English Ladies

I’ve spent a couple hours over the last day working on a post about the wedding song that I wrote for Nathan and Meagan. When that post is finished it will include the story behind the writing of the song, an actual recording of the song and the lyrics. I’m hoping to have it done by the end of the day but in the meantime, I have another story for you.

Yesterday at noon, our doorbell rang and we opened the door to find these two lovely ladies standing on the porch.

Jennifer (the mom) and Rebecca (the daughter) are visiting the United States from England. Rebecca is a faithful Smithellaneous reader (and at eighteen, one of the youngest) and she emailed a few weeks ago to say they would be in the area and asked if it would be possible to meet.

But of course!

I love meeting Smithellaneous readers and I cannot begin to tell you what a delightful time we had with our new friends. We spent two hours discussing our respective countries and learned fascinating facts about each others’ cultures, idioms, education, care of the elderly, universities, career training, slang, entertainment, flags, food, and transportation.

Jennifer is a teacher who is very passionate about her job; it was inspiring to hear how much she loves making a difference in the lives of her kids. Rebecca will start college this fall to become a midwife; I was especially interested to hear how she described England’s treatment of pregnant women. She said that unless an expectant mother has complications, she will not see a doctor for the entirety of her pregnancy, all the way through delivery and postnatal care--the midwife handles it all. The reason for this is that pregnancy is not seen as an illness and non-illnesses shouldn’t require doctors. I thought that perspective was quite fascinating.

Of course, it goes without saying that even when we were talking about the most prosaic of subjects, Rebecca and Jennifer's accents lent to their words the most dignified and amazing charm.

Sarah has always loved all things English and she and I and Steve would absolutely love to visit the country someday. Also, Sarah's friend, Taylor, was with us for the day and since she is in school dramas and loves studying accents, she was especially intrigued by the conversation.

When our new friends had driven away, Sarah, Taylor and I stood on the porch and all agreed that we felt like never speaking another word ever again because we could never measure up to the loveliness of that appealing English accent.

But after a little thought, Sarah and Taylor decided that they would just compensate by speaking in English accents for the rest of the day; after all, they’d just been through two hours of language by immersion. They were actually quite good at it and it was nice to have the English atmosphere extended for a little longer after our new friends had left.

Thanks, Rebecca and Jennifer, for bringing a spot of English brightness to our day.

The Unorthodox Getaway Vehicle

In the midst of all the wedding planning a couple months ago, Meagan called to tell us that she and Nathan had decided that the whole wedding party would travel from the church to the reception in a motorhome.

Yes, a motor home. Not a limo, not a vintage car, not a fancy convertible—a motorhome!

Some of you who are new readers might wonder why in the world a newly married couple would choose such an unorthodox mode of transport.

The reason? Nathan spent twelve years of his life living in a recreational vehicle and Meagan spent five years of her life doing the same. (Both sets of parents were involved in full time traveling/preaching/singing ministries that included their entire families.)

In fact, Nathan picked up Meagan for their first “date” from a fifth wheel travel trailer. (They were just good friends at that point.)

And so with their combined history . . .

. . . the Unorthodox Getaway Vehicle Idea was just too great to pass up.

Fun fact: Speaking of families in the ministry, I did an informal tally of all the ministers Nathan and Meagan have in their lives. Between them, they have two grandpas, two dads, two moms, two uncles and one brother-in-law who are all ministers. Just one of the many wonderful things they have in common!

Resisting Temptation. Old Bibles. New Nephews.

As promised, here are a few more pictures of our recent Happy Event.

Meagan’s dad, Frank, made these globes (wrapping some sort of string around balloons) which he then adorned with coordinating ribbon for the ceremony. I’ll post pictures of the final product once we get those shots from the wedding photographer, but believe me when I say that they were beautiful.

After the wedding, we all went outside for a cake reception. I love this shot of Nathan talking with his new father-in-law while Meagan greets a guest.

Sarah and Kristen in all their sunbeam loveliness.

Since a big part of Nathan and Meagan’s relationship has always been laughter, there was plenty of that served up during the day. In this shot, Nathan’s groomsmen were urging him to do the whole cake in the face of the bride thing. One look at Meagan’s expression lets you know she felt about that.

Thankfully, Nathan resisted temptation and fed her the cake in a gentlemanly manner.

