Frozen Moments

On Friday the 1st, we went to up to Lindsey's place for Erin's bridal shower. Here you can see the happy bride (right) and her twin. Beautiful smiles all around!

Erin's ring.

We got to eat awesome things like broccoli...

....and cheesecake!!

Plus, I got to see some of my siblings. 

Always a treat. They grow so quickly.

Erin opened her presents, which were all useful, pretty and numerous. :-)

We all received gifts to take home as well. Lindsey  made these marvelous cookies in a jar for the favors.

I believe I am going to make them for theatre peoples some evening.

Then we came home. And it snowed.

A lot. 

We were storm stayed for all of Monday.

And Jesse caught a cold,

Which he gave to me.

I love him. :-)

Just My Head

Weird things go through my head sometimes. I don't even have to be physically ill to have a muddled head or think strange thoughts. They simply pop up of their own accord, wander around for a couple seconds and vanish.

This morning, as I washed dishes, wrote letters and ate my breakfast of toast with peanut butter with a little (a lot? ::sheepish::) Nutella, listening to the soundtrack from Life of Pi, my thoughts ranged anywhere from:

"Ahhhhh! Because of the internet, there is ABSOLUTELY no privacy in this world any longer!!! Let's all go hide amongst the rocks and pray that the mountains fall on us!!!! Let me eat my toast first. Can't let Nutella go to waste."

to

"I love that Jesse refuses to eat yogurt. And when I try to feed him pills, we always drop the pill on the floor. Clumsy us. Oh! That time when Jesse decided that blowing off the pill wasn't good enough and he had to rinse it off. Haha! He was like, 'oh no! Now I have pill goo on my fingers!'"

to

"A very french sound in an Eastern Indian soundtrack... Hm. Strange. Correlation between Indian sounds and French sounds... I thought the British took over India. Not the French. I'll have to make sure and look that up on Wikipedia when I get the chocolate washed off my hands."

to

"What does faith mean for me, exactly? Does that mean a blind faith? Or a faith mixed with reason? Or perhaps both. This requires more thought. Mm. Peanut butter is way more palatable when combined with chocolate!"

You see that sarcasm has a comfortable home in my head.

I have to make this jumbled head be still so I can actually get anything done. Admittedly, there are moments when I don't want categorized thoughts. I want to indulge; flitting from one thought to the next brings such clarity at times. But there are responsibilities to be met, bills to be paid, hopes to be hoped, work to be done.

I need to pack for our short trip tomorrow. My camera's battery is being charged, the gifts are all on the pink couch and the cards written. Now, I need to get my clothes in order.

Just in case you're thinking that I eat Nutella all the time, allow me to assure you that I only have it on rare occasions. Why, you ask? It's so good!! Yes, indeed.... but there are 2 reasons I refrain from frequent eating of Nutella: 1 -- It's not good for the waistline. 2 -- When there are long periods of time between feastings, I enjoy Nutella more.

Darn it. I sound like an adult. 

Long Due

Life is not an exact science, it is an art. -- Samuel Butler

The past few weeks have been crazy. And when I get some downtime at night, I'm either spending quality time with Jesse, Lydia and Snow... or I'm falling asleep. I haven't even had the energy to post pictures. Lol. But I have some time today and I intend to use it for a number of things, catching up being one of them.

Lydia. She's moved down from Endeavour and is living at our house. She is working at the Pharmasave with me and (if all goes as planned) she's going to be teaching guitar lessons in the fall. It's been great having her around. (I'm not just saying that because she reads my blog. Lol.) Among her many attributes, she is pleasant, kind, smart, funny and a very hard worker. She cleans my bathroom. I like her. ;-) Since moving here, she has cut and donated her hair for cancer and bought an i-phone. Also, we have played and sung together at Will Elliot's 50th birthday party. I had forgotten how much fun it is to practice together. Our voices are very similar so when we do manage a harmony (we're just learning how those work) it's a little astounding. I hadn't realized how much I miss my siblings until she moved in. Now, it's better.

Hannah. And Daniel. :-) Bless their hearts. They're married and pretty happy about it too! What a beautiful wedding. Hannah's day was perfection. As you may know, it's been pretty wet this year. When Hannah said she wanted an outdoor wedding, none of us were sure if that was going to work out. Especially when it rained... and rained... and rained some more... right up until a couple days before the wedding. But the day of the wedding, so many prayers were answered!

