bridal shower

i spent a little bit at the church today celebrating the upcoming marriage of a dear lady and her fiance. she is a beauty through and through.  

she was the kid at youth who always had the questions about EVERYTHING we taught her.  and wrote out notes and questions that came up in her own Bible reading time during the week.  she wanted answers.  we had better be willing to find the answers if we didn't already know them.  she challenged us, the leaders.  i love that about her.  

she is a dreamer as well, that makes her an amazing writer.  

last night i realized it was her bridal shower this aft. 

Gasp!!  

i hadn't bought anything yet.  

she needs something unique, like her. 

something that creams Nicole! or Nikki! :) 

i didn't want to go out on a hunt.. i thought for about 2 minutes and ran to my husband 

"bookends.  she needs cool, unique bookends!"  

they're readers, she's a writer...bookends made so much sense to me.  

so hubby said, alright let me know what you want and i'll go make them.   

what do you think of when you think of Nik?  i think of...Fantasy!  oh..not too easy to make into bookends in one night.  

then i had it...Scrabble tile bookends. 

I drew it out and gave it to hubby.  

he went down stairs and cut some wood, and brought me up the tile pieces.  

i got to work wood burning the letters and their values.

then he brought them down putting them altogether.  

we were able to get 2 clear coats on them last night and this morning he went down for the sanding and final coat.

(that's the first letter for each of their names.)

i had to make the card before i went. 

i was so excited to bring them.

love this gal.

she has encouraged me over the years, in many ways.

she makes me laugh.

she makes me cry.

she just makes me smile.

i am so excited for her and her upcoming wedding.

what a beautiful grade 9 she was when i first met her..

what a beautiful lady she is now.

what a stunning...beautiful...lovely bride she will be.

i hope someone is watching her hubby's face when she starts her walk down the aisle because that will be spectacular.

The speech i would have made.

Hi.

My name is michelle, i am the ancient one in this wedding party.

and i am honored to be a part of this day.

i have actually known the groom's side longer, but adore this beautiful, blushing bride and feel as though i have known her forever.

for those of you who have worked with youth, in a youth group, camp, sports team setting you will understand me when i say that although you love all the kids you get to know there are some that will forever hold a place in your heart.  there's a connection that does not go away easily.

when i got married just over 10 years ago my husband and i were youth leaders at church.  there was this newly dating couple that i immediately adored.  that was brother number 1, and his beautiful, now wife.  Then brother number 2 began attending.  He was great.  i had fun with him as a youth and am so glad to see him married to a beautiful woman with 2 adorable kids.  then sibling 3 attended youth.  it was a girl this time.  shy, quiet, i think she knew how to speak...  sweet, gentle, compassionate... she was a beauty then and has grown even more beautiful.   the siblings didn't stop.  there were 2 more.  2 more boys.  i had heard about them before they ever came to youth.

the 4th and 5th... well, i just loved this family.  

my husband and i connected with these kids too.  and teased them.  Jon and Ben...yes, i called then Jon & Ben! *gasp*

i watched them grow from quiet kids to the strong, bold, confident men they have become now.  Mr & Mrs W.  you have raised fine children.  thank you for allowing me to be a part of their lives as a youth leader and now friend.

i remember the year that a beautiful blond young lady arrived at youth.  i believe i saw Jon's heart flutter!  when she was at youth she was right there with Jon and Ben.  

she is beautiful. 

inside and out.

she is full of compassion, love, smiles.  she truly cares for her friends.

i loved getting to know this young lady in her high school years.

we had great talks, times of prayer, tears, searching the Scriptures, laughter.

my husband and i watched as Jon and Cailagh became friends.

we watched as their attraction grew.  hearing them admit to liking the other one...finally.

hearing the story about him asking her mom permission to date her.

watching them seek God's desire for their lives.   how they went away to school and missed each other like crazy.

the realization that they loved each other.

when we began doing church plays together i believe that was when my husband and my roles were altering from leaders to friends.  we were connecting on a different level, as equals, and i believe it was as God planned.  the age gap, life gap, it was still there but beginning to fade out of the picture.

i loved that i could give advice, or be an ear to listen.

then it happened.

Jon proposed.

he did it!

so exciting.

they came by and told us their story!

then i had the opportunity to take some engagement photos with them.

so much fun.  have i said how much i adore these two?

and Cailagh asked me to be a bridesmaid.

i know i don't wear my emotions on my sleeve, but i felt honored, shocked, blessed, surprised, why me?  i knew we were close but i hadn't expected that.  

thank you.

so much.

so here we are.

we have all just watched as they said their vows, placed the rings, kissed!

all the stress that goes into a wedding... that's all behind us.

now stands before us the beginning.

the beginning of the life as mr. & mrs.  

the commitment, promise.

not an easy road.

but a wonderful road.  

Jon and Cailagh.

thank you for allowing me to be this special role in your day.

God has blessed my family by bringing both of your families into our life. 

by bringing you two into our life.

i commit to pray for you, to share experience when needed, to encourage you, to love you.

    

*pictures from my camera will be edited and posted shortly on www.lifethrulenz.blogspot.com

too cute

Dan and the boy are heading to Illinois for a wedding. 

- Dan's cousin is getting married -

the boy is Dan's date and will get to meet some family he's never met before.

Yesterday, in the car, i listened to the boy telling his sister what he was going to be doing.

I couldn't hear what the girl was saying

"*I'm going on a road trip."

(* pronounced I'n)

"No, Papa's not coming"

 " Not with you.  with daddy, gamma, gampa and Cooper (the dog)" 

"I don't know...."

"I'm getting married to somebody."

I had to tell him that he wasn't the one getting married and that he was going to watch someone get married.

His face fell.

He looked so sad about that.

my Jones

So, as you all know

I love Jones Soda!

I want to have one of my photos on a bottle.

I also want to do the My Jones and personalize some bottles for something.

So, imagine how happy I was to see the wedding favors this weekend.

love them!

by the way,

my bottle's fortune was: Donate your time.

Dan's fortune was: Call your mom. 

Faith's fortune was:

i forget what Jordan's fortune was..something about work i think.

Wedding Memories

This past weekend I had the honor of being in the wedding of two very special people.

I had been a youth leader for each of them and have watched them grow into people whose love for God surpassed everything. 

when asked to be in the wedding I was so honored and priveleged, as well as excited to know that the beautiful bride-to-be loved me as much as I loved her. 

after amazing bridal showers and chats about plans, dress buying and adjusting..

the day was finally here. 

I also had the opportunity to step behind my camera, and capture some beautiful memories for the two of them. 

these are a few of the memories.

 Faith has dreads and her hair looked absolutely spectacular!

Beautiful maid of honor, Kirsten, getting her hair done. 

the original plan was to curl and put the hair up. 

We vetoed that idea and she kept it down - gorgeous.

Faith is a spectacular pianist. 

had to have the piano in a photo somewhere.

what an amazing day!

Congratulations Faith and Jordan!!

once again, thank you for asking me to share in this day.