Rehearsal Dinner!  After the hard work of rehearsing and traipsing down the aisle a time or two, we headed off to the Devries' for a yummy supper of Lemon Grass thai food and some good fellowship between both families and our friends!  There was a lot of love flowing through that house and we felt super blessed and grateful to our God for allowing this special time to happen and bring us together!

Giving a little welcome and speech at the rehearsal dinner!

I really liked this picture - to me it spoke of how the evening went - a mix of the two families and friends -

 sharing food together is a bonding experience and we sure had lots of food to share! 

Thanks so much Mom and Dad Devries!  Carina, Tanan and Rochelle are enjoying the feast!

 

Dad's looking a mite quizzical here at his son-in-law to be in a mere 16 hours or so...

but Timothy's relaxed and happy to be done the practice run!!!

Timothy's sisters came up with a really neat idea - they had found paper balloons that you can write well-wishes and thoughts on, then when they're done, you take them outside, light the fuel source under the balloon and they take off up into the skies...carrying the wishes up!  I was hoping we wouldn't set the neighbourhood on fire but there were no issues and everyone had fun adding their ideas to the balloons!

Then we went outside, a giant street party and watched as they were lit and flew off up into the heavens...

 first Timothy's, then mine - and they joined each other in flight!  It was a really neat idea,

one i had never seen before and was so thankful we got to participate in this!

We felt very enveloped by love and support from everyone and were so thankful that

 everyone could be there and be part of our pre-big-day!

Angela took on the dangerous job of lighting the balloons whilst Tom was an able-bodies helper. 

They went up so high, we were so amazed!!!  They seemed to turn into stars themselves!

Only hours to go until the big moment!

We both headed to our respective parent's places for a much-needed night's rest before the busyness and excitement of the wedding day. 

Wedding pics - part 2 - Practice makes perfect!

Rehearsal was Friday night at our church - Rehoboth URC and was very capably orchestrated by our pastor.  He kept things relaxed and we all had a great time - it sure was intimidating walking down the aisle that first time with Dad - Timothy and I had practiced it together a few weeks before in church but that wasn't quite the same as this!  But it sure was neat looking down the aisle and seeing my man at the end and looking forward to being his wife the very next day!! 

All the handsome fellows lined up in a row, waiting patiently for the ladies to trek down the aisle!

Dad and I sure look serious - its a hard job carrying those tulips eh?  We had to remember to slow down
 but thats sure hard to do when you're a little mite nervous! 

There goes my captioning again - i must be doing something wrong - some of these pics are a bit blurry but you get the feeling - we are pretty happy here to be holding hands and gazing into each others eyes - all under the watchful eye of pastor Van Olst.  Shortly before this however, i was quite embarassed to forget the order of my vows - i was pretty nervous for that part - thankfully on the big day, it was perfect for both of us!  Just needed to remember to breathe!  Always helpful!

And trust my dear little sister Lauren to provide some comic relief - i think she was a great

smile motivator for both of us - even in church on the wedding day!  Thanks Lauren!

Wedding pics...finally!!!! Friday - Part 1

The pew bows all neatly lined up outside - i didn't want big fussy ornate pew decorations, just a bit of something to bring some of the outside in!  And the ladies of the Mothers Street Flower Arranging Society (?M.S.F.A.S.?) delivered!

So, a while back, oh, say, maybe five weeks ago, a certain event of some historical and personal significance began to be unfolding - well, truth be told, it was unfolding for much longer beforehand and was in the plans since eternity, as is our comfort.  But the time had come for all the planning and preparations for our wedding to come to fruition and manifest themselves!  And we definitely couldn't have done it all without an army of volunteers and helpers, hugs and encouragement. 
Timothy and I were looking forward to this big day and to being surrounded by friends and family and yes, all the little details here and there played parts in making the big day a success and sometimes the story is in the little details as well - so hopefully these pictures capture a bit of the feel of the days and leave stories left to be told and reminsced over.  

