The beginning of our story...

Oh wow, I have a lot to catch up on. I've been wanting to but have been a little distracted...
So the last post I wrote I was totally caught up in the goodness of God, I pretty much felt like my life couldn't get any better. Little did I know that 6 days later He would be laughing hysterically at me.
It was February 9th. I had worked the night before and decided to stay at my parents house that night. I woke up to little boy kisses and knew it was going to be a good day. I had a restless spirit, but in a good way. I was really excited for life and wanted to tackle as many things as possible. After I worked at the farm in the morning I spent the day helping Mom clean the house and playing with the little boys. Mom told me around noon that she and Dad were going to Bismarck for a date and wanted me to meet them for dinner so we could discuss life (I had told them just that day that I was wanting to move back home and they wanted to talk about it more). They left around 5:00 and I wasn't supposed to meet them until 8:00. So I called Morgan and started spilling out everything on my mind,

"Ok, so my parents want me to meet them for dinner but don't want me to drive with them, my hair worked perfectly, and my spirit is going crazy. Something is going on and I have no idea what! Tell me to calm down and that I'm freaking out over nothing!" So she kinda did and then asked,

"What are you wanting to happen? Do you think some guy is going to come ask to court you tonight?"

"Uh, I don't know what I'm expecting, but not that! First off, no one is even interested and so I'm not going to entertain that thought..." (but I was thinking about that)

Then Kortney calls me as I'm getting ready to leave and I explain the whole scenario to her and she goes, "That is so weird...maybe you have a secret admirer who's coming out to ask to court you!"

"That would be nice but no one likes me so that's not happening"

So I go the restaurant and sit and text Ryan who told me earlier that day that he was in Idaho for a Fire Dept. conference. He was telling me all about his roommate and so any thoughts I might of had about him coming out to ND were quickly put out.

My parents were late and when they got there they sat down and ordered quickly. After about 10 minutes of talking I look up and Mr. Ryan himself walked around the corner. I knew exactly why he was there and it scared me to death. I sat there with my hands over my mouth saying nothing but, "Oh God...Oh Jesus...Oh God...are you kidding me? Oh Jesus...are you for real? Oh God...Oh Jesus" by this time he was standing in front of me with the biggest smile and says, "Can I get a hug?" So I stand up and hug him forever until I said, "I need to sit down, I'm going to fall over..."
He then proceeds to tell me how the Lord had laid me on his heart and he has been in a lengthy process of getting the leadership's and my parents approval. "...and I have a question to ask you. I was wondering if you would be willing to go a journey of courtship with me that will hopefully end in marriage. You can think and pray about it, you don't have to answer me right away." I turned to my parents and said, "You know my heart, can I answer him now?? YES!!!!"

The rest of the evening my food sat untouched in front of me as I listened to his whole story, how he had been thinking and praying about this since August (before we even started talking), and all the events that led up to that night. I wish I could share the whole story but it would take forever...Before we left he gave me a gift, a stunning diamond necklace. It's amazing (I have wore it everyday since).

We drove home and I didn't really say anything all night. I couldn't. I was in such shock. It took the first couple days of him being here (he stayed for a week) to even grasp the thought that he even liked me. I started liking him back in November and only talked about it once with my parents. In that conversation I told them that I was interested in him but didn't think I was his type, that he wouldn't even consider me, and that I was just going to work through it and get over it. I didn't. Little did I realize that he was already in the process of talking to my parents. However, they didn't tell him that I like him. Back in November the Lord gave me the criteria for my husband and I gave it to my parents and said, "I want you guys to pick him for me. I trust your judgment and know that you will only pick the best. I want to be surprised and I don't want to know about it". So he flew out here not knowing what I was going to say! The amount of faith that took is huge...

We then spent the next week visiting with my family, setting up guidelines and boundaries, sharing our heart with each other, spending our first Valentines day together (!!), working together, and completely overwhelmed with the Lord's faithfulness. Each day He continued to leave us in awe. One of the coolest thing for me was when we shared our non-negotiables. We read them to each other and were shocked that each point was matched with the other and that many of them were the same.

After one week there we ventured to his home. I have never enjoyed traveling so much and we had SOOOO much fun! We arrived in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day with his family. It was great to see them and we learned to be patient with some of those who were trying to adjust to seeing us 'together'. (I'm still laughing...) Sunday was one of my best days. We had been hiding it from everyone but our fams and a few close friends for a week and it was the day EVERYBODY WOULD KNOW!!!! Ryan had thought to buy me a dress and shoes (that were PERFECT!!!!!! He has incredible taste :) so I felt gorgeous. I couldn't walk in with the family and waited the last minute to go upstairs because my huge smile would have been a dead giveaway. I was greeted by Todd and Morgan and pretty much spazed out a lot!!! Worship was awesome but way too long... Announcements were even longer ( I don't remember anything said). Finally I heard Uncle Kevin say, "Where's Kaylee at? Would you stand up?" Again, I didn't hear anything he said until he introduced Ryan and said, "Oh yeah...their courting!" Ry had left the house early so he could go buy me roses and he came over and escorted me back to sit with his family as his girl. Talk about an awesome feeling!!!

