Be careful with that gun.

Josh and I had the joy of registering this past week at Target and Kohls. I was looking forward to when we got to walk the aisles picking out what our living quarters would look like, but always said, "when we go, we must bring snacks."

So with wheat thins in my purse and a gun in my hand we set out to make too many decisions in one setting.

I was surprised how well it went. There were no big brawls in the kitchen aisles or mad stomp offs while looking at bathroom towels. We were quick to compromise in any conflicting interests in taste.

We realize even now before we receive anything that we are blessed to have so many people in our lives willing to help us get started with our life together!!! :)

our home's future colors:
Kitchen- burnt red and brown
Living Room- green
Bedroom- brown and light blue
Bathroom- diesel grey and pink

Quality Time

My turn for a movie post...

We saw the new novel-based film, The Time Traveler's Wife  last night.  The longer I think about it, the more I realize how much I enjoyed it!  Without giving too much away, the movie is at it's most basic about a couple's struggle to find time together, and to enjoy one another's company as much as possible (given the obvious obstacles, found in the title alone).

My time in Russia, away from her, certainly was not easy.  While I was "getting my mission on" (which should be the daily life of any follower of Christ), God definitely provided more than enough so that I was not consumed with missing her.  But deep down I was longing for our return. Being around the world was on such another level now that we are engaged.  T-Mobile rates are $5.99/minute in Russia, so needless to say we didn't talk the whole time I was there (but we did steal :55 from the universe while I was in SVEDEN).  Being back- actually getting to hear her voice and spend time together daily, ahhh...

Quality time is undoubtedly where it's at for us.  We are both so glad to be done w/ our college careers and near each other; long distance for as long as we did it was long enough!  Both of us being in MN means that we don't have to search for the time like Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana... but similar to theirs our time together is so sweet!   

Meals are meant to be shared.

Today I believe I set a new record. I saw two movies in the theater- both for FREE!

The first movie this morning was "Coraline" at the Kerasotes in Inver Grove theater with Nicole. The second movie this evening was "Julie and Julia" at the Kerasotes in Block E with Brittany.

I was not much of a fan of Coraline, but Julie and Julia was two thumbs way up. I think the part that I enjoyed the most about the movie was both Julie and Julia had great marriages. Usually in a movie like this it is a boyfriend and girlfriend shown living together, which does not have the same sweetness as husband and wife.

I enjoyed watching the interaction between the two couples and of course the element of cooking! I remember watching Julia Child on TV when I was a kid- so it was fun to recall that part of my childhood!

It is a movie I would highly recommend but at the same time it made me miss Joshua that much more. I look forward to the sweet interactions Joshua and I will have as a married couple and all the meals we will share as husband and wife.

There is something in sharing a meal with another person that I don't think we give enough value or credit. A shared meal is something that should not be taken for granted because it is daily partaking is something vital together.

Meals can be one big collaborative work of art. It is something that everyone can contribute to to create a tasty masterpiece. We are blessed with the resources to cook many meals, to try new recipes and have access to numerous grocery stores to supply all the food to make it happen.

So find a new recipe, cook it for you and a loved one, enjoy some good conversation and in the words of Julia Child,

"Bon Appetit!"

Kaliningrad, Russia

Today Joshua left with RVC Global Project to Kaliningrad, Russia. We were blessed that he had an afternoon flight because we got to spend part of the morning together. I don't think it sunk in that he was leaving for 10 days until this morning. I know 10 days to some of you may not seem like a long time, but it's 10 days with minimal communication with your best friend that will only include texting and possibliy email. (Apparently the phone rate in Russia is $4.99 a minute! yikes!)

But even though I will miss him terribly and long to simply talk to him, I must not loose sight of the bigger picture. Joshua and the team are going to work with one orphanage the whole week. Their main goal- spreading the Gospel and sharing the love of Christ.

Joshua and I are going to becoming a team- united with one cause, one goal, one finish line. So I will strive to focus on the bigger picture, because knowing, trusting and living for Christ is far greater and more important than my feelings.

August 3rd- I received a text that read "After 2 days of traveling we are finally in RUSSIA! Just had a team meeting and we are all pumped for this week of ministry! Love ya guys :) "

Please continue to pray for Global Project Russia!

Kaliningrad

Save OUR date!

Last week, Shell and I were able to get our "Save The Date" postcards out into the hands of the masses. It was a joyful process (labeling/stacking, stamping/stacking), just knowing that it would be joyful for you all to be receiving them!

We had a little tribute session to Michael Jackson (we were doing this the night of his funeral) as we busted out a best of CD... classic. 

We quickly began hearing that people had received them just a couple days after we got them out (which was reassuring after sending them all out across the country), and have been given many compliments...

