Lin and Nate's Wedding (Part 2)

 

If you missed part one of Lin and Nate's Wedding, please mosey on over and take a peek.

 

Now, come on over to the reception with me.

 

As customary, the wedding party was introduced - a photo-op that I totally flaked out on. Lin has 4 beautiful children: Michael, Shelton, Lauren and Kaylin; Nate has two: Noah and Analese. Between the two they ended up with 3 girls and 3 boys. The 6 of them were introduced, appropriately, to the tune of "The Brady Bunch". Then Mr. and Mrs. Robert Nathan Lytle were introduced and danced their first dance.

 

But, before I introduce you to THE lovely couple, you get to take a look at THIS lovely couple.

 

 

Mike and Susan after 22 years of marriage

 



Lin and Nate after 22 minutes of marriage
 

Lin is dancing with her son Shelton, the blond boy is Noah holding hands with his sister Analese (who you can't see).
 Kaylin is the one on the right (holding hands with Nate) and Lauren is the one on the left.

Lin and her son Michael

Time to dance with dad. I kept looking for Lin Pin to join us...

Speaking of time to dance with dad. After writing THIS and THIS post, my dad got all sentimental on me and decided that he wanted me to dance on his toes once again. I begged , and pleaded with him not to do it, I'm not a little girl anymore, I'm going to hurt you, I told him. He insisted, and insisted. He made me. So, I was left with two choices. Obey your dad and break his toes, or disobey your dad and break his heart...

I chose what any good daughter would choose.

The unnamed child that took this picture did not know what the whole ordeal was about, so he failed to capture the toes. But the reaction on my dad's face captures it all. Dad, if I broke a toe, I'm sorry. I tried to warn you.

We danced the afternoon away. We ate, and we had fun at the "Photo Booth".

Mike and my dad's wife, Shirley

 

Laurie and Marshall
 

Laurie, Grace, Marshall, Kelsey, and Donna (Marshall's mom)
Please note Lin and Nate right behind Marshall and Kelsey, eating cake!!!
 

Su Pu and Lar Par

Guess who's the ham of my bunch?




Was it the threats, or do my kids actually want to please me because they like me now?

Just for the record. Elijah's eyelashes are just as long as Isaac's (if not longer). The shape of his eyes and the shadows, unfortunately, isn’t allowing you to appreciate their length.



And then they were driven off into marital bliss...in this beautiful 1958 Impala!

The following picture was taken by my sister, Laurie. The credit goes to her. I was in la-la land letting the "professionals" do their work.  Wouldn't you like to be driven away in that?

Also, you need to know that I do have a brother and he was indeed at this wedding. He decided to become stealth. It wasn't till we all got home and looked at our pictures that we noticed. WHERE IN THE WORLD WAS KIRBY?

Bummer.

A note to Lin and Nate: When Grace and Paul finished singing I Will be Here, I bravely glanced back at Mike, knowing that we were both crying. He winked at me and softly whispered in my ear:  "I'm still here baby."

My blessing to the two of you is that 22 years from now, you will find yourselves listening to that same, timeless tune and with tears in your own eyes, be able to say to one another: Babe, I'm still here.

 

Lin and Nate's Wedding (Part 1)

 

 

I have known my sister as Linda since the day I was born. I never knew, till a few months ago, that Linda really doesn't like her name. She told me that the day she was named, they took "Linda" and nailed it into a coffin and buried it forever. No one has been named Linda since. She decided no too long ago that from then on she would begin training people to call her Lin, and anyone who she is introduced to would never even know that her name is Linda. I have a real hard time getting used to calling her Lin. It used to be a "sibling" thing, we had nicknames for each other. My brother Kirby, was "Kirb", Laurie (Linda's twin) was "Lar Par", I was "Su Pu", and Linda was "Lin Pin the big fat hen", a nickname that we were totally allowed to voice since, as you will see, she doesn't have an ounce of "fat" in her. There was that one exception, we were still allowed to call her that, lovingly of course, when she was out to here carrying her three precious babies, yes, all at the same time.

You can understand why it is very hard for me to call he Lin without adding at least Pin.

 

But I will.  

 

I told her at her rehearsal dinner this is not the end of a chapter, and the beginning of a new, this is the end of a book. Tonight you get to slam that old one shut; tomorrow you open up and begin writing a new story.