It was gorgeous!

Hannah made her dress.

She ordered the flowers online and had them shipped to my folks' place. (Sun flowers, blue delphiniums and white roses.) 

Lindsey made the wedding cake. (I got to watch most of the process... such fun! Lindsey is really talented.) 

The end result was amazing. Lindsey spent a lot of time on that cake.

Lydia, Ellie and myself played the music for the ceremony. 

(Due to everything being really, really hectic, we didn't get to practice much at all, but we still sounded fine. I can't imagine how much better it would have been if we were a little more organized. Lol! The more I'm in the music world, the prouder I get of my siblings and their musical abilities.) 

Jesse and I got to meet Daniel's family finally. They are so great. Hannah is going to fit right in. :-) Oh. Fun fact! Hannah was a barefoot bride. Love! 

Our British Columbia, Washington, California, etc., etc. trip. It looms upon us with a raging speed. Hehe. I am astonishingly excited. I am looking forward to hours of Jesse and me time. I am looking forward to seeing my aunts and uncles and my grandparents and great aunts and great uncles and cousins. I am looking forward to staying in hotels and going to Disneyland and doing a little shopping, etc. I am looking forward to experiencing a beautiful coastline drive and San Francisco!!! I will do my best to take pictures and post them as we go.

Lindsey tried to visit us this past weekend but things came up in her life and she wasn't able to make it happen. Sadness. But we did have a wonderful visit during the wedding festivities and we will get together again. Someday, it will happen. The good part about this was that we got the house cleaned up. ;-) The state of the upstairs is such that we could (should!) get medals for tidiness and ingenuity. Lindsey, we miss you!!!

And besides all of this prittle-prattle, what have we been doing most? Working and living. Mostly working. Haha. :-P But Pharmasave always outdoes itself when it comes to being a great job. I love my bosses. I love the managers. I love having new runners so my feet don't hurt so badly at the end of the day. And I love having my sister working with me; having breaks and lunch with me; driving to and from work together. It is hard work in ways but it is a very rewarding job and I love waking up in the morning looking forward to a full 9 hour day at work.

What would be left of our tragedies if an insect were to present us his?

 -- Emile M. Cioran

Spiritually and emotionally? Lately, stress has been the biggest thing on my plate. Between dealing with some old memories and people I would rather not deal with, the wedding days were hard on me. But God got me through it and I was fine. I love Lydia living in our house, it's amazing having her around; but it's a change and change is stressful. God is getting me through this too. Beginning to work full time had me freaking out that I wouldn't be strong enough to pull my share of the load and that I would get involved in all the drama. I hate stabbing people in the back. It is almost worse than lying. Both make me feel unclean and my conscience kills me. Haha. But God has given me strength where there is weakness, on all counts. Have I forgotten to lean on Him at times? Oh yes. But He has never left my side. Not once.

Jesse has been there for me as well. The longer I am married to this man, the more I respect him. For instance, on our trip for Hannah's wedding, we forgot the video camera. It was a fault on both our part, but instead of getting extremely upset about it, he kinda blamed himself and got over it. We contacted my mother-in-law and had her meet us half way the next day with it (and our pillows). Point of the tale? He didn't blame me. He didn't even blame himself for long. He didn't yell about it or even get very frustrated. He was calm, understanding and at peace. What a guy. Oh and the other day, we got to his comic shop five minutes after it closed. He was so disappointed. We had missed it our last time through the city as well. But he didn't blame anyone and he cheered up shortly after. He just rolls with the punches and is at peace with God and man. I can't believe I married someone who is so beautiful. Jesse, I love you.

We've been watching a show called West Wing. As you may be able to tell from the title, it's about the happenings of the West Wing in the White House. Martin Sheen plays the president and he is marvelous. :-) But I mostly appreciate the portrayal of the government. They may not make all the decisions that we want them to make but they are not demons. They are people who have to choose which impossibility is the best probability for success. They're wrong sometimes but they are also right. For this job, they receive hatred from the people, because there is always someone who disagrees with you. The more important the decision, the more widely spread the differences of opinions. With greatness comes great responsibility... and suffering.

