Happy Birthday, Karis

I wanted to give a shoutout to Karis as it is her birthday today. So...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KARIS!!!!! (By the way Karis, this was Tim's idea. I had too much time on my hands today at school while my kids were working on their Stanford achievement tests, and this was his suggestion. So, I decided that this would be a good topic to blog on!!)

N-way, Karis is the greatest sister. I know that she was my 2nd mother and helped me out very much growing up. She has become one of my best friends. We have made many memories together. Let's stroll down some of them...telling me stories when we shared a room so I would probably get quiet and stop bugging her (I love those cabin stories!), always wanting to hang out with her and her friends at church (how annoying I was!), thrifts shops in Hiawatha, St. Joe, and of course here in VA (long elastic skirts!!), living with you and Dan a year, playing cards, singing, laughing, etc. The list could go and on. You have been a godly example. You have always been there for me to encourage and guide me in the right direction. I really appreciate you. I love you!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

The Bond between a man and an Elephant

In 1986, Mkele Mbembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University. On a hike through the bush, He came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in The air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Mbembe approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot, and found a large piece of wood in it. As Carefully and as gently as he could, Mbembe worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down it's foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Mbembe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Mbembe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day. Twenty years later, Mbemb was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son Tapu were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Mbembe, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The Elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man. Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant. Mbembe summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped it's trunk around one of Mbembe's legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him Instantly.

Probably wasn't the same elephant.

MY FIRST BLOG ATTEMPT!

I am going to write my first post. I hopefully will surprise Tim that I am actually blogging. Of course, I have to post my first blog about our wedding!!! We have 96 days until the BIG DAY!!! Last Thursday, we hit the 100 day mark. I took lunch to Tim at work, and he surprised me with roses. They were beautiful!! (What a great guy!) It is great to be in double digits finally!! We started the countdown at 217 days. That seems like a lot of days looking at it, but the days have really flown by though so that has been nice. I guess I should probably start feeling the pressure of the wedding and all the things that need to be done now. I have a lot of help with this wedding which is a very good thing for me. (Thanks to all who are helping me so much!) I am going to attempt to add a picture to this post. We'll see how it goes.

To Kilt or not to Kilt

So I was thinking what would make this wedding truly unique and fun for everyone....and since midgets, pyrotechnics, a fog machine and some lasers are out of the question, the next logical thing is a Kilt. Picture it four men in Kilts at the front of church, nothing says "manly man" more than a kilt. And since we would be wearing kilts then there would have to be a caber toss at the reception (as long as its not too windy of course). I mean there could be cabers of all sizes to accommodate the kids and elderly. Now if that isn't a wedding that everyone would enjoy I don't know what is! But then maybe that is why Kristen is in charge of all the wedding plans....100 days to go!

P.S. Is haggis a good reception food?

The countdown continues

Hey all,
Kristen and I wanted to enter the world of blogging to keep in touch with everyone... Kristen wanted to start after the wedding but I ran into some free time at work and since I had a resident Blog expert (G-money) sitting beside me, here we are. Kristen and I are getting pretty excited since there are only 102 days 'till the "big day" which is EXCITING since we started out with over 150+ and we are coming up on double digits in the countdown!!
Here is a quote that captures how we feel about the countdown, "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible!"