Words of a Life

Definitely Not Very Timely At This Blogging Thing

It's crazy...every time I think of my blog "He Went to Paris" starts playing in my head.  I'm a little ashamed that it's been six months since I've posted.  Definitely time to catch up again. 

Since it's been 6 months, I think I'll do a post for each month - hence six posts!  Whoo hoo, I rock!

So what've we been up to???

October

We spent most of October traveling to and fro.  Mid-month, Chris flew out to MI for a long weekend of fighting in the woods.  He had a great time and enjoyed an extra night in Chicago courtesy of American Airlines.

The following weekend, Chris and four other friends went on a pilgrimage to Denver and Sports Authority Field at Mile High.  The Denver Broncso were taking on Chris' beloved Detroit Lions.  Of the other guys, two were devoted Broncos fans and two were Lions fans.  They all had a fantastic weekend eating, watching football, and playing board games.

Both weekends that Chris was out of town, Annie and I spent time with friends. 

The first weekend, we dropped Chris off at the airport, drove to Harlan, picked up the Herzberg family, and headed north to see our Beach friends.  Shiela, Kathi, and I spent Saturday at a local craft show and we squeezed in a fun visit with Annie's birth mom over lunch.

The following weekend we stayed in Harlan and hung out with Shiela and the girls and our friend Anne.  (Both Shiela's and Anne's husbands were on the football trip with Chris.) Since it was the weekend before Halloween, we also had a chance to spend time at Harlan's Harvest Fest and caught up with several friends while wandering around the town square.  Annie slept thru most of the festivities but was a hit in her little star costume. It was a beautiful weekend and I loved getting in quality time with great friends!

Because Jamie Demanded It (& it's probably time for an update anyway)

 

 

Um, hi.  So once again, long time, no blog. 

 

Want to know what’s been going on?  Huh, do yuh?

 

Well, not a lot – and tons – all at the same time. 

 

So where did we leave off?  Sometime in mid-January, I think.

 

So January – there was lots of snow and wind and cold.  We saw Avatar in 3D (liked but way intense) and The Blind Side (LOVED) and watched lots of DVDs while we hid from the nastiness of winter.  We headed north to meet our awesome friends in Sioux Falls for a day of frigid shopping and fun; and then south to Omaha gallivanting around the Old Market with J & R; and enjoyed yet another evening of Wii games and pizza with my cousins. 

 

 

At Avatar in 3D 

 

 

Chris in the snow

 

 

February brought more snow and wind and cold.  We were able to get back to Harlan for a few days early in the month. While Chris slaved away at his work retreat, I had time to stop by my old office ( I still miss them like crazy!) , squeezed in a massage, lunched with some of the best women I know , and followed it up with a fantastic pedicure with my friend Tina.  We had dinners with friends, enjoyed our friend Jes’s performance at Open Mike night at Hansen Brothers, caught up with more friends, and celebrated J’s birthday with J & R and family.  The following weekend we ditched the craptastic weather and jumped on a plane bound for sunshine, specifically Arizona!  Chris’s parents spend a month south of Tuscon every year and invited us down which we were thrilled to take them up on.   We hiked, we went to the Arizona-Sonoma Desert Museum (fabulous!) and the San Xavier Mission, we saw javalinas, and geocached, and laughed ourselves silly with the parental units.  We had a fun dinner with old friends, Stacy and Travis and their daughter.  Before we flew out on Friday, we had a wonderful lunch with dear HP friends, Heather and Jen (Miss you both!).  We flew back to the land of snow and cold and February was almost gone.

