![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfie_chanAlex and I went to a wedding today—our last wedding of the year.
Weddings tend to make me think. Of course, my wedding made me babble incoherently, but that’s pretty normal. My brain was focusing on other things, like “Don’t lock your knees! You’ll faint, and then you’ll fall over and all your foofy underthings will show because your hoopskirts will hold up everything like a giant framework of silky doom!” You know, important stuff like that. But other people’s weddings make me think.
Today’s wedding was brought to us by Joe and Ashley, two very spiffy friends of ours. Alex and I have known them for at least as long as we’ve known each other. It was wonderful to watch them stand up together and declare their intention to love and cherish each other. Barry (the pastor) said some very cool things about how marriage should be—two people who love each other and sacrifice for each other. Marriage is a two-way street.
Barry’s words made me step back and examine my own marriage. Admittedly, we’ve only been married for a little over nine months now (nine months! We’re three months away from one year!), but I still looked back over those nine months in my mind, wondering, Am I a good wife? Have I been showing my love to Alex as much as I need to? He seems satisfied, but I made a promise to myself in my heart, repeating Joe and Ashley’s vows along with them and reaffirming the promise that I made to Alex nine months ago. I think it was an important thing to do. I love him with all my heart, and I want to make sure that he knows it.
Alex is the most wonderful husband in the world, and I hope that Joe and Ashley (and all the other people whose weddings we attended or heard about this year and the previous years, hello,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
haddassah and brightshadowsky!) have marriages that are as filled with wonder and love as mine is. Today’s wedding made me think about weddings in general—weddings are wonderful things, but it’s the marriage that is most important. It’s the little, everyday things that matter the most, tiny gestures that might go unnoticed, and yet are the most important of all. For instance, on our way back from San Francisco, we stayed at a hotel. We got a 6:00 am wake-up call, as our flight was leaving at 8:40. I don’t wake up very well, especially at that time of the morning. By the time I had blearily wiped the sleep out of my eyes and was sitting up in bed, Alex was there with my vitamins and a cup of hot tea. I cannot express how much I appreciated that. I wish I could think of something equally wonderful to do for him—maybe I’ll clean the house. Heh.
Our wedding was wonderful, but a lot of it was a blur for me. I imagine that Ashley and Joe felt the same way. However, as they go through life, they’ll have little moments like that, little gestures of affection, that will stick in their minds for years and years. I hope they have lots of them.
Okay, that was my thoughtful essay-thingy for today. Now, the Christmas Update.
First of all: For my friends who have not yet received their Christmas presents, they are coming shortly. We were, unfortunately, not able to deliver all of them before we had to go down to San Francisco on December 23.
Secondly: Lin, I got your Gaia prezzie...I chose the Angel Scarf. Thank you so much! Also, did everybody on Gaia get a Santa hat, or were those bought for people? I'm just wondering where mine came from! ^_^;;
For me, Christmas started on December 23, when Alex and I went over to my parents' house to celebrate Christmas with them before heading down to San Francisco. It was fun and helped me miss my family a little less on Christmas Day (more on that anon). We did a lot of the traditional things--hanging out, talking, and opening presents, of course. Alex and I also filled stockings for each other that morning and opened them up.
Stocking Loot:
-a pretty purple necklace with fleur-de-lis on it
-a remote-control Mini Cooper S (wai!)
-PS2 Game: Pirates: Legend of Black Kat (DOUBLE wai!)
-3 T-shirts: "PH34R the Cute Ones," "I.A.C." (I Am Cute), and "I *heart* My Geek"
Filling Alex's stocking was all kinds of fun, because it mystified him.
Alex's Stocking Loot:
-a set of small wood-turning tools
-PS2 Game: Simpson's Road Rage (actually a fun game, and not as violent as one might think)
-a small selection of "pen blanks," blocks of wood for turning
-a remote-control Subaru
-a tiny pewter globe, maybe 1/2 inch in diameter (I wanted to give him the world)
Following stockings, we skipped breakfast (I slept in, of course) and grabbed lunch on our way to my parents' house. Once there, we chatted, made tea, etcetera. It was a really nifty time with family. We also opened prezzies!
I will not, however, list them, because I grow tired of listing loot. Suffice it to say that I got a lot of what I wanted, and it made me very happy. (One of my prezzies was Sons of Somerled by Steve McDonald, which I am listening to right now. Go, dramatic Scottish music! Woo!) Alex and I also received many happy presents from our friends, including a CD holder shaped like a London telephone booth and containing tea, chocolate, and lots of other extremely nifty stuff. Thank you, everyone! *snugs everybody* I, of course, have not finished giving out Christmas presents, but I digress.
