Pigs, wedding registries, big dogs and dinner...

My Sister is getting married in September. And we are so excited. She's been dating her fiance for over four years. And he's a keeper. They love each other like crazy. 

I'll give you an example:

My soon to be brother-in-law owns his own auto-body shop. He comes from a family who owns their own maple sugar shack, raises their own pigs, cows, etc., and has their own vegetable garden. They are wonderful, wonderful, kind-hearted, compassionate people. And I'm so excited to blend our families together.

As I was saying... they raise their own pigs. And my sister's fiance (we'll call him Uncle "A"... as my boys do), has a part in raising these piggies. So, Uncle "A" has been helping take care of two PREGNANT pigs. Have you ever seen a very pregnant pig??? They are HUGE.

HUGE.

Anyways.

One of the pigs had her piglets. (Isn't that whatcha call 'em?) 16 of them. During birth... because it was in the middle of the night and they didn't know it was happening... some of the piglets got hurt. Real hurt. And Uncle "A" and my sister took them to my sister's little bungalow apartment and tried to nurse them back to health. It was precious. And sad. Some didn't make it. But to see my sister and Uncle "A" waking up every 45 minutes through the night to bottle feed these little piglets was just so sweet. They worried, really worried about these little guys... they named them, loved them, held them. 

So, one evening, we answered the telephone. "Hi, Jenny! Are you around? We are down in your area registering for our wedding... and wanted to know if we could stop over and bring something for dinner?" 

"Sure! That would be great." 

"Only thing... we have Fritz (their HUGE bullmastiff/boxer mix dog)................ and Josh."

Josh is one of the little piggies. 

"You took the dog and the pig to register for your wedding?" 

"Uh huh. Yeah... we had to keep running out to the car to see how they were doing. I even had to tell the lady helping us with our registry that we had to go check on our pig." 

So... they came over for dinner. It was chaos. Two twin two-year old boys, a HUGE dog, and a piglet running around. But so worth it. 

I am so excited for this wonderful, beautiful wedding to take place... to celebrate these wonderful, beautiful, precious people! I love you BOTH! 

A Celebration of Love

That GORGEOUS wedding I was telling you about... was filled with inner and outer beauty in each nook and cranny of the day. The precious couple (of coarse)... the sacred place...

The celebration theme and place (in a mansion)...

The friends... and the fun...

And one of my most favorite parts of the event... the wedding "favors": A book, of particular interest to EACH and EVERY person there... signed with a personal note telling us "why" it was that they picked out that particular book for us, and thanking us for our love and support in their lives. Incredible???

Yes.

Yes... a hundred times over.

Beauty walks a razor's edge

My husband and I were honored to be guests at our friend's wedding this past weekend. It was such a night. Beautiful. Seriously, elegantly, beautiful. For the event, my cousin adorned me with her hand made hair-piece. I walked a bit taller that night. I felt... "like a woman".

Beauty is a funny thing isn't it? I think that all of us women "walk the line" of balancing "being beautiful" and being "owned" by "being beautiful". I'll explain. That night, on our way down to the wedding I was "somewhere" else. My husband was talking to me, and I couldn't really hear him. I was gazing out the window wondering if I would be "pretty enough". 

Owned.

And then, later that night, while my husband was watching and smiling as I was dancing with my girlfriends... I felt beautiful. I wasn't wondering who thought I looked "good". I wasn't wondering if my arms looked fat. I was dancing. And enjoying the beauty all around me...  

our smiles, our dresses, our heals, our laughter...

the lights, the joy, the music, the flowers, the cheesecake.

And the beauty in the celebration of love. 

(photo taken by my friend)

"Suddenly I turned around and she was standing there,

With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair,

She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns,

Come in, she said I'll give you shelter from the storm...

Well I'm living in a foreign country but I'm bound to cross the line

Beauty walks a razor's edge someday I'll make it mine

If I could only turn back the clock to when God and her were born

Come in, she said 

I'll give you shelter from the storm"

-Bob Dylan

p.s. My cousin sells her stuff here:

(you gotta CHECK IT OUT)