felicidades!!

We got 'em married!!
May 28, 2006, 4:00 p.m.
Bay Shore Camp
Sebewaing, MI







Farewell Miss Crawford!!




(check out my flickr spot for more pics --->)

taking a deep breath

Whew. Today's the last day of work for this week, I'm taking tomorrow off. Good thing, too. I am completely wiped out. This past weekend was another blur in a series of week-long blurs called "spending every moment possible with people before they leave/get married". We had a surprise going-away party for Tanya (she had absolutely no idea -- yessss!!), went out dancing for her "last dance" in Ann Arbor and were out until 5 a.m. . . . went to CAV and hung out afterwards until about midnight. Then started the work week.
I also had a pretty big disappointment on the career front in recent weeks, which I haven't really had a chance to process but which had just added to the tension.
But, what can you do? I can see where I've grown a lot in the past year or so -- back then I probably would have been on shutdown mode and so worn out I'd be sick. Right now I just keep hanging in there, knowing God is with me and has a better clue about things than I do at the moment. And I am cherishing these "last times" together before the big changes come.

And here's something random I keep forgetting to post -- a quote from an article on singleness from a secular, male perspective. A pretty powerful statement on the fallout of sex outside of marriage.

"They thought I was out on the prowl, but I felt like a lone wolf who had lost his appetite for meat. Don't get me wrong, I love sex. But sex without intimacy is like eating candy -- it's not sustenance for the soul, and usually leaves you with a stomach ache the next morning.
Like a lot of men and women these days, I have had relationships, but with nothing leading to marriage it was demoralizing."

from "Being (Happily) Single in a Couples' World"

I love where he mentions "sustenance for the soul" -- how often do we hear that type of honesty in the media from non-Christian sources??

More after the insanity of the weekend, including pictures and the explanation of "Plan S".

17 days and counting. . .

Going tonight to get the bridesmaid dress altered for Maria's wedding. . . it does look like this picture here but think a brighter, more pale shade of this pistachio color and that's what 10 of us will be wearing. I like Lisa's description -- a "pistachio-colored dream." May 28 is the big day.

Plan S is coming along well . . . to be unveiled May 20. Pictures and an explanation to come afterward. It'll be good, folks, let me say that, and you will be surprised.

This whole season of life keeps speeding towards its inevitable end -- Tanya's leaving for Chile/Peru, Maria's getting married. New girls are moving in about the same time. The Fellowship is breaking. . . *sigh* but at the same time God in His grace is ushering in a new group of friends slowly but surely, and I am thankful for them. Funny how He's all wise and all like that.

ay ay ay ay!!

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

This brings back fond memories of being on 26th St. in Chicago last year with a sweet group of chicas, going to a party in one of the parks and cruising up and down the street confusing people because we were white girls waving a Mexican flag. O to be back there this year!! But alas it was not to be.

here's one to chew on for a while

From Ephesians 5:26-27 (the Message version)
Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness.

This was part of the passage Pastor Mark preached on this past Sunday. I can't get over that concept -- we are loved by God and as we are loved, we are made beautiful. That extends to us as we love others -- it has a transforming effect on people as well.