Texas wedding

What a beautiful wedding it was. So full of happiness and good wishes and love. So many people flying in from out of state or out of town. So much bonding and re-bonding between all of the Oregon people. So many blessings spoken over the (very) happy couple.

You know what I think? I think that they deserve all of this and more. They have each dealt with some very difficult life situations and through it all they have stayed kind, compassionate, truthful and loyal. They are the sort of people you want to share your joys with and the kind you want to call when things aren't working. Because they're real and really human.

Most of the bridesmaids and bride's family got ready in one of the houses on the beautiful wedding property. The same house I stayed in with the same people. It was so fun to all be going from room to room--finding dresses and shoes, locating the missing twins of stray earrings, applying lipstick, having hair done (by Amie, who is also a good friend of mine and who owns an excellent salon/spa), seeing Jessica slip into her lovely white column of a dress,

everyone trying not to cry while pictures are taken.....










And then I walked down to the field where the ceremony was taking place. The photographers were hard at work taking portraits of the bridal party and family. It was an honor to stand with Jessica as part of her family.


And then it was 5:00. The perfect time for an outdoor, summer wedding, I think. But perhaps that's just because my wedding was also at 5. It was overcast and cool, for Texas, but this particular light made everything glow and the green fields and trees look even lovelier--cool and deep--than they might have in blazing, tortuous late-afternoon heat.

Jessica was walked down the aisle by her nephew and niece (and Penelope's favorite friends) Zion and Brennan. When I saw her begin to walk, stepping out from behind an ancient shade tree to The Frames singing, "Star, Star", I couldn't help it; the tears just welled over and came pouring down. I'm not sure when I've cried like that at a wedding. Possibly, never. I was just so incredibly proud of her.


And she looked so strong and beautiful and sure. Jordan (the groom) cried too.



The ceremony was beautiful. On the short side, but packed full of tender words, private vows whispered between bride and groom, some of us stepping forward to sing Jess's favorite hymn (Come Thou Fount), an emotional blessing from Jordan's father, and then kiss after kiss at the end. Seriously--the kissing went on and on.


And then two-by-two everyone tumbled back down the aisle to the perfect recessional, "Treehouse". As soon as they reached the end they started dancing.





And hugging.


And laughing. And dancing again and then more hugging and more laughter. And then happy, happy tears.

It was all so breathtaking.


And then, after more pictures and while the rest of the wedding party and the guests walked across the field to the reception, Jordan carried Jess off to an undisclosed location. Where I happen to know that there was much making out. I know this because I reapplied her lipstick and she looked exactly like someone should who has just married the right man: radiant and just a tad bit sheepish.


The cake was beautiful and fun. I think it was red velvet-- I didn't have a huge appetite for some reason (figured it out later, didn't I!), and so after eating some of the barbecue and potato salad I just had a cupcake. Which had a cream center and was yummy!


There was dancing and children running around and people eating and talking and laughing. And rumors of really good tequila being artfully slipped into the ice tea and lemonade. But of course I know absolutely nothing about that. Nothing. Don't even ask.




It was such a happy, beautiful day. Exactly what Jessica and Jordan deserved. What fun and funny memories I will always have of this weekend!


See? The terrible sickness that came on just a few hours later was no match for this kind of day.


When I think of Jessica and her story, this quote from William Stafford comes to mind:
"I have woven a parachute out of everything broken"

Yes you have, lovelygirl, you really, really have.

The good, the bad, and the incredibly beautiful

Today was the first day I got out of bed post-trip to San Antonio. I haven't been laid up with a bug in almost 2 years. Not since I was 4 months pregnant and became suddenly unable to keep water down. For days. And was then hospitalized and pumped full of 10 IV bags of fluid because I was horrendously dehydrated. Since then I haven't been badly sick, other than random allergies, a cold here and there....you know, nothing abnormal.

And then, half-way through my short, weekend trip to S.A. I got hit. Badly. Horrible, nasty puking. Bad, bad, bad. I will do just about anything to keep from throwing up but there was no stopping whatever this was. It suddenly had me in its clutches and did not easily give me up. That's just about all I want to say about that. Now that I'm over it, well....I'm done.

