R+R

I am not talking about rest and relaxation here, but our friends Ryan and Renee who got married yesterday - yay! The wedding was beautiful and the reception was loads of fun. You really cannot ask for more. :)

Me and Kev

The guys - who would have thought that high school friendships could last so long.

Renee was absolutely stunning :o)

The gang

What a great night! I always get jealous at weddings about the honeymoon. R+R are off to Mexico and I am coveting their trip. lol.

Nostalgic Meg

It's been awhile. Mostly because life has been, well, life has been life. It is busy and whirling and it hurts and there are tears and it is not fair. Fun, eh?

So tonight I am taking a break from life in the here and now. I am going back to a simpler time when the biggest hurt in my life was a crush not knowing I existed and my angst over not being "cool." A time where a hug from my mom and hope of future "grown-upness" made things bearable.

Nostalgia #1 Claire's
Yes, Claire's, the store that sells all of the junky trinkety accessories. It seems I bought stuff there everytime I went to the mall back in the day. And tonight in my search for a chunky yellow necklace to go with my oh-so-cute black and white polka dot dress, I ended up there again. And I bought a necklace and a bracelet. I confess. I am 25 and I made a purchase at Claire's. Funny that I have not set a foot in that store in probably 8 or so years, yet it was the only store where I could find what I wanted - and all for under $10! Made me feel like I was in middle school again. Oh the joy that plastic accessories can bring.

Nostagia #2 Higher Ground
Did anyone watch this show? Best show EVER. Ok, maybe I am exaggerating, but I love it. It ran from January-June in 2000, and then it was cancelled. It was great. If you get a chance, you should check it out on YouTube. I stumbled across it there and just finished re-watching all of the episodes. It is your basic teen drama, but better. Ah, and Hayden Christensen is a fine looking man, so that doesn't hurt. It brings me back to senior year and working at DQ and staring the unknown of my future right in the face. Which brings me to...

Nostalgia #3 The Tuesday Night Music Club
My first CD. Sigh. So good. This brings me right back to 7th grade. Oh, middle school. So much drama and so many layers piled high on top of my soul so no one would see real me. Heck, I didn't even know who the real me was. Some of my fav songs EVER are on that CD, Run, Baby, Run and I Shall Believe. Seriously good stuff. Oh, and the tie in the Nostalgia #2: I Shall Believe is playing on the last episode of Higher Ground. So I promptly put the iPod on that album and listened to it (horribly singing along) all the way to the mall and back. Good times.

So, there you have it folks, Nostalgic Meg. Amazing how little things like this can put a smile on my face when there is snow falling outside and the past couple of days have seemed bleak. Thank God (really, I am thanking him here) for small blessings wrapped in the warm haze of memories.

Incandescently Happy

Lovely phrase, eh? I stole it from the screenwriter's of the 2005 version of P&P. It is nice to be incandescently happy once and a while and today was one of those days. The stars were aligned, glory shown down from heaven and for some reason the world was looking quite rosy from my vantage point.

Ever get those moments? Those glimpses where life is lovely and spinning and glittering like a merry-go-round whirring around and all you can do is sit back and enjoy the rush, the feel of the pulse in your neck, the breath escaping from your mouth proclaiming your vitality.

It never seems to last. I return to the land of cubicles and gray spring days. Of earth and mud and tears and questioning. But those glimpses fill up my chest and veins. They give me hope that there is more to life than this. They remind me that God has this whole world in his hands, spinning it 'round and 'round and 'round.

A Lovely Weekend

I've said it before and I am sure I will say it again: I love my friends. This weekend we went up North for a lil getaway at Fife Lake (thanks Marge and Abe!). We talked, played dominoes, ate cookies, watched movies, talked some more, went for a walk... it was great.

I forgot my camera, but Aletha posted pictures here.

I had so much fun I can almost forget that today is Sunday and tomorrow is back to work, almost.

(.)

Ok, not sure if any guys read this, but they may want to just pass over this one. Just giving you a fair warning!

. Such a harmless little punctuation mark, but as women it is so much more. Menstruation. On the rag. Aunt Flo's visit. TOM. I could go on. It has been our constant companion since adolesence.

I never much minded my period. It was annoying, yes, but I never had cramps or got sick or doubled over in pain from it. It was something I tolerated every 28 days before getting on with my life. It came. It went. Who cared.

Until I got married and had a reason for wanting it to come. Every month. Then suddenly this thing I had barely tolerated was something I, in a strange way, looked forward to. It was a symbol that I again could get on with my life - a magic 8 ball saying outlook good.

And now, for the second month in a row, my little marker of normalcy is 2 weeks late. And again I peed on a stick and was greeted with the blessed (-) negative. Whew. But again, I gotta wonder what the heck is up with my body. This little annoyance, this visitor is dearly missed. Somewhere along the way it got linked to health and feminity in my mind the same as glowing skin or breasts.

So now I wait (and go to visit the lovely doc) for the little pull and accompanying sigh that all is well and normal and good. When I can ask my uterus "Things back to normal now?" and get the answer I desire: As I see it, yes.

I've been tagged by Baa

Baa has tagged me.

I'm supposed to
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

Nearest to me is Feeling for Bones which is overdue and sitting out as a reminder to take it back!

The expression made his forehead wrinkle: it was the first time I ever considered him an old man. "What do I look like?" Callapher asked. "Like a child who's lost her stuffing," he replied.

Intrigued? You should read the book. It was a great read with some lovely prose. As a writer, it is one of those books that makes me jealous. And, I never have anyone to tag... I am so lame.

Back in the land of snow and ice

And I love it. Really. As much as I love the sun and warmth and baring skin that has not seen daylight in awhile, it is great to be back home. I got sooo excited when I could see my breath after getting off the plane (Kevin was not quite so amused).

Cali was great, don't get me wrong. We drove up the coast from San Diego to LA, stopping at our fav restaurant in La Jolla for breakfast - it is right on the water - AMAZING. Then we walked around the cove a bit and then headed back to the car to continue up the coast stopping at an outlet malls (yay for new clothes) and in Laguna Beach for a walk on the beach.

Brockton Villa Restaurant, great views and yummy french toast.

We finally made it to LA and headed to the Pistons/Clippers game. Our seats were AMAZING, only 6 rows from the floor and the Pistons beat the crap out of the Clippers. It was great because probably 40% of the crowd were Pistons fans. I did feel a tad bad for the Clippers fans... but it passed quickly. :o)

Can it Kaman... you suck! (not very Christian of me, I know, but during sporting events I turn into someone else entirely)

After the game we drove up to Santa Barbara, crashed for the night and then woke up to walk the beach there and hit up some wineries. I am not much into wine, but it was still fun. It was absolutley b-e-a-utiful there. With all the rain they have had, everything was green and lush and it just felt right to be drinking wine while sitting outside in the sun.

Pretty, eh? Even when dormant, the vines are stunning.

After that we headed to LA to meet up with several friends over the next two days. We saw V and Tim, who we haven't seen since college and went to this cool bar, The Happy Ending. The next day we hung out with our friends Dan and Elissa and their son Elliot. We hiked Mount Hollywood for some good views of the city and the Hollywood sign, ate at Diddy Riese for yummy cookies, and just hung out. That night we headed out yet again (we were busy lil bees) for drinks with our friend Meghan from Spring Hill.

Oh so touristy and oh so fun.

And then it was Tuesday and time to head home. And it was good. And I am glad to be home. And now I must go to bed, because, as Kevin keeps reminding me, I need to get back on MI time... and I do need to be up in 7 hours... ah, it is good to be home.