Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Lots of Link Love
- Lay shared a series of beautiful letters to herself at pivotal moments from her past.
- Meg O. celebrated her sweet babys Kennedy's 1 month birthday, and wrote some lovely words about how she felt about her little girl.
- Beth wrote a hysterical post on getting hit on, and the lowing her expectations.
- Michelle urged us to blog from the heart, and to be true to ourselves.
- Jaclyn wrote another installation of her awesome series, "How to Date a Single Dad," in which she realized how attached she had gotten to a child she had never even met.
- Becky showed off some beautiful photos of her adorable daughter Elliana and shared this thought, "maybe 14 month old Elliana will teach something to 16 year old Elliana..."
- Dina shared the fabulous idea of using crown molding for high heel storage!
- Kim revealed that the apple does not, in fact, fall far from the tree as her 7 year old daughter has started her very own blog!
- Bec was incredibly brave to talk about the dreaded questions about having a second child when having the frist one was a miracle itself.
- Erica celebrated her 5-year anniversary with her boyfriend, and wrote a super sweet post about a fun game they play. (And then, a few days later, her boyfriend Kurt showered her with compliments when he chimed in with his perspective on their 5 years together.)
- Caitlin said farewell to her adorable bachelorette pad as she prepares to move in with her Boy.
Please,
join me!
Link up, even if you just mention one blog post you love at the end of your post, even if you have a list of 20, even if you can't link up until Wednesday (the link up will be open all week), join me in supporting your fellow bloggers!
If you've been featured here at Stress Case, or if you're linking up, please use the button above to help spread the link love and enoucrage others all over the blogosphere to join us.
Lots of Link Love will be back Saturday, February 10th! I hope you'll join me then!
Friday, January 27, 2012
Eleven from Cute Apartment
My little blonde best friend, Cute Apartment, tagged me in this fun little blog game.
Rules:
1. You must post these rules.
2. Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
4. You have to choose 11 people to tag and link them on the post.
5. Go to their page and tell them you have linked him or her.
6. No tag backs.
So, here goes.
1. Who is your favorite Disney Princess and why? I say Belle because she is the only one that looks remotely like me (what's with all the blondes?), and she likes to read which I am down with. PS. Coming soon? An entire post on Disney Princesses.
2. If you could change your major, what would you change it to? Funny CA asks this, because I used it as one of my fun facts above! If I as in another industry, I would definitely have gone into Marketing and PR - I loved Marketing, just love Nursing a little more.
3. What is your best talent? To be honest, I don't really have many talents. I guess I'm an alright cook? How sad is that.
4. Where would you most like to travel to? I would love to travel to Greece with Sister Swimmer and family because it is somewhere she has always wanted to go to and I basically stole that answer from her.
5. What is your New Years Resolution? I wrote a whole post on Things I'd Like to do in 2012!
6. Sweet or Savory? Sweet. Hands down, no hesitation.
7. What was the last song you listened to? Sam Cook's Wonderful World...bet you didn't see that coming.
8. Which celebrity would you have sex with, no questions asked? Well I am a devoted wife who would never cheat on my husband, but saying no to Ryan Gosling would be pretty damn difficult.
9. What is your favorite TV show and why is it so great? SO hard. I have an inappropriate love for television, so this is a real toughie. If I had to pick, I guess I would say Grey's Anatomy, but only because I would feel real stupid saying Jersey Shore or Teen Mom (even though I adore reality TV the most).
10. Would you rather be at the beach or in the snow? Snow, all day err day. Which is odd cause I like 20 minutes from the beach, and hours from the snow.
11. What is your heritage? Again it's like I read Cute Apartment's mind (see my facts above) - I am 50% Russian, and the other 50% is a combination of English and some other European I believe.
Okay Ladies, get to sharing facts and answering questions!
Also, thank you to Kristen from Life with the Ellwoods for thinking of me, and tagging me in this fun game, too!
