Life's Most Stressful Moments??? Our Amazing Summer!

I’ve been told that life’s most stressful moments include: a career change, buying a house, moving, getting married, and having children.

Exchange having children with completing a master’s degree, and you’ve got our summer! In May, I finished a master’s in public administration from The George Bush School of Government and Public Service. I packed my bags (with much help from my family, Jeremy’s family, Jeremy and friends), and moved to Norman, Oklahoma. That move was into our new, and first, home! Shortly thereafter, Jeremy and I got married, he moved in, and I started a new job. Next thing you know, we’ll be having kids, just to make things more exciting!

Honestly, it has been the best summer of my life. Without getting too mushy on you, Jeremy is the most incredible, God-fearing man I have ever known. He is the perfect combination of intelligence, selflessness, drive, humility, and love. He treats me like a queen (even when I don’t deserve it), and he is such a leader in our faith, our marriage and our life together. Can you tell that I love this guy? More than anyone will ever know!

Graduating from college was a much-anticipated event. After two years of asking myself why in the world I decided to get a master’s, I finally finished, and I’m so glad I did. In the midst of the doubting, tears, and frustration that accompanied the last two years, I am thankful that I finished with a degree in public administration with an emphasis in nonprofit management. It has led me to where I now serve as a development director…a nonprofit called the Mary Abbott Children’s House.

Kate, Emily and I (the female members of our Capstone team).

Before you read any further, if you have children, please give them a hug now and show them how much you love them. There are too many kids in this world who don’t know that love, and they need it (this rant has a point)! The Mary Abbott Children’s House (http://www.abbott-house.org/) is Norman’s local child advocacy center. Here, we serve as a child abuse response center. Children who have been abused come to our restored Victorian home, a safe place where they can tell their story. It is at the Abbott House where healing can begin and where we hope to help children and families get the help they need to lead healthy, productive lives. The Abbott House is not a shelter…it is the beginning of the long process of healing, and the children leave Abbott House with resources to start that process. We see it all, and daily I have to remind myself that God opens doors for a reason, that the sadness of each situation is not something that I should focus on – rather it is an opportunity to take these stories and garner support to make a difference in the lives of these children. I am raising money for Abbott House and hoping to secure a financial future for the organization in order that other staff members can continue to serve child victims of abuse. If nothing else, my job serves as a daily reminder of how very blessed I am to have such an amazing family and wonderful friends who love me – thank you.

The Mary Abbott Children's House

On to happier things (yes, this is a long post)…Jeremy and I are finally married. Little does he know how long this girl has been dreaming about being Mrs. Fisk. Ha! Sadly (or gladly), that’s not far from the truth. From the moment I met him in 6th grade, I knew he was special. Ha ha, no I didn’t plan our wedding then, but here I was at my older cousin Cy and Matt’s house, and they were having a high school graduation get-together. It was Jeremy who went out of his way to make me feel like the most special person in the room. I’ve since found out that he has the uncanny ability to make most people feel that way! So…after about nine years, we met back up at Cy’s wedding, had a few bumps along the way and then committed to each other for life on June 27th! I have never felt as sure about any decision in my life. How thankful I am that he asked me to be his wife and that God’s hand guided our every step to the altar!

The wedding was everything we hoped for: traditional, small, love-filled and fun! We are so thankful to all of those who made the trip to OKC to celebrate with us. Jeremy and I have talked over and over about how blessed we are to have such wonderful family and friends and how much it meant to us to have everyone there sharing in our joy! The events went way too quickly, as we expected they would, but we often look back and smile about the special moments…the toasts, “you’re everything to me,” Jeremy’s garter dance, and simply being with all those we love.

My sister, Rozann, and amazing friend, Cady taking care of everything floral!

Wedding party.

The Mass

After the ceremony...

Announced as "The Fisks"

KTB Sisters Erin and LindsayThe infamous garter dance!

Life couldn't be better

Hosse has my bouquet.

From there, we flew out to Seattle for the first half of our honeymoon. We lived up the three days we were there, and ate more than a family of four! From Pike’s Fish Market to our upgraded rental car (we got a Hummer at no extra charge), it was perfect. We left there to drive to San Francisco, stopping in Eureka, CA for the night (staying at an inn called Carter House). We traveled through the magnificent Redwood Forest and the wine country, even stopping near Sonoma for a wine tasting. In San Francisco, we hit the sites and had the most amazing view of the city from our hotel. We were then back to Norman and off to the Ozarks for a few more days of rest and relaxation.

At Pike Place Market in Seattle in front of the original Starbucks

The Redwood Forest Thru-Tree

Wine tasting in Sonoma

Fishing on Beaver Lake - AR

We came home to officially sign the contract for our new home. Even though we had a few repairs to take care of and a lawn that looked like a jungle, slowly it’s all coming together, and we love it. How wonderful it feels to have something that’s ours.

Our first home

Jeremy the yard-man of the year!

The office

Living Room


Guest Room


Master Bedroom


Kitchen

We’ve settled in, and Jeremy has started back to school. A second-year master’s student in geophysics, he is excelling as always – I think I mentioned before that he is extremely intelligent! He’s currently working on learning how to do a little computer programming between class readings and 3-D imaging. He seems to love it, and that makes me happy.

Other than that, lately we have fun working on the yard, cooking together, exercising and writing thank-you notes (so sorry if you haven’t received yours yet – we’re getting there)! Jeremy is still trying to teach me how to play tennis, and we’re really just enjoying each other, still in awe that we’re finally together, forever.

At the horse races in Del Mar

Jeremy's birthday breakfast on the "you are special today" plate (gotta love traditions)

If you’ve made it through this entire post, you deserve a cookie. Hopefully we’ll continue to provide updates on the happenings of our life from time to time. While a lot of it won’t mean much to anyone but us, we think it’s a fun way to keep in touch with those we cannot communicate with daily. We love you all!