 

I will from now on do my very best to honor her new story and call her Lin. But be warned everyone, Lin Pin may slip out every once in a while. ;)

 

***

 

I am notoriously bad at taking pictures. All three of my siblings are great photographers, but they are incredibly annoying ones too. When you have three crazy photographers with -compared to mine- state of the art cameras, that insist on taking pictures of everything and everybody all the time, adding my simple little camera to the mix was both embarrassing and unnecessary. To have one more person yelling wait! wait! just to pull out my rinky dink camera would be asking for more sighs and humphs than I was willing to listen to. Unfortunately, years of the same old song and dance trained me to never take the initiative to capture priceless moments, I was only conditioned to step aside and let others do the work. I really hate that about me, and I have tried and tried to get better at being a more proactive picture taker. Before we left for this trip I told my boys: This weekend is not about you. You will endure the 12 hour trip to and from Nashville without complaining, and you will gladly pose with a genuine smile on your beautiful faces for every picture that you are asked to be in. Go it? They did, and they were awesome.

 

 I did better than I usually do. But I really did a poor job at getting pictures of Lin and even worse of her husband Nate. After spending two hours curling my nieces hair, you'd think I would have at least had a record of my beautiful handiwork. But no, I don't have a single picture of them. Sigh...

 

But without further ado, here we go with what I was able to capture on this beautiful, perfect day.

 

 

 

Laurie, Lin and me

Grace, me and Kelsey. (my nieces, Laurie's daughters)

Kelsey, Laurie, and Grace

My mother passed away in January 2000. Although we are all very glad that she was not around to witness the heartbreaks Linda went through, her absence that day was deeply felt and was very difficult. Lin did a fabulous job, however, to weave her memory into her big day. My mom made the cross-stitch of the Samford bell tower with Lin's favorite verse, Proverbs 3:4-5. This is the verse that Lin and Nate chose as their Wedding theme verse. The picture Lin chose is of my mom at age 14. The reason she chose this particular picture is because the necklace that Lin wore that day is the same necklace my mom is wearing in that picture. It is probably the most beautiful and unique necklace I have ever seen. Scroll up and you can see it on Lin. So sorry, I don't have a close-up :(

As if not having my mom there to watch Lin coming down the isle was not hard enough already, Lin had all of the guests stand and sing my mom's favorite hymn "Great is thy Faithfulness". I believe that this is one of Lin's favorite hymns, if not the favorite. The stories wrapped around the lyrics of that hymn are a testament to the faith and legacy that my mother left for us, and filled with promises for the new life that Lin and Nate will begin to share. I have never been able to sing that song without crying, May 25th was no exception.

After that the tears did not stop. Without telling me, Lin had picked the same wedding song that Mike and I had sung at our wedding almost 22 years ago. I was tearing up really bad, then I had the urge to look at Mike lovingly, only to find him tearing up as well. I amost fell appart, but I barely kept my composure. The song was I Will be Here, By Stephen Curtis Chapman. It was performed by my niece Grace, and an amazing up and coming country music singer, Paul Bogart. (it will be worth your time to follow this link. Paul sang the song, It all Started in the Kitchen, at the reception. It's a super cute song!)  I'll let you know when my niece becomes famous. And trust me, she will, she is unbelievable! Grace wrote a song for Lin and Nate and sang it at the reception, but as my very bad luck would have it, I was in the restroom and missed the entire thing. I'm still trying to recover from the disappointment.

Picture time was short and sweet. In the meantime I had a few pictures taken of my family. I'm really pleased how they turned out, so I will share some with you.

Me and my dad. Yes, we look ridiculously alike, I know.

Elijah -12, me, Mike, Isaac-14

Another favorite family picture


 

Me and Isaac
I left this photo extra large on purpose. It was the best way for me to show off my son's amazing eye lashes. Most women would kill for these!

It's Reception time! Join me tomorrow for the rest of the story...

 

 

CURRY CHICKEN (the secret to a great marriage)

I'm about to give you my most prized possession. My this meal trumps them all. This is the yardstick meal that gets measured up to every other meal that I ever fix. This is the best I've got, folks. At least that is what my husband Mike thinks.

