i'm a missionary to rural Mexico who seeks to have a dynamic, vibrant life that testifies to and glorifies the God of the universe in everything I say and do!
Well, this weekend was certainly exciting! I was treated to an early birthday present by my dear friend, Beth. Two months early to be exact, but this event has been on the calendar for two months now, and it was well worth the wait!
Friday, September 9, I headed north to meet up with her at her condo. Upon arrival, I was let in on the secret of my early birthday surprise: TICKETS TO SEE EDDIE FROM OHIO IN CONCERT!!! Now, this is one of my favorite folk bands, and the only time I've seen them live was once in Fredericksburg during my last year of college when I was still fairly unfamiliar with the majority of their music. Beth on the other hand was introduced to Eddie From Ohio 15 years ago but never really followed them until recently when I discovered this travesty and began to remedy it!! She liked them 15 years ago, and she likes them even more now that she's becoming more aware of their music! So, we had a blast that night!
First, though we headed to Chef Geoff, a great little restaurant in Vienna. I had the most scrumptious dinner of Big Shrimp & Grits. Now, don't ask me why I've never thought of combining shrimp and grits, but it was the most delighfully flavorful meal! The grits were perfect, and we all know how much I love shrimp. My grandmother would have loved this meal, for sure!! Beth enjoyed her meal of Chicken Lemoncello, and we both basked in the glow of great dinner conversation.
After dinner we picked up some cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, whose cheesecake I had never tasted before, and then headed over to the Wolf Trap Filene Center to set ourselves up on the lawn for the show. We set up our seats and pulled out the cheesecake and accompanying beverage and began to feast and enjoy the wonderful evening air as the show began!
(left) My Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake. Beth dared me to eat the whole thing. Piece of "cake"....I ate all but like 3 bites! (right) Beth's Dulce de Leche Cheesecake!
Chillin' in our lawn seats in the beautiful night air!
The opener act was Martin Sexton. I have never heard of him before now, but I am SO glad that I've heard of him now. He is at the top of my list of albums to purchase. His music was a rich mix of blues, folk, John Meyer, and Louisianna. It just made my soul sway! If you've never heard his music before, make sure you find him online and introduce yourself to his sound because it is truly heavenly, not to mention the creative and striking lyrics! Go ahead and hit play on this song. It's so great
Then, after a short intermission, Robbie Schaeffer (accoustic guitar, vocals), Michael Clem (bass, vocals), Julie Murphey Wells (vocals), and Eddie Hartness (drums, vocals) made their way onto the stage and began doing what they do best: having fun and making great music! I was surprised, however, to see a sixth man on stage....and he was playing a mandolin!! And then in the next song he switched to the fiddle!!! This was new to me, but WOW what a difference the mandolin and fiddle made to the classic EFO sound. It was so much richer and more blue-grass-ey, but it added a new level of sophistication to the music too! Amazing!
I took this pic from our lawn seats. Of course, my camera was all the way zoomed in.
This video is a portion of their song "Number 6 Driver", one of their songs that features Virginia. You can really hear the fiddle in this, though, and it sounds great!
This new addition to the band joined them about three years ago, and his name is Jake Armerding. He is also a solo singer/songwriter, and Beth and I really enjoyed the one song of his that he played during the show. It's from his new album Her, and it's called "Harry/Sally". It's break-up song written from the perspective of the dump-er. It was great! Check it out!
This year EFO celebrates 20 years of making music together, and they've been doing a darn good job of it! One of my favorite songs of theirs is "Old Dominion" written for their home state of VIRGINIA! Of course, I truly believe should be our state anthem! They did this song as the encore at the end of the show, and it was STELLAR! Check it this video from a show they did earlier this year!
About three songs into the EFO portion of the night a couple passed us on the lawn on their way out of the arena. The wife came over and handed us tickets and said, "Hey, would you two like our tickets? We're leaving early. They're fifth row!" We looked at each other and took all of 2 seconds to say, "YES, THANK YOU!" We decided to grab our stuff and make a dump-run to the car (since you can't take food and such into the main seating area), and on our way out the seat rental guy said, "Hey, why don't you two just leave your stuff here. We'll watch it for you and that way you don't miss any of the show." Again, we responded enthusiastically and booked it down to our new fifth row seats. So amazing!!!