I will say that Alex’s present to me was the height of romantic: It was a dip pen set that I’ve been drooling over for at least a year—three dip pens (two wooden with interchangeable nibs, and one glass), five colors of ink, three seals, sealing wax, an alcohol lamp for melting the wax, etcetera. Bliss! Alex was very happy about his present, too: a mini-lathe that he can use at home and set up anywhere. Joy!
These tools may not seem very romantic to you, but they definitely represented our love for each other. Heh.
The day after all this festivity, Alex and I got on a plane and flew down to San Francisco with his mother, who carried almost the entire Christmas feast in her luggage. We’re talking pasta sauce, roasted meat, the whole shebang. Of course, it was all insulated and/or frozen, but still. I was amused and delighted—all this preparation meant that Rosaria (Alex’s mom) would have a lot less cooking to do once we got there.
We arrived in San Francisco and were picked up at the airport by Andy (Marina’s husband) and his dad. Oh, and the dog, Sadie. Then we all drove out to this guest house thingy in the Napa valley. That was all kinds of fun, as it was dark and rainy, the wipers on the windows didn’t work very well, and I fell asleep when I was supposed to be navigating. Ah, well. I woke up for the important part. I slept a lot that day—in the car, on the plane, and on the couch once we got to the guest house. So tired…
So, that day was pretty lazy. Of course, it was Christmas Eve, so we all opened presents (as Alex’s family’s tradition dictates). That was much fun…Alex’s dad got a Santa suit as one of his presents, from Marina and Andy. *grins* Again, I shall not list loot. I’m far too lazy to do so. Alex’s dad went to bed right after the presents—he was even more exhausted than I was.
I spent the next two days in a place with no internet access, where I was forced to put together puzzles and drink spiced cider and watch James Bond movies and bond with my husband's family. THE HORROR! ^_~
Heh. Actually, it was much fun. “Spike TV” was having a 007 marathon, so we watched a couple of those movies. We also watched Lawrence of Arabia. That was a long, strange film.
Having finished with the Christmas festivities, we drove back to San Francisco and stayed in a hotel for the night, as we would be leaving early the next day (see tea incident above). Alex and I stayed up a bit later than we intended, as there was a really cool thing on the History Channel called “Banned from the Bible” about all these books that didn’t make it into our Bible, and why. Unfortunately, sleep claimed us before the episode was over—I’m hoping that we’ll be able to order it on DVD or something. It was quite fascinating.
And that’s really it for the Christmas Update. Fun was had by all, even though it was strange to be away from my family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I missed the candlelight service, which is a bummer. I hope we don’t have to miss that next year.
I also realized that there wasn’t a lot of Jesus in my Christmas this year. I kept thinking about Him, but my family usually reads the Christmas story on Christmas Day, or at least discusses it, and Alex’s family isn’t into that kind of thing. Oh, well. It was…different. Still good, but different.
And that’s quite enough for tonight. I may post my thoughts on Christmas in general another time, when I feel like rambling. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Joyous Solstice to all, even if it’s a bit belated. I love you all!
Weddings tend to make me think. Of course, my wedding made me babble incoherently, but that’s pretty normal. My brain was focusing on other things, like “Don’t lock your knees! You’ll faint, and then you’ll fall over and all your foofy underthings will show because your hoopskirts will hold up everything like a giant framework of silky doom!” You know, important stuff like that. But other people’s weddings make me think.
Today’s wedding was brought to us by Joe and Ashley, two very spiffy friends of ours. Alex and I have known them for at least as long as we’ve known each other. It was wonderful to watch them stand up together and declare their intention to love and cherish each other. Barry (the pastor) said some very cool things about how marriage should be—two people who love each other and sacrifice for each other. Marriage is a two-way street.
Barry’s words made me step back and examine my own marriage. Admittedly, we’ve only been married for a little over nine months now (nine months! We’re three months away from one year!), but I still looked back over those nine months in my mind, wondering, Am I a good wife? Have I been showing my love to Alex as much as I need to? He seems satisfied, but I made a promise to myself in my heart, repeating Joe and Ashley’s vows along with them and reaffirming the promise that I made to Alex nine months ago. I think it was an important thing to do. I love him with all my heart, and I want to make sure that he knows it.
