Blanket of Love

Life has been excitingly crazy, and therefore I have not written on here in forever!

Now that I have some more time on my hands (still unemployed), I'll be posting on a more regular basis.

Much has happened in the past couple months! The main thing being....I MARRIED Kyle Bowman!!!

It was the hottest day of my life (85% humidity 117 degree heat index) and the happiest! Although Minnesotans are calling it humageddon, I wouldn't change a thing about it!

Our wedding was exactly one month ago from today. I have been married for a month, and so far it's been fantastic. Obviously there are little disagreements here and there, but for the most part we have been savoring the opportunity to live life together. We'll often talk about how blessed we are with amazing people surrounding us in life, and our wedding was the pinnacle of it all! One of my most emotional moments from the day was when my dad and I were walking down the aisle. We came out of double doors from the building behind the garden and made our way to the grassy lawn where everyone was seated. As we turned under the stone archway and began to walk down the grassy center aisle, all the guests stood up and all eyes were on us. There was so much excitement and love radiating in so many different ways from each person there. As I looked into the faces of all these people who were there to support Bo and I, I was overwhelmed with this blanket of love that fell upon me. As my eyes swell, I was trying to hold back my tears. As I made my way down the aisle I went to look and smile at my bridesmaids...only to discover there wasn't a dry eye in that line! So I had to avoid contact with them for the time being or they would make me lose it. The groomsmen were solid, so I glanced towards them when I thought I was gonna burst. However, looking into the eyes of my future husband (at the time) was perfect. It was finally our time to become husband and wife, and I can guarantee that there was not a single person at our wedding who was as excited as we were!

I still have moments of being in awe at the incredible man I get to have as my lifelong companion!! God has blessed us immensely and showered his love upon us (literally....it rained at our outdoor wedding...story to come in a future blog)! I am so thankful for the incredible family & friends Bo and I have to support us as we venture into MARRIED LIFE (insert darth vader theme music).

Being a wife is great! Although that still sounds strange to me.

I'm thankful for our first month of marriage, and I'm looking forward to many more!

Sentimental bride,

Abby Bowman

Friends, Family, and Graduations!

Ok.....so I'm not very good at this blogging thing, but I'm working on it.

It has been quite some time (2 months) since my last blog. This lack of writing is simply because life has been everything but lacking!

Spring break at the end of April was spent up in NorCal in Santa Cruz! A bunch of us stayed with some friends for most of the week. We went to San Francisco for a day, went wine tasting at a local vineyard, went surfing, and Bo and I went zip lining through the redwood forest! It was such a great time to be able to share our last break with some of our closest friends. I have truly come to cherish each and every moment with the people who are dearest to me.

Graduation was at the beginning of May from Azusa Pacific University! Those were 4 of the best years of my life with amazing growth experienced around some of the most amazing people I have ever met. The whole weekend seems like it flew by so fast, but it was a blast! Both of my parents were able to fly to California for the long weekend, which also meant that Bo and I got to stay with them at the Grand Californian Resort in Disneyland. We weren't complaining. A bunch of Bo's family were able to come down for our graduation as well. It was a great time celebrating a huge achievement with our wonderful family and friends around us.

Calli's high school graduation was over memorial weekend. Bo and I were able to fly to Minnesota for the weekend with enough time to fit in a bridal shower for me, her graduation, and her open house grad party. The shower was filled with delicious cake pops, chocolate covered strawberries, solo love song serenades, and many presents. It was a wonderful evening of blessings from everyone there! Then it was on to Calli's big day. She graduated from HCA and is heading out to APU this fall!! I am so thrilled to have her in our neck of the woods! I decorated her graduation cap for her...appropriately displaying our APU pride and colors. We were all so proud of her!

After her graduation we went out for dinner to celebrate. Saturday, however, was filled with yard work in preparation for her graduation open house on Sunday. As a result of a long day of work outside and team work over all, she had a stellar open house with at least 250 people at our house! So many friends! It was such a joy to celebrate the amazing woman she has become, the great journey she has completed, and the new adventure she is about to embark on. Bo and I were SOOOO thankful that we got to be there that weekend to spend it celebrating with Calli and my family!