Our new fifth row view!!! So amazing!!!
EFO shows are so much fun, and there is always great audience participation. We had a blast, that's for sure! It was truly a night for the memory books! What a great way to kick off my birthday, even if it is two months early! I can't wait for the rest of it to commence in two months!
What an awesome trip I just enjoyed in Idaho! I had the opportunity to take five days to visit my dear friend Audra who lives just west of Boise, ID, which I learned is nicknamed "The Gem State"! I enjoyed myself so much, and the state is just beaitful! I've decided I would totally live there!
I flew in to Boise International Airport on Thursday, September 1 around 7 pm local time. It was a long day of travel: 12 hours and three airports, but it was so worth it to see Audra and her darling 1-year-old daughter waiting for me as I came out of the terminal! The three of us picked up dinner and headed home where Audra and I had a great time catching up and just enjoying being together. It's been three years since the last time we saw each other, so this was a real treat!
Friday, we ran some errands and continued hanging out. Then when Kevin came home from work, Audra and I threw some supplies in a bag and headed north to McCall, ID all by ourselves for a girls night out! McCall is up in the Cascade Mountains, and is a totally different landscape than Boise down in the valley. There were some gorgeous vistas from the highway as we wound our way north to her aunt and uncle's house.
The view from a rest stop above Midvale, ID
A little Idaho history at the same rest stop!
We spent the night at Audra's aunt and uncle's house, and then in the morning we had breakfast at the camp where they live and work and then headed into McCall to see the town and some of their shopping attractions! What a quaint little town. Everyone says it's very expensive there because it's a total tourist town, but I still found it quaint and just the right size! I loved it!!
The town center of McCall, Idaho with a great view of Lake Payette
The FoggLifter, the coffee shop where we had our morning coffee. It was packed! But the coffee was so good!
Lake Payette and the recreational center on its shores
This town was so quaint that even their benches and public tras recepticles were picturesque!
After coffee and some time sitting by the lake enjoying the view, we set off to see the town and do some consignment shopping. We went into some really great little shops where we enjoyed oohing and ahhing at the trinkets and creativity. One of my favorites had a ton of little signs about coffee! Since I love coffee, I took pictures of them! If I ever own a coffee shop one day, I hope to have them all hanging around as part of the decor!
This one is my favorite!
We also checked out the farmer's market. While there we found a local coffee roaster who had an amazing Huckleberry coffee. I didn't have the luggage space to buy any at the time, but I'm so going to order some. It was amazing coffee!!! After that we headed to a really cute kids consignment shop called The Dandylion and then met Audra's aunt for her lunch break and headed over to a new thrift store in town whose profits go to support a Teen Mentoring program!
Finally, we packed up our stuff and our purchases and headed back down to the valley. This time we took a different route home so that I could see another fork of the Payette River and a different side of the mountains. It was a gorgeous drive!
On Sunday we went to the church where Audra grew up and also attended school. She grew up in the Friends faith (Quaker), and this was my first time attending a Friends church. I really enjoyed it and everyone was very freindly. After church, we headed home to change and then sipped over to her brother-in-law's house for a South Carolina-style Labor Day picnic. It was really cool to meet some of Audra's husband's family and their daughter had a good time with her cousins. The food was really amazing as well. It was a lovely day, and I do think we all had a really good time!
(left) Audra and little Haiden having fun at the picnic; (right) In the South, they deepfry everything...even Oreos!!!
Monday was Labor Day. Everyone was off from work, so we just lounged around the house and relaxed. It was a lazy day and oh so enjoyable! I flew home very early the next morning and arrived just in time for dinner, unpacking, and unwinding from my trip before heading to work bright and early Wednesday morning. I didn't want to leave Idaho, but at least now I have that much more incentive to get back out there and visit again soon! What a blast! If you've never been to the Gem State, make sure you put it on your list of places to see! It is definitely a gem and totally worth the trip!!