Alex is the most wonderful husband in the world, and I hope that Joe and Ashley (and all the other people whose weddings we attended or heard about this year and the previous years, hello,
haddassah and brightshadowsky!) have marriages that are as filled with wonder and love as mine is. Today’s wedding made me think about weddings in general—weddings are wonderful things, but it’s the marriage that is most important. It’s the little, everyday things that matter the most, tiny gestures that might go unnoticed, and yet are the most important of all. For instance, on our way back from San Francisco, we stayed at a hotel. We got a 6:00 am wake-up call, as our flight was leaving at 8:40. I don’t wake up very well, especially at that time of the morning. By the time I had blearily wiped the sleep out of my eyes and was sitting up in bed, Alex was there with my vitamins and a cup of hot tea. I cannot express how much I appreciated that. I wish I could think of something equally wonderful to do for him—maybe I’ll clean the house. Heh.Our wedding was wonderful, but a lot of it was a blur for me. I imagine that Ashley and Joe felt the same way. However, as they go through life, they’ll have little moments like that, little gestures of affection, that will stick in their minds for years and years. I hope they have lots of them.
Okay, that was my thoughtful essay-thingy for today. Now, the Christmas Update.
First of all: For my friends who have not yet received their Christmas presents, they are coming shortly. We were, unfortunately, not able to deliver all of them before we had to go down to San Francisco on December 23.
Secondly: Lin, I got your Gaia prezzie...I chose the Angel Scarf. Thank you so much! Also, did everybody on Gaia get a Santa hat, or were those bought for people? I'm just wondering where mine came from! ^_^;;
For me, Christmas started on December 23, when Alex and I went over to my parents' house to celebrate Christmas with them before heading down to San Francisco. It was fun and helped me miss my family a little less on Christmas Day (more on that anon). We did a lot of the traditional things--hanging out, talking, and opening presents, of course. Alex and I also filled stockings for each other that morning and opened them up.
Stocking Loot:
-a pretty purple necklace with fleur-de-lis on it
-a remote-control Mini Cooper S (wai!)
-PS2 Game: Pirates: Legend of Black Kat (DOUBLE wai!)
-3 T-shirts: "PH34R the Cute Ones," "I.A.C." (I Am Cute), and "I *heart* My Geek"
Filling Alex's stocking was all kinds of fun, because it mystified him.
Alex's Stocking Loot:
-a set of small wood-turning tools
-PS2 Game: Simpson's Road Rage (actually a fun game, and not as violent as one might think)
-a small selection of "pen blanks," blocks of wood for turning
-a remote-control Subaru
-a tiny pewter globe, maybe 1/2 inch in diameter (I wanted to give him the world)
Following stockings, we skipped breakfast (I slept in, of course) and grabbed lunch on our way to my parents' house. Once there, we chatted, made tea, etcetera. It was a really nifty time with family. We also opened prezzies!
I will not, however, list them, because I grow tired of listing loot. Suffice it to say that I got a lot of what I wanted, and it made me very happy. (One of my prezzies was Sons of Somerled by Steve McDonald, which I am listening to right now. Go, dramatic Scottish music! Woo!) Alex and I also received many happy presents from our friends, including a CD holder shaped like a London telephone booth and containing tea, chocolate, and lots of other extremely nifty stuff. Thank you, everyone! *snugs everybody* I, of course, have not finished giving out Christmas presents, but I digress.
I will say that Alex’s present to me was the height of romantic: It was a dip pen set that I’ve been drooling over for at least a year—three dip pens (two wooden with interchangeable nibs, and one glass), five colors of ink, three seals, sealing wax, an alcohol lamp for melting the wax, etcetera. Bliss! Alex was very happy about his present, too: a mini-lathe that he can use at home and set up anywhere. Joy!
These tools may not seem very romantic to you, but they definitely represented our love for each other. Heh.
The day after all this festivity, Alex and I got on a plane and flew down to San Francisco with his mother, who carried almost the entire Christmas feast in her luggage. We’re talking pasta sauce, roasted meat, the whole shebang. Of course, it was all insulated and/or frozen, but still. I was amused and delighted—all this preparation meant that Rosaria (Alex’s mom) would have a lot less cooking to do once we got there.
