fire of the covenant

Still coming: Blogs about our wedding and honeymoon.  Aaaand the Open House we just had this weekend in Yuma.  [But they're obviously not coming today.  Sorry.  Soon.]

Yesterday on our drive home from Yuma, Tim and I had some really good conversations.  [The joys of being married to your best friend.]  We also listened to "Fire of the Covenant" on tape, which is about the Martin and Willie handcart companies.  [In case that link doesn't work or in case you just feel too lazy to read about it, it's a historical fiction novel about people who traveled across the United States pulling handcarts.  Talk about dedication.]

The conversations and the book combined lead me to some conclusions:

1.  I am very, very blessed.

2.  I take my blessings for granted almost every day.

3.  I need to work on being more grateful.

4.  Tim is a better person than I am.  [He didn't even pay me to write that.  I only write the truth.]

5.  We have a loving Heavenly Father who cares very much about us and our lives.  [I already knew that, but it was reiterated to my heart yesterday.  And in that same reiterating moment, I concluded that living His way is always the right way.]

I highly recommend reading [or listening to] that book.  Or, if you're not into the whole fiction side of "historical fiction," you can read solely the historical accounts of those faithful pioneers.  Because, plainly put, they're worth reading about.  And emulating.

And goodness knows we all need good examples.

The title "Fire of the Covenant" is explained early on in the novel.  Essentially, it is referring to the "fire" in their souls which motivated the saints to make that arduous journey across the plains.  The "fire" which came from their dedication to the covenants they had made with Heavenly Father.

That concept of having a motivation stronger than even your own life because of promises made to a loving Heavenly Father touched me deeply.

And I hope to live and change in such a way that I, too, can have a motivation strong enough that nothing will stand in the way of the promises I have made to Him.

That I can have the "Fire of the Covenant."

sleepy Tim

A sleepy Tim is a funny Tim.  [Mathematically shown: Sleepy Tim = Funny Tim]

Let me give you an example.

Tim has to get up much earlier than I do most days.  However, he doesn't go to bed much earlier than I do.  [Do you see the discrepancy here?]  This means that Tim has been very tired recently.

Just recently we became addicted to started watching a TV show called "Eli Stone."  [Yeah I know.  It ended like two years ago.  But we just discovered it.  Therefore, we just became addicted to started watching it.]

The other night, I tried to convince Tim that instead of watching Eli Stone, we should just go to sleep.  In turn, he tried to convince me that I should just watch it and he would fall asleep next to me.

Me:  You mean it's not going to keep you awake?

Tim:  No, no I'll fall right asleep.  I just know how into this show you are, and since you don't have to go to sleep yet, you should go ahead and watch it.

Me:  No, it's ok.  I'll just fall asleep with you.

Tim:  It's ok, just go ahead and watch it.  Don't worry, I'm so tired, I'm sure I'll be asleep in a matter of minutes.  I'm just gonna go ahead and turn it on.

Then as the episode progressed, he started saying things like:

"Eli!  What are you thinking?!  I mean...uh...I'm just sleep talking."

"Can you believe she did that?!  I mean...uh..." *snores loudly*

Not to mention the fact that before the episode ever started, he brought me an otter pop, but instead of just giving it to me, he started doing karate moves [with sound effects, I might add] before finally giving it to me.

I'm [most certainly] not saying that Tim isn't funny the rest of the time, too.

But.

That is a proof for another day.

the day before the dive

August 4, 2011: The Day Before Our Wedding

The Plan:

Move everything into our new apartment and then drive up to Prescott to help set up for our reception.  Then drive back to Phoenix that night.  Stay with my parents at their motel room.

What actually happened:

I woke up early [though still later than I had planned - it's a weakness, I'll admit], and tried to hurry and get my [endless] list of last-minute tasks done.  Melissa [Tim's sister] and her boyfriend, Brad, got to my house a little early [being late is not a weakness of the Devey family].  Then Tim arrived and the moving began.