(left) Audra & Haiden; (right) Me & Haiden
The girls: Two generations of Lilies! Praise the Lord for Dear Friends!!!
Wow, we've had some strange weather in Virginia this year! The winter was fairly mild this year, but late spring is when the weirdness began. For about two months we had severe thunderstorms that would spawned tornados about every other week!! I started to think we were living in Tornado Alley! It was fairly scary a couple of times, especially because a couple of the more severe tornados past right by where my mother, grandmother, and aunt live!!
We survived Tornado Spring and moved into a hot, humid, but otherwise quiet summer. Then just last week we had an earthquake! I was putting one of my charges down for his nap when the whole house started shaking! The rumble sounded like a mac truck, and since they live right on a busy road, my first thought was that a mac truck was coming right for the house. But no! That was not it, and there were no planes falling from the sky either! Once the tremor subsided, I tried to call family to find out what happened, but my cell phone was not working properly. Finally, I reached someone on the land line at the house where I worked and was informed we'd just had an earthquake! Not long thereafter, the news started reporting that it was a 5.8 quake centered in Mneral, VA....only a few miles from where my mom, grandmother, and aunt live!
Well, my family was all safe and survived basically unscathed, though we are still feeling aftershakes...especially my mom, grandmother, and aunt who all live near to the epicenter! Who knew that we have a seismic zone in central Virginia! We have had a couple of very minor quakes in the last 10 or 15 years, but the last one time we had one of this magnitude was 114 years ago! I'm hoping it's another 114 years AT LEAST before another one strikes!
And to top it all off, now we are cleaning up from Hurricane Irene which hit five days after the earthquake. Thankfully, it was not as severe as they had anticipated, but we are without power in Richmond, and we don't anticipate having it back for a few more days yet! To make matters worse, the main entrance to our neighborhood that is just around the corner from our house is completely blocked off by a massive downed tree. This tree landed on power and phone lines and also pulled down two posts! Of course, the power company and the phone company are arguing about who has to do something about it first, but I'm hoping they'll come to an agreement quickly so that we can return to normalcy!
Praise the Lord for my trip to Idaho this week! They have electricity AND I get to spend five days with my dear friend Audra and her little family! I cant' wait! We've been friends for nine years, and I'm just now visiting her home state! I'm really looking forward to meeting her husband of five years and their 1-year-old daughter, too!
There's so much to look forward to that it makes all this strange weather more tolerable!
Well, you may or may not know this, but in addition to being a missionary to Mexico, I am also a nanny to fraternal triplet boys: Edison, Ethan, and Eli (named in birth order). They were born June 9, 2010 at 29 weeks gestation....that's 11 weeks early! They spent 9 weeks in the NICU/PCN and then came home on August 15, 2010. I started working with them the next day, August 16. Today was their first birthday party!!! They have been healthy, happy boys from the beginning, and everyone is amazed at how well they have grown and progressed through their development. They are right on track for preemies, and maybe just a little ahead! This is one of the most challenging jobs I've ever had, but it's also one of the most rewarding. These boys are such a joy, and I do indeed love them to bits :)
I went to their birthday party, and had such a good time watching them and playing with them. They loved their cake...sort of! They had a good time and tuckered themselves out. It was a fitting celebration to a momentous milestone!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BUBBIES!!!
(left) Compare the day they were born to their first birthday...WOW!; (right) Their birthday present: their first year in monthly pics...again, WOW! (just click on the pics to see them full size)
Me and (L-R) Eli, Edison, and Ethan after their party....in their Birthday hats!
(left) (L-R) Edison, Ethan, & Eli each had their own individual cake that matched the Hewey, Dewey, & Lewey theme! (right) Eli trying to figure out what to do with the cake.
Yah, Eli REALLY liked his cake! The other two were only marginally interested; (right) Eli liked his cake AND Ethan's!
After destroying two cakes, there MUST be juice! HAH!