Rules:
1. You must post these rules.
2. Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
4. You have to choose 11 people to tag and link them on the post.
5. Go to their page and tell them you have linked him or her.
6. No tag backs.
So, here goes.
11 Things About Me
1. I am married to the love of my life, my best friend, and a man I've known more than 10 years.
2. I am a pediatric Licensed Vocational Nurse, currently working on getting my RN.
3. I live in beautiful sunny Southern California, and will probably never move out of the state.
4. I have major baby fever sometimes, but don't be expecting a knocked-up announcement around these parts any time soon - Stress Case has got a long list of things to get done before those days come.
5. Pigs are my favorite animal. I've always wanted a miniature one as a pet, and I even gave up eating pork for years because I adore them so much.
6. I get really fiesty when people disrespect my patients, whether that be doctors or coworkers or even strangers.
7. I am a full 50% Russian, but mostly just look like a total white girl.
8. Given the choice of Bud Light over the world's fanciest beer, I will always choose the Bud.
9. I used to ride ATVs as a child, and this surprises people sometimes due to my extreme fascination with all things girly and sparkly.
10. I originally went to school for Marketing and PR before Nursing, and actually spent over a year interning as a Marketing Intern at a huge shopping center.
11. My friend Cute Apartment and I met while waitressing at the same diner, and it is truly a miracle we became friends because I used to be uuber mean to new girls, but for some reason gave her a shot - and look how that worked out!
11 Questions from CA
1. Who is your favorite Disney Princess and why? I say Belle because she is the only one that looks remotely like me (what's with all the blondes?), and she likes to read which I am down with. PS. Coming soon? An entire post on Disney Princesses.
2. If you could change your major, what would you change it to? Funny CA asks this, because I used it as one of my fun facts above! If I as in another industry, I would definitely have gone into Marketing and PR - I loved Marketing, just love Nursing a little more.
3. What is your best talent? To be honest, I don't really have many talents. I guess I'm an alright cook? How sad is that.
4. Where would you most like to travel to? I would love to travel to Greece with Sister Swimmer and family because it is somewhere she has always wanted to go to and I basically stole that answer from her.
5. What is your New Years Resolution? I wrote a whole post on Things I'd Like to do in 2012!
6. Sweet or Savory? Sweet. Hands down, no hesitation.
7. What was the last song you listened to? Sam Cook's Wonderful World...bet you didn't see that coming.
8. Which celebrity would you have sex with, no questions asked? Well I am a devoted wife who would never cheat on my husband, but saying no to Ryan Gosling would be pretty damn difficult.
9. What is your favorite TV show and why is it so great? SO hard. I have an inappropriate love for television, so this is a real toughie. If I had to pick, I guess I would say Grey's Anatomy, but only because I would feel real stupid saying Jersey Shore or Teen Mom (even though I adore reality TV the most).
10. Would you rather be at the beach or in the snow? Snow, all day err day. Which is odd cause I like 20 minutes from the beach, and hours from the snow.
11. What is your heritage? Again it's like I read Cute Apartment's mind (see my facts above) - I am 50% Russian, and the other 50% is a combination of English and some other European I believe.
Questions from Moi!
1. If you could go back to any one moment in your life and relive it, what would it be?
2. Where would your dream home be?
3. You can be one celebrity's personal assistant - who do you pick?
4. What reality TV show would you be on if you had to be one?
5. If you had to live in another state, which one would it be?
6. Who is the most influential person in your life that you're related to?
7. Have you ever gone to the movies by yourself?
8. You have to pick three foods to eat for the rest of your life - what are they?
9. What is your favorite blog to read?
10. What is one trait from each of your parents that you hope is a part of your personality?
11. Your favorite piece of jewelery, and why?
And I'm Tagging...
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Things Thursday: Things to Love About the Horse Races
1. Pretty horses.
2. Winning money!
3. Beer.
4. Cocktails.
5. $2 bills from Grandma Beach Bum for good luck.
