Little Hannah Got Married

Well actually she is tall, thin Hannah and she looked absolutely stunning. I loved her dress.

At any rate, Hannah and Robbie got married yesterday and Hannah Terrill is now Hannah Hamill.

I went to the temple in the morning to hang out with Theo while Eliza and Matt went to the wedding ceremony. Mostly I read to Theo while he sat in his stroller (his choice completly). Then I stayed to get a picture of Hannah and Robbie. Her flowers were beautiful and you could tell how happy she was.

Her reception was in the evening and I wish I had gotten a picture of her colors. She used yellow, green, coral, and pink and they all just went together so well. Very nice for a summer wedding. It was a fun reception and I am glad that Rodger got to meet Matt and we got to hang out with him and Eliza before they went back to Virginia. I am definently going to have to visit them after Eliza has her baby.

Congratulations to Hannah and Robbie!

I got to hang out and catch up with Mandy which was a lot of fun. And how freaking cute is Eliza's "baby bump"?

Rhona and Chris's Wedding

Last Saturday Rhona and Chris got married. Here are some pictures from the day. Rhona was a beautiful bride and you could see how she was to be getting married.

Here are some pictures from the day.

Vickie and Rodger cooling off in the shade. It was pretty hot when we got to the reception.

Joy's daughter Leah. She is so cute and sweet.

You know it's time to get a hobby when....

You are sitting at work when all of a sudden you get really excited when you remember that "Farmer Wants a Wife" is on tomorrow night. Not only that but you then spend the next 5 minutes trying to figure out why you missed watching it last week.

As a side note, I did find someone else who actually watches this show also- Rodger's cousin (mind you he is 17). Vickie said she watched one episode. It's ok tv, probably not worth getting excited about though.

"Ladies are Lovely" -Alex

Thursday night was Rhona's Bachelorette Party. Of course, it was a blast and of course Jenn, Alex, and I got lost on the way to Hollywood.

It was so fun to get to hang out with Alex.

But when we did get there we had a blast. We went to Fredrick's of Hollywood and Rhona tried on lingerie, then CPK for dinner, and somehow we ended up at clubs LAX and Les Deux. That's right I said Les Deux. I felt like we were on "The Hills". While we didn't run into LC or Audrina, Rhona did meet Dennis Rodman and earlier in the night Jenn, Alex, and I saw Shane West. Jenn also got to see one of the choreographers from "So You Think You Can Dance". Well I guess that we all saw him but no one else knew who he was.

Kind of a scary picture of me, I think I look like one of the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park but hey it was late.

The night was amazing and I think Rhona had a great time. It was so much fun to get to celebrate with her.

Most Valuable Dad

I know I am a day behind but it's never too late to tell my dad what a great father he is. (Actually I don't even think he ever reads this but oh well. Maybe my mom can show him.)

MVD! MVD! MVD! MVD! MVD! MVD! MVD! MVD! MVD! MVD! MVD! MVD! MVD! MVD!

Rodger's College Graduation

Rodger had his graduation ceremony from Cal Poly Pomona yesterday. He was actually done with college in March but didn't walk until yesterday. His family, my parents, and I were all there to support him. We are all very proud of him. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into his degree. (And the sweat part was mostly by us yesterday. It was so HOT!). The funny part is that I got there early with Rodger so I could get good seats to save and I could have gotten seats under a nice shady tree but it didn't occur to me until the sun was blazing down on us. Oh well, I have a nice sunburn on my face and chest as a souvenir for the day.

The speaker at the ceremony was the founder/owner of Panda Inc. He and his wife opened up one Panda Inn and from that grew it into a food chain empire. He gave an interesting talk. His message was Learn. Unlearn. Re-Learn. He talked about how every customer was and is important. I thought it was a good choice for the Business Department graduation.

After graduation we took pictures and all of us went to Chilis with some of Rodger's friends. It was really a great time and I am happy that our families got to meet and got along really well.

I am so proud of Rodger and his acheivements. He worked so hard and really cared about school. I got a little teary eyed at the beginning of the ceremony because even though the majority of people go to college now I know that it still means alot and it is quite the accomplishment. I just feel so lucky to have found Rodger and that we get to celebrate these great times of our lives together.

I found this on my camera

Thanks Mom for taking a picture of me at my best.