Oh what a most GLORIOUS trip I had to Mexico!!! Oh it was superb, wonderful, perfect!!! I soaked up every moment of it, and came home completely satisfied!!!! There is nothing I wanted to do that I did not get to do, and that is very rare when you only get 1 week :) So, I praise and thank the Lord for such a wonderful blessing and for the joy and encouragement He has poured into my heart and life through it!
I arrived in Mexico on Friday, Feb 25 at the Guadalajara airport. There were some hiccups in figuring out which bus to take to get to Cofradía, but after a few hours of waiting and a bus change in Tepic, I made it to the small town of Las Peñas around 7 pm MDT where all the bus drop-offs are. This was the first time I have ever been able to make the trip through Guadalajara in one day! Thankfully, in the last year Delta has added a second arriving and a second departing flight through Guadalajara, which meant I was able to make the whole trip in one day and have an extra day IN Cofradía.
Peñas is about 20 minutes from Cofradía, and Faith was waiting there for me! Oh what a joy to see her and hug her again. We became friends during my very first STM trip down there during Christas 2005, and we continued in our friendship after I joined the staff. We've always enjoyed good fellowship and the ability to challenge each other and encourage each other and pray together, so it was so great for her to be the first one to greet me upon my arrival!
She drove me to the base in Cofradía where I proceeded to dump my stuff and go in serach of some friends who I was supposed to find as soon as I arrived. They had already gone home since I arrived so late, but I discovered that Kathy was hosting a kids movie night at Toña's house. I went in and had some joyousness in greeting Toña, Kathy, Favi, and a few others who were there with their kids. It was hard not to interrup the movie with our joy, but we did our best.
Then I went in search of dinner at the restaurant I always enjoyed when I lived there, Restaurant Heidy. It's just down the street from the base and is owned by one of the church elders and his wife. Rosa & Everardo became good friends while I was there, as did Beto, one of the teens that works with them. It was such a joy to spend some time visiting with them and enjoying Rosa's great cooking! Then it was on to settle in and get some sleep!
Rosa & Everardo (center) in their restaurant/store with their neice Concha (right) and their friend Lupe (left) who help them in the restaurant. Beto is not pictured here.
On Saturday I went to see Ana and her baby Milan who was just turning 8 months old. She was born last year, after my last visit, so this was the first time I was getting to meet and hold little Milan. Ana, her mother, and I visited and caught up, and I got to hold and play with Milan. What a sweetie!!
Ana, Milan, and I at the inauguration during lunch. Milan is wearing a dress I took down for her!!!
Then it was on to get ready and head out to Arrayanes. I agreed to pick up all the youth for youth group, but I went early so I could have lunch with Sandy and her family. Oh the joyous greetings that went on in their yard! They all hid, so when I went in they tried to surprise me. It was awesome! We ate one of my favorite meals: enfrijoladas. It was one of the foods on my list of things to eat while in Mexico, and Sandy's mom, Flavia, makes them the best! Then Sandy and I stopped to see Gabriela and Diana and their parents Erika & Gabriel and Pola & Juan Luis. I also got to meet baby Isaac for the first time, who was born in November. Oh, it was wonderful!
(left) Me with holding baby Isaac and flanked by Gabriela (left) and her parents, Erika & Gabriel (right); (right) Me with Pola (left), Noé, and Diana (right)
Noé (English = Noah) and I...he calls me his girlfriend and sends me kisses over the phone!
Then we headed off to youth group which was not a normal youth group. The youth group had signed up to clean the church up for the service the next day, so that's what they did, and they did a good job of it. I helped my good friend Mari and Sandy and the other girls set out tables and figure out how to arrange them in the sanctuary. Then it was off to take the Arrayanes girls home, spend a little more time with the family, and then head back to the base for some fellowship with the Canadian team that was there and some more great food from Rosa's restaurant.
Sunday was the service, which I blogged about here. Check out the post and watch the video. It was GLORIOUS!!! After the service, I drove the Arrayanes folks home, and then spent some more time visiting with Sandy and Mily and having some much-needed heart-to-heart discussions.
The sanctuary full of people!
I had the privilege of singing with the worship team for Worship and Ministry Time
We had lots of congregation participation includine a word of encouragement from Brad Pembleton (left) from Texas and John Ruben from Canada (right) and a song sund by a Hichol indian woman in her own language (bottom)!