 

 

Hiking in the Coronado National Forest/Madera Canyon

 

 

Lunch with HP Friends - Heather, Me, and Jen

 

 

 

March brought friends to our home.  Weekend 1 was spent with the Beach family.  Weekend 2 brought Joe & Shiela and girls north to see us.  Weekend 3 started off lovely.  We met some dear friends for lunch and were following them to the craft show when we got a call that my cousin Therese had died during the night.  We ended up driving down to the Council Bluffs area to help my cousins go thru her personal effects and bring them home.  The rest of the evening was spent with family – Chris and I with several cousins and their spouses – reminiscing and planning a family reunion.  Weekend 4 (this past weekend) brought my brother-in-law, Mike, and adorable nephew, Marshall, to our door.  We played at the park and planted seeds and blew bubbles and made surprise brownie cupcakes and ate Irish nachos and generally had a great time. I also found an awesome water aerobics program and have been loving that! I just added in some lap swimming and am working muscles I didn't know existed! 

 

 

March was a bad month for pictures.  Use your imagination here.

 

And now, now I’m up to date and the sun is shining again and temps are in the 70s this week and it is lovely, absolutely lovely.  Ah, sunshine, you are so good to me. J 

 

This weekend is Chris’s birthday and guess what I’m getting him for his birthday?  I’m letting him run/walk a 5K (the Spring Thaw) with me!  Lucky, lucky man!  Actually, he’s pretty excited about it too.  It’s our first official run/walk together.  After the run/walk, the birthday boy will get a great big birthday breakfast! We are already planning on walking the Siouxland Walk for Autism later this month (3K) with the family team and at the beginning of May we’ll be running (yep, running this one!) the Pound the Pavement 5K in Sgt. Bluff.  

 

(Now for the boring stuff…)

 

Oh, and since January 1^st, we’ve turned in our formal adoption application, met with our social worker, filled out trees worth of paperwork, been drug tested (passed), had our formal individual and joint interviews (passed), had our home study (passed), and were told to get our profile done asap.  Eek!  We are not officially approved yet but were told it would be within the next 3 weeks.  And even though our wait could be anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 years, I bought our first official baby thing today, with Chris’s concurrence!  It’s a pack of onesies from Target.  One of them is yellow with a little daisy and it says, “Hand Picked.”  If we end up with a son, we will make a gift of these adorable onesies, but perhaps our daughter will one day wear it.  We would love your prayers as we await our official approval and for our future child(ren) and their birth parents.    

 

PS – Jamie, love, does this suffice as an update? J

Recap

Hmm, almost 3 months of non-blogging - definitely not a record but still a sizeable absence. 

Let's recap my from last real post -

• We've been here almost 5 months.  Again, good but tough months.  We are settling in although we still miss our Harlan/Irwin friends.
• We are starting to kind of have friends here.  We are now in a Life Group through church and went to a movie last week with one of the couples.  And some of them came to our annual Christmas party.
• We now have no immediate family here.  Mom moved in November.  But we have cousins, very lovely cousins.  My cousin Tina and her family had us over for Thanksgiving dinner and her sister invited us for Christmas.  We didn't make it for obvious reasons.  And my cousin Tom and his wife had us over for a pre-Thanksgiving celebration and we've been able to hang out with them a bit.
• The job is still awesome!  Love my boss, love most of my co-workers, love the field office staffs I get to work with, love the State Office staff I get to work with - just pretty darn happy with the work situation!  And very hard to believe that I've been here almost 6 months - I honestly learn something new every day.  Love!
• Chris is still loving working from home too.  Loves the rolling out of bed at 7:59 and being at work at 8:00 aspect!
• The house is still wonderful and it has become home.  We officially hung pictures and prints and decorated around the 1st of December.  Which was then followed with frantic Christmas decorating in time for our annual Christmas Open House on the 12th.  And yes, our house can hold LOTS of people at once!
• Church was the one area where we were really struggling back in September.  I am very, very happy to report that we like it.  We really, really like it.  Chris is now co-teaching the 8th grade boys on Wednesday nights and we are starting to meet people.  We got involved with a Life Group and feel incredibly blessed by those God has placed in our group.  We are currently studing The DNA of Relationships by Gary Smalley and it has been a great experience.  We also love our pastor's teaching style (Deed - reminds me of Dave Bartlett!) and the sermons are fantastic.  We are enjoying being in a church where a lot of folks step forward to help in ministries and we are not required to serve in an area we don't feel led to serve in. 
• Infertility/babies, etc.  Not a lot to say. We've enjoyed a lovely break for the past 6+ months - simply focusing on each other and our relationship and relaxing.  It's been wonderful.  Is there more to come?  Yep, but we are just not ready to share on this blog yet. Stay tuned.

