Five Facts About Me

Happy Friday, friends!  If you're on Instagram you've likely seen the five facts tag in instastories.  Earlier this week I was tagged by my sweet friend, Beth of Our Pretty Little Girls.  I thought this would make for a fun Friday five post, so rather than answering the tag in instagram stories, I'll share here today! 

One  //  Travel is one of my greatest passions.

If I had to, I'd give up internet and television (and maybe even chocolate!) to fund our adventures.  The memories created on our travels, whether near or far, are absolutely priceless to me!  Thankfully my husband shares this love.  Keeping in mind that our daughters may marry hubby who aren't adventurers at heart, we have the next few years of vacations planned out to hit all the "must visit" places on our travel wishlist before our oldest graduates high school.  Within the next two years we have plans to take them to ten states they've never visited.  We also have Disney magic on both coasts as the end destination for those vacations, naturally. ;) Adventure awaits!

Two  //  My life is a musical.

While I don't play a single instrument, music has been one of the joys of my life from the beginning.  As a child I ended each day one of two ways, either in my bedroom dancing to records with my mom and little sister or falling asleep in front of the television watching MTV (when they actually played music videos).

Once my parents used music as a creative form of punishment for me.  Instead of receiving a typical "grounding", they once sentenced me to a month of listening to only country, the one genre of music I hated.  Still to this day we'll be out shopping and a country song from that era will play.  My husband doesn't even have to ask how I know every word by heart.  It was clearly popular during my month of country.  Want in on a secret, I don't even mind it now.  Well played, parents! ;)  

As an adult, music has continued to play a huge role in my life.  It's actually what brought my husband and I together.  If my walls could talk they'd say that there's a real life musical taking place in our home.  All it takes is a single word to send me into a song.  It's been joked that I'm a human jukebox.  I may not always sing in key, but music is one of the biggest parts of me.

Three  //  I've had two favorite colors in my lifetime, each with incredibly sweet ties to my heart.

As a child I loved the color yellow!  My room was painted yellow, but that's not all.  My dad asked me, "What color should I paint the house?"  Sure enough, he painted it yellow.  He also built me a playhouse that looked like a smaller version of our home, painted yellow as well!  (No wonder I'm a daddy's girl.)  Since our youngest daughter was very small her favorite color has been yellow.  This cheery color has such a special spot in my heart.

I absolutely loathed the color pink until I had my first baby girl.  Shopping for and receiving gifts of all things pink, frilly, and feminine forever changed my view of this perfectly pretty color.  Our oldest was born just before December.  Jason decorated the front of our home in all pink lights, both in celebration and announcement of her arrival!  It's been my absolute favorite ever since.

Four  //  I've traced my family history back to the year 1066!

I'm fascinated by history, especially family history.  I've researched and traced my family history all the way back to my 31st great grandfather, Engelram De Alfreton, who lived in Derbyshire, England from in 1066 - 1090!  

Here are three relatives I've been especially intrigued by:

Nathan and Sarah Northrup

my 7th great grandparents

Revolutionary War Marker photo for Nathan Northrup courtesy Ancestry.com

My 7th great grandfather, Nathan Northrup, fought in the Revolutionary War.  I love that I can trace my heritage back to such historical events in my nation's history!  However, I find his wife, my 7th great grandmother, Sarah, to be even more fascinating!  I've come across multiple published documents that tell quite a tale about this great great great great great great great grandma of mine!  After she and Nathan raised five sons and a daughter, her husband died at the age of 77.  While most women would live out their remaining days quietly a widow, Sarah was unlike most.

The Most Aged Couple

(Retyped for easier viewing)

The following is recorded:  "In the year 1830, Alexander Howden, a Revolutionary solider, aged 83 years, and Mrs. Sarah Northrup, aged 98, residing in Athens above Sheshequin Narrows, became espoused and hoping for a quiet little wedding, took their bridal trip, staffs in hand, to Sheshequin.  But the magistrate, Samuel Gore, before whom they appeared, spoiled the anticipated plan by informing them that a few witnesses were necessary, whereupon he gathered enough neighbors to make a genuine surprise and the marriage ceremony was duly performed.  After the marriage, this unique bride and groom took their staves in hand again and started homeward.  Mrs. Northrup, who was known as "Mother Northrup" was the widow of Nathan Northrup.  She died in 1837 among her children in Monroe, aged 105 years.

One of the most fascinating things I read about her was, "When past 90 years, she would spin eighty knots of yarn in a day and when a century old she would take the floor and dance an old-fashioned step with the agility of a girl in her teens.  After becoming a centenarian, she would walk from her son's residence at Athens to the home of her children in Monroe, a distance of 22 miles."  Oh, to be as young at heart and energetic as my 7 times great grandma!

