Valentine Verbalization

It is usually around this time of year that I log in to my blog (a.k.a. soapbox) and tell singles to stop feeling sorry for themselves. To get out and live the life that God has given you. While I am still firmly planted on that soapbox, this year, I’m not only going to be talking to singles. This time, my tirade is aimed at everyone. I’ve been noticing a trend on social media. This trend doesn’t just included single girls or guys. No, I have seen it suck in long time married couples, newlyweds, and even dating couples. This trend happens to be the bashing of one of my favorite holidays, Valentine’s Day.

 I've heard a lot of excuses for why people hate Valentine’s Day. We’ll start with the biggest one.

“It’s too commercialized.”

Welcome to ‘Merica (yes, I just said ‘Merica), where we take everything we can possible earn a buck on and use it to our full advantage.  Honestly, Christmas is SO MUCH more commercialized, but if someone says they hate Christmas, we call them Scrooge, a bah-humbug, a Grinch. Honestly, you should have a much bigger problem with Christmas being commercialized than Valentine’s Day.  Sure, I’ve heard people comment that Christmas is commercialized. But do they still buy gifts for each other? Do they still set up a tree and put hundreds of sparkling lights up? Do they still spend hours baking all those special goodies that we are told we need for Christmas? You bet they do. Commercialism? Sure. But a good excuse to hate Valentine’s Day? Lame Sauce.

“I can say ‘I love you’ any time of the year. I don’t need a special day for it.”

I sure hope you do say I love you to the people in your life on a regular basis. Don’t ever take for granted the people God has placed in your life. But on the other hand, do you need a special day to be thankful? Do you need a special day to remember Jesus came as a baby to save us? Do you need a special day to remember the freedoms you’ve been given in this country? Do you need a special day to praise God for his resurrection and paying the ultimate price for us? Just as these holidays are set aside to turn our attention and focus on a “special event”, so is Valentine’s Day a day set aside to tell everyone you love how much they mean to you.

“There’s way too much pink and glitter.”

Say WHAT?!? Oh, you are talking to the wrong girl about that one! If I could wear pink, and glitter, and hearts every day of the year, I would be one happy cookie. You can NEVER have too much pink! Or too much glitter? CERTAINLY NOT. Okay, so not everyone shares my affinity for pink and sparkles. I guess I can forgive you for that. But I don’t hate on your favorite color, yellow, because I can’t wear it. I don’t make a face every time you mention that orange is the new black. I don’t laugh when you say you just can’t get enough of the color brown. So don’t hate on my sparkles or pink.

“It just feels fake.”

Listen, I’m not sure that is the holiday's fault there. That one solely rests on your shoulders, my friend. Anything can become “fake” if you want to have that attitude. Guess, what? I’ve been to my fair share of “fake” Christmas gatherings. I’ve never felt more “fake” than at the Halloween party- I mean “harvest party.” (cough, cough) Okay, so you meant “fake” as in being not genuine, not from the heart, instead of “fake” - not being yourself. Listen to that definition- sounds like it starts with you. If your heart is fake, so will the holiday, so will the birthday, so will everyday.

“It’s the loneliest day of the entire year.”

Alright, so this one is more from singles. Or perhaps your significant other is away right now. Hey, I know this awesome person that loves the holiday and would love to do nothing more that sprinkle a bit of glitter into your day. She’s always a text away if you simply need a hug. She also loves to give gifts and might just show up with a box of chocolates and teddy bear if the need arises. Now, if you live out of state, you might just have to be happy with a package, or if you’re really desperate, you could always buy her a plane ticket…

“Cupid. I mean, a fat, naked baby that shoots people with “love” arrows? Awkward.”

Yeah, I’ll give you that one. It’s pretty weird. But hey, a jolly, fat, old guy with a long, white beard that comes down your chimney in the middle of the night? You’ve got to admit that Valentine’s Day isn’t the only holiday with a creepy “character” associated with it.

