The Depravity of Man

Ashley has an interesting conversation going on her blog, related to the depravity of man. She has been discussing Christianity with a coworker who is an atheist, and is asking for advice, especially relating to explaining the depravity of man. I encourage you to check it out.

Baby Clothes Are Entirely Too Cute

*happy sigh* Aren't baby clothes just absolutely adorable? I've always thought baby girl clothes were the cutest, but I don't know. . . I've decided that baby boy clothes are incredibly cute too (maybe I'm just prejudice at this point, though).

I've been so strong and not bought anything yet for this baby. . . until this morning :-). I found out the church across the street from us has a thrift store, open two mornings a week, and all this month they're having bag sales on clothing, $5 for each brown paper bag (grocery sack size) stuffed with clothing. So, I stuffed 3 bags. Adrian found a suit, a tie, a buttoned-down flannel shirt, and a wallet, and the rest of that bag and 2 others, I stuffed with this:



120 pieces of cute little boy clothing :-D. Mostly size newborn to 9 months, So, factoring out the suit et al, which took up about 1/3 a bag, I got the baby clothes for just over 10 cents each. Not bad, especially since I only chose ones in really good condition, and there were a lot of them that were brand new. I love thrift stores :-).

The Common Sense of Fecundity

(Alternate Title: We're trying to help save the planet, not destroy it, by seeking to have children early and often.)

Why overpopulation is not only a myth and clever lie, but the opposite of the real problem: ever heard of a demographic winter?

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.

Edit: Here's an interesting article on the film.

HT: Amy and LAF

Interesting Verse in Nehemiah

Hmm. Adrian and I have been discussing recently what our thoughts are on nursery, Sunday school, children's worship, etc. We'd really like our son in worship with us from a very young age, but we've been wondering how young. We would both love to skip the nursery and have him with us from infancy, but that's hard to do in a church that doesn't have a sound-piped crying room with a one-way mirror (we meet in a non-church facility, so not an option). We'll see. We'd like to be open, realistic, but also not put our child in nursery "just because", and certainly we don't want to remove him from the preaching of the Word if it is unnecessary. By the way, we're not making any promises on our child-rearing techniques until we've had 5 or 6 kids. But I digress. Anyway, in our devotion readings this morning, this passage in Nehemiah caught my eye:

Nehemiah 8 (ESV)

1And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest on the first day of the seventh month, brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard."

This is the only time in scripture I've seen a distinction, where those who are called to hear the Word are only those "who could understand what they heard". We have other scripture that mentions assembling all the men, women, and children. Or the New Testament passage that indicates that Timothy knew the scriptures from his infancy, or more literally in the Greek, from the womb.

Hmm.

He's a Boy!

We got to meet one of our midwives on Thursday and also had an ultrasound, and we have a healthy, on-track-for-development little boy in there :-). He's been keeping his momma hungry and also reminding her of his existence by kicks throughout the day. I've felt flutterings and such for 4-5 weeks, but they became stronger kicks in the last 2 weeks. Adrian can even feel the kicks now, which he thinks is fun :-). We're at 21 weeks now; hard to believe!

I've been waiting to put up wall hangings in the nursery until we found out the gender, so now I'll lay aside the Sunbonnet Sue hangings, and hang the needlepoint animals instead ;-). My brother Ben and I stitched the four hangings several years ago, as an early project, and I coaxed them from Mother Dear a while back. Wonder if Boy remembers those. . . I also have a cross-stitch of the alphabet (a quilted Q, an L with ladybugs, etc.) that my mom did years ago, that needs to be reframed.

Two reader questions, the first for anyone, and the second for mothers:

(1) I have about 2 yards of some really adorable light green lightweight flannel, with red and blue clowns all over it. It screams "boy", and I want to make something with it, but not sure what. I could make a baby quilt with it, and I might, but a certain dear friend is already making me one, though I guess one can always use a second baby quilt. Any other ideas, though?

