I had the most gorgeous jog along the Hudson after church last night. I’m trying to only do movement that relieves stress and makes me feel good lately. And yesterday evening it was in the 60s and breezy and the sunset was stunning so I jog/walked along the river for 4 miles while talking with my momma.
I use to do these posts sometimes where I write out my stream of consciousness. It makes me feel like we’re friends. Because we are. The internet is this wild, yet beautiful place where you can become friends with people that you might not ever meet in real life. Could be creepy….but could be awesome. I’ll take awesome. So because I love you guys so much and think of you as friends, here’s what we might chat about if we were grabbing a cup of coffee or glass of wine together.
Moving downtown to Battery Park City has been life changing. That’s a bold statement, but a very true one. Nick tells me I throw around blanket statements all the time (because I do) but I feel pretty confident about this one. This move has been life changing. It’s so much quieter, cleaner, and being near the water feels so freeeeeeee. I thought I’d miss Central Park, but I’ll take life near the Hudson over the park any day. I can’t wait for summer time on the piers.
Nick and I had a rocky engagement. Not in a way that ever had us questioning marriage, but it was just hard. We were in a pressure cooker of big decision making with moving to a new apartment together, wedding planning, me graduating, etc etc and you guys….we fought a lot. I know the internet makes everyone’s world seem perfect, but if you were a fly on the wall, you would have seen a lot of tears and frustration. Now that we are near the end of this huge transition season in terms of logistics (moving is done, planning is almost done, I’m done with school) life is just sweeter. We can actually enjoy each other more, there’s more margin for tolerating the daily frustrations of New York City, and I feel really grateful for not only where we’re at now, but where we’ve been. Nick always says disagreements help us understand each other better and that couldn’t be more true. I’m thankful for all the times we were pissed off or annoyed or frustrated with each other. We’ve been able to love each other at our worst.
I have zero tolerance for alcohol lately. I had two glasses of wine at my friend Hannah Jane’s birthday on Saturday and woke up Sunday slightly hungover even though I was nowhere near drunk. We will be in wine country for a few days in South Africa next week and I gotta build up my tolerance….who wants to come over for a glass of wine tonight?
People keep asking me if I’m stressed or nervous with the wedding coming up and I’m surprisingly not…should I be? I have a mega list of last minute details that need to get done when I get home on Wednesday and where things and people need to be when, so that’s a little stressful, but nothing that’s consuming me. Nervous? Oh girl, nah. If by nervous you mean giddy where I can’t fall asleep because of shear excitement of having all our people in one place and marrying Nick…then yea, I guess I’m nervous. Really, I’m so ready.
If I could ask one selfish thing, could I ask you guys this? Can you pray for no rain on Saturday? It’s the midwest, so the forecast could say thunderstorms and it could be clear skies, but the weather is totally up and down and today it says 78 degrees and 90% chance of rain. I know at the end of the day we will still be married…..but like no rain and sunshine would be REALLY AWESOME. <3 <3
I hope whatever your week brings, you take time to slow down and soak up the good stuff. That could be as simple as enjoying your cup of coffee in stillness. It’s hard in this chaotic, productivity obsessed world we live in, but it matters. Share in the comments something you’d tell me if we were hanging out in real life!
xo
I am so happy for you, Robyn! You have really worked so hard in school and building a beautiful relationship with Nick. Don’t be nervous-no need to be! Be excited about your wedding and your honeymoon and spending so much time with your new husband. You guys deserve it! I’ll be praying for no rain for you, but even if it does…Rain is good luck. I got married in rainy San Francisco and after 3 years of marriage, we are so so happy. Congrats from a friend you might not ever meet.
Mmm I totally understand the joy of being by the water. There is so much peace in staring out at the beach or even a lake. I’m so excited for you two! It is so true that trials can help us grow. James wasn’t kidding when he said to consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds, because it really does produces perserverance. I am hoping to figure out summer job stuff this week, read more of Intuitive Eating (I just started it!), and go line dancing this weekend with some of my best friends for one of their birthdays! Praying for your wedding this morning!
Robyn, I am SO thrilled for you and Nick. I can’t wait to see the pictures so I can pretend I was there, celebrating with you! I will be praying that your marriage will reflect Christ and His church and for no rain 😉
After not having a period for 3.5 years and just recently getting it back on track totally naturally, I get giddy every time I get one. Who knows how long the giddiness will last but for now, I’m just so thankful my body is functioning as it should again. Your blog has had a huge part in encouraging me to get it on track by eating more and worrying about weight and exercise less. That was the key for me to get it back. Mainly psychological things were causing undue stress and worry. But by the help of the Spirit and through your encouragement, here we are. Regularly menstruatinf again for 5 months now. So if we were chatting over coffee, I’d pray for your upcoming marriage with you, encourage you from Ephesians 5 and from the selfless life of Jesus. I’d tell you praise Jesus for how you and Nick have strived for purity in your relationship before marriage. Hallelujah that is a rare treasure!! And I’d tell you thank you from the bottom of my heart because more than you know, you have helped me. Thank you and keep it up!!!!