So what else has been happening, you wonder.  Great question!

• Um, lots of relaxing!
• Quick trip to KC for our 4th anniversary!  Got to meet some dear online friends for the first time in person!  Wonderful weekend and beautiful weather.
• Planning a mid-February trip to AZ to spend a week with Chris's parents.  And I'm so hoping I get to meet up with a couple of my dear Hannah's Prayer friends, as well as our friend Stacy.  Wish, wish, wish!
• Lovely Christmas celebration - just Chris and I as we were snowed in.  Still hoping to see family later tomorrow or this week.
• Looking forward to 2010 and all it has to offer.

I'll post our Christmas card that my awesome friend Amy made for us - if you need cards or invites of any kind go visit her website at ZaZaZoo Cards & Invites!

Vacation, Babies, and Good Times

We are almost done with Vacation Day #5.  I refuse to start the countdown to when we head home.  It's been fun and we have stuff planned for the next few days which should result in even more fun.  

So far, we've:

• driven many miles - about 12 hours - with an overnight stop in Kalamazoo.
• played countless games of Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride - the guys are currently working on playing Puerto Rico while I type.
• walked miles around the house bouncing Elena (adorable 3 1/2 month old niece).
• celebrated Marshall's 3rd birthday (adorable nephew).
• had a great dinner and watched several communites' displays of fireworks from our hill west of the expressway with some of our favorite Michigan friends.
• shopped and picked up several cute pieces of clothing (me with my sil and her other sil, not the boys) at the new outdoor mall in my in-laws town.
• made a quick run to a neighboring town to see if my mother-in-law was right that there really is a White Castle - she's right, and her sons thank her for that!
• Visited more with awesome friends and hung out with the fam.

Coming attractions over the next few days include:

• visiting a local toy store where our friend works followed by fun at the local waterpark.
• meeting up with two, possibly three, virtual friends from Hannah's Prayer - an IF website/forum that I frequent.
• celebrating my 34th birthday with friends and family on Tuesday.
• a quick trip to Frankenmuth, and in particular, this store followed by dinner and an evening with friends. 
• and yet more visiting with friends
• and all this before heading for home late Saturday afternoon.

Hmm, so much more to say and share but it's late (not adjusting to the hour time difference at all!) and I have to be on my toes tomorrow trailing a 3-year old. 

But a final observation.  We've been helping take care of our niece and nephew, and even kept them for a day and night so their parents could take care of some stuff.  Chris mainly played with Marshall and I've been taking care of Elena.  It has been very bittersweet.  Last night as I gave Elena a bath in the kitchen sink, my mother-in-law commented that I'm a natural.  I almost cried - it was the highest of praise from her and showed me that she sees how much I love these children.  A bit later on, Chris and I took a walk thru the subdivision, Chris carrying Elena.  We ran into several of my in-law's neighbors, all very friendly and admiring of our sweet little niece.  After the 3rd or 4th comment, about the same time, Chris and I both started saying how we felt like frauds - parading around with this baby that isn't even ours.  My darling husband then looped an arm around me and hoisted our niece higher on his shoulder and assured me that we would have a baby of our own, he was sure of it.  I'm going to trust him on this one, a submission to his will, if you please.  This amazing man has yet to lead me astray.

After looking back over the past few months of blogging that there are several subjects I need to go back and address as I'd like them recorded for posterity's sake.  So expect some randome subject posts in the next few weeks.  In the meantime, praying you are all having great summers!

Do You Want to See the Most Beautiful Baby in the World?

Seriously.  Because you may not be prepared for how incredible our little niece is.  She is absolutely the most beautiful baby. 

To be fair, as each of our nieces and nephews makes their way into the world, I am awed at how beautiful each one is.  And our sweet little Elena Rose is incredible.