(2) What sorts of items are really necessary to have for a newborn? Create a list of the essentials for a newborn, or the extras that you feel were invaluable. I think it's downright ridiculous how many "necessary" contraptions and such there are for babies now!

(3) Bonus question: we're leaning towards cloth diapering (after disposable for the first month, probably), for various reasons. I'm not hugely enthusiastic about the all-in-one-options, mainly because of the cost and because and it's so much more complicated looking! Give me some old-fashioned prefolds. Does anyone have recommendations for brands/sources for prefolds and diaper covers. Cost and quality are both important to me. I've heard that diaper covers, specifically, have gone down in quality, so I'm looking for recommendations on good ones. As far as prefolds, I know not to get Wal-mart ones.

Oh, and to preempt, yes, we have a name picked out, but we're keeping it secret until the little guy is born. And no, he's not going to be a junior ;-). Nor is his name Enoch (sorry, Hannah).

A Connecticut Yankee (!)

(Warning: ridiculously long update, to appease all curiositers)

And yes, I made up that word.

We finally got back internet 2 days ago, and it was so nice to be able to access e-mail again! It took me a while to sort through all my messages (still sorting, in fact). It was rather nice to be "unplugged" for a while, though. I didn't realize how mapquest-dependent I was, though, especially in a new place! I'm VERY glad to have mapquest back :-).

We had a nice but busy December. In mid-December Adrian's parents and brother Lane and my parents and sister Hannah all came up to Blacksburg to see Adrian hooded for his doctorate. Yay! Glad to have that final step done. Adrian defended in June, but this was the first opportunity to walk.

Then after everyone else headed back to various parts of the US, Hannah stayed with us for the next week to cook for us and help pack. That was an enormous help! I'm really not sure how the apartment would have gotten ready to move without Sister Dear :-). That week was my last week of queasiness, and it was nice not to have to cook during that time.

Then the Friday before Christmas, Hannah, Adrian and I headed to Georgia to spend a few days with my parents. We got to stop at Jessie's house in NC for the night on the way. I think Jessie has benefited from being smack-dab on the way from Atlanta to Blacksburg :-) - I stopped there a few times earlier last year on my way up to Blacksburg to visit Adrian. Always fun to see her, of course :-D.

We had a nice visit at my parents' house, and it was wonderful to visit my "old" home church again, and attend the Christmas Eve service there. Even though I lived in Georgia from the time I was 4 months old, this was the first Christmas I'd ever spent there! We'd always gone north to Indiana. So it was a nice change. And we had Ashley and Paul over for Christmas dinner. Good times. Mom, Ashley and I talked while the rest played Settlers of Catan.

We left Georgia the day after Christmas, with Hannah coming back with us (what a trooper!), and scurried back to Blacksburg to finish up packing. We loaded up the truck on that Friday, the 28th, and drove a little more than 1/2 way towards Connecticut, stopping to spend the night with our friends Anna and Brandon in northern Deleware. We towed Adrian's car behind the truck, and Hannah and I took turns driving my car. We got to bed at midnight (we didn't get in until 11:00 p.m.), and were up at 5:00 a.m. to get an early start to Connecticut. The rest of the drive to Connecticut was less eventful than the previous day, fewer missed turns and other delays (like, say, unhooking and rehooking the car tow dolly late at night, in the dark, and rain, and freezing cold - yay for the police spotlight that I never removed from my car).

The first thing I noticed when we turned onto our new street was the discount grocery store directly next door to our complex. "Hey, is a Price Rite like an Aldi's?" was my first reaction. Talk about convenience, and savings! Price Rite has officially become my new favorite store.

Two men from our church up here met us after lunch to help us unload the truck, which was a huge help, because I was about zero help with lifting heavy things for (a) safety reasons and (b) wimp reasons. Adrian and I both looked officially dead by the time the truck was unloaded; I think Hannah was the perkiest of the three after the fact. And she sure did her part carrying things in! Adrian and the other two men carried in load after load of heavy items, including all those books ;-). I kept myself to lighter items, and did sit down for rests at intervals, and was able to make it through all right. After Hannah flew home early Tuesday morning, though, I did take two long naps that day, totalling 5 hours. And then 5 more hours the following day (!). I'm finally quite recovered physically from the move :-).