After church we talked to pretty much everyone in attendance then went to lunch with a group of people. So much fun. Then Ry and I went back to the church where he let me change my clothes and he, Rob, and I spent the rest of the afternoon together doing a bunch of special things that he had planned.

Monday we went and had breakfast with Eric and Lisa Trout and their awesome family. Then we went home and took Reigna on a date for a few hours. We dropped her off and went to the church to pick up Larissa and Todd for a Starbucks run. After that we met Cam for a movie then had dinner with his parents that night. It was a full, AWESOME day!

Tuesday was my last day there and a definite favorite. He told me to be ready by 8:00, to dress cute, but wouldn't tell me what we were doing. Morgan and Rob showed up at the house and the four of us went to Salish Lodge for an amazing breakfast. We walked around the place for a while, looked at the falls, and just enjoyed the perfect weather. After we dropped the other two off, Ry and I spent the rest of the day together having great conversation and totally enjoying each others company. That night we went out to dinner (had an AWESOME meal!), and then spent the rest of the evening with his family. Sleep was short as we had to leave the house at 3:30am to catch my flight. Needless to say, it was an emotional day and I absolutely hated getting on that plane.

It hasn't even been a week since I have been home but it seems like so much has happened. We are learning how to communicate our hearts through the phone which has been really neat, but I hate it at the same time. The Lord knows what we can handle though and we know its good to be apart for the time being. We have been blessed with people in our life that have gone through the same thing and can offer lots of advice or just sympathize with us. haha.

Eric and Lisa Trout will be disciplingus individually but also as a couple. I am SO thrilled about that! They have been a part of Ryan's process more than I have and so they know his heart. I have an expectancy that the Lord is going to bring about some amazing things through this.

I suppose I should wrap this up. I have lots and lots more stories but will wait for another time. We both want people involved in our process and realize that it's not just about 'us' so I will be keeping everyone updated. This is just the beginning of our story....

I'm Gettin' RAINED On!!!!

My heart is so full that if I don't share some of it, it's going to burst. I have no idea if this is going to have any sort of form to it or just random splurges of excitement spit on a page.

This is such an amazing season of life right now...

I have never been so in love with the Lord

My mom is going into have another baby tomorrow

I have dear friends of mine being blessed with God ordained relationships and/or getting engaged

I'm having breakthroughs with my roommate and coworkers

I'm getting quality time like crazy with my brothers (all 7 of 'em!)

I get to take a trip to Washington next month

I've been able to talk to Kortie Grace EVERYDAY (I love her so much it hurts)

The Lord continues to confirm and open up doors with the 'moving' situation

and oh yeah did I mention that...

I'm GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER SISTER TOMORROW?!?!?

A friend of mine told me a couple weeks ago that she was praying I would recieve a special blessing that day. I take stuff like that very seriously. I just said, "Ok, God...I want to receive Your blessings today. Don't hold anything back, just release it and let Your grace POUR over me. I wanna be showered with it!" Boy, did He deliver! At first I was expecting some huge "WOAH!!!!" type of blessing but then I realized His blessing was in a ton of little things I didn't even know were important to me. He showed me that there wasn't anything out of the ordinary that He was doing, yet my perspective had changed. Instead of letting things go by without acknowledgment, I kept asking, "Is that my blessing?" The answer was YES!!! When we have an expectancy to receive...we're gonna receive!!!! Then I began to wonder, how many blessings have I overlooked simply because my gaze wasn't upward? Asking for His blessing in the lives of others has never been a problem for me but when it comes to asking for myself its another story. Not anymore...He has so much waiting for me. It's as if tons of gifts wrapped beautifully are sitting there waiting, wanting to be opened but I'm just to stupid to ask for them.

Ever since this major paradigm shift I have felt so full. Not because much has changed, I'm simply acknowledging its presence now. Every kiss or "Shake 'n' bake!" from a brother, every phone call from my favorite person (Kortie, of course), every conversation with Dad or hug from Mom holds more value than I could have ever imagined. It's a strange feeling though, I'm so full it seems as if I couldn't take anymore 'goodness' yet, I still want more. I NEED more. That's what is so incredible about the love of God, it can't be contained or measured. It's indescribable and humbling.

And I am truly humbled beyond reason...

P.S. I'll post pictures of baby Payton after tomorrow:))))