Married... that's right folks.. my baby brother Mark is married.
Sunday night at St. Paul in front of about 150 family and friends they tied the knot and began this new chapter in their lives.
I had the pleasure of bringing my camera along for much of the festivities. Carla was beautiful and Mark was stunning. It was a really excellent occasion to see some family members and friends of my parents I hadn't seen in over 10 years, as well as connecting with my cousins who I miss so much since I live out of state and lately have gotten back up to Chicago less and less. The ceremony was very nice, and Carla's parents threw a beautiful reception. All in all things went pretty smoothly and folks seemed to have a wonderful time.
It was a little surreal at moments.. I mean I'm used to seeing my mom up on the altar leading a congregation in the Alleahluia, but to be watching her sing as she watches Mark, the baby of the family, just about to be married... kinda surreal. I almost cried, but I managed not to ;)
And since I was a bridesmaid, my family often turned my camera back on me... so for a rare occurrence you get treated to photos that actually include me in them.
For all the photos I took of the event check out my smugmug page.
My mom is a church organist and vocalist besides being a high school math teacher. Consequently as far back as I can remember, I had the privilege of spending time in some beautiful churches.
So you can only imagine that over time I've fallen in love with intricate stained glass, with detailed marble work, with pipe organs, with the huge open spaces. Especially when the lights are still low and the building still empty. It is a building standing in place to honor God and all He's created... and it's beautiful.
Saturday night was Mark's wedding shower and my folks and I were the first folks to arrive at the church so I had the pleasure of getting a number of excellent photos of this church, which is one of the churches I've spent quite a bit of time in, as it's where I went to school and to church growing up. It was a pleasure and a joy to get to catch these moments in the quiet building Saturday night.
I'm delayed at the airport here in Chicago so I'm finally getting a chance to blog about the last few days. So here's a few posts in rapid succession.
Beauty.
I've had the pleasure the last few days to have not just an excuse, but really license to wander around with my camera and photograph all sorts of beautiful things. It has been a pleasure and a joy to do so (as well as a major source of stress relief throughout this stressful weekend).
The beauty of flowers always astounds me. These I found in my mom's backyard and could not help but capture.
Note, all of these pictures today are straight out of the camera as I've had no time to do any post processing at all this weekend.
Nathan is in town, so last night all his siblings and their spouses and I got together to hang out for awhile. We had a lot of silly fun-ness.
In time I will share more photos from the evening, but the here's two random ones of Teela. She came along because she went home with Anna & Bubba who are watching her while I'll be out of town this weeekend for my brother's wedding.
I wasn't feeling real well this morning and kinda had a lot on my mind, so Teela and I spent some time just sitting on the porch watching the clouds drift by. We either had a storm or maybe are due to get one because the air smells like rain and the clouds are moving fast. It was a much better way to start this morning and I'm seeking the motivation to go to work even though my head is full of way too many thoughts and my body (though it felt great cuddled warm in bed) is protesting the day.
It's one of those mornings where my head is full of doubts about who I am, what I stand for, if I am living my life in such a way that has meaning and purpose. It's one of those mornings where doubt is everywhere like the little cartoon devil sitting on my shoulder. Except it's no cartoon and it's not funny. I need to find it within me somewhere to stir up to action the faith that these doubts are not the truth, that instead what God says of me is true, and with that faith rebuke the little whispers and send them away back into the dark depths from which them come.
It's one of those mornings that I've very glad and blessed to have this adorable puppy here loving me unconditionally and just wanting to be hugged on and cuddled with. It's a wonderful reminder that at least something out there thinks I'm good.
Don't get me wrong, for the most part my life is amazing and I'm totally happy. I'm amazingly blessed in so very many aspects of my life and I know and appreciate that and celebrate it and thank God for it daily.
But we all have stormy mornings in the midst of the beautiful seasons, this is just one of mine.
Saturday after putting in a day of overtime at the office I headed out to Marble Falls to hang out with the Noah's for the evening and such. I love visiting with them and it was a wonderful relaxing time.
And Teela absolutely adores being out there. She spends a lot of time playing with their little dog Allie. And most of all she loves running off leash all over the property. She was so adorable I just had to grab my camera from car and snap some shots of her running and playing.
I should have adjusted the settings and upped the shutter speed, but these will have to do for today.
Enjoy.
This weekend I had the awesome pleasure of road tripping with my good buddy Stephen out to visit my GodParents in Clovis, NM. We had a totally awesome weekend of road tripping, rest, laughter, story telling, amazing conversation, playing cards, hanging out, naps, and so much more. It was a long wonderful weekend and this morning I woke up feeling more rested and solid and energized and encouraged than I have in a really long time!
And... we cannot leave out the Boot Shopping :) Stephen has become even more Texan as he's now sporting a very sweet pair of shark cowboy boots from Joe's Boot Shop. And he loves them so much, he's even been seen sleeping with um on ;)
AND.. while we were there, my GodDad got me some of my absolute favorite flowers in the whole wide world... Gerber Daisies. :)
I have been meaning for some time to get over to the Lady Bird Wildflower Center which is about 15-20 minutes away from where I live. This afternoon Josh decided to join me on this jaunt. So off we went to explore and see what was there. Granted it's rather late to be looking for wildflowers here in Texas. Really, from what I've been told April is the best month with early May starting to wrap things up. Apparently they like the spring here in Texas before the heat gets too oppressive (understandably if you ask me). But, despite the late date of this particular visit we were still treated to a number of beautiful wildflowers. Some of which I decided I just totally needed to share with you here.
To see these in higher res, or see others.. check them out on my Smug Mug
I'm reading the book of Joshua right now with my God Mom and so last night got started with the first chapter and the concept of courage. It's kinda got my brain churning on the topic.
Cause see, I think being "Strong and Courageous" as a believer in some ways is rather different than the meaning and impact in general culture.
The dictionary defined courage as: The state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes with self-possession, confidence, and resolution; bravery.
So basically it's the ability to stand up, to persist, to act based on what you know or believe.
And in life that can be pretty scary and hard, because so much in life is relative and do we really know anything, or can we really stand on what we know, do we really trust our judgment or our sources or our logic, etc.
But as a Christian, we have a totally reliable undeniable source of Truth in the Bible. And we have the Spirit within us to help us to interpret that Truth and to guide us if we start to head astray. So really, our sources are absolute, our Trust absolute. So when God tells (not asks) us to be strong and courageous, it would seem He is asking us to put our actions where our faith is. The challenge here is not in deciding if the source is valid or if the risk is worth it... the challenge is will we act based on what we believe, or will we fall prey to fear and doubt.
So in some ways, i think its a lot easier for us as Christians to BE courageous, because we have the undeniable Truth, but on the other hand, it really polarizes the concept of courage to be about our own struggle with fear and doubt.. which is a very real and very challenging struggle.
Makes me think. So I just figured I'd share.
So.. this weekend I'm in Chicago for my brother's wedding shower. Apparently I brought some better weather with me because it was in the 60 this weekend which is much warmer than the 40s they are still used to up here of late.
Mark and Carla looked super cute together. My mom managed to nail every detail for this shower from the place name tags to the "love beyond measure" heart shaped measuring spoons to the shower gift bingo game and many more details. The tables looked esquisite. It was excellent to see all my family and the friends of my moms that I haven't seen in years. Everyone had a great time and Mark & Carla got a lot of beautiful presents.
The full set of photos is up on my smug mug, but here's a few for ya.
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lydia said:
the pictures are soooo pretty! you did such a great job! thank you!!! read more
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Nathan said:
/cry. I wish I could have been there. :( But I'll be there next week. w00t! read more
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