Last Sunday, August 4th, my wife, Jasmine, and I celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary. I’m deeply grateful for Jasmine. Life has brought its share of challenges over the last year, including a business/ministry venture that didn’t work out (I plan to share more about that in an upcoming post), massive financial loss, and a great deal of injustice. Yet I praise God that our marriage, and our love for one another, has stood strong. We’re counting other blessings too.

In this post I’d like to share a number of photos, starting with our wedding day (August 4, 2012) and concluding with pictures taken on our anniversary a week ago. I hope you enjoy them.

Jasmine and I are both originally from Canton, Ohio, and that’s where we first met about 13 years ago. Although we currently live in St. Paul, Minnesota, we decided to get married just outside of Canton at a place (Camp Trinity) where we both served as camp counselors in the past. The weather cooperated well (it was 93 degrees and sunny), and we were able to have a nice outdoor wedding. Jasmine, by the way, made her dress and my outfit by hand!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wedding party was made up, on the guys’ side, of my four younger brothers and two friends, one from elementary school and one from high school. Jasmine’s two sisters, a cousin, and two friends made up the ladies’ side. We kept things low-budget for everyone, as the guys were able to wear any black pants, shoes, and socks that they already had, plus a $12 button-down shirt from Kohl’s (two of them already had it). The ladies bought matching sun dresses for $17 each, with the goal being that they could keep them and wear them for other occasions too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gratefully, we were able to keep the reception meal low-budget as well (We held the reception on the same campgrounds in their assembly hall). For $704, our 175 guests enjoyed chicken, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans, macaroni & cheese, cole slaw, and biscuits from KFC. Other facilities we looked at not only would have charged us at least 8-10 times as much as we paid to use the camp facility, but they also would have required us to use their catering services, which were quoted 7-12 times higher than KFC’s costs. We also served sorbet instead of a wedding cake, which was fitting for such a hot day.

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On August 21st, less than two weeks from now, Jasmine and I will be moving to Bowling Green, Ohio, about 20 miles south of Toledo. Lord willing, Jasmine will take one year to finish a degree she started at Bowling Green State University. After that, we believe we will be in Columbus, Ohio. Both cities will have us 2.5 hours or less from where our families live, and also feature a lower cost of living and more tolerable winters.

We’ve enjoyed our time living in downtown St. Paul ever since we got married. One of the things we like about downtown is its placement just above the Mississippi River (we live one block away from the river). For our anniversary last week, after enjoying a buffet brunch with live jazz performances (Jasmine’s favorite kind of music), we boarded a 90-minute Padelford boat cruise on the Mississippi River.  Here are some pictures from that experience: