how i planned your wedding

Invited by my mother, I went to Eagle Harbor Books on Bainbridge Island to hear Susan Wiggs and Elizabeth Wiggs Maas read from their new collaboration. As many of you know, I have always loved weddings. Every part of them from the engagement to the planning and execution. I have an especially fond love for capturing these most amazing events so that they can be reminisced over for years to come. So, even though I have been married for over 14 years and am not in any way planning a wedding I was excited to go and hear the perspectives of this mother and daughter as they planned Elizabeth's wedding. At the time of the reading I had only heard excerpts from the book that my mother had read to me as I had not myself purchased the book yet. Since that time, I have acquired the book and read it in its entirety.

How I Planned Your Wedding is a exceptionally well written fun read. You get to hear Elizabeth's voice and Susan's voice as they encounter the many areas a bride unfolds during the process of planning her wedding. Hearing both the perspective of the bride and that of the mother of the bride adds a new dimension to this book that I believe will be well received. It reads like a story, but is filled with all the great information a bride is looking for as if told to her by her best friend. Oh, and it is hilarious.

*** I give this book a three star rating because it is very audience specific. If you are in the midst of planning a wedding, about to become engaged, or recently married you will love this book. I highly encourage you to pick it up either as a great tool as you embark upon the wedding industry or as a reminder of all that you went through while planning your wedding. The sneak peak we get as readers into the mother daughter relationship that is shared is wonderful.

the true and outstanding adventures of the hunt sisters

According to Merriam Webster, a sister is, first and foremost, a female who has one or both parents in common with another. Later in the lists of possible definitions Merriam also says that a sister could be a girl or woman regarded as a comrade. Curious, I then wondered what Merriam would say about a comrade. Turns out a comrade is an intimate friend or associate, see companion. So I did. Merriam informed me that a companion is one that accompanies another. Now I realize that for each and every word there are multiple definitions available and for these words I did read through the lists of possible definitions. But none of them embodied the definition of a sister more than Elisabeth Robinson's book 'The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters." The love hate relationship that surrounds all sisters. Whether you are yearning to be like your sister or struggling to be your own person, you have a deep rooted relationship with this person. A relationship so rooted that if something devastating were to happen to them, you would forget about everything and give up everything to be by there side.

In this wonderful, easy to read novel, Robinson takes you on an adventure many sisters hope to never have to see. Written as a series of letters from the perspective of the older sister (starting the year of her sister's birth and then picking up 20 years later) the novel chronicles their lives as Maddie fights a fight of all fights, leukemia. It is a peak in on their relationship, reading Olivia's private thoughts as she pours them out onto paper in letters to her sister, mother, father, business partners, best friend, ex-boyfriend and lover.

**** I am going to give this book 4 stars. Kind of a high rating for a pretty simple novel and one that only took me a few days to read. I chose 4 stars for a couple reasons. First, I think the way the author chose to write the book, as a series of letters, really allowed you to get inside the relationships in the story. This is HUGE in a book that really is about one of the most magnificent of relationships that can exist. For those that are sisters it was like a reality check and for those of you that aren't it is a clear glass window into what it is like. Second, as a sister myself, it was wonderful to put a literary picture to a relationship that is so hard to put into words. If you are a sister, pick up this book and get ready for the possibility of an overload of emotions. This is a great book to remind you how important it is to remind your sister you love her. Kristin, I love you!

two days is not enough

I want to know who's idea it was for the 5/2 split to a seven day week. Was any rational thought put into it? I realize a mother's work is never done but it is ludicrous to think that two days is enough to catch up on housework, go through your kids rooms to see what they have stashed in there throughout the week, do all the grocery shopping and meal prep for the upcoming week, wash and fold all the laundry, balance accounts and pay bills, help with the outdoor chores including stocking wood sheds, gardening, cleaning animal pens and the list goes on. This isn't even taking into account any time spent relaxing, rejuvenating, and getting refreshed for a new week.

This weekend definitely started off on a high note for me. I was naively optimistic on what could be accomplished and in all reality I should have known better. Saturday morning I woke up to two bouncing girls in fabulous spirits and decided to take advantage of that attitude and head outside to get some wood stacked while Robb was working. With an eager tone to my voice I told the girls we were going to have a great day, to get dressed and grab their coats and shoes because we were heading outside to surprise daddy by stacking some of the wood he had split the previous weekend. Out we headed. My youngest was quite excited for what she exclaimed was a helping adventure. My oldest started being excited but had not heeded my previous suggestions to bring a coat and therefore within minutes of being outside was "freezing" and demanding that she be allowed to go inside. I calmly informed her that was "not" going to happen and away I went stacking wood. All our neighbors know how she took that. As if the demands weren't enough, she insisted on screaming them at the top of her lungs in a dramatic exercise of her willpower. Again, ever so calmly, I explained to her that we were staying outside and I was bummed that she wasn't having any fun with us.

