March 22 - Random Anti-Wedding Sentiments

Anyone who have ever met me will know that I don't cherish the idea of weddings. Or graduations (skipped 2 of my 3). Or really any occasion loaded with high emotions and inflated expectations waiting to be squashed. Plus I'm a bit anti-establishment, don't-tell-me-what-to-do, non-conventional.

All that to say, I'm still kind of a traditional girl. A silly but personally meaningful example:

-something old = my wedding/engagement ring is made from my great-grandfather's diamond tie pin,

-something new = uh, underclothes of course,

-something borrowed = my friend Arin's wedding dress (successfully married to the love of her life for 15 years and counting),

-something blue = blue flowers decorated my toenails :-)

Plus it's a good thing I'm not a surgeon. Saved $$$ by creating my own "French mani/pedi". Can you say pre-wedding jjjjjjjjjitters? Still looking at the jiggly lines with prudent fondness.

Contrary to popular concern, we did NOT end up with 15 green bean casseroles at our potluck- ice cream social wedding. Everyone brought amazing food selections from turkey & cream meatballs to curry dips & veggies to maraschino cherries in a jar. Kinda bummed actually. I heart green bean casserole.

And apparently NO ONE knows what to do with a guestbook these days. Our fabulous but dorky friends all signed in - cramming their names only on the very 1st blank page. You know, the one before the title page? Only our photographer (Dustin & Brinn Maust ROCK!) figured out that you're supposed to write on the lines that specify name, address, comments... Now I don't know where to send any snail mail thank you's. I was going to return to traditional, handwritten notes, but may have to resort to cheesy emails that half of ya'll aren't even sure how to open. Oh well.

Anyone want to hire me as your wedding coordinator? (Heehee)

March 20 - Pleasantly Overwhelmed

Yesterday was a perfectly fabulous day! I won't be able to do it justice in this moment, and will take some time to process all the wonderful things that happened on our wedding day. This morning (ok, afternoon now), I am just so incredibly grateful for God's blessings in the man who is my husband and the love and support of all our friends and family. Everyone's generosity and practical love in throwing us the best wedding ever is truly overwhelming. Thank you!

March 18 - Greatness

It's the night before my wedding. That is my official disclaimer for the probable randomness of this post. However, there's some important stuff going on!

Today is my sister's birthday! She's enormously (I hear) pregnant so will not be travelling this direction any time soon. I miss her and she has been soooooo supportive and helpful. Happy Bday Sista!

And last weekend my beautiful, kind, talented girlfriends threw a lovely bridal shower. Kem, Geneva & Emmi were master chefs, with an amazing south of the border theme and spread, all from scratch! I received a wonderful selection of gift cards ranging from Victoria Secret to Walmart, but honestly haven't had a moment to even look at them since the party. However, I'm so very thankful!

Life should even out in the next couple weeks and I'll get caught up on important things like thank you notes. And regular blogging. And twitter. And changing my name in about 50,000 places. Right?

March 10 - On Mission

The wedding is less than 2 weeks away and my fiance is sweating, but not in a way one might imagine (I don't think...). He's 9000 miles away in the middle of a mission trip in southern India. Somehow this surprises people. More than once someone has been shocked to learn he was going through with the trip despite my (relatively sudden) appearance in his life. So I feel the need to explain. Our church has been ministering over in this "Untouchable" area of India for years, but this is the first time we sent a worship band, with outreach concerts planned throughout the region. Dale loves playing drums and does it with excellence. Dale deeply loves God. This trip is a way to connect the dots, serve the church team and the Indian people, and experience God in completely in a unique way.

Actually, he explains it thoroughly here, but these are my thoughts: Dale loves God. He has a servant heart. People matter to God so they matter to Dale. This is one of the reasons I love him. I admire him for his commitment, as well as the sacrifice of time, money, energy and emotional resources for something much bigger than the two of us.

Of course, I still miss him terribly and CAN'T WAIT for his return in 5 days! I'm practicing jumping for joy too, so I won't be outdone by this enthusiatic group of kids!