Congratulations!!

Congratulations to Shannon & Michael!!!

One of my Best Friends got married on November 6!  Click here to read more about our life-long friendship, since our early days of VVBC Youth Group!

I was asked to be the Maid of Honor, and truly, couldn't have been more honored to do so! 

Here's my recap of the days events:

I started the day by getting my hair did.  Here I am with a head full of pin curls.

After the curls cooled and were good and set....the hairdresser teased the middle portion until I sufficiently resembled "Cindy Lou Who".

She sure knew what she was doing though, because once she started updo-ing it - it turned out great!

Here's the back:

Then it was off to the church for make-up and dressing....

Doesn't The Bride look BEAUTIFUL?  And she's not even in her wedding dress yet!!

Lots and lots of primping....

Here it is:  THE DRESS!!

And look at those shoes!!!  Yes - the Bride was wearing Hot Pink/Purple Heels!  Love it!!  They are 4.5" tall too, as her Groom is more than a foot taller than she is!

Little Miss C, the Flower Girl - Isn't she precious?

Don't let her fool you though - she's got a wild side too!

Once Shannon was in her dress, I presented her with the traditional "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue" items.  Here, I'm pinning the "Borrowed" item under one of the layers of her dress.

Then it was time for a quick snack.  I was a good little Maid of Honor and made sure to shove food in Shannon's face all morning so she wouldn't pass out on the altar or anything!

Then she finished up a quick note to be delivered to her Groom.....

....and then it was picture time!
Can you believe how stunning she is?  I'm getting tears in my eyes still as I write this.

The Bride and her Attendants

And now a seated shot

BFF's

Little Miss C, taking a break

Myself and Tiffany (she was in Youth Group with us too!)

Then my "Personal Photographer" got a shot of just me....

Who was my "Personal Photographer" you might ask?  This Dapper looking fellow below....my Sweet Boyfriend Brandon.  Not only was he a great photographer that day, but he was my chauffeur, flower holder,  & trash taker too!.  He also helped out the Parents of the Bride by being available all day for whatever they needed, including taking down decorations after the wedding and helping move gifts to the reception site.  And even the night before (during the rehearsal) he made a run down the street to get some snacks for the Bride (who hadn't eaten much all day and wasn't feeling too good).  Isn't he great?  So dependable and thoughtful.  And isn't his 3-Piece-Suit (complete with Pocket Handkerchief) just so snazzy?  He had that Tailor-made in India.  Yup, he's the man.

On to more wedding stuff....

The officiating Pastor was none other than Kerry Jones himself, our former Youth Pastor (he was at VVBC from 1984-1996) and all around wonderful human-being.  I do love a "KJ" wedding and Shannon's was no exception.

Below, I'm giving Kerry his usual birthday present from me - Red Tootsie Roll Pops.  Ever since I was a kid (and right there in that church) I would give Kerry my Red Suckers from the "Candy Man" who gave out candy at church (that takes a little more explanation, so maybe I'll have to do a post about him sometime).  Anywho, it's now become a tradition that I give Kerry a whole mess of Red Suckers every year around his birthday (Oct. 4), so even though I was a little late this year, I couldn't think of not giving them to him!

The Mother of the Bride, Barbara, pinned Kerry's boutonniere on.

Then......it was WEDDING TIME!!!

The lighting of the candles.....

Jenn sang absolutely Beautifully!

Then the Parents of the Groom lit their half of the Unity Candle...

Followed by the Parents of the Bride.

The Groom and his Groomsman took their places....

....and then the Bridesmaids...

(That's me!)

Then the Flower Girl (Shannon's niece) was escorted down the aisle by her father (Shannon's brother).

And then Shannon made her Big Entrance!

Her father gave her away...

....and the ceremony began. 

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Genesis 2:24

What a sweet, sweet ceremony it was!

The Groom's Father read a passage from I Corinthians 13 (known as the "Love Chapter").

I absolutely LOVE this picture!  It's so cute and sweet how they're almost sneaking a look at each other, while they are listening to Mike's dad read aloud.

Next came the Vows...

Then the Rings....

First, his gift to her...

....then hers to him.