Ready?  Here she is:

This first photo was taken on Saturday morning.  My brother-in-law, Mike, was finally getting to hold his baby girl for the first time. 

The second photo was taken on Monday night.  Elena was hooked up to an EEG monitor from Saturday afternoon thru Tuesday morning (until she had her MRI).  The gauze on he head is covering all of the EEG leads.  We got to see her again today and all of the EEG wires are gone.  She still has a feeding tube and an oxygen thingy (can you tell how much medical knowledge I have?) along with an IV into her belly button and various sensors.  We didn't get any photos today but I'll be sure to get some on Wednesday before we leave and post them later this week. 

Chris and I are both absolutely exhausted, mainly emotionally, but there's quite a bit of physcial exhaustion mixed in as well.  We were on Marshall duty today and it was fun - but very tiring.  He was such a good boy for us.  Marshall is definitely starting to feel the separation anxiety - he doesn't see Mom and Dad as often as he's used to and he's definitely off his routine.  This weekend he asked our sister-in-law, Carrie, what happened to his house.  He is enjoying wearing out Grandma and Papa and Uncle Chris and Aunt Nae in the meantime.

We head home tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.  We'd appreciate prayers as we travel and for peace of mind as we leave our family here in MI and head back to life in Iowa. 

Thursday will be a bit insane as Chris heads to Omaha for a certification exam first thing in the morning and I head there a bit later (just 1 1/2 hours) for another appointment with our RE - more bloodwork and another u/s.  And for those I haven't touched base with, we tested on Friday and it was negative.  We are still hopeful though. 

While we've been here in MI, I've gotten a message from my mom that my Great Aunt Doris passed away.  We also found out that my Uncle David, who is also my Godfather, is in hospice care in the hospital and has less than a month left with us, and to add a little more grief to our already heavy hearts, we found out this evening that our friend Linda's father passed away earlier this week.  We are simply overwhelmed right now.  Please keep us in your prayers. 

Oh -and a special hello to any of my HP friends who have wandered this way - please let me know you made it via the comment section.

Sending prayers up for all of you.  And a little bloggy shout-out: Alfred's Mom - special prayers going up for you for a pain-free labor and delivery - can't wait to read the news of your little one's arrival!

Peace, Friends.

Another Gap

I am trying to feel guilty about my lack of posting.  But I really don't feel it.  The guilt, that is.  Because (and I'm lapsing into my latest word obsession here) DUDE, I write for me.  I mean, I like it and all that many of you read and leave me comments.  And I like it that you keep coming back.  I don't ever intend nor want to be one of the super high traffic blogs out there.  But I would like to be more consistent.  That said, let's begin.

I am stinkin' tired.  Bone-deep tired.  And why, you might ask?   Well, because I did a silly thing that my thirty-something body didn't want to do.  I think I've mentioned that Chris and I teach the junior high kiddos at our Wednesday night church thing.  After months of questions and interrupted conversations about boys, dating, etc, I felt moved to invite the girls up.  So we did a slumber party last night - complete with sleeping bags all over the family room and tons of junk food and hyper, goofy, sweet girls and staying up almost all night - the detail my body is still ticked off about.  Four of my good friends/co-teachers/small group friends helped me out and we all kind of co-led.  We started out with the fun stuff - mini-pizzas and food, moved into building each other, then into self esteem and God's view of us.  And then, despite that we had hours of curriculum planned, we felt moved to let the Spirit move, despite our very human nerves.  My friend, S, shared her story of teen mommyhood, and then we opened it up for questions.  And we answered HOURS of questions - on every subject imaginable (Thank God one of my friends is an ob nurse - she was a huge help!).  I prayed that the girls would be impacted, that they would understand this heart relationship with their Father.  But I wasn't prepared for the impact this evening would have on me.  When we took breaks, instead of heading off immediately for food, several of the girls sought out an adult to spend some individual time talking (we never even offered this but the girls just knew we'd listen) and to say that my heart is breaking for some of the hurts they've been through is a gross understatement.  I was unprepared for some of the things I was told but felt that the Spirit guided my heart and words in response.  Do me a favor - say a little prayer for my girls, would you?  So the girls arrived at my house at 5:30ish last night and we were miraculously out the door and loaded into vehicles at 7:35 this morning and into church and seated with 5 minutes to spare.  (I say miraculously because of the 5 of us women, 4 of us tend to be late for church - every week!) 