My face is just filled with excitement about another day at work.

ULV- It's good to see you!

Last Friday on the way to Palm Springs Rodger and I stopped in La Verne to get something to eat. While there I couldn't resist the chance to see my Alma Mater.

Much of it looked the same but some looked different. It was empty being summer vacation and all. One HUGE difference is the new Student Center, or at least what will be the new Student Center. It's the massive structure in the pictures below. Behind it you can barely see the old Student Center, "The Tents". They were starting the new structure when I graduated but I didn't know it would be a building of this scale. To me it just doesn't fit the warm, small, community environment that is ULV. However, I am willing to reserve judgment and see what it looks like when it is finished.

Of course while in La Verne I had to stop at my beloved Circle K that I frequented during my years at ULV. It was all arranged differently but the general feeling was there. I had a nice conversation with the lady that worked there about how I went to La Verne and her daughter did also. I told Rodger when we left that you just don't get that kind of friendliness everywhere.

"This is the stupidest thing ever!" -Rodger

Sweet Reunion

It might seem strange but when I think of college I never immediately think of classes, papers, presentations, or projects but it's the moments that come flashing back at me. College was such a great experience. While at first I resented paying my student loans, I can honestly say now that I never for one second regret all the money I am paying back for going to ULV. I know that as a woman I am extremely privileged to receive any education let alone a college education.

Being on campus made me miss college. I can't explain the exact feeling I get when thinking about college but I am sure it is familiar to many of you. I get this warm feeling in my chest, and tears stings my eyes a little, and I can't help but smile. It was such a time of growth in my life and I think of it with nothing but fond thoughts. It's not that I long to go back to that time, although I will admit there have been many occasions when I wished I was still in college, it's just that while your in college there is this feeling that the world is going on around you rather than being in the thick of it. ULV provided a sort of bubble that protected you from what was happening on the outside and gave you a chance to look at the world the way that it could/should be. It was such a time of idealism for me and when I get too jaded about society I like to remember about what I believed in college. Maybe I was naive but I like to think that the perfect world and society I believed in then can still exist. And I guess if it doesn't I can always go back to La Verne and pretend like it does.

"I Always Give Your Pool a 4" -Rodger

Rodger and I went to Palm Springs this weekend. We left Friday after work and got there around 8:30pm. We stayed at the wonderful Hilton where I have stayed with my family before. We ate, got lots of sun, went swimming, went to the casino, relaxed, and walked around the town. I love it there and it was hot but not unbearably hot.

The beautiful mountains there are one of my favorite parts of Palm Springs. This picture doesn't show it that well but the mountains are very flat on the side and go straight up. They look like one huge rock.

When we went to dinner on Saturday night a couple had 8 of these puppies that they were trying to sell in a little grass area. They were adorable.

The beautiful pool area. You can see the bar in the right of the picture and to the left of the pool area are two Jacuzzis. They weren't very warm but that's okay because I suppose you shouldn't be sitting in a hot spa when it's over 100 degrees out.

It was a great weekend with one minor glitch. Rodger and I were getting one last swim in before we left this morning and while we were sitting in the pool apparently a wasp had landed on the top of my bikini. All of a sudden I felt a huge burning pinch on a very sensitive part of my right breast. I grabbed at it and pulled something off and got pinched on my finger before I flung it off in the water. I am pretty sure it was a wasp but didn't get a good look before I went into panic mode. The pain was so bad and I started crying and within minutes we were back in the hotel room and I was sobbing. It hurt so bad and I was freaked out because I didn't really know what happened. After a panicked call to my mom we went to the hotel store to get a Benadryl. The lady there asked what happened and so I told her while trying not to cry. She tells me that I should report it to the hotel before I leave. We go back to the room where I do a quick Google search of "wasp bites" on my phone and decide that I will probably be one of the 90 to 100 people a year that die of a wasp bite. I have decided that when these sort of things happen I probably should not conduct Google searches.

So we get everything together and go to check out and I tell the lady that I was bit by a wasp and she says the the manager will come take a report and to sit in some chairs. The manager comes out and the whole thing could have gone well but it really didn't.

