Here are the cutest captions suggested via social media and blog comments. Good ideas, everyone!
Caption This
Last weekend my nephew, Eli, visited and made this face at Uncle Luke. What should the caption be? I’ll post the best suggestion or two as text superimposed on the photo.
Filed under photos, something to try, stories
Lows & Highs: 4/17-4/23/13
Low: By the end of the day on Saturday, I felt as stuffed as if I had spent the whole day gorging on delicious food (which is true!). That is not much of a low but it is what I have!
Highs:
1) With the help of our mom, my sister planned and hosted the best wedding shower I have ever attended. (And I am not just saying that because it was mine!) She took all my “It would be fun if…” suggestions and blended them with her creativity to make a fun, laid-back shower. We invited ladies of all ages and let the youngest girls volunteer to be models for the toilet paper wedding dress game. I am not sure whether they had more fun letting us older ladies dress them up or tearing off the toilet paper at the end! We had delicious brunch food and a coffee/tea bar with my favorite homemade gingerbread syrup, too.
2) On Saturday afternoon, our group of five girls met up for coffee since the three out-of-towners were here for the shower. (We have been close since we were in senior high girls Bible study together). We caught up on new details and enthusiastically chatted about weddings, babies, pregnancy, husbands, and whether it is easier to parent boys or girls. (So far there are three sons in our group with another expected in May, so none of us really know.)
What were your lows and highs from the past week?
Lows & Highs is a Stories from the Stairs weekly feature. Feel free to join in by posting your lows and highs in the comments or by posting a link to your lows and highs blog post.
Filed under celebrations, milestones, stories, weddings
Simple, Summery, & Fun
Have you ever planned a wedding? Boy, can it be a lot of work!
I have attended, helped plan, and bridesmaid-ed lots of weddings, so I’ve seen how much work wedding planning can be. Now that we are planning our own wedding, Brian and I have a philosophy that the important thing is the two of us committing to each other before God and the rest is just a party with people who care about us.
We want to enjoy our brief season of being engaged and to spend the majority of our time preparing for a lifetime of marriage instead of for a one-day wedding.
Early in planning, I told him, “I think we need to communicate clearly about what’s important to each of us. If neither one of us has a strong opinion about something, we should pick the simplest, least expensive option or eliminate it altogether. Like, if neither of us care what kind of mints we have at the reception, maybe we shouldn’t have mints.”
“I agree and I don’t really care about mints.”
“Okay, bad example. I care and we’re having cream cheese mints.”
For some reason, he laughed really hard.
We still laugh about that conversation, but it greatly simplified the planning. For example:
- Our theme (wedding themes are trendy, right?) is simple, summery, and fun.
- Decorations will be cute but minimal and I will probably delegate them to friends who are better at it than I am.
- We are having an afternoon wedding because more people will be able to make it a day trip.
- Plus, a cake reception lets us include more people on our budget than a dinner. (We are going to have a light lunch of party subs and chips and fruit with our family and wedding party between photos and the ceremony, though.)
- We made our guest list in a spreadsheet so we (read: my mom) could do a mail merge to print address labels with minimal effort. The invitations do not require any folding or assembling, so we will just stick them in envelopes.
- We chose music we like but that is not particularly traditional for weddings.
- We will have our favorite cake flavors (lemon and red velvet) and some of our favorite drinks (iced tea and peach Italian soda).
Do you have any ideas for simplified wedding planning?
If you need a fun, talented photographer in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area, check out Keri (she didn’t ask me to say that). She is our engagement/wedding photographer and I really like her!
Filed under advice, milestones, something to try, weddings
Lows & Highs: 4/10-4/16/13
Low: I had an intense headache that began suddenly on Sunday night and subsided a bit but still hung on for most of Monday.
Highs: First, I received some sweet and surprising gifts on my birthday this week (courtesy of Melissa and Brian). Second, Brian and I got to spend most of Saturday together when we met halfway to do some household and wedding shopping. We actually found everything on our (read: my) list. While we were there, I also had a chance to claim my birthday gifts from Panera Bread and Starbucks.