\Tante Willy, Tanan and Tante Tineke all hard at work composing table centerpieces for the reception - it was so neat to see everyone working together, having fun, freezing their poor little fingers off and getting their creative juices flowing!  Tante Willy and Oom Klaas arrived on Thursday afternoon already and she was out there creating almost within a few hours!  What a dedicated lady!

The table outside at Mom and Dad's with all the flower arranging paraphernalia littered about - I was amazed to see that even tomatoes made their way onto the table - i suppose they were green and we were interested in anything green!

Okay, now somehow, my computer won't let me do captions so we'll just have to do with text. 

Rachel is getting very into the decorating spirit at the reception and Timothy is quite amused! 

What kind of family is he getting himself into??

Angela and Josh came with us as well and helped set up tables and rearrange rocks for place settings

and score free coffee and lots of other helpful things!

Carina is busy trying to get those pesky little lights to stay on the front of the headtable -

 it was a challenge to be sure but it was eventually done and looked wonderful!!!

Out, out, vile jelly??

So last week my sisters, mom and i got together for a jelly-making party at good old Mothers Street.  Rachel had proposed the idea initially and came up with some recipes for us to try.  Mrs Schotsman was our inspiration in this whole endeavour and we were definitely gratified to use her veggie chopper which made our jelly-making significantly quicker and easier.  We had to smile when it was dubbed the "Chop-Wow". 

 Peeling up some little red onions that Rachel cultivated in the fields at Rexleigh

 Creating some lemony zest for the jelly

 Even Nate wanted in on the chopping action and was happy to give a few solid whacks on the onions!  Poor little guy didn't quite know what to do with the tears resulting from the onions!

 Mom tackled the hot peppers for the team - she was quite brave with her nice yellow gloves and the jelly wasn't even too spicy - i think we might not have gotten the hottest peppers on the shelf or perhaps removed too many seeds!

 Our Onion and Hot Pepper Jelly looked festive enough for a Christmas card!

 Aaron and Peter looked after Benjamin who looks pretty happy to have such doting older cousins!

 Then it was time to do dishes and the funny faces appeared!

 And some more....

 And more - Mom looks like she might just be about to sneeze...maybe those peppers worked after all

 and the last of the bunch... oh, nice...

 And the final results - we had a taste testing party and ate ourselves full on jelly...but it sure was yummy!

 And a word from our sponsors!

 The end portrait - we survived, all fingers intact and with smiles on our faces - it was a great morning and afternoon of fellowship and family and we hope to repeat that again next year with more recipes - any suggestions, bring it on!

A toast to the jelly - which wasn't "out" but rather in our jars!

Bet you didn't ever buy one of these!!

I was at FreshCo the other day and was struck by the appearance of a peculiar green object.  It was kinda like a cucumber and a gourd had a baby during a strange encounter in the produce aisle.  I had to have one - it was so interesting!  So it came around the store with me in my buggy and since then has been residing on our windowsill, more mysterious than ever.  So tonight i finally sat down, googled "bitter melon" which is what i thought someone at the store had referred to them as and sure enough, there came up the article included in the bottom of this blog.  So for your reading pleasure and brain activity, here's some learning about Bitter Gourds.  Sounds like they are quite useful medicinally and even for eating - though it's definitely an acquired taste from the sounds of things!

 

Bitter Gourd

Description
The bitter melon which is additionally called bitter gourd has an appearance of a cucumber but has unattractive gourd-like bulges all over it.
As its name suggests, this vegetable’s a melon which is sour. There’re a couple of sorts of this vegetable. One develops to a height of approximately 20 cm, has an oblong shape and has a pale green color. The second one is sized smaller of the two, grows to a height of less than 10 cm, is oval shaped and is colored darker green.

