Brad Who?!?!

While the world may have an obsession with Brad Pitt (can't imagine why), there is another Brad out there... A Brad with a rock solid marriage, brains, talents, personality, stand up character, a big heart, a sense of humor and good looks than can easily put Brad Pitt to shame. I'm talking about Brad Paisley, one of my all time favorite country artists. Even if you hate country music, this guy is truly something to admire. I've discovered him in college thanks to his extremely funny and witty song lyrics that are very catchy, to say the least, and tender love songs that will bring tears to the eyes of any romantic. I don't care who you are, I guarantee that this guy will crack you up and then move you so deeply you'll be like, what just happened?


When I went to his concert, one of my very first country music concerts, I was amazed by how down to earth and real this guy was. Not to mention crazy FUN!!! I absolutely love how he can poke fun at just about anything, especially society and pop culture. Take his songs "Celebrity", "Alcohol", and "I'm Still a Guy" just to name a few.

"I can make anybody pretty
I can make you believe any lie
I've been known to cause a few break ups
I been known to cause a few births
I've been making the bars lots of big money
And helping white people dance
I got you in trouble in high school
But college, now that was a ball
You had some of the best times
You'll never remember with me
Alcohol"


"'Cause when you're a celebrity
It's adios reality
You can act just like a fool
People think you're cool
Just 'cause you're on TV
I can fall in and out of love
Have marriages that barely last a month
When they go down the drain
I'll blame it on the fame
And say it's just so tough
Being a celebrity"


"You’re probably thinkin' that you’re gonna change me
In some ways well, maybe you might
Scrub me down, dress me up
Oh, but no matter what
Remember, I’m still a guy
Well, love makes a man do some things he ain’t proud of
And in a weak moment I might
Walk your sissy dog
Hold your purse at the mall
But remember, I’m still a guy
And I’ll pour out my heart
Hold your hand in the car
Write a love song that makes you cry
Then turn right around
Knock some jerk to the ground
‘Cause he copped a feel as you walked by
These days there’s dudes gettin' facials
Manicured, waxed, and botoxed
But with deep spray on tans and creamy lotioney hands
You can't grip a tackle box
Yeah, with all of these men linin' up to get neutered
It’s hip now to be feminized
But, I don’t highlight my hair
I’ve still got a pair
Yeah, honey I’m still a guy
Oh, my eyebrows ain’t plucked
There's a gun in my truck
Oh Thank God, I’m still a guy"

Come on, how can you not love this guy? His lyrics are so funny and so real and while at times he may even poke fun at love, this guy knows its true meaning... Unlike so many other artists who sing about love, but in reality are just going from one bed to another, this guy is happily married and his songs are about his wife, demonstrating love in its proper context. Maybe that's why his love songs are the best... They are pure, sweet and heartfelt...

"She's a yellow pair of running shoes,
A holey pair of jeans.
She looks great in cheap sunglasses,
She looks great in anything.
She's I want a piece of chocolate,
Take me to a movie,
She's I can't find a thing to wear,
Now and then she's moody.
She's a soft place to land,
And a good feeling knowing.
She's a warm conversation
That I wouldn't miss for nothing,
She's a fighter when she's mad
And she's a lover when she's loving.
And she's everything I ever wanted
And everything I need,
I talk about her, I go on and on and on.
'Cause she's everything to me.
She's a bubble bath and candles,
Baby come and kiss me,
She's a one glass of wine,
And she's feeling kinda tipsy.
She's the giver I wish I could be
And the stealer of the covers,
She's a picture in my wallet
Of my unborn children's mother.
She's the hand that I'm holding
When I'm on my knees and praying,
She's the answer to my prayer
And she's the song that I'm playing.
Everyday that passes I only love her more
Yeah, she's the one
That I'd lay down my own life for.
And she's everything I ever wanted
And everything I need.
She's everything to me,
Yeah she's everything to me"

One things this guy never really pokes fun at though, is the real meaning of life. I think that's why I respect him so much. Christian or not, he seems to grasp the importance of people and that that's what life is really about. This one song never fails to touch me...

