Wow- You guys wrote a lot of good questions and I have really enjoyed thinking and writing about them all. So lets get started! I have written a lot and I hope if you have time you will read…
Here are the first set of questions you asked all pertaining to Kev and Me:
1. How did we meet?
We both went to Framingham State College. He started there and I came in half way thru Sophomore year. Our first class together was Art History. I didn’t know anyone and I sat next to him because I thought we could be friends because he had a patch on his coat of a band that I really liked. A few classes later he asked if I wanted a ride to a show that we found out we were both going to. I freaked out because I didnt know him and told him no. haha! Its a real long story and if you are dying to know details you can write me and I will fill you in but to keep the story short after a few classes together we become really good friends. One day after our bookmaking and letterpress class he told me he had to tell me something. We went back to my room and told me he really liked me and knew we were meant to be together and that he didn’t know what to do because we each had a boyfriend and a girlfriend at the time. Crazy huh? I said I didn’t know what he wanted me to do because I had a boyfriend. Even though secretly I totally loved him. My boyfriend at the time sucked and I had been with him for 5 years. I guess I was just scared to leave. Anyways, then he told me he couldn’t see me anymore than because it was to hard for him. Ouch! I was crushed. Well fast forward 7 months and we had to hang out for a friends birthday and I finally knew I had to break up with my boyfriend. The day I broke up with him was Kev and me’s first date. haha whoops. We went to see out favorite band Silent Drive’s Cd Release show. Their new cd was called “Love is Worth it.” and we both agreed love was worth it. That cd will always be one of our favorites.
2. What made me fall in love with him? and how did I know he was the one?
I fell in love with him because he is the most caring and sweet person I have ever know. He has a huge heart and is so so passionate about things. He makes me laugh and he has the funniest sense of humor. He treats me like a princess. He makes me amazingly awesome things which sweep me off my feet. He is beyond talented in what he does and we share so many goals for life. He loves art, music and adventures. And of course being a gal from Canada, the icing on the cake was he was a hockey player. I knew he was the one because know matter what happened in my life good or bad it was something I wanted to go thru with him. There was no doubt. I loved my friends but I loved him more. When something exciting was going to happen I just wanted him there to experience it with and the same goes with something bad or sad. He truly is my bestest friend. (sappy i know- sorry just being honest)
Click the “CONTINUE READING” to read the rest of this post!!!
3. How did he propse?
Well if you know us we really don’t do anything by the book. So honestly neither was out engagement/wedding. We had talked about getting married but also really wanted to move something warm. We had always joked that we’d get married when we decided to move somewhere because then we could start fresh and not have anything real belongings yet. Well I applied to a teaching job in Hawaii as a joke. Well not a joke but I didn’t think I had a chance being that I lived in Mass. Well they called me on a Wednesday for a phone interview. They offered me the Job on Thursday and told me I had till Tuesday to let them know. Friday every single person in my family started showing up from all over the country for my sisters wedding that was on Sunday. I didn’t say anything to any one except Kev because it was her weekend. Well Sunday evening came around, it was late like after midnight and we were finally back at my parents house after all the celebration, so I told my parents. We had a family meeting on Monday night (mine and Kevs parents) to talk about if they would give us their blessing to move so far away. By the end of the meeting we were getting really excited and my dad goes “does this mean you are engaged?” and we looked at each other and just started laughing. We had no ring but we wanted to get married more than anything! It was awesome because I had all these relatives and my best friend there because of my sisters wedding that got to be a part of that night that normally wouldn’t have because they live in Canada. We all toasted with champagne! The next day we went to the jewelers and we picked out a ring together. It was so fun! Then a few days later when it was ready we drove to Framingham to a special spot we use to hang out in college and he got down on one knee and officially asked me to marry him.
3. What was your wedding like?
We got engaged on May 24th(? I think thats the day) and we had to leave to drive cross country and move on July 2nd. We were already going on a cruise in June for my moms 50th so we decided why not get married on a Cruise. We got married on June 16th in the morning as we docked in Key West, FL. We had a JP come on the boat (who was crazy by the way and it was awesome) and we got married in front of our parents and siblings in the viking lounge on the ship. It was awesome and amazing and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. It cost us like $1000 bucks + my dress and our rings and that was it. Before the actually ceremony we all gathered in my parents stateroom (they had a balcony) and my dad gave us a little service. Both parents spoke and I feel like that is where we really got married all cuddled in a little room with each other. The other stuff was just a formality that we laughed and giggled all the way thru. It was the most romantic thing ever. You can read more of my thoughts on it HERE. We got engaged, Married and moved to Hawaii all in 5 weeks.