Both of them consist of seeds which are white at the time they’re immature that become red on ripening. As it grows ripe the vegetable-fruit becomes reddish-orange and grows bitter still.
Bitter gourd flourishes in warm and moist weathers, and so is common to find in the Asian nations and in South America.
As Westerners might not be as much habituated to bitter melons, they might find them harder to eat.
Buying tips
Opt for undeveloped bitter melons which are stiff, as you would be doing in the event of a cucumber. Keep away from the ones having become orange or having soft spots. Mature bitter melons are able to be extremely bitter.
Culinary Usage
You should rinse out your bitter melon beneath cold water which is running and brush by means of a supple vegetable brush. To make it, cut out the melon along the length and scrape away its seeds from it. To lower the sour flavor, immerse it inside salty water for a period of approximately thirty minutes prior to juicing/cooking.
Keep in mind that it’s lesser sized variety is additionally bitter to the larger one. To assist in to turn the juice of bitter gourd into something tastier, consume it in the company of honey, or put in carrot/ apple juice to it. People who are diabetics ought to drink its juice in the company of green apple juice.
Storage
You ought to store bitter melons inside the vegetable bin and keep refrigerated at the correct temperature to be able to preserve it for three to four days.
If you keep bitter melons at room temperature or in the company of additional fruits as well as vegetables the melon is going to ripen and turn bitterer more fast, because of the ethylene gas being emitted.

One month and counting

It's 3:48 am, my co-worker is snuggled up with her blanket on the counter beside me, there are other sounds of bloodwork being drawn, vitals being taken and the other music of the night that is our ward.  I have had a treat - a shift with 5 relatively up and about patients - nearly unheard of the last few week.  Ever since returning to work after our honeymoon, it seems that most shifts have been full of crisis, panic and lots of hard, hard work.  Oh, i don't complain about hard work usually - its good to get out there and work hard and feel fulfilled after a long day but it's totally different if you're overwhelmed each and every day.  So yeah, tonight's a relative treat - but i won't say too much since the night's not done yet and that might give someone an idea to pull out a tube, fall on the floor or think up some other mischief and trouble!!  We are also two weeks into electronic documentation - for a person like me who loves to write everything down - it's been a challenge to be sure- nothing like having paper chart in front of you to read - i find the computer a harder place to compose a patient's story but hey, that's the way modern technology is going so i guess i'd better keep up or get off the bus (and believe me, there are plenty of days when i would love nothing better!)
And where has the last month put us?  We were married last month on the 13th so i suppose that that puts us at being married for the grand total of 1 month and 1 day!!!  And sadly, we had to spend that time apart as i was working a stretch of two nights which leaves us no time to see each other in between shifts - very sucky!  So it was a note and a text and we'll see each other tonight... i suppose i should probably come up with something yummy for dinner eh?  Any suggestions? 
I'll do a post about the wedding soon, i promise.  I have no idea why that hasn't materialized yet but hopefully soon - thank you cards are in process, not done but we're working on things slowly.  Timothy unpacks a box every day or two and that's good too - we're slowly trying to weed out some stuff that we have doubles of or don't need and that's resulting in lots of work for our local garbage men - thankfully they're being very helpful in taking all our stuff.. i'd imagine a few more weeks of this should have our basement looking a little more like a home and less like a storage vault! 
We have both been adjusting to married life quite nicely and it's kinda like a duck taking to water - it's a bit foreign at first to know that someone else shares your space and house but it's a good change to be sure!  We both love our time together whether thats talking or reading or just doing chores in the same space as each other.  Oh there have been adjustments with little things, shower arrangements, how to do dishes, who does what chore but i've certainly been happy to surrender doing grass cutting to a professional!
And being an encouragement to each other, building each other up and learning the other person's habits, likes and dislikes and how to be a hand and foot to them!  I pray that we may continue to do that for many more monthly and yearly anniversaries and that we may do that not in our own strength but in the strength that we are given by our good God! 

Let there be light!!!

 After quite a few days of gloomy, wet and cool weather (i know, probably improper order of adjectives but grammar never was my specialty!), here came the sun this afternoon!  I must admit to nearly driving off the road into a deep country ditch as i was blinded temporarily by the sun!  Then i had to stop and snap a few pics - i haven't done that for a few weeks now (take pics i mean) and it felt good to do so again!  I like seeing what the day brings to amuse or amaze me and today was the gorgeous deep blue/black sky behind me, the sun streaming through some holes in the very dark threatening clouds (looked like snow in there!) and the brilliant green of the grassy field by this tree. 

Oh Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder,

Consider all the works Thy hands have made,

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee,

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!