I know Halloween starts off the holiday season. 93.3 starts playing Christmas music right after. That’s a little soon for me. Christmas decorations have been out in some stores since the beginning of October. It doesn’t feel like the holidays until a week before Thanksgiving and we’re trying to figure out what dish we’re bringing to the dinner, well, lunch in my family’s case. It doesn’t feel like the holidays until all the political commercials stop and we’re all groaning about Macy’s latest sale’s pitch. It doesn’t feel like the holidays until our family baking day and we all have herds of chocolate mice running around (if you don’t know what those are, I’ll have pictures later). It doesn’t feel like the holidays until I’m fully into whatever craft I have decided will be my Christmas gift this year (I’m pretty hopeful that this year’s gift will be less stressful than previous years. *fingers crossed!*)
This is the first year that I’ve ever had a significant other to include with my holiday plans. I’ve only had to worry about fitting in my sisters, my mom and my dad and then my people at church. This year, that is all out the window. Matt and I were dating last year through December but we definitely were not a couple yet. So combining our families, well, my two families and his family, is and will be a challenge.
Those of you who have done this in the past, how did you do it?! What kind of concessions did you make. What was a big deal to you personally?
One thing that I would LOVE to do is to get The House all pretty and holiday-ish…but I also don’t want to do anything of that until Matt and I are having our first holiday season as a married couple. I have been putting together an ornament collection for myself for years and when Mom and I tear down the tree after Christmas, we’ll be divvying up my decorations from hers and I’ll cart them up to The House for safe-keeping. I’m really excited to bring all our stuff together, but I really am looking forward to doing that as a married couple.
What kind of things or traditions did you bring to your marriage? Did you combine any to make a specially unique tradition just for your new family? Or did you come up with something totally and completely new for the both of you?
I would love to hear about them!
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I’m getting married to my, you guessed it, best friend on June 1st, 2013! Matt and I are super-excited and since we have quite a bit of time to plan this thing, I decided it’d be fun to blog about it. Well, maybe not always fun, but at least informative and it might give me a welcome distraction. You can find all the posts by clicking the “Getting Married” tab on the right of this page, or by clicking here. Thanks for stopping by!
This has been a frustrating election season for me. I was very fortunate that I was out of the country for the last presidential election. I definitely voted – applied for an absentee ballot and everything – but I was able to avoid all the propaganda. Well, not all of it. I did manage to get one piece of election material, for the Butler County Commissioner, go figure.
Let me mention too, that I have certain doubts about the voting process. The year following the last presidential election, I was back home and was able to vote. When I returned for the mid-term elections, I was given a provisional ballot because their records showed that I was in Japan still. Even though I was standing right in front of them with my license in hand, and proof that I had shown up in person the previous year, they would only let me complete the provisional ballot, which who knows if those even ever get counted?!
Anyway, this year has been frustrating. I remember a friend saying on Facebook that she had a conversation with a poller with the Republican Party asking if she would vote for Person A or Person B. She asked the woman if there were any better candidates? That’s how I feel pretty much across the board this time.
If you’re like me and still up in the air about who to vote for, might I make a suggestion to you? I’m not going to get into who you should or shouldn’t vote for – I want to point you to some great tools to help you decide.
A few years ago, I found this really wonderful website called Project Vote Smart. Here’s the “About Us” from the website:
At a unique research center located high in the Montana Rockies and far from the partisan influences of Washington, our staff, interns, and volunteers are working hard to strengthen the most essential component of democracy – access to information. Project Vote Smart is a non-partisan, nonprofit educational organization funded exclusively through individual contributions and philanthropic foundations.
I think what I love most about website is that it is non-partisan. Just taking the data that’s out there about the candidates (Presidential and Congressional) and organizing them into a logical format. On the website, you can look at most of the big issues and where different candidates stand on those issues. You can research a candidate and see their voting history, organization involvement in the past, financial records, and more!
One of the neatest things is something called a “Political Courage Test.” Project Vote Smart sent the Political Courage Test to candidates and asked them to answer questions honestly about a variety of topics: Abortion; Budget, Spending, and Taxes; Campaign Finance; Capital Punishment; Economy; Education; Environment and Energy; Foreign Policy; Guns; Health Care; Immigration; Same-Sex Marriage; Social Security and ; Administrative Priorities. Then, based on how many questions the candidate answers and how indepth they answer, they get a rating on their political courage.