"Those leaves were a foot deep in the yard
And 'wash me' was written all over the car
Watchin' movies all day with you
Wasn't on my list of things to do
But we laid on that couch
Girl, we never left the house
It was time well wasted
And there's no way
I trade a few more things that
I could've crossed off my list
For a day I'll never forget
No, I didn't get a thing done
But I sure soaked up every minute of the memory we were makin'
And I count it all as time well wasted

This world spins too fast if you let it
There's always one more thing to do
But lookin' back I never have regretted
Takin' off early or callin' in sick
Or lovin' away a Sunday afternoon
I count it all as time well wasted"

Ok so by now I hope you're all running out to get all of his CD's lol j/k. For real though, I'm very careful about the people I let speak into and influence my life and that goes for books, movies and music as well. I only respect, admire, and listen to authors and artists who have their personal life together, and if they don't, I don't want them to teach me anything, because in the end, I don't want to end up like them. So yea... choose your celebrities and heroes wisely, kids ;)

The Summer of Good Bye's...

This summer sucks... It seems like I'm loosing close friends left and right. Last summer Ulu moved to Hawaii and I cried my eyes out... This summer she is moving to London... I just said a final bye to Cheryl who is moving to Japan for a year... Tricia is moving to D.C. and one of my best guy friends got married! These people are among my closest friends and we have shared a LOT together. Ulu and I had countless heart to heart talks and U Village dates. Cheryl and I spent numerous hours at her apartment, exploring Seattle and cooking together (actually she just cooked for me), Tricia knows me inside and out and is my ultimate dance, make up and "keeping it real" buddy, and of course I'll never forget how Ben was there for me when some boy broke my heart last spring... These people are my best friends and I love them SO much and now I feel like I'm loosing them! And this is all happening so fast, so all together...

I know they will still technically be in my life and we will still be friends and we can keep in touch and that this is God's plan for their life and all that good stuff, but it doesn't make me feel much better. I'm happy and excited for them, but I will still miss them SO much! I know I will see all of them again, but what if I still need them in my life right now? I know I'm super blessed with many other friends and I'm close with a lot of them as well, but these 4 were special... They are like my family... They understand me, they know me... They can read me and call my bluff and comfort me and love me and just be there for me. I can't meet Ulu at B&N if she's in London... I can't go to Pike Place with Cheryl if she's in Japan... I can't cry on Tricia's shoulder if she's in D.C., I can't drop by Ben's apartment if he's married...

There's actually a 5th friend whom I lost this summer as well and the combination of it all makes all of this extra hard. Loosing the people you love sucks big time... It just hurts like nothing else... I've never been good at letting people go... Never been good at giving up on them, never been good at saying good bye... Some things I just don't want to learn.

Part II

God really drove His point home this weekend... You know how when you keep hearing the same thing over and over again from different sources it just confirms it? Well that's what's been happening the last 2 days. I went to Shabbat on Saturday (I haven't been in months) and Ronnie was talking about not being equally yoked, of all things! I talked to him after the service and was just like, what even made you talk about it today of all days? His answer: God... Go figure... So I told him a bit of what's been going on with me and he just confirmed what everyone else has been saying.

God's grace has been unbelievable so far...

Yesterday, Sunday, church was unbelievable... John was talking about God's grace and how He is the one who is after us, how He is even more excited about us than we are about Him, how He loves us so much more than we can even imagine, how He just wants our hearts, how He's after our hearts and will do anything to be in relationship with us, have our worship and have us understand His grace.

I finished the book last night, and that's where I got somewhat stumped... As I reached the end of it, it wasn't what I expected... 33 chapters of how it could never be and the 34th of how it can... The last chapter was completely different from all the rest and even made me wonder if the author was aware it was there... As I kept reading and re-reading it, I almost felt mocked... How can a situation be so similar, yet so different... how can the seemingly impossible still come to pass? I know it's happened before, I've heard and read stories about this "exception to the rule", and here was perhaps the most beautiful one of them all... Why give me this glimmer of hope after going through the entire book and accepting the seemingly inevitable? Because God is good, and if He wants to, He can... I'm still not sure what to make of this chapter... I don't want false hope, and that is why my hope is in God alone, not in the chance that things might work out. Either scenario won't change my relationship with Him, and I think that's the place where He wants my heart to be regardless of the outcome.