6. Cheering for the horses you bet on.
7. Watching Lil C get excited watching the races.
8. Spending time with family.
9. Amazeballs sandwiches from The Carvery.
10. Instagram-ing your memories since you forgot your camera.
2. Winning money!
3. Beer.
4. Cocktails.
5. $2 bills from Grandma Beach Bum for good luck.
6. Cheering for the horses you bet on.
7. Watching Lil C get excited watching the races.
8. Spending time with family.
9. Amazeballs sandwiches from The Carvery.
10. Instagram-ing your memories since you forgot your camera.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Project Hope in Haiti, Part V
To read more about this little series of posts, and about Gardening Mom and Sister Swimmer's journey to Haiti, go HERE, see part II HERE, part III HERE, and part IV HERE. If you would like more information on the program through which Gardening Mom and SS went through to volunteer in Haiti, please comment and I will get that information to you!
A week after Gardening Mom and Sister Swimmer returned from Haiti, GM sent out one last email to those who had been hooked to her Haiti updates with her reflections from the trip.
I have been back from Haiti for a week now and am sending one last email to reflect on the trip.
Before I left on the trip, several people told me that it would be life-changing. I will admit that I doubted that, as I am very good (sometimes too good) at compartmentalizing different aspects of my life and had some doubt as to whether something that I experienced in one aspect of my life would have any lasting impact on any other aspect.
My initial “take-aways” from the trip:
I also questioned the relevance of what I do daily and the intensity and time that I spend on my job. I spend 10 to 12 hours each day providing legal support to a company to facilitate it building and managing shopping centers where people can buy brand name merchandise at a discount. I saw in Haiti some of that brand name merchandise, left behind by the initial purchasers after it had served its brief purpose and found its way on the backs of young Haitian men. It seems that all that time and effort on my part could be focused to something more meaningful. I get that our centers provide jobs to many people and in that way is helpful to the economy. But the larger sense of lack of relevance was fairly acute when I returned.
What I am very cognizant about now is that although this trip was not, in and of itself, life-changing, it has the potential to become life-changing, but only if I do something with this sense of wanting to create more meaning and relevance and act on it while this sense is fresh. I know all too well that in a week, a month, two months .. that the next loan closing, the next acquisition, the next whatever will seem urgent again, and the sense of wanting to do something more meaningful inspired by on my experiences in Haiti will fade and that the way to make this trip truly meaningful is to make a decision that will impact my life, whether it is immediate or prospective, and to work toward the ultimate implementation of that decision. Some have suggested that I organize something with our tenant base to work on getting clothes to Haiti, or that I work on filling a container of supplies to Haiti – but that is not where I am coming from – it is not Haiti that I want to help, as such, it is a sea change within myself that I want to effect, and it may not end up being Haiti connected at all.
I realize that I am pondering my “third act” – that until my kids are out of high school, situated with college costs covered and self-supporting, I am “on the hook” and need to continue to work in a position that will provide the money to fuel their needs and that it would be unfair, having raised my girls in this OC lifestyle thus far, to bail on it at this point. But it is not that many years until that point will be reached and time goes by faster every year, and I need to be planning my third act now so that I have a plan to work on for my ultimate transition out of the bread-earning role. Do I really want to putter in my garden when I leave the daily work grind, or is there something else that I will do? So that is where I am left after returning from Haiti – struggling with the meaning of life and how to make my life more meaningful. Do we all find ourselves there eventually?
I love love loved reading these thoughts from my Gardening Mom. It really made me feel like I was there - her writing is so warm and inviting. (Know you know where I get my supreme writing skills, right?)
The real question,
A week after Gardening Mom and Sister Swimmer returned from Haiti, GM sent out one last email to those who had been hooked to her Haiti updates with her reflections from the trip.
I have been back from Haiti for a week now and am sending one last email to reflect on the trip.
Before I left on the trip, several people told me that it would be life-changing. I will admit that I doubted that, as I am very good (sometimes too good) at compartmentalizing different aspects of my life and had some doubt as to whether something that I experienced in one aspect of my life would have any lasting impact on any other aspect.
My initial “take-aways” from the trip:
- I am not as afraid of flying and traveling as I thought I was, although I was periodically gripped with fear while we were gone that something would happen to prevent our return. I was reminded during the trip what I enjoyed about traveling, so now I am more inspired to do another trip beyond where my car can take me, so in a sense that is somewhat life-changing.
- The trip did not inspire me to devote my life to humanitarian causes. In fact, I still am trying to wrap my mind around the concept of doing that, and what motivates and inspires the people who do that. I asked several of the people we met there how they got there, what they were doing before, and still could not truly understand why they were there and why they came back to Haiti after leaving there once. Z is married and spends most of the year away from his wife and says his heart is in Haiti and he will always come back. I can understand one’s heart being someplace where you are not – my heart is really still in Portland, Oregon – but maybe I do not have the internal courage to take the steps to act on my dreams, or maybe I feel too much sense of responsibility to others so that I do not feel that I can make the decision to change my life because it would change other lives around me if I did. But even beyond that, although I might make a decision in a few years to make some major change in my life, it would not be a change that was as altruistic as some of those I met in Haiti.
- I could not live someplace as warm and humid as Haiti without air-conditioning. I could only stand it there because I knew it was temporary.
- I have serious doubts as to whether the problems in Haiti and places like Haiti can ever be resolved or whether they are insurmountable. The lack of resources, education, infrastructure, organization and the corrupt political atmosphere all combine to make a problem that has no boundaries. In Tracy Kidder’s book about Dr. Paul Farmer, Mountains Beyond Mountains (the word Haiti means land of high mountains), Dr. Farmer speaks of working on the long defeat – knowing it is a defeat, and still persevering with the effort. (See above re: I do not understand what motivates people to do this). It kinds of reminds me of the story behind the mini-series “Thornbirds”. The thornbird is a mythical bird that searches for thorn trees from the day it is hatched. When it finds the perfect thorn, it impales itself, and sings the most beautiful song ever heard as it dies. The bird knows it will die, and still it does it.
- If I do another trip to Haiti or someplace like Haiti, I want to do something there that can better tap into the resources that I have to offer. It does not have to be legal – in fact, I would prefer that it not be legal, but I think I could help more in some organizational or administrative capacity than in helping to paint houses.
I also questioned the relevance of what I do daily and the intensity and time that I spend on my job. I spend 10 to 12 hours each day providing legal support to a company to facilitate it building and managing shopping centers where people can buy brand name merchandise at a discount. I saw in Haiti some of that brand name merchandise, left behind by the initial purchasers after it had served its brief purpose and found its way on the backs of young Haitian men. It seems that all that time and effort on my part could be focused to something more meaningful. I get that our centers provide jobs to many people and in that way is helpful to the economy. But the larger sense of lack of relevance was fairly acute when I returned.
What I am very cognizant about now is that although this trip was not, in and of itself, life-changing, it has the potential to become life-changing, but only if I do something with this sense of wanting to create more meaning and relevance and act on it while this sense is fresh. I know all too well that in a week, a month, two months .. that the next loan closing, the next acquisition, the next whatever will seem urgent again, and the sense of wanting to do something more meaningful inspired by on my experiences in Haiti will fade and that the way to make this trip truly meaningful is to make a decision that will impact my life, whether it is immediate or prospective, and to work toward the ultimate implementation of that decision. Some have suggested that I organize something with our tenant base to work on getting clothes to Haiti, or that I work on filling a container of supplies to Haiti – but that is not where I am coming from – it is not Haiti that I want to help, as such, it is a sea change within myself that I want to effect, and it may not end up being Haiti connected at all.
I realize that I am pondering my “third act” – that until my kids are out of high school, situated with college costs covered and self-supporting, I am “on the hook” and need to continue to work in a position that will provide the money to fuel their needs and that it would be unfair, having raised my girls in this OC lifestyle thus far, to bail on it at this point. But it is not that many years until that point will be reached and time goes by faster every year, and I need to be planning my third act now so that I have a plan to work on for my ultimate transition out of the bread-earning role. Do I really want to putter in my garden when I leave the daily work grind, or is there something else that I will do? So that is where I am left after returning from Haiti – struggling with the meaning of life and how to make my life more meaningful. Do we all find ourselves there eventually?