Might I point out that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have not completed the Political Courage Test. In fact, they ignored repeated requests for them to complete it. Anyway, I really appreciate having the stance of the candidates in their own words on certain issues. It’s not all of where they stand, but it’s pretty comprehensive.
There’s also this super handy tool that’s even cooler than the Political Courage Test! It’s the “Vote Easy” matching tool! Check it (here):
You click which campaign you’re wondering about, Presidential is default, but you can also pick the Congressional candidates too. Then, using the topics at the top, answer questions how you would answer. THEN, the screen will populate with these fancy, awesome, cool picket boards with the candidate faces which will jump forward or backward depending on the percentage of similarity.
Pretty stinkin’ cool, huh?
Also, if you are in Butler County, OH, and would like to know what to expect on the ballot this year, you can run over to our trusty-dusty county elections site: http://www.butlercountyelections.org/
Here are the issues on our ballot this year:
State Issue 1: Question presented pursuant to Article XVI, Section 3 of the Constitution of the State of Ohio
– Gov’t speak: “At the general election to be held in the year one thousand nine hundred and thirty-two, and in each twentieth year thereafter, the question: ‘Shall there be a convention to revise, alter, or amend the constitution[,]’ shall be submitted to the electors of the state; and in case a majority of the electors, voting for and against the calling of a convention, shall decide in favor of a convention, the general assembly, at its next session, shall provide, by law, for the election of delegates, and the assembling of such convention, as is provided in the preceding section; but no amendment of this constitution, agreed upon by any convention assembled in pursuance of this article, shall take effect, until the same shall have been submitted to the electors of the state, and adopted by a majority of those voting thereon.”
– Layman’s terms: do you want to vote for a convention to come together to revise, alter, or amend the State Constitution? If there’s a majority in favor of it, then a convention will be formed to decide any changes. If there are any changes decided upon, they can’t be made until Ohioans get to vote on it and get majority. (This issue was started in 1932 and every 20th yr election after that.) – (added 11/4/12) My comment: I did a little research on this particular issue. It has been put on the ballot every 20 years since 1932, and I wanted to see if it had ever passed and how often. According to Ballotpedia.org, in the 4 elections that Issue 1 was on the ballot (1932, 1952, 1972, and 1992), it has been defeated. My fiance and I were thinking that if it were passed this year, it would open our state to passing legislation allowing same-sex marriage or other amendmentsthat would not be desirable to a faith-based community. We decided we would be voting “No” on this issue. .
State Issue 2: To create a state-funded commission to draw legislative and congressional districts.
– Gov’t speak: (1) Remove the authority of elected representatives and grant new authority to appointed officials to establish congressional and
state legislative district lines. (2) Create a state funded commission of appointed officials from a limited pool of applicants to replace the aforementioned. (There are a whole lot of details on this step…I would check out the ballot for all the details.) (3) Require new legislative and congressional districts be immediately established by the Commission to replace the most recent districts adopted by elected representatives, which districts shall not be challenged except by court order until the next federal decennial census and apportionment. (4) Repeals current constitutional requirements for drawing legislative districts that avoid splits to counties, townships, municipalities and city wards where possible, and when not possible, limiting such divisions to only one division per governmental unit, and also repeals requirements to form as many whole legislative districts solely within a county as possible. (5) Mandate the General Assembly to appropriate all funds necessary to adequately fund the activities of the Commission.
– Layman’s terms: Appointed officials can put together a new commission to realign the congressional and legislative districts in the state. It will be State funded and the commission will be made up of applicants who are then chosen by a group of random 8 state judges in the Court of Appeals, who were chosen by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio. These will not be elected officials. There are quite a few requirements on how these people will be chosen, to create “fairness” to all political parties.
– My comment: I personally am not a fan because they are not people who we are electing. I understand that population and wealth may be distributed differently than when the districts were first put together, but let’s find a way to fix that with the people we’re voting for. .
Butler County Issue 24: Proposed Tax Levy (Renewal)
– Gov’t Speak: A renewal of a tax for the benefit of Butler County, Ohio, for the purpose of funding the Butler County Public Children Services Agency for services to abused, neglected, and dependent children at a rate not exceeding two (2) mills for each one dollar of valuation, which amounts to twenty cents ($0.20) for each one hundred dollars of valuation, for a period of five (5) years, commencing in 2013, first due in calendar year 2014.
– Layman’s terms: Renewal of a tax for Butler County Public Children’s Services Agency. Good for 5 years. Tax is existing and amounts to $0.20 for every $100.00 earned.
