The Lee Wedding

This weekend, I was blessed to be the Maid of Honor for David and Beth Lee's wedding. It was held at 2PM on Saturday, November 22nd at Trinity Church of the Nazarene (my home church) and was a beautiful fall wedding!

Here are some pictures from the whole day that I took when I had time in between running errands and fluffing the dress! :) Hope you enjoy!

Angela and Katie Beth did our hair! It looked so amazing!

Sweet Keagan stayed SO STILL for Katie Beth. It was so cute...

The Beautiful Bride!!!

Beth's AWESOME Shoes that matched David's

Sweet Girls...

The Wedding Dress!
The girls tying the difficult bows for each other.
All of us with Beth before the dress goes on!
Beth sat sideways on the piano bench for 30 minutes before the ceremony started.

It was SUCH a great wedding. I've always wanted a fall wedding, so even if I don't get one, I can at least say that I was in a beautiful fall wedding with warm colors and wonderful young women! :) I hope you and David have a blessed marriage, Beth... Love you both. :)

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin...

I simply love pumpkin... ANYTHING!

My favorite pumpkin creation would have to be my family's pumpkin bread recipe, though. Every year, I look forward to the day when I can walk in a supermarket and see the overflowing display of pumpkins for sale. I would go so far as to say that pumpkins are one of the major things I am thankful for during Thanksgiving... right under God's love, my family, my friends, and the luxuries of like I've been blessed with. Yes... that simple vegetable (its a vegetable, right? the whole argument about tomatoes being a fruit because the seeds on the inside and such always makes me second guess myself...) is something I'm legitimately thankful for.

What you might not know is that pumpkins are very special to my family, and here's why:

Way back in 1981... well, maybe that's not TOO long ago ;)... My dad proposed to my Mom that night before Halloween (oh, how romantic, right?!?!?). Ever since I can remember, my dad has bought each person in the family our own pumpkin as a way to remember that night. I think it's a sweet gesture, and it was always a treat to find 4 beautiful pumpkins gracing our front porch each year when I would come home from school. Some years we would paint or even color our pumpkins with markers, but EVERY year my mom and I would cook the pumpkins. This brings me to the real reason why I love pumpkins so much.

My mom and I have shared wonderful memories together cooking pumpkins over the years. There's just something about cooking with your mother that builds a special bond between the two of you, and I am so excited for the day when I will be able to pass this tradition on to my own daughter. My mom and I would cook all 4 pumpkins, which ends up becoming a lot, and we would bake pies and bread for the next few months until it was all used up. This would usually cause us to give either the pumpkin or the baked goods away. There's nothing better than a pie or loaf of bread baked with fresh pumpkin. Using the canned stuff is unheard of in our home! When most people hear that I cook my own pumpkin, they often become amazed at how much work I go through, but it is actually as simple as mashed potatoes... If you have never used fresh pumpkin, but have always wanted to, you are in luck!

Here is how you cook a pumpkin:

Be sure you have a good, sharp knife to prevent cutting your finger. Trust me, a good knife makes a world of difference when cutting up a pumpkin!

1. Cut the pumpkin in 1/2
2. Remove the seeds
3. Cute the pumpkin into quarters
4. Cut off the rind (hard outer part) and stem. You are now left with the lighter inside of the pumpkin, or the "meat"
5. Chop the pumpkin into cubes, about 2"x2"
6. Put the pumpkin cubes into large pots (as many as you need) and fill them with water so that all the pieces are covered.
7. Boil the pumpkin like you would potatoes.
8. Remove from stove when a fork easily pokes the soft pumpkin pieces.
9. Drain the water.
10. Spoon the cooked pieces into a blender and blend until smooth with no chunks.
11. Store pumpkin in Tupperware or other storage container. You can refrigerate it until you want to use it, or even freeze it for later use.

* Use 1 1/2 cups for each can of pumpkin a recipe calls for*

It's that simple! I hope that you will try it out sometime because fresh pumpkin REALLY DOES make a difference!

"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies."
-- Aristotle

Oh Facebook....

These were some of the status changes I saw on Facebook right after Obama won tonight. Janette and I sat here refreshing the page over and over again... it is pretty entertaining.

Person 1: "Is blue we're blue"
Person2: "Is moving to Texas and hope they break away:
Person 3: "Is SCCCCCCCCRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAMMMING!!!!" (maybe not enough E's in that one...)
Person 4: "Is headed to and island with Alex"
Person 5: "Not MY President"
Person 6: "Everyone: please stop the hate and violent talk. Think love and peace." (Good advice Stephen)
Person 7: "used to be proud of this nation"
Person 8: "is welcome to socialist america...**expletive**. im going back to CANADA."
Person 9: "is sleeping"
Person 10: "is make room for me, Aussies. You all think straight."
Person 11: "is wow. i cannot believe this. i can't believe this country put a muslim in the white house. wake up, people." (OUCH....)
Person 12: "its about time we get a brotha in the house...."
Person 13: "its official, abomination."
Person 14: "maybe... New Zealand....that would be cool." (yes!!! New Zealand is cool, but I would go there for other reasons than an election result...well.. I guess that would depend on the consequences, but not because of THIS election...)
Person 15: "is wondering if Texas will secede and elect McCain/Norris for President."
Person 16: "is hoping that all the annoying people who are threatening to move to Canada actually do."
Person 17:" is worried. i'll be honest. but i'm going to try to give obama a chance. even though its hard." (wow.. that's one of the most positive response yet!)
Person 18: "i wonder if they'll put a fried chicken joint in the White House?" ( that was WAAAAAAAAY out of line...)
Person 19: "is thinking our country is already in hell and has been for awhile....where have you people been?" (yeah, no matter what you think about the election result, there is no doubt that we weren't a perfect nation prior to this day)
Person 20: "forgive them Lord, for they know not what they have done." (wow, that's an intense response)
Person 21: "knows McCain is so happy everyone wants to leave the country he sacrificed his life for."
Person 22: "is thinking high-schoolers probably can't move out of the country. so, don't talk about it."
Person 23: "well...i have an extra copy of the koran..... $50........ any takers?" (oh my.....)
Person 24: "IF I WERE IN THE SECRET SERVICE I WOULD QUIT"
Person 25: "is congrats obama. I love the always classy McCain. he is a true American hero."

** Disclaimer: The content of these views do not reflect the views of this blogger, but are rather a glimpse into the online world of Facebook and it's members' opinions.**

I hope this makes you think about just what happened... there are a lot of opinions out there...