Obey?

Kate Middleton will not pledge to obey William in her vows.  You can read the news clip I've attached.

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Lifestyle/Story/STIStory_662221.html


Personally, I don't think it's really that big a deal.  I know we wrote/compiled our own unique vows because a cookie cutter design just isn't my style, in anything really.  But, I think it is an important step in the right direction that Kate's doing here, because her wedding will inform weddings to come and no woman should be expected to "obey" while her partner is not obligated to do so. Hopefully, women who have taken note of the meaning behind the one-sided obey promise and feel uncomfortable about saying it will now have the courage to vow exactly and only what they feel is most important in their wedding vows.

No, I am not getting up at 4am to watch the wedding. But, I approve, and I'm sure they'll be plenty of videos for me to watch it after the fact.  I value my sleep too much to let someone else's wedding interrupt it.  Besides, no wedding was nearly as special or as important as mine! ;)

What's everyone else think about the wedding?  Will you be watching?

Wedding installment two . . . the rehearsal

We held the wedding rehearsal the day before the wedding, approximately 24 hours before. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, too bad this didn't last, but more on that later.

The rehearsal was all light-hearted fun, as you'll see from the pictures.  It did NOT take ages like so many wedding rehearsals seem to.  We started out standing in order on the "stage" and then marched out then in a couple of times, did a couple readjustments and voila! C'est tout!  I think it helps to know exactly what you want in the first place and to make sure that what you want isn't too complicated. ; )  

We had such a wonderful group of people there helping and participating that it made it all that more enjoyable. I suppose I'm lucky, having friends and family that all get along with each other nicely.

I was laughing about something, probably just the fact that I was 24 hours away from my wedding.

My beautiful and talented wedding coordinator and aunt.

We were all smiles . . .

The sis-in-law and hubby. Aren't they cute? :)

Micah's cousin and bff Jeanna.

Travis and Annea

We were having serious discussion about placement I believe . . .

A snapshot of our rehearsal audience:  my mother, and parents-in-law

On the way down the aisle.

I think mom was worried about something . . .

Oh, the fun candid photos, was Micah about ready to rub his nose on my hand?? :P

Micah! What did you do!

Yes, we had to practice . . .

Yes, it was still a good kiss . . .

On our way out and on to the next day, which involved considerably more nerves and frustration on my part.  But no worries, it all ends just as it should . . .

And another auntie update . . .

Sienna, our darling niece is now over 10 months old! It's incredible how big she looks in pictures! She's most definitely turning into a little girl and is growing out of babyhood.

The silly little person, she has decided to develop all skills except crawling. Evidentally, such things are just not interesting to her yet and she seems quite content to entertain herself wherever she is set. Someday though, she'll discover the joys of mobility and get into mischief with the best of them! I just hope her parents get a good video of her moving around since we are too far away to visit. We haven't seen Sienna since Christmas, so 4 months now.

She is quite a beautiful child, and looks happy, healthy, and dare I say intelligent, if one can tell such things. But, if she's anything like her parents, she'll have no problems in school.

It's so fascinating watching a small child grow. I haven't had much opportunity to do so as I'm the small child everyone else watched grow and now I'm 24, married, and already feeling like time is passing all too quickly. Sienna is beyond enchanting though and is such a precious addition to our family.

Isn't she simply precious! I want to nibble on those thunder thighs and chubby arms and smother her in kisses!

Dear Sienna,

We are so proud of your accomplishments! You can laugh, play, smile, and enjoy life like no other. You do such a wonderful job of lighting up our lives with your presence (even from afar). We thoroughly enjoy you just as you are at this moment and can only imagine how much we will enjoy what you will become. Keeping petting the kitties nicely, keep loving to learn, and keep your mommy and daddy on their toes ;).

We love you more than bears love hunny (and we all know that's an awful lot!).

Auntie Jill and Uncle Micah

Just a lil something from a proud "auntie"

Wedding installment one . . . preparation

From the moment I started planning my wedding (if not before), I wanted a DIY wedding.  Not only was I hoping to shave off costs, but I wanted my wedding to be filled with the personal touch of all those involved in helping with the wedding. We did our own save-the-dates, invitations, programs, menus, my father-in-law even made homemade wooden signs as you will see throughout this first selection of photos.  The only thing that wasn't done ourselves was setting up the rental tents and unloading the rental equipment (and the clothing of course).  Otherwise all food, ribbons,  you name it was done by the loving hands of ourselves, or our friends and family. Looking back, its one my favorite memories, all of us arriving a week early to make this wedding a DIY wedding.