This show was taking place through 9/11 so they made a special episode in response. I thought it was well balanced. In fact, many of the views expressed were ones I could apply to my background, people I know, situations I get involved in, etc. But the best line was this one:  "You want to get these people? I mean, you really want to reach in and kill them where they live? Keep accepting more than one idea. It makes them absolutely crazy." -- Joshua Lyman (West Wing: Isaac and Ishmael) 


Do you know what makes extremists? They stop seeking. They stop searching. They get stuck on a couple of ideas and that's it for them: they don't move on. Extremists never reach their full potential. God created us to always learn and change. He loves a tender, meek heart. It has taken me years of tears and physical suffering to understand this. I used to be an extremist. If it hadn't been for God's grace and love, I have no idea where I would be today.

 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (Matthew 7)


Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. (James 4)

God bless you today!

mOre snaPshoTs

    Jesse asked Sara what his name was. She thought for a moment, then she said,             "I'm Jesse."

Avoiding a skunk waddling across the highway and having my husband still congratulating me on this feat two days later.

Forgetting to bring any night clothing with me on the trip therefore, having to buy new ones at Superstore in Regina. It was a mistake that turned into a good thing: I LOVE them. They are so warm and cozy, I could wear them 24/7. Unfortunately, I can't! (Professional image up-keep.)

Watching Ghost Protocol in the Galaxy theatre and feeling my stomach churn over the tall building with lots of glass part. I think I may have yelped a couple of times.

Going to Boston Pizza and eating at midnight. They have the most delectable Christmas dessert there: Peppermint Brownie Delight. Side note: Jesse and I aren't big fans of peppermint and chocolate mixed together. I mean, come on: two great flavors, why mix them? But the picture of this one was pretty convincing so, we ordered it. Picture this: two hot brownies, two big scoops of vanilla ice-cream (the kind with chunks of vanilla in it), raspberry syrup and chocolate syrup drizzled over, then... the final touch: crushed peppermint candy canes over everything. It. Was. Heavenly.

Our second test of 'in sickness and in health'. Half an hour before we arrived at my parents, Jesse came down with some sort of head cold/flu. His fever was very high, he ached all over, he was shaking and shivering and coughing. At one point, he was so weak that he couldn't even move. I finally got him to take some Advil and that seemed to help keep his fever down. He doesn't often get sick, but when he does, he REALLY does.

Ruth got herself into some trouble for being too noisy while Jesse was trying to sleep. Hannah scolded her soundly for almost waking up her "brother-in-law"... the idea of a five-year-old having a brother-in-law cracks me up. And it gets better: Sara is two.

Exchanging presents at Lindsey's place. She got us several awesome gifts but the one I am going to mention is the SKITTLES!!! Hehe. I love having friends who get you what you want for Christmas.

Sitting in our living room and not having to worry about the mosquitoes. They are finally gone. Good ol' Raid.

Getting the mail and seeing that my new camera had arrived. I am (so, SO!!!) excited about the camera. Jesse is excited about the tripod. And Snow is happy because ...

....he got salmon flavored Kitty Treats for Christmas. (Jesse calls them Cat Crack.) We're good cat owners because we only give him one at a time. Amen.

Celebrating the New Year with my family and many folks from the Endeavour Church. It was a lot of fun and we rang in the tick-tock of Midnight with a rousing chorus of Onward Christian Soldiers. Mainly because I was too exhausted at that point to think of anything else creative.

Jamming with Ellie and Lydia for the first time in months. I actually can't remember the last time we did that. It was good and it brought back pleasant memories of our family band and all the hours we used to practice together. I am glad we were able to bond in this way over the years. Music is magic and it is definitely alive and well.

Eating supper at Brewsters with Sam. This restaurant is also where two dear friends waitress, so between Jesse, Sam, Gillian, Brie and awesome, awesome food, it was a pleasant experience for me. I will be going back there again.

Watching five different movies in two days while in Regina. We watched The Adventures of Tintin, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Arthur Christmas, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows. All were brilliant. I definitely want to review each of them for Ponderings. What a treat to be able to go sit in a darkened theatre and watch things come to life on the big screen.

