aaron & julie's wedding

aaron & julie otis * 10/21/06


the siblings * 10/21/06


folks,
it was a beautiful wedding..... it's hard to believe that my younger brother is now a married man. it was all a whirlwind experience.... from the announcement, to the planning, to the actual wedding - all in 2.5 months. julie did an amazing job of pulling it all together and remaining incredibly calm and easy going through everything.

aaron's "boss" - the director of the mission organization that aaron works with, drove all the way from washington state to officiate. and know what? he is the same one who married my parents in germany 38 years ago! what a wonderful testimony to my parent's marriage and life. too bad, aaron stole my idea! hahahahahaha.... he also stole another idea.... not far from my parents house is an old castle that used to be a farm..... through the 80's and early 90's, it was the destination of bands such as metallica, guns & roses, and yes, even country music stars such as reba and garth.... well, in the mid-90's it was abandoned and just recently completely redone as a wedding destination. there are so many classy photo ops in that building! sigh..... now a castle is a place to have a reception....

you know.... ray, the pastor who married my parents told us the story that it was the first wedding he had ever officiated. this was in his early years as a missionary in europe. during the ceremony.... not only did he officiate, but he did the sound, took the photos, and did just about everything else.... hahahahaha.... imagine the pastor, running between vows to get the camera up to a balcony in an old german church to take a picture of the bride & groom from a higher location, only to race back down and continue with the ceremony, run to the back, adjust to sound, continue with preaching... taking more photos.... now wouldn't you liked to have seen something like that!! i guess, that means, when i get married, i can pretty much have as much chaos as i like.... let's throw the order and prim and properness out of the window!!! hahahahahaha

the wedding message was convicting and thought provoking as we were challenged to truly think about the meaning of making a vow before God-Almighty! it's not something to be taken lightly. divorce cannot be part of a person's vocabulary. ray also said that in pre-marital counseling, he asks the couple why they think they should get married and what the circumstances have been to bring them together. if it's mushy and all about how wonderful the other person is, then he tells the couple that he cannot marry them.... there must be deeper reasons for getting married to someone.... anyway, it is good stuff to think about why you are with someone.

so, yeah, the wedding weekend was wonderful.... a testimony to God's faithfulness.

oddness

ever wake up and go through a series of events that are just plain odd? i mean, it's almost as if you are in a twilight zone at times.... this morning, i was late, late, late..... my shoelaces were all knotted up (a conspiracy of my cats???) and as i walked out of the door, behold, there was snow on my car!

yes, friends, SNOW.... the first of the season!!!

it's bizarre to see snow on the ground and flying in the air amidst the green (yes, still green, not orange, reds & yellows) of the trees! three or four houses down from me, a huge tree came down..... and i didn't hear a thing... usually, that's pretty loud.... and the rest of the day was just kind of strange.... seeing people you don't expect.... or overhearing a snippet of conversation that doesn't fit in anywhere into your day.

on another note, the college handed out pedometers to all benefit eligible employees.... yes, we are on a wellness kick and i should be averaging 10,000 steps a day.... the day with this thing today began at 10am.... and now... what 11 hours later, i've walked an embarassing 4,500 steps... i better pick it up! hahahah - as some of you might know, this little "tool" surely is sparking some competition between kendra, habeeb, and i. now, we are trying to take the longest routes around campus, are fighting to take the mail, and are jogging in one spot to add steps (yes, kendra is the queen!!!) hahahahahaha......

for today, i think habeeb won.

alrighty folks, it's homecoming weekend and several friends have crashed my house.... it'll be a weekend full of memories, activities, laughter, and who knows what else....... i'll keep ya'll posted!!!

cat lady

whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..... after loading two huge bags of catfood into my shopping cart and turning the corner, it dawned on me how pathetic i must look.... hahahhahaha.... hihihihihi... there goes the cat lady..... girl with no life, buying huge amounts of cat food... she must have about 20 cats.....

