I chose not to share these photos in the main body of the blog simply because I know the tendency to scroll through a blog and ONLY notice the pictures. I wanted the story to stand alone without the distraction of the photos. However, I have these photos and don't mind sharing them. Just promise me you'll read the chapters that go with the photos first. :)
Joey and Kelly during the preschool years
Kelly and her best friend Katie during the elementary school years.
(On a horse!)
Kelly as the 7th grade Homecoming attendant. Joey as the 8th grade Homecoming escort.
(No laughing at our awkward years, please. Ha! Okay, feel free to laugh. The late 80's/early 90's were awesome in their own way.)
The Jones Family (circa 1991) Travis and Marlene (left side), April (back), Kyle (right) and Kelly (middle). Disregard the overabundance of acid washed jeans and 90's attire. I purposely turned all these slideshow photos to sepia tone so the bright colors of these shots wouldn't blind anyone. Ha!
Erin and Kelly right around the time Erin moved away and Kelly began to look at Joey as "husband material."
One of our favorite things to do with our group of church friends was to go out for cokes or ice cream after church. This photo may have been taken after the events of chapter six, but it is nonetheless one of the first photos of Joey and Kelly together.
This is a photo of us on our very first date. The date that started it all...
I saved this letter that Joey sent to me just before our summer mission trip. I still get giddy reading it.
This photo was taken in Washington DC on our drama/ministry tour that we took as a youth group. My favorite parts are Joey's camera around his neck, our bright white socks, and our good friend Charles and Joey's brother Jeff looking back at us making fun of our shameless attempt at trying to take advantage of every photo opp to document the blooming of our relationship.
Red Starbursts mean something to us. Read Chapter 10 to find out why.
Chapter Eleven is my favorite chapter, I think. It is the reason our story is called "Only One."
Best. Birthday. Ever.
This photo was taken at the curtain call of a play both Joey and I were in at church. (Cheaper by the Dozen) I just think it is cute. And that kind woman next to me is Mrs. Biggs (from Chapter 9). This picture has nothing to do with Chapter Twelve, but it was taken about the time of chapter 12 in our relationship, so it fits.
Joey and I used to leave notes on each other's cars once in a while. This is one that I saved. It is featured in Chapter Thirteen.
This is us standing in front of Joey's 1963 Chevy Nova. Quite a classic.
This is one of the few photos of my VW Bug "Cloud." (Please excuse the shoe polish and party hat on the car. We dressed it up like a clown and drove it in the Rooster Days parade.) It made that great sputtering go-cart sound that classic bugs make. Unfortunately, I seemed to pick up on the sputtering habit. Chapter 15 explains.
I cannot, for the life of me remember when or where this photo was taken. I think it may have been one of those photo booth picture things because it was a polaroid shot and the background looks strange and unfamiliar. For a long time, however, it was one of my favorite photos of us. It has nothing to do with the tragic events of chapter sixteen.
"...You will never be united with another until you are united with Me -- exclusive of anyone or anything else, exclusive of any other desires and longings..." This is the lesson I learned in chapter seventeen.
This photo was taken on a youth group trip to the Grand Canyon. We hiked down into the canyon and I got dehydrated and sick. Joey got me back to the top somehow. This has nothing to do with chapter eighteen, but...oh well!
Our little Italian Bistro in the backyard, featured in chapter nineteen.
One of Kelly's senior pictures. She asked Joey to be in a few of them.
One of Joey's senior pictures. He asked his dog Leonard to be in a few of them. Let's not talk about the irony.
He loves me. He said it. I heard it. He meant it.
Now, how do I respond?
Nothing says "I love you" like "I'm leaving the country" right?
Joey cracked me up cutting a rug in before we even left my house for prom.
Somebody remind me again why we thought it was a good idea to take all our photos and cut them up to put in cheesy looking scrapbooks with glued confetti all around the edge of the page? Sheesh. This is the only picture I could find of us together at graduation and it was "cropped" (aka: butchered) for my scrapbook.
This is Kelly in front of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, Russia. Chapter 26 chronicles some experiences there.
This chapter contains the most deceptive sentence I've ever written. Click on over and enjoy tales of our first year in college.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?