It was -4* C. today. In January. In Saskatchewan. That's really warm. And the snow and ice were all melting and falling off the car. Weather predictions say it's supposed to last all week. ::happy sigh::

Today my husband told me I am prettier than Marilyn Monroe. (In context, it doesn't sound weird. Lol!) It never fails: he makes me feel beautiful, smart and best of all, strong and good. I am really blessed to have such a man.

The best snapshot of the week is simply that God answered my prayers regarding several matters: Jesse and I drew ever closer through this holiday season, the visit with my family went well, Christmas with the in-laws was so good and last, but most certainly not least, Jesse is getting better.

Happy Holidays for all, forever. Cheers!

...because you asked

Here are some of the pictures our photographer took. I hope you enjoy them as much as we are!

Oldest and youngest. :)

The Holter clan and 2 very happy Twietmeyers. Well, technically at that point I was still a Holter but who cares about technicalities anyway?

Me and my two Mums. Aren't they beautiful, lovely women?

love... love... love... this picture!

Best friends. :hugs:

2 Days... Wedding Prep

I am glad that you all enjoyed the last couple of posts. One of things I have always longed for was to be involved with wedding preparation.. and we always lived too far away for me to participate. But this time... YES! :-D So, assuming that there are other females who feel the same about this as I do: 

Wedding make-up trial. Lindsey, Lydia and I went to see a friend in Carlyle to get some tips for applying makeup. ...

....Connie was quite helpful and very knowledgeable. She is also generous with her talents so Lindsey and Lydia are counting on her help on the big day. 

Gretel, one of Todd and Connie's cats, who usually is pretty shy around visitors, is obviously a girly girl at heart. She came and watched, fascinated. 

For the oreo cupcake cheesecake.... these are going to be so good!

The batter...

Filling the pans... I am really looking forward to these!!! :-D

Lasagna for the rehearsal dinner... Mmmm!

Grandpa and Grandma Holter arrived yesterday evening.

Smiling. Happy. Excited. And just a little stressed. But just an eensy, weensy bit. ;-)

Thanks to Lydia for taking the cake pictures... 

::is content::

Lindsey sewing the bustle into my dress. :-)

Having fun putting the favors together!

The first 80 favors. They're turning out so beautifully. They have specialty chocolates in them from all over Europe. Costco, we love you!

I handmade each favor tag; each one is has our initials in calligraphy, the date of our wedding, rubber stamped dragonfly, and edges darkened with stamp pad. Then, each of the 237 favor tags have a different quote on the back. It's so rewarding when you put so much effort into something and it turns out the way you wanted it to! Lydia and I spent most of the morning working on these.

3 More Days!

Lindsey's here so we're going to be keeping busy all day. :-) Today: get wedding stuff to the Hall, go over a to do list that Samantha made for me, contact Laurette about potted flowers, try on my dress so Lindsey can bustle it, start making favors, getting spaghetti recipe from Shelly S., talk to the photographer, clean up around our house, get the trailer set up, wash beddings, and the list goes on and on... it's going to be a busy day!

Wedding Odds... and Ends

Random: on my blog feedjit (sidebar) it says that I am logging in from North Battleford, SK. North Battleford is around 8 hours from Carlyle. I guess the feedjit people think that only a few places exist in Saskatchewan. The rest of the province is a cold, barren wasteland where the native people inhabit igloos and drive dogsleds while defrosting their noses all year around.  

Yesterday, I wrapped the rest of the gifts that I have for peoples and cleaned upstairs, preparing for my family to come and stay on Friday. It looks really nice up there now. :-) It's so comfy. I love our house. Can't wait to live in it! All of us older girls will be staying over at my inlaws. Right now, Lydia and I have Jesse's old room. Lydia gets the bottom bunk and I get the top bunk. I haven't fallen out yet!

Lindsey will be coming on Wednesday or Thursday and we'll be doing cheesecake and cheesecake cupcakes and a couple kinds of homemade candy. She has done so much and still has so much to do before she can come down. (Like make her dress.) (She's been busy shipping out chickens, making my wedding dress, making a wedding scrapbook, making place cards for the wedding reception, helping her neighbors clean their barns, helping a friend set up a restaurant...) I am always amazed and blessed by her.

My grandparents will be coming in a few days as well. I am really looking forward to seeing all four of them!