– My comment: We’re already paying this tax. It’s minimal. This is just to renew it. It’s for hurting kids. That’s a no-brainer to me.
There might be some city issues/ordinances that come up on your ballot. If you’re in Butler County, I suggest you check out the website and put in your address info to get a sample copy of YOUR ballot. If you’re out of this county, I’m sure there is something equivalent to it for your area. Check it out.
The most important thing is that you exercise your right to vote. Get out there and stand for what you believe. And if you don’t vote, you forfeit your right to complain about it. The only thing worse than not voting is not voting and then griping about it.
We found out that Danny and Allison, Matt’s cousins, were having a Halloween party and people were dressing up. I can’t remember the last dress-up party I’ve been to, so I started looking up costume ideas. I’ve also only ever dressed to match a couple girlfriends at most in the past, so finding a couples costume for Matt and me was so much fun!
One such costume…I am still scratching my head about this one…but her expression is crazy freakish!
There are so many couples costume ideas! I found a website that had to have listed 1,000 different ideas, at least. Some were super intensive and others were super easy. I wanted something creative, that Matt would enjoy too, but would be pretty easy to put together. Skimming down the page, I saw Goldilocks and a bear. I ran the idea by Matt and he was totally on board.
I was looking online at different Goldilocks costumes to get an idea of what I would need. Um…I knew that there were some pretty trashy costumes out there for women, but these were ridiculous! And they don’t just come right out and say “sexy nurse costume” anymore. Instead they say, “Sassy.” I’m sorry…you can be sassy without being sexy, but way to get people to have to look at scantily clad ladies and feed the lust drive of our culture.
Anyway, my costume was pretty easy, I just had to girlify myself. I found some leggings and put on a full apron and then a big ribbon bow in my hair. I like complementary colors, and though a lot of sites were saying that I should dress and decorate all in yellow, I decided to use purple a bit more. They also recommended to carry a teddy bear or wooden spoon, but I didn’t have a teddy bear, so I took along the stuffed elephant that Matt got me for Valentine’s day.
I had to endure comments about Goldilocks being Republican… *smh*
Matt’s costume was a bit more complicated. I thought there might be a bear head, or muzzle, at least, but he couldn’t find anything at all. We ended up having to get a big stuffed bear and dissecting it.
We cut off the head and left some of the chest fur attached so that we could tuck it into his shirt. There was a problem with the angle of the head on the stuffed bear not matching the angle of Matt’s head (go figure), so we had to make some adjustments – cut up part of the back to fit over his noggin, and then we attached it to an old backwards ball cap. This made it easier to take on and off and to keep on. We forewent the eye holes because the fabric was still pretty flimsy – this made moving around a little difficult. He often didn’t put the face down unless he was standing still for a picture or something.
We cut off the arms and the tail as well. The arms tucked up into his shirt and with the sleeves buttoned up, it worked great! I was relieved that the fabric was soft on the inside. It was so furry and every time we cut into it, little brown fragments of fur went all over the place. I think I’m still finding some and we didn’t even make it here at my apartment!
We sewed the tail to his jeans – it came off fairly easily afterwards. I was so relieved that I carry around a sewing kit in my purse. It was a gift from a student I had in Japan. I only had to stop at Michaels for my hair bow and then some brown stitching floss. I was very impressed with our resourcefulness. We didn’t have a ton of time to get a costume together, but we did pretty well. And had a lot of fun in the process.
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I’m getting married to my, you guessed it, best friend on June 1st, 2013! Matt and I are super-excited and since we have quite a bit of time to plan this thing, I decided it’d be fun to blog about it. Well, maybe not always fun, but at least informative and it might give me a welcome distraction. You can find all the posts by clicking the “Getting Married” tab on the right of this page, or by clicking here. Thanks for stopping by!
We interrupt this regularly scheduled program for an important announcement. If you don’t know me very well (which, if you are part of Matt’s crew, that is probably pretty true), I would like to share something that is very heavy on my heart with you. I have sought to be involved with the international community since I graduated from high school. I was intending to become a Bible translator and trekking the wilds of Nepal, teaching the Nomadic tribes about the love of Christ. Through a series of events (some felt unfortunate at the time, but the end result, I will not complain about 😀 *heart*) God took me through three unlikely countries (for me) before plopping me right back to southwest Ohio and saying that it would be here that I would serve Him. When I came home from China, I thought that God would send me back there at some point. I started offering English lessons to some of the workers in Chinese restaurants in the area. I worked on learning more about the culture and the language. But God decided to use my exposure here to teach me about something else.
Buy it on Amazon!
I got ahold of a book called “Not For Sale” by David Batstone. This book began with an account of a normal man, in a normal suburb, who found out a young Indian woman was found beaten and left wrapped in a carpet on the side of the road a few streets over from him. This woman was kept in debt bondage to a local Indian restaurant and then cast out, left for dead. It amazed this man that something like this was happening in his own backyard. This was my first real exposure to Human Trafficking.
And then it happened in MY own backyard. I discovered that it was happening to people who I had come to know and had spent time with. I was floored and began to investigate even more about this issue. Learning more about Human Trafficking, the various forms it comes in (debt bondage, sex trafficking, slave labor, child slave labor, child sex trafficking), God began to put these people on my heart. He brought a Bible verse to my attention:
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
– Isaiah 58:6 (ESV) –
Yep, we thumbs up.
I was so excited when my dear friend Amy Davis shared that God had been pulling her heart towards this same issue and to these hurting people over the years as well. She has been such a blessing and helped me get beyond just thinking about the problem and raising awareness to actually doing something concrete. We started out by going through the Love146 Task Force curriculum with a group of people at our church and others. We got a Fairfield police officer to come and speak at our church about the issue in our own hometown. Also, Matt has totally come on board to help whenever work permits and that is such a blessing!
This past weekend, we organized a Silent Auction to benefit a ministry reaching out to women in the sex industry in Dayton, OH. There are so many things I could point out about Human Trafficking in Ohio. Ohio is in the top 10 for human trafficking, with Toledo being the number one city in the nation for Child Sex Trafficking recruitment. Kids are regularly taken off the street and transported to other cities and states for the purpose of prostitution and pornography. Many active adult sex workers were forced into the business before they were 18 and most have experienced some form of abuse as a child. It pains me so much to know that there are people and children hurting like this, and that the demand exists at such a high level in our state.
This was our first time ever doing a Silent Auction and I honestly had no idea what to expect on support and amount raised. When we started talking to people about it, the promises for donations came pouring in. We would come into church and someone else would hand us a basket or bag of items they wanted to donate. The women’s ministry group at the church organized all the food and refreshments. And just when I was getting discouraged about not selling enough tickets, we had a few people come up to us that morning to buy some.
Three Citizens…yes, I realize there are four of them. They still sound good.
The week before, we had a bit of music debacle, but it all worked out with finding a new group that is fantastic! [Insert plug here] These are Three Citizens. We are so grateful that they came out to play for us. We had a great time with them.
We raised over $1,000 for Oasis House! It was so good! God definitely was in control of the whole thing. If you would like more information about Human Trafficking and the impact in Butler County, you can check out the Butler County Human Trafficking Awareness Facebook page. We are completely grassroots right now, but who knows what God will do in the future?! He has done crazier things in my own life so I won’t hold Him to any plan of mine.
Here’s a link to Oasis House, as well: http://oasisforwomen.org. I’m looking forward to spending much more time with them in the future!
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I’m getting married to my, you guessed it, best friend on June 1st, 2013! Matt and I are super-excited and since we have quite a bit of time to plan this thing, I decided it’d be fun to blog about it. Well, maybe not always fun, but at least informative and it might give me a welcome distraction. You can find all the posts by clicking the “Getting Married” tab on the right of this page, or by clicking here. Thanks for stopping by!
I’m going to apologize ahead of time that this post might be a bit of a tear jerker. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to write it or not, but last Friday, we got word that Matt’s grandfather finally passed away. He had been sick and in a lot of pain for a long while. I never got a chance to meet him as he seemed to always been in a precarious state when I had time to go for a visit. But that happens and knowing how much he meant to Matt and his family, he will have a dear place in my heart as well.
Matt’s Grandpa Charles and the boys (Matt’s the cheeser on the bottom left)
I was one of the lucky ones to not have any grandparents pass while I was in grade school/high school, even in college. I had several friends who had to deal with losing a grandparent while we were in school, and although I love my grandparents dearly, I had no idea how to sympathize with them. My grandparents have always been, as the Japanese say, genki (“gen-kee”) – strong, and energetic, if not healthy. And we have enough personality in the family to make Joe Biden jealous after a debate. Going to see the grandparents, which was a short drive for one set and a long 6-hour drive to Pittsburgh for the other, was always a good time and filled with laughter, usually good treats (whether oatmeal cookies or pancakes for breakfast), and great hiding places for games with the cousins.
My grandparents have always been devoted followers of Christ. My mother’s parents got saved and plugged into a church after they were married. From two very strong Italian families, they threw themselves into the faith. My grandpa became an ordained minister, my grandmother taught Sunday School, they both sang in the choir, and they lived their lives with integrity. There are two things you could count on when visiting the family in Pennsylvania – good food and going to church. And we loved it! The church was small and sweet – I have fond memories of Easter egg hunts, getting to church early and helping to fold the bulletins, and using flannel-graph during Sunday School.
I think that, as children, you always think certain people will most definitely be at your wedding. It’s sad to know that some will not because of distance, cost, changed relationships, but death is the most abrupt form of separation. I have two grandparents who will not be attending because they have gone on to heaven. I also have an uncle and a cousin who I would have loved to be there, but I hold on to the hope that we are separated only for a time and will all see each other again.
Grandma and Grandpa Russell at my college graduation.
We said goodbye to my Grandma Russell last November. She had got an infection in her heart and before it was discovered, it was too late for treatment. She was in the hospital a bit before Thanksgiving and then moved to hospice. A day or two before she went, there was a great moment of clarity (she had been sleeping off and on for a long time and not making much sense). We had quite a bit of time where she was talking with us and telling us how special we were to her. We spent the evening around her bed singing sweet hymns trying our best not to choke over the words. It is one of my favorite memories and I am so grateful to have it.
Grambo and Pappy Cook
My mother’s dad, Pappy Cook, ended up in the hospital early this year, in February, I believe. He had been suffering through the effects of Alzheimers and deteriorating mentally for a few years now. Out of nowhere, he developed a blood condition – he wasn’t producing any platelets and no matter what the doctors did, he wasn’t getting better. We went for a visit and his memory was really fading. He would get caught up on one thing and ask the same question about 50 times during a visit. What I loved, though, was that my Pappy had always been a goofy, ornery kind of man. He was still that man, but he became even sweeter. He might not have remembered who we were all the time, but he was the gentlest, most gracious patient and above all, he never lost his faith. I am grateful for that as well, and for the testimony he gave to every person who walked into that hospital room. I miss so much of him, even though we didn’t get to see him that often – his laugh, his jokes, his smell, his singing, how he would bop us on the head when we walked by, his prayers, how he rode the factory ride with me over and over at Hershey Park just so I could get another free candy bar, and so much more!
Matt’s Grandma Martin passed away in 2009. She went in for a surgery and suddenly was gone. I have heard how much she meant to his family, to the whole family. I would love to hear more about her, but sometimes it’s hard to talk about loved ones who have gone on. Matt’s mom made recipe boxes for all of the cousins with recipes of grandma’s and covered in pictures of her and the family. Matt told me that when he was younger, sometimes it was hard for the family to get to and from church, so she and his grandpa would often convey the boys the 40 minutes to get to the church and then back. She was a spiritual leader for the family and her family was very important to her. (I’ll try to get a picture up here soon; we’re having some technical difficulties in getting one.) Here’s one story from Matt: “Once they (Grandma and Grandpa) were talking about going to Hueston’s restaurant. Their specialty was frog-legs. Grandma asked what they were like and Grandpa said, ‘A lot like chicken legs. She said, ‘I’ll just have the chicken legs then.’”
Grandpa Charles – what a handsome man! 🙂
When I started this post, I said that Matt’s grandpa had just passed away. That was last Friday. He had been sick for quite some time. Matt’s mom’s family is from somewhere down in Kentucky (I have yet to locate it on a map!) and so his grandparents have been down there, along with an aunt and uncle. He had served in the military and I’m not sure if it was from the discipline he gained there or not, but Matt says he was a very orderly man – everything had its own place. A man after my own heart, I’m told he was a storyteller, but whether they were true or not is another story. I wish I had more to tell you about him, but I’m going to have to learn the stories myself before I can share them with you. I do know that he became a believer well into his adult years, but that he was a committed follower of Christ.
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There are so many things I wish I could tell you, so many inside jokes that you wouldn’t understand unless you were in my own quirky family. I know Matt would say the same.
Thank you for reading and I hope I didn’t make you cry too much. If so, just holler at me next time you see me and I’ll tell you some of the silly stories too. Trust me, I’ve got plenty!
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I’m getting married to my, you guessed it, best friend on June 1st, 2013! Matt and I are super-excited and since we have quite a bit of time to plan this thing, I decided it’d be fun to blog about it. Well, maybe not always fun, but at least informative and it might give me a welcome distraction. You can find all the posts by clicking the “Getting Married” tab on the right of this page, or by clicking here. Thanks for stopping by!
Matt and I decided that we wouldn’t talk about combining our regular finances until we absolutely had to. We both seem to have a good handle on the bills that we have and why add extra stress before the wedding by jumbling up our financial systems until necessary.
That said, I’m curious about when you all (the sparse readers) started combining the different aspects of your lives together with your spouse. Was it before the wedding? Was it after? Was it at random times, depending on the aspect? Like…I’ve taken over one or two boxes to The House of my things – decorations and such that I’ve gathered through the years until I had a place to display them. Matt also signed up for AAA, so he added me on as part of his household and now I have my own card. 😀 That was nice. Still has my current name on it. We also went ahead and opened a joint checking account just for the money we get together for the wedding. That seemed a very logical and not very invasive thing to do.
There was one thing that did come up that I was on the fence about: a return address stamp. I was hoping that I would have got the one I decided on in the mail by the time I wrote this entry, but alas, it’s taking its dear, sweet lovin’ time. A return address stamp might seem like a fairly innocuous thing. BUT, sometimes small details can really trip up a brain. By the way, I got a discount for an address stamper through Groupon, which is what brought on this whole ordeal. And a mental ordeal it was…you’ve been warned.
The traditional return address label is the bride’s family home, or the ones paying for the wedding. However, since Matt and I are taking care of the bulk of the finances for the wedding, this didn’t seem like an issue. For a practical aspect, there’s not a lot of room at my current home for lots of gifts and such that might come through the mail. At The House, there’s a whole spare room set aside for wedding things – to be converted to a project room once it’s all straightened up after the wedding. So, for things like gifts, or items we are buying ahead of time, having them sent to The House just makes sense. We’re also inviting out-of-town friends and guests to send postcards for our wedding guestbook and those will be sent to The House as well.
But, there’s still the question of the return stamp. Do we put both of our first names and the address of The House? Or do we just have the address with no names? I was really torn about it. I didn’t feel comfortable using Matt’s last name before our wedding date. I also didn’t want people to think that we’re living together already, even though most who know us would not think that. Equally important is the cost idea: I didn’t want to buy a stamp to only use for 8 months and then have to get a whole new one for after marriage. So, I made a compromise. A little out of tradition, I went ahead and ordered the stamp with my future address labeled as “The Martin House.” Yes, it’s a dumb thing to get all concerned about, but I do have 8 months, I might as well think about details like these.
So, what about you? Was there one thing about combining your life with another person that got you on edge or was a real struggle to work through? I don’t think there’s any real right or wrong answer, and our idea of a good arrangement might not work for someone else. I would love to hear your thoughts, though. Might as well learn from those who have taken this path already.
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I’m getting married to my, you guessed it, best friend on June 1st, 2013! Matt and I are super-excited and since we have quite a bit of time to plan this thing, I decided it’d be fun to blog about it. Well, maybe not always fun, but at least informative and it might give me a welcome distraction. You can find all the posts by clicking the “Getting Married” tab on the right of this page, or by clicking here. Thanks for stopping by!
I first read this poem when I was in college and thought it amazing. Amy Carmichael is my own personal hero and I delight in her many writings. She was a gifted woman who sought to serve God with what she had and where she was. Her own perplexity at why He made her a certain way encourages me beyond what I can say. God has a purpose for us and He reveals that to us in His due time. We might not understand what purpose something has for our lives and our future, but God does not waste a gift. Only we do. Are you grateful for the gifts that may not even seem like a gift?
Anyway, I love this poem. She’s asking God to not let her shy away from the challenge that she may face – to stand bold for Him and to even pursue the hard tasks. She even asks to be spent completely in His glory. I can only attempt the same.
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From prayer that asks that I may be
Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,
From fearing when I should aspire,
From faltering when I should climb higher
From silken self, O Captain, free
Thy soldier who would follow Thee.
From subtle love of softening things,
From easy choices, weakenings,
(Not thus are spirits fortified,
Not this way went the Crucified)
From all that dims Thy Calvary
O Lamb of God, deliver me.
Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay
The hope no disappointments tire,
The passion that will burn like fire;
Let me not sink to be a clod;
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God
Oh my word! Yesterday was such a gorgeous day! Anyone else have a great Saturday? I have to admit that I was a bit worried about it earlier this week. See, back in July, I scheduled to have our engagement photos done yesterday. No idea what the weather would be like, but I was so super hopeful. And then this week, it was cloudy, rainy, gross, cold…and when they said we would finally get some sunlight, we didn’t. I was doing my best not to get undone though, and I’m glad everything worked out great.
I am so fortunate to have a photographer as my matron of honor. Of course, I don’t want her to do my wedding photos, since it’ll distract her from other duties, but she was so excited to do our engagement photos. We’ve had her do some pics of the family (my mom, me, sisters, and their kids) and she’s done pics for friends and such. I’m thrilled to see what else she comes up with for us!
I love my Butler County, Ohio. There’s just enough city (and nearby Cincinnati) and country, that it’s a really beautiful place. The MetroParks have always been lovely, but it seems like this year, they have really stepped up and worked to integrate them into everyday life. There are quite a few parks just within a small radius of where I live, my favorite growing up being Harbin Park – which holds the highest natural point in Fairfield, maybe the county…I’m not sure on that last part. However, I think my new favorite park would have to be Rentschler Park. I had a dear friend who lived in one of the homes on the park, so I had some exposure to it while in high school. Honestly, I just didn’t appreciate it much. There’s quite a lot going on here. There are soccer fields, playgrounds, fishing pond, a creek weaving through the woods, indian earthworks (I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen these!), rustic gray barn, lots of walking paths, and a view of the beautiful Erie-Miami Canal. It makes for a beautiful time.
It also has a special place in my heart because it was here Matt first told me he loved me. Albeit by accident…but I heard it and acted like I didn’t, since I wasn’t sure if he really wanted to say it yet. Two days later, he did…and he meant it.
So, it was here that we wanted our pictures done. I’m glad that we could introduce it to Lanna and her husband, Matt. They didn’t even know it existed and I’m pretty sure they will use it again for future backdrops. Love first times! Can I just say how awkward it is getting pictures done? Especially when you’re trying to make them not look posed, but having to pose. Plus, there’s the whole kissing in front of people. Matt and I are NOT PDA kind of folks and the most we do is hold hands and sit close to each other. Other than that, it was a great experience! The weather was cooperating, except for a stray cloud that stole the sun away at an opportune moment, and we were with dear friends who we could laugh and cajole with.
So, when the shoot was done, we went separate ways and on with the rest of our evening. Matt and I headed over to my pastor’s house to practice some songs for Sunday morning worship and to see friends. While we were hanging out and then getting dinner, Lanna was busy editing away to get some preview shots up for us. I am so excited by what she has put out so far, I’m literally checking my phone every two minutes or less to see if there are any new ones. Alas, we have to wait for the CD for the rest, but here are the 6 she loaded for preview.
Can you say, “Awww?!?!” I have no more words. 🙂
Oh, but if you are in the Cincinnati area and would like to book Lanna for your photos, you can contact her through email: lanna.hoffman [a] gmail.com. She’s pretty fab, and I’m not just saying that because she’s my best friend, matron of honor, and engagement photographer. 🙂
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I’m getting married to my, you guessed it, best friend on June 1st, 2013! Matt and I are super-excited and since we have quite a bit of time to plan this thing, I decided it’d be fun to blog about it. Well, maybe not always fun, but at least informative and it might give me a welcome distraction. You can find all the posts by clicking the “Getting Married” tab on the right of this page, or by clicking here. Thanks for stopping by!
There’s another blog that I follow that I enjoy quite a bit. Every now and then the writer will just list 20 things she has been thinking about or wants to say, without much theme. I like it. So, I’m going to do that for you this week.
1. Is our wedding really only 36 weeks away?! 2. I’m loving the time I’m getting to spend with friends lately; it seems so full and uplifting. 3. Matt working 2nd shift is not my favorite AT ALL! 4. We opened a joint checking account to put our wedding money into. Talk about weird! 5. I feel so on top of things and then I think about money and it makes me a little queasy. 6. Today, I am going up to The House to plant bulbs for a Spring/Summer garden! 7. I have so much stuff that I’m starting to filter through it now. 8. That seems like a never-ending task. 9. We’re putting the deposit down for the wedding flowers today. 10. My best friend is going to be even further away from me once I’m married and I’m not a fan of that. 11. My other best friend will just be far away from me, and I don’t like that much either. 12. I’m going to get whole new towns and cities to explore when I move. 13. That means new restaurants … score! 14. If we’re friends on Facebook, you know I post a lot about food. I think it’s much more agreeable than politics or drama. 🙂 15. I’m so excited to marry a man who has a countdown to the millisecond on his phone to our wedding day. 16. Did I mention that 36 weeks seems like a long way away? 36 weeks. 252 days. 6055 hours. 363,300 minutes. 21,798,000 seconds. 17. We had a cake tasting this week and it was wonderful! 18. I’m prayfully looking forward to God showing us what our ministry together will be. 19. I am looking forward to learning to love to cook. 20. C’mon 36 weeks!
Hope you all have a great week! (Once we do our other cake tastings, I’ll post more about them)
Until then, enjoy this:
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I’m getting married to my, you guessed it, best friend on June 1st, 2013! Matt and I are super-excited and since we have quite a bit of time to plan this thing, I decided it’d be fun to blog about it. Well, maybe not always fun, but at least informative and it might give me a welcome distraction. You can find all the posts by clicking the “Getting Married” tab on the right of this page, or by clicking here. Thanks for stopping by!
As much as possible, I want to DIY our wedding. One easy thing to do yourself is the invitations. Let me say that I love stationery. I love letter writing, sending postcards (which is why our guestbook will be postcards instead of a traditional book), and sending Thank You notes. In fact, I’m a compulsive Thank You note buyer. I have two shoe boxes full of Thank You notes I’ve accumulated throughout the years, which I know will come in handy after the first bridal shower and such. I have never really tried to make my own stationery, though, and my only attempt at scrapbooking was in high school when I took an old binder and filled it with pages, photos, and even a book I had to make in French class about what I was like as a child.
That kid at the bottom is my now 20 yr old nephew…eesh!
I know what you’re thinking…SIGN ME UP! But I love trying new things and I really think that this will work. 🙂
My first order of business was to brainstorm what I wanted them to look like. I saw these invites and fell in love with them. And then I saw these and thought they were a bit more feasible. So I set out to make my own stamp. I’ve never done this before either, but it sure looked like fun, and considering I have 37 weeks to go, I’m ok with trying some things out before we need to get serious. I’m not going to show a finished product of the invites until we send them out, but you are welcome to see the process of, at least, this attempt.
I went to Michaels and bought a Speedball kit and a soft rubber stamp pad. Since I’m new to this whole process, I thought better start with the soft than the harder linoleum block. I sized my stamp and then pulled up Powerpoint. This is my picture manipulator of choice. I’m probably super old school saying that, but you make do with what you have and I have Microsoft Office! I typed up the wording and positioned the pieces where I wanted them.
Then, I took the little bit of tracing paper that came in my kit and put it up to the computer screen, sketching the letters out lightly with a No.2 pencil.
Once I had the design on the transfer paper, I flipped it over and pressed down the back of the paper so that the pencil marks went onto the rubber. It’s really important to do this gently, since you don’t want the design to get smudged. It goes on backwards, too, which is just want you need for a stamp!
Once the design was on the rubber, I began to carve. I probably didn’t do this the right way, but it turned out really well once I had it all cut out. The kit I bought came with two sizes of blades, one for larger areas and another for the detail cuts. Here was the finished product for that, and the sample stamp.
The hard thing about these stamps is that they’re a bit flimsier and tough to get a consistent image. So, I ran over to Home Depot to see what kind of scrap wood I could find to mount it and the other stamps on.
I know they’re not really scraps, but they will do the trick, and with a little wood glue, I have nicely mounted stamps to use!
That’s an ampersand, by the way. I think it’s gorgeous. So there you are. My stamps so far. Matt and I were super please when a month ago, we went into Michaels and they were having a crazy huge sale on blank cards. We got a steal on the basics for our invites…now I get to play around and figure out what I want. In the mean time, I’m enjoying experimenting on the left over pieces of rubber I have now.
The one on the left is supposed to look a bit like an elephant. Ok ok, I’m workin’ on it! 🙂 I’m still brainstorming here.
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I’m getting married to my, you guessed it, best friend on June 1st, 2013! Matt and I are super-excited and since we have quite a bit of time to plan this thing, I decided it’d be fun to blog about it. Well, maybe not always fun, but at least informative and it might give me a welcome distraction. You can find all the posts by clicking the “Getting Married” tab on the right of this page, or by clicking here. Thanks for stopping by!
I’m getting married to my, you guessed it, best friend on June 1st, 2013! Matt and I are super-excited and since we have quite a bit of time to plan this thing, I decided it’d be fun to blog about it. Well, maybe not always fun, but at least informative and it might give me a welcome distraction. You can find all the posts by clicking the “Getting Married” tab on the right of this page, or by clicking here. Thanks for stopping by!
Xapa to the World 