New Year's Eve Musings

 

I've never been much for celebrating New Year's.  It wasn't a big holiday in my family.  We didn't do any special foods or activities. The one memory I do have from when I was a kid is what a treat it was to be able to stay up and watch Dick Clark count down to the New Year in Times Square.  If I could stay awake.  Sometimes I made it and sometimes I didn't.  Theses days it's just a good reason to have a day off work.  I don't do resolutions because I feel like if I live my life the way I'm supposed to everyday...I don't need them.  That's not to say that I do live my life right every day...but it's what I strive for and no list of "stuff" is going to change the way I go about my business.  That's just me.

 

One thing I do enjoy every year is Dave Berry's year in review.  He is such a smart and funny writer.  I always enjoy reading his articles.  You can read the article here.  It's long...but worth every word.

 

Reading his article did give me a few ideas of things I hope to never hear again, some of these things dominated news and social media to the point that it made me want to scream, some of them just irritated me.  Here are the things that annoyed me in 2013:

 

Miley Cyrus, twerking, Jodi Arias, Duck Dynasty, Obamacare, Obama, Congress...all of them, Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, the LA Dodgers, zombies, sequestration, debt ceiling, The City of Glendale City Council, The Goldwater Institute, Quebec hockey fans, new computer systems at work.

 

I guess that's enough for one year right?  I had no idea there were so many until I started typing them.  I'll end on a high note.  Here's what gave me joy in 2013:

 

33 years of marriage to the same man...I really do love that guy; my kids...no explanation needed; crocheting...anything; my cat...I know, it's weird, but true; my big crazy, weird family...I love them all; a beautiful wedding; and last but not least...my new son-in-law Adam...He is a special young man and I could not be happier that he is now a member of our family.  I am looking forward to many years with him :)

 

My heart is full and my life is perfectly what it should be.  Looking forward to lots of the same in 2014.

 

Happy New Year friends!  Hope you find your joy in 2014...Love you all!



O Holy Night

Christmas is five days away....FIVE!  Every year I feel surprised by how fast the holiday sneaks up on me.  You'd think I'd have learned by now...

You know how things just don't seem to go right sometimes?  That's how I feel about this Christmas season. 

Dan started decorating the outside of the house, got the lights up around the roof and promptly got sick. He's been sick for the better part of two weeks.  Needless to say no other decorations made it up.  He is highly disappointed.  Decorating the house for Christmas is the highlight of his year. 

I've had a really hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year.  I miss buying gifts for the kids. Gift buying is the highlight of MY year.  I love searching for and picking out gifts.  But we are exchanging stockings this year so I only have one person to buy for. ONE!  How do you only buy for one person?  I mean, it's practical and its necessary and I love the simplicity of it.  But I yearn for the days of a pile of presents under the tree.  I need some grand kids people! :) 

One thing that never changes is why we celebrate this holiday in the first place.  I try to always keep that in the forefront of my mind.  Especially when lamenting the absence of gifts under the tree.  

Driving home last night it was cloudy, a little windy and a tad chilly.  And then from the radio came the most beautiful version of O Holy Night.  It was the perfect setting...for the perfect song.  It made my heart swell and it filled me with Good Tidings.  This is what Christmas is all about, Gerri.  It was exactly what I needed at exactly the right time.  Amazing how God always does that for me.  In the midst of Christmas hub-bub and lamenting, He finds a way to bring me back to what is Real.  The Christmas Story is one of hope and the beginning of the journey toward Easter and eternal salvation.

I am happy for this season of hope and thankful to my Savior who always finds ways to bring me back to Him.

Wishing you and yours a Blessed Christmas.

RIP 35

The hallmark of a seminal moment is if you can tell people where you were and what you were doing when the event happened.  I can't tell you were I was or what I was doing on November 22, 1963...but it was a life defining moment for me.

My first recollection of the event was sitting on the floor next to my father's feet and watching the funeral procession on TV.  I was two weeks shy of 5 years old. Even at that age..the memory is burned in my brain and it is one of the most vivid memories of my young childhood.  I believe that that is the moment that my fascination with JFK began.