Joseph Northrup

my 10th great grandfather

Joseph Northrup's Founder Stone 

photo courtesy of Ancestry.com

From what I found on this side of my family, my 10th great grandfather Joseph Northrup was the first to come here from England, landing in Boston on July 26, 1637.  He was one of Eaton & Davenport's Company "of good character and fortune", who came over on the ship "Hector & Martha".  In 1646 he married my 10th great grandmother, Mary, who was born in Connecticut 19 years earlier.  I find it so fascinating how far back my roots go in both England and America!

Sir John Fortescue

my 17th great grandfather

{image source}

Sir John Fortescue became the chief justice for King Henry VI's bench in 1442.  He was knighted a year later.  When the King's army was defeated in Yorkshire in 1461 Fortescue fled with the king.  During this time he was appointed lord chancellor of the exiled government.  He wrote De Laudibus Legum Angliae (Commendation of the Laws of England) in 1470 for the crown prince's instruction.  This is said to be the first book about law written in a style simple enough to be understood by the layman.  

{image source}

In this book he wrote, "Indeed, one would much rather that twenty guilty persons should escape the punishment of death, than that one innocent person should be condemned, and suffer capitally."  Today that is simply put, "innocent until proven guilty".  

My sources of research for information on Sir John Fortescue beyond Ancestry.com have been Britannica.com, Wikipedia, Fact Monster, and Harvard Law Review.

Five  //  I believe that every day is a gift worth celebrating!

While birthdays and holidays are a big deal in our family, we also realize that our lives are made up of more days without big events upon their calendar squares.  Knowing that everyday moments make up the biggest part of our lives, we celebrate even the simplest of things!  For example, one tradition we have in our home is that whenever our family sees one of our birth dates on the clock (example my birthday is September 13th, so if the clock reads 9:13) we shout it out "9:13!  9:13!"  This sometimes leads to a one minute dance party!  We have several fun traditions unique to our family and we enjoy each of them thoroughly.

I believe that every day is "sprinkle-worthy", because when it comes down to it, we aren't promised tomorrow.  Today is a gift from God.  The breath in my lungs at this very moment isn't something I deserve or have earned in any way.  Thinking on this fills my heart with gratitude to God!  Whether I live to be 105 years old like my 7th Great Grandma Sarah or tomorrow is my last, the reality is this life is a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow.  For this reason I praise God not only for the gift of this day of life, but also for the assurance of where I will spend all the tomorrows beyond my final breath.  If you aren't certain where you'll spend eternity I can't think of anything more important to square away right now.  The same God who created you in His likeness and has given you this day of life you're living, also made a way for you to be sure that you are in right standing with Him before you stand before Him.  God is so good to have made it crystal clear why we need Him and how to obtain salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.  He provided us with His Law, the Ten Commandments, to show us our need.  Seeing that I have taken His name in vain (using it as a swear word, "Oh my ---"), have lied (countless times over the course of my lifetime), have dishonored my parents (there was a reason for that aforementioned creative punishment my parents gave me), and while I've never taken a life Jesus said, "You've heard it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment;  whoever insults his brother will be liable to council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to hell of fire." (Matthew 5:21-22).  God is so holy that He sees even anger as murder at heart.  While some may think, "The 10 Commandments are in the Old Testament, that's not applicable now after Jesus came."  In Matthew 5:17 Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."  He did exactly that in living the perfect life that He alone could, being fully God and fully man in the the person of Jesus Christ.  Then Christ willingly shed His spotless blood as the only acceptable payment for the full debt of our sins.  When we repent (ask for forgiveness and turn from our sins) and place our trust in Christ, we are forgiven and offered eternal life!  For someone as undeserving as I, this is reason to rejoice and celebrate each and every day I'm blessed with here on Earth and will spend throughout eternity to come, with a heart of gratitude and joy unspeakable!  Out of the sincerest care for you, sweet readers and cherished friends, I pray you'll know the hope that's offered to you through Christ alone!  

Thank you so much for allowing me to share five facts about myself!  This was a fun post to put together and I hope you got to know me a bit better through it.  I'd love to hear any commonalities we share, or a random fact (or five) about you in the comments section below!

YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN:

Celebrating 1,000 Weeks of Marriage!

Join me in the adventures to come!

Bloglovin // Pinterest // Instagram // Join via GFC, or sign up to receive new posts directly in your inbox @ left side bar

                         

Celebrating 1,000 Weeks of Marriage! // Our Love Story

Happy Friday, friends!  This is an extra special week so today I'm bringing you an extra special celebratory post!  One silly evening at the end of last year I told my husband, "I've loved you for a thousand weeks!"  Soon after we began figuring how long a thousand weeks actually is.  If you're curious, it's 19 years, 1 month, and 30 days, which we hit this week!  In honor of this super fun, momentous occasion, I bring you a celebratory look back at the love story that brought my husband and I to this very week we now celebrate!

