1. When did you get married? June 12, 1999
2. What day of the week was it? Saturday
3. Was this your first marriage? yes.
4. How many guests were invited to your wedding? About 300
5. How long were you and your significant other together before getting married? 3 1/2 years.
6. How did you meet your significant other? In middle school
7. How did your engagement happen? He proposed at the Houston Rose Garden, the location of one of our first dates.
8. How long was the engagement? From August 20, 1998 until June 12, 1999; nearly 10 months
9. Did he ask the parents? I don't think so. We did stop at my dad's office right afterwards though. He worked at Rice which is a [big] stone's throw from the rose garden.
10. Was the ring a surprise? No. We painstakingly picked it out together and rushed over to the Rose Garden because just in a couple of days, we'd be returning to Lubbock for the start of the semester. I just love my ring. I think it symbolizes the special times we have together (the diamond) and the simple, everyday times that we have (the simple, yet strong band).
11. Where was your wedding ceremony and/or reception? St. Mark's Methodist Church, Houston; and reception was at the Cohen House on the Rice University campus.
12. What were your wedding colors? Ivory and sage green bridesmaid dresses with tons of medium shade flowers. Nothing too pastel, nothing too bold. I was a bit on the OCD side when it came to wedding planning.
13. Did your father walk you down the aisle? Yes.
14. What was the weather like on your big day? June in Houston, hot and humid. It did rain as we left the church. It's good luck to have rain on your wedding day.
15. Where did you go for pictures? My grandfather took our wedding pictures. It is a priceless memento for me to have had him photograph our wedding. He also took my bridal portrait.
16. Did either of you get drunk? We had champagne and mimosas. It was a morning wedding. No excessive drinking.
17. What type of wedding gown/tux did you two wear- My dress definitely fit my tastes as a 20/21 year old bride. It was frilly with a sash, satin flowers, and a decently long train. I had a chapel length veil with more satin flowers on it. Nick wore a classic tux with vest and bow tie. We both looked stunning and young.
18. What was your wedding music? We had a string quartet and a trumpet at the ceremony--absolutely divine. At the reception we had a 4 or 5 piece band that played jazz, country, classical, and other hand picked tunes. No dancing really (except our first dance), but it was nice background music for the reception.
19. What was your wedding favor/gift? I made hundreds of confetti (Italian favors) with almonds, another set with chocolates, and my mom's relatives from Italy sent more confetti. I very much enjoyed making all of that.
20. Did you smash the cake? Smash the cake? That's awful. No. We had beautiful cakes. Mine was butter cake with pineapple filling, and iced like a birthday cake with fresh flowers added to decorate it. Delicious and beautiful. Nick's was chocolate mousse cake with a Texas Tech double T made out of pecans with chocolate drizzled on it. Again, delicious and beautiful.
21. Wedding night? Hyatt near the IAH airport. We had a super early flight the next morning., When we checked in, there was this OVERLY intoxicated couple checking in in front of us bumbling about how they just got married. I don't think either of them would ever recall getting married, though. They were funny.
22. Favorite part of your wedding day? Two, OK three: walking down the aisle with my dad, seeing Nick's face as we walked (two favorite moments within one moment), and just being at the reception taking in the whole experience. Ok, more than just three: getting to see my bouquets, church flowers, and reception decorations all together.
23. Least favorite part? Seeing it all happen so quickly; it was several hours, but it FLEW by. 24. Would you do it all again? YES!
25. Where did you go on your honeymoon? Several Bed and Breakfasts along the coast of Maine. We flew in and out of Boston so we spent a couple of days there too. The majority was in Maine, though. We could not have picked a more perfect honeymoon location.
26. How long have you been married? Almost 10 years
27. Anything else? Even though we were such a young couple, we had vision that perhaps we didn't even know we had. So far it has been a great ride, this life we share together.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Painting the Barn
My daddy's old Sunday school teacher related barns to a woman's make up regimen. What a metaphor. If the barn didn't need painting, don't paint the barn. If the barn needed painting, paint the barn. I get up early enough as it is. Make up has not been a top priority ever in my life. Right now I have the bug, though. I was on this silly little website last night (Spring Break REALLY frees up some time) and browsed the color selections. Ohhh, it is tempting.
I live with too many men.
Tonight at dinner I proposed to Nick my plan to buy some make up tomorrow. Nathan got a little nervous. Make up is a girlie topic and we don't usually talk about girlie things. I could tell he was interested in the subject though. This was a new, uncharted topic of dinner conversation. He had an innocently quizzical (sp?) look on his face. I talked about my fresh education on the latest trends in cosmetics: foundation shimmers, lip goopey things, pencils for this, concealers for that. Nathan was dumbfounded about all of these products.
Why would one use a pencil on one's eyes? Aren't they for writing? I went on and on with my superficial, crash course lesson in cosmetics (more of a rant I guess), and Nathan's little brain squirrels were just a runnin'. This is an area of knowledge that he knew absolutely nothing about. He was puzzled. I knew I wasn't making any headway with the men in my life when Nathan asked so curiously if there was such a thing as EAR SHIMMER. What? This precious little thing was really trying to be engaged in this conversation with me. All his dear daddy could see were little dollar signs floating around in a haze of pixie dust shimmer powder. Bless his little heart. Perhaps this is why I've never really made the investment in products, time, or effort. The crowd that I run with would never even know the difference. HA! I tried to tell Nathan the reference story to the barn and I think I really threw him for a loop. Poor kid. Why would somebody put make up on a barn? Eyes squinting, hand on forehead.
I live with too many men.
Tonight at dinner I proposed to Nick my plan to buy some make up tomorrow. Nathan got a little nervous. Make up is a girlie topic and we don't usually talk about girlie things. I could tell he was interested in the subject though. This was a new, uncharted topic of dinner conversation. He had an innocently quizzical (sp?) look on his face. I talked about my fresh education on the latest trends in cosmetics: foundation shimmers, lip goopey things, pencils for this, concealers for that. Nathan was dumbfounded about all of these products.
Why would one use a pencil on one's eyes? Aren't they for writing? I went on and on with my superficial, crash course lesson in cosmetics (more of a rant I guess), and Nathan's little brain squirrels were just a runnin'. This is an area of knowledge that he knew absolutely nothing about. He was puzzled. I knew I wasn't making any headway with the men in my life when Nathan asked so curiously if there was such a thing as EAR SHIMMER. What? This precious little thing was really trying to be engaged in this conversation with me. All his dear daddy could see were little dollar signs floating around in a haze of pixie dust shimmer powder. Bless his little heart. Perhaps this is why I've never really made the investment in products, time, or effort. The crowd that I run with would never even know the difference. HA! I tried to tell Nathan the reference story to the barn and I think I really threw him for a loop. Poor kid. Why would somebody put make up on a barn? Eyes squinting, hand on forehead.
Today in Pictures
Oh rats! I loaded these pictures in sequential order from today and somehow they appeared in the exact reverse order. Well, I'm not technically innovative enough to change them around, so here they are anyway!
We began our day with both boys going to their pedodontist, Dr. Lindhorst. Nathan had his check up and Michael went for his initial visit. I planned for weeks, reading Dora Goes to the Dentist countless times. We talked about what to expect, Michael and I, and he did BEAUTIFULLY! What a champ! He climbed into the spaceship chair that went up and down, he leaned back, let her brush and examine his teeth, and sported some totally radical shades in the meantime. Oops, my students say I should not say radical. HA!
We zipped on over to the zoo with Nick's folks. I think everyone else in the entire city had the same idea. The entire museum/zoo/train/Hermann Park complex was insanely crowded. We parked a nice jaunt away from everything, but the weather cleared up and was just delightful. We rode the new and improved train and Michael loved it. Nathan got bitten by the cranky pants bug and was an ogre for some of the family field trip. I think he enjoyed some of it, though.
SO, Spring Break Day #3 was a success. We're all exhausted from the outing, so I think we're canning the idea of the museum tomorrow. If there are half as many people in that area tomorrow, it will still be crazy crowded. Besides, we need to rest up for Wednesday--RODEO Day! Oh, the tribulations of Spring Break. I love this temporary gig of being a stay-at-home mom!
We began our day with both boys going to their pedodontist, Dr. Lindhorst. Nathan had his check up and Michael went for his initial visit. I planned for weeks, reading Dora Goes to the Dentist countless times. We talked about what to expect, Michael and I, and he did BEAUTIFULLY! What a champ! He climbed into the spaceship chair that went up and down, he leaned back, let her brush and examine his teeth, and sported some totally radical shades in the meantime. Oops, my students say I should not say radical. HA!
We zipped on over to the zoo with Nick's folks. I think everyone else in the entire city had the same idea. The entire museum/zoo/train/Hermann Park complex was insanely crowded. We parked a nice jaunt away from everything, but the weather cleared up and was just delightful. We rode the new and improved train and Michael loved it. Nathan got bitten by the cranky pants bug and was an ogre for some of the family field trip. I think he enjoyed some of it, though.
SO, Spring Break Day #3 was a success. We're all exhausted from the outing, so I think we're canning the idea of the museum tomorrow. If there are half as many people in that area tomorrow, it will still be crazy crowded. Besides, we need to rest up for Wednesday--RODEO Day! Oh, the tribulations of Spring Break. I love this temporary gig of being a stay-at-home mom!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Spring Break Day 2
This weekend has been rainy and cold. The sun is supposed to appear for the first time in days tomorrow. We've had such nice weather for months, it seems, and the rain is a welcome change for the yards are greening up and the flora is emerging from its winter slumber. But, it's Spring Break! My family loves to just BE at home. The boys twiddle about playing this and that, Nick and I twiddle about doing grown up versions of this and that, and it seems like we all just savor the time we have together at home. Now that the rain has forced us to do just that for a few days, it is time to break out and enjoy some sunshine.
We put in so many hours of working, studying, cooking, cleaning, sitting in traffic, bustling from there to here and back to there again. I am fortunate and relieved to have this Spring Break time where we are ALL at home. The dogs have company--perhaps being the landscape for hot-wheel car off-roading isn't their ideal doggie napping scenario, but they patiently put up with it. I think they like the attention when we're at home. Someone can scratch their heads, Sadie can have her dining experience at 2PM on the dot (internal dog feeding clock--so weird), and she has extra kitchen rug duty when I am at home. As in, she thinks she is the kitchen rug and gets under my feet at every possible chance.
I've managed to not consume myself with housework. It won't go anywhere, and most likely I will get to it at some point this week. For now, though, we've all been doing some well-deserved vegging out. All four of us may be doing different things around the house at once, perhaps even in opposite corners, but just knowing that we're all here together is such a warming feeling.
We put in so many hours of working, studying, cooking, cleaning, sitting in traffic, bustling from there to here and back to there again. I am fortunate and relieved to have this Spring Break time where we are ALL at home. The dogs have company--perhaps being the landscape for hot-wheel car off-roading isn't their ideal doggie napping scenario, but they patiently put up with it. I think they like the attention when we're at home. Someone can scratch their heads, Sadie can have her dining experience at 2PM on the dot (internal dog feeding clock--so weird), and she has extra kitchen rug duty when I am at home. As in, she thinks she is the kitchen rug and gets under my feet at every possible chance.
I've managed to not consume myself with housework. It won't go anywhere, and most likely I will get to it at some point this week. For now, though, we've all been doing some well-deserved vegging out. All four of us may be doing different things around the house at once, perhaps even in opposite corners, but just knowing that we're all here together is such a warming feeling.
Monday, March 9, 2009
A Click Here, A Click There
Here a click, there a click, everywhere a click, click...
Mr. Michael did some funky stuff on the computer this evening--stealthly quietly too. It was quite a scene. The things-are-too-quiet siren blared in my head while I was cooking TWO dinners at once tonight. Why do I torture myself? Nick called in the middle of the chopping and simmering to say that he'd be studying later than normal. We could've done Chick-fil-A if I would have known that beforehand, but it was just as well. Nathan twiddled about the house, drawing, making alien-fighting pssh-ing and fwauu-ing sounds, reading a few little books to me while sitting at the counter, etc. Michael was, well, what WAS Michael doing? Michael? Where are you Michael?
Everything happens for a reason, and it's a good thing that I was introduced to parenthood with a cautious, even-tempered child.
Picture this:
Michael squatted ON the computer DESK in front of the keyboard (computer desk chair now doubles as a ladder, apparently), hunched over so he could still maneuver the mouse. On the screen were some funky, funky things. He opened a screen-version of a keyboard. At the top was a magnifying window for anything on screen to be blown up for the reader to see much larger. A few things I had NO clue what they were (and I didn't even know there were applications for magnifiers and on-screen keyboards--and I still couldn't tell you how to get to them now). Then, somehow he had the internet opened to a banana-zucchini bread recipe: I had never seen the recipe nor the website from where it came.
He just smiled and inched his way back into the desk chair. I guess he anticipated a few breather moments where I'd be stunned by what he did, and then I'd get onto him for squatting ON the desk. Maybe he ought to apply for a job at Microsoft. Perhaps he uncovered applications that are yet to be utilized. Most likely they ARE used, but there existence is NEW TO ME!
Nathan and I joked about the likelihood that he could've contacted. . . "New York," Nathan said. I added, "New Zealand," then "Perhaps a new universe." That was most likely. Perhaps the magnifier was a portal into a newly discovered existence. And the keyboard was the only means of communication.
We put tonight's dinner on a fast-track, diverted Michael from doing any secret CIA code-cracking, and spent the next half-hour dining with each other.
All in a night's work.
Mr. Michael did some funky stuff on the computer this evening--stealthly quietly too. It was quite a scene. The things-are-too-quiet siren blared in my head while I was cooking TWO dinners at once tonight. Why do I torture myself? Nick called in the middle of the chopping and simmering to say that he'd be studying later than normal. We could've done Chick-fil-A if I would have known that beforehand, but it was just as well. Nathan twiddled about the house, drawing, making alien-fighting pssh-ing and fwauu-ing sounds, reading a few little books to me while sitting at the counter, etc. Michael was, well, what WAS Michael doing? Michael? Where are you Michael?
Everything happens for a reason, and it's a good thing that I was introduced to parenthood with a cautious, even-tempered child.
Picture this:
Michael squatted ON the computer DESK in front of the keyboard (computer desk chair now doubles as a ladder, apparently), hunched over so he could still maneuver the mouse. On the screen were some funky, funky things. He opened a screen-version of a keyboard. At the top was a magnifying window for anything on screen to be blown up for the reader to see much larger. A few things I had NO clue what they were (and I didn't even know there were applications for magnifiers and on-screen keyboards--and I still couldn't tell you how to get to them now). Then, somehow he had the internet opened to a banana-zucchini bread recipe: I had never seen the recipe nor the website from where it came.
He just smiled and inched his way back into the desk chair. I guess he anticipated a few breather moments where I'd be stunned by what he did, and then I'd get onto him for squatting ON the desk. Maybe he ought to apply for a job at Microsoft. Perhaps he uncovered applications that are yet to be utilized. Most likely they ARE used, but there existence is NEW TO ME!
Nathan and I joked about the likelihood that he could've contacted. . . "New York," Nathan said. I added, "New Zealand," then "Perhaps a new universe." That was most likely. Perhaps the magnifier was a portal into a newly discovered existence. And the keyboard was the only means of communication.
We put tonight's dinner on a fast-track, diverted Michael from doing any secret CIA code-cracking, and spent the next half-hour dining with each other.
All in a night's work.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Church Corporations
I take issue with how super-huge places of worship are organized and run. I am a respectful skeptic anyway, but that's beside the point. Here are some things that I noticed on a recent visit to a mega-church.
1. The walls are plastered with advertisements of the church itself. The marketing posters of upwards of five satellite "campuses" are floor to ceiling. One can't miss the giant helicopter pad centered on at least one poster. Among the poster were several displaying the technology spread that they use to broadcast the services. The control rooms looked like something out of NASA.
2. Some campuses are either movie theaters or are rigged to be like movie theaters. People sit in auditoriums watching digitally beamed-in televised version of the sermons. How is that different from watching it in your own livingroom--since it's on network TV anyway?
3. The gardens are absolutely exquisite. Right out of a magazine.
4. The 20-or-more-foot-banner spotlighting the recent giving campaign: I nearly dropped my punch (see #5). I want to say that the highest level indicated on the banner was in the 80-something million dollars, but they were sitting at a modest 60-something million dollars as of last count. Almost there...almost there...Let's keep up that momentum, people!
5. Spectacular punch: the wedding punch was the best I've ever had. Absolutely delicious. Seriously. I kept tasting it to see if I could reproduce it later.
6. Coffee shop in the church: I might go there if they served the punch on Sunday mornings! HA! Don't forget the workout facility, bowling alley, sports courts, expansive school,
7. I just looked at their website and there is really an online guide to baptism. There are two different links for tithe-ing, donating, pledging, whatever you want to call it. Actually there's a third link for planned giving--I guess for estate planning? Oops, there's another link for donating called "worship thru giving." There's even an online budgeting tutorial to see just how much you can give, I mean worship. They recommend 10% of one's income, but you should prayerfully consider being part of the "tithe plus" column of the chart, giving/worshipping upwards of 20% of the income. Puleeze. I wonder if you get coffee discounts with that. Maybe then you'd get the secret punch recipe. There's even a cheat-sheet giving chart for kids. The excel spreadsheet wouldn't load. It suppsedly gave more formulas to help you prayerfully decide upon an amount.
I just read over my words and I sound completely cynical. I am sure that plenty of people are devoted and literally and figuratively buy into this church's teachings. Perhaps they know something that I don't. That's quite possible, I guess. I, personally, just don't see the attraction. Other family friends attend the same church and absolutely love it. Great. I value their friendship wholeheartedly. I hope their respect for me, despite the fact that I do not attend this corporation of a church, matches my respect for them despite the fact that they do attend. Does that make sense? One of the most wonderful things about this country is that we have this right to our personal religious beliefs. We even have permission to not have religious beliefs. I do completely respect the fact that others may not share my own personal ones, and hopefully that feeling is mutual.
1. The walls are plastered with advertisements of the church itself. The marketing posters of upwards of five satellite "campuses" are floor to ceiling. One can't miss the giant helicopter pad centered on at least one poster. Among the poster were several displaying the technology spread that they use to broadcast the services. The control rooms looked like something out of NASA.
2. Some campuses are either movie theaters or are rigged to be like movie theaters. People sit in auditoriums watching digitally beamed-in televised version of the sermons. How is that different from watching it in your own livingroom--since it's on network TV anyway?
3. The gardens are absolutely exquisite. Right out of a magazine.
4. The 20-or-more-foot-banner spotlighting the recent giving campaign: I nearly dropped my punch (see #5). I want to say that the highest level indicated on the banner was in the 80-something million dollars, but they were sitting at a modest 60-something million dollars as of last count. Almost there...almost there...Let's keep up that momentum, people!
5. Spectacular punch: the wedding punch was the best I've ever had. Absolutely delicious. Seriously. I kept tasting it to see if I could reproduce it later.
6. Coffee shop in the church: I might go there if they served the punch on Sunday mornings! HA! Don't forget the workout facility, bowling alley, sports courts, expansive school,
7. I just looked at their website and there is really an online guide to baptism. There are two different links for tithe-ing, donating, pledging, whatever you want to call it. Actually there's a third link for planned giving--I guess for estate planning? Oops, there's another link for donating called "worship thru giving." There's even an online budgeting tutorial to see just how much you can give, I mean worship. They recommend 10% of one's income, but you should prayerfully consider being part of the "tithe plus" column of the chart, giving/worshipping upwards of 20% of the income. Puleeze. I wonder if you get coffee discounts with that. Maybe then you'd get the secret punch recipe. There's even a cheat-sheet giving chart for kids. The excel spreadsheet wouldn't load. It suppsedly gave more formulas to help you prayerfully decide upon an amount.
I just read over my words and I sound completely cynical. I am sure that plenty of people are devoted and literally and figuratively buy into this church's teachings. Perhaps they know something that I don't. That's quite possible, I guess. I, personally, just don't see the attraction. Other family friends attend the same church and absolutely love it. Great. I value their friendship wholeheartedly. I hope their respect for me, despite the fact that I do not attend this corporation of a church, matches my respect for them despite the fact that they do attend. Does that make sense? One of the most wonderful things about this country is that we have this right to our personal religious beliefs. We even have permission to not have religious beliefs. I do completely respect the fact that others may not share my own personal ones, and hopefully that feeling is mutual.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Just a Couple of Things
1. If we had another baby, we'd need a new dinner table. We've not been ambling on this topic of having another child since Nick made "the deal." So far, I've stuck with my end of the bargain (although I still teeter over whether or not we should even have a third). If I stopped the, not really nagging, but more like incessant hints and references to having another baby, he would entertain the idea of planning for one in the last year of his schooling. I thought that was perfectly fair since such a life-altering decision should not be made during weeks and weeks of multiple exams and practicals. But, as I was piddling around the kitchen today, it occured to me that the current kitchen table would NOT be conducive to five. It would have to be round, I determined, such that no one would be squashed and no one would be too far removed from the rest. Family mealtime feng shui. The table leaves are just obnoxious so that wouldn't be an acceptable alternative. Good thing there's no bun in the oven (nor the grains even ground).
2. I'm going to Baltimore!!! Where? Why the enthusiasm? I realized that I hadn't logged this piece of TOTALLY cool news into this blog. One night, not too long ago, I was in the middle of my evening routine of bathing a certain two-and-a-HALF-year-old (now, he officially owns the HALF), and Nick hollers from the same place I sit now, "YOU WON THE TRIP!" What? Me? I had just given up on it. Back in January, just before school resumed, I came across an e-mail from the Alliance of the ADA: the spouses' group that promotes dental health teachings, etc. I became a member a few months ago. Their annual conference was to be held at the end of March in Baltimore, and the e-mail was announcing the grants available to first-time attendees. The due date for postmarking was like the next day so I flittered about getting it ready. What fun it could be, and what a perfect chance for me to truly see what the Alliance is all about! I made a special stop by the post office the next morning to make sure that it would be validated before the deadline. I knew as I stuck it down the shoot (in the rain) that my chances were probably slim, there were probably already at least several applicants, and on some paper it said that it could come down to a first come, first granted basis. Still, I sent it on its way and waited. I waited more, and my enthusiasm was fizzling a bit. Oh well, next year I would be more on top of things and I would have it sent earlier. It was just as well. I even walked down the school hallway a few days before the official e-mail, mentally throwing in the towel and giving up on hearing anything.
And I won. I had flights and hotel booked before the night was over. My mom is going to accompany me, participate in a few of the events, but plans to sightsee or just veg out on the other days. I'm just so excited.
2. I'm going to Baltimore!!! Where? Why the enthusiasm? I realized that I hadn't logged this piece of TOTALLY cool news into this blog. One night, not too long ago, I was in the middle of my evening routine of bathing a certain two-and-a-HALF-year-old (now, he officially owns the HALF), and Nick hollers from the same place I sit now, "YOU WON THE TRIP!" What? Me? I had just given up on it. Back in January, just before school resumed, I came across an e-mail from the Alliance of the ADA: the spouses' group that promotes dental health teachings, etc. I became a member a few months ago. Their annual conference was to be held at the end of March in Baltimore, and the e-mail was announcing the grants available to first-time attendees. The due date for postmarking was like the next day so I flittered about getting it ready. What fun it could be, and what a perfect chance for me to truly see what the Alliance is all about! I made a special stop by the post office the next morning to make sure that it would be validated before the deadline. I knew as I stuck it down the shoot (in the rain) that my chances were probably slim, there were probably already at least several applicants, and on some paper it said that it could come down to a first come, first granted basis. Still, I sent it on its way and waited. I waited more, and my enthusiasm was fizzling a bit. Oh well, next year I would be more on top of things and I would have it sent earlier. It was just as well. I even walked down the school hallway a few days before the official e-mail, mentally throwing in the towel and giving up on hearing anything.
And I won. I had flights and hotel booked before the night was over. My mom is going to accompany me, participate in a few of the events, but plans to sightsee or just veg out on the other days. I'm just so excited.
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