Happy wedding week, Miss Robyn!! xo
I’ve read your blog for years and have been so inspired by your relationship. Thank you for being honest about your struggles, because it makes me feel less alone! Sometimes I wonder whether disagreements automatically mean the end of a relationship, and it’s so encouraging to see that doesn’t have to be the case. Best wishes on your big day!
I’m coming over for wine – be there shortly! I tried not to look at the forecast the week of my wedding – it sounds similar to yours. And then it was a perfect day, just like yours will be 🙂
Aw this is so sweet. So excited for you, Robyn! I, too had a rocky engagement with my now husband, but I’m grateful for the challenging times because they make the great times so much sweeter. The first year of marriage was equally as challenging, but as we are now entering our second year of marriage, I can confidently say things get smoother! I hope you have the most amazing wedding day and I look forward to hearing more about it soon! Wishing you all the love and happiness.
I relate so much to what you just said! My husband and I had a little rockiness in our engagement and a lot in our first 6 months of marriage (but never doubted our relationship) because my mom got diagnosed with cancer, I went to 6 weeks of treatment with her, we bought and demo’ed a new house to DIY reconstruct, We both tried to move in and purge and combine stuff– so many changes and I don’t do well with change! But now we’re good and life has settled down and it is so sweet!! I will be praying for you this weekend and as you start your new marriage! Congrats!!!
Oh bless you that is rough! But you are so much stronger because of it – thank you for sharing Chloe! xoxo
Congratulations on the wedding, and appreciate your honesty as always. Will say a little prayer for sunshine on Saturday, but FWIW, I had a friend who got married during a huge thunderstorm in Southern IL and it was GORGEOUS. Seriously, her photos looked like a movie set. (Not her, but like these: https://www.buzzfeed.com/melissaharrison/beautiful-rainy-day-weddings?utm_term=.ubPj2lEnV#.uroogBrVb) So no matter what I’m sure it will be a beautiful day.
love all these pictures! we’ve already ordered cream rain boots and clear umbrellas!
Love this post! We went to South Africa for our honeymoon too – best trip ever. I don’t know if you already have everything planned, but I highly recommend the restaurant / winery Jordan (http://www.jordanwines.com/). We ate lunch tehre and it was one of my favorite meals ever! I know the menu changes, but if they have the poppyseed souffle on the menu, it may be the best dessert I’ve ever had.
Thank you so much for the recommendation! Will definitely want to go there
xoxo
I loved this post! I’m much more of a listener than a talker, so words don’t come so easy to me, but I’ll try! I’d tell you how great work has been lately, how excited I’m about going back home for summer, how I should be planning visiting a few friends but always forget to book tickets (it feels like so much trouble for some reason!) and that I’m secretly happy that we are having colder and rainier days, because they mean staying in and cozy, which I’m all about.
Hope everything goes great for you and Nick in a few days!! <3
I always look forward to reading your posts. Wishing you lots of happiness!
Awww! Your wedding/start of marriage is SOCLOSE. How exciting!!! It makes me all the more excited for my fiancé to come home from his deployment in a couple months so we can finally get married (I feel like we’re living through you guys, friend!) Lots of love, sunshine, and prayers are coming your way!
I don’t know how you do deployment – you are amazing!! so much love to you and your future wedding!
I love these types of posts, Robyn 🙂 So real and honest and so YOU! Gahhh I can’t believe your wedding is already so soon! I don’t think it’s weird not to be nervous– I wasn’t nervous at all before marrying Will because I just knew God was behind it ALL. We had total peace about the whole wedding– even the tiny little details. We ALSO got married outdoors in bipolar weather Miami, Florida with rain on the forecast. It rained and rained and rained all morning long, but when it came time to walk down the aisle the sky suddenly cleared over us! So weird, but so awesome. Literally, in the wedding photos you can see a ray of light on us and gray skies in the back!
Soooo am I saying that will happen to you? Hopefully you have no rain to deal with in the first place! But what I’m trying to say is that your wedding will awesome, period. 😀 Your testimony with Nick and how you ended up finding each other in NYC is so cool, and I can’t wait to see how the Lord uses your union in the future. As always, thank you for sharing with us <3
This is so encouraging Brittany so THANK YOU. It’s in the Lords hands, I just have to trust it!
xoxo
if we were having coffee, wine or unicorn frappe together, i’d tell you that im so excited for you and nick! i will be praying for no rain….
SO EXCITED FOR YOU.
I’m not praying all that much, but I sure as ‘heck am praying for you. So much love of you girl!
