Here’s to melty chocolate, make-believe and neighborhood parties. Shared with Musings of a Housewife on the night we get an extra hour.
an unexpected sister party
October 30, 2009
When one of my favorite writers (Amber from The Run A Muck) announced she would be hosting A Sister Party at her place, I thought it was a fantastic idea. Basically, she encouraged us bloggy girls to host a get together in our homes for our real-life girls, our do-life-with sisters, our friends. I loved it. In fact, I loved it so much that I thought all about it in my head and totally forgot to do it. My good intentions got tangled up with dirty socks and forgotten on the laundry room floor.
But then I went to this wedding last weekend. I know, I keep on talking about it and I am sorry about that. But it was simply a really big deal that this girl loves this man and that he loves her right back. I got there on Wednesday and rushed around making appointments and dry cleaning dresses and loved on my college roommate when she got teary. The wedding day passed in a flurry of stressfully happy eventfulness, a mosaic blend of holy and crazy, just as weddings ought to be. And then, it was time for the party.
Just like that, my college best friend was married and busy celebrating with guests and new husband. I retreated to the back of the reception tent to watch from a distance and breathe. Within minutes, I was surrounded by girls from college who I haven’t seen in years. And I couldn’t hug them tight enough. Nor could I stop the tidal wave of girly emotion from rising up and spilling out all over them.
As I stood there in my mess of giggles and tears, Amber’s Sister Party came to mind. I spent the rest of the evening lauging, dancing and catching up with my college sisters. The girls who knew me when. The girls in front of whom it is impossible to be embarassed because they loved me then and love me still. I reveled in the fact that, even though I forgot to plan my own sister party, I was still able to celebrate the bonds that run deep between girls. And I was thankful.
Jif and Jam
October 29, 2009
One of my favorite things about my girls starting kindergarten at our neighborhood school has been the families we are beginning to meet. Take these guys, for example.
This is Jif and his wife, Jam. I’ve gotten to know them so well over the past two months. In fact, we chat it up every morning around 7 am. Or, if I’m really feeling sociable, at 8pm the night before school. Good friends, those two. They have a daughter, Sunmaid.
She’s so cute. And she really wanted a dog for a pet just like my kids. But Jif’s allergic.
They got goldfish instead.
a thankful heart will be our rhythm
October 27, 2009
The volume of normal life chaos was turned down over the weekend as I traveled alone to the wedding. In its place was real music from my iPod, uninterrupted by backseat fighting or endless mental checklists.
There I was in the drive-thru line at Chic-fil-a, waiting for my biscuit, when one of my favorite Waterdeep songs began to play. I sang along out of habit until the quiet car allowed space for me to hear the chorus again, as if for the first time.
A thankful heart prepares the way for you my God…Come fall on us, we fall on You
A thankful heart will be our rhythm. Come fall on us, we fall on You, A thankful heart will be our song
And it wasn’t even a Tuesday. Isn’t that what happens with a thankful heart? The way is prepared for God to show up. Not as if He isn’t already here. Just that it can be hard to notice in the midst of the heavy mess.
That is what we do in this space on Tuesdays and I am happy for the re-discovery of these lyrics so I could have another perspective on the importance of cultivating a thankful heart. For complete details on how to link up, please see this post.
back home
October 26, 2009
I will be spending the day catching up on cuddles and home stories, laundry and the like while trying to remember life without digital cameras, as I took over 1,400 photos at the wedding this weekend. And I wasn’t even the photographer. Speaking of photos, look at these two cutie seniors.
I should have finished editing their photos a week ago. Today is the day. Come back tomorrow and unwrap the small and sacred gifts of your Tuesday. May your perspective be such that it is hard for you to pick just one.
a time to celebrate
October 24, 2009
I met her at my sister’s wedding. I was the maid of honor and she was the guest book attendant. I was immediately drawn to her just as my sister said I would be. By nights end, we had agreed to be roommates at Columbia International University the following year. She was a year older than me so she already had a year of college behind her which somehow gave me confidence by association going into my freshman year.
She was fun and funny, playful and vivacious, blond and gorgeous. She was dramatic, jealous, passionate and, by the standards of our small Bible college in South Carolina, she could be downright scandalous.
It was little things that bonded us at first: we wore the same size shoes and could share clothes and both had an unnatural love for our favorite musicals. But we shared a lot more than just a room during those years in college. We shared dreams and drama, heartache and heartbreaks as well as a love for the Lord.
As the years have passed, we have graduated and grown up. I have watched as she remained fiercely loyal to those she loved, even the ones who weren’t so loyal in return. She has taught me to play more, laugh harder and not take myself so seriously. She is beautifully human.
These days we only get to see each other about once a year. Four years ago we went to New York and ate pizza in Brooklyn and saw Wicked on Broadway. The year after that, she came here for a weekend (with me and my 3 kids…not exactly a walk down 5th Avenue, but still). We keep in touch fairly regularly and always pick up where we left off no matter how long it’s been.
She is one of my favorite people and today, she is getting married. In normal life, she is on her end of the country and I am on mine. She has people there, I have people here, and our lives have continued seperately. But this weekend, I am meeting her people. I am meeting her man. And we will celebrate the fact that she has finally found her someone.
at (in)courage
October 22, 2009
Ever had an episode of impatient crazy? Ever been surprised at how quickly you can go from Betty Crocker to Monster Mommy? Me too. Join me at (in)courage today?