At first everything seemed to be going so well; Melissa and Brad were a big help and later more of the Devey family showed up to help.  [There are a plethora of pluses marrying into a 10-children, very sweet family.]  Then, all at once, time seemed to slow.  We just weren't getting things done in the time-frame we had hoped.  [I attribute this to the fact that I own way too much junk memorabilia.]  We finally finished at 3:30pm.  I called my mom, frustrated.  If we left right then - dripping sweat and all - we would get to Prescott by 5:30pm.  Which meant if we were to get back by a decent hour, we'd have to leave Prescott in a very short two hours or so.  Conclusion: not worth it.  We were to stay in Phoenix and let our family and friends do all the set-up.  [Confession: I still feel guilty about this.  I wanted to help.  I really did.  And I really wanted to get a glimpse of what my reception might look like.  Thank goodness for good friends and picture messaging, I suppose.]

After we finished moving everything up three flights of stairs in 110 degree torture [I'm amazed Tim's family still wanted us to get married], we all went to eat at In-N-Out.  [There was absolutely no way we were going to be able to cook anything in our unpacked, disorganized kitchen.  Not that anyone expected us to.]  Then we went back to the apartment and tried to clean and organize a little bit.  [We didn't really want to come back from our honeymoon not knowing where anything was.]

It was an odd feeling.  The apartment was ours but not quite.  It was the place where I would no longer have girl roommates.  Combine what had been "his" and "hers" into "ours."  Home - almost.  It was getting so real.  Our excitement was almost tangible.

My family called to say that they would get to Phoenix much later than expected, so I decided to just stay at our apartment that night.  I said goodbye to my fiance for the last time, and prayed to God I would get some sleep.

p.s.  Blogger keeps redlining "Devey," as if to inform me that my new last name isn't spelled correctly.  Suckers.

Editor's Note: The entire day was made far more manageable because of a smoothie made for me in the morning by a certain best friend/roommate.  She is welcome to make me those even now that I am married.  You know.  If she wants.

dang spoiled

I have come to realize something.

Well, I knew it at the time, but I just didn't fully appreciate it.

I was dang spoiled on my honeymoon.

And not just for the obvious reasons.  [You know, the whole being in Hawaii part.]

But for less obvious reasons, too.

Reasons like the fact that I only get to spend about four total waking hours with Tim each day before we have to go to sleep because we have school or work in the morning.

Or the fact that we don't just get to do whatever we want, whenever we want.

Or the fact that we do spend about 99.97% of our time at said school and work.  [Only a mild exaggeration.  Don't try to do the math.  Just trust me.]

Or the fact that we don't spend very much leisure time together because so much of our time together is spent trying to get things done.

But don't get me wrong...

I love being married.

I love every second of it, actually.

I've never been this happy or this content or this satisfied.

It just makes me appreciate the time we do get to spend together even more.

Which reminds me, Tim is planning a date for tonight, and I have never - literally, never - been this excited to go on a date.  [Ok, so I didn't really need reminding.  I just wanted to share.]

p.s. I still feel dang spoiled.  Thank goodness for a thoughtful husband.

p.p.s. Yes, I am already one of those wives.  But.  I speak the truth.

tabby tab tabs

Check out my new tabs, yo!

I did some updating.  You know, some primping here and there.

And if you're wondering at all why my blog's name is "Sparky," you might wanna check out the "About" tab.

You'll leave feeling exceptionally enlightened, I have no doubt.

I will post more pictures from the wedding [sometime in the near future], and when I do, I'll write about all the details.

But until then, you'll just have to wait with bated breath.

And now for your viewing pleasure [or just for my own amusement]:

Our model shot.  Which makes me giggle a little inside, but I like it nonetheless.

Ok.  Ok bye.

mushy-faced

Instead of writing a real post today, I am going to have you read someone else's post.

Because, you see, she wrote it about Tim and me.

It made me all teary-eyed and mushy-faced - she writes so well and I just love her so much.

You can find the post here.

And really, you should probably just read her whole blog.  It's that good.  Really.

p.s.  When I have more pictures to post, I will write all about the details of the recent events.

p.p.s.  You should be excited for the deets on our new apartment.  [Which may or may not include some rabid pigeons, a leak from the ceiling, and some ants in our carpet - all part of the newlywed fun!]

i'm back!

Actually, I was back a few days ago.  I just decided to take a blogging hiatus.  Because, well...

I just didn't feel like it yet.

But here I am, in full blogging glory!

...Or something like that.

Long story [very, very] short?

I LOVED my wedding dress.

I LOVED my wedding pictures.

I LOVED my wedding day.

I LOVED my reception.