4. Wedding Pictures?
If you go to the top right of my site you can click on Gallery and see photos of our wedding. I wore a very simple dress. I am not a beading girl, so my dress was plain except for the gathered sections at bottom and a gray silk ribbon around my waist.
5.What Island in Hawaii did you live on?
We lived on Oahu and we just loved it!!
6. How did Kev feel about me starting my blog? Does Kev read your blog?
I had had a Livejournal account since we moved to hawaii so we blogged on that for a year as we lived away from family. I just kept it up when we moved back. Last Jan. I had expressed interest in having a more legit looking blog and wanting to make it more of my passion. He was right on board. He is the one the bought me the domain name for valentines day last year as well as designing my whole site for me.
Kev is I think the biggest fan of jenloveskev. He reads every post and he also reads every comment you guys leave. He is very sweet about how much he loves my blog.
7. How do I take my coffee?
I don’t drink coffee (except mocha ice cream does that count?) I never got into it. I am much more obsessed with tea! Especially Mint green tea. I have about 2-3 cups a day.
8. When do we get to see new apartment pictures?
Although we are all moved in, I still have some things to hang on walls and things to do to make it feel more like our home. We aren’t allowed to paint and I am having a hard time having all cream walls. yuck! I am trying to fill the walls up nicely before we show everyone. Soon though!
9. If I could live anywhere where would that be?
Well now isnt that the million dollar question. hehe. This is something we always talk about. We arent people to settle. Do I think albany will always be my home- no but do I know where that is, no. I do know I have a fondness in my heart for living out near Vancouver. We would really just like to do a lot of exploring to cities around the US and Canada to figure that out. I would say in a fantasy I would love to move and live in Paris.
10. How do we pick up and move with out it seeming like a big deal?
I moved a lot as a kid so the world just seems small to me. I am not afraid of change and well actually love it. So moving and changing locations excites me because of how it will let me grow as a person and all the new things I will get to experience.
11.Does Kev care about how many clothes I buy? Does he get annoyed with it all? Where do I keep all my clothes?
I luckily have a huge walk in closet now that holds all my clothes very nicely. I will have to take a picture someday for you.
hehe now the question about Kev is funny, when he read that one he said “Good Question!”. The answer is yes he does but he has gotten a lot more relaxed about it all. I am not a crazy spender as you all know, I like bargains, thrift stores and clearance racks so he knows that I am respectful of our money and that I try to spend wisely. But I will say we have worked out and I try to stick to a clothing budget for the month.
12.What is the biggest Challenge of being married? What is the best part? Do I hate how people portray marriage now a days?
Umm their are always challenges in relationships but we work on them as best we can together. I will be honest and say that OUR biggest challenge is how we see money. I am a little more of a free spender than Kev who wants to be the big saver. Although we do butt heads over it sometimes, I also think it balances us each out. We have a healthy savings account because of him and we have a little risk taking because of me. It works out for the best in the end.
Hmm the best? Can I say everything? Being Married is the single biggest blessing in my life. I love it more & more every day that goes by. I feel like before we got married I was like “I wont feel any different after we are married” but the truth is the more people I talk to that have gotten married all agree the answer is yes you do feel different. I feel like as soon as we were married I loved kev more than I even did before. It was different, it was better. For me marriage is something I couldn’t be happier with! Its sad that the movies and media portray Marriage as being this terrible thing that ties you down. I hate that! I hate when I hear women saying how stupid their husbands are or men bad mouthing their nagging wife. It makes my heart hurt. I hope that we can be a glimmer of light about marriage out there in such a negative world.
13. Favorite TV show?
The Office is by far our favorite show. I also love 30 rock, Friends, Project Runway and Top Chef.
14.Did I see a lot of love at home from my parents? and do I think that effected how I see my marriage and home today?
This was a really great question. My parents have been married for a very long time. When we were growing up there was A LOT of love in my home. We always felt loved but it was also clear how much my dad loved my mom and my mom loved my dad. They made that clear to us. Sometimes I would be upset about them going on a date together but now I think that is so awesome that they made time for each other like that. I do think my parents are my role models of how marriage a ΓΒ should go and I hope that I model that to others and to our future children.