The outpouring of love and support and help from everyone was absolutely blessed. Everyone was beyond helpful, constantly coming back to the coordinators and myself for new tasks and to confirm that what they did met with approval.

I remember distinctly being very nervous about the flowers. They were late, I think several hours and I was somewhat frantic about it. They arrived Thursday evening though, leaving us all day Friday to make boutonnieres, corsages, bouquets, and table decorations. I had a lot of fun working with my bridesmaids, teaching them (with what little I knew) about how to do our own flowers.  It was a fun project.

I also remember my nails completely getting ruined by doing those flowers and then my sister (the most amazingly helpful and supportive person there) repainted them at 10pm the night before. I mind as well should've stayed up all night because I got about 5 hours sleep at most anyway, but that was another issue.

All in all, the resulting decor and setup turned out just as I had hoped. It had a rustic feel along with the more elegant details, giving everything a delicate, woodsy feel. The colors were simple, the forest looked resplendent, the wedding site was perfectly draped and coifed to reveal its best attributes. It looked like a human-helped woodsy fairyland.  The pictures only partially reveal the overall effect.

In the pictures, you'll find the lovely made handmade signs (we kept many of them for souvenirs), the flowers we arranged, the wedding decor around the pathways, the ceremony site decor, and the DIY wedding cake my parents lovingly made.

Up next, the inherent panic that accompanies a bride's realization that it will rain on her wedding day.

Ceol Na Mara is celtic for "music of the sea" and is the name of our house/property on the canal.

My father-in-law next to one of the 13 (I believe) signs he made for the wedding.

Me, my soon to be sister, Jeanna (bf since gradeschool), and Laura (bf from college).

"Careful, careful . . ."

We used greenery from all around the property so it made everything seem very authentic.

My sister's MIL perfectly arranging table settings.

Our pathway decor.

My brother-in-law lighting candles just before the wedding starts.

It was a DIY, candlelit wedding and it looked spectacular after the sun went down.

I adore my parents . . .

I just had to brag a lil on my parents for a moment.

My darling husband needed a lasik eye surgery touchup and it worked out for him to schedule it on a day that I work, today. So, my darling mommy offered to drive over to Seattle, pick him up, drive him to his surgery in Bellevue, then took him out to the Cheesecake Factory, then drove him home. I dunno, I think it's pretty hard for another mom to be able to top that. ;) Not only that, but she bought a slice of cheesecake for me as well. *drool*

This weekend all of my side of the family is getting together at my parents other house where our wedding was held for a weekend of relaxation and family fun. Micah and I didn't want to take our own car, but mom and dad weren't planning on coming back when we were. But, they rearranged their schedule especially for our convenience so that they could pick us up Friday and drop us off at home Sunday.

Who wouldn't want to spend every weekend with people such as them?  I love you mom and dad and I am so incredibly blessed by your love and care for both of us. xoxoxoxox

Inspiration of the week!

My inspirational person of the week is Hilary Rodham Clinton.

She is a force to be reckoned with and has proved invaluable time after time. Sadly, she has announced that she's done with direct politics after this term, but I don't blame her. It's not easy weathering personal criticism at every turn during one's whole career and it's most certainly not easy to weather the crazy schedule she has as Secretary of State.

Here's some basic info:

As Secretary of State, Clinton became the first former First Lady to serve in a president's cabinet. She has put into place institutional changes seeking to maximize departmental effectiveness and promote the empowerment of women worldwide. She has set records for most-traveled secretary for time in office. She has been at the forefront of the U.S. response to the 2011 Middle East protests, including advocating for the military intervention in Libya.


I was amazed at how busy she is!  I encourage you to browse the Secretary of State website, it even provides her daily schedule. http://www.state.gov/secretary/

Either way, she has made great strides in turning around the toxic foreign policy of the Bush administration, she is a great advocate for health, human rights, and empowering women and girls. She definitely one of my top heros (despite the fact that I do not completely agree with her on her every policy, but no one will) and I will be very sad to see her leave politics. Hilary Rodham Clinton, I commend you and appreciate all that you do for us and all that you have done.