I always wanted to read every book I could find about him and the events leading up to that day.  In high school I wrote a term paper about the assassination and all the conspiracy theories.  That was 1976 and the theories were flying fast a furious at that time.  I really truly believed that there had to be more than one gunman.

Over the years as more information has come to light, I'm leaning more towards the lone gunman theory.  The sad part is...we will never know and so there will always be speculation.

I am still fascinated by the Kennedy family and their place in history.  One of the most emotional days of my life was the day I first visited Arlington National Cemetery and was able to view Kennedy's grave and the eternal flame.  It was 1987 and so I wasn't that far removed from those days in the late '70's.  I most recently visited the grave in 2009 and while not as emotional, and viewed with a new and more mature perspective, it was still very moving.  And the same thought occurred on both occasions...what if?  The big question that always hangs in the air whenever you think about Jack or Bobby or John Jr.  50 years have passed and we still ask what if?

Today I will offer up a prayer for our 35th president and his family.  Today I will not ponder what if...I will only be thankful for the life of a man who was dedicated to public service and for the ways in which he was able to positively affect the country and people he served.

RIP 35.

The Wedding

I have tried at least three times to write this post.  Each time I sit down to write it, the words just won't come.  I just cannot find the words to express all that the day held and all that it meant to me.  Very foreign feeling for me.  I am never at a loss for words.  I decided that my Facebook post from the morning of the wedding really expressed exactly how I felt that day.  This is what I wrote when I woke up that morning:

So THE day is finally here. It's one of those milestone days you dream of when you hold that tiny little human being in your arms for the first time. You dream of first words, first steps and the first day of school. Learning to drive, graduation, going to college...getting married. There is no way to prepare for how fast this dream becomes reality.

Today my baby girl marries the man of her dreams. I love you Beth, and I am so, so happy for you and Adam. Happy Wedding Day!

Pretty much sums it up.  The day came too fast.  She was a baby in my arms and then she was this...

A gorgeous, beautiful bride. 

It was very overwhelming...but equally as awesome.  Everyone told me the day would go fast and it sure did.  Which is why I made the decision to not take pictures.  I knew there would be enough other people taking pictures and I just wanted to be "in the moment".  I am so glad I decided to do that.  So, none of these pictures belong to me.  My wonderful best friend, Debbie, who is also my sister-in-law, took the pre-ceremony pictures.  She did an excellent job.  Some of these pictures are hers.  Some are from my wonderful relatives who came from all over the country to share the day with us. Some are from my oldest daughters friends.  I am publicly thanking them here for helping me to remember the day.

I hate having my picture taken.  If I do have my picture taken I hate for anyone to see it.  But, I decided that for this day I needed to get over myself and just be ok with it.  Another thing I'm happy about.  Which is why I'm sharing this picture:

Just a funny silly picture of Beth and I when we were getting our hair done.  I obviously don't have the talent to make the "duck" lips...but I tried.  And honestly...I love this picture.  I decided that this day was only coming once in our life and I was going to make the most of it. I wore makeup, which I applied myself without too much trouble...thank goodness for YouTube!  I gave a speech and yes, it was probably long by wedding speech standards.  But I had things I wanted to say to my daughter and promises to make to my new son-in-law.  So I said what needed to be said and no one called the speech police so I guess it was ok.  I used to love to dance but since I've gained so much weight I've always been really self conscious about dancing.  Well, that night I danced.  I honestly had so much fun...it was one of the most AWESOME nights of my life.  I'm so happy that I didn't let my insecurities get in the way of making the most of the day. 

So, here are some pictures of the day along with my observations.  I hope you enjoy!

My beautiful kids: Stephen, Beth and Sarah.  Love them!

 

Dan seeing his baby girl for the first time.  There were tears...

Escorted by my wonderful son Stephen.  We had to navigate two sets of stairs...I told Stephen his only job that day was to make sure I didn't fall! :)

The Maid of Honor, my beautiful daughter Sarah

 

 

 

 

 And when this happened...I cried...hard.  I had a hard time holding it together while he walked her down the isle.  I was having visions of the little tomboy with crooked glasses and a dirty face.  She's come a long way baby :)

Adam when he turned around and saw Beth for the first time.  Priceless.