I LOVED all of the little details.

I LOVED being able to see so many family and friends.

I LOVED my honeymoon.  [Hi, HAWAII!]

And most of all?

I LOVE being married.

Seriously.  I get to hang out with my best friend all.the.time.  And we giggle all.the.time.  And I'm happy all.the.time.

I know what you're thinking...that I won't always be this happy.

But I'd like to see you try to convince me of that right now.

p.s.  Weren't my guest bloggers fun?  I just love them.  [Wait, what?  You didn't read their posts?  Oh well go and check them out, silly kids!  Or, ahem, perhaps more appropriately, check their blogs out.  But I'm not one to judge.]

p.p.s.  More details to follow.  Promise.

guest post - Kara

[Getting back from my honeymoon late tonight!  And probably wishing I could stay longer...]

Ok kids...now you get to hear from someone I've never met in person.  [At least that I remember...but if I remember correctly, she's going to ASU, so we may have met at some point.  Who knows.  #smallmormonworld]

Her name is Kara, and her blog is absolutely charming.  I remember her guest posting on another friend's blog once and so I snooped through her blog a little bit - only to become engrossed by her life.  And her love story.  And her writing style.  Check it.  You're can thank me later.  [Or now.  Whichever you choose.]

Here she is, ladies and gents!

__________________________________________________________

I’m pretty stoked to be here posting for Katie while she is away getting married and basking in the kind of happiness that only can be achieved when looking at an absurdly large pile of wedding presents. {Kidding, sort of.} I like to think that I still have a little bit of newlywed glow, even though I have been married for 7 months now.

My name is Kara and I blog at Not A Couple’s Blog. Would you like to know a little bit about my blog history? I thought so.

When I was a freshman in college I started a blog one Friday night while sitting in my dorm room. {I was popular, obviously.}

I wrote in it for the next couple of years, but because not many people read it and I have a flair for the dramatic I mostly wrote about my tragic love life. And by that, I mean I wrote a heckuva lot of posts about this tall guy who looked good in a suit whom I was slowly but surely falling in love with. My posts were so tortured and ridiculous, it was awesome.

And then one day, after about 6 months of pining, the tall boy and I became an officially official couple. Suddenly, I didn’t know how to write in my blog anymore. I didn’t want to write about the boy and how happy I was if we the whole situation didn’t work out. I remedied the situation by making my blog private and not writing in it for months and months and months.

But then the boy proposed, and I started planning a wedding and a marriage and a life and a blog. Yes, another blog. There would be one. This, I was sure of. But I did not want it to be one of those blogs called “scottandkara” where I only updated once every 5 months to say “this is what’s happening in my life” and “Ohmygosh I looooooooove my husband!!!!!!!!!!!” {Even though I do. Really.} I also did not want to give the illusion that this blog somehow belonged to Scott because, let’s be honest, he doesn’t really care what I write. I’m fairly certain he has never read my blog, unless it’s because I read it to him or his family can’t stop laughing about that dumb thing I did that one time and wrote about it.

And so, Not A Couple’s Blog was born. It’s my blog. But yes, more often than not, it is about a couple.

What can I say?

I have spent a lot of my new married life laughing, and I like to write about that.

I also like to read about other people’s newlywed adventures, which is why I am so very excited for Katie to get back from her honeymoon and give us the skinny. But only on the blog appropriate stuff. Duh.

P.S. After the wedding I started writing down our entire love story, even the parts that were too depressing for me to write about at the time. You can read more here. I promise it has a happy ending, once you get through all the tortured longing and batted eyelashes.

guest post - Katie

[No, I am not guest posting for myself.  I'm in Hawaii, remember?]

Today you get a very special treat - the chance to hear from my dear friend, Katie Hawkes.  Aka khawkes.  Aka Hawk Girl.  [Take your pick.]  She writes over at a delightful blog called Scruples.  I shared a room with this girl for a year [and a couple months...you know, until I decided to get married or whatever].  I don't have enough good things to say about this girl - the list is literally endless.  She is funny, smart, ambitious...

....and, well, to save time...

I just know you are going to love her.

