not sure how to start...

i've got a lot to say in this one but i will start with some honeymoon pictures...

here we are leaving for mexico!!! very excited but also really tired...


here is the view from our balcony...


here is my handsome husband...



we went whale watching, it was wonderful...


we also went snorkeling...

i took this from the boat, the water was so clear...


i took this picture of these rocks i found in the ocean.


i was standing on the beach, staring out at the ocean with the water washing over my feet overcome with the goodness of the Lord. i would pick up these rocks and think, you made these Lord, people pay lots of money to have their kitchen counters look like this and you just make it. they used to be giant rocks and one day they will be sand and that is just what you do.

it was one of those moments when the Lord's presence was so clear to me that it was almost too overwhelming...overwhelming and wonderful.

a few days before i got married a dear friend of mine, a lady i loved very much, went to be with Jesus. i have missed her and remembered her over the past few months and in the heart ache clung to the promises of our good Lord. i've prayed through tears knowing that the Lord does things for good and that He is trustworthy in all things, even the things He does that i don't understand at all and that honestly really make me angry.

thankfully this lesson began on the beach that day looking at the water and holding rocks in my hand. He is good and i know that by His grace.

on another note, we have officially been married 3 months tomorrow. it has been a wonderful, painful, Jesus-dependent 3 months. it turns out i am very selfish but thankfully my husband is full of grace. it really has been delightful. dominick is so funny and so in love with our Lord and it has been such a blessing to be his wife.

also i started working at a daycare. i don't love it everyday but i'm working on it. this is my main excuse for my blogging infrequency. if you are still checking it then i appreciate it and will try to blog with more regularity in the future.

love to all, especially those who live in pa and ar

i'm married now...

and now i can get to blogging because i don't have a wedding to plan.

so let's start the catch up process. i have a lot of blogs in my head that i will be getting out over the next few weeks but for now let's talk about the wedding.



simply, it was my favorite day ever. it was such a blessing to have so many people that we love and that love us there with us to celebrate. the ceremony went off without a hitch (that i know of), which was especially impressive since we had ten flower girls.



i mean, those are some cute girls and they all did a great job handing out daisies and tossing flowers.

here are a few more pics from the best day ever...

ceremony...


this was the part in the ceremony where our family's prayed for us...


so happy to finally be married...


finishing our first dance as man and wife...


then it was time to party and party we did!!



then it was time for us to leave and start our life together...



honeymoon pictures are coming soon. until then, let me tell you, i love married life. my husband (i love saying that) is wonderful. we laugh all the time and just have the best time. he is a blessing to be married to and everyday i thank the Lord for the gift he has given me in him.

i'm still not married yet...

but i am getting closer everyday.

i am now only 43 days away!!!

in the mean time i will be staring at these engagement pictures to help pass the time.

hope it works, i am really ready to get married.

i'm looking back...

at 2009 in pictures....

january...

i bring in the new year at amy's


february...

we celebrate valentine's day... (we had boys with us i promise, this was just a girls pic)



march...

i go to new mexico for a mission trip with the teenagers...



then i go camping with seminary friends...

april...

i start playing on a ultimate frisbee team...

we win first place in our league...just kidding. we lose a lot. but we steal the championship t-shirts while the game is going on and pretend we won. just as fun.

may....

luke and i compete in our first triathlon....

we also don't come in first...



i also visit the cute friends with my dear friend allye....

june....

start dating dominick :) happy faces, happy faces

july...

luke and ashley get married.... more happy faces

cody and i get a new sister...

august...
i got to colorado, cody and i hike for 1,589,642 miles...



then on to see luke and ashley in their new home town....

september....
we have hick party at church..


october...
we have fall festival at church and i get strangled by an ninja...


november...
we get engaged, it becomes my favorite month ever...

december...
we wedding plan, we celebrate christmas and everyone is exhausted.
all in all, one fantastic year. looking forward in great anticipation of 2010.

i'm passing test

so, i am getting married and we are having a wedding hence the lack of recent blog post. one of dominick's groomsmen lives out of state and i have not yet had the pleasure of meeting him. since the wedding will be our first meeting he took it upon himself to get to know me a little better/see if i am good enough for his friend. this was the facebook interchange between us and i thought you might all enjoy it. it made us (mike, dominick and myself) laugh.

also he told dom that if i didnt pass his test he would be forced to release a wolverine during our wedding.