Today I am going to try to contact people about flowers and other things. It seems like everything is coming together. We have marriage license and a semi-plan of the schedule. ;-) Most of our bills paid off and Jesse is working really hard on his film project. Lydia and I walked from my inlaws place over to our place. We kept a good pace going but I was still pleasantly surprised that it only took us 45 minutes to get from point A to point B. I shall have to do it more often and get back into shape.

I am happy to be getting married. Especially getting married to Jesse. God has given me the desires of my heart and so much more.  Before it, I knew love was beyond my comprehension. After it, it's still way out there. Jesse, I love you.

On Infinite Truth, Babies and Their Wisdom, Wedding Planning and Beautiful People in My Life

GROW old along with me!

The best is yet to be,

The last of life, for which the first was made:

Our times are in his hand

Who saith, ``A whole I planned,

Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!'' 

 

When I was searching for quotes to include in our wedding invitation, I immediately googled Robert Browning. I love his poetry and his attitude towards life. It is always poignant and full of double meanings. My search revealed the first two lines of this poem... Jesse and I both liked it, so we used it. But I never read the rest of the poem. It is a selection from his: Rabbi Ben Ezra. I just skimmed the rest of the poem and found it very thought provoking. He asks such hard questions about life and death, the meaning of it. Should he have faith in The Infinite Truth (God)? 

The days are passing so quickly. Yesterday we had our garage sale for the last time. Now it's time to just get rid of all of the stuff that is left. We made well over $200, if my calculations are correct. And, what's even better, we got rid of a lot of things we didn't need. We found out something: Jesse drives a harder bargain than I do. That's pretty scary considering that Jesse doesn't drive a hard bargain at all. Lol!

My sister-in-law-to-be Samantha and I sat down yesterday and discussed wedding all afternoon. We hammered one million different things out. I threw ideas at her and she considered them then proceeded to tell me why they would or would not work. Haha! It's so good to have her in my life. Between her, Lindsey, my sister Lydia, Michele and Jesse, the wedding should be a success. 

We thought of several different ideas that really thrill the socks off of me. One is to have my dad and brother make an square garden arch, like the one we had in Melville. The other is to have an old weathered garden table and chairs sitting on stage with all of the flowers and candles... I'm not sure how much I should divulge right now so I'm going to stop.. but you get the idea of what the wedding is going to be like. :-) 

This month I am going to be working 16 days, going to music camp for five, going to Saskatoon, Regina and Swan River... all the while, planning like crazy. To top this all off, I need to get my teaching schedule figured out for October. But that will have to wait for a little bit.

Anyways, that's all I have for now. I hope you are having a beautiful weekend and a worshipful Sunday. I have been learning so much about God lately. It's so true that He never ends. We cannot ever learn enough about Him. People ask me questions that I can't answer... why would God create people who will always be dependant upon others for care? I don't know. But sometimes I glimpsed truths in their difficult to understand words that astounded me. Perhaps these are the babes who know more about God than we 'normal' folks could ever comprehend. Food for thought.

Bridal Shower... Married Life Prep... and Lot of Fun Stuff

Back home, enjoying the rain and quiet. The weekend and the days surrounding it were lovely and full of excitement. The party was amazing. Many thanks to my lovely friend, Lindsey who worked so hard to organize everything. My mom and sisters were also amazing... and all the ladies at the church who spent hours of their time cleaning, helping and simply being there.

Has anyone heard of Everyday Style? They used that company for the party (bridal shower). Basically, people would order things off of my wish list (items taken out of the catalogue)... and if the orders were over a certain amount of money, I would also receive many things half priced and some for free. The quality of the dishes and accessories are good. We're quite excited about it all. :-)

We got the keys to our house and looked at it more thoroughly yesterday. Our conclusion? That we got our money's worth. We love our house. :-) :-)

The Sun is Shining!

Theatre was amazing. :-) Yes, it is always a lot of work and yes, by Sunday, we're all exhausted and "punch drunk" to quote Michele and Kristy! But it was amazing. The experience is always invaluable. Working with so many wonderful people and making new friends.... I can say sincerely that I do not regret a moment. :-) 

We did not have many flubs.. one that sticks out in my mind happened on Saturday in the first act. One line was forgotten and we had to figure out where we were at. :-) It took a couple minutes of floundering before everything was back on track. It was not terribly obvious to the crowd, though. We didn't come out of character and the story line stayed the same. 

