Wedding Beauty

Posted: June 8, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Diet- comedy | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

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The Texas sun still shone strong and bright at 6:00 PM sharp as Kim on her father’s arm came down the steps and across the rose petal strewn grass to meet Blake at the alter. As I watched the beautiful bride gracefully and calmly pledge to love her kind and sweet husband all the years of knowing her rushed through my mind. From her bangs at ten to her baby sitting Carter in high school to her taking our pizza order at Randy’s and then off to college at Duke we have known Kim for more than half her life.

Being great friends with her mother Jan means that I have lived through all the stages of Kim’s life as we would discuss our children over Mah Jongg tiles every week. This was a big day and it all was beautiful and meaningful and I am thrilled we were there to witness it.

After spending the day exploring San Antonio, seeing the Alamo, which as we were told, we will never forget, to walking a good portion of the River walk and enjoying lunch with our friend and minster Chris who came to Texas to perform the marriage ceremony we went back to our hotel in San Marcos to get ready for the wedding. The landscape in San Marcos is not much to write home about. The trees are no taller than a mobile home and the land is dry and brown.

We got dressed and made the trek to Ficsher where the wedding was going to be held. As we turned onto Ranch Road 32 the landscape changed from small rolling hills to a much steeper terrain and suddenly we were on the backbone of a mountain range looking out over a greener valley than we had come from.

The ranch were the wedding was held was like an oasis. We talked through an arboretum to reach the grassy place for the ceremony that over looked the valley. After Kim and Blake were officially hitched the guests all went to a beautiful tented area for drinks. Peacocks walked on the roof of the house and white lights twinkled in the trees. The wedding moved a third time to a huge stone room with tables covered in lace where the wind blew through the opened windows. Despite being 90 degrees the breeze blowing across the ridge of the mountain and made the dinner delightful.

Rather than wedding cake we ate pie and danced and held sparklers in an arch to send off the happy couple. The whole evening was perfect. Kim was the calmest bride and Blake was beaming. Jan and Rex were the perfect hosts as the parents of the bride. The Texas hospitality was flowing and it was a beautiful way to begin a life together.

Soldier On

Posted: February 9, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Diet- comedy | Tags: , , , | 4 Comments

 

 

In the life goes on mode I threw an engagement shower today for our wonderful friends Jan and Rex’s daughter Kim and her betrothed Blake.  Since they had moved to Texas almost four years ago we had a hard time finding a date when we could get all these longhorns back East so the North Carolina crowd could meet Blake before the wedding.  Not that Kim needed our blessing, but we were still excited and wanted to fete them.

 

After much work with calendars Jan and I discovered that today at 2:00 was absolutely the only time we would all be able to gather.  So I sent out invitations for a Tea Party Shower, what else could possibly happen on a Sunday afternoon?  I knew it was going to be tight to get the whole thing together since Russ and I were going to be out of town until yesterday afternoon, but making finger sandwiches and scones is something I thought I could do in my sleep.

 

Best laid plans… I never anticipated spending a lifetime in the ER yesterday and having a child with a concussion, terrible headaches and no short-term memory.  Today she is not really improved much and the doctor’s order of “no thinking until her headache goes away” is much harder to do than you can imagine.

 

Despite all that we had a shower today.  The happy couple is darling together.  It was great to actually meet the groom and see how well he and Kim are suited for each other.  I have known Kim for twenty years and it is hard to believe that she is going to be a “Sadie, Sadie, married lady,” as we sing in our best Funny Girl way.

 

The guests arrived just as I was baking the dried cherry heart shaped scones and putting out the chicken salad, pimento cheese, smoked salmon and cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches.  All these things along with the sea salt brownies are forbidden to me, only the lone bowl of red grapes were in my food choice group.

 

Thank goodness people came hungry and ate and ate and even took a few things home.  With the stress of the last two days I easily could have slathered a scone with cream and jam or popped a chicken salad finger in my mouth, but I withheld.  I feel like that is a huge turning point.

 

Now if I can just help Carter recover quickly and not miss too much school I think I can maintain my don’t handle stress with food regime.  Life is long and sometimes we just have to soldier on.