On a warm, late-summer day one year ago this past weekend, there was a pretty outdoor wedding. The groom was my cousin Adam. This guy can usually be found at Four Seasons Nursery (where he loves helping people with their landscaping quandaries) in Carhartt overalls, sunglasses, and a cap. But on that day, his bride Tosha talked him into wearing a tuxedo - and he looked pretty handsome, don't you think?
Tosha, of course, was pretty beautiful herself. Our family is blessed that Adam found her! I knew it was going to work out when I first heard Tosha doing a spot-on impression of Adam. The same Adam who is usually the one doing the hilarious, spot-on impressions of other people. Yes. It was pretty awesome.
Oh! Let me show you one of their engagement picture that was perfect. See, Tosha teaches spin and weight classes and she's won first place (thankyouverymuch) in a fitness competition last year. And I already told you about Adam, so this picture is very appropo. I love it!
Here's some more pictures from the wedding. Jeremy and I took turns taking these...
Grandaddy performed the wedding. =)
Bless her heart. Tosha's niece Tessa was exhausted
and slept through most of the wedding on my lap.
As the wedding director, I was just so glad to get her down the aisle! Ha!
Adam's sister Beth and good friend Josh - or Jug, as he is called in real life.
My dad and I designed the programs. =)
Cousin Nick and Aunt Claudia, who got an "empty" program.
Now, some volunteers in our family hand-folded those...who left this one in there?? Ha!
Pretty cake!
Pretty girls!
Jeremy and me with the happy couple
Happy Anniversary, you guys! You might have already found out that the first year of marriage is both blissful and frustrating. We remember. ;) And we're cheering you on. Love you both! May you have many more very happy years together. =)
I would be extremely remiss if I never mentioned anything here about the song "White Christmas" during this festive holiday season. The reason is that it was always my grandmother's favorite song...and although I think of her often throughout the year, I think of her even more during this time of year, when this song is sung and played and hummed, in all of its varieties.
My mother's mother was an excellent Christian woman, a warm, soft-spoken, and very kind lady...a true First Lady of Freed-Hardeman University for many years. One could not dare to dream up a better grandmother - she, along with my Grandaddy, always took great care of our family, buying gifts we would each truly enjoy, cooking things specifically for a certain set of tastebuds. She always made sure to have macaroni and cheese on hand for Bennett, our picky eater. She always baked apricot turnovers (a recipe that's certainly an act of love) for my cousin Nick when he was here - and she always sent the requisite pigs-in-a-blanket back home with these Arkansas grandkids. I'm pretty sure they never lasted even halfway back to Hot Springs.
My grandmother was an incredible hostess - so organized, so busy. She was forever ready for visitors and excited for a party. Especially at Christmas. I remember the embroidered red Christmas placemats and the tabletop ceramic Christmas trees. I remember the bustle of her kitchen, now our kitchen, because we now live in my grandparents' house. Last year when Jeremy wrapped our white porch columns with red ribbon, it made me feel so at home to remember my grandparents' house looking just so this time every year.
Just a dusting of snow...
A new wreath on the side door!
With a definite fondness, I can stand in any room in our home and "see" memories playing out. Our kitchen doorway, which now houses a newly made wreath, reminds me of a Santa face that my grandparents used to hang there when the youngest grandchildren still "believed" in him. It had a big red nose that Madi, who is now close to graduating high school, joyfully pressed over and over again to hear "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."
Downstairs we often cuddled up together on couches, snacking on Aunt Claudia's Chex mix and my mother's fudge, and watched our favorite Christmas movies - "White Christmas" and "Christmas in Connecticut" and "Ernest Saves Christmas" being at the top of the list. I know, we're nothing if not eclectic. There were the usual arguments over who got what blanket and "please-sit-up-so-more-people-can-fit-on-the-couch" pleas. My grandmother always fell asleep before the end of the movie, though. We all teased her then and now many of us are just like her. =)
Our little Tennessee town didn't see much snow during my growing up years. In fact, I got a sled for my 12th birthday and then never got to use it. During the last few years, though, our area has had more snow than I've ever seen in person! It's been so beautiful...and my grandmother would have LOVED it. Her love of Bing's version of "White Christmas" was always a grand wish for a white blanket of snow to magically appear over our hometown.
Nowadays things are different - but still the same - for our family during Christmas. Our beloved mother and grandmother has been gone for nine years now, but we still carry on the traditions that she held dear. We are always together at Grandaddy's new house at Christmastime, eating and playing cards and watching Christmas movies, and we have at least one meal at our house, their old house, while everyone is in town.
Grandaddy "getting the dread off his mind." =)
My mom and Aunt Pat getting ready for Christmas lunch
at Larry and Becky's
My cousin Adam, last year's present-giver-outer
Aunt Claudia, the bringer of the hats, and Grandaddy
The grandkids with Grandaddy: Nick, me, Beth,
Adam, Madi, and Bennett
You have no idea what an funny ordeal this picture was!
We think of my grandmother often...and remember her hospitality and her meals and her laugh and her general joyous demeanor. We miss her, but in our own ways, I think we each strive to be like her. I'm definitely lacking in her superb organizational skills, but I am proud to say that I was able to inherit her love of entertaining and cooking. I want to be just like her when I grow up. =) As do we all.
Merry Christmas to each of you! And here's hoping for a White One!
Yesterday was my dad's birthday. Aw, just forget I said dad...it is ALWAYS going to be Daddy. =) Anyway, we are having his family birthday party tonight at our house! It's going to be fun times, as usual. I love a good party and I especially love getting together with the fam! In honor of his special day (well, really, I advocate at least a special week...stretching all the way towards a month) I am posting a song that will forever remind me of him. No matter what - because it's one of the songs he used to sing and play guitar to when I was little.
I downloaded this version of Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head awhile back because the song itself reminded me of my childhood....and eating banana sandwiches up in the attic with my daddy. We dined in the attic that day while my mom was gone because we could hear the rain better. It's such a nice memory for me.
Ben Folds Five creates an excellent version in their own right. I reeeally enjoy it. One very cool thing about this particular video is that the songwriter, Burt Bacharach, is there onstage with the band. This guy wrote a TON of good stuff back in the day. Click on his name up there and it'll take you to his Wikipedia page. I'm impressed.
Enjoy! And if you see my dad today, tell him Happy Birthday. Even if it's a day late. We're still celebrating. =)
My life is a work in progress, which is how I think God intended it to be. I love spending time with my husband Jeremy and am trying every day to be a good Christian wife. I am totally intrigued with cooking (especially baking) and enjoy feeding family and friends. I appreciate symmetry and design; correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation; and lovely harmonies in music. I feel more than kindly toward helpful people and strive to be one also. I adore laughing. I'm terribly glad I'm not colorblind. I like to be positive.
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