Food ideas

If you ever need food ideas, the place to go is tastespotting.com! It picks up recipes posted by blogs all over the internet. You can search for what you like and everything includes amazing pictures! I absolutely love it!

Blog Hop!

So, I've joined a bloghop and wanted to make sure and give everyone an opportunity to join as well/and or look for new blogs to follow.

Couldn't resist . . .

Effie and Minnie

Lemme introduce my canine nieces. They just arrived home a little over a week ago at my sister and brother-in-law's house. They are two of the most darling, skirmy, licky, and surprisingly un-dumb little puppy munchkins I've ever seen. I'm probably bias, but if you were to hold all two pounds each of them in your arms, it would be EXTREMELY hard not to put down your gavel and declare them most adorable of the year. : )  Here they are!

My sister, the overachiever she is, is determined to have them perfectly trained since yesterday. ;) And, she's been quite successful considering these little girls are only 14 or so weeks old. They have a doggy litter box that last I heard, they mostly used when given free reign and always use when in their pen. They know how to sit up and look up at you for treats. We'll see what things they've learned next time I go visit.

I didn't change my name . . .

and I don't plan to either.

The hubs and I discussed it rather heatedly (on my part mostly) several times before we married, but I was adamant that I would not legally change my name to his last name.

It's a perfectly good name. Very sophisticated sounding, went well enough with my name, but it's simply not MY name and I was not willing to give up MY name entirely and take another, without a reason that suited me. I'm quite attached to my last name and it sounds better with my first name.  I also feel that one's last name in no way indicates the level of commitment or love between two people and saw such a tradition as impractical and largely without real purpose, besides convenience for others.

If you know me, when it comes to issues I'm impassioned about, I simply don't kowtow to others' convenience when it's a matter of personal principle.

A woman changing one's last name came out of a long tradition of women being considered the possession of men, first of her father, then later of her husband when she married. Women used to not be able to keep their own property, or their own money once married because of this mentality. Slowly things have changed until now when women have full monetary and property rights etc, but there are still a few small prevailing traditions that reflect back to this previous time, such as a bride pledging obedience to her husband during vows (which a husband does not need to pledge back), or having the father only give a bride away. The bride giving up her last name is just one more small thing that comes out of our traditional dealings between men and women.  Since I could come up with no other reason to change my name besides this "tradition" (such as liking the new name better, or it sounding better, or just not liking one's original last name), I decided it was not for me.

There's nothing wrong with changing one's name, or having one's father give one away. It's all a matter of personal preference and neither way is right or wrong. It was wrong for me because in my mind, I simply cannot separate this tradition from it's patriachal roots and purpose.  Some traditions can be very symbolic and meaningful though and I suggested to the hubs that we both change our name to a combined new name or a hyphenated last name. The symbolism would be a true combining of two equals, but the hubs did not want to give up his name and I fully understood (after all, I like my last name too :P). But, the hubs had to realize that it was not any more fair or just of him to ask me to change my name either. Hence, we are on equal footing, even down to our last names. ; )

Anyway, I did make a compromise, more out of the convenience of friends/family. I have nothing against my husband's last name, so anyone who knows it is free to call me by it, friends, family, etc. Informally, I'll be Mrs. W________. But, I wanted to keep at least one area of my life with my given name, which is very special to me, so in the legal realm and at work, I'm Jillian L______ or as my students say Madame L_______.

The hubs has had a lil bit of an interesting time with it and protests when I don't use W_______ in the informal settings as I'd promised I would but I personally think he's wasting his time and energy for more important issues, like spoiling and loving me. ; ) It kind of tickles me a little all the same . . .

In closing I will only say one thing. I DO NOT answer to the name and DO NOT like to be addressed as Mrs. Micah W________. This ridiculous tradition should simply be put down and killed like it deserves. I refuse to address any other woman in such a manner as well. No woman should ever be called the feminine version of her husband without even her own first name. It downright nonsensical as well in this day and age.

Anyway, enough rants. Coming up:  introduction to my canine "nieces" effie and minnie and several posts about my wedding because I've received my professional wedding pics. Brings back such lovely memories . . . : )