So much more has happened, but we'll stick with that summary of the month of May for now. But you just wait until you hear about our crazy life in June!!!!!! More details to come on the exciting future of Bo and I. :)

Surrounded by Amazing Women

Ok, so it's been a while...I gotta get used to this whole blog writing thing. :)

Much has happened in life since my last post, so let's recap :

I had my last volleyball match of my career against USC a few weeks ago. It was our last victory, ending our season as the #1 seed in our league with a 11 - 1 record!!! I could not have asked for a better team and fantastic season! A whole group of my friends were also there at the match to support me as I killed my last ball cross court to win our match and end the season!! So great!

APU Women's Club Volleyball Team BRICK

Toward the end of March, a few of my friends came in town to enjoy a weekend of pre-wedding festivities. I was so excited to have a bunch of my close friends all TOGETHER!! 

We had so much fun going on a scavenger hunt to various places that are common for APU students to visit. It was like a night full of last memories at many of our favorite places around here! Having everyone together,  made me so excited for our wedding, which will be like one large reunion with all the people we love! How could it be any better than that?!

After a girls night out, the following day, was a ladies day out! A couple of my bridesmaids (Molly Miller & Lorna Stergios) threw me a bridal shower at a park in San Dimas complete with food, balloons, hilarious games, a delicious cake, and presents!

 This shower became another sort of reunion with volleyball girls, my future sister-in-laws, a bunch of friends since freshman year, and ALL eight girls who went to the Dominican Republic on a mission trip together!!!

Friends since Freshman year at APU

Future Bowman Sister-in-Laws

Dominican Republic Mission Team 2009 Ladies

All in all, that weekend was such a blessing! I have been fortunate to have so many amazing women in my life! They have supported and loved me in so many ways! Can't wait to celebrate with them all more in Minnesota this summer!!!

Peacful Rain

Well it's a rainy day in LA :( I know that growing up in Minnesota, March was always such a long month because everyone wants to get rid of the cold, icky weather and have nice warm spring weather. However, LA is supposed to be all sunshine and beautiful by now; I'm not supposed to be thinking these "ready for nasty weather to be gone" kind of thoughts! Come on now....bring on the SUN!

Anyway, because of the rain I am cooped up inside. It does force me to have some peaceful time to myself, which I believe is such a necessary part of my day, so I guess I can't complain. I have come to notice more and more just how important it is in American culture and lifestyle to search out and embrace those quiet moments in life. It's all a part of training ourselves to intentionally slow down because if we don't consciously do it, it will never happen.  So I'm enjoying the peacefulness of my room with the rain coming down outside. Even in the midst of gloomy or nasty weather, there is always a little bit of beauty and serenity to be found in it, so I take moments like these as little gifts from God to enjoy.

Hope you can find peace in the little things around you and thank God for placing them there! Just make sure you don't miss them!

And so it begins...

Well, I decided to join the blogging world. Now let me clear a few things up...1) No this is not a blog about the road in England 2) This is not a blog about the Beatles, their album, or anything related to it (notice the spelling alteration in my title).

Feel free to join in and follow the journey of my life. I'm on Abby Road, but who knows what I will pass as I continue to drive along. Just to get started, I'll give a brief summary of what's going on in my life right now.

*Less than 2 months before I graduate from Azusa Pacific University

*Still searching and applying for jobs all the time (I applied for 10 just this afternoon), and excited to see where God is going to take Bo and I

*Speaking of Bo (Kyle), I cannot wait to marry this INCREDIBLE man in 125 days!! For wedding details, pictures, stories, and other fun stuff check out www.mywedding.com/kylelovesabby

*I am currently the co-captain of the APU women's club volleyball team. We are 9 - 1 and we only have 2 more matches left! That's right...I have ONLY 2 more matches left until my volleyball career comes to an end. While this is sad and hard because volleyball is such a big part of my life, it's really good too. Our team is amazing, and I am having a BLAST playing volleyball with a phenomenal group of girls!!

That's a littler overview of my life. Stay tuned for more on ending college, entering the real world, job hunting, all things wedding, and all the changes that will be happening in life.