Whenever I ask for meal ideas I know that this will be the first one out of his mouth. So he's not allowed to request it any more. What I usually do when I'm in a "what the heck can I fix for dinner this week?" slump, I fix Curry Chicken and THEN I ask him: "Hey Mike, I need meal ideas, and we just had Curry Chicken so ask for something else."

This dish has always been Mike's favorite. He has probably had this for every single birthday for the past 21 years, on many other special occasions. I also make it a lot just because. It is actually one of the easiest and fastest meals I make. I'm pretty sure that thanks to Curry Chicken, I can be 100% sure that Mike will never leave me. I've got the secret weapon that keeps him and his belly madly in love with me.

As with Fettuccine Alfredo, you must throw all diet rules out the window, close your eyes and enjoy every single bite refusing to feel guilty about it.

Disclaimer: This is NOT an authentic Curry Chicken.  Just a simple cream based dish seasoned with Curry Powder.

I hope you enjoy it. Think of Mike and me when you are eating, and pray that you should be so blessed to have a marriage as awesome as ours.

Curry Chicken

1 large onion

1 bell pepper

1 and 1/2  lbs. chicken breast or chicken tenders

2 HEAPING tsps. Curry powder
1 tsps. salt

1 pint Whipping Cream

Serve with white or brown rice. Jasmine rice gives it a real nice flavor too.

Thinly slice your onion and bell pepper and brown with as little oil as possible so it won't stick to your pan.

 

 

 

I put them on medium heat. As they slowly brown, begin to cut your chicken into bite-size pieces.

Don't you just love my gloves? You need to know that I have an aversion to raw meat. I hate, hate, hate, hate raw meat. It is disgusting, and it gets in your nails, and it's gross, and did I mention how much I hate it?

 

 

 When the onions and peppers are done, slide them onto a plate, add a little more oil to your pan and brown your seasoned chicken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I like my Curry Powder to get nice and brown and be sticking to the pan without burning. 

 

 

 

Add your onions and peppers to the chicken and blend them all in, browning for another minute. Add cream, scrape all of the crusty stuff on your pan and watch it turn a nice yellow mustardy color.

 

 

 

 

As soon as you pour your cream, start cooking your rice. turn your heat up a little to bring your cream to a boil. Then lower you heat down. Stir every now and then as it reduces and thickens. If you are lucky and time it right, the rice and the Curry Chicken will be done at the same time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry I have such a hard time getting the lighting right.

 

 

I have found through the years that curry powder seems to get milder and milder tasting. what used to be just two teaspoons has turned into two heaping teaspoons, but I find myself wishing it was stronger and more spicy. Don't be afraid to add more curry if you like the taste and you want to add a little more kick.

 

 

Goes well with candied carrots, or a salad, and a good bottle glass of Chardonnay.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Random Small Talk

 

 

1.        Sunday I stopped at an intersection, I looked left, I looked right, waited till the coast was clear and crossed right over. Where I failed to look was straight ahead. Half way across I noticed that I was running a RED light!

 

2.       That afternoon I got punished when I pulled a bowl out of my cabinet a little too forcefully, I hit and chipped my front tooth.  You can’t tell unless you look real close, thank goodness because I won’t have dental insurance till July. Vanity must wait.

 

3.       Yesterday I ran 3.76 miles.  I can’t say I ran three and three fourths of a mile just like I can’t put $35.01 of gas in my car.

 

4.       How do I know how far I ran with such precision? I’m so glad you asked. I got this new toy, compliments of being a mother.

 

Yes, I know I ran ridiculously slow today! I'm not used to running so early in the morning, but, whatever.

It was quite expensive; I paid for it myself that evening when I washed the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen.

5.       Mangoes, avocadoes and chirimoyas are the un-debatable proof of the existence of a kind, good God. You may add grapes, watermelon and super sweet, juicy peaches and plums to the list if you want. The first three are all the proof I need.

 

6.       Did I tell you I made COLLOSAL cinnamon rolls for dinner Sunday before last? Yes, I think I did.

 

7.       Thanks to random #1 my 17 year old niece and my 14 year old son think I’m a total flake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I Wore Wednesday #2

 

 

I made it back again! So glad you dropped by.

No confessions for today though. Just plain unadulterated vanity and self promotion.

 

 

It's Spring, and we all know what that means. Hmm, I wonder if it is going to be 50 or 85 today?

Cold Day


Yellow shirt and gray sweater: Old Navy; Boyfriend Jeans: Gap Outlet
Converse shoes and Target earrings

 

Ready for work at 6 a.m. poor lighting and it's cool now, hotter later, but my office is always freezing DAY

 

Since you can't see my lovely ring, I took a picture of it in my old lady hands for you to admire. The ring, not the hands. I made the ring, by the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Same DAY. Warmer and time to get comfy and read a book.
 

 

tee shirt: LOFT; Skirt: made by ME! Sweater and shorts: Gap Outlet

Book: To Kill a Mockingbird

 

Running errands, it's sunny but barely warm DAY
 

 

Shirt: old navy (2 years old) Boyfriend Jeans: Gap Outlet

Shoes: Old Navy

 

I'm so glad you stopped buy to play dress-up with me! I hope to see you again soon.

Isaiah 61:1-3

Good morning dad. And Joyce. And the other three fans I may have out there.

My Church has a website that publishes a Devotional every day called VERTICAL. It is written by lay church "members" such as myself. Usually these devotions go hand and hand with whatever the sermon series is about. The current sermon series is called "More Than You Think". There are many things that are way more important than you think. This week's devotions are focused on the importance of our care for the global poor. My assignment was to write a brief devotion on Isaiah 61:1-3.

Although I don't directly address the global poor and preaching the good news to the poor, I do address the fact that what we see is "more than we think". Everyone, including the poor, needs to understand and believe this truth in their life.

Here is what I wrote today.



I admire photographers like I admire no other artist out there (other than writers, of course). What I love about a good photographer is his amazing capacity to see the world with eyes that no one else has. He sees things that you and I don’t see. A photographer and I can be in the same place, be looking at the same thing, and see two completely different things. He has the ability to turn the most mundane into the most extraordinary.

A photographer captures what he sees and translates it for the joy of others. If I were a photographer, the ability to interpret for others what I see would bring me the greatest pleasure.

• Where we see an old peeling door coming off its hinges, he sees a masterpiece.
• Where we see a plain, cracked stairwell, he sees something interesting and complex.
• Where we see a deadly tornado, he sees the majestic.
• Where we see an old clock, he sees beautiful perfection.

Oh to have the eyes and heart of a photographer!

This is how God is. He does not see things the way we do. Perhaps one of His greatest joys comes when He captures what He sees and interprets it for us.

• Where we see darkness and captivity, He sees freedom.
• Where we see ashes, He sees beauty.
• Where we see mourning, He sees gladness.
• Where we see despair, He sees praise.

We are “oaks of righteousness” that display His splendor.

Oh to have the eyes and heart of our God! To see things from His perspective.

Our God does not need an expensive camera, the right angle, or the perfect lighting to capture freedom, beauty, and gladness. And neither do we.

Christ himself quoted this passage as part of His purpose here on earth. We as His followers have also been anointed and called as His ambassadors to deliver, proclaim, and watch this amazing transformation in the lives of all of us who need it.


If you are interested in reading my previous devotion, please go HERE.

Thank you for joining me today. And remember, YOU are more than you think.

On rides, rain, family, red wine and pizza

 

 

Yesterday turned out to be a good day.

It was one of those days that I would never bother dreaming up, but, would rather try to avoid at all cost. I stepped out of my selfish “I would rather be home reading, writing and sipping coffee” kind of a day and stepped into a “whatever you want to do today, boys” kind of day.

Once a year, Six Flags Over Texas closes its gates to the "general population", and for a generously reduced price opens it back up to entertain a fine and elite group of folks called Homeschoolers (please read my sarcasm between the lines).  My nieces have homeschooled their entire lives, and as a family member and friend I am able to cash in on this insider information and totally take advantage of the honor system therein. This is the one day a year that I allow my children to play hooky, impersonate being a Homeschooler to join in on this privileged day.

The reason I am forced to step out of my comfort zone to attend such an event is twofold. One, I hate crowds, two, I am not an amusement park kind of a gal. I once was but after stepping foot on the most traumatic ride of my life at a Six Flags Park 22 years ago, I decided then and there I would NEVER step foot on another. Please don’t ask me to recount what happened or what ride it was. If I tell you I will have to kill you.