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today's post has been brought to you by the letter P and the numbers 1-10.

what? you don't get it? oh bother. i guess i should lay off the inside jokes or this blog will get nowhere.

but really, the other night ksparks ... um, kdevey? ... and i realized that if outsiders listened in on our conversations, no one would have any idea what we're talking about half the time.

that's what happens when you've shared a room for more than a year.

a lot of other things happened too.

try these stories on for size.

most recently, a little stranger appeared in our living space.

he looked pretty normal...

...until i stepped on him.

"what the..."

we now like to refer to this new friend as The Bad Esteem Scale.

reason: he's a little generous with his weight guesstimates.

like, 10 lbs generous.

something like this could be very dangerous, in the wrong hands.

i mean ... wrong feet.

in any case,

we planned to get rid of this mysterious and insulting visitor ASAP, before a guest stepped on it and inadvertently damaged their body image.

actually, my Plan A is to just wrap it up and put it with ksparks' other wedding presents. shhh.

now i'm going to help katie pack

by stealing the stuff she already owns, wrapping it in wedding gift wrap and bringing it to her reception.

because unwrapping is more fun than unpacking, right?

right.

guest post - Meghan

[Off to Hawaii now for my honeymoon!]

Ok kids, speaking of style [which I was, if you read the last post], my beautiful friend Meghan understands style like no one I've ever met.  And she is fun, bubbly, smart, and insightful.  [Who doesn't love someone like that?]  I was roommates with Meghan for about a year, too.  [How lucky am I?!]

Ladies and gentlemen...here's Meghan!

[Mmmhmm...I did steal this from your blog:)]

______________________________________________________________

Congrats Katie and Tim!  I hope you are thoroughly enjoying Hawaii!

While she is on her honeymoon, Katie asked me to guest post on her blog.  She and I were roomies for a year.  And when you are roommates you experience a lot together. Especially in terms of relationships. You see one another's heartbreaks, flings, moments of confusion and most importantly love. Katie Sparks (now Devey!), Katie Hawkes, Chantal and I lived through a myriad of experiences. Some happy, some sad and finally true love and Marriage!

It's funny how we are obsessed with love.  It's no coincidence that love is the subject of most songs, movies, plays, poems and art.  If I'm being honest, I'll admit I am not immune to this disease.  I love a good romantic comedy, Jane Austen book and Michael Buble song as much as the next girl.  So in celebration of the happy couple, I thought I would share my favorite indulgences.  Enjoy!

Brighter than Sunshine by Aqualung


Elephant Love Medely by Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman on Moulin Rouge


Your Song covered by Ellie Gould


You and I by Ingrid Michaelson

guest post - Chantal

Today [whilst I'm off getting married!] you get to hear from my lovely friend Chantal.  She blogs over at Peeling the Paint Away and Piece of Panaché.  I am blessed to know her in real life, and we were even roommates for about a year.  She is beautiful [just look at that picture!], strong, courageous, and full of life - and understands all things fun and stylish.

Without further ado...here is Chantal!

  ______________________________________________________________

My name is Chantal. I’m 25 years old and unmarried. I have brown shoulder length hair that isn’t quite straight and isn’t quite curly. I have hazel eyes that only look green when I cry. My skin is ivory and dotted with freckles. My body isn’t bad but it isn’t great either; it’s just average. However, I like to think I have an above average mind and spirit that make up for the aforementioned facts. But perhaps I’m partial.

Now that we feel adequately acquainted and you can imagine what I look like let’s dive right in, shall we? I grew up in what many nowadays would call a “broken home.” Heck I, myself, would even concede that I was dealt some pretty heavy stuff to sift through from a very young age. I don’t feel it necessary to go through the drudgery of it all right now, and frankly, I think it’s mostly irrelevant because I am NOT a broken person. I survived! Sure, I have my share of scars that make me hesitant and a little afraid of things, especially love/parenthood. I think that happens to all of us in some way or another along the way. And then we transition into adulthood and acquire even more bruises and battle wound scars… and such is life.

My point is this: we each go through truly stressful, painful, traumatic or heart-breaking experiences, whatever they may be, that are unique to each of us and our lives. But that is a part of our purpose here. Each struggle helps shape and design us into the individuals we are intended to be. I’m not going to lie and say it’s always easy to keep this in mind and endure our trials well. I know better than anyone just how easy it is to become weighed down by it all and lose hope, or worse, faith. But I can honestly say that I’ve learned that all things can be made for our benefit if we trust in the Lord and His healing hands. Hopelessness can be cured as we increase our faith.