After church they were all discharged back to their parents, Chris and I stayed for Sunday school, which I even stayed awake for, drove home, ate and crashed - hard.  I slept from noon to 3:00 and still feel like I could sleep more.  But, lucky you, I decided to update y'all on my life.

In other news, tomorrow we go back to the Dr. again, this time for bloodwork and an u/s to check the progress of the drug cocktail I'm on - 5 days of clomid and, so far, 4 days of injectables.  At this appt. the doc will decide whether to leave the cocktail as is or up dosages.  So far (besides a few nasty headaches) the side effects have been at a minimum.  I am hopeful, but not so hopeful that I will lose hope if we don't get our miracle this cycle.  I am hopeful because I know God has got this.  And I don't have to worry about it.  It's a good feeling.  Funny thing, this is the most aggressive we've gotten so far in tackling our fertility issues but this is also the most relaxed I've been.  I still care, but I am not so wrapped up in it.  Again, good feeling.

One of the reasons I'm so relaxed could be that our adoption meeting is this next weekend.  We head over Friday evening and plan to have a romantic dinner followed by a night's stay at a fine establishment.  The meeting is Saturday morning and we have plans to see friends for both lunch and dinner with a dash of shopping in between. 

We also found out that a youth event scheduled for next weekend (14th) has been postponed  so we now have an evening free - yeah!  And within hours of finding out the event was postponed, a very good friend called to tell me that she and her kids desperately missed us and when could they come visit for a weekend?!  Isn't God good?  I was just missing this friend so very much and was thinking it was going to be quite a while before we'd be able to get together and now I get to see her in less than 2 weeks!  Yeah! 

Funny thing, but my tiredness seems to be lifting a bit.  Make take advantage of that and throw in a load of laundry.  Hoping you are all having wonderful weeks.

Preoccupied

I just noticed that it's been a long while since I've posted.  And I have no real excuse, other than general busy-ness. 

Quick summary of January:

• Spent the first weekend of the month visiting our friends, Tony & Kathi and kiddos, up in Northern Iowa.  Joe & Shiela and Kiddos went with us.  We all had a great time being together again and watching the kiddos run circles around us.
• My friend Jonathan came for a quick visit.  He was a finalist in an emerging composer composition in Omaha.  He was able to drive up for the day and we enjoyed lunch and catching up.
• The next night Chris and I headed to Omaha to attend the concert and hear Jonathan's composition performed by local artists.  We were blown away.  The rest of the contestants did a nice job but Jonathan's piece was phenomenal. 
• And to add a dash of small world, Jonathan introduced us to a woman named Norma.  We got to visiting and she mentioned being taught by Benedictine Sisters.  I asked where, and added that my mom had been a nun (yes, really - I'll post a picture some day) at Mount Marty in Yankton.  Guess what?  So had Norma.  Now keep in mind that my mom left the convent over 40 years ago.  It was pretty unbelievable.
• Spent two awesome evenings with some new friends, Chris and Cara.  And they are going to come to Small Group tonight to check it out.
• BYF (our Wednesday night church youth program) is back in full swing and I'm dealing with a bunch of junior high hormones.  It's been intense.  And is a whole post in itself.
• This weekend we are holed in - it is stinkin' cold out there.  We ventured out for church this morning.  And will run to town for Small Group tonight but otherwise, we haven't left the toasty wamrth of our little house.
• I'm currently in a reading frenzy.  Just finished PS I Love You and another chick lit book.  I'm working on Water From the Rock and The Dream Giver.  And my sil gave me My Sisters Keeper for Christmas.  And I have a list of others I'd like to get done this winter.
• I've also had the urge to bead.  I got five new bracelets done for the MOM Project.  I need to get several more done and send those in.
• I'm not sure what it is about the cold weather, but I have had this desire to cook and bake a lot lately.  I've spent a big chunk of the past two weekends in the kitchen making all kinds of stuff.  What are you making, you ask?  Just yesterday I made a crustless bacon and egg quiche (full of veggies - very yummy!), Rosemary chicken, roasted potatoes, green bean casserole, homemade rolls, homemade chocolate cake (my mil's awesome recipe), banana muffins from scratch, and chocolate chip muffins.  Hungry anyone?