How We Met

I had friends who were in a band.  I loved going to their shows and made it out to pretty much all their local gigs.  Jason was in another band that often played with them regularly.  The truth is initially I hated his band.  Their music was a little too heavy for my little teenage likings.  I would often leave the area when Jason's band hit the stage to play.  Until he wrote my favorite song of 1998.  In the late 90s when ska music was pretty popular, Jason broke out his trumpet for this one particular song and I loved it.  I still hadn't met him at this point, but whenever that song began to play I came running!  

The night we actually met I went to a concert for a band that was on tour and playing in the area.  Jason was there not with an instrument, but rather in a yellow "security" shirt.  Afterward we both headed to a mutual friend's house for a birthday party.  We continued to hang out in the same circle of friends.  Fast forward a few months and you'd hear Jason starting that song with, "This one goes out to my favorite girl.  It's her favorite song." Swoon.

Our First Date

Jason actually called me three times in one night to ask me out on our first date.  I really liked him and was a bit in denial about what was actually happening there.  He called and asked what I was doing on Friday night.  I told him about the plans I had, end of conversation.  He called back again basically repeating the same question, which seemed extremely odd.  I replied with the same answer.  The third time my phone rang he asked what I was doing after those plans and a date was set.  Needless to say I cut my previous plans short! ;)

When talking about where we should go for our first date we knew one thing for sure, we wanted to do something different, not the typical dinner and a movie.  I jokingly mentioned that the circus was in town, when he said he'd never been we had to remedy that! Ha! He picked me up, with a single sweet rose in the backseat, where it actually remained for a bit as he'd been too shy to give it to me right away.  (Let's keep in mind that we were both 19 at the time.)  We didn't end up staying for the entire circus, but we did have a fun there.  It was a playful atmosphere and since it wasn't something we had to focus much on we felt free to chat.  Afterward we went downtown to a cute old fashioned ice cream parlor.  We had to walk a ways from where we parked and along the way crossed paths with some rough looking guys.  I'll never forget how safe I felt with Jason at my side.  It was a sweet feeling of safety that I enjoy to this day in his company.

Our evening concluded with a hug and I remember thinking I fit perfectly in his arms, almost like we were made for each other.  I'd previously only dated much taller guys.  Clearly Jason was a much better fit in every way. 

The Time I Broke up with Him

This is one of the funniest stories I seem to share continually, but haven't shared it here before.  So, today we'll change that.  Shortly after Jason asked me to make it official I became scared I was in for a major heartbreak.  Everything seemed too good to be true.  He seemed too good to be true.  I thought I was setting myself up for a hard fall.  So, I told my best friend I was going to have him bring me to her house at the end of our date that night and there I'd break up with him.  I poured my heart out and ended it.  Let me just tell you, I did not get the response I expected.  I thought he'd be heartbroken, beside himself with such devastation.  Instead I marched into my bestie's home and declared how arrogant he was!  I had just told him I was breaking up with him.  You want to hear the audacity of his response, "It's okay.  I know we're going to be together."  What?!  I'm dumping you!!  Ok, so he was right! Ha! Honestly, I'm pretty sure the very next night we went to the movies for one of the countless times I saw Titanic in the theaters.  We were together ever after that too.  

Distance Couldn't Come Between Us

While Jason and I dated we were both full time college students.  Jason was taking an extra heavy course load that semester and on top of that lived about an hour away from me.  Despite all of this he still managed to drive up and see me nearly daily!  During finals he told me he wouldn't be able to visit for three or four days.  I thought I was going to die.  I was so overdramatic about it too.  During an hour break I had between classes a friend and I would always go to a Taco Bell for a quick bite to eat.  I told her that day that I couldn't eat and that I didn't know how I could possibly make it without seeing Jason. She literally said, "Shut up.  He is right there." I told her not to mess with me like that and that it wasn't even funny to say that!  But, she was telling the truth.  He knew where we'd be at that time and when I turned around he was right there!  I wasn't the only one who couldn't stand even a handful of days of us being apart!

