Capturing Joy with Kristen Duke
Capturing the Joy in Life
{If you have not read the previous chapters of my love story, start here} At the end of March 1999, It was just 30 days til I was to depart the U.S. soil and head on my world adventure to the Holy Land. Though I thought all along I wouldn’t actually go (I hoped Matthew would beg me to stay) it was looking more and more like a reality. It was a month filled with… Continue Reading
{If you are new to my love story, you can start from the beginning HERE.} The timing was off. Would our timing ever be ON? Being with him I felt so much happiness, but when we were apart, that constant knot in my stomach never went away…for months. It was agony. Choosing to stay away from him for a day or two gave me a sense of power over my roller coaster of emotions. Though… Continue Reading
{If you are new to my love story, you can start from the beginning HERE.} This (and the next) is perhaps the toughest chapters to write of my entire story because I look back at this time as the most vulnerable time in my life. Filled with lots of uncertainty and heartache. A real deep aching and bleeding of my heart. Even still, when I look back at pictures of me, and of him at… Continue Reading
{If you are new here, and want to read my love story from the beginning, START HERE.} The week before Valentine’s Day, things were looking good for Matthew and I. Every Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. my roommates, friends, and I gathered to hear the weekly devotionals held for the entire student body in the basketball gymnasium. On February 7th, we had just heard from President Thomas S. Monson (then 1st counselor), and I was… Continue Reading
{If you are new here and missed the first 10 chapters of my love story, get caught up here.} After our first kiss, I was on cloud 9. The next week was fun, we hung out with a bunch of our friends, with a few alone outings to the store or a concert on campus. At church activities, I knew all eyes were watching, and I felt more cautious with the public displays of affection.… Continue Reading
{If you haven’t read the first 9 chapters of my love story, CLICK HERE to start from the beginning. For those that have waited patiently for this chapter–thank you! It’s well overdue…} After my 3 day weekend away to California, and with Matthew’s recent declaration of love via a 4 page handwritten letter, I was sure things would progress quickly. I mean–it was “out there” now, and should be much easier to follow the next… Continue Reading
{If you are new here, and missed the first 8 chapters, you can find them here, easy link on my sidebar, too.} As the plane descended into San Francisco, I couldn’t stop my heart from fluttering, and feeling all flushed inside and out. I’m sure my face was a beet red, but I had to calm myself down. The 4 page hand written letter that Matthew insisted I wait to open til I reached 10,000… Continue Reading
{If you are new to My Love Story, Click HERE to read all of the previous chapters.} After a tumultuous Christmas break, then having an email exchange with Matthew that left me feeling better, I was excited to get back to school to see what the future was going to bring us. I was giddy, sure that things would progress quickly once we got back in the same state. Together, with our roommates, we spent… Continue Reading
{If you are new, or need a refresher of the previous chapters, click here to read them.} After an emotional departure from my college friends, being home was kindof a bummer. For some reason, I didn’t want to talk about what had happened back at school, I just wanted to keep it to myself, which in a way was good, because I relied on prayer, which strengthened me a lot. I remember very specifically being… Continue Reading
{If you are new to my story, click here to read from the beginning.} Looking back, I realize how truly blessed I was to have such an amazing core group of friends in college. This time in my life truly shaped me, and I was lucky to land in a spot surrounded by people with the same goals as I had. I couldn’t ask for better roommates. We all lifted and motivated each other, had… Continue Reading
In the weeks after Sam and I called it off, it wasn’t always so smooth sailing. Some days we’d be buddies hanging out with our friends, or even had late night chats about nothing in particular, other days were awkward with hurt feelings. I’m grateful that he saw, as I did, the importance of our friendship, and when things felt too weird we were open with each other about it. In hindsight I realize, that isn’t a… Continue Reading
Oh my, I’ve intended to post this earlier, but it takes SO much out of me to write and scan pics for these posts…plus this one is a most sensitive post because it involves others excluding my husband and I. But I couldn’t leave it out, as it is such an integral part of the story. Not only are names with held, but some faces to protect the innocent;) {If you missed chapters 1-3, you can… Continue Reading
{For those that know me, and may be confused, I am not using my husband’s name-per his request. When he was a child, he always wanted his name to be Matthew, so that is what I have named him here;)} If you are new to this story and need to get caught up, you can read the first two chapters here: After saying goodbye to my roommates and new crush, Matthew, I headed straightway to… Continue Reading
Sorry for the major delay–those that have been waiting on pins and needles for Chapter 2. Besides life getting the best of me, it is quite an exhaustive effort to recall, read through journals, and pull together my thoughts with pictures. But I want to do this for myself and my kids (and of course all of you) so it will get done eventually. If you haven’t read Chapter 1 of our love story, you… Continue Reading
{Special thanks to Lindsay for helping me create the map above} Preface: I always thought I’d marry someone who saw me from across a crowded room, and after dashing over to me, would grab my hand, and before even speaking would get down on one knee and propose . . . just because my aura told him that we were meant to be together. The courtship of my husband and myself wasn’t anywhere close to… Continue Reading