well, thankfully, it's only two of them!! but i was slightly embarrassed.... (just for a moment though!)

fall rituals

as i teen i used to argue with my mom about wanting to bring in the firewood.... to her it was probably something my dad and brothers should have done, but i was a strong believer in equal rights and knew that if i were to carry the firewood every so often into the house, my brothers might get a fair turn at doing dishes or ironing (though the latter was virtually impossible!).

now that i have my own home, i can carry firewood to my hearts delight.... as well as stack it. a chord of wood was delivered to my house tonight and it took me all but 1.5 hours to stack.... i finished just minutes before the rain started to fall..... a chord of wood is enough to make my back ache... i guess i'll pay for it tomorrow. you know, sometimes you know you ought to take a break but then stubbornness kicks in and i knew i had to get this wood put away.... i hate it when something hangs over my head like that.....

ohhhh....

and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dad!!! i hope you had a very special day today!! love you lots!!

congrats to.....

two very dear friends who both just got engaged!!

christen and tony!!

AND

lydia and walter!!

many, many blessings on your future and in taking this step of faith. may god grant you guys all the wisdom and love, guidance, and patience.

i love you guys a lot!! :) can't wait to witness these very special unions!!

bizarre epiphany?

the most random thought fleeted through my head as i was brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed.

it is "easier" for me to talk to god on behalf of others rather than talk to god about myself - my heart, my desires, my pain.... it's as if i don't know how to put things into words before the lord and i stop my thoughts from developing any further. yet, committing others into god's care is completely different.

why is that? is anyone else familiar with this feeling?

plagued by guilt....

ahhhh .... sigh.... i'm a bad student. ;) most of us know that sick naggin' feeling that haunts us, reminding us that a task is on hand..... i keep trying to justify my inability to focus on my final papers and capstone project for my MA degree. most days i resort back to the line "oh, i work better under pressure!" but i know that i can't do that for these two CAP papers and final capstone paper. so, every day i think about my projects, but don't sit down to do anything about them... okay, i mean, i really have been trying to keep my head above water with all the politics and activities at work, and when i come home in the evening, the last thing i want to do is sit and study. bad student, i say, bad student!!
the thing is that i'm waking up in the middle of the night full of thoughts about these papers.... so, i've started keeping pen and paper handy just to write these ideas down. sigh..... you know, the kicker is that i really want to find a great topic for my final capstone, but am having an awful hard time thinking this through.... think i need some help to sort through all these thoughts in my head and put something down on paper.

CHANGE IN TOPIC
i spent a delightful weekend outside. yesterday (saturday) i worked in my garden, mowing, mulching, and planting.... and enjoying the gorgeous day. and today i went horseback riding with my friend, cynthia. another gorgeous day and wonderful to once again be sitting in an english saddle and smelling like horse. what a great weekend it was!! i actually felt somewhat relaxed and ready to tackle this coming week.

really... it's not poetry.... ;) i'm serious... they were just random thoughts which came out that way. not a joke - you know, some day i'll take a poetry class, just to stretch my creativity, ja?

speaking of stretching.... i should invest in some yoga or fitness class... ahhhh... sigh.

so, i'm attending a conference in the windy city right now and am procrastinating on going to the reception/dinner... just not in the mood to schmuse with folks today. instead i'm sitting in a cold hotel room.

went to an interesting discussion/round table regarding ethics in study abroad. some topics really are applicable and wow, am i ever thankful that i work for a small college and don't deal with 1000's of students.

well..... i should go mingle..... let me take a taxi across chi-town.

like a phantom limb...

i could feel you sitting next to me
and i wanted to hold your hand.

but it was only empty air.

my mind plays these strange games....
.... and i turn my head to make sure that you are there.

but you are not.

i thought i heard your voice,
and laughter.

but it's only my imagination.

i guess this is just a little of what it must feel like for an amputee....

you are my phantom limb. and i miss you!

thanks for coming to toronto! siempre contigo.