Then the Lighting of the Unity Candle.

Next, Michael and Shannon took communion together.

And then Michael prayed for he and his Bride privately.

Then it was time for the KISS!!  I LOVE it!  Shannon's hands at her sides, Mike laying a good one on her.  What a happy (and very cute!) moment!!

Then they are officially pronounced Mr. & Mrs.!

Whoo Hoo!

And you should have heard the crowd when they started down the stairs and Shannon's hot pink/purple shoes popped out from under her dress!  (Look at her shoes!)  :)

Since Mike & Shannon didn't see each other before the wedding, there were a few last photos to take before heading over to the reception.

Here's the entire Wedding Party:

Maid of Honor and Best Man with the Bride & Groom (I think I've failed to mention yet that Mike is a twin!)  Mike & Nate are super-tall....and well, Shannon and myself are kinda...shorter.  In this picture, we're all standing on the same step...

...and in this picture Shannon and I are on the same step, while Mike and Nate are one step lower to help even us all out.

Once the rest of the picture were taken, it was time to head over to the reception.  Shannon had a gorgeous jacket to wear with her dress for the chilly November day.  Isn't it lovely?

And the buttons on the back of the sleeves to the jacket, match the buttons on the back of her dress!!  So cute!

Husband & Wife!  (I LOVE this picture!!)

One more shot before the reception

The reception was at Hotel Louisville, downtown.  It was a really pretty ballroom with a nice ambiance.  Hotel Louisville is owned by the Wayside Christian Mission (a local homeless shelter). 

All the people working at the Hotel are "in a unique social enterprising program that is empowering men, women and families to rebuild their lives".  It's a great program that helps rehabilitate folks who have become Homeless.  So, all the proceeds for renting out the ballroom, plus the food service go directly to those in need.  Pretty cool, huh?  For more info about this program, click here. 

My mom and her friend, Susan, helped to decorate at the reception hall that morning.  And hey - that's my Dad in the blue shirt (almost) in the center of the picture.

The Bride & Groom took the floor for their first dance as Husband and Wife.

Then came the Father/Daughter dance.  They danced to "I Loved Her First."  (I have never been able to listen to that song without crying!!)!

It was a very tender moment between this Daddy and his Daughter.

Next it was Time to Eat!

Then Time for Toasts.  First Nate, who had the crowd laughing (a lot!)...

...then it was (nervous-out-of-my-mind) my turn!

Mike's so tall that he had to squat down a bit for the "Intertwined Arms" pose

The simple, yet oh-so-pretty (and very tasty!) cake.

And here's the Groom's Cake.  There's a joke that started between Shannon's Dad and Mike about each of them wearing yellow shirts (2 different days, one after the other) and teasing each other about looking like Big Bird.  Then Mike ended up getting Shannon a small Big Bird doll (that she then took to Europe, getting pictures of him everywhere we went) and Mike also incorporated the Big Bird doll into the proposal (the ring box was propped up against him).  So needless to say, this was the perfect Groom's Cake for them!

Cutting the Cake...

....and deciding whether or not to smash it? 

Mike ended up perfectly placing the cake into Shannon's mouth - great job Mike!

...and then it was Shannon's turn.  She returned the favor of being nice, even though his face seems to suggest otherwise.

Aww...how sweet!

Here's me and my Boy-fran.  ;)

Isn't he too handsome??

Three Generations:  My Granny (Tillie), My Momma (Cindy) and Me

Gal Pals!  Me, Shannon, Gina and Jenn.  Shannon's breaking up the foursome.  Guess somebody had to go first though, right?  We're all so overjoyed for her though and technically we're still a foursome....even if one is an old married lady now.  ;)

Couldn't be happier for my BFF on her big day!!  Congratulations Shannon!  I Love You!!!

Michael and Shannon left with tin cans rumbling off the back of their SUV - off to a wonderful week-long Honeymoon in Belize!

One last shot of me and that handsome guy I'm blessed enough to call my boyfriend.  Love that vest/shirt/tie look he's got going on!  Sigh.

What a Wonderful Day!  May God mightily bless Mike & Shannon in their marriage as they put Him first and glorify Him with their lives!