I love love loved reading these thoughts from my Gardening Mom. It really made me feel like I was there - her writing is so warm and inviting. (Know you know where I get my supreme writing skills, right?)
The real question,
Did they inspire you (you being me) do jet off to Haiti and do the same?
Yes and No.
GM and Sister Swimmer did inspire me to do some chairty work. Do I want to go to Haiti and paint houses? No, that's not really for me. Like Gardening Momma alluded to in her message above, I'd like to use my personal assets in a way that can be charitable.
I would really like to go on a nursing mission. Somewhere, anywhere, putting my nursing knowledge and credentials to good use. Whether that be pumping out flu shots in Africa, or bandaging wounds in the desert, or simply nursing education in Europe - I would like to make that a priority in my life, inspired of course by the charity work of Gardening Mom and SS.
Have you ever gone on a humanitarian trip?
Give me all the details!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Have We Become Foodies?
Up until recently, if you would have asked me whether I noticed a difference between the steak at TGI Fridays and a fancy steakhouse my answer would have been, "just the price!" (okay, I'm not sure it would have been something that cheesy, but it would have been something along the lines of "no").
Handsome Husband's generous grandparents took us out to dinner a few months ago to celebrate HH's LSAT score. And where did they take us?
But, then, something changed.
Handsome Husband's generous grandparents took us out to dinner a few months ago to celebrate HH's LSAT score. And where did they take us?
and we ate:
mouth-watering tender steaks, along with fantastic seafood.
And from then on, we've been a little addicted to fine dining.
Since that dinner just months ago, we've been to the following restaurants (which are about three times the quality [and average entree price-point] of our normal date night stomping grounds):
and
Unfortunately this little food spree must come to an end, as we are putting all of our efforts (aka monies) into saving for our very first home.
What do you think,
have we become foodies?
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Grateful Sundays
This week, I'm grateful for Girls' Weekend 2012 in Arizona!
Love the chance to get away with these lovely ladies:
Love the chance to get away with these lovely ladies:
(Top Row, from L-R: Swagger, Twin Beauty School, Moi (I'm a lovely lady, too!), and Ms. Smiles,
*Unfortunately, Cute Apartment had a last minute emergency that prevented her from coming with us this weekend, however she is so dang cute in that picture I had to leave her smiling face. She was there in spirit!
Saturday, January 21, 2012
BIG NEWS: Introducing Lots of Link Love
Like, Tara at Fabulous but Evil, I too, think it's very important as a blogger to support your fellow bloggers.
That is why, with the support and blessing of
I have decided to revive the series she hosted in which she highlighted her favorite blog posts over the week,
supporting her friends and fellow bloggers,
by giving credit where credit is due for awesome, inspiring, and wonderfully written blog posts.
So I am introducing a new series here at Stress Case:
That is why, with the support and blessing of
I have decided to revive the series she hosted in which she highlighted her favorite blog posts over the week,
supporting her friends and fellow bloggers,
by giving credit where credit is due for awesome, inspiring, and wonderfully written blog posts.
So I am introducing a new series here at Stress Case:
Friday, January 20, 2012
Boob Tube Babble: The Great January Television Return
Okay, it's been a while but I'm linking up with my girl Neely this week for Boob Tube Babble!
Talk about a big TV month - the amount of shows that have come back in the past few weeks is cray.
Let's take a look:
I am really ready to know who "A" is already.
(Also I'm about 2 episodes behind so if we've found out, shhh!)
The episode where MerDer get their baby back? Tears.
Pete is a total tool,
I feel bad for Amelia,
and thank goodness Sam and Addison are done with their ridiculous relationship.
That is all.
YES. They're back.