Praying for you love! But honestly the weather will not matter, trust me, all that you will remember from the day is walking down the aisle to your hubby in front of God and your family and friends. It will be the best day no matter what xx
yes yes and YES
How did I miss that you were going to South Africa? Where will you be? I was in and around Cape Town in October and I LOVED every minute of it. Let me know if you want recommendations (you have my email)! So excited for you!!
happy for all recommendations! thank YOU!
In and around Cape Town – EAT ALL THE FOOD. Food is cheap and so good. We did not have a meal that we were disappointed in. Hudson’s burgers was delish. Also the the Bombay Bicycle Club was AMAZING as was Bizerca (recommend a reservation for this one). I think the most we spend on a meal per person was $25 US. If you can get to Simonstown, the penguin colony there is fun to watch and the Cape Point was fun place to hike (and see wild ostriches). We also did a safari on a huge game reserve (we chose that because it was close and easy) that was super fun (I can’t remember the name of the place at the moment).
There are some really great beaches and the hiking is amazing around Cape Town as well. We did Lionshead but unfortunately did not get up Table Mountain (don’t recommend the tram, it’s really crowded). Have so much fun!
I’ve heard rain is good luck on your wedding day! BUT I can totally understand wanting a beautiful, sunny day. I just booked a cruise in the same month that I plan on moving 14 hours away from home and trying to find a house/job at the same time sooo…hopefully I will get life figured out when that time comes around. Trying to take life one day at a time at this point!
Congratulations on yours and Nick’s big day!!
I live in Indianapolis so I’ll definitely wish for sunshine and clear skies for you!!!
hey to another hoosier! xo
Yay!! So excited for you! I’ll be praying for awesome weather for you and everything to go smoothly!! I know what you mean about busy seasons–I’m pregnant and we just moved and we’re now getting everything ready for baby! So overwhelming and stressful but so exciting all at the same time. Cant wait to hear about your beautiful day!
hey Robyn! It’s been nine months or so since I got to pick your brain on the phone about work-related stuff, and over the course of these months I’ve kept up with the blog, reading about your engagement and planning and transitioning and I can only say that I relate so much and appreciate all your willingness to be vulnerable and open about how trying transitions can be, that’s definitely been true for my fiance and I too. There’s joy amongst all the challenges. Lots of love and warm wishes to you and Nick.
Gosh, I just love you. I wish we could be friends in REAL life instead of just online! Thank you for your transparency in everything. I can completely relate to engagement being difficult. And then marriage being tough. I had such unrealistic expectations of what marriage would be like and the role my husband was supposed to play. Thankfully we had people who poured into our marriage to build it up. And I am so thankful for the Holy Spirit’s activity in our hearts! I have no doubt that the Lord will be glorified through your marriage and that you will be transformed through it!…As far as the rain goes, we had a TON of people praying for no rain as well! It pooouuuured the night before, rained the morning of, and then was absolutely beautiful that afternoon and evening. I can definitely be praying for good weather 🙂
This is so helpful to hear! I’ve heard a lot of stories like this so praying something FIERCE. Thanks for sharing your story 🙂 xoxo
Robyn— I’m so excited for you and Nick! I just can’t wait to see pics and hear all about your beautiful wedding. Thanks for sharing life with us “online friends”. I had a rocky road to getting engaged as we were long distance for 2 years. If we could survive that, we could survive anything. Here we are almost 14 years later!! Getting married and all the events surrounding was seriously the happiest time of my life. Enjoy every moment.
What a amazing marriage (not easy, but amazing) that you have – thanks for sharing!! xo
i’d tell you that i’m getting married one month after you and share your feelings about ‘nervousness’. I’d also thank you for sharing about your fights, as it makes you more relate-able and down to earth. 🙂 my fingers are crossed for you for no rain, and i can’t wait to read posts about South Africa!!
I live in South Africa and I cannot wait to hear about your trip here! Enjoy your wedding week!
Thank you for your genuine and honest post. I often think, what do these bloggers think of those that follow them consistently? For you to share your life and your thoughts has been a connecting experience for me. Primarily because some of my struggles don’t seem so daunting when I realize that others struggle with similar challenges. In this way, the internet can be a true gift – connecting those in a way that enables comfort and sharing. For you to reach out during such a personal and beautiful time is so nice. Take care and enjoy this time. May your beautiful union bring health and happiness.
Oh how we are all in this big world together girly 🙂
xo
oh it looks like such a gorgeous day! nyc is my favorite place in the world, and i love getting a lil peek into the life of people who actually get to live there and experience all the seasons and stuff. especially when its still winter-y where i live – jealous!