Movie, Book, and a Wedding

Monday:

Cheryl convinced me to watch "The Story of Us" at her house. Her exact words were. "You'll love it!" I didn't. Don't recommend it at all, as it was pretty awful... Basically, it was about a marriage gone bad (the husband and wife were clearly not Christian, duh!) and how in the end they finally saw each other from the other's perspective, but yet nothing got resolved. Sorry, but I disagree that love is enough to make a relationship work. Love needs to be backed up by a commitment, which ideally should be rooted in a relationship with Christ. Pride and Prejudice still stands alone as my ultimate relationship movie because of its sweetness, innocence and purity, without all the yelling and profanity which I just can not stand. In the end, it just showed the kind of marriage I NEVER want to have. Relationships are hard enough as it is... Being in one without God is downright impossible.



Thursday:


Before I left Cheryl's on Monday, I took a few books from her that I wanted to read, one of them being Quest for Love: True Stories of Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot, the author or Passion and Purity. I obviously didn't realize that, or else I wouldn't have taken the book... I only took it because I thought it would be filled with a bunch of cute, sweet, heartwarming love stories to make me feel all good and fuzzy inside... Boy, was I dead wrong! There is absolutely NOTHING cute about that book! It is a HARD read! Quite frankly, I'm not sure I want to meet this lady... I haven't read Passion and Purity for a reason... I've been scared to... Well, I got a good dose of its medicine with this book and boy, oh boy, was it needed... I got slapped BIG TIME! I finally got around to reading the book Thursday morning, and as I told Cheryl later on that evening, I was perfectly happy before I opened it, but by the third chapter or so, it was like buckets of ice cold water were being poured over my hot sun drenched skin. It hurt that bad... I was in shock, in tears, full of pain, anguish, and disappointment in myself as I finally saw what I was doing from God's perspective and was faced with an ultimatum: either to obey once and for all, suffering temporary pain or bear consequences of a more serious nature than just a broken heart.

Granted, the book is old and its author even older, with most of the stories taking place in the 18 and 19 hundreds and having to do with missionary couples. As irrelevant as some stories were to my contemporary life, the timeless principles still stood. There were also enough current examples to show me that I wasn't the first one to make these mistakes, and make me realize that my situation was not an exception to the rule. So yea... it was so blunt and so clear... LOL, I guess God got tired of me going back and forth on this and decided to set me straight... very firmly. Every love story is different while every heartbreak story is usually the same... you can see it coming a mile away. When God's basic principles of male/female relationships are broken, a happy ending is no longer a possibility. Now that I look back, I see that I broke the most basic principles right from the beginning... bending them little by little until they snapped one by one. My "passion" got the best of my "purity" and I've been stifling God's whisper in heart informing me of a way of escape because I couldn't bear the thought of giving up what has come to be so dear to me. Well now the whisper has turned into an undeniable shout. There's really only one way to deal with a tangled mass of confusion... As I poured my heart out to God in sorrow and repentance, my prayer was, "Lord, if it is Your will, I know You can make it happen in Your time under different circumstances, and I would love that, but if not, please remove it from my heart and life forever."

Friday:

I've been looking forward to Brian and Melissa's wedding for a while now... Mostly because I know Brian and well, I've been close with Melissa ever since she moved here and started coming to YP. I remember all the times we talked on the phone and hung out and discussed boys ;) I remember standing in the card isle at Safeway when she called me freaking out because Brian asked her out for the first time right in front of a guy she was "in love with" at the moment. I remember her telling God that He's got the wrong guy and Him in return responding, no, I've got the RIGHT guy, it's you who has the WRONG one. I just love their love story... It's quirky, funny, and very sweet... I'm so happy for them... Their story is a true testimony of God's involvement and faithfulness in the most intimate areas of our lives... He is SO GOOD!!!

Wait For It...

So yesterday God taught me another cool lesson :)
I was meeting some friends for lunch after church at Mill Creek Town Center, but there was some festival going on, so Main Street was blocked off and traffic was horrible! People walking around everywhere and absolutely nowhere to park. I was following some friends and after driving around for about half an hour I just got so frustrated and annoyed that I was like, forget it, I don't even want this anymore, and left. They called me up later telling me they found parking and were inside, but I was already pretty far so I said, oh well, sorry, maybe next time. Later, as I was going through a drive through (I won't tell you which one :P), the line was taking forever, and again, I was just ready to give up and say, forget it, I don't even want this anymore, I'm gonna go get something else, because I didn't want to wait. I stuck it out though and finally after getting food I went to the park to lie in the sun and wait for John and Vita to finish whatever they were doing so that I could go to camp with them. Again, as I was waiting, I was getting frustrated and impatient thinking about other things I could be doing and other people I could be with (YP BBQ). I was just about to say, forget it, I don't even want to go to camp anymore, when God spoke to me... Wait for it. Excuse me, Lord? If you wait for it, you'll get it. Get what? The parking spot, the drive through food, going to camp... whatever...

