Living, Loving, Learning

I am super involved in my local herb club and one thing I do for the club is to receive shipments from a herb/spice/organic wholesaler that the club orders from bi-monthly. I then split up the orders and accept payments from club members. To my children this means every other month they get the BEST TOY EVER!!! A BIG box!! It is a boat/fort/cave/car/tent/fallout shelter...whatever they want to play at the moment and they absolutely love it. We pretty much let them play with it until the box falls apart. That gives them enough time to miss it until the next one arrives. Happy kiddos!

I am finally getting the pictures of Lucy and her adorable friend Miles. Believe it or not, Lucy was actually the more aggressive one! These two have such similar personalities, they played so well together. And..it helps that I adore Miles's mommy, Brandi! Poor Miles, I have a feeling he is bound for a life of girls trying to smooch on him!!

Well, I am ALL in. All into starting my own small business, that is. I have spent the last month or so directing much of my energy into growing a little dream of mine. I would love to be self employed, to be able to support my fabric habit plus a little extra for the family by making and selling my home sewn items. My friend Katie invited me to share a booth with her in nearby Greenville, for their annual Squash and Gobble event. I decided that would be a great time to kick off a campaign to get this little train moving. I worked with my uber-talented friend, Chanley to get business cards and and a sign made. The hardest part of that was choosing a name. It had to be a name that didn't limit me into a certain product and was catchy. I have picked Thread Head Designs. Kind of a play on Dead Head (Grateful Dead fans) or Parrot Head (Jimmy Buffet fans) - both of which I would consider myself one, not coincidentally. The day was a great success. I sold a good amount of p...

Walked in on this scene....turned around immediately to grab the camera. I am so thankful to be the Mama of these two beautiful souls.

This music gives me such a peaceful feeling. I hope it does the same for you on this Monday morning.

Our reception was fun, meaningful, absolutely lovely. I have like a zillion and one photos, as we had cameras on every table. I am not going to post all of the people pictures...maybe next anniversary! ;) This sounds so cheesey, but it's true, ask anyone who was there, LOVE WAS IN THE AIR. It was an amazing evening of eating, dancing and drinking...and more dancing....and yeah, more drinking. One of the best moments for me was this one. Instead of throwing my bouquet, I gave it to my Grandma. I knew she would cherish it and I wanted to publicly thank her for all she had done for me. Our lineage, our name, Christina, our personality, our strength, our commitment to our families, all this we share, all this she has modeled for me. These baskets lined the ailes of the ceremony and doubled as centerpieces. Two good florist friends of mine did the arrangements. I bought the fruit myself. Tiny red apples, purple plums, tiny green pears and green and purple champagne grapes. Celebrating...

My beautiful Mom walked me down the isle. It was such a surreal, floaty stroll!! I walked down the ales to the classic Pachelbel's Canon in D. The ceremony was meaningful, sincere and short. The man who married us was a pastor and our next door neighbor and friend. We had so much fun with him and his wife, planning out the ceremony. I think they were glad to make the couple next door who were "living in sin" ligit...hehehe. We had a surprise for everyone, but especially my Mom and Grandma. My family is Scottish, Grandma is first generation born in the U.S. We hired a Scottish bagpiper to come out and start playing as soon as we were announced and no one had a clue. This photo captures our joy looking at my Scottish matriarchs' reaction when they heard the first tell-tale notes. It was a really amazing moment.

The wedding party. Amazing friends and family. Each and every one still owns a huge part of our hearts This is Bruce's family, Steve and Lee (Dad and Step-Mom), Grandpa and Grandma (Mom's parents), Chris with sons Walter and Josh (Mom and half-brothers), and Eric and Kelly (sister) Swank with Bradley, Matthew and Abigail. My family - this circle has happily grown to include many others since the time this photo was taken! Sister Jessica and her husband Anthony, the Moms, sister Alexis and Grandma and Grandpa Wetter. Bruce and his Pa. Me and my Moms Bruce with Pa and Ma Gast. Us with Grandma and Grandpa Wetter. The lovely bridal party...our gorgeous flower girl Jessica, sister Alexis, sister Jessica, Julie and Vida. The handsome groomsmen, brutha's from a different mutha', Pat, Jim, Dean and Dan. Our adorable ring bearer, Julian, must have been on the run when this photo was taken! ;) Maid of Honor, Julie Best man, DeanOOO

8 years ago today, I married this amazing man, and we have been living, loving and learning together ever since. September 14, 2002. It was a gorgeous early fall day. I spent the morning with my tribe of ladies, at my house, laughing, primping, sipping champagne. Bruce had a friend bring over a sweet card and a beautiful aquamarine (my birthstone) bracelet (I still grieve the loss of that bracelet, it fell off one day, unnoticed, never to be seen again). I sent him a card also and a snappy new watch. A good friend, Kristy Peters, did all of our hair and I think we all felt gorgeous. Bruce spent the morning at our best friends, Dean and Gabriella Marino's home. They played a round of golf in the morning before getting ready. They guys met up with the rest of the groomsmen and the photographer in the park across the street from the facility where the wedding was happening in Rochester, Michigan. They had their photos taken and were safely tucked away in the building before I arriv...

Griffin hoopin ' it up! We had a really fun camping trip to the White Oaks campground in northern IN this past weekend. Bruce's parents manage the place and it was so fun to be there with them. Griffin and Matthew There is so much to do there!! We spent time swimming in the pool, playing in the sand at the beach, putt-putt golfing, playing with our cousins, arcade games, outside games like hooping, Frisbee and corn-hole. Not to mention walks around the campground, rides on Grandma and Grandpa's golf carts, a visit to the ice cream parlor and meeting all the friendly neighbors. There was a rock concert, a DJ spinning in the afternoon, lots of campfires and great meals. Lucy and Abigail And of course, the reason we were there, spending time with our family. It was so good to catch up with Kelly and Eric and their kids, not to mention visiting with Steve and Lee. Griffin and Bradley Griffin had an amazing time, days packed with so many activities that he loves. He ...