Attention Bloggyland.....

Ladies & Gentlemen (who happen to read my blog).....

I have an announcement............I have a boyfriend!  :)

Those close to me already know this, of course, but I thought I'd sort of formally announce it here on the blog......so when he shows up in posts-to-come.....my readers (all 2 of them) won't wonder who he is.

Meet Brandon:

This is us back in June all dressed up for my co-worker's wedding.

We have been keeping things on the D-L, so as not to attract any unneeded expectations from those around us.  Since we're a little older (he's 36, I'm 31), people have the tendency to put more emphasis on how quickly things are moving toward the altar, instead of if things are moving in a healthy way....and we wanted to protect that and thwart off any rushed (albeit loving) expectations.  So we have stayed low-profile with our relationship.  However, we've been dating for quite a while now and he's a very important part of my life.  So, with all that said, I decided it was high-time that I mention him here on the blog.

"The Cake"

Back in September, I hosted a Bridal Shower for one of my Best Friends, Shannon.  If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll recognize Shannon from many of my travel posts (most prominent on the blog are our trips to Honduras & Europe both in 2009, but we've also been a ton of other fun places over the years - whether roadtrips or planetrips - that I have not blogged about). 

I have actually known Shannon since our Youth Group days at church - long, long ago!  She was also the friend that I lived with for a while after I sold my first house.  She and I have had similar life paths.  It's been really neat to see how the Lord has intertwined out lives so that we each have someone to lean on and understand each other, but also so that we could experience a lot of the same things together....and have a lot of fun traveling and seeing all kinds of places along the way.  She and I bought our first houses a week apart back in 2004, have changed jobs around the same time (more than once) and have had many other similar experiences where we both seem to go through almost the exact same thing at the same time!  It's been fun and meaningful and a joy to have her as a Best Friend.

Shannon got engaged back in July - here's a picture of her with her Honey, Michael, on the day she said "Yes."

Anywho, for her bridal shower, I decided to try my hand at baking a cake and then decorating it all by myself! I have a Wilton template thing that makes a checkerboard cake and so I wanted to try it out.  (Can I just say...what was I thinking?).  Hopefully I made one of my other Best Friends (and old college roomie), Alisha, proud since she is now a Cake Baker and Pastry Chef by trade (check out her website here.)

I digress....on to the cake!

I started with a regular boxed white cake mix...

...followed the directions on the box...

And once the cake was mixed according to the directions, I added some edible dye.

Once I began mixing, I could see what the color would be and added more dye as necessary to achieve the color I was going for.  (I had a purple and pink theme going on for the shower decorations and wanted the cake to match).

I made three separate cake mixes, all with different color batter.

Then I used my handy, dandy bullseye-looking template to pour the colored cake batter into the pan.

I made 4 different colored cakes (I knew I needed at least 3 cakes to get the checkerboard results, but I went ahead and made 4 cakes just in case).

Here's what they looked like after baking them according to the box guidelines:

Then I cut off the tops to make them straight and level for stacking....and then I set the cakes aside.

Time to make the icing!  I found a butter cream icing recipe online and followed the directions.

Again,  added edible dye to the icing....

....and got some pretty purples and pinks!

Next, I iced the top of the first layer....

....then added the other two layers - making sure to alternate cake colors to achieve the checkerboard look when it was cut.

Then I used icing and crumb-coated the entire cake.

My Mom stopped by and made sure that the icing was good enough to serve to others.  I might have helped her in this taste-testing.  What can I say?  Like Mother, Like Daughter!

Okay, so as I started actually decorating the cake, I forgot to take many step by step pictures.....but here's the finished bottom half of the cake.  I just started adding random whimsical stripes and dots using different icing tips until the entire cake was covered.

Then the top of the cake was a smaller two-layer strawberry cake with cream cheese icing. (Please excuse the multiple paint samples I have around the kitchen - I am seriously turning into my mother!!).  :)

I decorated the top half of the cake with purple polka-dots to add just a little more whimsy.

I then carried each cake separately into the Great Room (where the shower would be held) and stacked them.

I added a bead of purple polka-dots to fill the space between the cakes....

