Jul. 3, 2007 - ~* Wedding Story - Updated *~

I went ahead and updated our wedding day on the actual picture page.  You can read it HERE

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Jul. 3, 2007 - ~* Time Travel Tuesday - Wedding Day *

I had written out our whole story and kerploof, hit the wrong key and the whole ding-dong thing disappeared. So, all I have today are pics...the story will follow later this week!

UPDATED TO ADD STORY:

NY born and raised city boy of Italian/German Catholic background decides to marry Southern CA born and raised suburbanite girl of Heinz 57 (w/a good dose of German) Pentecostal background.  Both the babies of their families.  Neither family is too sure about all this.  One side is outgoing, loud, emotional, huggy-kissy...the other stifled, private, not huggy-kissy.  One side belongs to a faith that is very reserved and traditional.  The other to a faith that prides itself on being loud and emotional.  One side drinks pretty freely, the other thinks drinking is a sin.   One family is used to weddings with huge amounts of money spent on the reception which includes dancing, drinking, and full meals.  The other is used to using church halls and mainly serving cake and punch...with a few mints thrown in if you're splurging a bit and if you're really going all out, you might put out little finger sandwiches.

Mmm-hmmm...the bets were hedged against us...but 27 years later, we are still madly in love...even more-so than when we married.  We're still best friends.  And we still love confounding our families who each wish we were more Catholic or more Pentecostal.  ;)

The day itself was filled with all kinds of fun...the limos were late because they broke down, so we were an hour late to our own wedding.  We found out that the flowers had been thrown on the front pew of the church by the florist (our wedding coordinator had to place them around the church).  The flowers for the cake never arrived, so the same coordinator and another friend scurried around the reception room to pluck a few here and there from the table arrangements to place them on the cake.  Our rings never arrived, so the day before or morning of our wedding, we raced to Woolworths and bought a cheap set for the ceremony.  The caterer went around passing out all kinds of extra helpings to anyone who wanted them, and then charged us for them, although we hadn't asked for any such extras.  An aunt refused to come because we weren't serving alcohol.  My hair didn't turn out (the humidity took every stitch of curl out).  I cried walking down the aisle with my Dad and those pictures are absolutely awful...what a way to start the day, huh???

But, as my honey likes to say, better a bad wedding and an awesome marriage, than an awesome wedding and a bad marriage...and as is often the case, he's right!!  I thank God for this wonderful gift in my life...he truly is my very best friend, my lover, my soul-mate!  We just celebrated our 27th anniversary last week.

PS...if you scroll to the bottom, you can see a more recent picture of the happy couple! :)

My dad escorting me down the lovely staircase

in front of the even lovelier stained-glass windows

in my in-laws home.

                                                                          My future "Dad"....he was the greatest grandfather

                                                                          any grandkid could hope to have...we miss you, Pops!

My mom fixing my veil.

                                                                                     My future "Mom" 

My honey's nephew, who is now the sweetest                   My nephew who is now proud Papa to two

hunk you could hope to meet                                                   gorgeous guys

Aren't they adorable?  We named our daughter

after our cute little flower girl. Sadly, we've lost

contact with so many who were at/in our wedding.

                                                                                          Joy & relief...and officially "man & wife"!

My immediate family that was able to be there.                   My honey's immediate family.

Cutting the cake...and do you see the exhaustion

hitting and the smiles fading just a tad?

                                                                                    Yee-ha...let's get out of here!  (No, he can't do that

                                                                                   any longer...although he still tries ;)

In the limo...heading off to our new life together!

The happy couple today (okay, this was taken two years ago for our 25th...but

you get the idea! ;)

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Jun. 25, 2007 - ~* Time Travel Tuesday *~

Thanks, Annie, for hostessing this fun meme!

   Annie says," This week I decided we should revisit our time of salvation, or a special time in your spiritual life. Was there a moment when you became a Christian, or did it take a while? Can you remember that special time in your life?"

 I was raised all my life attending church.  When the church doors were open, we were there.  Old gospel music was standard fare in our home...remember The Happy Goodmans??  And, I won't even start naming all the quartets.

  People talk about their love language...I think music must be mine.  My earliest "God encounter" happened when I was 4 or 5 years old.  My parents had company and were in another room, but they had the old record player (in a big cabinet, that has a name, that is totally playing with my 40+ brain!) playing gospel music in the living room.  For some reason I ended up sitting down next to the big stereo/record player cabinet.  I can't tell you anything about who was singing or the name of the song.  I just remember it was about Heaven and God's presence touched this little girls heart in a big way and tears just streamed down my face.

 My next major "God encounter" was when I was 9 or 10 and we had a visiting evangelist.  I  committed my life to Christ during that meeting.

Then I went through the teen years.  Our home life was in turmoil, lot's of conflict and uncertainty.  Dad had quit going to church for years.  Mom insisted we kids keep going with her, which I wasn't always thankful for and at times resented.  Now, however, I'm thankful she insisted we attend with her.  Dad, much later in his life, did recommit his life to the Lord. 

When I was17, I attended a special family camp and had another "God encounter" where I totally gave my all to Christ. 

