4 month long wedding!

You might be surprised to read and also hear there is truth in that we, Nico and I have just completed a four month long wedding!!!  We are finally married and partied out! Life can start as normal, well as normal as can be when everything is new! But thats a story for another day. I am sure now you are curious as to how and why we had a four month long wedding!

As you may know we both live and volunteer here in Brazil with YWAM, being here long term means the yearly complications of visas! So Nico and I thought we would try to better this situation by getting married here in Brazil. So the planning began! The idea; to get officially married here in Brazil but wait to be "married' after a ceremony in Northern Ireland with all our family and friends. And thats what we did....
On the 3rd February 2016, on paper, before a judge, in Brazil, Nico and I got married, it took about 3 minutes in total! A strange experience. After, with some of our friends we had a nice lunch altogether and were prayed for. It was a strange feeling that on this day, Nico became my husband but that night, he went to his house and I went to mine! 
This began the four months.

We then travelled to Northern Ireland in the beginning of March and on the 26th March on the worst rainy and cold day of the year, we had a beautiful ceremony in Newcastle followed by a great time celebrating our union with friends and family from Northern Ireland, France, Italy, Scotland, England and Holland.

 After this date, we went home together and took a well needed 2 week honeymoon, just the two of us. It was a time to rest and restore before entering again into the crazyness of what missionaries call furlough. A month in France, a few days in Italy and a month in Northern Ireland. This time was spent with families and friends, properly introducing each other to them as we had not met properly. We spoke in churches and youth groups and met together with some of our faithful supporters. A wonderful time although non-stop busy.

As our wedding took place in Northern Ireland our friends in Brazil were unable to come as it costs so much, and as there were many very disappointed friends we promised a party when we returned. So after this whirlwind time of weddings, honey moon, furlough etc, a 'normal life' together still could not begin when we returned to Brazil on the 7th June. Inbetween emptying suitcases, moving into an apartment together and starting back to our volunteering, we planned another wedding party for about 50 people! It went down a success! It was a great time to see our friends again here in Brazil and tell our stories and display our photos of the wedding in Northern Ireland. And of course, there was a cake! A very tasty cake!

And this completed a four month long wedding!! Are you tired, I am!! haha. But we had such an enjoyable time and as always time with friends and family is so precious so we enjoyed it all! We are now starting 'normal life' well, what is normal life? Yea, thats what we are discovering! Its a journey but its a fun one! As a quote I once read says, "Happiness is a journey not a destination." We are enjoying this journey that we are on.

We would like to THANK everyone who participated, everyone who came, who helped who gave, who prayed. We have been overwhelmed by the generous hearts of the ones we love. Words cannot express our gratitude. Thank you.