Let me say, though, that passing out on a plane, a plane in terrible turbulence, is not my favorite thing. Doing it over and over is even worse. Being sick away from home and my own bed, with a lot of people around who I don't know is also NOT my favorite. I am, however, SO incredibly grateful for my lovely friends who were so kind to me and helped me get packed, get medicine, and made sure I got onto my planes home. I haven't felt so like a child in years, and it was humbling to say the least.

So that's the bad part. Being sick in a strange, strange land (Texas), full of BIG cars and lots of firearms and large amounts of liquor and Jesus. Jesus everywhere.

Let's move on. The rest of the trip was so good that the end was still worth it.


I left Somewherein, OR early, early Friday morning and arrived in Texas around 2:30 pm. The rest of the day was filled with a leisurely drive from the airport to the wedding site/retreat center with Jess (the bride) and her sister Angie (my long-time friend), stopping for last-minute supplies and wedding items, finding last-minute gifts for assorted family and friends, hearing about the plans for the following day and feeling the excitement build, arriving at the site and seeing what an incredible, expansive, beautiful place it was (rolling hillocks, old cottonwood or pecan trees, limestone crumbling underfoot), seeing all the friends who'd been arriving that week and catching up, and then walking across the way to the rehearsal dinner and meeting the groom's family and friends.




The rehearsal dinner was fun. A little awkward, at first, as there was a lot of family (on both sides) who hadn't met and not everyone was sure of who everyone else was. You know, the usual stuff. The bride and groom's families are each from entirely different parts of the country (world?) and so a lot of us were still at the basic introduction stage. But after dinner, as everyone was finishing off their peach cobbler, some of us shared stories and memories of the couple and everyone started to relax and laugh more as a group, not just at separate tables.








Later that night, 11 of us girlfriends all went back to the house where most of us were staying and squeezed into the front room in a circle. We gave Jess (the bride) little gifts we'd been saving for the last minute (lotions and jewelry and other treasures) and also sweet words as she entered a new part of her life. These words (we like to call them "cupcakes") were the true and deeply-felt thoughts of genuine friendship and affection--the words we probably should say more often but for whatever reason don't. It was so beautiful and sincere and there was so much love and happiness in that little room. There were also many, many happy tears.

Saturday morning, the day of the wedding, Kristen and I set about coordinating all the work that needed to be done on the property. Picnic tables needed to be brought up to the reception site, tables needed to be found and arranged for the outdoor wedding site (guest book, communion) and the reception area (food, cake, gifts, candy bar), the bridal party's aisle needed to be cleared and swept and a rake was needed, the flowers needed to be picked up before the shop closed....there was more, but mostly we wanted Jess to not have to think or worry about a single thing. We were mostly successful.

Then I showered and got mostly ready for the ceremony. It was very humid and so it was hard to consider certain things done until the last minute, like hair and face powder. Then I did Jess's makeup. Then I did some sort of makeup for another 6 people. I was worried about being stressed--I haven't done that sort of makeup very regularly the last few years, much less that many people--but I felt very calm and my head stayed clear and I actually had a lot of fun.

And then it was 4:30 and mere minutes till the ceremony began. I'll save that for my next post as it deserves its own story. It was so beautiful.

What happened?

I was in Texas this weekend for the wedding of dear friends.
At this point, all I have to say is....



I left a baby at home


I came back to a toddler

wearing her clothes.

In the mail today

A letter, beginning: "The Christian Science Monitor gives it to you straight!"

I feel just a tad bit queasy, for some reason.

Birthday Party

Last Saturday. The morning of her birthday party.

Breakfast with Daddy.

They kind of were telling jokes....

The wondrous George face/cake, made so well and yummy by her auntie. But when the time came she wouldn't touch it. Wouldn't have anything to do with it. Nope. Not a bite, not a taste. She did take a big fork to it, and mashed the face a bit, but that was it.

Have I mentioned that she does things her way? I guess I haven't written her birth story here, but let's just say it's been that way from the beginning.

The best part of Uncle J's Lego present? The box. It's funny how kids know instinctively when something is just big enough to hold them.

She got her first real baby. It took me and Jeffrey way too much time at Toys R Us (ugh ugh ugh!) to find a baby that looked somewhat lifelike but wasn't scary or creepy or just downright weird. Pea was pretty excited about this present and spent the next couple minutes licking her face.

She was getting pretty tired by this point, so she crawled over to the abandoned Lego box and laid her head down. In it.

Someone had to eat that cake, if Pea wasn't going to.

At the end of the present-opening, Penelope gathered up a random mix of the clothing she'd received and asked that it be put on her. She's really into clothes, all of a sudden, especially shoes. Here's the outfit that resulted:

I love that she knows it's hilarious.

My friend Pam

"This was my first glimpse of his love and grace. For me it was like an awakening kiss that broke the spell of death that had held me captive. And so, my stormy love affair with God began."

Read her entire post. Grace, in any shape or form, always tastes so good.

Instinct

I've always wanted to have babies with him. Looking at Experiment A, aged 1 year, I'd say it was a good thing, too.

Egg-head

Yesterday night we went over to Jeffrey's parents' house for the third and final birthday celebration.

It was an interesting day--the effects of recent late nights and parties and being off her normal schedule and lots of people pushing her to open things and do things and shove her hands into cake and look at the camera, etc. etc. were beginning to show. She screamed though her morning nap, and so we were almost an hour late for our OMSI playdate with her Auntie. She got to run for a long time, though, and things started to look up for both of us.

Then we were off to pick up food and a cake for the little party. After I finally made up my tired mind, we jetted off down the highway and I turned up the music and finally let my jaw unclench and my stomach relax a bit, knowing that a nap during a drive this long is almost a guarantee. Except the key word is almost. It wasn't until we were mere blocks from their house did the sounds of backseat movement cease. Fortunately we were running a little early by now (I'd figured that traffic would be much worse) so I drove past their subdivision and kept going till we were almost out into the country. After we'd gone far enough that I was going to have to actually start remembering where I was, we turned around and drove back. But it had still only been 20 minutes or so. So I pulled into their driveway and carefully unloaded all the bags and baby stuff (music still playing) and then locked the doors and settled into a chair by the window overlooking their driveway.

Figgy didn't know who I was when I walked in, which took me by surprise for a minute since it's been so long since I've seen her like that. I tried to gently suggest the details she was missing, since I think that's much kinder and less startling than proclaiming the facts to her as if she were crazy. Nothing jogged her memory. She didn't remember that she had a great-grandbaby, which was new, and she didn't even register Jeffrey's name which I've never seen. It's so hard when your brain and body begin to fail you. Everything seemed to come back to her later, once Jeffrey was there and after she'd watched Pea running around for a bit.

Before I started making dinner (I mean, heating things up and opening containers and boxes, since I was nearing the end of my abilities and New Seasons makes it way too easy) I took Pea outside to run off some steam and get some last hits of fresh air. I tried to take off her fancy little sandals, worn especially for her party, but she insisted with much insisting that they stay on! Down the sidewalk she went, tripping every now and again on a pebble or the 1/2 inch sole of her shoe (she's mostly walked in bare feet or Robeez) and landing on her hands and knees. She kept on pulling herself up, though, and doing again and again until.... Until this:

The last time, she landed with a "thunk" on her face, on the concrete. While visions of huge, bloody open wounds flashed before my eyes, I picked up my screaming 1 year old child and discovered that it was a LOT better than it could have been. Just a big, red goose egg. She screamed for maybe 10 seconds and then she was completely over it. And wanted to run more. And faster. With the shoes. There was more screaming when I tried to remove them, but I finally gave in.

Here's another shot of it, taken during the 5 seconds that she allowed herself to be subjected to Sitting Still and Opening Presents. She looks so tired, poor kid.

She perked up a bit as the evening wore on, though, and even put on a Silly Show for the adoring grandparents.

Then we brought out the cake. Have so much mercy on me, when you see this, as I do NOT have ANY aspirations of pastry making, and only did this because the aforementioned specialty grocery does not have a bakery large enough to warrant a Cake Writer. Or whatever they're called. Notice that I was smart enough to not attempt writing her whole entire name on that cake.

So now it's Wednesday, and very late on a Wednesday night/Thursday morning. The birthday festivities are done and we are almost back to our little, happy routines. We like routine around here.