Yesterday, I was so tired. I made it through the day (it was a good day!) but by the time I got home, I was almost falling over. I went to bed at 10 or so and slept like the proverbial log. I woke up feeling really good. :-) Energy level is up, etc. The only thing is my allergies are kicking in with spring. Or shall we say, with the dust. However, I will just carry around tissue with me and be fine. :-D 

I worked almost all day in the photolab yesterday. It was closed on Saturday because there were only three of us on the floor that day (well, Marcia left mid-afternoon because of a funeral... which left just Anna and myself..) and we had stock to put on the shelves. So yesterday, we had a lot of photo orders that needed to be filled. Plus, a lot of older people came in to get pictures. It's really interesting watching/helping them trying to figure out the computers and all this digital photography. I find it fascinating to think how many ways they have seen pictures get developed over the years. Sometimes I wish I would have been born earlier to have been able to learn the older processes. I do like the digital process though. :-) And I love my job. :-D 

Jesse and I have our own address now! We received a phone call from the post office that they had a box for us. We're both so excited. :-) We spent time discussing how we were going to remember the Box #. Neither of us are good with numbers. Our methods are quite different but it helps that we both have siblings born in 1987. Lol. 

I haven't been able to work anymore on wedding details since last week but I'm hoping in the upcoming days to be able to work on guest list. My mom, sisters and Lindsey are throwing a bridal shower for me up in Endeavour on May 6th. Mom said I could invite anyone I wanted to. So, if you're in the area around that time, drop in. :-) I am really looking forward to it. It will be lots of fun to see everyone again... especially the kids. I received a letter from Ruth yesterday and I am a little homesick for them. 

So... today I work and teach and enjoy my evening. I am able to teach one of my students an hour lesson today to make up for the one I had to cancel when I was sick. I am glad for that. After this week, I will only have around five students to make up lessons with. It's simply a matter of organization. (Which isn't a strong point of mine!) Lol. 

What have you all been doing lately? Have you been learning anything lately? Discovered something exciting? Does anyone like 1920's era music? 

I'm not previewing this because I need to run to work right away... I have high hopes of it's readableness. :-) Ya'll have a great day!

Random Thoughts of the Day

The sun is out and the sky is blue. The snow is melting and leaving huge puddles everywhere. I am feeling quite happy about it. :-) The winter was strange this year; extremes on both sides of the thermometer. I couldn't get used to it! So, I will be glad when it's finally warm. :-) Then, I won't have to be bundled up while walking to work, I'll be able to ditch my poor, holey black leggings and run about freeeeee!! :-D

It has been interesting to hear the responses to my wedding planning. Such positivity, so many opinions, everyone being as helpful and sweet as can be. We are so blessed! Today, Jesse and I and his dad are going to look at some places to buy. Jesse, Lindsey and I had looked at them before but, obviously, only from the outside. It will be interesting if the places we thought most promises remain that way upon further inspection. I am actually very excited about this. Having a place to get ready to live in is something Jesse and I have both been wanting for awhile. One thing I hadn't counted on when I was thinking about my (future) wedding was the feeling of longing just to be married. :-) Planning the wedding is fun but sometimes it seems to be all so unnecessary and in the way of preparing for married life. Lol. However, the sensible part of my brain always knows how much I want my grandparents, family members and good friends to see Jesse and I exchange our vows. And goodness knows that as hermit-ish as the two of us are, we both love a gathering of people we love (i.e. party ;-)).

When we were getting the fabric for the wedding, the lady measuring it for us asked if this was for my wedding. She then said she could see a nice yellow or orange going with the green we had gotten. She is totally right, those colors would go really nicely. But as you all know, I have delphiniums in mind. "Actually, I thought blue," I said. Her jaw dropped and her eyes were astonished. "Blue??!" she queried. She was such a lovely, inhibited person. I love people like her. ;-) Lindsey and I kept chuckling to each other and saying, "Blue??!" ;-)

Of Weddings, Details and Stuff That Tends to Gag Guys

When I was younger, and there was no marriage in present sight, I used to spend hours planning all of the details for my wedding. I would think about it when I was weeding the garden. Washing the dishes. Folding laundry. Changing the baby's dirty diaper! Milking the cows.

Even though I knew from the first that marriage was down the road at some point, when I got involved with Jesse, I didn't even really think about the wedding. All I could concentrate on was my man and our relationship. But suddenly, one fine day, it hit me: we were going to have a wedding. That involved what? The more I thought about it, the more I felt overwhelmed with the prospect. So many details to think about! After I was sick, I hardly wanted a wedding at all. In fact, Jesse (among others) could quote me saying, "Let's just elope." Lol!

Thank God for good friends. Lindsey arrived on Thursday afternoon and the fun began immediately. First off, we made pasta and cream sauce for supper and Jesse came over to share it with us. We filled ourselves to contentment while watching "The Young Victoria" (which was mentioned previously in the post below) and an episode of "Due South" (which was not mentioned previously in the post below....), then had good conversation. These days, it seems that good conversation always turns to wedding plans. Lol! In this case, we decided that the fabric from the old wedding dress I wanted to use for my wedding dress was not conducive to the pattern I wanted. The pattern was not an option, so the dress went. I was sad but I had been coming to the realization slowly over the past few weeks (part of the reason I wanted to elope... haha!) (yes, I really, really wanted to use that dress...)...

Friday, we went into Regina and shopped until we dropped. Or almost. My favorite parts of the day happened after Michaels. I know, I know. Heresy. Especially from someone like me who usually can't be dragged out of the store for hours. The problem was that so many things were undecided and I didn't know what I needed or didn't need. Thankfully, Lindsey helped make a few decisions. Among my favorite purchases there were some small glassware which included a heart shaped and triangular shaped containers with corks. They weren't terribly expensive and we are planning on using them for... well, that will have to wait until I explain the after Michaels remark. ;-)

After Michaels.... :-) we went to The Bulk Barn. I had never even heard of one and I didn't even know what they carried. Lindsey and her mom and sister had shopped at one in Alberta, so she knew. We walked into the store and it was like heaven. I was feeling rather depressed when I first walked in. When we walked out, I was on top of the world. Hehe! Bins and bins and bins every bulk item you can think of. What we were interested in was the candy. Why would I, who isn't a typical candy person (hey! chocolate is *not* candy!) (well, some chocolate could be classified as candy but it should be banned from North America) like that detail? Because while searching through the internet for wedding ideas, I came across this lovely idea for the reception and fell in love with it:

There will be chocolate on my table as well as all of these wonderful colors and delightful vintageness. My husband-to-be loves the idea. I love the idea. I think there is a very good chance of it happening. ;-)

And now I can tell you what the small containers from Michaels will be used for: decorations on the tables. They will be filled with jelly beans. Believe me, they're absolutely adorable. :-)

Anyways, we walked out of the Bulk Barn with lots of candy. We only took a little of each. A little of 20+ varieties adds up. Haha! But I loved it. I mean, finally! I was able to get out of the cautious mode and throw myself into planning. Walmart was next. That was 2nd in line of things that happened beautifully. Candles. I left Walmart with some really nice candles. They're vanilla and cream colored and they smell really, really good. They also look like what I want them to.

Saturday, we traveled back into Regina and went to Fabricland. We had intended going the day before but they close earlier than we anticipated. Lindsey said they would feel her wrath someday. ;-) Actually, the next day after three+ hours of shopping, we both agreed as we were leaving the store that it was perhaps a good thing we had not been able to shop there the day before. It was pretty intense. And yet, I had not had that much fun in years. How can I explain the beauty of the greens we found? Yes, we got a lot of greens. It's my favorite color. :-) Lindsey's dress fabric is a lovely, lovely dark sage green. We found the fabric as soon as we walked through the door. It just leaped out at both of us and not only did I fall in love with it, so did Lindsey. Which is important because she has to wear it and I want her to feel beautiful and comfortable in it. :-) I mean, this fabric is my all time favorite shades of green. It's absolutely gorgeous. And Lindsey will look stunning in it. :-)

