Bitter and Sweet in the Hodgepodge

Once more, Joyce has given us seven questions to ponder and answer. Click the cute button above if you don't know what I'm talking about. And please join in; we love company. 

1. What's the first image that comes to mind when you hear the word 'spring'? Which phrase

 best describes the season of spring where you live right now (today)-sprung! almost there, 

or still waiting?

First image that comes to my mind when I hear the word "spring" would be robins, then crocuses, daffodils, and tulips, in that order.   But daffodils make my mind "spring back" (not forward!) to the day I gave birth to my first child.  In a couple weeks, he will be 27 years old.

Where we live, I do believe that spring sprang yesterday. Even though there are still patches of snow everywhere, the birds are declaring that spring has arrived. 

2. Bed, couch, stapler, garage door, computer mouse, recliner, flashlight, door knob...which

 household item containing springs most needs replacing in your home? Speaking of 

springs...did you ever own a Slinky?

Garage door needs replacing.  Yes, I owned a Slinky. I remember watching it 

crawl down our long, wooden staircase in the parsonage when I was 9 years 

old. Very cool toy. 

3. March is Women's History Month. Share a favorite quote by a woman.

This woman and I share a birthday: 

4. What's a question that looms large in your mind right now?

The question that looms largest is so close to my heart that I can't even write it in on paper, let alone here on the internet.  

So I'll give you the one that's looming large but doesn't choke me up.  "What can I be doing to love Jesus more?"

5. Are you a sugar freak? By that I mean how much do you love sugar? With all 

the bad press sugar gets these days, have you made any efforts to reduce the 

amount of sugar you consume?

I am definitely a sugar freak and have made no real efforts lately to reduce my intake. 



6. Would you rather have less work to do or more work you enjoy doing?

The latter.  Vocationally I would gladly take on more tutoring students.  I love teaching.  Avocationally, I have enough quilts in my head to keep me busy till I die. 

7. Ever been to Texas? Of the top ten Texas tourist attractions which would you most like to 

see-The Alamo, The San Antonio River Walk, The State Capital, Dallas World Aquarium,

 Padre Island National Seashore, Houston Space Center, Schlitterbahn Waterpark in New 

Braunfels, Six Flags Fiesta Texas,  Moody Gardens, or Galveston Island?

As a matter of fact, my older sister lives in New Braunfels, so I have been to Texas. Unfortunately, the week we were there in September of 1999, I was having my second miscarriage, so my memories are all bittersweet. I have been to most of those places, and all are associated with both beauty and loss. The Alamo--I couldn't concentrate on the placards; I was holding back tears. The River Walk? Beautiful, but I had to stop often to rest. Padre Island was good for my soul--to be near the God who loved me even though He was taking my baby back to Himself before I was ready.  Six Flags? Umm, I mostly sat while waiting for Paul and the kids to ride the rides. We went to Schlitterbahn and that was somewhat of a good distraction to me, but there were babies and strollers everywhere; that was hard.   To tell you how time flies, my nephew is now a lifeguard at Schlitterbahn in the summer. 

Sorry to get all melancholy on you, but this is where the Hodgepodge sometimes takes us when we least expect it, right? 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

As I'm writing this, it's Tuesday, March 10th.  My first son, Ben,  and daughter-in-law, Deirdra,  have been married three years today.   Gosh, three years. Seems like three months ago that I was blogging about their wedding.   

 They have a sweet marriage; we are the richer for having Deirdra in our family. 

Monogram Pillow, Envelope Style, in 8 Easy Steps

One of my hubby's nephews will be getting married soon. I'm 99.9% sure that he and his fiancee' 

don't read my blog (few family members do) so I think I can safely 

show the inspiration for a pillow set I'm making for them.

Here's the fabric I bought to coordinate with their bedding.

 I made a monogrammed pillow and gave it at their shower.

Here's the front.  It's 16x16" square.

The 8 Easy Steps: 

1.  I watched a youtube tutorial by Crafty Gemini on how to make an envelope pillow.
2.  I made it more complicated by making a custom design (variation on log cabin quilt block, really).
3. I cut the pieces according to my design.
4.  I machine-appliqued the chocolate letter Z on with a zigzag stitch and smoky blue thread.
5. I sewed on the top and bottom smoky blue pieces, then the sides.
6.  I attached the white border in like fashion. Every bride needs some white in her linens, right?
7.  I added the focus fabric to frame it.

8.  I finished the back according to the Crafty Gemini tutorial. 

 I am in love with this fabric--"Flutter", by Alex Andersen.

When the other pillows are finished entirely, I'll show them.

  In fact, my daughter said she loves the fabric and could "decorate a whole house in it."

Hint, hint, perhaps?

So that's one more project that took some time in late July to deliver in early August.

The "First Look" Pictures

The wedding would begin at 1:00, but most of the pictures were taken outdoors from 10-12 a.m. The purpose of this was two-fold: to minimize the time guests would have to wait at the reception while formal photos were being taken, and --most importantly--to allow the groom to get his first look at his bride.

When the idea of "first look" pictures was first presented to me, I balked. I'm old-fashioned. Traditional. He shouldn't see her in her gown before she came down the aisle, right? Well, my sister-in-law convinced me that this way of having the "first look" is far better because the groom gets to really take in all her beauty and not be rushed to turn to the minister after a quick fifteen seconds of her walk
down the aisle.

It still took me a while to get over myself and
my traditionalist mindset, but then it made perfect sense. When I really pondered it, I realized that the people closest to Ben and Dee would get to see their faces up close when they first saw each other. We wouldn't miss that. We might even get to hear his reaction. And she would get to be in his loving arms for a good while before the crowd came around. The other advantage is having all that wonderful natural lighting to work with. Nothing beats the great outdoors
for making people look their best.

Even though it was a chilly morning, the sun was shining and the
air was electric with joy and eager anticipation. These first few shots
show how we all dealt with our nerves and emotions.















Ben finds something
to toss.














Joel wrangles his
blasted tux.













And does that thing
with his lips.







Some use their
hands to tell stories.

Others fold them
in SBA (Standard But
Awkward) man fashion.

Some shove them
in their pockets.






Some point, and most
pay attention to the
pointing.













Men in black
stand poised.
Ladies in pink
fuss with their
shawls and
flowers, trying
to keep warm
while waiting
for the bride
to show up.





Some cozy up
to each other, intensely
happy that this day has
finally come for their
precious 23-year-old
son. The wife asks her
husband, "Has it hit you yet?"
and he admits, "Yeah. A couple days
ago. I was sitting in my office
thinking...remembering stuff over the years." She asks
if he cried. "Kind of. Not like
you do, but y'know...." And yes,
she does know. She knows that he would have shut his office door to let the tears come and to blow his nose. And if anyone had asked,
he would've blamed the red eyes and sniffles on allergies. They wouldn't have believed him because his lips don't quiver when it's just allergies.

















"Dad, I'm not
cold, but my hands
are."

"Well, then, put
them in your pockets."

"Nah, then they'll be
too warm. I hate to be too warm!
Remember I have warma-
phobia?!? I 'll just do this with
the sleeves."

Hey, look! She's here!

Her mom is holding
her veil (the veil she
made because Dee wanted
one that was longer than
her train). The wedding
coordinator is giving last
minute instructions to
Uncle Ron. So is Dee. "Don't
let me fall!" (I don't think a
man of his rank and stature
is going to let that happen to
his niece.)


The groom's mother, seeing this
vision in white loveliness from afar, can't hold back the tears. She squeezes
the father's arm and looks up at
his face. "You're crying, too!" she
says with a giggle. "No, I'm not,"
he says. "It's the allergies again."
Quivering-lip liar. Can't fool me.




Meanwhile, the little brother
fidgets.



Can't wait to get this
over with. These
stupid pants won't
stay up.







All bachelors here except for
the bearded redhead wearing sunglasses. He gets the
credit for matchmaking.
In April of 2010, he invited
Ben to a birthday party for
his wife and her twin sister.
Just come along for the ride.
I'm not trying to set you up or
anything, bro.





Hey, she's coming!
Her mom was watching
Deirdra. Her sister was
watching Ben. Sarah and
Jillian were complaining
about having their hair falling.
The flowergirls were gaga
over the princess coming toward
them.
































The wait is almost over!














































































































































































































































First look photos. I'm a believer.

------------------------------------------------------

All photos courtesy of Ambrey Zaun, friend of the family. The professional was Craig Schulte
of Salex Photography in New Jersey. (You can find a beautiful shot of Ben and Dee on his website.)

The Wedding Ceremony

Pretty dresses, pretty hair,
Pretty flowers here and there.
Pretty girls, smiling wide,
Prettiest of all, though, is the bride.

















Joel tried not to make eye contact with a single soul.


















Here come the tears. I never knew I looked so silly when I'm on the verge of crying.

















Dee's precious Uncle Ron walked her down and aisle.


































Her veil got a bit stuck as her uncle lifted it to kiss her, and there was a cute, awkward laugh in the house.

The minister spoke about
how this wedding marks
both the end and the beginning.
The end of the waiting,
the longing, the tearful
goodbyes on Sunday nights,
the end of being
incomplete without each
other.

And the beginning of a new life, new memories, new traditions,
new sacrifices, new joys. (Of course I was thinking, "And please, Lord, if you will, many new grandbabies.")





The beginning of being complete.



Ben and Dee read sweet words that they'd written for each other. When he started out, "Little One, I've always prayed for a godly, sweet, beautiful woman to be my wife..." he choked up, and I choked up, and she wiped a tear or thirty. His heartfelt eloquence moved us deeply. The love and passion he has for this woman! It so much felt to me like Jesus speaking to me. To each of his beloved. God has written His love letter to those of us whom He has chosen as His own and for whom He paid the greatest price for the joy set before Him!

Never before has a wedding moved me so symbolically as this one, because I was privy to the pain and suffering they went through in the waiting and separation, and the acts of kindness and bright-eyed enthusiasm and gratitude they oozed when together. We watched him plan for their future. With a lot of prayer and counsel, Ben planned his steps toward marriage once he knew he loved her. 1. Finish college. 2. Get a job that will support a family. 3. Ask her mom for Dee's hand in marriage. 4. Buy the prettiest, most valuable ring he could afford. (This took almost 2 years of saving.) 5. Propose to her when she least expected it, but in a romantic setting. 6. Leave father and mother (aka move out of their house!) 7. Support himself in his own place, preparing it for her. 8. Save up vacation time for a tropical weeklong honeymoon plus an additional week for setting up house together. 9. Show up for the wedding (at times was quite tempted to elope, believe me, and skip all the stress imposed by "all the women" involved, and 10. Cleave to his wife. (He likes the cleavage part, I'm sure.) Live happily ever after starting March 10th.





I, Deirdra, take you, Benjamin, to be my lawfully wedded husband, in sunshine and shadow...













































Unity sand. (They couldn't have candles in the old, old church.)
The song being sung during this part was "Great is Thy Faithfulness."


















Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in public, I present to you

Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Paul Zubrowski.







"Yes! Finally! We made it! We did it! Woo-hoo, baby!"

That indescribable feeling of finally being united after 23 months of traveling back and forth from Maryland to New Jersey to see each other for weekends. Oh, there awas the occasional spring break or Christmas break, but the aching to spend every day together was becoming almost like grief. Their wedding really and truly reminded me of the feeling we have to look forward to, as believers, the Bride of Christ, when we finally shed the shackles of earth and this mortal body, getting rid of miles and miles of sin, so to speak, and in the arms of our Bridegroom. Joy forevermore!









And now, let's eat, drink, and be merry!

Siobhan, Dee's twin sister, and Stephen, Ben's younger brother.























Katie and Dan.






















Ben's friend, Ben, and Dee's friend Melissa.
Did I mention there was a third Ben, the minister?






















Our Sarah with Ben's friend Sam.






















This beautiful red velvet cake is not covered in fondant. Amazing! Smooth and creamy. Dee's friend's mother made it.






















Luke, Ben's friend and teammate for several sports since childhood, walked with Kerry, Dee's friend. My brother-in-law Jay ran video, which I can't wait to see!






















It looks like I'm strutting my "I'm all that" stuff,
but honestly ,I was just really
happy and also trying not to lose my left shoe.























Give Steve a mic and he is in.his.element. He can't resist telling stories on his kinfolk. When sisters give toasts,
they give toasts, but when
brothers give toasts, they give roasts.

He poked fun at their Facebook countdowns.
"Dee's status: Only 83 more days till I get to
marry the man of my dreams! I love you, Baby!"
"Ben's status: Enough lies from the White House!
Go Ron Paul!"

He poked fun at Ben's youthful
folly that often landed him in the ER.

He poked fun of my waddle when eight months pregnant, trying to rescue Ben from a snowboarding-in-our-backyard accident. (Steve did some action that resembled a penguin trying to waddle his way out of a wedgie.) We laughed till we cried. And we celebrated that decisiveness and eager determination in Ben when it came time for him to woo and wed his gorgeous bride. Besides putting his faith in Jesus Christ at a very early age (just before his naptime, I still remember that day) the best decision that Ben has made was to say "I do" to
this prize of a young woman.


More pictures coming. Beautiful outdoor shots taken of his "first look" at her before the wedding. You don't want to miss them.