Match Day

Match Day was an intense experience unlike anything else I've experienced other than my wedding day. Yes, that is as close of a comparison as I can come up with and realistically it wasn't too far off. Even though I felt secure in knowing God was in control of our future and where we would go...just like with our wedding day I had no fear of who I was marrying or that I would be spending the rest of my life with my best friend...it was just pure anxiousness of wanting the moment to happen and to experience it. I felt jittery and nauseous all morning and couldn't stop pacing. It really reminding me of my wedding morning when my wonderful bridesmaids kept holding fans up to my armpits every time I would have a hot flash. I was so excited and so anxious to experience the beginning of the rest of my life. (This last sentence applies to both my wedding morning and match day morning!)

(In case you're wondering about the mustache, Derek thought it would be great to shave off his goatee but leave the mustache for match day. He called it his Match Mustache and was very excited about it. It was actually a very nice comic relief considering any time I got nervous I only had to look at him to be reminded of Luigi on Mario Brothers and would burst out laughing. Especially when he would talk just like him!)

The morning of - we went out to a brunch with friends, none of which anyone ate much of. Then we got to the banquet hall in the Alumni Center where the ceremony was being held and got to our table. We sat with Sarah and Kevin, Katherine and Mike, Katie and Chris, and another couple we just met. These pictures are of all of us anxiously awaiting our names (our husbands names rather) to be called.

The way they did this (or more appropriately stated - dragged it out) was every student's name was in a hat and a name was drawn one at a time. Needless to say, we were fourth from LAST of being called. We basically waited through almost every single name called before finding out. It was torture!

The worst part is every student who was called put a dollar in a bucket when they walked up to get their letter and so the last person called got the pot. Basically after waiting all that time I wouldn't have minded waiting through 2 more names to then get a chunk of cash! Oh well...maybe those last two minutes really would have killed me!

Anyways...Derek went up to get his letter and instead of announcing it over the microphone in front of everyone (most people announced it, a few didn't), he brought the closed envelope back to the table and handed it to me to open. I did and we read together that we are moving to PORTLAND, OREGON!!!!! Our very first choice!!! We were thrilled and I burst into tears and couldn't stop hugging Derek. It was very emotional and very exciting.

We are thrilled to be going to Portland and can't wait to see what lies ahead for us! God is so good and we feel so blessed!