So, you all have, in essence, been reading my diary posts for a while now. I hope you know that I’m strongly for singles getting out and living life. I also hope you know that my stance on any of this does NOT mean that I am an” independent female that does NOT need a silly man in my life to complete it.” I’m not a bitter single. I’m not conforming valentine’s day to fit my single needs. I’m not secretly smirking at all you couples that are “drinking the poison” and getting married. Hey, I love love. (And I can even photograph that upcoming wedding or engagement portraits for you and make you kiss a bunch.) The grass is not “greener” on the other side. Wherever you are, be all there.

[P.S. Just because I can’t leave this alone and must at least make mention of it somehow… Singles, there ain’t no more tissues and boxes of chocolates to gorge on while watching a chick-flick and complaining about your status in life. Get up. Get out. Wake up and smell the coffee. Go. Fight! Win! And call me when you get back, darling. I enjoy our visits….]

So stop bashing and start loving.

Proudly wearing pink,
Ti-Ti

Making Memories

Have you ever noticed how certain smells remind you of past times? I think it's the Parent Trap were she smells her grandfather to make a memory. "Years from now, when I'm all grown up, I'll always remember my grandfather and how he always smelled of........peppermint and pipe tobacco." I've come to discover that I do that without realizing it.

Like the smell of a certain hair gel reminds me of our vacation in Virgina Beach at Sandbridge. Just a few steps would take me out to the beach were the wind would blow my hair across my face.

Or, strangely enough, the smell of Ranch Doritos reminding me of when we went to the "older kids" C.A.C.S. and got all kinds of goodies like Doritos, and Oreos, and lemon drops.



 Or the smell of Goo Goo Dolls candy reminds me of the time when Jenni and I got all kids of junk at the dollar store one time for dinner. "I feel like a super model."

Or the smell of tootsie rolls remind me of how Jenni and I would cut up our tootsie rolls very small and keep them in tin so as to make them last longer.

Or the smell of cattails remind me of many hours spent at the Wishart's playing our make believe games as if our lives depended on them.

Or the smell of Carmel apples and chocolate remind me of late nights at the Aardsmas house trying to eat slices of carmel apples in effort to be cleaner .........and failing miserably.

Or the smell of red vines remind me of smokey Forth of July's sitting so close you could feel the boom in your bones.

Or the smell of moonlight path perfurme reminds me on laying my head on my mommy's lap and talking or of her hugs or her tickling me.... or really anything of my mommy. ;)

And I don't think I'll ever forget the smell of my Saabreensers face when I kiss her.

What is your memory smells? What lovely images do you think of when you come across a certain smell?

Making memories,
Ti-Ti

Beloved: We are Gathered Together Today....

So here it is. One of the long awaited posts.
No, not Jenni and Lance's wedding. Not quite, although that one is nearing completion.
Nor is it the second most longly awaited blog about house renovations, although decorations are nearing their completion as well.
This is Stephanie and John's wedding blog- hence the weddingish title (don't you like the word hence.... it's right up there with mayhaps and skaplooshing).
div>I have a few more pictures that I'm going to put up on facebook after I send the CD to the Aardsma family.... so yet another thing for you to wait impatiently for. (P.S. Aardsma's it should be in the mail by Monday or so)

At first I had only filled this blog with pictures.... and then I got to thinking about how that doesn't really tell the whole story of the wedding. And then I got to thinking about what the whole story of the wedding was exactly. And so I decided to kinda break down every day I was in South Carolina for you. Don't worry, there are still pictures mixed in and more at the end.

Let's see if I can even remember this....