Magdaleno and his young assitant graced us with some of his own compositions in the Ranchero style. They are full of good stuff and yet they are quite humerous!
One of my favorite kids, Eva, came and sat with me during lunch. She and I enjoyed bopping along to Magdaleno's music!
All our sunday school classes have their own real classrooms now! (left) "Welcome Grades 4, 5, & 6"; (right) The class with their teachers Geña & Faith (front right) and aids Aidé & Julio (front left)
(left) "Welcome Grades 1, 2, & 3"; (right) The class singing with their teachers Toña (in pink) and Favi (in white)
The Preschoolers used to be in with grades 1-3, and now they have thier own classroom! (left) "Welcome Preschool/Kingergarten"; (right) The class sininging with their teacher Kathy
The nursery and preschool rooms have their own doors into this enclosed play area. Here are the nursery kids having fun with Matilde (white), Gabriela (jeans), and Josefina (far right)
Lunch is served! We had beef birria with rice and pasta, beans, tortillas, and lemonade!
(left) Servers carrying food to the tables and (right) serving it!
Favi & Erika's families all enjoying lunch together...Provecho!
On Monday, I headed back to Arrayanes, and Sandy I did our second study of Stepping Up by Beth Moore. The rest of the day we spent visiting all my beloved friends in Arrayanes. Tuesday through Firday I spent visiting with all the folks in Cofradía and Santa Fe! I was able to watch a movie with Toña and Kathy, like old times. Faith and I had one of our old fashioned coffee dates. Sandy and I went to Santa Fe for dinner with Luis & Mari (other youth leaders) to celebrate Luis's birthday (Mari, Sandy, and I were like the three muskateers on Saturdays!). Jazmin came and hung out with me numerous times throughout the week, and I got quality time with both Gabriela and Diana, which never really ocurred even when I was living there! And I was able to visit with Luci in her new home built by Dwellings last summer.
(left) Toña and I; (right) Me with Luci and her two youngest sons
(left) Pastor Gollo, his wife Mati, and I; (right) Me with Mirna and her son José. Mirna is Diana's older sister.
Also, Sandy and Mily's birthdays (March 8 & 12) were right after my trip, while their little brother's was at the end of my trip (March 5), and their dad's was at the end of the month (March 21). So, we had planned to do a family dinner/party for all their birthdays. I went down loaded with presents for all four of them (among others), and I expected just a family dinner night. Sandy had spent the night the night before, and when we were talking with her mom that morning to see if we needed to take anything with us, she made a point of telling us to make sure we got gussied up. It struck me as odd, but I went along with no reason to insist otherwise. Then when Sandy and I arrived, there were tables in the yard and it appeared that they had planend something a little bigger. At this point, Flavia came out to greet me and explained that the party was actually for ME! She had told everyone that since they didn't get to celebrate with me for my birthday back in November, she was throwing me a birthday party NOW, and so folks were coming for MY birthday party rather than that of the girls, Diego, and their dad. I was floored! They were thrilled! They had finally successfully pulled off an Amber-style suprise on me! It was awesome. Flavia's sisters and their families were all present and we had an awesome meal of POZOLE!!!!! That is another one of my favorite authentic Mexican meals that was on my list of TO-EATs while in Mexico. Oh, it was so much fun!
The arrangement was that we would have the party and I would spend the night. So, when everyone left, we all got in our pajamas, piled into Mily and Aidé's room and began doing presents. There was soemthing for everone, including me to my surprise! We had such a blast openeing presents, yelling with delight, eating up the anticipation, and celebrating with each one! It was AWESOME!
My birthday presents
Diego and his birthday present fun! It is the custom to always give the birthday person a hug when you give them their present!
Benito and his birthday fun!
Flavia and her just-for-the-heck-of-it fun!!
Aidé and her fun from me and her US godmother!!
Mily and her most exciting birthday fun!!!
Sandy and her most excellent birthday fun!!!
Sister of the heart on our birthday fun day!!!
