two people living two different lives a thousand miles away from each other. We would talk about how we missed each other, how Patrick had fallen head over heels in love with Jordan, but that is where the conversation always would end.

And then...

One December day after realizing that she had been comparing every man she met and dated to Patrick, she knew that she had to let him know just how wonderful she thought he was and how she missed him. Emails were sent. Phone calls were made. A ticket from Shreveport to Chicago was booked for December 27, 2008. Patrick and Jordan were excited to see each other.

Then came one of the worst days of traveling for Jordan. Ever. With butterflies in her stomach about getting to see Patrick later in the day, Jordan finally fell asleep about 1am. At 2:30am she was awoken by a ringing phone. Missed call. She checked the voicemail to hear a barely decipherable message from NW that her flight had been cancelled and moved to 6pm the next day. Jordan did not accept this and, determined to see her man as soon as possible, she was up at the crack of dawn and on her way to the Shreveport Airport at 6:30am. When she arrived, the kind man at the ticket counter told her that her chances of making it to Chicago that day were not good, but she boarded her flight to Memphis with her fingers crossed that she would make it to Chicago that day to see her love who had been waiting for her for the last three years.

After arriving in Memphis, Jordan learned that she missed her connecting flight by 20 minutes and began the fun, that we all know, of trying to figure out how to fly into Chicago on a wintery day. At this point, it was only 9am. Jordan was told that the next flight to Chicago was at 6:45pm. Jordan immediately started getting ready for a long day of fun and excitement at the expansive (not) Memphis Airport. Around 5pm, after hours of napping, reading, and talking on the phone, Jordan looked up to find a familiar face, like an oasis in a desert of sub par giftshops and overpriced sandwiches. It was her longtime family friend, David Parker. David was scheduled to be on the same flight to Chicago as Jordan as he made his way back to Buffalo, NY, for his medical residency. Patrick was relieved that Jordan had someone to spend some time with at the airport.

Jordan and David continued to wonder if they would ever make it to Chicago as their flight was delayed again and again. Finally they were able to board for Chicago at 8pm, but not before they both realized the real possibilty that David might miss his connecting flight to Buffalo out of Ohare that night.

Around 10:30pm, Jordan's flight finally landed in the windy city. Sure enough there was no chance that David was going to make it to Buffalo that night. So the romantic reunion of Patrick and Jordan blossomed into a modern day episode of Three's Company. After a long, long day of travel, Jordan struggled to get her suitcase over the turnstyle at the train station, with impatient Chicagoans giving her advice from behind, it was then that she looked up and saw Patrick walking towards her. It was great for Patrick and Jordan to see each other (This might be a bit of an understatement). That first evening was full of conversation and catching up and a lot of romance between Patrick and Jordan........and David. The next day, after sharing some laughs about the situation of the night before, we began to really share our lives with each other in earnest. We went to an all Hungarian mass together (this was not planned, and just another example of the hilarious events), had breakfast, and shared our first kiss. We talked about life and love and lots of other things in between.

Over the course of the next week it quickly became apparent to both of us that the best thing, the only thing, the way that we were going to be happy in life and doing what we need to do for God, ourselves, our families, and all the rest, was to be doing it together from this point forward. We discussed all of the things that we felt are the most important things to consider when thinking about marriage - and after a few days together - we knew without a doubt that we wanted to get married and begin spending the rest of our lives together - our love story. Early in the morning of January 1, 2009 , Patrick asked Jordan to marry him. Without a ring in hand at this moment, our love was sealed with the most romantic and hilarious "covenant handshake." That day we went out, bought a ring together, and came home for a proper and formal proposal. Jordan said yes. Patrick smiled and hasn't stopped.

We know that a lot of our friends and family know very little about our story and that is just one of the reasons that we wanted to tell it here. We are very much in love, could not be happier, and cannot wait to begin to build our married life together here in Chicago. We love all of our family and friends very much, and we look forward to all of you getting to know us together as a couple. Also, because we are both romantics, and our love is more than just an "agape kind of love," we wanted to share the emails that led to Jordan's journey to Chicago and helped begin our adventure together.

Second Picture Together

Lucky Groom: "One more."

First Picture Together

Beautiful Bride: "ummmmm. we just got engaged and his family has never met me and i am flying home today...can you please take our picture?"

Nice Stranger: "That is the best story I have ever heard. Of Course."

First emails to each other

Because we are both romantics and our love is more than just an "agape kind of love," we wanted to share our recent initial emails to each other with all of you.

