Our Love Story

The Happy Couple...

     This picture was taken in August of 2007.  We had just begun dating in July and this was our first time out together in public.  We chose the annual church "Picnic at the Park" to be the first place seen together.  It was so fun to see people giving us smiles and winks and "thumbs up!"  So, how did it all begin?  Would you like to hear our story?  You would!  Well, goodie!
      In June of 2007 I attended a different church picnic at Olsen's house and enjoyed visiting with members of my church.  At one point I was sitting with the kids (holding a little baby and protecting her eyes from the bubbles being played with) and this handsome man, Todd Sapp pulled up a chair next to me and started talking to me.  We talked about our travel experiences out in the western United States.  I remember thinking that it was a nice conversation.  It was easy to talk to Todd and I didn't feel nervous or akward like I often did when talking to guys.  It was nice.  I started noticing him in church after that.
     Then on a Sunday night in July there was another church function, this time an outside baptismal service on Lake Julia.  Todd's sons James and Daniel were baptized that day.  Todd's Dad was there too.  Near the end of the event, I was standing on the hill and Todd came up to me and we small-talked some with James.  James left for a minute and Todd leaned in and asked if I would like to go out to dinner with him.  I gave him a big smile and said, "SURE!"  We arranged that he would call me with details.
      Was I excited or what?!?!?!  I could not sleep that night.  I literally stayed up all night!  I was sooo excited!  Angie, my housemate, was in Ukraine at the time and so I couldn't keep her up, so I played piano, I read my Bible aloud, I prayed, I danced around the house, I was flying on Cloud 9 all night long!  Before the sun rose I went out onto the porch and just sat there smiling at the stars and then smiling at the sunset, and then rejoicing in the brand new day.  I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep.  I was so smitten!  I was so touched that he had chosen me!  I was so excited at the possibilities!
      We ended up having to wait an entire week before our first date which was the following Sunday night.  A few days before the first date I went to my pastor and his wife and told them about my exciting upcoming date and they prayed for me.  They prayed for me and Todd right there in the entryway of their home.  It was beautiful.  That week I went shopping for a brand new outfit to wear (khaki shorts, dangly pearl earrings and the green button-up blouse you can see in the photograph above).  Todd called at one point that week and asked what he should wear on our first date.  I told him what I was wearing and then the night of our date he showed up in khaki shorts and a green button-up shirt!  We were "matchers!"  I thought that was so cute!
      Our first date was in St. Cloud at the "Outback Steakhouse."  Again, I was so excited I could barely eat and those burgers are HUMONGOUS!  We talked and talked and talked.  We went to Coldstone Creamery for dessert and talked some more.  That was Sunday night.  Wednesday noon we met for lunch at Subway during his lunch break.  Friday evening we went out for supper in Buffalo and went to a performance of "Guys and Dolls" at the Buffalo Community Theater.  It was all such fun!  Then Todd had to leave for THREE WEEKS to go on a family vacation with his boys, his parents, and some friends.  He called me three times.  Angie could tell it was him when he called because my voice would "go up three octaves!"  I remember that the first phone call was from Medora, North Dakota and I love Medora.  I asked him to look around and tell me what he could see right at that moment.  His response: "dirt!"  I liked that answer.
      After Todd's trip I think you could say we "power-dated!"  We either saw each other or talked on the phone every single day after that trip.  It was a wonderful, magical time.  I didn't need much sleep.  I didn't need much food.  I was just high on life!  We were engaged in January of 2008 (six months after our first date).  He took me to the Paramount Theater to see a Buddy Holly show.  Before the show began we went up into the balcony to look around.  He suggested I sit down.  Then he got down on one knee and proposed!  I said, "Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes!"  It was wonderful!  During the concert one of the performers even announced our engagement.  We stood up in front of hundreds of people and they applauded for us.  The spotlight shone on us and everything.  Exciting.

Gettin' engaged!

      I LOVED planning my wedding.  We planned it in three months and I enjoyed every little part of it.  We went to Chicago to visit my sister Patty and find the bridesmaid dresses for her and Kia.  David was also going to stand up next to me, but he only needed a tie to match the dresses!  I found MY dress in Alexandria with my Mom.  It was the perfect dress, made just for me!  AND, it was on sale!  We found a beautiful tiara and veil too.  Todd and I shopped for ties for him and David and the groomsmen at Kohls.  Our friend Janet hemmed three of Todd's suits to fit Todd, James, and Daniel.  We figured out music for the wedding and found our musicians.  We had pre-marriage meetings with Pastor Rob.  It was a whirlwind of excitement and joy!
    May 3rd, 2008 our married life began.

 And, we lived happily ever after! 

Adventures on the Pace Arrow!