On Friday Veronica came from Ruiz to spend the day with me and Sandy since it was the last time we would get to do so before her wedding and move to Guadlajara. We had some great one-on-one time catching up and talking about wedding plans and looking forward to marriage. Then we ended up taking a walk that afternoon back down to the where the new church is to see this huge house that has been constructed right across the street. When I say huge, I mean palace huge! Luckily for us, we were able to find the guy who is taking care of it since it's owners are still living in the US, and he let us look around inside! WOW!!!
This is the huge, two-story house from outside its perimeter gate. It has two drvie-in entrances, and the one seen here is the actual driveway that leads into an enclosed US-style garage!
(left) The front door...yes, it's actually a beautiful cedar wood door, unheard of in these parts!; (right) Garage; (bottom) Birds-eye view of front yard
(left) Stairs going to second floor in the entry foyer; (right) Waterfall wall in the entry/foyer...yes it really works! (bottom) Looking down to entrance/foyer from upstairs landing
(left) The American-style kitchen!!!; (right) Living room with fireplace!!!
Upstairs landing. There are five bedrooms upstairs and one guest bedroom/office on the first floor
Four upstairs upstairs bedrooms! All had balconies and built-in closets!
The master suite
Master bathroom and shower. In the left picture you can see my arm at the very back checking out the massive walk-in closet!
Master bath jacuzzi tub!!!!
Back terrace! There's space in the back yard for an inground pool, and I believe they are considering that at some point!
Then that evening the three of us went back to Mari's in Santa Fe to learn to make flour tortillas! What a BLAST that was! She spent the night with me that night and we left Cofradía together the next morning.
By the time the week was over, I was sad to say goobye, but I was most content with the trip as a whole. I left on Satruday, March 5 and headed to Guadalajara to stay with my good friend Erika and her family before flying out on Sunday morning. I arrived just in time to leave with her to go to youth group for her new church! It was so great to meet her new church family and pitch in to help them clean up their new home for their first service the next morning. It was truly an Inauguration Weekend! After youth group, Erika and I headed back to her house to make dinner: Molletes!!!! The final food item on my list. We always eat Molletes when I visit her, so it was fun to relive old traditions. We started talking and catching up while making dinner, when suddenly there was a knock on the door. To our surprise, all her friends from youth group had decided to come and hang out with us at her house. What a blast! They were all so fun, and we had a good time eating and laughing and hanging out. After they left, we hit the sack and talked until the wee hours catching up on all that had gone on since we saw each other a year ago. PHEW!!! It was a marathon conversation, but so worth it!
I flew out early on Sunday morning. The same taxi guy who ferried me to and from the airport the last couple years I was in Mexico was able to deliver me once again, so it was nice to catch up with him as well. My flights went well, and I arrived in DC safe and sound with a 2-hour drive ahead of me. But it went off without a hitch, and I was back to work the next day with the triplets.
As I meditated on my trip the last day I was in Cofradía, Sandy commented that the week had gone by so quickly and she couldn't believe it was already time for me to leave. I agreed with her, but I also shared that at the beginning of my trip I had prayed for the Lord to multiply my time there so that even though it was only a few days, it would not FEEL like a whilrwind trip but be quality time with my Mexican loved ones. He answered that prayer most faithfully! By the time I flew home, I had seen everyone I wanted to see and spent quality time with them, not just greetings in passing. In fact, I'd even seen and visited with some I had not expected to see and visit with! I had eaten and drank everything I had wanted to eat or drink while in Mexico. I had soaked up every moment, and though my mind knew I had only been there 1 week, my experience felt like it had been 2. I never felt rushed or gipped or like there wasn't enough time. God is truly faithful, and I can't imagine this trip having been any better! It was truly perfect. PRAISE THE LORD!!!
So, my friend Elana's birthday was February 5, and Amy and I threw her a birthday party! What a blast that was! It was so great to see so many friends all in one place. Must of us used to all go to church together, but as time passes, we move on, and now we are spread around at a bunch of different churches. So, this was quite a treat for me, and most especially for Elena!