So that's life in a nutshell. 

Peace, Friends.

Here

We made the drive to Michigan yesterday and it went quite well.  I had prepared by packing the power inverter and laptop and had even checked out season 1 of the Gilmore Girls from the library for entertainment - I've never watched the series save an episode here and there but I've heard good things and wanted to try it out.  We had quite the foggy trip - driving thru four states - all foggy.  I slept a good bit and then spelled Chris for a while.  I slept thru the Iowa/Illinois state border crossing (my favorite part of the trip usually - gorgeous view!).  Later on, after a quick drive-thru dinner, I got out the electronic equipment and set up my DVD marathon.  First problem - our inverter decided to just not work.  So I figured I'd watch on the laptop until it went dead which was a great plan.  But the laptop isn't charing properly and decided to die after the opening credits.  Boo.  Instead I got another nice nap and then took over driving duties once we got into MI.  We made it to my in-laws around 3:00 (2:00 our time). 

We had a short night's sleep and then were off to pick up party supplies and finish Christmas shopping.  Already it is just so good to be here.  I dread leaving.  Not a normal comment when talking about visiting in-laws.  But my in-laws - they are just the best.  I can't wait until we live closer.

Ooh - fun news - I got to open my Christmas gift from Chris' brother and his wife - Mike and Carrie.  We are going to see Second City tomorrow night here in MI.  Yeah!  Awesome gift - and I'm so excited that we get to share it with them. 

Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday weekend! 

Found

Found:  One nasty little bugger of a sinus infection/chest congestion along with a side helping of coughing and excess phlegm and mucus.

Willing to give to anyone who will take it and leave me in peace.

Must get healthy before the 12 hour drive to Michigan on Friday. 

With all of the coughing and sneezing and free-flowing nasal drainage around here, very few things on my to do list actually got done today.  I'm heading to bed early in the hopes that a good night's sleep will help my outlook immensely.

I leave you with my to-do list:

1. Make 3-4 batches of fudge for Christmas gifts.
2. Make something (anything at this point) for office potluck on Tuesday.
3. Finish cards and ornaments for women in Bible Study.
4. Finish delivering cards and ornaments to other friends in the area.
5. Wrap gifts.
6. Clean out car (so there is room for luggage, presents, cooler, etc on trip to MI)
7. Make 2 batches of bonbons and dip - half milk chocolate, half butterscotch.
8. Catch up on laundry so we have clean clothes to pack.
9. Pack.
10. Find a gift for Brother and Sister-in-law - and wrap.
11. Finish getting gifts for Chris.
12. Notify post office to stop mail.
13. Feel better.
14. Sleep.

Be well, Friends.

Bad B Movie: The Wedding Recap

We got home from Little Sister's wedding a bit ago.  It was interesting.  The ceremony was nice.  It was a traditional Catholic ceremony complete with the Mass.  Chris and I had to laugh at ourselves as we still knew all of the responses to say, all the songs, chants, etc.  He even said part of the priest's lines - we giggled quietly.  I hesitate to write anything negative in case my sister ever stumbles upon this blog, but on the other hand, Duuude.  So I think I'm going to do positive/negative bullets. 