Sometimes when we want something and it doesn't come easily to us, we have to wait for it. We may be ok with waiting for a little bit, but if it gets too long we think about all the other things we are missing out on in the meantime. The frustration of waiting can even cause us to no longer want the thing we are waiting for, as we are ready to quit and go after something different, something easier to acquire. Meanwhile, if we just wait, eventually we will get it... When God promises us something and we don't get it right away we all too eagerly walk away from it, thinking it will never come, and therefore missing it. If I didn't drive away, I would have eventually found a parking spot as my friends did. If I would have got out of the drive through line, I wouldn't have gotten my food, and if I didn't wait for John and Vita I wouldn't have gone to camp and gotten ridiculously blessed :) True, there are always alternatives, but they are not what you really originally wanted and may not be what God has for you. Wait for it... just wait for it. Seems so simple, yet so hard especially when you don't see the end of waiting in sight, but it is there, and if you wait, you will get what you're waiting for, but if you walk away pursuing other things, you won't get it. And then we can't say, see, I didn't get it! Of course you didn't get it! You didn't wait for it! It was on it's way to you!

Patience is not one of my strong virtues, but it's something God is working on in me. Love is patient... I've always wondered why patience was first on the list of love's attributes, and now I think I know... Love knows how to wait :)

3 Days of Love

Friday: Ben and Laura's Wedding:

It was by far the most beautiful, holy, pure, sweet, innocent wedding I have ever been to. Now, I go to Christian weddings all the time. In fact, I've only been to a couple of non-Christian weddings so far and let me tell you, they can't even hold a candle to the purity of love that I see in my friend's faces when they acknowledge, in front of all their guests, that it was God who brought them together and that it is their individual love for Him that their love for each other is based on.
Ben - I'm so happy for him and so very proud of him. I respect, honor and value him a great deal as an amazing friend. He has been there for me so many times and we have had a lot of fun together. He is truly a man of God, above reproach and he really does deserve Laura :)
Laura - I'm in awe of this girl's purity and how she has kept not only her body, but her heart untouched and whole for Ben. She has made sure that Ben would be the only man to not only have her body but her heart as well, and I salute that. She is a real gem and I couldn't have picked a more perfect girl for Ben :)

Saturday: Jamie and Kwadwo's Engagement Party:

Kwadwo is the one who introduced me to Ben, and I knew Jamie from the GC Dance Team. I loved them both dearly and knew they were good friends, but never ever thought they would end up together. In fact, I remember the day Kwadwo told me that he has asked Jamie to be his girlfriend I was shocked. Happy for them, but still very surprised. Now, of course, I can't imagine them with anyone else :) They are so clearly ridiculously in love, it's beautiful! A little different from Ben and Laura, but just as pure. They are a very fun couple and I love being around them. Their favorite activity is making out lol and I salute that too :P

Sunday: Image Youth Camp:

During the pre-service prayer, we were instucted to pray with one other person, so I grabbed Nathy, one of my newer girls, and started praying for her. As I was praying, we both started crying and as I was just speaking into her life, it hit me: Wow, I really love this girl... No surprise there, because prayer really bonds people together. That's why couples are discouraged from praying together until they are at least engaged and married couples are encouraged to pray together as often as they possibly can. The reason I'm so close with so many of my friends is because we are constantly praying with and for each other. When I'm praying with someone, that's when the love and the passion come and often, that's when the tears come.
At the end of service, as John was wrapping up, Sveta and I were sitting at the altar together, just holding each other and crying together, praying for each other and speaking into each other's lives. It was powerful :P She later told me that during this time she just felt such a compassionate love for the youth, like she was ready to lay her life down for them... I welcomed her to the club :) I really am ready and willing to lay my life down for my church, my pastors, my girls, my friends, my ministry... That's love... God's love poured out in our hearts... Supernatural, unconditional love... Love that conquers all.

(Un)Qualified

I have to say I've been thoroughly enjoying the job search process. I don't think I've ever wanted to work this bad :P! Right now I'm at a point where I'd highly appreciate having a job... ANY job! Meanwhile, God has been using this time to teach me some very profound concepts, one of which hit me especially hard today.