As Amy and I were preparing for the party, we decided to have people bring appetizers, desserts and drinks. However, we both contributed some to the food menu as well. My contributions was Tuxedo Strawberries, another yummy item I saw on TLC's show "The Kitchen Boss". Again, it was a little more complicated and time consuming than how it looks on TV, but in the end they came out wonderfully, and I learned an important lesson about not over-cooking/burning chocolate! HAH!
Picture of tuxedo strawberries from The Kitchen Boss website
I spent New Years working....on a wedding I'd been anticipating since May!!!!!! Yah, it was hard work, but it turned out so fabulous when it was all done! Amy booked this wedding (Beautiful Flower By Amy) way back in May, and since our first consulation with the bride and her mom, we have both been anxious to finally get to work on it and put all the flowers together as we had all imagined them to be! And boy did it turn out great!
The wedding was on New Years Day at an old presbyterian church in downtown D.C., and the reception was at the L'Enfent Plaza Hotel. It was a sit down reception, and my primary task was putting together the 17 centerpieces for the guest tables at the reception. It took me a day and a half to get them done...right up to 10 minutes before the guests were to be let into the dining room! But they turned out fabulous!
They were flower towers stuffed with cotton filling and little battery lights so that the towers looked like they had "snow" inside with lights shining through. Then at the top of the tower, I affixed the flower arrangements that Amy had made: red roses, greenery, white feathers, peacock feathers, and white sticks shooting out the top. They were stunning! Then we added table number cards that were provided to us when we got there. Finally, it was time to put the centerpieces on the tables....only they wouldn't stand up!!! Turns out the tables had soft topers under the table clothes, and since the centerpieces were top-heavy with narrow bases, they needed a hard surface. So, the wait staff brought us an extra plate for every table, which we turned upside down. Then we proceeded to use the flower tacky stuff that we used to affix the arrangemests to the flower towers in order to stick the flower towers to the plates so they would be more steady and secure. It worked!!! And you couldn't tell that those plates weren't bases intended for that very purposes! Ah creative ingenuity!!
Amy and I walked out of the dining room at 5:55 pm with all our stuff on a valet cart and wheeled our way back to the front entrance and our cars for the drive home. The dining room was opened up to guests at 6:00 pm. SUCCESS!!! It was a long, hard weekend, but when it was all said and done, the place looked unbeleivable,and we went home tired but very content with our hard-weekend's work!
So, here are some pics for you :) Enjoy and...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
The bride, groom, bridesmaids, and pastor after the ceremony. All the bouquets and the boutenier were made by Amy and a helper.
The bride's bouquet and the groom's boutenier...that bout is a white rose bud stuck INSIDE a red rose...very unique!
One of the centerpieces for the head table: red roses, greenery, feathers, and white sticks
(left) Me securing the flower tower arrangement to the plate base on table 4; (right) The reception hall when we were all done!
On Saturday evening, after already enjoying a wonderful morning of decorating the church, I had the great pleasure of going out on the town with my good friends, Amy and Penny Ann! We went to see It's A Wonderful Life at the Riverside Center Dinner Theater in Fredericksburg, VA.
(L-R) Me, Amy, Penny Ann
This was our plan for my birthday. When I was trying to figure out what I would most like to do for my birthday, this year, I remembered that last year the two of them took me out to dinner. We sat there for four or five hours just talking. And then over the summer, we got together for girl nights at home several times, and it was so wonderful! I just love hanging out and talking with these two! They are so fun! So, I sent them an email and invited them to go out with me for my birthday again! They agreed, and we decided on the theater.
Thankfully, we were able to get tickets, because most other nights of the show were sold out! We had great seats and enjoyed a sumptuous dinner before the play started. And it was such a great show! I've never seen or heard of a musical theater version of the movie, so I had no idea what to expect. They did such a magnificent job! And we had a great time!
Then as we walked out of the theater, IT WAS SNOWING!!! Of course, I had just finished telling the girls how Jeuss always tells me He loves me through snow and that the first snowfall each year always makes me cry for just that reason. Well, I'd seen my first snowflakes of the year on my way up to Fredercksburg the night before! And I cried out of joy! And then as soon as I finshed telling them this story, we walked out and it was snowing!! OH THE ECSTASY!!!