And got a sweet little reward.

When it was time to head back into the church for pictures, Meagan asked Nathan to help with her train.

He held it up just a wee bit high and got this look from his new bride.

I just love the “Aw, shucks” look on his face.

Never a dull moment with those two.

While the pictures of the bride and groom were being taken, I went over to the table that had been at the side of the platform during the ceremony; it held a lit candle and two Bibles. One of the Bibles belonged to Sheri’s sweet mom who passed away almost two years ago. The other Bible was one that my late Dad was given in 1954 during Bible College; my sister, Debbie, had brought it from Wisconsin.

It was so special to get to look through it and see my dad’s familiar handwriting once again. I appreciated the fact that Meagan thought of remembering her and Nathan's grandparents who would have loved with all their hearts to be able to attend the wedding but had already been called to heaven.

Sarah enjoyed seeing her grandpa’s Bible as well.

Although I loved Sarah’s fabulous appearance, it was also a bit bittersweet to look at her because I caught a glimpse of the woman that is hovering right beneath the surface of the 15-year old girl. I’ll barely blink my eyes and Steve will be escorting her down her own bridal aisle.

One of my favorite shots is this one of Meagan and her darling nephew. It seems so funny that this little guy will grow up calling our son, Uncle Nathan. I know the two fellas will have lots of great guy time together as the years go by. (With Aunt Meagan doing her best to keep them in line.)

Meagan’s dad did ALL the flowers for the wedding—the bride’s bouquet, the bridesmaid’s bouquets, the pew markers and the incredible centerpieces at the reception. This is one talented family.

And it was one beautiful day!

Posts That Are Still To Come

• The story of the song that Meagan asked me to write as a surprise for Nathan. She and I recorded it ahead of time with each of us singing a verse and it was played while she and her dad walked down the aisle. (I’ll also post a recording of the song.)
  
• The utterly unnerving, altogether alarming, and absolutely unfixable hair crisis I had just a few days before the wedding.
  
• The story of the RV and the bridal party.
  
• The “flopping off my feet” shoe crisis I had just minutes before the wedding.
• The last minute loan of a 100-year old necklace/earring set that matched my dress perfectly.

Thanks

Our family has been so touched by all the comments (39 so far!) left in Sunday’s post as you rejoiced with us concerning this milestone for our family; you all certainly know how to make our hearts smile!

It was also very dear to look through some of Nathan and Meagan’s wedding gifts while we were in Florida and hear about the ones that came from Smithellaneous friends; they estimate they got at least a dozen gifts from you all, which truly blows me away. Believe me when I say that there is great thanksgiving in this mama’s heart for the generosity of our amazing Smithellaneous family.

The No Water Dilemma

The plumber just informed us that our water pump is shot. Between his work and the purchase of a pump, the repair will be over $400. Isn’t that just what every already overspent parent-of-a-newly-married-child loves to hear?

But at this point in our lives, with three unshowered-since-Sunday Smiths (we don’t usually bother with showering before long travel days) three unflushed toilets, and a sink full of stinky dishes, we’re basically willing to pay the man about anything he asks. Now if our new plumber friend would also come upstairs and unpack our chaotically overflowing suitcases and do several loads of laundry, we’d be set!

Comments

Anonymous said, “You might think I am strange for noticing a tiny detail in these pictures; but how did you feel when you first saw a wedding ring on your son's hand? When my son got married almost 8 years ago, I remember how strange it was to me to see that band on my son's hand.”

I know exactly what you’re talking about. I was standing in the reception hall talking briefly with Nathan and happened to glance down at his hand. His left hand. And I kind of did a little gasp and said, “Nathan! Your ring!” (Like he had to be reminded he had on a ring.) It was the first time I had seen it and since he has never worn jewelry of any kind (not even a watch) I had to stare at this hand for a few moments to get used to his new look. It’s a tungsten ring and is so cool looking. It suits him perfectly.

Lisa said, “Was there a significance about the time of the wedding. I don't believe I have ever been to a wedding before 11:00 am so I wondered if that had some deeper meaning?

Lisa, there really wasn’t any significance to the time of the wedding. (Actually, it was at 10:30.) It just worked out better concerning the scheduling of the church and country club where the reception was held. An added benefit of having a wedding at that time is that the couple can leave for their honeymoon by four orfive in the afternoon, rather than so late in the evening.