While browsing numerous ads and reading countless job descriptions I've found myself thinking one of two things. Either "Oh, I can totally do this!" or "Umm... I don't think I'm qualified for this." The jobs that I considered myself qualified for consisted mostly of things that I've done before and was very comfortable with, and the jobs that intimidated me into deeming myself unqualified consisted of duties that I've either never done before or haven't done enough to feel comfortable doing. Makes sense right? I was scared to apply for and take on a job where I stood a chance of failing. And then it hit me today as I was driving around different Starbucks' dropping off my applications and talking to managers, I CAN LEARN!!!

At some point or another all of us were "unqualified" for our current position. We didn't always have the knowledge, skills, abilities and experience that we do right now. We've all had to learn, both through theory and hands on experience in order to be successful. I would have never imagined myself doing some of the things I'm doing right now and have done in the past, and I'm pretty proud of everything I've learned along the way. Sometimes I don't think I give myself enough credit concerning what I'm really and truly capable of doing.

When communicating with perspective employers, I think the most crucial thing to convey about yourself is that you are teachable and willing to learn. I remember a while back Vik told me I was unteachable. I got pretty upset with him... "What are you talking about I'm unteachable? I'm a teacher!" It was so true though... I was so proud and arrogant I thought everything I touched turned to gold and no one could tell me I was wrong or correct me. Let's just say I've been humbled since then :)

Where there's a will, there's a way... If you want something bad enough, you'll do whatever it takes to get it, there's no such thing as "unqualified" or "unable". So I guess the question with me in my job search wasn't whether or not I could perform certain job tasks but whether or not I wanted to learn to perform them... Our desires compel us to do all that we do. True, there are many things that hinder us from following through, but in the end, it's always up to us, we are in control of our own destinies...

Weight Shift

This weekend was rough. I haven't been shaken up like this in a long time... I thought the good times would outweigh the bad, but I really had to battle it out... In the midst of it, God showed me who and where I would be without Him and it honestly scared the crap out of me... I'm clinging to Him with all I've got because there's no way I'm going back.

So on Saturday I came home around 5pm and I was just supposed to shower, change and meet back up with my wonderful, amazing, super loving fun friends, but because I've been running on very little sleep lately, I was really tired, so I decided to lie down for a while and take a nap. Well, I didn't get any rest, because once again, my mind was bombarded with thoughts and memories and being a creative person, I was creating things and images in my mind that were pretty much tearing me up :(... So I was just lying in bed, torturing myself with these thoughts, getting all sad and teary eyed and then it hit me, or I should say God hit me with a "Holy Spirit slap": WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING?! I am NOT gonna allow myself to get depressed!!! I could feel it creeping up on me, trying to overwhelm me and it totally scared me! I was like, oh heck no, no way! I've been there, done that, and NEVER AGAIN! It shocked me in such a way that I literally jumped out of bed and into the shower! I couldn't get it off me and get away from it fast enough lol. And then I called my friends with "Where are you? What are you doing? I'm coming!" On my drive over to meet with them God showed me such a clear picture of who and where I would be if I allowed myself to wallow in depression over what was going on that it literally freaked me out. I couldn't thank God enough for saving me from myself...

Yesterday, on Sunday, church was so stinking powerful... We had communion and John was calling out people who have been going through attacks that have been undermining their strength and faith. At that point I didn't care that I was a leader, pastor's assistant, teacher, whatever! I could care less who was looking and what people thought, I was the first one to step out and come forward. I wanted to be free from the crap that was weighing me down. The only place I want to cry at is at the altar. I feel safe there, surrounded by people who love me and want to pray for me. If there's anything at all that I learned from John, it's to be open, honest, personal and transparent. And it starts at the altar.

Later on that evening I was hanging with my City Church friends after seeing WALL-E with them, and my friend Renee's mom was there. That lady is so sweet, such a blessing from God in my life! She could tell that something still wasn't sitting right with me, so she took me aside, and the first thing she told me was, "You're really special." I was like, thanks, I know, but it doesn't make me feel better. So we talked and I more or less told her what was on my heart. So she ministered to me in her sweet motherly way, reminding me not to hold on to the grief and the sadness, but give it to God. Weight Shift, Pastor Judah preached about it at YP last fall...