Highlights of the conversation include but are not limited to-

Manager- "Creekmur, that's a good English name". He asks where I was a bit and I tell him my right breast, this is followed by him looking around and never making eye contact with me again. I really didn't know how else to describe it. His response to this is "I guess that's what you get for wearing a bikini." (I think/hope that he was kidding.) I then describe the incident and then he writes down his version which isn't exactly correct but whatever, I am embarrassed, crying again, and want to leave. After this he deduces that I was bit by a flying ant. Rodger says "No, couldn't be. Looked nothing like an ant." So he finishes his little gem of a paragraph and says "Is that all you wanted?". Uh, ok I didn't even want to tell you, they told me I had to. He then hands me his card (which says Restaurant Manager) and says "I will give you some candy if it makes you feel better." Then he says, "I am the manager on duty, which basically means I have to do all of the stuff no one else wants to".

He then gets up to make me a copy of the "Incident Report" and comes back to hand it to me. Now I have had some odd exchanges in my life and it takes a lot to embarrass me and make me feel awkward but the following sentence really did it for me. In very close proximity to my face he points to his chest and starts rubbing it and says in a low voice if it starts itching "just put some cream on it". In my head I am thinking I have a burning, pinching, throbbing pain running up the right side of my chest so if it just starts to itch I will feel pretty good about it. I said "thanks' and Rodger and I left. We decided reporting the bite was pretty worthless and also that this whole thing was probably Kharma for me since I commented to Rodger yesterday that the "Restaurant Manager" looked like Colonial Sanders. The pain is gone so apparently I will survive. I probably overreacted but it was pretty scary and painful.

Despite that incident, it really was a fun and relaxing weekend get away.

"What you got they can’t steal it, No they can't even feel it."

My sister gave me "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd about 5 years ago and for some reason I never read it even though she told me how good it is. Then recently my mom read it and told me I had to so I did.

It really is a great book with a good plot, memerorable characters, and a touching story about the strong bonds that form between women. It was well written and quite the page turner.

These are some of the parts of the book that stuck out to me-

"I unscrewed the lid and set it aside. 'You can go,' I said. But the bees remained there, like planes on a runway not knowing they'd been cleared for takeoff. They crawled on their stalk legs around the curved perimeters of the glass as if the world had shrunk to the jar. I tapped the glass, even laid the jar on its side, but those crazy bees stayed put." Page 28

"Some people have a sixth sense, and some are duds at it. I believe I must have it, because the moment I stepped into the house I felt a trembling along my skin, a traveling current that moved up my spine, down my arms, pulsing out from my fingertips. I was practically radiating. The body knows things a long time before the mind catches up to them. I was wondering what my body knew that I didn't." Page 69

"She reminded me that the world was really one big bee yard, and the same rules worked fine in both places: Don't be afraid, as no life-loving bee wants to sting you. Still, don't be an idiot; wear long sleeves and long pants. Don't swat. Don't even think about swatting. If you feel angry, whistle. Anger agitates, while whistling melts a bee's temper. Act like you know what you're doing, even if you don't. Above all, send the bees love. Every little thing wants to be loved." Page 92

"She laughed again. 'You know, some things don't matter that much, Lily. Like the color of a house. How big is that in the overall scheme of life? But lifting a person's heart- now that matters. The whole problem with people is-' 'They don't know what matters and what doesn't.' I said filling in her sentence and feeling proud of myself for doing so. 'I was gonna say, The problem is they know what matters, but they don't choose it. You know how hard that is, Lily? I love May, but it was still so hard to choose Caribbean Pink. The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters." Page 147

"August took Rosaleen's hand and pulled her over, then went on holding it, the way she used to hold May's sometimes, and it struck me that she loved Rosaleen. That she would change Rosaleen's name to July and bring her into their sisterhood." Page 203

" 'Every person on the face of the earth makes mistakes, Lily. Every last one. We're all so human. Your mother made a terrible mistake, but she tried to fix it.' 'Good night', I said, and rolled onto my side. 'There is nothing perfect,' August said from the doorway. 'There is only life.' " Page 256

" 'This Mary I am talking about sits in your heart all day long, saying, 'Lily, you are my everlasting home. Don't you ever be afraid. I am enough. We are enough.' " Page 289

"This is the moment I remember clearest of all- how I stood in the driveway looking back at them. I remember the sight of them standing there waiting. All these women, all this love, waiting." Page 299