Heart Choices: August 2010 -->

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Looking Forward to a Wedding


Guess who's getting married this Saturday?

I can still remember Kristin as a little girl.  What would she be like when she grew up?
She can be a goofball at times.  That's Kristin on the left and Katie on the right.  And yes, that's Uncle Greg and Aunt Debbie having fun too.
The last wedding we attended together was when my sister got married.  That was 14 years ago today.  Happy Anniversary Christine and Pat!
When Kristin graduated high school, I took her to New York City for a week.  We had a blast and she got her picture taken with a few celebs.  Yes, that's Charlie Gibson and Kristin.
Here she is with Robin Roberts of Good Morning America.
Kristin went on to college in Orlando at UCF.  After graduating, she obtained her Master's Degree in Speech Pathology at the University of Southern Florida.  She's been working in the school system in St. Petersburg for one year already.

 Here's Kristin with her future husband Kevin.  Aren't they too cute?
Here's Kristin at her bridal shower. 

As you can tell, I'm getting excited about this wedding.  I'll be flying to Tampa on Thursday.  The rehearsal dinner is Friday and the wedding is Saturday.  It will be fun to see my family as it's been too long since I've visited.

I have one more secret to share but I'll save that for tomorrow, OK? 



QuickEdit

Kristin is Getting Married


My niece Kristin is getting married this Saturday.  I can hardly believe how fast the time has gone by.  She was born just one month before Greg and I got married.  She is 25 years old.

She was so excited when she became a big sister.  Here she is holding Katie.  And to think that Katie is going to be her maid of honor.

Sometimes Kristin can be so cute!
And sometimes she can be a little rascal!
I wish that my mom was still alive to see Kristin and Kevin get married.

My mom always had a way with babies.  She could do baby talk so well and could always get Kristin to laugh.  The rest of the family always got quite a chuckle out of it too.
She was never very shy!

Look at what I caught!

Here's Kristin trying on her mom's bridal gown.  I don't think it fits very well.
Kristin and Katie in the Painted Desert of Arizona
Fast forward to college days with her dog Harley. 

Harley knows where it's best to sleep!

I'm getting excited about this wedding.  Stay tuned and I'll post some pictures of Kristin and her fiance tomorrow.

Blessings and love,

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I'm Still Praising the Lord


Extravagant Grace

I continue to participate in eLisa's Praise the Lord in this moment at Extravagant Grace.

Our praise challenge for this week is to do a search on the word praise on Bible Gateway.  The Scripture that spoke to my heart was:
Psalm 40:3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.
We were also asked to post a praise song. Here's mine:



There's nothing like speaking the name of Jesus as I'm praising Him in this moment.  It helps me to keep my eyes on Him, especially when life isn't going along as I planned.  I remember that He sees all and knows all and best of all He is sovereign and has my best interests at heart.

Blessings and love,

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TSMSS ~ Wedding Songs



I have weddings on my mind this week.  I attended a bridal shower on Tuesday.  If you didn't read my post, you can read it here.  Jessica's wedding will take place at the end of September.

However, my niece Kristin is getting married to Kevin one week from today!  I am getting so excited.  Kristin is like a daughter to me.


It's so hard for me to believe she's grown up so quickly.  Here she is when she was little and taking ballet lessons.  Isn't she cute?


And here she is all grown up.  This was one of her profile pictures on Facebook that I snagged.  :)


Kevin proposed to her at SeaWorld.

This is one of their formal engagement photos.  Aren't they cute?

Since I don't know what song they've chosen for their song, I posted the top ten wedding songs.  I hope you enjoy.


I can't contain myself.  I may  need to post more Kristin photos this week.  I'll be leaving on Thursday to fly to Tampa/St. Pete airport.  I can't wait.

Don't forget to pop over to Amy of Signs, Miracles and Wonders for more Then Sings My Soul Saturday songs.

Blessings and love,
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Flashback Friday ~ Music



 
Since I was into the Flashback theme this Friday, I also decided to join up with Linda of Mocha with Linda.

Linda asks a question about the music we listened to in our youth.

My family has always been a singing family.  My mom played the piano by ear and both of my parents had great voices.  Whenever we drove in the car, either my mom or dad would spontaneously burst into song  and we'd all join in. 

"I've Been Working on the Railroad" was sung in three part harmony.  I loved when it got to the part about "someone's in the kitchen with Dinah" and "fee fi fiddly i-o". 

We also sang "You Are My Sunshine".  To this day, I often sing it to my husband Greg when he is just waking up.  It always brings a smile to his face.  

We sang many Norwegian songs.  I may not be able to speak fluent Norwegian but I know the words to many Norwegian songs from my childhood.

My brother Steve and I used to sing onstage at church.  If we'd visit another church, we were always asked to come up and sing a song.  My mom told me that one year we started singing a Santa Claus song and everyone laughed.  It's funny because today neither my brother or I have great voices.  In fact, I always laugh and say the Lord loves a joyful noise.

As a teenager, I worked in the record department of Billy Blake in West Babylon, New York.  Billy Blakes is no longer in business but it was like a Target.  I could play any album I wanted while working. Notice I didn't say CD's.  Those were the days of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elton John and Billy Joel.  The Carpenters and Sonny and Cher were famous then too. 

It was the 60's and a time of rebellion.  I remember being invited by a coworker to go to Woodstock in upstate NY but I had to work.  I remember Sly and the Family Stone and going to Madison Square Garden to a concert.  I lost my flip flops as the whole crowd joined hands and were dancing.  My feet got so dirty walking around New York City in bare feet.

I loved Carole King and James Taylor. They performed in Central Park for free!  Can you believe it?  There are so many more to mention.  But I always remember my parents didn't mind my music.  We had a record player in the living room and music was always on. 

I used to go to all of the school dances and even those at the Knights of Columbus.  It seemed like every weekend was a time to go out and dance to live bands.  I've reconnected with many high school friends from Lindenhurst on Facebook and even some who often played in a band at all of our high school dances.


I'll end this post with a song I loved sung by James Taylor and Carole King in 1971.

Love and peace,

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Friday Photo Flashback ~ Greg and Debbie


Friday Photo Flashback
I discovered several boxes of photos in my garage today.  Since it's been so hot here, I'm amazed that they weren't ruined. I scanned some of them into my computer so I could link up with Alicia at More Than Words for Friday Photo Flashback.


This picture was taken July 1, 1950 in Dallas, Texas.  It's my husband Greg.  Isn't he the cutest?  His mom wrote on the back on the picture:

"Look, no hands, guess it's hydromatic drive in my little wagon."


And here's little Debbie!  My mom always dressed me up in frilly dresses that she handmade for me.  This photo was probably taken about 1955 on Long Island, NY. 

Little did Greg or I know that one day ...we'd meet, fall in love and get married.  And it will be 26 years in November.

Do you have any baby pictures of you and your husband?  How about linking up with Alicia?

Blessings and love,


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Thankful Thursday ~ Laughter



It's Thankful Thursday and Laurie of Women Taking a Stand is our host for this month.

Today I'm especially thankful for ...friends and laughter. 

I attended a bridal shower for my friend Julie's daughter Jessica.  There's something so exciting about love and marriage.  Jessica and Andrew will be married September 25th, 2010.

Pictured above is my friend Julie, Jessica (the bride), her sister Hope who will be a bridesmaid and her sister Natalie who is the maid of honor.  Don't you just love their smiles? 

And did I mention that I taught Hope in the children's program of Bible Study Fellowship when she was only four years old?  My, how fast time goes by!


Georgann opened up her house for this special occasion.  She was my teaching leader in Bible Study Fellowship for many years.  And she's the best hostess. She has the gift of hospitality, that's for sure.

Check out the salad Georgann served.  There's a restaurant in Scottsdale, AZ called Cowboy Ciao.  Their chopped salad is a specialty and Georgann got the recipe.  This salad has smoked salmon, couscous, arugula, sweet corn, Asiago cheese and is served with an Aioli dressing.  Trust me, it's awesome!

And I even found the recipe online on the AZ Republic site.

Her table setting is always so perfect too.  She even had name tags so we wouldn't fight over where we sat.  Did I really write that?  Only kidding. 

My friends were all smiles as we sat down to eat.  There's Jessica on the right at the head of the table.  She didn't know what she was in for.  Us older gals gave her some marriage advice.

Georgann passed around a basket of kitchen utensils.  Each of us stuck our hand in the basket and had to explain to Jessica what it was and how it was used.  I never knew there were so many kitchen gadgets. Many of us had no clue.  So we made it up which got us all laughing again.

Did you know there's a gadget to separate pie slices so the inside filling doesn't spill over to the next slice?  There were also special tiny tongs to core a strawberry.  I always use a little knife to do that. Go figure...

Opening gifts is always such a fun time at bridal showers.  I loved the expressions of joy on Jessica's face.

There was plenty of laughter too.


I can't remember if Millie was giving Jessica advice or what.  But I think she was blushing.  LOL.

LA and Marlene always have some spicy advice to share too.  Are you winking at me Marlene?

Did I tell you we love to laugh?

What a fun time!

I'm so thankful for friends and ...laughter!

Ecclesiastes 3:4 (NIV) says:

"...a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance."


This was definitely a ...time to laugh.
Blessings and love,

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