Jordan's initial email:

Hey Friend,

So I thought about not saying this because I don't want to seem stalker-like...that's always pretty scary. But I wanted to tell you that I know we are separated by a large number of states and don't talk very often because we are both busy people (and you are ten times cooler than me); however, I hope that you don't change. I met this guy last night who reminded me of you, and it really made me miss you. I suppose that might sound selfish, but the older I get the more I realize that it's hard to find people who are real and honest about who they are. I appreciate that you are one of those people. I just wanted to say that I am glad that you taught me to have high expectations of what to find in friends. Plus, you make me laugh and laugh til my sides hurt, so I have to find people who can do that, too. Thanks for being you.

Merry Christmas!
Jordan

Patrick's reply:

Hi Jordan - you can facebook stalk me anyday. Seriously though, thank you for the kind words. Some of the nicest things said about me in a while. Thank you. I miss you too. I know about the difficulties finding special people - I still have not met anyone that compares to my smart, caring, funny, awesome and beautiful friend from Shreveport, LA (this is you, :) ) OF all of the girls that I know and have known - you made a special mark on me. You taught me a lot about myself, what is important to me, and made me keenly aware of what I think some of my best traits are. You also showed me a lot about what is important to me in women and I know that whoever the lucky lady is for me in my life, she will have a lot in common with you. So - we should keep in better touch and I know I have a lot to do with this. Also, I can tell you that everytime I think about you I love you just as much as I ever did, and it makes me a little sad because of how it makes me miss you. So there is that, and I like that because it reminds me of just how great you are. So it sounds like we miss eachother. Which is good and we should because we are both awesome and really have some good memories together. One idea: move to Chicago, marry me, and we can have beautiful children together. Thoughts? You make me smile. And laugh till my side hurts. Always have. I am calling you tonight. Merry Christmas Jordan!

Jordan's reply back:

Patrick,

Grrr, I'm very sad that I missed your phone call, but I ended up at a dinner that lasted longer than I thought. It always does, right? So forgive me if I ramble on here longer than I should. Feel free to quit reading at anytime.

The positive side of this missed phone call is that we could start a Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks You've Got Mail kind of relationship, where we read all of our emails outloud while music is playing in the background and we talk about Pride and Prejudice, crayons, and typewriters. I suppose it might be slightly complicated by the fact that we already know each others identities, but there could be some other complication, like the fact that we live miles apart and aren't in the same city passing each other unknowingly on the way to work. Just a thought.

Here's what I know, which may not be much. I miss sharing life with you. I can echo what you said because thinking about you makes me happy and sad. Happy because you make me smile; sad because it makes my heart hurt that I don't know how you are and what you've been up to lately. I don't know if I'm ready to move to Chicago, but what about a visit? I don't go back to school til January 5th, and I know it's a really crazy time of year and totally might not work...but I'm going to ask anyway. Could I come up for a visit? And, if this isn't a good time, then maybe I could come later. Or you could come here. Shreveport is pretty amazing! Plus, it might even be a little warmer than Chicago. If you think this is a possibility, let me know because I did look at price flights before I suggested it knowing that they might be insanely expensive. Turns out, not too bad right now. Anyhow, no pressure.

I don't know what you're work schedule is tomorrow; I know that not everyone is blessed to have an entire Christmas break, but I'm driving to Houston so if you have time to talk I'll be in the car for four hours.

Joy!
Jordan

PS - Even if we never see each other again and remain only facebook friends, you will always be one of my favorite people.

Who doesn't love Chicago?

Admittedly, my least favorite creatures in the world are cockroaches. For those of you farther up north, these are inevitable in the south. They are a part of life down here. However, after walking around Chicago with Patrick and realizing that we were going to get married, I realized that I might have another fear: alley rats. It was really comforting and welcoming to realize that the great city of Chicago, my future home, puts up really friendly signs warning its residents and visitors about the danger. Don't worry, to a Southern girl, the rat in this picture looks harmless and welcoming.

Adri's love poem for Patrick

Once upon a random day
A girl sent an email just to say hey!
The recipient boy
Shouted with joy
And then she went to Chicago!

So much fun in just five days
They decided to get married in a sudden craze!
The girl's family shouted with glee
When they heard that he got down on just one knee
And now they’ll have a new brother!

To the port city he will come soon!
Who knows where they’ll go one their honeymoon?!
We love you so much, even more than the cat
And from now you shall be known as pat pat

Love Adrienne! - Jordan's sister and Patrick's future sister

Welcome to our Blog

Dear Friends and Family,

Welcome to our new blog! As we've discovered word is quickly spreading about our engagement. We've created this blog to keep you in the know about our lives, engagement, and wedding plans.

Love,
Jordan and Patrick