    As I mentioned earlier, I think music is my love language.  God has used music so often in my life to encourage me, to comfort me, to teach me, and sometimes just to shower me with His love.  I think, if I had to sum up my life in song, this song would capture my life best : 

    He's Been Faithful 

               by Carol Cymbala

In my moments of fear, through every pain, every tear, there's a God who's been faithful to me. When my strength was all gone, when my heart had no song still in love He's proved faithful to me. Every word He's promised, is true. What I thought was impossible, I see my God do.

He's been faithful to me. Looking back, His love and mercy I see. Though in my heart I have questioned, even failed to believe, yet, He's been faithful, faithful to me.

"When my heart looked away the many times I could not pray, still my God He was faithful to me. The days I spent so selfishly, reaching out for what pleased me, even then God was faithful to me. Every time I come back to Him, He is waiting with open arms and I see once again.

He's been faithful to me. Looking back His love and mercy I see. Though in my heart I have questioned even failed to believe, yet, He's been faithful, faithful to me."

You can listen to a clip of this song click  H E R E

To read more stories of faith or to share yours, visit Time Travel Tuesday at My Life As Annie

Copyright © Sheryl Rogrob 2005-2010

He's Been Faithful faith God's love

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Jun. 19, 2007 - ~*Time Travel Tuesday -First Cooking Experiences*~

Thanks, Annie, for hostessing these fun Time Travel Tuesdays!
(NOTE: Evidently homeschoolblogger is still making some changes and there are still bugs...the
linking system is not working properly, so here is Annie's URL:  http://mylifeasannie.blogspot.com/    )
   My first desire to cook came at the same time I realized I was getting serious about my honey.  I decided it might be a good idea to know how to feed this man some good food...especially since his mom was (and still is!) an awesome cook!
  So my sister taught me a couple of simple chicken dishes (one, chicken and rice,  I still cook today!).  I     guess my fuzzy teenaged brain thought two chicken dishes
and love were enough! ;)

  Obviously, we ate out quite a bit in the beginning...especially after Hamburger Helper was declared a definite NO-NO!

    A few months into our marriage, I invited his sister to have dinner with us.  I wanted to go all out and fix a yummy roast.  I like my meat well done and that's how mom always cooked our meat, but my honey and all of his family like it med. rare, so I guessed I could get my mom's recipe and just cut the cooking time.
This is how the outside looked:

This is how the inside looked...well, almost:
Well, needless to say, it was awful!  I don't even remember how we salvaged the meal...I just remember that poor roast was horrible and I was totally mortified!
   The next attempt at entertaining was with one of my honey's  brothers.
 I made a yummy
beef strogonoff
and finished the meal with a cherry cheese pie
...both extremely rich (and both still favorites around here)! 
I obviously hadn't learned the meaning of balancing the meal, not only nutritionally, but with richness factors in mind.

   Since then, I've learned a lot more recipes and tips, cooked a lot more, made plenty more goofs......and, guess what???  I'm still learning about cooking and trying out new recipes and practicing new tips!
To read more first time cooking experiences and/or to add yours, be sure and drop by Annie's at My Life As Annie.

(NOTE: Evidently homeschoolblogger is still making some changes...sigh...and there are still bugs.
The linking system is not working properly, so here is the URL to Annie:  http://mylifeasannie.blogspot.com/   )

So sorry for the inconvenience!

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Jun. 11, 2007 - ~* Time Travel Tuesday - Favorite Vacations *~

Thanks, Annie, for hostessing this fun meme!

This week's TTT is about our favorite vacation.  For some added fun, I asked our two sons still living at home, and my honey what their favorite vacations were.

Both of our sons picked times when we surprised them with a trip to Disneyland.  On the first surprise trip, we were returning from visiting family in Texas and realized we'd  be passing pretty close to the Mouse.  So, we decided to drive all night to allow the extra time we'd need for the unplanned stop.  We told the kids at breakfast the day before Disneyland by my honey arranging their McDonald's pancakes to look like Mickey!

The second time, we all remembered our youngest waking up in Mickey's parking lot and being so excited to realize where he was, but none of us can remember whether it was another bonus stop or if it was pre-planned but we hadn't let the kids in on the details.
  Our youngest is a true Disney fan and hopes to someday be the Christian equivalent of Walt Disney: making truly family-friendly entertainment parks, shows, movies, etc. So, tonight,  we were all reminiscing about his first adventure with the mouse...it was actually Pinocchio's character that won his heart.  He was in his stroller most of the day, with occasional toddling walks.  It was in the evening time and he was truly pooped, but he didn't want to miss a thing.  So, in his dreamy, twilight state, Pinocchio carefully came up (how wise he was, since some kids would be very afraid of a big character approaching them in their stroller).  Our youngest just looked and looked and very gently, Pinocchio patted him.  He spent quite a bit of time and, of course, we had to buy a Pinocchio figurine before we left.  Our son loved that toy for ages, until it disappeared somewhere, somehow as bygone toys are apt to do.  When we left the park, our little guy had gotten his second wind, but the minute (literally!) we sat down on the bus to our hotel, he was totally zonked out!

And, although I haven't yet shared my favorite vacation, I'll save that for another TTT. :)

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