We arrived in San Francisco and were picked up at the airport by Andy (Marina’s husband) and his dad. Oh, and the dog, Sadie. Then we all drove out to this guest house thingy in the Napa valley. That was all kinds of fun, as it was dark and rainy, the wipers on the windows didn’t work very well, and I fell asleep when I was supposed to be navigating. Ah, well. I woke up for the important part. I slept a lot that day—in the car, on the plane, and on the couch once we got to the guest house. So tired…
So, that day was pretty lazy. Of course, it was Christmas Eve, so we all opened presents (as Alex’s family’s tradition dictates). That was much fun…Alex’s dad got a Santa suit as one of his presents, from Marina and Andy. *grins* Again, I shall not list loot. I’m far too lazy to do so. Alex’s dad went to bed right after the presents—he was even more exhausted than I was.
I spent the next two days in a place with no internet access, where I was forced to put together puzzles and drink spiced cider and watch James Bond movies and bond with my husband's family. THE HORROR! ^_~
Heh. Actually, it was much fun. “Spike TV” was having a 007 marathon, so we watched a couple of those movies. We also watched Lawrence of Arabia. That was a long, strange film.
Having finished with the Christmas festivities, we drove back to San Francisco and stayed in a hotel for the night, as we would be leaving early the next day (see tea incident above). Alex and I stayed up a bit later than we intended, as there was a really cool thing on the History Channel called “Banned from the Bible” about all these books that didn’t make it into our Bible, and why. Unfortunately, sleep claimed us before the episode was over—I’m hoping that we’ll be able to order it on DVD or something. It was quite fascinating.
And that’s really it for the Christmas Update. Fun was had by all, even though it was strange to be away from my family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I missed the candlelight service, which is a bummer. I hope we don’t have to miss that next year.
I also realized that there wasn’t a lot of Jesus in my Christmas this year. I kept thinking about Him, but my family usually reads the Christmas story on Christmas Day, or at least discusses it, and Alex’s family isn’t into that kind of thing. Oh, well. It was…different. Still good, but different.
And that’s quite enough for tonight. I may post my thoughts on Christmas in general another time, when I feel like rambling. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Joyous Solstice to all, even if it’s a bit belated. I love you all!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
anniversaries
Date: 2003-12-27 11:07 pm (UTC)Re: anniversaries
Date: 2003-12-27 11:17 pm (UTC)*snugs Tabby* Meh. I miss you horribly. I think I need to convince Alex that we need to take a trip to Portland--I haven't seen you in absolutely ages. ;_;
And I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and Chanukah and everything else! *snugsnugs*
and one more thing
Date: 2003-12-27 11:13 pm (UTC)Re: and one more thing
Date: 2003-12-27 11:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-28 01:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-28 06:50 am (UTC)you're up early!
Date: 2003-12-28 07:07 am (UTC)Wow, sounds like you were busier then I first thought from what you were telling at church yesterday. Also sounds like you had fun. Dustin and I are almost at our 2 year (yikes, where HAS the time gone????) anniversarie, it is both very natural and very strange for me.
As for Christmas traditions, we don't have any ourselves as yet, and are working on figuring some out for the two of us. Not as easy as one might think, but then, we have our whole lives together to work on it right ;-)
You did miss a very nice service (you should ask Pat Cole for the story she read that night, it was very good indeed, I'm sure both you and Alex would love it too). Hopefully we'll all be there next year.
By the way, if I hadn't made it clear before (hehehe) THANK YOU for the prezzie you gave me, it is truly awesome, I use it all the time! I'm very thrilled with it. :-)
I know what you mean by the way, about weddings making you think. i had some of those same thoughts go through my mind (did with yours as well, and Tami's). Every time I attend one I stop and think, and I go over things with my own marriage. I know I'm not the best wife I can be, but I'm trying. So every time I am at a wedding and hear the words of Barry (or who ever is performing the ceremony), I stop and think and make new .. what's the word.. not promises.. oh shoot I forget.. you know.. the things you do on New Years Eve for the next year....?????Help! My words have abandoned me!.. You know what I mean I'm pretty sure.
Hey, if you get that show on DVD, I'd love to see it, it sounds interesting! As you know I couldn't see it, as we no longer have TV, but funnily enough we have the TV on more now then before, because we're watching the stuff you guys lent us (gah! too much anime! Must watch something else! *shakes fist at husband*)
Anyway, I think this is enough for now. I'm glad you updated, it's always cool to read your LJ's. :-)
See you at church later.
karin
Re: you're up early!
Date: 2003-12-29 10:10 am (UTC)