The morning of my outdoor wedding there were hurricane rains, I mean tarential down pours. I literally cried the morning of my wedding (I mean who does that?!?? I should have been so ecstatic) but by the time we finished getting ready the sun had come out and it was THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DAY! The rain made the air lighter, the sky look amazing, my pictures look fake! So even if it does rain, it could change, and he chances of it raining at the exact 30ish mins of your ceremony aren’t that likely and a sprinkling of rain is tolerable!! Good luck, and enjoy it, it’ll go by so quickly your head will spin. We also went to South Africa for our one year wedding anniversary and it was the besttttttttttt place everrrrr!!!
oh my bless your soul – I’ve had some tears so you’re not alone 🙂 trying to keep the big picture in mind!
I can’t handle alcohol anymore either… must be something about getting older.
I’ll cross my fingers for Saturday. Wishing you all the best this weekend!
You are not alone. My engagement got rough at times, much like yours: never in a way that made us question our love but definitely enough to question our patience! And let me tell you, that doesn’t stop even after marriage. Things come up, life things that are hard to avoid and you need to navigate together. Family can be your biggest asset and at the same time, can be the biggest annoyance. As long as you are both committed and can laugh after the storms pass, everything will work out!
And no, you shouldn’t be nervous. I remember feeling ready and excited. It would drive me crazy when people would imply that I should feel weary or “nervous.” I just… felt great!
Enjoy every minute of your wedding. Take a moment just to look around the venue while everyone is eating. Just take the moment to take it all in.
Woohoo!! Congrats on the final wedding countdown! I love that you are so conversational and open-thank you!
I relate so much to what you’re saying. My husband and I had a couple rough times in our engagement and a lot of rough times in our first 6 months of marriage simply due to an overwhelming amount of life stressors thrown at us all at once, but now things are great and it is SO sweet. I wouldn’t have picked to have the fights and the rough patches, but reflecting back it was so helpful for us in growing closer together. I am so thankful you guys are able to let go of all the little stuff and enjoy each other! I will be praying for you this weekend and can’t wait to see pictures!
I’m so excited for you, Robyn! I love how you are so honest and real in your posts. I got married this past September, and I had NO IDEA how stressful planning a wedding, moving in together, etc etc would be. But you are so right — all the disagreements and frustrations make you stronger as a couple by working through things together. And I just remember how everything related to our wedding planning was SO worth it in the end. Our wedding was hands-down the best day of my life. My main piece of advice is to really soak in the day, especially that walk down the aisle. Being surrounded by all those people who love you most in the world, walking towards the person you love most in the world, is such a surreal and powerful experience!
I wrote a blog post recently with 7 things I would tell my pre-wedding self… wanted to share in case it’s helpful! https://daybydaymasterpiece.com/2017/03/17/7-things-i-would-tell-my-wedding-planning-self/
Sending love and prayers your way!
First, I’ll say congratulations and best wishes! And that the wedding is the starting line, not the finish line. I hope you have a wonderful day and that it feels exciting and special. But sometimes it takes a while to feel that – you need some distance from it to really reflect. Our wedding was the hottest day of the year (back in 2004 in Seattle). No AC meant that everyone was hot and sweaty. And that’s all anyone ever says about our wedding almost 13 years later! But I got to marry the love of my life and love him more today. So that made it amazing, but the complaining still makes me cringe a bit. Just know that the day doesn’t determine the marriage. And that you have lots of wonderful days ahead! Cheers to the new chapter!
my heart is just welling up with joy seeing this. I would tell you Robyn that I want to chat more; you remind me of the value of being truthful, real, joyful, and honest about the ups and downs of life. I’m always humbled by your honesty and thankful that you’re shining so much light of the gospel in this online space.
I love quiet. I love still and slow; I used to think that I could keep up with the rest of the bustle. But lately, I’ve realized I was just made for a step slower than a lot of people, which is ok. Maybe i can be their cheerleaders and help them with the details…
And you live in such a beautiful city. I <3 those sunrises and sunsets.
Can Not Wait to watch you two grow together and blossom in the Lord.
Thanks so much for your honesty, Robyn! I’m praying for good weather on your wedding weekend. If we were getting coffee I would tell you I”m really happy you’re enjoying life downtown – though as an Upper East Sider I’ll admit I’m going to miss sometimes spotting you in the gym/Whole Foods/the park! (I always wanted to say hi but didn’t want to bother you in real life). Really really happy for you and grateful for the awesome perspective you provide on balance and health – not only in food but in relationships as well.
oh you so should have said hi!! I love seeing readers 🙂
This is such an exciting time for you, and I’m so honored you’re letting us be a part of it. 🙂 Definitely praying for you to have a beautiful, sunny wedding day, and I hope its as magical and wonderful as you both deserve. ❤️
If we were chatting, I’d tell you about the job interview I have tomorrow that I’m so excited for because it means getting back into a field where I can be creative again! Big hugs, Jess
GOOD LUCK on that interview! You will crush it!
xo