I put on my best smile, my very best attitude, and stepped out of the house (although ready to step right back in) prepared to have fun watching my kids, my nieces and their friends have fun too.

 

 

 

No sooner had we arrived at Six Flags the light rain began to come. It was one of those this isn’t so bad, just stay this way and don’t soak us kind of rains, so on in we went. It didn’t stay that way. Three hours and only two rides and a bad case of a good hair day gone bad (real bad) later, rain-checks in hand, we were walking right back out. 

After heading back home my sister-in-laws and I decided we weren’t prepared to throw in the towel on such a dud of a day.

So what can make any bad day a great day? Four things that no one should ever live without.

A flat iron, family, red wine and pizza.

It was a lovely evening! Unfortunately, I was enjoying myself so much with the family (and the wine) that I totally forgot to take a picture of the joyous occasion in which husbands and grandparents joined in, that I forgot to take a picture :(

But as a random, tantalizing consolation prize, I did take a picture of this COLLOSSAL Cinnamon Roll(s) that I made Sunday for dinner.

It isn’t illegal to make and eat cinnamon rolls for dinner, right? Well, it must not be, because I got in a heap of trouble for not inviting everyone over to partake with us. Oops!

 

Stay hungry my friends.   

on muses, small talk and running

I would love to have a deep and inspiring blog where I am able to feely express the most profound thoughts that travel through my mind. I think, I ponder, I write, I rewrite, I think some more. I have ideas and thoughts floating all around in my head, they float and float, and float, and float, until finally they seem to float away. I think my muse gets impatient with me and gives up on me, then has the audacity to give my thoughts to someone else’s muse. I am convinced that this is true because I see my thoughts written all over the place.

Life is so unfair.

In the meantime, as my mean muse roles her eyes, I will make an attempt to engage in some small talk with you. I’m not very good at small talk. But stick around and perhaps every once in a while the conversation will get deeper. Perhaps I’ll cry, maybe you will too. I’m hoping my muse will have compassion, really.

*  *  *  *

I began to take up running about 11 years ago when my boys were still young enough to sit in a double stroller. It was quite by accident. I was still hanging on to some pregnancy fat so I decided to strap them up and start walking. It was then that I realized how much I really hate walking. Since our neighborhood was nice and hilly, every time we reached a downhill I would run instead of walk. So that is how it all began. I proceeded to also run the “flat” parts, and push as fast as I could on the up hills. Pretty soon I began waiting for my husband to come home so I could ditch the children and run for longer periods of time. Wishing that I had known sooner that ordinary people like me could participate in races, I signed up for my first 5K in October of 2007.  I continued to run faithfully for the next year and ran another 5K, an 8K, a 10K, and then culminated my running career in the Memphis St. Jude ½ Marathon in December 2008.

The next 3 years of my life is no small talk matter. Suffice it to say that my running stint was all but over although I kept trying to hold on to it by a thread by attempting to get my but back in gear to no avail.

Fast forward 40 lbs. gained, a move to Texas – a nice flat state with sidewalks-, 25 lbs. lost, and 9 months of being back in the game. I had to start from scratch. Jog one minute, walk one minute. Oh the agony! Now I can easily run 4 miles, and have successfully made it to 10 while training for Half that I didn’t get to run compliments of three separate weeks of illness that made me throw in the towel.

Last week, after 4 ½ years of silence, I participated in my first "back in the game" race. I eased into the running scene with an 8K that I successfully ran within my goal time.

Yay me!

And just to add icing to the cake, a few weeks ago, my 14 year old, Isaac, asked me to buy him some running shoes.

Yesterday, I waited for him to get home from school to go for a run. It began to rain. I was so determined to run with him that we waited for it to pass and finally made it out the door at about 5:20. it was cold, drizzly and windy.

Three and a half miles later…
 

 

 

Totally worth the wait and the cold!

 

Isn't he beautiful?

 

A note to my muse:

I’m sorry if I offended you. We have a lot of work to do here. I’ve opened up the running can of worms. You and I know how my running and my life exist as a deep reflection of each other. Come on, be patient and help me out here.