(PS. Does anyone else think JWoww has gotten to be like ultra boring? I watched the marathon for the days leading up to the new season [because of course I did] and she was way more fun in the early Jersey days.)
Okay, so this show maybe could should have ended years ago, but you know? I love it.
Love me some Brooke, love me some Naley.
But let's be real, the first episode was weird as eff.
The bombshells at the end of the episode?
Made me gasp out load!
So good.
Okay, look, I've had just about enough of this Chuck and Blair (or Chair as I like to call them) are together,
now they're not,
now they are,
baloney
(not my first word choice, but we'll go with it).
They belong together. Enough back and forth already!
What have you been watching?
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Things Thursday: Things I'm Allergic To*
1. Pine nuts
2. Brussel sprouts.
3. Attitude.
4. Tricks and Hos.
5. Sesame seeds.
6. Boot camp exercise.
7. Fish tacos.
8. Crunchy macaroni and cheese.
9. Velvet.
10. Manual labor.
2. Brussel sprouts.
3. Attitude.
4. Tricks and Hos.
5. Sesame seeds.
6. Boot camp exercise.
7. Fish tacos.
8. Crunchy macaroni and cheese.
9. Velvet.
10. Manual labor.
*And by allergic to, I mean don't like and don't want anything to do with.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Wedding Recap: The Big Thing That Went a Little Wrong
So, they say something is always going to wrong when planning an event as big as a wedding, right? It's true. Although I think we got really really lucky. Our day was nearly perfect, and my stress level was so low (shocking for me).
There was one thing that didn't go the way I planned, and it makes me sad to even have to say what it was.
May God bless you and keep you, cause his face to shine upon you, now, and for the rest of your lives together.
*Maybe HH's name starts with an S, maybe it doesn't
There was one thing that didn't go the way I planned, and it makes me sad to even have to say what it was.
Our Ceremony.
The thing is, I poured my heart into our ceremony. I took pieces of my parents ceremony, and pieces from things I had heard and read, and even did some extensive research. I fretted over words, and spent hours days staring at my computer screen making sure every word was perfect.
And then my Reverend ad-libbed about half of it.
To be fair, in the moment, I barely noticed (except for some of my favorite parts where I found myself lip-syncing the words that should have been coming out of his mouth, confused by what actually was coming out of his mouth).
So today, along with photos from our beautiful wedding, I share with you,
The Ceremony That Should Have Been.
Who presents this woman to be married to this man today?
Hat Daddy: Her Mother and I do.
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, friends and family of Casey and S*.
We are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the union of two separate lives in marriage.
For these Casey and S, this is an affirmation of the life they have created together.
In deciding to be married, they are making a commitment to place a lasting bond on their relationship.
In inviting you to share this with them, they are establishing themselves as a family.
The roots of this family are formed by Casey and S' own families, the leaves flourish in the love of their friends, but only they can provide the life to enable their marriage to grow.
Marriage is a partnership created out of a unique meshing of love and deep friendship.
Partners in marriage commit themselves to provide support to one another, and bind together in times of adversity, as well as share happiness.
A good and balanced relationship is one in which neither is overpowered or absorbed by the other,
but stand side by side, as trees in a forest.
This, it is out of the tension between separateness and union that love is born and reborn.
As the years go by, Casey and S, you will realize more and more that this marriage you have chosen for yourselves was not given to you by anyone else.
It is a process that builds throughout your lives.
You work at it, day by day, meeting the challenges that your lives together will bring.
We cannot choose what chances may befall us, but we can shape the spirit with which we shall meet them.
"A Marriage" by Michael Blumenthal
Read by our good friend, YouTube Star
(Yes, it feels a little wrong typing nicknames in my wedding ceremony, but bear with me.)
"You are holding up a ceiling with both arms. It is very heavy, but you must hold it up or else it will fall down on you. You arms are tired, terribly tired and as the day goes on, it feels as if either your arms or the ceiling will soon collapse. But then, unexpectedly, something wonderful happens – someone walks into the room and holds their arms up to the ceiling beside you. So you finally get to take down your arms. You feel the relief of respite, the blood flowing back into your fingers and arms. And when your partner’s arms tire, you hold up your own to relieve him again. And it can go on like this for many years without the house falling."