The First Time I met my Mother in Law

In my late teens I loved dying my hair a shade of burgundy.  Jason had mentioned wanting me to meet his family.  Having just dyed my hair I actually told him we'd have to give it a good three days as it always looked super purple at first.  I didn't know what his mom would think of that. (So funny to look back on, because burgundy is so much more subtle than purple, right? ;))  The next night as soon as I arrived to the venue to watch Jason's band play a friend came over and asked,"Have you met Jason's mom yet?"  Yep, she was there.  That was the only concert she came to the entire time I knew him, but she was there.  I was nervous the entire concert.  Afterward he introduced us and then said, "I've gotta go tear everything down and pack up."  He left us there alone to talk for close to an hour I'd say!  I told her all about how nervous I was for her to see my hair and we laughed and chatted with no problem at all.  Once Jason was all set to leave she walked to the car with us.  As we were saying our goodbyes she gave me a big hug and whispered in my ear, "I've been praying for you for so long." and cried.  Jason had this look on his face like, "What are you doing mom?!" To this day it's one of life's sweetest memories!  He had told her that I was "the one" but we'd not been dating long at that point.

Our Engagement

When you know, you know.  We were engaged on the 4th of July, just two months after our first date.  There was no grand proposal, in fact, that night there was no ring even purchased.  He had a concert, we saw fireworks, then returned to my parents home where we had a conversation about how when you know something is right, why wait?  The question, "Will you marry me?" was never even asked.  We just had a conversation, decided we wanted to get married, and set a date for our wedding month.  Jason simply said, "November is a good month." This has been a theme in our marriage as you'll soon see... 

The next day he went shopping and got a ring.  We made it official and we began planning for our wedding that would take place in four months, just six months after those three phone calls to request that first date.

Read the sweet story of these wildflowers Jason picked from the side of the road and surprised me with here.

Our Wedding

While many American engagements can go on for years to get all the details "just so", I couldn't have cared less about all that, I just wanted to be Mrs. Jason Platt!  Everything came together beautifully!  We welcomed 400 guests to a beautiful candlelit church where we exchanged vows and left husband and wife!  

Our Honeymoon

Any guesses where we went?

That's right, Walt Disney World!  This was Jason's first trip there and I think it's safe to say he was instantly hooked!  How cute is that pic?!  Just a few months into our 20s and taking a selfie way back in 1998 long before that was a thing!

Starting a Family of our Own

As Jason said, November is a good month.  Two weeks after celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary we welcomed our first baby girl, (known here as) "Princess".  We could not have asked for a sweeter baby!  Becoming parents was such an amazing gift!  It was so incredible seeing what a caring and attentive daddy Jason was to our precious firstborn.  I fell in love with him even more seeing him in this new role.  

We obviously didn't want our kiddos to wait until they were 19 to see their first circus. ;)

Completing our Family

A month shy of three years later we welcomed "Little One" and our family was complete.  It was so neat seeing Princess take on the role of big sister and watching our family dynamic change.  Second only to salvation, this family is the greatest gift God could have possibly given me.  My heart overflows with gratitude!

Family Life

We decided that we valued creating family memories and enjoying special time together far more than going after what many people strive for.  We've happily chosen a small home (by American standards), a single car, and cut our cable back when that was unheard of to allow for what is more valuable to us.  We may not have all the "stuff", but we do have what matters most to us...

Our long hair days ;)

The original Main Street U.S.A. from Walt Disney's hometown

For the past 1,000 weeks Jason has worked tirelessly to provide for us and care for our family, our home, our vehicles, you name it, he's got it covered.  I praise God continually for blessing me with such a patient, gracious, loving, kind, handsome (can't forget how much I enjoy the very sight of him!), and generous husband!  He blesses me beyond what any words could even begin to convey!  He encourages me, challenges me, takes me on the grandest of adventures and keeps me safe and warm on a daily basis.  I lack nothing and I count that all to my incredible God who provides for all of our needs often using my husband as a means of providing them through.  Life is good.  My heart overflows with gratitude!  I'm wrapping this up with a light heart and teary eyes!  



Jason, 
Thank you for sticking by me through good times and bad, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, all the days of my life.  There have been rough days that only by the grace of God we walked through.  There have been poor days when we've rejoiced over finding enough change to go buy a bean burrito.  There have been hospital, doctors, and specialist's visits as well as heartily heathy days we've spent a top a mountain we literally climbed together.  Some of the best days of all, haven't been extreme ones, rather just the simple "every day"s of life that you return home happy to see us after a long days work followed be an evening enjoying each others company.  Some may think it's crazy that we were engaged at 19 and married each freshly into our 20s.  I couldn't be more grateful to have grown up with you and to be growing old with you.  You're the best part of my yesterdays and what I look forward to the most about all of my tomorrows.  

Thank you so much for stopping by on this extra special day!  I hope you enjoyed hearing a bit more about how my life came to be!

Join me in the adventures to come!

Bloglovin // Pinterest // Instagram // Join via GFC, or sign up to receive new posts directly in your inbox @ left side bar