Ah, yes, the Pace Arrow.  Inside this motorhome many, many childhood memories were formed.  This motorhome belonged to my Grandma and Grandpa Iverson who lived in Dickinson, North Dakota.  I think of them when I see this photograph, but I also think of family vacations that my parents took with us four children inside this motorhome.  Like most people, my memories of childhood are foggy and sometimes specific trips get all jumbled up with other trips.  But, I remember the motorhome.  It had the coolest fabric accordian blinds and the awesomest top bunk that folded down from the ceiling above the driver's seat.  Everyone wanted to sleep in that bunk!  I remember the sink was tiny (but not too tiny for cousin Adam to get a bath in it once in a while).  I remember that there was a shower in the back that no one ever used, and there was a table in the "living room" next to a huge window where we would sit and eat our meals (like the cold shrimp and noodle salad Mom fed us after a long, wonderful day in Disney World).  There was a toilet in the back that was used for a chair more than a toilet!  There is a famous, famous stoery on the Iverson side that took place back there!  On time Grandma and Grandpa brought us grandkids to Washington state and brought back cherries that were stored on the bathroom counter.  Patty would sit back there on the toilet chair, holding the book she was reading in one hand and eating cherries with the other.  I can't even count the times I heard that story!  Grandma and Grandpa used to take my three siblings and I along with our cousins Kia and Adam and we would travel to visit relatives and have family reunions.  Billings, Montana saw this motorhome quite a few summers as we celebrated the Bale side of the family (my Grandma Iverson had LOTS of siblings).  It was fun getting to know these old people who looked and sounded like Grandma.  Grandpa and Grandma also thought it would be beneficial for their grandkids to know Montana and North Dakota - so we traveled all over and visited museums and looked at countryside.  Grandpa was fascinated with the oil wells when they started putting them in and we would stop on the side of the road and just watch them.  We would stop in Montana and visit the gravesite of our aunt Patty who died of Leukemia when she was three.  This was always a somber event, but Grandpa and Grandma would always want a picture of us with the gravestone.  We never knew whether to smile or look sad.  When Patty died, Grandpa and Grandma gave a beautiful wooden altar to the church where they had been attending.  On one of our trips we visited the church so us grandkids could see the altar and Grandpa and Grandma were very pleased to find that it was being used as the main altar of the church.  It was originally used as an altar in the basement for the Sunday School kids.  Here it is:

  When my family took the Pace Arrow on vacations, we often went further than Montana and North Dakota.  I remember going to Washington D.C., Florida, and California.  We would stop at as many national parks as we could.  I remember seeing mountains and valleys and streams and oceans from the windows of that motorhome.  I'm thankful for all those memories.  I'm also thankful that my Dad was able to get the brakes to work when we were descending a mountain in the western United States.  He was having trouble with those brakes and we all had to get under furniture for a while in case we crashed!  But, we didn't crash.  The Iversons and the Pace Arrow survived!

  Now my husband and I enjoy camping together... not in a Pace Arrow, but in a truck camper on top of our Ford truck.  We've enjoyed some beautiful sights too.  What a beautiful world our God has created!

Norman and Winnifred Iverson

I don't want to fit You in my pocket

Small by J.J. and David Heller.....

Cardboard cutouts on the floor

People wish that You were more like what they wanted You to be

Eventually they won't have much of You at all in their theology

The walls are closing in on You

You cannot be contained at all

I don't want to make You small

I don't want to fit You in my pocket

A cross around my throat

'Cause You are brighter than the sun

You're closer than the tiny thoughts I have of You

But I could never fathom You at all

Broken moldings all around

Broken people hit the ground

When they discover that You're not here for our benefit

You love in spite of us

You use the least of us to prove the strong aren't really strong at all

Do you ever have a song that just hits you right where you are?  A song that touches you and makes you stop and ponder and dig down deep?  I currently have two favorite artists:  Sara Groves and J.J. Heller.  Both have beautiful voices.  Both have a folksy sound.  Both use intriguing instrumentation.  Both have deep, insightful lyrics.  When I get a new CD by one of them, my favorite thing to do is lie down in a quiet room and turn the CD on loud enough to hear each word they sing......and soak it all in.  When Dad turns his music up loud he calls it "enjoying the 'presence' of the music".  I think I understand what he means.  I was recently enjoying a new J.J. Heller CD and the lyrics written above touched me.  The words made me think about how God is so amazingly, fabulously, incredibly BIG and how I often only give Him credit for being small.  Often to me, He is small enough to "fit in my pocket" and be just a small part of my day.  I can take Him out of my pocket when I want Him involved.  Honestly, I don't expect Him to do great things in my day-to-day life.  I don't expect Him to fix my problems or make major changes in my life.  But, I truly DO believe He could.  I believe He could do anything.  I love the story in the Bible of a fight that is going on and one of the warriors pleads with God to stop the sun from moving (so he could complete the battle and have victory) and God did!  I love the story that Beth Moore shares about her childhood and her aunt.  Her aunt asked Beth to "dream big" when thinking about what she might want for her birthday .  Beth thought about it and decided she wanted an elephant to ride to school each morning.  Of course the aunt couldn't grant her that wish.... but she loved being asked!  God loves when we ask for big things too.  He loves that we believe He can do big things.  He loves to see our faith soar on our belief in His bigness.  The song above reminded me of that.  We have a very big God!  I want to think big and I want to see God at work in every detail of my life.  I want to sit in awe of Him and all that He is.... He is brighter than the sun and closer than the tiny thoughts I have of Him.  I love that we serve such a good God who cares so deeply for His children.