God is so good, and my birthday was such a joy this year! Thank you, Lord for how you celebrate and for giving me life to enjoy your celebrating!
I LOVE FRIENDS & FAMILY THANKSGIVING!! This year it was at my house, and it was such a blast! I've been itching to host it here for a few years now, but the time was never right. This year, though, we did it up right fine! I took care of the turkey and the hot apple cider, and everyone else brought everything else. MY! What a feast we had! And quite an attendance too! I even invited the triplets and their parents. It was so fun for all the Lilies to meet them after all I've talked about them!
The menu included...
Turkey Stuffing Mashed Potatoes & Gravy Apple Sauce & Cranberry Sauce Sweet Potatoes...a couple of different kinds actually Spinach Caserole Roasted Veggies Squash Caserole Fennel Baked Mac & Cheese Bread Lots of drinks (sodas, coffee, tea, cider, etc.) Lots of yummy desserts (my famous whipped cream, pumpkin pies, blueberry pie, and others!)
Man, were we eating like kings! My sister and I had a blast pulling out all the china that we never get to use at home for everyday stuff, and it was just a ton of fun.
We were also really blessed this year to have Becky, Andy, and their daughter Lia! Becky hasn't made it to F&F for many years since she moved to St. Louis and got married. So, it was so special to have them here! And it was so special for me, as well, to have my family present. My sister, Heather, has gone with me in past years, but this year my dad and my sister Jenn and her son Jacob came too! Jacob had so much fun playing with all the Lily kids!
We realized that next year will be the 10th anniversary of Friends & Family Thanksgiving. I believe we will be celebrating the F&F Jubilee!!! I'm excited to see what we come up with in honor of such an historic milestone!
Now, I have many more Thanksgiving Feasts to look forward to, since Heather and I will be going to my maternal grandmother's for a little bit and then to the other side of the state to visit with my dad's side of the family.
This is the first year I've been home for Thanksgiving with everyone, and man was it wonderful!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2010!!!!
The "before" shots
That was some good turkey!
My famous spieced whipped cream!
(left) My dad's Christmas cider; (right) The drinks were overflowing...
(left) ....complete with coffee in a ceramic pot! (right) The dinner table... Beautiful!
The "after" shots...everyone eating and visiting in the (left) living room and (right) back patio.
(left) Lily and Lia playing; (right) Erica with Miss Lia, the first Tadpole!
Lisa & Elwood, the triplets parents
Jen (not my sister) with Mr. Ethan....yes, he fell asleep just like that!
(left) Chandra with Edison, aka The Bean; (right) Heather with Eli, aka The Squishy Man
(left) Monica with her daughter, Lily. (right) Erica & Tim with Miss Lily
(left) Stacy, Kelly, and Meg & Matt visiting; (right) Those of us who made it until the end!
My birthday was a quiet affair this year. I turned 31 on a Tuesday, which meant that I spent my day with the triplets where I'm nannying. They were sweet hearts, and I enjoyed spending my special day with them :) Babies are so free with loving people!
However, I did get to celebrate with my pal Beth on Friday! I went up on Thursday after work, spent the night, and then Friday we spent a leisurely day shopping and visiting our friend Liz and her new baby girl! It was such a great time!!
I'm really looking forward to the first weekend in December when I'll be seeing It's A Wonderful Life at the Riverside Dinner Theater in Frederiscksburg with my friends Amy and Penny. It's a belated birthday event, and I'm SUPER STOKED!
Anyway, it was a wonderful birthday! I definitely felt loved, and more than anything I was celebrating :) Everything else was bonus!Turning 31 didn't feel like an overly special milestone. In fact, half the time I forget it's 31 and think I'm only turning 30! But another year is another year, and I'm thankful for it! Now to find out what year 32 holds in store!
OH Edition 1 "Over the Horizons," actually started in february of 2006 using blogger, but my blogging needs outgrew that service. so, i have migrated to typepad. however, if you'd like to check out blogs prior to april 2008, just click on the link above.
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