Savannah?!

I have a real post (with pictures) almost ready to go but just wanted to quickly let you know that we made it home from Florida safely last night.

The highlight, er, low light, of the whole trip came in the late afternoon when we were traveling along the interstate in South Carolina and Steve suddenly shouted, "Savannah!?!?"

Sarah and I popped our heads up from our computers to see what could have brought about such a dramatically random observation from our designated driver. Turns out that after we had stopped for gas, Steve had gotten back onto the freeway going the wrong direction and didn't realize it for almost an hour when he finally zeroed in one of the signs announcing the cities that were ahead. Cities that one would see if one was driving to Florida, not away from Florida.

Does that tell you anything about how incredibly tired we were?

We also ran into an accident that delayed us almost an hour, so between that and the wrong-way excursion, our thirteen hour trip turned into fifteen hours, with the last couple hours of it being driven through fairly heavy rain. Driving in rain always makes me tense anyway, and with my stretched and frazzled nerves the rain was extra tiring.

We finally pulled into our driveway at 11 pm and had a joyous reunion with Snowy before making the unwelcome discovery that something is wrong with our water pump and we have no water. At all. That was about the time we decided that heading for bed and dealing with our problems in the morning would be the best thing to do.

I can't ever remember being quite that tired; following an exhilarating (but exhausting) week with a 15-hour road trip is something my middle aged body isn't quite up to.

But we're thankful to have made it home safely and I'm thankful I had a good night's sleep. Still no water but Steve's been up since early this morning working on a solution.

More soon . . .

Wedding Day, Part One. (Of Many Parts.)

I’ve taken over 400 pictures over the last week and the professional photographer took a thousand or two or more, although those won’t be available for several weeks.

For right now (since I know many of you have been waiting), I will just go ahead and post a few highlights. Tomorrow (with thirteen hours of traveling to do) I’ll have plenty of time to go through pictures and do a longer post. (And also tell lots of wonderful wedding-ish stories.)

Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Smith

Sarah was a most lovely bridesmaid.

Meagan’s sister, Kristen, started doing her hair at 7:30 am . . .

And then Meagan’s other sister, Joy, did her make up.

We think she turned out rather beautifully. (The Mystery RV in the photo will be explained in another post.)

Here is Nathan, ten minutes before the wedding, holding forth with his groomsmen.

And taking his last Single Guy College Dude photos with his family.

And did I mention how beautiful a particular bridesmaid was?

It was a lovely day in so many ways.

Scary Nails And Dancing and Memories

It occurred to me yesterday that I am sort of a conservative, mild mannered person who rarely makes a splash in any of the worlds that I inhabit.

And so I told myself, “You know what? Enough is enough. I am tired of always blending into the background. I am tired of my mild-mannered-ness. I am going to show up at my son’s wedding with a splash of panache. I am going to go out and get myself some long and dramatic fingernails!”

And so I did.

What do you think? Just right? Too much? Should they be longer? (You know I always love to get my readers’ opinions!)

I don’t know; I sort of like them myself. I think they suit me pretty well. I think I’m going to keep them!

I am woman, here me ROAR!

While I was doing my dramatic nails, Sarah, Sheri and Meagan were doing the whole pedicure thing.

And when the whole thing was said and done, I did decide to have my nails cut just a tad. I mean really, how can one type Smithellaneous posts while sporting “scary nails?” (Of course, I was kidding about keeping them that long.)

Here’s what I ended up with—my very first acrylic nails ever. Sarah also got French tips, but hers were just painted on.

And here are Sarah, Meagan and me—the Nail Sisters.

After our stint at the nail salon, we took Nathan and Meagan out to eat. Since the restaurant was right across the parking lot from the hotel, we just walked on over. Or skipped, as the case may be.

In the midst of the skipping, I told Nathan and Meagan to stop for a moment so that I could take advantage of a strategically placed ray of sun. You can tell that Meagan is still skipping in her heart.

After dinner, the four of them tried to do that “funny walk” thingie, which created merriment for them and all the many people in the parking lot.

Then it was back to our room to practice our mother/groom dance. I am so not a dancer.

All I can do is giggle.

And treasure the memories.

(P.S. All of the ladies afflicted with food poisoning and/or the flu are back on their feet and doing well. Hooray!)