Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Random Thoughts...Random Life

As I was pulling up my blog site, I glanced up, and James has a tab open which says, "Body replacement parts for FR". LOL. I wonder whose body parts he's considering replacing. Glad my initials aren't FR!

All of my living-at-home family...which has dwindled down to 4 now...went to Briana's on Thursday afternoon. She had a new show, Camp Rock, opening Sat. night. James took photos Thurs and Fri of dress rehearsals. Ashley drove over on Sat. morning to see the opening, so we got to enjoy all being together~ an event that is getting more rare. Everyone but me went home on Sun. I stayed and went with Briana to get her dress fitted on Monday. What fun! I so wish I could post pictures!! Not yet, though.

All of the wedding planning is coming great, and I think we're in a pretty good place with most of it, but I am starting to hit panic mode more often. : ) It seems like every time we cross a couple of things off the massive list, we have to add one or 2 more on. Most of the major things are taken care of; just a lot of little STUFF. If I remember correctly, we are at 13 1/2 weeks! The biggest obstacle left (pun not intended, but slightly appropriate!) is my dress!! Aaaacccckkkk!! I dread that SO VERY MUCH!! Not to mention I *hate* clothes shopping. I guess the other biggy is praying the bridesmaid dresses all fit. They are due to be in March 18th. Sizing them was a very big pain, and I will be relieved when I see that none of them are too small, because they are made to order, and can't be returned. I have had so much fun helping Briana, and she is so easy to get along with. She pretty much will just go with the flow. Only a few "have-to's", so far. : )

I am helping Marissa learn to cross stitch. She doesn't do a lot at one sitting, but she has stuck through several sittings so far. I'm surprised, because that doesn't seem like her. I hope she'll finish it. It's a picture of a horse head. And, go figure... I'm helping her try to learn shorthand. Wow. This was her request. I actually took a course in shorthand in college.....26 years ago. Let's just say it barely caught on, so it sure didn't stick. Today was our first lesson. It's almost like learning a foreign language...at least how to write in one.

We do not participate in a co-op, and Marissa was needing more social than just at church on Wed night, since she's an assistant leader in AWANA, not in a youth group. Getting together with a friend is so hit and miss, so I decided to try to do something about it that would make me stick to it. I started up a small teen/pre-teen group, and we are trying to meet once a month. Not everyone can participate every month, but we have a total of 7 girls, I think, ages 11-13. Mom's are included, too. We have as much fun as the girls. Right now, while it's still cold, we just get together at someone's home, eat, talk, they play games, laugh, and enjoy the company. I need to get busy planning one for the end of this month.

Okay. Enough random stuff. Nothing big or overly news worthy going on here; just the every day things of life that make us a family.


Monday, February 7, 2011

There's Gonna Be a Wedding

....which is a line out of Brigadoon, the show where Troy proposed to Briana. I know many of you saw the details on Facebook, but I wanted to share them here, for those who didn't...and because it's on my mind and heart today.

Troy called James toward the end of Aug. 2010, and asked to meet with him, without Briana's knowledge. Of course, we felt sure what this meeting was about, and he did, indeed ask for our blessing to marry Briana. (I just love that!) The two and a half week wait until his chosen proposal date was excruciating! haha Especially considering I went to Briana's for the weekend just 3 days after his and James' meeting. Now we know where she gets her wonderful acting skills from! LOL!

Since the Playhouse stage is the first place he ever saw Briana~dancing in The Nutcracker~ the first place he got to really meet her~2 months later in rehearsals for Shenandoah~the place where they are both both actors and everyone loves them, and because Briana simply LOVED the musical Brigadoon, which they were about to open, Troy chose on-stage opening night to propose~Sept 9. Let's just say it was simply magical and entirely romantic, and WE GOT TO BE THERE! After the curtain call, the male lead of the play, got the audience's attention, and said a cast member had an announcement. Besides family, only he, the director, producer, the orchestra leader, and the sound guy knew what was coming. Troy pulled a bewildered Briana to the front of the stage, and began to talk. (I'm tearing up now!!) You could see the light dawning in everyone's eyes, as he began speaking to her about the first time he ever saw her being on this stage.



Proposed to by a man in a kilt! : ) I don't think this photo is big enough to see her crying, and all the facial expressions of the cast, but it was a very emotional time. I was crying, Ashley was crying, all of the women in the cast were crying, and everyone in the audience was cheering and clapping; Briana couldn't pull her hand away and quit crying. It took a minute for everyone to quieten down, so that he could actually ask!
My facebook album entitled The Proposal has the whole thing captured, and the changing facial expressions of the cast are priceless.

Don't ask anyone how I got through the show, waiting on this. I was a wreck. I leaned over at one point and told Ashley that I thought the woman sitting next to me thought I was on something. haha. I even told a complete stranger while we were standing in the bathroom line at intermission, because I thought I was going to explode if I didn't tell someone. LOL! Troy's mom and dad, aunt and uncle, and his sister, who flew in from TX, also got to be there. It was a wonderful night!

The wedding date is May 22, 2 years to the date of their first date.

I've never been a crier (except watching the reveal on Extreme Home Makeover!). When Briana started in shows at the Playhouse, I became a "Briana's shows crier. When they started dating, it started creeping in on me more. I am now officially a crier. I cry at everything....even videos online of complete strangers' weddings! LOL. Not a hurting crier; just a crier. : ) It's all good!


Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Comfort Zones

James got his new blog off the ground. If you didn't read it on Facebook, here is his entry on comfort zones.

www.getoutoftheboatblog.com/?p=6
(I don't know why this doesn't highlight, but if you copy and paste it, it will take you to the right place.)

I must say that I am super proud of him. James is not a writer. He has never liked to write; never wanted to write, and has always been a grammatical disaster! : ) About 2 1/2 years ago, during all of the changes he mentions, James came to me and said, "God wants me to write. I can't write. I don't know what to write." I said, "Just write. Take notes on your Bible study and write down verses that stand out to you and why. God will show you where to go from there." In that time, it has gone from that to writing 2-17 page papers on foundational theology, which God used to bring someone out of legalistic bondage, to this blog. He will be the first to tell you that God did the writing; he just typed. But, I am still proud of his willingness and obedience to step out of yet another comfort zone. His grammar is pretty good now, too! : )


Letitia