Wedding Pictures!

If you want to see our wedding photos -- the professional ones, plus the ones taken by wonderful family and friends, click here.

There are some really lovely ones -- so enjoy!

Daniel is travelin' tonight on a plane...

I can see the red tail lights headed for ... IRAQ?!?!?!

Daniel, pictured here at our wedding -- where he served as one of Sean's groomsmen -- also serves in the Navy Reserves. And he has finally been called up. After this weekend -- his last with his wife and baby daughter before he leaves -- he's headed to training camp for 3 weeks then to Iraq for a six-month deployment. He'll be stationed about 60 miles south of Baghdad.

When the war hits home, it makes me all the more angry that we're even there at all. I'm not asking you to blindly "support the troops," but I am asking you to pray for him (or, if you don't pray, at least think good thoughts or send positive energy) until he returns.

Insha' Allah.

Ha. And ha again. Many levels of ha.

A Love Story

No, not our love story (although pictures and anecdotes from our very fun wedding are forthcoming), but a love story that I heard on NPR's Day to Day this afternoon. In the last 10 minutes of the show, there was this lovely, jarring story about Rose, a cancer patient, who was lonely and wanted someone to share her life with, whatever was left of it. But she didn't want someone who expected a movie-perfect romance, where her cancer made her mate a stronger, better, and utterly transformed person. Instead, she made her internet profile a little harsh: contact me only if you can handle it, she says; I have cancer, not the ability to redeem you. Heather, an executive, found her profile refreshing and called. After a six hour dinner together, daily phone calls ensued. Rose found herself happier than she could remember. Four months later, they went to Toronto and got married -- and have been married for two years. Listen here if you want to be pleasantly surprised, get a little teary, and love NPR just a little more.

17 days, and counting

The wedding is coming -- and fast. People keep asking me whether future in-laws are starting to make unreasonable requests, and whether my own family is sticking their nose in. Nope and nope. I lucked out immensely with my future in-laws, who are only incredibly helpful and loving and welcoming. And my own family is just so stinkin' glad that I'm getting married - and to such a wonderful man - that they're being only supportive and doing everything they can to help out. Apparently I'm supposed to be going crazy, seizing up, running around like a chicken with my head cut off, and generally moving my way out of sanity and into the bridezilla realm. But everything seems to just be falling into place. Here's to 17 more days of sanity and things going just right!

What is war?

This age-old question is getting a new look at the conference this weekend at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame. Co-sponsored by the Law School, the conference gives you the opportunity to hear from ethicists, military historians, peace-studies scholars, generals, political scientists, lawyers and journalists about what they think war really is -- what it means, and its implications.

With a docket including General William L. Nash (see also some of his statements on the War in Iraq), Pam Constable and our very own Professors Mary Ellen O'Connell, Peter Wallensteen and George Lopez, this promises to be a really, really interesting couple of days. You can find the agenda here, and the speaker list with biographies here. I promise, you won't be disappointed.

Showered

Wow. My sister, a baker extraordinairre (just wait for the truffles at my wedding reception!) made me a bride cake at my shower this past Saturday -- vegan, no less. Gorgeous -- and everyone said it looked just like me. (Thanks.)

My friends and family came through with some incredible gifts - some elegant stemless wine glasses from Grimsaburger (who also moonlights as Grimsabaker), a gorgeous pottery berry bowl from J-Bru, a paper shredder (confetti-maker? Who knows...), and lots of other sundries from loving people. I aced the quiz on SO'B and got some wonderful marital advice, including a quote from The Mexican. All in all, a wonderful day -- topped off by jewelry-making for my bridal party. I hope you like it!

However, there was a downside to an otherwise wonderful weekend: the next day, after a wonderful jewelry-making evening, she went for a bike ride -- and got hit by a car. A girl (17 or 18) believed she could turn right at an intersection before my sister crossed her path. Of course, my sister was almost directly next to her, and didn't even have time to hit the brakes before crashing into the car, being thrown from her bike, and landing directly on her tail bone. I ended up back up in Grand Rapids just 12 hours later, and stayed for 3 days until my replacement could come. Here's to bad drivers and good insurance, and my trooper of a sister.