Wedding Bells

Ah, yes...The bride and groom. They both look lovely, eh? Vikki is Ted's cousin, and we happen to be pretty fond of her so we were thrilled that she found a great guy like Mike. He's got quite the romantic streak that is already becoming legendary in this family.

I took a ton of photos, which can be seen in my Wedding Flickr account if y'all are into wedding photos. As you can see, Cadence had a blast. She tore up that dance floor like you would not believe. For Three. Straight. Hours.

I did post some of my favorite photos from the wedding on my personal Flickr. This is a slideshow so I don't have to post a 2-mile long post to share these with you.

I'm currently at the Metra station. My shuttle bus missed the train, so I thought I'd do a little post (thank you, LF Public Library). It's been nonstop party in our household since Friday night, and it ain't over yet. Ted's sister Lauren has been staying with us since Saturday night, and the Sibs are going out again tonight. There is a snowstorm headed our way I hear. Thank goodness I'm back to my old schedule of working from home on Wednesdays...

That's the short and sweet scoop around here. Keep warm and safe, y'all.

My First Post on Shutter Sisters!

Hey, y'all! My first post on Shutter Sisters is up! I'll be posting the first Sunday of every month, so check it out!

In other news, it's been super busy around here (when is it not??). Ted's cousin Vikki got married yesterday, and she and her now-husband Mike had asked me to be the 2nd photographer. That means I'll be post-processing like mad tomorrow. Plus our upstairs neighbor accidentally left her water running in her kitchen and fell asleep Tuesday night, and now we've got some nasty water damage. We've been running a dehumidifier 24 hours/day since Friday afternoon, and I think the dryness in our place has contributed to Cadence now getting sick. Grrrr...Anyhoo, more later.

Love Thursday--Finding Family

It's Love Thursday on Shutter Sisters, folks, and here's my submission. This is Cadence with her BFF Rudden. These two have been friends since before Cadence could walk, and their devotion to each other is deep and wide. Just try separating them when it's time to go home, and you'll know what I mean.

Rudden's mom is my very good friend Amy. She has been a source of strength and encouragement to me over the past couple of years, and I am so grateful for her friendship. We are learning together how to find family and community among people who were once strangers.

Last night, we did this by gathering together at our church and sharing a meal. We hope to do this regularly so that we may deepen relationships and spur one another on, whether it's to dismantle our fears or to share hope and love or to share in traditions old and new.

The simple act of taking time out from our hectic lives to cook and eat together, or to wash dishes together, or to play together--I believe these are things that will help me find family. And I am so blessed to have landed amongst a group of folks who are characterized by their arms open wide, just like their hearts, who delight in conspiracies of hope and love, who are overflowing with creativity, who make me happy simply to be...

Go soak in more love on Love Thursday at Shutter Sisters.

Best Shot Monday--Love Notes To A City

Some of you are already aware of the Love Notes To a City project that started spontaneously by Krystyn Heide and Jen Lemen. You can read about it on Krystyn's blog here, here and see photos here. You can read about it on Jen's blog here and see photos here.

When I read about this, my heart let out a resounding YES! I've recruited some co-conspirators, and I'm hoping that we'll be able to do this here in Chicago in the coming days leading up to Valentine's Day.

Here's what I wrote for my friend Tim to post on Facebook to gather more co-conspirators.

"Loneliness. Despair. Hopelessness. Depression. War. Fear. We are surrounded and bombarded by forces that would rob us of our joy of life, our sense of community, our faith in humanity, our hope in love. But what if someone were to plant words of hope, small tokens of love, in our dreams and hearts and waking life? What if, as we picked up the cream at our local coffeehouse, or grabbed that can of chicken noodle soup at Trader Joe's, or looked through the Nick Drake section at the record store, we found a note--an anonymous love note--maybe with a piece of chocolate even, and what if that little note contained the words we needed to hear to bring us one tiny step closer to wholeness? What if people in our city started finding these notes in random places left and right?

Think of it as Guerrilla Art. Think of it as Love in Action. Think of it what you like. If this resonates with that secret chamber in your heart that longs for something more in this life, join in the Love.

You can do this on your own, with family and friends, or with strangers. Some of us will be making a concerted effort to leave these notes w/ some chocolate at various places in our neighborhood during a couple days leading into Valentines Day."

And for once, I will submit just this one photo as my Best Shot for the week. Feel free to join in the love in your own neighborhoods.

Go see more folk's Best Shot's on Tracey' Mother May I.

Love Thursday

It's Love Thursday over at Shutter Sisters, and this is my submission. I absolutely love how Cadence's hair swirls into delicatle curls during bathtime. Melts my heart every time. See what else folks are loving over here.