Saying their vows.

First kiss.

Mr. & Mrs. Adam Dixon

Beautiful couple

 

Bridal Party

 

Father/Daughter dance to "I Loved Her First".  I cried during the whole thing.  I think I may have cried the hardest during this dance.

First dance to "Take My Breath Away" from Top Gun.  Beth and Adam love movies so all their songs were from movies.  Which made the following hilarious when you know that it was done to the theme from Mission Impossible:

I love her face in this picture.  She had no idea what he was going to do.  I wish I had a video of it.  He did some great Mission Impossible moves around the chair.  It was awesome!

 

Last but not least...my personal favorite picture of the night.  The last Coach/Daughter picture.  After all the years of Dan coaching Beth in softball we have many Coach/Daughter pictures.  Several years ago I made Beth an album with all the pictures.  This was her idea...to have a last softball picture with her dad to add to the album.  It was very special.

Well, thanks for sticking with me through the picture tour.  I learned an important lesson on my daughter's wedding day:

Life is too short not to dance and have fun.  Everyday should be like a wedding day.

Rejoice!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Today I'm sharing two of my favorite pictures of my kids.  When they were little I always tried to dress them somewhat alike for Halloween.  As they got older that idea didn't fly but when they were little it sure made for some cute pictures.

(For the purposes of this blog post, I am writing only of the secular celebrations. I'm planning on doing another post on religious holidays as it gets closer to Christmas)

I always loved Halloween as a kid.  I never liked the scary part of it but I loved dressing up and I REALLY loved the candy!  Of course when I had kids of my own I loved sharing in their excitement and helping them to pick out costumes.  Now that I am an adult, I think I love Halloween because it's the true beginning of Fall in AZ and it means that Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  Fall is my favorite time of year and in all honesty, I think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  I know that shocks most of you who know me as the obsessed Christmas lady, but it's true.  I do love Christmas, but a little bit of the magic goes out of it when your kids grow up and it looses a little bit of it's shine.  Plus, it's just such a hectic time with so much hubub. Thanksgiving on the other hand is a simple joy.  I love everything about it.  The colors, the decorations and of course the food.

It is a time to spend with family and friends.  It's all about gathering at the table and giving thanks for the Lord's abundant love and blessings in your life.  Thanksgiving is the purest and simplest of holidays.  Gather together, enjoy some good food, enjoy each others company, enjoy some football if that's your thing.  Spend some relaxing time with those you love and who love you.  It's the calm before the Christmas storm.

I'm really looking forward to this holiday season.  With the addition of my new son-in-law Adam and his family, the Clem Clan is growing ever stronger...in personalities and in numbers.  It's all very exciting stuff.

I'm still trying to gather my thoughts about the whole wedding thing. I'm hoping to write about it this weekend when I have more time to gather my thoughts.  Until then I will leave you with this...in the pictures above Beth is the littlest surgeon and witch...last Saturday she dressed up as a bride...and she was gorgeous. Words cannot express how my heart fills up when I look at this picture.  Simply beautiful...

To Makeup, Or Not To Makeup...

I don't wear makeup...ever.  When I was 37 two things happened that made me decide I just didn't want to wear it anymore.  I had to switch from contacts back to glasses and I got an extremely bad sunburn.  The glasses just made me feel like you couldn't see my eyes (my best feature, I think) so what was the point and when I had the sunburn I couldn't wear it anyway.  I had never really enjoyed wearing makeup so at that point I just decided it didn't matter anyway.  I'm ok with no makeup and I don't really care if anyone else thinks I should wear it.  I'm independent that way.  But...

