Prior to the shower, Adam and I had a quick meeting with our videographer down the road as Dusty Shamrock waited in the car. Once that order of business was tended to it was time to partttayyy!
So down the road, over the hill, and around the bend we went to my twin's house. I admit when I rounded the last curve and saw all the cars parked in the street, I was shocked at how many folks were there! Then, I realized it seemed like more people were there due to the snow in the driveway as people maneuvered their cars to figure out how to park in the white stuff. My poor brother had to shovel and direct folks as they navigated their way off the street but eventually we all got ourselves situated. In the midst of all this, I nearly fell over when I saw a dear friend from NORTH CAROLINA standing there in front of my brother's house in Pennsylvania. How sweet of her to come all that way just for the shower!! Then, when I walked into the house, I saw my best friends from college including one's Mom I used to call my "York Mom", friends from Harrisburg and York, the gals in my family, my brothers' in-laws, and of course my matron of honor who never stopped moving the whole day as she carried out the beautiful shower with my sisters-in-law (well, except for when I Jamberried her nails at the end of the shower). :)
It was so neat seeing friends from different times and places in my life...they all truly had been companions on my journey and now on Adam's and my journey. Heather and I met when I was 16 and she was 17 and we both worked at Subway back in high school. We quickly became best buds even though we lived in neighboring towns and attended different schools. Years later, she wound up marrying my big brother's childhood best friend. Did you follow that? Through all of life's ups and downs, Heather has been there. Even when we're both swamped with life's daily responsibilities and routines and after becoming mama to two adorable children, Heather has always been the person who could provide moral support, advice, or just analyze everything with me at a moment's notice. Everyone should be so lucky to have a friend like that in his/her corner.
Melanie and I met in the early 2000s when I took on a part-time job working nights at a teacher supply/toy store in Harrisburg after teaching in York during the school day. Melanie trained me then quit (LOL!!!) but fortunately our friendship lasted over the years....and the miles. She came to visit me in NC twice and nearly every time I was home during my 4 years in the South we were sure to get together.
My co-friends from York were there too!! The time with Becky, Jen, Kim, & Lauren was way too short but I'm so thankful we were able to see each other! Being all together like that again made it seem like we were at a Christmas Cookie Exchange or hanging out in the office at York Learning Center for a moment. I love my job now but man do I miss the fellowship from the 7 years of teaching in York with these fine ladies sometimes!
My new family in CA was even a part of the shower too!! Heather and Adam worked to get Skype up and running so that Adam's Mom, sister, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and his two older nephews could chit chat with us and feel as if they were on our side of the country. I can't wait until we're all together in late May and we can be one big happy family in one location for a couple days at least!
It was so neat seeing friends I had been able to stay connected with in both NC and PA like Joan who has a summer home in NC but I know her from York through my old job. Isn't it funny how we go through life with friends in various aspects of our lives such as church friends, school friends, friends from home, from college, those you live with, and those you see less often yet you still stay in good touch? What was so neat to experience was having all those folks together that sunny Saturday afternoon to celebrate. Each person brings something different to the table and the friendships and family ties are what get you through the tough times and also the joyful times. Looking around at the laughing and smiling girls, starting and not getting to really finish many conversations, and just taking it all in at my best friends from college and the tumultuous 20s to the steady LIU girls to Heather who has picked up the pieces too many times to count to Deb from NC who told me to, "not live life on pause" while I was in NC to my Mom & Dad to little Dusty Shamrock tucked away in another room to everyone else who took the time to make the trip and to spend the afternoon with us and of course, Adam, who has become my anchor and truly my best friend, it was overwhelming but in a good way!! The food was delicious (oh that chocolate peanut butter caked...YUM!) and we all loved painting our personalized wine glasses and wine charms. There were even cute wine or martini glass cookies to go with the glasses and I loved the scrapbook that my friends put together of pictures and memories they shared. Adam and I have also been enjoying reading the Date Night idea cards on the individual bottles of wine as we enjoy them at dinners we are having fun preparing using our Fiesta ware and other cool kitchen gadgets. So far we need to go see a movie, go bowling, and have a KFC picnic lunch. :)
Thank you to all those who came to the shower and also for your friendship over the years! We can't wait to celebrate with you again in 47 days.
I had been meaning to blog about the shower (and well, many other things) for a while but just hadn't found the time until today. What's interesting about today is that it is Easter Monday instead of a Marathon Monday so I'm not teaching right now as I would normally be doing at this time on a Monday night. However, that is not the interesting part....last year on Easter Monday, as I drove back to NC from spending the holiday at home in PA, Adam was setting up a Skype call from California to talk with my parents about seeking their blessing in proposing!! Just one short year later we're ordering curtains for our new house and preparing for upcoming "Parent Weekend". I don't think I could have dreamt up a better story when I look back at all that has happened since that fateful October 21st lunch break back in 2013!
Thinking back over this Easter season we are currently in the midst of we just wrapped up 40 days of fasting for Lent as we looked forward in joyful anticipation to Easter. Throughout this season of turning inward, sacrificing, and meditating on what Jesus did for us while still keeping a face turned toward Easter, I can't help but make a parallel to this time of waiting, sacrificing, and preparing for the sacrament of matrimony. We're down to 47 days until May 23rd. After that, no more saying goodbye every day as we return to each other's houses and no more managing of two households as we truly do merge our lives together in the way of shared bank accounts, names, and living spaces not to mention sharing of one another in complete sacrifice and total self-giving.
The wedding weekend will also be during the weekend of Pentecost Sunday when the church celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles when they received the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. Through these gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles were able to live out their vocations in preaching the Gospel in foreign lands yet all understood their words. If you want to read more about Pentecost Sunday and the gifts you can click here. I love that our wedding is falling on this date. From the start of Adam's and my relationship, hope has been an underlying element. The dove has always represented hope for me and from the early stages to even now as we near ever closer to May 23rd, the reassuring messages/images of hope present themselves in seemingly inconspicuous ways so it shouldn't surprise me that our wedding falls on the epitome of hope when the Holy Spirit, symbolized by the dove, is such a focus through Pentecost Sunday. What great attributes (i.e., wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord) to focus on as we start our marriage and try to grow together in these seven areas. These gifts, along with extra graces, will hopefully help Adam and me to start off married life strong as we try to model ourselves after the Holy Family as well. Originally, Fr. Louis had suggested this coming weekend as our wedding date but I couldn't fathom getting married in the middle of the semester so we opted for the next available date that happened to be May 23rd. Ironically, our parents will be together and celebrating on April 11th anyhow as they come to see us in Ohio for what we've dubbed Parent Weekend! Then we get to do it all again so soon in May! What a joyful time of anticipation and preparation this is during this Easter season for our family!! Pax to you all as we all move forward on our journeys!
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