PROPS:

-The photos found on them were candidly taken during the actual proposal (in Millennium Park), by fantastic photographer Hannah Sutton!

-Then the card-stock layout and other elements were originally created by our delightful designer Amy Clark!

Although creating the guest list was not an easy task, we trust that those who ought to be there will be... who knows- maybe even a high-profile guest or two???

Hammy (this is the man that will be marrying us)

Although it's not necessarily "new" news, we haven't publicized (blogged about) this one yet (it's never official until it's documented via the internet, duh!)... but we have asked Mike Hamilton to marry us (wed us, officiate us, etc.) on March 20th, 2010!!!  Hammy (the name that he is called most often) was the YP (youth pastor) @ C4 (Cross of Christ Community Church, the church Shelley and I grew up in) from '04-'08 (...I believe).  He has been a great YP (mainly for Shell as I was already off @ Moody when he became the "official" YP), ministry partner (Shelley was leading worship as a student and again in summer of '06, and I helped out pretty much anytime I wasn't @ Moody), and friend (the hangout, accountability, concert-goin', I'll watch your kids kind of friend... this is an exceptional type) to both of us!  We're super excited to have him be the pastor there for us on that day (since out of all the pastors IN THE WORLD he's the one who knows us best).

I enjoyed sharing this (hope you enjoyed reading it).    

-joshua (shelton)

You'll Love David's Bridal

Today was more than an adventure, it was an excursion. At 11am today I have my appointment lined up for David's Bridal. My Mom, Amy (MOH) and myself arrived 10 mintues early with snacks in hand...just in case we got fussy! My Mom has Sugar Babies, Amy had Mike and Ikes and I had Snow Caps. At first our bridal consultant seemed nice and fun, but as time went on the more she began to clash with all of us. I felt like she was more concerned with making the sale that helping me find the perfect dress. After two hours of trying on dresses I got the point where when she asked what I thought of the dress I had on I simply said, "I'm done for the day." Seeing that it was 1 o'clock and we all seemed down from the progressivly worsening experience we headed over to Baja Sol for lunch. We got our food of tacos, quesadillas, and chips with salsa bar (Oh YEAH) and ate...a lot! While we ate I came to the conclusion that I had my top three dresses choosen and they were all beautiful but I felt like I would have had a better feeling about them if I would have gotten more productive feedback and care from my consultant. My Mom and I then both thought maybe we should call another David's Bridal, see if there was an open appointment and do it all over again...so we did.

We were able to make our way over to the other David's Bridal with plently of time to look at the Lands Inn Inlet next door. This second appointment was extra special because my Dad was able to join us as he was out making his business calls. As soon as we walked in I knew this was going to be a better experience. The front desk lady was SUPER nice and welcoming! She told us that our bridal consultant was going to be Mehert. She truly was a blessing. She was very warm and ready to have some bridal fun! She sat down with us and asked me about the wedding and what I liked in a wedding dress. She had me look through the catalog and pick a handful of dresses I would like to try on. I didnt tell her I was just at a David's Bridal so I picked out a handful and put my top three in the mix without telling her which ones those were. The funny thing is she choose the top three herself as the first three I would try on! And of course then I tried on other ones just for fun. The biggest change with her was that she got me the right size of dress! At the previous David's Bridal my consultant stuck with the same size even though it was too large. Mehert immedatley saw that I could fit better into the next size down and WOW what a difference a size makes. My top three looked SO MUCH BETTER when they actually fit!

Because Mehert has such a unique and beautiful name we all had trouble remembering the correct prounouciation so one time when my Mom asked how do you say it again she said that it means "mercy" so if we forgot we could just call her mercy. As soon as I heard that I was like "Oh thank you God for blessing us with Mercy!" Again I say she was a blessing.

We all had so much fun! Amy helped me get in and out of dresses which was very nice and helped Mehert pick out accessories so we could see the full picture. One of the best parts was when I tried on one dress Amy and I had both seen on a manique that we thought looked really lovely...but once I got it on...all we could do was comment on how bad it was! My Dad immediately was saying, "no, no, no" Amy said it looked like a swim suit top and even Mehert was saying "this sounds awful when you walk"

But the best part of the day was finding my dress! I had tried on a different one of my top three which was way to small (I thought my Baja Sol was going to come up!) then Mehert went to get a bigger size in it while I put on MY dress (which was in my top three), then I put on the bigger size of the other dress and as soon as I came out in the bigger size Amy and I both said the one I just had on before was IT!

Whewww so a long long day but very worth it because I found my dress, I was showed mercy and it was in our price range! I can't wait for you all to see it! :)