Life Lately...(Let's Spill the Tea)

Well hello. It's exciting to be here writing this blog right now. Thanks for taking time out of your day to be here with me. A lot has happened since the last time I hopped on here. Let's spill the tea, shall we?

For starters, let's talk about the biggest change of all, my last name!

No room for guessing here, your girl is married! Ayddin and I have been together since sophomore year of high school. He proposed to me last year on November 23rd, 2021, in a romantic little Japanese garden. We had originally planned to get married that following month in December. I know how soon that is, but we just wanted to be married already! All deposits were made and arrangements finalized - we just couldn't wait to be Mr. and Mrs. Shaw after what felt like an eternity!

But...just five days before our wedding day, Ayddin had a tragic accident at work. He lost 4 fingers on his dominant hand. He was in the hospital for almost a week and underwent several surgeries. Of course it was difficult knowing we'd have to postpone the wedding, but the hardest part was seeing the love of my life laying in a hospital bed feeling unimaginable pain and experiencing so much fear about the future.

In spite of all that was happening, I was still a college student preparing for my first semester finals and working part-time as a book store employee at a Barnes & Noble. As time progressed, it became very evident that Ayddin and I didn't have a future in Arizona anymore.

And in case you're wondering, yes, I did take my finals. I finished my one and only (painful) semester at university with all A's! (by God's grace)

Eventually, Ayddin and I left Arizona behind and moved back home to our home town. That was a very difficult time for the both of us. We had originally gone away with big dreams, only to come home with broken hearts and nothing to show for all the hard work we had put in. We also didn't know much about the road ahead of us. There were so many questions like...where do we even start?

I'm sure you can imagine the way we felt. But the Lord was faithful. As He always is. He met us right where we were at. He provided us with countless blessings...from people, to finances, to so many other little glimpses of hope...

And after such a long journey - on April 2nd, 2022 - we finally GOT MARRIED!!! It was a small, intimate ceremony with a charming Colorado honeymoon that followed. We stayed at a 5-Star resort called The Devil's Thumb where we had a gorgeous room with a private patio overlooking the snowy mountain peaks. We ate delicious food. Shopped. Explored. Enjoyed a couple's massage together. Ayddin got to try ice skating for the first time in his life. I fell pretty hard and was pretty sure I broke my wrist (very embarrassing considering I was supposed to be the experienced one). We both got to try snowboarding - and why he was literally a pro while I could barely make it down the bunny hill (eventually giving up and going inside where it was warm to drink hot chocolate by the fire) I'll never know. But in the end, it was worth the wait.

Our first place together- a perfect little duplex home. This was where we shared so many firsts together, where we began our journey of healing from all that had happened in the previous year, it's where we started rebuilding...

Since then, we've adopted our first puppy: Mr. Perfection (we call him Mr. P for short), our playful, brown-eyed basset hound. To anyone asking if we're planning on having kids anytime soon, my answer is, why do you ask? We already have a son, and he loves dog toys.

Meanwhile, Ayddin has long since finished with his physical therapy. His hand is fully healed, with no future plans of getting prosthetics. He's now a pilot. God is good.

As for me, still just following the Lord and answering His calls day by day. Oh, and probably putting off writing.

So that's pretty much it! Life continues. I just couldn't help but feel inspired to share this blog with all of you, especially as I look back on how different my life looked not too long ago.

To new beginnings. Cheers!

- Bella Shaw