15. Babies?
Kev and me def. want a family sometime and when the time is right it will happen and we will be very excited about it.
16. Does kev have an opinion on how I describe our life together?
I am very honest in what I write about us so he never really says anything about it because he feels the same way about what I am writing. He does like to criticize how terrible my grammar and spell is on my blog though. hehe whoops! All I can say is that’s why I am an art teacher not an english teacher…
17. Favorite place in Boston?ΓΒ
Boston is def. by far Kev and me’s favorite city. I love love love Boston. We love it best in the summer because we love just wondering around the streets on warm nights. We still love walking along the freedom trail even if we have done it hundreds of times. We love hanging out in the common, eating at outdoor cafes on newbury st. We love Mass Ave. over by the middle east. We love Harvard Sq. and also love love love the Harvard Natural History Museum. We love the northend, and walking along the harbor, we also love the ICA- what a view from there!! I could go on forever!
Oh my gosh! Such wonderful stuff! I may be your next stalker…just kidding! I love love love the fact the your husband is your best friend! There really shouldn’t be any other way to have it. I can totally relate to a lot of stuff that you said. My husband is my best friend as well and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I can’t keep anything from him (which sometimes is difficult) and he of course is the silly one and makes me laugh all the time!
I do believe that marriages do get a bad rap sometimes. I do feel different being married then I did before but I’m good with that. We still act like ourselves and still do the same things we did before just we do it together. And if we hang out seprately its no biggie either.
I definetly get too the whole spending/saving thing. That is one issue we fought about constantly before we got married. Once we got married though it worked out better. I’m the constant spender (though i have learned to curb my spending…and its been H-A-R-D) and the husband is the saver. It does have its balance and i’m just glad he’s not a spender like me otherwise we would be homeless..ugh! My husband told someone once that my middle name was clearance! I shop clearance racks and thrift stores as well and I use coupons quite frequently. My huband gets annoyed by my shopping but he knows now that I rarely ever buy anything full price!
Well now that I’ve told you my life story its time to go! I just wanted to share with you because I feel we have a lot in common (might be the name..). You are such an inspiration and a wonderful woman! Keep going strong and know that you are making a difference in this world!
Btw, Hi KEV!
I just gushed reading all of these answers.. honestly. We are so similiar that it just freaks me out. I LOVE how you and Kev met and eventually ended up together! I was in the almost exact situation.. where I was with a guy for 4.5 years.. he was awful but I don’t know.. I was scared to be alone and I met Brett while still with my old boyfriend. Eventually I broke up with my old boyfriend.. and a month later, Brett and I were dating, 6 months later engaged and 7 months later married! I adore how you talk about marriage. I couldn’t agree more. Marriage does make you feel different and I think I’m at my best because I’m married to Brett! I absolutely loved reading your answers. I cannot wait to continue reading more! You’re the biggest sweetheart!
That is such a cute story!! My husband and I decided to get married kind of suddenly too, and had the wedding like a month and a half later. We got married in the Arnold Arboretum in JP, which you guys probably know.
I just read all of this and feel like I’ve learned so much about you! Thanks for answering my question about your dream place to live π It’s really inspiring to see that you guys aren’t afraid of traveling and moving, I feel like in a couple of years my boyfriend and I will be like you and Kev in that aspect. We always talk about our traveling dreams and especially of living in Seattle. Thanks for that inspiration and for talking about how lovely married life is.. I also feel like it is a HUGE misconception and can’t wait to prove people otherwise π You are great, Jen!
Jen and Kev, I love you guys! I was almost crying reading Jen’s post, even though I know the stories already! I miss you two! I am so thankful for our time togethe rin Hawaii. One thing that your answer about marriage reminded me of is a quote on a Starbucks cup I saw a few times. (Since Jen doesn’t drink coffee, I thought I’d pass it on.) The Way I see It #76: “The irony of commitment is that itΓ’β¬β’s deeply liberating Γ’β¬β in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life.” It’s not EXACTLY about marriage, but it’s a pretty cool thought none-the-less. Anyhow, miss you two!
I loved reading all your answers! I can’t wait to learn more!
I loved reading your Q&A…it is so nice to go beyond just the blog to learn more about you and your life since sometimes it feels like I know you. My husband thinks that part is funny because I read about your life so it does feel that way even though we actually have never met.