Filed under celebrations, life, milestones
Memphis Trip Day 5
This morning, we visited a nursing home where I visited first with Pete* and then with Mary Lou*. Pete is from Arkansas and used to be a music teacher. He also played the French horn all over this side of the country and as far west as Abilene, Texas. He has played in Ringling Bros Circus and the Memphis Symphony, too. He doesn’t have family around anymore; he has a step-son somewhere but does not hear from him. Pete is a bit forgetful and very hard-of-hearing now, so our conversation required some repeating, but I enjoyed hearing about his life.
Mary Lou has a sharp mind and wit even though she gets recent events mixed up occasionally. She will turn 100 on April 7 and I hope I’m as lively and sweet as she is when I’m that age!
At Bible club, Julia told the story of God providing manna in the desert. I led the crafts where each kid decorated a paper bag with markers and a “plaque” that said God cares for me. While they sang a couple songs at the end of the afternoon, we filled the bags with their promised “surprise” – care packages provided by our church at home. As the kids left, we returned their bags with instructions to hold them tightly closed until they got home. They were so excited!
Filed under life
Memphis Trip Day 4
Today has been fun and exhausting because we got to have “kid time” in both the morning and afternoon. I am posting more photos than previous days but limiting my words tonight. We spent the morning doing activities like games, Bible lessons, and crafts with a group of elementary students at a school run by Brinkley Heights. In the afternoon, we had our regular neighborhood Bible club and had somewhere around 27 kids. (We had some late arrivals, so I may have miscounted.)
Filed under life
Memphis Trip Day 3
Today was our first day to “get out and do stuff.” Our group, combined with another college team, visited an independent living facility for senior citizens. I worked with most of the others, organizing their library while some students played music and sang, some helped decorate for Easter, and some helped with other activities.
When the library was finished, Brian and I and a couple students sat down for a sweet visit with two chatty ladies named Miss Anna* and Miss Francine*. As they told stories about their lives before and at the center, several of their friends wandered past and stopped to meet us too. They may always be popular, but I like to think that sitting in the midst of “young” visitors gave them a little more street cred… Or whatever the senior citizen equivalent is!
After a late lunch, we set up for backyard Bible club and then combed the neighborhood for kids to invite. Altogether, we ended up with about 19 kids, a mom, and a dog! Conner and Julia and I led the group in rousing choruses of Father Abraham, Every Move I Make, and Lord I Lift Your Name on High (I just demonstrated the actions).
After singing, we broke into age groups that rotated between three stations. Andrew and Jennifer energetically led the games; Conner and Scottie creatively told the story of Moses and the burning bush; Julia & I guided crafts; Carol and Jessica were floaters and helped out wherever needed. Brian was our timekeeper and, together with three of the Street Reach staff, helped with behind the scenes things the rest of us barely noticed but kept us running smoothly. Many of us are already bonding with one or more of the kids and they with us. I asked several of the kids if they would hold up their crafts so I could take a photo and they all wanted their photos with me. I also got lots of hugs as we began walking them home!
I took the first photo below as we walked around the neighborhood this afternoon. I noticed several small churches and one had a cross in the corner of its lot. As I walked, the cross lined up with the rubble of a torn-down house and a still-standing but condemned house behind it. To me, it represented the hope that Christ offers even in bleak circumstances and that local believers have been shining hope here long before we arrived and will continue long after we leave. We are simply here to help out for a week and maybe to be a link in a chain of believers connecting people to Christ. 
The funny quote for today was a conversation between Conner and one of the kids:
Conner: I’m a farmer
Danny*: No you’re not!
Conner: Yeah, see, I’m wearing boots!
Danny: So does my sister.
*Not their real names.
Filed under life
Memphis Trip Days 1-2
I’m blogging on my phone, so please excuse any weird formatting or errors. On day #1 of our spring break mission trip to Memphis, Tennessee, Brian’s group came east and picked ours up on the way to Little Rock, Arkansas. The nine of us (four adults and five students) met our hostesses for the night at IHOP for dinner… At the smallest IHOP with the smallest IHOP parking lot I’ve ever seen. Backing and parking the full-size van with trailer was certainly an exciting and humorous experience! As you can see in the photo, the waitress made Andrew’s night when she accidentally made two iced mochas instead of the one he ordered and then gave him the second one free!
On day #2, we went to an Anglican Church (my first time) and then headed the last few hours to Memphis. We are keeping a list of funny quotes and have already collected over 20. Here is one for you to enjoy…
Conner: I never stayed in a prison before.
Julia: First time for everything!
