August 9, "the big day"

Joe and I are officially "Mr. & Mrs. Horst." While those titles sounds a little old for us still, we're loving sharing last name.

The rehearsal, wedding, and reception all went as close to perfectly as they could. Joe and I were filled with excitement (and a few nerves) that weekend, but we made it through with the biggest smiles on our faces I think we've ever had.

We stayed overnight in Dayton, OH, before flying out to the Bahamas for a week. The traveling was a little exhausting (we left at 7:30am and arrived at 9:30pm!), but we had fun being together.

After returning to Ohio on Saturday at 1am, we went to church with Joe's family and then proceeded to open gifts, pack the car, and drive home to Harrisonburg! It was another late night, since we had to set our bed up when we got here, but it was worth it to finally get home.

This past weekend we drove down to Richmond for our "open house." Since many people were not able to travel to Ohio for the wedding, we decided to come to them! I wore my wedding dress and Joe wore a tux that we borrowed from a friend. Family and friends helped out with serving cake and punch, as well as "directing traffic" throughout the house. We had video and slideshows set up so that people could see how everything went!

Needless to say, here are a FEW of our wedding pictures.












Bride and bridesmaids












Groom, groomsmen, and ringbearer


















Jen and Dad












Jen and Mom












Joe's family... completely normal.

I'll put the rest of the pictures on a slideshow on the right hand side of the page. I'm having some trouble uploading pictures to the actual page. Enjoy!

Coming soon...

We're married! In the next few days I'll have pictures up! Please keep checking back often. We appreciate your patience!! :)

Touring Ohio

Joe and I are here! We arrived on Saturday, after a nice 6 1/2 hour drive. Joe was obviously very excited!

Today we went to the Wooster Probate Court and got our marriage license. We would have gotten it sooner, but both parties must be present to get it, and it only lasts 60 days, so this was the first chance we've gotten to do it! It's official though, when we do get married, it'll be legal. :)

Other places we've been today: The Rubbermaid store, Lehman's Hardware, and the Simply Smuckers store. (All places that you should visit if you are going to be in Ohio for a while!) We had so much fun being touristy!

Another exciting moment of the day: Seeing straw get bailed behind Joe's house. The bailer machine just sucks it all up and poops it out!! I tried to take a picture but I didn't want the guy in the tractor to see me!

Five days to go!

If you'd like to help: Bring yellow and/or white flowers (wildflowers or from your garden) to the church on Friday at 2pm. We're going to be using them for decoration!

Time to pack!

This is Joe and I after harvesting some of the veggies from our garden - he's holding (and eating?) a green bell pepper and I have a huge bowl full of green beans! We cooked them up that night and had a tasty supper!

The wedding is 2 weeks from yesterday, and getting closer by the hour! Joe and I are SO excited! We've both had a great summer working full-time, but we're ready to start life together. It's hard not seeing each other during the week!

Everything is as ready-to-go as it can be, at least until we get to Ohio. We started packing this weekend, and it's my job to finish getting everything ready this week. While that's quite the task (between the week before the wedding, the wedding itself, and the honeymoon), it's nice to have something to keep me busy this week!

A special thanks to the moms, Judy Edwards and Deb Horst, and Jenny Strasbaugh, who have been a enormous help to me these last couple weeks. We've all been working together to finalize details, confirm with vendors, make wedding favors, and otherwise keep me sane. :)

If you'd like to help out: Say a little prayer that the gas prices keep dropping for everyone who has to travel in these next few weeks!

Two months from today...

... we'll be getting married!

I started addressing invitations today, so you should be getting one soon! They're getting out a little later than we had planned due to some delays with the printing, but at least they're getting out at all, right? Please remember to RSVP as soon as possible so we can plan accordingly!

The food for the reception is coming together nicely, and I am starting to get some ideas for decorations. There is still a lot to do, but it's nice to have something to do other than work!
Joe and I are both working full-time now. He is the head counselor at a nearby camp, and I am working as a CNA at a local long-term care facility. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we go through the summer. Both of our jobs take a lot of hard work, and we're always tired at the end of the day! We get to see each other on the weekends, and it's always nice to have that time together.

If you'd like to help: RSVP ASAP! :)

We're seniors!

Finally, we have finished this semester! In some ways it flew by, but in other ways it's taken ages to end. We finished out the semester well and are now taking our summer classes. I am taking the required general education "senior seminar," and Joe is currently on a 3 week trip through the mountains called wilderness seminar. After that he will intern most of the summer (until the wedding) at a camp near Harrisonburg as their Head Counselor. I'll be working as a CNA at a nearby long-term care facility.

As far as wedding planning, things had been put on hold for a while there until the semester was finished. Now that I have a little more time I can finally give it some attention! While we're still working on catering for the reception, our invitations are being printed, and I'm being thrown a Bridal Shower in Richmond by my bridesmaids on May 24. Please call my mom if you haven't gotten an invitation and would like to come because I'm sure you can!! :D

Since Joe isn't here, I haven't done as much as I would've liked to before this update, but there will many more updates to come after Joe returns and we can work together to plan and get things pulled together for our special day!

If you'd like to help: Send me suggestions of verses, quotes, etc. to include in the wedding ceremony!

News!

Joe and I are finally starting to get organized enough that we can actually let you know what's going on. We'll try to keep this website updated!

Unfortunately, the OH bridal shower was canceled due to snow, but Jenny, our coordinator, is planning on rescheduling sometime within the week before the wedding.

There will be a shower in VA, too, for the other side of the family and friends! Our tentative date is May 24. Joe just needs to double check his availability.

In other news, we now have a confirmed baker, singer, pastor, florist, and wedding party. We're still working on the catering situation, but it's coming along. We also have a tentative piano player and DJ. I even have someone who can do my hair!

The ceremony will be at 11am at Martin's Mennonite Church. We'll need to take a few pictures afterward, but then we'll meet our guests at Camp Luz for the reception. We're thinking that will last until 3 or 4pm.

If you'd like to help out: Send us a few ideas for decorations at the church or at the camp!