Obviously having missed the signs, after lunch the girls and I embarked upon the Bermuda Triangle of grocery stores (Costco, Wal-mart, Central Market). It was now my Ellie's turn to kick it into full gear and proceeded to see how patient I could be. Between waiting until we were at the back of Costco on a busy Saturday to exclaim that she "had to go potty right now" to the repetitive complaining that she didn't want to be in the cart nor did she want to walk while we were trying to make our way through Wal-mart. Three and a half hours later we finally pulled into our driveway. Now to unload all the groceries, get them put away, make casseroles for the freezer for the week and get dinner on. Oh, and I need to switch the laundry.

The weekend has come to a close and almost all the laundry is washed although not all of it is folded, there are bills that need paid, checking accounts to balance, tax documents to pull together and I would still love to steal away some time to read. This brings me all back to my original thought, who's idea was it for a 5/2 split to the seven day week?

the gravedigger's daughter

After many tough months working my way through this literary work, I can happily say I have finished. It has taken me a little while to wrap my head around what I actually thought of this book. Was it well written? Yes. Was it good enough to suggest to any of you? It really depends on what you are looking for in a book when you pick it up to read it.

This book follows the story & life of Rebecca Schwart. She is the youngest child in a family of 5 who escape a Nazi ridden Germany to arrive in the United States with high hopes. Many, if not all of these hopes are thrown aside year after year as tragedy after tragedy overtake this young girl. This book brought many tears to my eyes and I don't think there was any point where it brought a smile to my face. I was never able to rejoice with Rebecca as she was never really given anything to rejoice over. As an adult woman she continually struggles with her past and never seems to be truely happy although she does seem to achieve contentment with where her life ends up.

*** I give this novel 3 stars for literary genius alone. I find Joyce Carol Oates overly tragic and at times down right depressing. Would it have been too much to ask, to bring some true joy into this woman's life? That said, the ability to draw on history and establish a very true character was amazing. I do not doubt for an instant the truth in Rebecca's character. Ms. Oates' ability to establish her characters in a way that truely represents the psychological impact of the events in their life made this book a worthwhile read.

with us always

Here we are, in the middle of winter, and I find that I must continue to remind myself every day that God is in everything. He is in the fun, sun and glorious warmth of summer and yes, he is in the cold, wet, and cloudy skies of winter. He is everywhere, always and at all times.

a fabulous gift

Recently was given the opportunity to photograph a brand new little princess. My girls are 5 and 7. Seeing as it has been awhile since I have had a little infant in the house, each and every infant session is so special. Devany was a delight and her parents were wonderful. Thank you for asking me into your home to capture these fluid moments for you.

just around the corner

Christmas is just around the corner and with it approaching so quickly I have realized that I have left you all out in the cold. So many adventures these last few weeks from Thanksgiving extravaganzas to the ultimate Griswold family excursion to get our Christmas tree. It would take too long to share it all, but the adventure to procure our tree is one that I cannot go without sharing.

As many of you know, living in a small space in the past has encouraged us to step outside of the box when it came to setting up a Christmas tree and last year brought us to hanging our ornaments on cedar bows that we hung around our window. Robb and I loved it. However, our oldest child informed us that this year we "needed" to get a tree. Finally we succumbed, thinking that we could probably find a nice 3' tree at a local Christmas tree farm that would fit nicely in a small space but would allow them to have the tree they really wanted. We then made the fatal mistake of watching Christmas Vacation with our girls. Upon the conclusion of the film, our oldest declared "I want to get our tree like Clark's family." Ugh! "Really?" I asked with a wrinkle in my forehead, trying to persuade her with my facial expressions. She hung strong, exclaiming that she wanted to have "frozen eyeballs." We thought about this scenario and realized the decreased cost between a $5 permit and a $40 tree and decided, why not?

Those two words really are not quite as simple as they often seem. Why not? Well, looking back now, I can think of a lot of reasons why not. So lets begin.

After agreeing to hit the woods Griswold style looking for the perfect tree, we chose a date, invited the grandparents and waited. A day didn't go by that Olyvia wasn't asking "When are we getting the tree, Mom?" Finally the day came. We had chosen a Saturday with the plan to get up, have breakfast, get dressed and head out. No set time or schedule, just to play it moment to moment. Grandma and Papa showed up around 10am and we all loaded up into our truck and headed towards Jefferson County. We arrived at the ranger station in Quilcene and Olyvia took her $5 into the ranger station and purchased herself a Christmas tree permit. She was so proud and excited. I loved it. Leaving the ranger station we headed to Lord's Lake Loop Road, at least I think that is what it was called. Really all I know for sure is we were in the woods, driving on dirt roads. :)