Wednesday-
You pretty much heard all about my Wednesday with my previous post about flying. Yep, that's pretty much all I did Wednesday. One thing that wasn't mentioned was that I flew out with the Senn's, but neither of us were properly introduced at that point so we hadn't the foggiest we were traveling together. We could have had lunch together at Atlanta. We also went out to eat with family, after touring Brittany and Kenny's new house, and of course, goofing off with masks.Thursday-
Today was spent decorating the church, playing with flame throwers- I mean lighters, cutting ribbon, tying string, and me bruising myself up royally... you know. General, clumsy things like running myself over with a cart, falling through a chair, almost falling off ladders, and sticking my finger with push pins. The church isn't finished yet, but is very close.Friday-
Woken up by Anj and pretty soon the whole family is in the room on the bed, just chatting. Then it's back to the church we go. More decorating to be done. Katie and I head off to the clubhouse to check on decorating in there. We set up all the tables and chairs and find out the table cloths we have don't work at all... they are a strange combination of too short and too long. We head back to the church and then pretty much directly back out to Walmart to get plastic table cloths. After a needful stop at Chick-fil-a we head in, only to find they don't have enough of the gold design ones so we combine it with the silver. And then it's back to the clubhouse to put them on...... and guess what? The gold design is only on the side of the cloth, barely visible.... that's not very nice. Then it's off to get our nails painted and some down time with the bride (who is looking a bit stressed). Then it's off to change for the rehearsal. The bride is looking less stressed now. A few bridesmaids decided to bring their shoes to practice with......... we all decided that we will throw our shoes at the preacher if he goes over 10 minutes. And now we head off the the rehearsal dinner, hoping not to get lost in the dark. And then home to bed.....

Saturday-
Strangely I don't think the dogs were the ones to wake any of us up this morning. Steph gets ready for her hairdresser to come at 9ish. I attempt to get ready while also playing photographer for Steph. We all head to the church to finish getting ready while I again try to combine curling my hair with photography...... (does it smell like burnt hair in here to you??) And then I take pictures of Steph getting in her dress with her mom and sisters. How many Aardsma's does it take to put on a wedding dress? Then we send the bride off for a first look. Now I can concentrate on getting ready......(this church is sadly lacking in plug ins). And then we head off to join the couple in a park for pictures. Just a hint for you all: don't try to rock climb with 5 inch heels. Doesn't work so hot... neither does walking in mud. But I'm a Colorado girl who normally rock climbs barefoot anywho. Then it's back to the church to wait...... and then the dreadful, awful, terrible, horrible moment comes. We must all put our shoes back on and walk down an aisle and stand for 45 minutes. Oh, and it's time for the wedding. After a few tears from the bridesmaids (from the shoes, of course), Stephanie is now a married woman. Then some more pictures with family and the reception. But the day isn't over yet. After we send the couple off (with Mr. A hiding in the back seat....lol) we all head to meet the couple at the clubhouse. And more pictures of family, then good food and another goodbye to the couple. This one's for real. Some of us head back to the church to get some things that were left there. We of course had forgotten the church key and so we stalked around banging on windows and doors, shivering in thin dresses. What about clean up? you ask. This was the most awesome wedding I've been too. Stephanie had a couple families in the church volunteer clean up for us. It was amazing. And then it's home to change into sweats and then to the video store to drown our sorrows in an action/adventure movie, in which we all promptly fall asleep.

Sunday-
Well- the important part of my story is over and so after sleeping in, finishing our movie, and a lovely, filling dinner, I head to the airport and home. In which travel, I lose a most valuable piece of jewelry. No, this isn't Barbie speaking. This is sentimental and teary eyed Ti-Ti, the one you don't see too much. Between the Greenville airport and getting on the plane in Atlanta I seem to have lost my graduation bracelet. This is the one that everyone in my family had given me a charm for and present to me at my highschool graduation..... and yes, I'm very teary eyed about it, even now- 25 days later. And so on the plane to Denver I drew a picture of what was on it. Maybe some day for my birthday or some other event I will rebuild it..... And if you are ever in Greenville or Atlanta and come across something shinny that happens to look very similar... well, you know where to send it.
And that's my trip. Now you get more pictures....

I took a couple of ring pics of which I'm rather proud of.....Stephanie getting into her wedding dress..... You know, standing on chairs and crouching on the ground is my kind of thing. ;)
awww....
The loverly couple...The most beautiful Aardsma girls- except now they are the Lavertu, Senn, and Aardsma girls...
Looking for photography assistant jobs,

Ti-Ti