You are now taking into your care and keeping the happiness of the one person in the entire world whom you love best.
Today, your priorities change.
Your focus and commitment to each other is now your top priority.
You are adding to your life not only the affection of each other, but also the companionship and blessing of a deep trust as well.
You are agreeing to share strength, responsibilities and love.
From "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" by Louis de Bernieres
Read by my aunt and good friend, Aunt Delaware
"Love is temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being “in love” which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over after being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that are one tree and not two."
Each of you has brought a ring to give and receive as a token of your pledge and symbol of your love.
Though your rings are complete and perfect, your marital completeness will come from nurturing your hearts and lives.
Your wedding rings are the first gift you give to each other after exchanging your vows.
Secondly, your rings are an endless and complete circle symbolizing your commitment to one another.
Secondly, your rings are an endless and complete circle symbolizing your commitment to one another.
As you place your rings on one another's ring fingers, please repeat after me:
“With this ring, I give you my heart.
I promise that from this day forward you shall not walk alone.
May my heart be your shelter,
and my arms be your home.”
Casey and S, do you promise to respect and remain faithful to one another, loving what you know of each other, and trusting what you do not know yet?
We do.
I S, take you Casey to be my wedded wife.
To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as we both shall live.
I Casey, take you S to be my wedded husband.
To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as we both shall live.
James Dillet Freeman’s “Blessing for a Marriage” says it best:
May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance and understanding.
May you always need one another – not so much to fill your emptiness as to help you know your fullness.
A mountain needs a valley to be complete; the valley does not make the mountain less, but more; and the valley is more a valley because it has a mountain towering over it.
May you need one another, but not out of weakness.
May you want one another, but not out of lack.
May you entice one another, but not compel one another.
May you embrace one another, but not out encircle one another.
May you succeed in all important ways with one another, and not fail in the little graces.
May you look for things to praise, often say “I love you,” and take no notice of small faults.
If you have quarrels that push you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take the first step back.
May you enter into the mystery which is the awareness of another’s presence – no more physical than spiritual, warm and near when you are side by and side, and warm and near when you are in separate rooms or even distance cities.
May you have happiness, and may you find it making one another happy.
May you have love, and may you find it loving one another.
Now, in honor of the Jewish custom, we will end the service with the ritual breaking of the glass.
The custom of “breaking the glass” has a number of interpretations.
Some say it is a symbol of the love that will remain in good times, and in sorrow; others say it symbolizes that as you go forward in life, so do you leave some things behind.
The permanence of the broken glass represents a permanent change in the lives of this couple, as well.
Just as glasses are broken and cannot ever be exactly the same as they once were, their lives will never be quite the same.
S and Casey, our wish for you today is that the innumerable pieces of the glass beneath your feet will be a reminder of the innumerable ways you will love each other in the years to come.
And now, by the authority given unto me by the laws of the State of California, as an ordained minister, I pronounce you husband and wife.
S, you may now kiss your bride.
May God bless you and keep you, cause his face to shine upon you, now, and for the rest of your lives together.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. S and Casey!
Next? We dance back down the aisle as husband and wife and a few bathroom touch-ups.
Wanna catch up? First my lovely bridesmaids showered me with love, then we headed to Palms Springs for a bachelorette weekend! Bridesmaid Kindergarten Teacher shared her birthday with us for our rehearsal dinner, and two days later we got an early wake up call on our wedding day! The boys got to sleep in before they got ready, and I (thank goodness!) managed to squeeze my booty into my wedding dress. Handsome Husband and I saw each other for the first time on our wedding day, followed by bridal portraits, photos with my ladies, and photos with HH and his best buddies. HH and I took some romantic portraits with one another, and then some pictures with our entire wedding party gaggle. We kicked off the ceremony with everyone makin' their way down the aisle.