After awhile we started to see snow on the ground on the sides of the road. I have to admit that got me a little excited. Started to feel like a real tree hunting expedition. We came to our first clearing and noticed that there were quite a few cars parked in that area looking for trees, plus it wasn't raining yet, so we decided to continue driving and looking for the next clearing. Driving . . . . driving . . . . driving . . . we came to a T in the road. Took a left only to turn around about 300 yards down that road and then head back the other direction. After about 15 minutes heading up this road, all the while gripping whatever I could get my hands on sure that at any moment our truck was going to pitch itself over the edge, sliding into the icy lake below, we came to a flat spot. There was about a 30 second time span between coming to a stop and deciding, after opening the doors, that there was no way on this good green earth we were getting out of the truck in this particular location. Heck, I am surprised the truck wasn't spinning around with the rate the wind was whipping between the trees. You could barely see 50 feet down the road as the snow was flying thick. We had driven into a blizzard. Hindsight tells me I should have let Olyvia out, frozen eyeballs would have been immediate. Probably a good thing I didn't though, not sure how that would have gone over.

Back down the road we headed, deciding we should just go back to the first clearing we saw and take our chances that the perfect tree was there. Grandma was sure it was there. I was already starting to loose my luster for the entire excursion. For my kiddos sake, however, I slapped on a smile and down the mountain we headed. 20 plus minutes later we are back at the original clearing, we park, get out and guess what? Yes, it is raining. Must be the perfect time to tromp around in the wet underbrush with a 5 and 7 year old to find the most magnificent tree.

All bundled up and ready to begin the search!

Lots of potty breaks were necessary for the little ones. Ah, the fun of helping a little one go to the bathroom in the woods on a 45 degree incline in underbrush while it is raining!

The clearing we stopped at is of course not flat and happens to lay on both sides of the road at a 45 plus degree angle. We decided to head down the hill and begin our trek to look for the perfect tree. I have already realized that I am going to have to abandon my idea of the perfectly symmetrical full and bushy tree for a more sparse tree. Grandma says that allows for the ornaments to be more properly displayed. We wouldn't want to hide the ornaments with branches. It would however be nice to have enough branches to hang the ornaments on in the first place. Just saying. At this point I am also realizing that I am starting to focus too much on the negative aspects of the many trees we are coming across so I start to focus more on the positive aspects. "Wow, that one looks great. It has branches."

Every tree we came to there was something. It would look great on one side but when we got around to the other, there was nothing, or the base of the tree and top of the tree were aligned while the middle represented a spaghetti noodle having just been thrown on the ceiling to test for doneness, or my very favorite were the ones that looked perfect and were over 15 feet tall. That should fit nicely in our 800 square feet. After 30 minutes of realizing that none of the trees were going to be perfect and that we just needed to pick one that would work, Robb found one that would do. Didn't seem to be too large while having what appeared to be a symmetrical branch layout. We were pretty happy with our choice and Robb chopped it down and drug it back up the 75 feet of incline necessary to get it back to the road where we parked. Ellie held the tree while we waited for Robb to run back to the truck and bring it to where we were at. Tree was loaded into the truck, wet coats were shred, heater was cranked and we all loaded back up for the drive home.

Proud hunter with his catch.

This probably should have been a sign for us that this tree was a little large, but we just figured "Eh, Ellie is small that is why the tree looks to big."

Finally warming up a bit as we entered back into Quilcene proper I turned around to say something to those in the back seat about where we should grab some lunch. Just as I did I watched our tree fly out of the back of the truck and slide along the road coming to a stop halfway in the lane and halfway on the side of the road just as a semi truck swerved out of the way missing it by inches. I calmly exclaim "Our tree just flew out the back of the truck in front of a semi. We should probably turn around and get it." Pulling to a quick stop on the side of the road, we wait for the semi to pass and then whip around to go and save our tree before the next car comes. Robb jumps out, going to save the tree and more securely affix it to our vehicle, while the rest of us realize that the "it will do" tree has exited our vehicle right in front of a Christmas Tree U-Cut Lot, as if a sign. We ignore the sign, load the tree back up and are off again. The tree has only suffered minor road rash.

After some lunch at Loggers Landing, we head home and Robb unloads the tree so that it can dry out before we put it into the house. He comes upstairs and exclaims that we may have to do some pruning on the tree. It won't even stand up all the way in our garage. He estimates it is over 10 feet tall and possibly 5 ft wide. Argh! It really did not seem that large when we were getting it. I mean, we didn't even have to dig the thing and it took him barely anytime at all to chop it down. What will we do? Deciding to address the issue tomorrow, as any lover of Scarlett O'Hara would, we decide to go Christmas shopping.

The next day we end up having to cut 4 ft off the bottom of the tree, 1.5 ft off the top of the tree, and prune in all the branches about 1 ft to get the tree to a manageable level that would fit into our house. We were successful and are now blessed with a most magnificent, although extremely sparse, tree. The memories were worth every minute of our wonderful adventure.