I will say that the answer you wrote about the “money” differences in your marriage, was like reading about US. After getting married, it was definetely an adjustment for us in coming to an agreement in the way we spend. Like you, i’m the free spirit spender, and he isn’t so much but it depends. We have butt heads many times on that issue but over time we have come to a mutual understanding and it has worked out so much better. Thank you again for sharing your life with everyone!
Thank you so much for sharing! I really enjoyed reading all your responses. Your relationship is so full of love. It’s inspiring to hear about good marriages. Like you said, so many are negative. It really irks me when I get those infamous email forwards talking about how stupid men are. I love my husband so much that I couldn’t even imagine putting him down like that.
For your apartment, you could always do wall decals. There are some really fantastic ones on Etsy these days. The matte ones look great (less like a sticker). I also saw a post on Design Sponge today where a gal had a similar problem. She made really cool designs using contact paper. I’m sure whatever you decide, your apartment will look wonderful. You & Kev are so creative and your living space reflects that.
I loved reading this; thank you so much for sharing! I really enjoyed reading about yours and Kev’s relationship. It’s clear that you two love each other very deeply. I agree with you that marriage is portrayed as such an irritating and annoying thing by the media and tv shows. But I love being married! My husband is my best friend, my partner in crime, and the person I love spending time with the most. We have a very unique bond, and it’s so nice to hear about another couple who have something similar. Now you guys have gone and made me tear up a little. I’m becoming such a sap. π
And awesome job with the wedding! It sounds amazing. We did a more traditional church wedding with dinner/reception/dance approach, but we took it as a personal challenge to be as frugal as possible. We ended up keeping it under $2000 which is unheard of in our area! We were really proud and had a great time.
I was so happy to read the baby question! My sister just had a baby and now my soon-to-be sister-in-law is preggers and I have baby fever! I am excited to follow A Cup of Jo on her pregnancy journey! Glad you shared something so personal!
yay! it’s so nice to hear from someone else who feels about marriage the way i do. i feel so, so blessed to have married my very best friend. we would be together 24/7 if we could–not in an icky, codependent way, but just b/c that’s how much we enjoy being together. i am so sad for my girlfriends who don’t have the same kind of loving, fun relationship. i often wonder why people would get married if they aren’t crazy for each other, but i have to remind myself that not everyone is as lucky as we are, and they might not know the difference between love and LOVE.
p.s. i love that you used the expression “makes my heart hurt”–i say it all the time, too!!! π
This was such a good read! I used my morning break at work to make sure I had enough time to read it all. You guys are just so dang cute! It’s the most refreshing thing in the world to read about people that love the idea of marriage and are happy about it and don’t see it as a burden in anyway. (I feel the same way about my marriage.)
Thanks for sharing all this stuff about the 2 of you. It’s really sweet.
Wow. I just have one thing to say – I can’t wait to get married now! π
You guys are amazing, and your marriage and faith is DEFINITELY making a difference to the world. As is, of course, your art. π
Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions! I love your story on how you got engaged and married.
Very sweet. My husband and I were also friends for years before we got together. He asked me out 3 times before and I said no, because he is 2 years younger than me and I considered that to be too young. Good thing you took a chance on Kev!
You inspired me to write a blog of my own before I even finished reading yours…Love love loved it. Thanks for sharing your heart, humor and story. Big blessings to both of you π
Hi Jen, thank you so much for answering my question, I loved reading about you guys! You know, your stories on your blog make me hopeful for the future – I always asumed that relationships were just plain hard work, but you show us that they are so much fun and rewarding too. I hope that my yet unknown future husband and me will be just as happy as you guys.
Aww! Cute! Thanks for sharing.
Aww these are the most cutest answers I have ever read to these kind of questions. I love that you shared all this with us and your proposal was the BEST! Best wishes always for the both of you.
xoxo
This was by far my favorite post you have done. Loved it. This is tottaly random but I keep this postivety/what i am grateful for type journal and my quote I wrote down for the day was what you said about moving and your outlook. The big diffrence between my guy and I is he is the military and likes the moving and the adventure of it and it makes me nervous. Reading that deffintly made me feel more positive about it. Thank you
Nik
Hi Jen,
I actually checked out a blog today and she happened to talk about a fix for not being able to paint on walls. I thought it was pretty cool. Hope it helps..
.http://sabbespot.blogspot.com/2010/01/tutorial-contact-paper-chevron-wall.html
This was a great read. You and Kev seem like the cutest couple!