First the positive:

• Little Sister looked beautiful!  Very glowing and happy.  She and I got in a few minutes of sister time last night.  I gave her my advice - forget everything else, don't let anything bother you.  Focus on the fact that you are marrying the man you love. 
• Had a few precious moments with my Dad.
• Our hotel upgraded us which was very nice. 
• Got in some Christmas shopping and we're almost done.  Yeah!
• Spent some time talking to my other sister, Robyn, and her husband, Erik.  I forget how fun they are.  We're going to plan a trip to Denver to see them and my other sister and her family who are out there.
• Had an awesome time with my niece, Cori.  She is so cute and we danced up a storm.  I helped her dance her first Chicken Dance.  We also shared a piece of cake - she ate most of the frosting although I wore a bunch of it for her.  :)  We stopped by Robyn & Erik's hotel room to pick up Christmas gifts and change clothes before our drive home.  Cori walked over and plopped down on my lap and snuggled.  It was perfect - just what I needed.
• Saw some of my aunts and uncles and family friends who I haven't seen in a long time.  It was so nice to catch up.
• Got some great pictures.
• Her bridesmaids were great - very friendly and fun - I know two of them from when we were younger and it was nice to see how well they're doing.
• My mom made us butterscotch bonbons - and I ate 1/4 of them already.  YUM!

And the negative:

• The worst was that the stepfather of Nicole (one of the bridesmaids) passed away this morning.  He had cancer and was doing OK but got an infection and was taken to the hospital last night and was gone this morning.  She chose to stay but she had a very tough day.
• The groom's mom took all the photographs.  Can I just say that I think this is a dumb idea.  Especially if you are a mean mother of the groom.  She got snippy with me when I was taking pictures.  I explained that I wasn't using my flash so I wouldn't interfere with her's.  She didn't get it.  She does not know anything about photography except how to use her non-slr digital camera.  And she would take pictures when people had their mouths open or weren't looking. When someone commented on this she said that the only people who she had to make look good in the photos was the bride and groom.  So I laughed when Chris was walking around the reception and got a picture of her eating - mouth half open.  Her son-in-law was all, "How's it feel now, Tami?  Heh heh heh!"  It was precious.
• So I've mentioned that Little Sister is young - like 22.  Not the most mature but they've been engaged for three years. They got engaged 2 months before Chris and I.  They didn't make some great choices in the planning and preparation.  Does the phrase "Champagne wedding on a beer budget" make any sense?  That's what it was.  And it didn't work so well.  I felt bad because had she only accepted the help all of her sister's had offered we could have given that to her.  But she only let the groom's family help - and frankly, they are a bunch of rednecks.  And yes, I'm using redneck in a derogatory fashion.
• Ok, the second worst thing - the cutting of the cake.  First the groom's mom insists on carrying the cake to the head table and having them cut it there.  Then as they were feeding each other the cake, Little Sis made a dumb move.  She kind of pushed the cake in her hubs mouth and went to smear a little on his face.  He then proceeded to smear cake all over her - lots of nice chocolate spots all over her dress - in the embroidery and everything.  She was incredibly angry.  It took her a good hour to cool off.  After talking to her, I made the comment to some friends that he might want to think of apologizing (he'd been keeping his distance) and a friend of his overheard me and went to talk to him.  They kissed and made up.  But it was awful to watch and to see their reactions.  I seriously hate that tradition.  Hate. 
• So the other thing both Chris and I noticed was that the groom seemed completely uninterested in the whole day.  Most brides and grooms are lovey dovey and a little touchy - he wasn't interested in holding her hand, kissing, anything.  In the middle of the maid of honor's speech, the groom leaned over and started a conversation with his groomsmen.  Maybe all normal stuff but we got such a weird vibe off of him.

Anyway, it's done.  We gave them some Christian books about marriage - with money tucked into the pages.  But they have to actually open the book to find the money.  I'm wondering if they'll ever find the money.  We are both venting.  Chris is in the other room recounting the whole weekend to a good friend of his. And I'm posting here.  And then we're done.  We're going to be as supportive as we can and hold them up in prayer.  That's all we've got.  And I seriously hope they can look back on this day with wonderful memories. 

Anyone got a great wedding horror story?  Niobe - this reminds me of your post and all the great responses!