Mike McDonald January 10 at 8:52pm
So, I am very sad that i don't know you...and that ill first meet you when i'm in your wedding(which I'm very happy about.) So i decided to facebook you a few questions...like a get to know chelsea better quiz.
1. Favorite color
2. Favorite Band
3. Which do you think would win in a fight a bear or Dom.
. Apples or oranges
5. Winter or summer
6. Superman or Batman
7. Why do you follow god?
8. Who would win in an arm wrestling match, the statue of liberty or king kong
9. The Office...best show ever, or who cares?
10. Last question... Is dom's friend mike crazy...or dom's coolest most awesomest friend ever?

thats all, good luck and god speed.

Chelsea Calcatera January 11 at 2:21pm
Mike,
I am also sad that we don't know each other. Dom speaks very highly of you and honestly I am pretty intimidated/nervous about the man love between you two. I will gladly take your test and hope to pass with flying colors. Should I fail and you feel forced to inform Dominick that I am not cool enough for him be warned that I will then be forced to kill you. :/

1. baby blue and green (mainly the color of a clean sky and trees)

2. this one is pretty hard. I dont think I can list just one so i have broken down some categories:-favorite band to see live:MuteMath
-favorite single man singer-George Strait
-favorite country band-Randy Rogers Band
-favorite when i'm mellow and happy- Joshua Radin
-mostly played in my car are mixes of mae, anberlin, david gray, cross canadian ragweed, bob marley, death cab for cutie, lady antebellum
-favorite music for worship-shane and shane, shawn mcdonald, dominick adamo

3. the bear if it were a fair fight, dom if it was prison rules

4. yes please

5. summer- I love to play outside and swimming and the ocean and being able to wear sandals. However I have never lived in a pretty place during the winter were snow is a regular and I truly believe that if I lived somewhere were it could be winter and you could still play outside because there is snow and not just ice falling from the sky that I would enjoy winter much more.

6. Batman, he was really just a man with no special powers just smart gadgets and a lot of bravery.

7. Because without God, his son Jesus Christ who is my savior, my life would be pointless/hopeless/depressing instead of being joyful/hopeful/with purpose.

8. King Kong. This probably makes me the worst feminist ever but women can't/shouldn't be able to, beat men at arm wrestling. Even if they are tough women who stand for liberty.

9.Up until about a year ago I would have said The Office is the best show ever. While it still ranks in my top four it's position as my favorite show has seriously been challenged this fall by 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation and Community. Definitely not "who cares?" It is still a work of awkward genius.

10. Dom's friend Mike is the coolest of Dom's friend as well as the one I feel most challenged by for the position as "The love of Dominick's life." \

hope this helps in my winning your approval. looking forward to meeting you,

Chelsea

Mike McDonald January 13 at 8:42am
chelsea...i just informed dom, that you are for sure, funnier then him. well done you passed with flying colors. my favorite was the reference to "prison rules" because in my world, those are the only rules. look forward to meeting you soon too


Chelsea Calcatera January 13 at 6:58am
glad i passed, i hate wolverines

i'm engaged...

and it kinda stinks.

sorry, i love him and i really want to be married to him but running around and making plans to be married and not actually being married just kinda stinks.

we finished registering and now i really just want to live in a house that we both live in. saying goodbye to him everyday is not fun...and i love fun.

the planning is going good. we are getting married in 89 days, hopefully i will be done planning by then. sometimes i dont think so. it feels like the Lord, in the way that when you learn something new about Him you realize how much you dont know about Him. every time i finish a task a bunch of new task come out of nowhere.

but they promise me that at the end of the planning i will be married to dominick. so i press on.

because i really want to be married to him.

also he wrote about being engaged too.