I totally agree with what you said about marriage. Being married is the biggest blessing in my life and I’m thankful everyday I come home to be with my husband. Hopefully, people will learn that marriage is a blessing and not a burden through your blog.
mm! have you ever tried Moroccan mint tea? it’s delicious!
also, i love hearing yours and kev’s love story. you seem like the greatest of friends!
I had to read bits of pieces of your post to my fiance (Tim), because like others who commented, we’re quite a bit alike. I’m a teacher, he’s a photographer, we’re best friends, etc, etc, and I am a bit obsessed with the Office.:)
Wow! For Kev to know you belonged together, but to walk away for 7 months took a lot of self control! He must have thought of you often. That would have been a LONG 7 months!! What a great end to that story though!
aww i love this Q&A post. you and kevin are adorable and you truly are a very lucky lady for finding someone you can happily spend the rest of your life with. i love how you guys got engaged, married, and a new home in a whole new part of the world in just 5 short weeks! haha π
thanks for sharing!
This was the most lovely read. A loving marriage is such a wonderful blessing in someone’s life. I loved the love story of how you and Kev met and the wedding seemed so romantic. My husband, Zach, and I met way back in sixth grade, and I knew way before him that we’d be married some day. True love like that is so hard to run away from. By the time we were 18 we were dating, by 20 engaged, and by 22 married. Reading yours and others blogs on wedded bliss is so inspiring for other young married couples. Thank you for sharing your happiest moments in marriage. It puts so much in perspective and makes me so thankful to have someone to share my life with as well.
This was wonderful, thank you for sharing. Your love for each other is so sweet and very inspiring. The story of your engagement, wedding and move was so great — so wonderful that you pulled it off in five weeks! I had a similar dating experience when I first met my husband — we were in other relationships but liked each other, then those broke off, we became good friends and started dating at 18, and got married at 22. It’s been really great to read your blog — I can’t wait to read more of your Q&A!
i adored reading all of this! so amazing, thank you for sharing!
I think I might love you even more than I did before after reading this! It really is amazing to see a young married couple so inlove! I love it. I love seeing couples that just honestly want the best for each other. I loved your wedding too! I really think you did it the right way because it was all about you marrying the man of your dreams, not the wedding. If I get married, I want to do something similar, very small and low key. Thank you so much for writing this, i loved reading it!
YEAH to marrying a hockey player!! I really did say “yay!” out loud when I read that, which made my goalie husband come into the room. He looked at the pic of Kev and said “Yup, looks like a right winger”. Like he’s the expert!
Thanks so much for sharing all this Jen, it’s really great to hear it all and I loved hearing how you and Kev got engaged, married and then moved, it’s really inspirational.
I am looking forward to reading all your other Q&A posts as well!
Hello Dear! I loved reading this. It’s good for someone to talk about marriage in such a positive light for a change. I was having this convo with some friends last night actually. We were saying “is something wrong with us that we’re actually happy?” or “Are we stupid that we think everything is really ok and that being married is great” and she said “My husband always says, who cares if we live in our own little happy bubble world. Other people’s marriages should not define ours” I agree that being married is an amazing blessing. How much more can you accomplish in life as a team and who better to share life with than your best friend! You know I love you guys and I love your story. xoxo I hope you’re having a great day! And Hi Kev!
I loved reading every answer; thank you for sharing so much! Reading this made me really happy, and it reminds me of me and my husband! We are also best friends. At 16 years old, we knew we wanted to be married, so we were engaged at 19, and married at 20. Now we’re 22. I feel the same way about marriage that you do…it’s a happy, wonderful thing that does get better everyday! I’m glad to know there are others out there that feel similarly. It’s clear that you and Kev are very happy, and that’s wonderful! The more stuff you share, the more I feel like we have in common.
Thanks for sharing so much about your life! Your blog is my favorite one out of the many I read because your personality comes through so much! It’s such an inspiration to read. π
These were a lot of fun to read. I love hearing more about you and also your and Kevin’s history.. (And of course all the mentions of Canada!!! I haven’t been to Vancouver yet, but I have a couple couches I can sleep on out there so I’m hoping sooner rather than later.)
It sounds like quite a love story. Lucky you guys, to be able to move around. I’m a bit too chicken for that, still living with mom and dad and really sad that they are thinking of moving away to Niagara and I’d stay behind.
And… HOCKEY BOYS, no Canadian girl can resist that.
Barf. Kidding I love you saps. Barf.
Hello vous comment trouvez-vous de mon nouveau blog sur l’immobilier?