A New Chapter

It's hard to believe that we've been married for almost one month already (on Monday)! Some things still feel so new, and others seem like this is the way that it's always been, which I like. God is continuing to teach us how to depend on each other where we used to rely on our families for everything. Despite this, we are both very thankful that both of our families are so close...we would really miss them! I know that lots of people are excited about the chance to finally move away from home and start fresh, but that is definitely not the case for either of us! We love our Lancaster County!

Lots of exciting things have been happening since our wedding day, including a wonderful 10-day honeymoon to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Incidentally, the summer is their off-season for tourism, so many days we had an entire beach to ourselves and it was absolutely beautiful! The only little glitch was that our airline went on strike before we could fly home, so we had to do some last minute scrambling to find another flight for that Wednesday (Jesse's sister was getting married that Saturday!). We made it home though, and jumped right into wedding preparations for Zach and Katrina's big day. That was an absolutely gorgeous wedding, and I'm really excited to not only have 3 new sisters now, but a new brother as well!

The next day we got to host our first get together at our new home (with all of our unpacked boxes cleverly stashed in unused rooms) for Father's Day, and Jesse proved his genius at the BBQ. Last Thursday was his company picnic at 6 Flags, which was fun because Zach and Katrina and Zach's parents were there too! I'm slowly getting everything unpacked, amidst studying for the NCLEX (July 28), and trying to remember what all I need to change my name on! Finally, Jesse and I are playing another season of church volleyball this summer, and this week won 2 of 3 games! It's so much fun to get to hang out with our friends every week! God has blessed us richly and continues to do so. We're really enjoying learning how to honor Him in this new chapter of our lives.

Here are a few pictures of our wedding and other things that have been happening:


I really liked my bouquet, but I'm sure it must have weighed 10 lbs!


Mommy and me before the ceremony.


Daddy and me before he gave me away.


Our first kiss EVER!


The new Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Bender!


We're married!!!


Our new family.


All of our wonderful friends that were in our wedding!


Our first dance had a lift...Dancing with the Stars would hate us!


The finale of our dance. :)


Jesse and I in the Virgin Islands.


Our own private beach!


All of us Benders at Zach and Katrina's wedding.


My new brother and sister!