My daughter is getting married on Saturday.  Events like this only happen once.  Pictures will be taken.  I don't want her to look at her pictures years from now and think...wow, Mom looked really bad.  Not that she would, because she's not like that.  But, I don't want to be the washed out one in all the pictures.  I'm already the lightest one in my family.  If I don't do something, I'll just be Casper the Ghost standing next to all those Malibu Barbies and Kens.  Also, several years ago, I acquired rosacea...a lovely little skin condition that leaves your nose and cheeks red.  It makes you look like you've had a few too many...all the time.  So I'd be drunk Casper to boot.  No one needs that in their pictures. 

So...in order to even out my skin tone and not appear dead in the pictures, I bought makeup for the first time in 18 years.  Today I did a practice run with said makeup.  Here is what I learned:

Plucking gray eyebrow hairs is not fun. Plucking is another thing I don't do anymore...don't judge...at this age I don't have many left and you can't see the dang things anyway.  But in order to wear eyebrow pencil...one must pluck the brows.  Trying to twist and turn so the light would catch the silvery ones so that I could then pluck them...well, that probably would have made a good home video...thank goodness no one else was home.

Applying makeup with a sponge is not as easy as Carmindy on What Not To Wear makes it seem.  Never used the sponge before...it was interesting to say the least.  We will think about this little task an re-evaluate later.

The medicine I use for my rosacea also dries out my skin considerably so the makeup didn't look so hot over the dry skin...don't know what to do about that one...any ideas?  I'm not that keen on looking flakier than I already am.

I hated the way it felt on my skin and could not wait to wash it off...which is going to make my time sitting in the 90 degree weather on Saturday just peachy.  But I will do it...for the sake of my fellow wedding attendees...and pictures.

And all of this just goes to prove the lengths you will go to for your children...even when they are adults.

Wish me luck with the making up on Saturday...I need all the positive juju I can get. 

Despite the great makeup debacle of 2013...I am beyond excited for this wedding and can't wait for the day to finally arrive.  I will be back next week, sans makeup, to tell you all about it.

Have a great week everyone!

Intercession

St. Germaine Cousin

I have vowed to publicly thank my patron saint anytime she helps me with a problem.  So, today I am here to say thank you to St. Germaine for her intercession, once again.  She is known as the forgotten saint, so I have vowed to do what I can to make her name known.  Her story is incredible and worth the read.  I think it will inspire you.  Here is a link to her story: http://www.stgermaine.com/germaine.htm

In the past several weeks I have asked for intercession twice and both times the outcome has been favorable.  Not surprising to me of course, prayer is powerful.  It changes things.

I wanted to talk a little bit about intercession and prayer. 

Lots of people who are not Catholic, and many who are, do not understand intercession.  Many people think we pray to saints instead of going straight to God.  This could not be further from the truth. We are not asking the saint to grant us anything.  We are asking for their prayers. Do you ever ask a friend to pray for you?  This is exactly what intercession is.  You are merely asking for someone else to pray on your behalf.  That is what I ask St. Germaine to do for me.  I have been doing this since my parents taught me to pray.  I feel like she is my friend.  And as I would ask any friend if I were in need, I often ask her to pray for me...or to intercede.  Here is a link if you wish to read more about intercession: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08070a.htm

I have asked publicly on Facebook many times for prayers.  I have a community of faith filled family and friends there who are always willing to pray for my intentions, even when they have no idea what they are praying for. You don't always have to tell people what you need.  You need only to ask that they pray for a special intention.  Sometimes what we need is too personal to tell the world.  Or we may be embarrassed that we are asking for intercession for something we may think God thinks is insignificant.  But remember this...if it's important to you, it's important to God.

Prayer is so powerful and in numbers it's power can be staggering.  I have seen it in my own life and in the lives of others.  Of course, we must always be mindful to pray that God's will be done.  And remember that your prayers are always answered...it may not be the answer you wanted, but it is always the right answer.  And sometimes you don't get the answer for years after you pray.  But when the answer comes, you know it, and you realize that God knew all along.  He knows what is in our hearts before we do.  He knows what our lives will be before we can even imagine it.  So whatever His answer is, it's the right one.

So once again, I am coming before you and St. Germaine and asking for your prayers for a special intention.  I appreciate your prayers and always keep you all in my daily prayers as well.

Thanks for being such supportive and loving friends.  I love you all :)