So that's my story. I feel so human sometimes, like I really am susceptible to all this bad stuff if I allow myself to get sucked up in it. The difference is, I don't want to, and the power I have on the inside won't let me. I just submit myself to God and He won't let me go out of His will for my life. I may be barely hanging by a string at times, but I've got nowhere to fall except His loving arms :) He's really got me, even when my whole world is spinning out of control, I'm safe in Him... I trust Him... He's faithful...

My Portfolio

Up until sometime in college, I had no idea what a portfolio was. I mean I knew it was a folder with some sort of documents, but I had no idea what (older) people meant when they were talking about their "portfolio". It was always puzzling to me how they would brag about it without ever actually saying what was in it. Of course now I know that they were talking about their financial investments portfolio and how much money they had in stocks, bonds and other "stuff". I'm still pretty clueless when it comes to investing, and being 25 I realize that's not good. I tried to have a financial advisor and that lasted for about 6 months or so, but then I kinda let it go because, let's face it, in order to invest money, you have to actually have money. So I haven't really thought about it much... until last night. At our leaders class, John mentioned the parable of the talents (money) and how different servants were, and were not, investing them. And then he pointed out something that made an impression on me. Whenever God talked about investment or investing, it always had to do with people. We don't invest in money, we invest in people. We don't use money for money, we use money for people. People matter, money doesn't. People leave legacies, money doesn't. People last, people make a difference, people are remembered... money is just a tool that should be used for people, not more money or things.

So I've been somewhat out of work for almost 2 weeks now... I haven't made much money, but how many people have I talked to, met with, touched, and helped? While my "financial" portfolio is virtually non-existent, I can look at my "people" portfolio and smile... I know that I am making an eternal difference that will live on long after my bank account and I are gone. Don't get me wrong, I am not diminishing the importance of having a financial portfolio, we need to be financially smart and savvy and prepared and I really need to get on top of that pronto, but I'm just clarifying the priorities that I personally have when it comes to that stuff :)

Reflections of a Bridesmaid...

This Saturday I was in my first wedding :) Ok, so not "my" wedding, but I was a bridesmaid for two of my good friends, Dima and Marina. It was quite an exciting experience and I'm glad I was there to get an inside look at their big day :) For the most part, it was a blast! It just so happened to be the hottest day and we were out in the sun for a good part of the morning/afternoon, so I did get a little burned, but it was worth all the fun we had! My feet totally killed after walking in heels for hours on the the most unfriendly terrain for killer pictures (I friggin' had to rock climb in heels!) and I was in serious need of bandaids by reception time, but I still danced with Dimka and it was awesome!!!

So without further delay, here are some highlights of things that made an impression on me:

*The guys really took care of us, girls :) I don't know if it's a Russian thing or not, but all the guys were really looking out for the girls. From the moment they arrived to pick us up in the limo they were being so sweet, telling us how beautiful we looked, buying us iced coffee when we got too hot during the phone shoots, carrying us, helping us, holding our hand when we were walking, serving us at the reception, helping us in and out of the limo, holding our flowers for us, it was so chivalrous, I literally felt like a princess the whole time :) My groomsman was a real prince considering he did my hair that morning as well :) I heart my Dimka!

*I'm not gonna lie, I loved having pictures of me taken all day :P Russians are picture crazy :) And we took the funnest pictures in the coolest places... we were just hanging out at the Space Needle, walking around and they let us go on the carousel for free... it was so fun!

*Dima and Marina are the cutest, sweetest couple ever!!! I'm so happy for them :) I remember when I met them at camp, I thought they were way too crazy about each other...but their 3+ year relationship has been nothing but pure (at least on Marina's part anyway :P) from the beginning. They did it the right way and are now enjoying what they've waited for ;) It was so funny, right after the marriage ceremony at the church, as soon as they got back in the limo they started making out! We were all like, guys, save it for later, and they were like, no, we've waited long enough lol, it was so funny yet so sweet and innocent because it was so pure... Throughout the entire week before the wedding, and the entire day of the wedding, all Dima could talk about was finally having sex lol even though he was half joking and half serious, I give the guy LOTS of credit... he did wait for the girl for 3 years... And on their wedding day he literally carried her in his arms the whole time :) It was super sweet... And when they were saying the vows they wrote for each other not a single eye was dry in the church... So yea... it was worth it...

So what else...? It was really weird being in the wedding, seeing everything that happens behind the scenes, all the work, the preparations, the stress... it was interesting... It was fun being a part of it, I think I'd def want to do it again :)