....and voila! One rather lop-sided, pink/purple/magenta, hopefully edible and hopefully checker-boarded- on-the- inside shower cake!

That's me serving the cake - which everyone actually ooh'd and aah'd over during the shower - more about the look than the taste I think, but I'll take it as a success!

Here's a close-up of the interior purple and pink checkerboard - pretty cool huh?

Since this shower cake took several more hours of blood, sweat, & tears, lack of sleep and loss of sanity, than I had anticipated (although I have to say that Shannon is totally worth it!)......it will forevermore be known simply as "The Cake" - and everyone, everywhere will know exactly which cake I am referring to.

Here's all the girls at Shannon's shower!  We had a blast and Shannon got lots of nice gifts!

European Adventure Recap - The Louvre

I realize it's been a while since my last European Adventure Recap Post.....and well, most of you might not have realized I wasn't done recapping that trip yet.  In fact, I'm only about half-way through the trip (I'm posting it chronologically).  We left for that trip over a year ago (Oct. 21), so I had really hoped to be done with these recap posts by this time, but life, work, and lots of other fun travel and memories have left little time for blogging regularly (not that I'm complaining too much!).  While you may wonder why I even bother to finish recapping a trip that happened over a year ago, I myself, am really enjoying going back and learning about all the places we saw and the history behind them.  Plus, at some point, I hope to make all these posts into a printed book. 

Anyhow, without further adieu, here's the next recap from my 30th Birthday European Excursion (picking up where the last post left off):

Sunday October 25, 2009

Paris, France

As we walked along the Seine, we passed several well-known places in Paris.  One of these places was the Musée du Louvre (or Louvre Museum, pronounced Loove).  There is so much history in this place and so many changes made to it!  I provide a very brief synopsis of the Louvre's history all gathered from the museum's website.  Go there if you really want all the ins and outs to the many, many, many changes this place has seen.  I just couldn't capture it all here.

This is the side of the Louvre, along the river.

Built around 1190, the Louvre's was original purpose was to serve as a Fortress "to protect the capital from the Anglo-Norman threat", complete with a moat! (Apparently the Anglo-Normans were running around trying to capture other people's land).

The Fortress eventually gave way to other uses and "in 1364 Raymond du Temple, architect to Charles V, began transforming the old fortress into a splendid royal residence."

After Charles V resided in the Louvre, he was succeeded by his son, Charles VI (makes sense, huh?).  After Charles VI passed away, the building sat empty for an entire decade.  François I moved into the Louvre in 1527 and started some remodeling.  The changes included tearing down some old portions of the building and adding new ones.  All these changes took time and  many Kings there lived throughout the construction process all adding their own touches. 

While watching the sunset near the Louvre, the sky was taking on some really pretty light..  I love the pink clouds!

I know this picture is really similar to the one above, but I love them both and couldn't decide which one to use, so I just decided to use them both!  The top one shows more of the clouds, while the bottom one shows more of the building.

This was an arched walkway leading to the interior "courtyard" like area between the wings of the Louvre.

Because the building had two very long "arms" down each side, Henri IV(one of the Kings that lived there) didn't want them to look exactly the same - he wanted some variety.  So, "two architects were hired: Louis Métezeau for the east end and Jacques II Androuet du Cerceau for the west."  After Henri IV came  the Louis' (XIII, XIV & XV).  They also made many changes to the building - starting and stopping construction multiple times, tearing down, rebuilding & adding as each saw fit and enduring setbacks all through the process (such as a fire).

"In 1791, the revolutionary Assemblée Nationale decreed that the 'Louvre and the Tuileries together will be a national palace...for gathering together all the monuments of the sciences and the arts.''   The Museum officially opened it's doors on Aug. 10, 1793.  After the going through a few operational changes & even more construction and surviving World War II  the Museum was eventually firmly established and is what we see today.  In 1981, the large glass pyramid was inaugurated.  "Rising from the center...it is the focal point of the museum's main axes of circulation and also serves as an entrance to the large reception hall beneath.  From here, visitors can also reach... displays on the history of the palace and museum...an auditorium, and public amenities (coat check, bookshop, cafeteria, restaurant)."