I’m grateful for the opportunity I have to live each day and experience it all, good and bad. In spite of everything, even the very darkest depths I have felt, I still BELIEVE. I still HOPE. I still hold to my FAITH.

And yes, I still believe in LOVE.

Just look at Tim & Katie!

I hope to find what they have someday. This is why those of us who remain in 'singledom' fight, why we choose to keep going each day, to make those hard decisions because they’re the right ones.

I choose to be patient. I choose to be strong. I choose to believe.

And now I leave you with A Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton to ignite the believer in you! Enjoy!

wedding and guest posters

Ok kids...I'm getting married tomorrow!

I really wanted to write a blog about how waiting to get married is like waiting to go to Disneyland when you're a kid...

...but I don't have time to draw all of the comparisons.  But you can imagine that it would have been a very insightful post.

But in the meantime, just remember that we have a few guest posters (about every other day), so be sure to show them some love!

"just in case"

I am a horrible packer.

via

The phrase "just in case" kills me every time.

You know...

Just in case the weather happens to be frigid and I need five layers.  Just in case there's a major downpour and/or hurricane.  Just in case I decide to go hiking.  Just in case I decide to go swimming.  Just in case I happen to need formal wear.  Just in case there's a power outage that happens to affect an entire city.  Just in case it's 116 degrees and I get heatstroke.  [Ok maybe that's where I live right now.]  Just in case I run into a man-eating army of ants and they decide to attack.

Ok so maybe that last one has never come up.

But the rest of them are viable possibilities, depending on where I'm going.

Which brings me to my next problem.

Packing for my honeymoon.

I know Hawaii is pretty reliable weather-wise, but that doesn't mean I'm not tempted to bring five layers and a coat just in case they have a freak snowstorm.

Since I'm moving right now, too, the probability is high that I will [inadvertently] pack something that I need for my honeymoon in a box that won't be opened for another month.

You know what else kills me when I'm packing?

The fallacy that if I forget something, I won't be able to buy it wherever I'm going.  That might be true if I'm backpacking somewhere deep into the Sierra Nevadas, but it probably isn't true of Hawaii.

But it's still an irrational fear of mine.

Welp, I'm off to pack.

Wish me luck!  [I'm gonna need it.]

Oh, and if you happen to have any fabulous tips for packing, I'd love to hear them!

wedding teaser

Ladies, THANK YOU for your comments on my last blog.  They were very much appreciated.

I am happy to inform you that I am much less emotional and much less stressed today.

And frankly, I am getting freaking excited.

Now for some news: [I already mentioned this, but for those of you that might be new] Tim and I took our pre-wedding pictures, oh, like, two weeks ago.  We did that so we would be less stressed on our wedding day.  Not to mention the fact that I didn't want to get up at the [butt] crack of dawn so it wouldn't be scorching hot [#Arizonaheatkills] [#okmaybenotreally] and be exhausted and cranky the rest of the day.

And now for the actual news:

We got the pictures back last night!

And I love love love them!

I don't know if anyone else does this, but I felt pretty during the picture-taking, and then starting immediately afterwards, I had myself convinced that I probably looked really ugly and that my hair was completely messed up and that my dress made me look fat.

It was a pleasant surprise, then, when we got them back last night and I thought, "Oh, I don't look as bad as I thought I would!"

In fact, I felt quite pretty again.

Oh, imagination.  Oh, self-esteem.

And now for a little teaser [because you just know that my blog will be ridden with them for months]:

Is it ok for me to show you that before the wedding?  Oh.  Well.  I just did.  At least you can't see every little detail, right?

And finally, as you might recall from this post, I would like to have some guest posters during my honeymoon.  I already have a few, but I would love to have a couple more if any of you would like to!  This is your last chance!  [Does that sound dramatic enough?]

p.s.  Last night I was showing this girl all of my wedding pictures and she oooed and awwed in all of the appropriate places.  Then when we got to the above picture, she said it made it look like I was stalking him.  Like he was just chillin' at the temple and I showed up in a wedding dress just hoping that someone would be there to marry me.  And that made me giggle profusely.  [#creeperrrr]

p.p.s.  We get married on FRIDAY!  [Friday, Friday, Gotta get down on Friday!]