I even started cooking again last week after Hannah left! I think Adrian is rather glad to have me able to cook again, and even if I'm not cooking anything terribly complicated, it's still real home cooking, and he didn't get much of that the month+ before Hannah took over for me ;-). I didn't have to even think about preparing meals between December 14th and January 1st, thanks to Hannah and Mother Dear, and believe me, that thrilled me :-). Now I'm happy to be cooking again. I was nauseated for about 7 weeks, so that's not all that terrible, actually. I expected much worse, even though it was no fun while it lasted. I'm glad to be back to eating meals in less than an hour now.

The downstairs of our townhouse is pretty much organized, except for a few minor things. Before Hannah left she helped me make a good dent in kitchen organization, and then Becky and Katherine drove over from Rhode Island last Friday, and Becky and I got the rest of the downstairs in place. They were our first dinner guests in our new home, too :-). (Hannah doesn't count, since she's family and since she cooked all the dinners while she was here.) Why is it so much easier to get things unpacked with help? Hmm. The upstairs is slowly getting unpacked. The second bedroom will serve as our guest room and sewing room for now, until Baby takes over. We'd like to use an Arm's Reach co-sleeper, so the baby may not move into the second bedroom for a while. Hopefully :-).

Our townhome has a full, unfinished basement, but it's pretty finished for being advertised as being unfinished. It certainly is nicely climate-controlled, and the concrete floor is painted, which helps with the looks. And we have washer/dryer hook-up! No more laundromat! The climate down there is so nicely stabilized that we're going to keep almost all of our books down there (on our really snazzy metal utility shelves that we bought a while ago for the purpose), which really helps in freeing up space in the rest of the townhouse. Considering we decided on our dwelling sight-unseen (this nauseated, exhausted pregnant woman did not relish the idea of flying up to CT by herself last month, amidst attempting to pack), we're very happy with it. It's a nice place for us, close to Adrian's work, and 15 minutes from our church.

Finding a church up here ended up being a lot easier than one would think it would be, in an area that is only 1% evangelical. We got on the PCA website and went to the list of churches in Connecticut. There weren't many choices, granted, but we love the one we found. It turns out we know several people who know the pastor, and Adrian had already met the music minister, who used to be on staff at his brother's church. It looks like there will be lots of opportunity for Adrian to use his musical gifts, which is very nice. And the people are all very nice and welcoming. There are several other women in the church who are expecting, including a few in our home group, so that'll be nice support for me.

And speaking of pregnancy, I'm back to square one on birthing options, of course. I was SO sad to leave our midwife in Virginia because she was simply wonderful, very knowledgable, a Christian, level-headed, etc. I was really excited about homebirthing with her. Our current leaning up here is a birth center that is 45 minutes SW of us. It's located in a hospital and midwife-run, natural-birth oriented, etc, but with the benefit of a regular maternity ward on the same level, should the need arise. We're touring it a week from today, and I hope it works out. A birth center was my original desire in Virginia, but there wasn't one near us. My skirts have been tight since just before Christmas, but I'm still holding out and just wearing the looser ones. I'm still not noticably pregnant to other people, but I can definitely tell a difference. I finally gained a few pounds after just barely holding onto my pre-pregnancy weight all through the first trimester. My current plan is to sew myself a few maternity skirts, but mainly buy tops via thrift stores. We'll see.

There. No one can possibly accuse me of not giving a long enough update :-).

Really Quick

I'm sitting amidst boxes and paperwork, waiting for Adrian and Hannah to get back with the moving truck. I've spent the last few weeks packing and finding an apartment and traveling. We're finally almost ready to move. We're loading the truck tomorrow and arriving in Hartford on Saturday. I'll be without internet until January 7th. