Wedding Flashbacks

It's been just over two months since my last post about the wedding...... have you been pacing the floor? I think I've shown a great deal of restraint. I'm sitting here by the twinkling light of our Christmas tree, reading Facebook birthday greetings and reflecting on what an amazing year it's been. Somehow that landed me right back in Annapolis in the midst of a fairy tale. I realized that Picasa still had images to share.

We had such fun pulling the details together. I thought you'd like to have a couple close-ups to reminisce and appreciate along with me. The cake was amazing, the flowers gorgous and the birdcage veil the crowning touch.

Back to Wedding Memories

It's Sunday, all over again. This time last week we were en route to the gazebo. The sun was shining. The flowers had been delivered & everyone's hair was looking good. The harpist was busy setting up. Just a week ago? Seriously?? Seems like a long time back -- like ages and ages ago so distant these sweet memories, but when looking at the pictures and submerging myself in the sea of memories. it seems like just a blink of the eye. Time has a way of confounding me??? Allen walked her over the footbridge, bringing her toward us. Zac walked her away, back over that very same bridge, but my goodness what had transpired in between! They're married! A whole new era begins. The world is made new again.

Family Time: Joyous Occasion

There are so many wonderful parts of this weekend's celebration..... certainly one of my very favorites is the combining of our two families. We love the entire family that Noelle has married. Since the first time that we all met, we've truly enjoyed each other's company. We have so very much in common -- it's amazing: both of us are named Debbie, both have worked with children with special needs, both have a dad who served churches as a pastor for their career, and both are BC survivors. How amazing is that? The guys have plenty of commonalities as well: both are OSU graduates and avid Buckeye fans, both enjoy their golf games and get a load of this -- they are both pilots of small (private) airplanes.

We had the best time celebrating together. I think this set of pictures conveys our combined joy.

Sisters: My Daughters

Look what a transformation is underway! It's a full scale beauty shop in room 1213 (seriously? 1213? See earlier posts for significance.) Start with two eager participants -- one dripping wet, the other merely damp. Add several travel bags worth of brushes, make-up, curling irons, straighteners, clips and other secrets of the trade -- known collectively as "product" -- then stir in Sarah's amazing experience, training, and passion and VOILA...... look at the outcome! They are beauties, both.

Sarah has been playing 'beauty shop' since she was old enough to hold a pink foam curler. What a gift to take all of the given ingredients and emphasize the gorgeous within. We're spoiled having our own stylist at our finger-tips. Well done. Bravo! They clean up pretty well, don't you think?

Where is YoYo? Bean?

Where did my little girl go? Where is the little one who played endlessly with Lego blocks and kept a family of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches as pets? Where's my little environmentalist who had that hairy tarantula next to her bed for years? How did I not see her morphing into a glamourous diva? These photos take my breath away. If I squint I can almost recognize Yoyo-beanie under her birdcage veil. Almost. At least I remember those big brown eyes from ages past.

How is it possible that my tree-hugging, granola eating, original & always croc-wearing "greenie" would have even thought to consider three inch blue platform heels for her wedding? I just wouldn't have imagined a day this glorious in the wildest of my wilds...... simple, utterly simple, simple sophistication. Simply suburb. Supremely simple, yet sassy. Sweet. Storybook. Yes. That's the description: Storybook!

Perfect, Perfect Day

Where do I begin? How many posts will you be able to read about a wedding? About a glorious, amazing joining together of two families? Will you allow me a week or two of waxing on about the amazing event that has just transpired for our dear ones? I have so many stories to tell, so many images to share, so many emotions stored up in my heart that are over-flowing at the seams. In my utter deliriously happy exhaustion I am having trouble getting my photos to cooperate and upload properly, so you'll have to be patient. I am on Allen's laptop (I forgot to bring my silly power cord along..... and there's a whole new learning curve on this machine. I promise to share more once we are back in Ohio.)

But back to the most amazing day in recent memory. We awoke to crystal clear blue skies. To say the weather was perfect is to diminish the details of this day. October 4th in Annapolis history ranges between 50 & 70 degrees according to the farmer's almanac, but today was just the most gorgous of all gorgous days. A slight breeze blowing to keep all refreshed and a monarch butterfly that roamed the perimeter, harp music gracefully sailing out of a charmed gazebo structure, and lovely beautiful, beaming people smiling, hugging, and joining together as one.
Heart-felt joy in the air.

Our Denver daughter-in-law, Megan, took these pictures & captured the blue sky & gentle shadows created by the world of greenery in full leaf. In the second photo I have been called forward by the pastor to share a greeting written by my parents to the new bride & groom..... so that's me in my great dress, attempting to decide if I should face the wedding party or the 'congregation' or a little bit of both, which is apparently what I did in the end. I actually think that Megan has captured me squeezing my lips together, mid first paragraph, when I really got choked up & overcome with emotion. I took a couple of deep breaths, regrouped & got better as I continued down their epistle. I followed the groom's grandparent epistle, read by his mother. Did I mention the monarch? And the breezes? And the harp? And the hugging? It was pretty spectacular.

Approximately 804 more pictures are forthcoming: shoes, flowers, cake, rings, program, bubbles and a bird cage -- this could take a while. Get comfortable. First I must go pretend to sleep. Cinderella after the ball. Exhale. Smiling. Grateful.