We also bought fabric for all of my sisters to have dresses... for the four oldest, a different shade of sage for skirts (cream blouses to be purchased for tops) (we also found a really nice pattern for the skirts... they're classy, yet cute... modern, yet vintage). For Cilla, Ruth and Sara, we couldn't find anything in the silks, satins and etc, etc, that leaped out at us. So, we went over into the cottons and found this really pretty print that is so pretty and cute. They will be little princesses. :-) My mom's outfit is still to be decided as well as my mil and sil, but we have time. :-)

I remember the exact moments the fabrics and patterns decided they were attending my wedding. Most became clarified when I saw them for the first time. But the fabric for my dress was a little different. I liked the shade of the satin when I saw it. But I have a hard time with satins. Usually, they're too heavy and stiff. I had never seen or felt a satin I really liked until I found that old wedding dress and fell in love with it. Then, I touched this really beautiful Cuddle Satin. That's what it's called! As soon as I felt it, I knew. It was so soft... not too shiny... it fell just right... in fact, it was perfect. It was what I had been looking for since I had first begun planning my wedding (about 20 years ago ;-)). And because I had no faith, I decided that there was not going to be a lace overlay there that would fit that perfect, perfect satin. Hehe. As it turns out, there was. It's just right. It's unique. It's beautiful. It's also perfect.

It was definitely a good day for fabric shopping. :-) Every little aspect I was concerned about with the sewing, the cost, the time has all been taken care of. Many thanks to good friends and a loving God who works in mysterious ways!

I hope this post hasn't been boring. This is all very fascinating to me and Jesse assures me that girls like talking about weddings, period. To the guys who are trying to get through this, my apologies. For I am now going to talk about chocolate.

After eating my supper tonight, I had Green and Black Caramel chocolate bar. I usually only eat a little at a time of those because they're so sweet and the chocolate sooo rich. But this evening, before I knew it, I had finished the entire bar! Lol! I was feeling quite pleased with myself beforehand, too. :-P Now I have a smashing headache... I never eat that much chocolate at once. Boy, did it ever taste good. Felt good too. Still feels good. Just headache. Caffeine and I are not the best of friends. Ahem.

Other points of interest from my weeks of silence:

 I am quite recovered from my illness though I am still taking vitamins and supplements. I feel so good. Every time someone asks me how I'm doing, I always feel like shouting, "WONDERFUL!!!" Hehe...

I am greatly enjoying my work at PharmaSave. Today, I worked most of the morning in the photo lab (which was very fun, once I got the hang of it), then spent the rest of the day dusting the Advil, Tylenol, etc. All those little boxes and bottles taken off the shelves... dusting/washing shelves... making sure I have all of the proper tags... checking expiration dates... all those boxes and bottles put back onto shelves. It's slow and tedious work but it's something I rather enjoy. I like cleaning. Rather, I like stepping back and seeing the results of my labors. I love that shining glow that emerges after you have cleaned.

Theatre is coming along well. I have been memorizing my lines and getting into character. Once again, I love, love, love working with the other people involved. Watching different aspects of people emerge as they become their character is amazing and often hilarious. One of the women in the cast took on a persona last Sunday that had us all in stitches. It was brilliant and very funny.

The orthodontist told me that April 7th would be the day my braces were coming off. I don't know if my bottom braces will be since my teeth are still not in place (they did some major adjusting... in fact, it was only a couple days ago they actually stopped hurting. They've never hurt for almost an entire month before... agh! I will be so glad to get them off!). As soon as my braces are off, Jesse's dad will take pictures of us and we'll be able to get to work on our wedding invitations. I'm really looking forward to those!

Today, on the way to work, I slipped on the ice and fell. I landed on my bad knee (of course), left hip, elbow and twisted my ankle. Then, at work, I accidentally smashed my thumb while working at the photolab. Yes, it was on accident. I hate smashing my thumbs. So painful. But I have survived with little swelling and no Advil. So far. I believe sleep may call for it. Add a headache to all of my aches and pains (incidentally, my big toe on my right foot hurts the worst right now and I don't recall doing anything to it) and it kind of makes sleep not an option.

Speaking of sleep, I really should shower and get to bed. Another day of work and teaching tomorrow. You know, in spite of all my complaining, I am so happy. I feel so incredibly blessed. Thank you, God. :-) I had a really good day.

Good night, everyone! Sweet dreams.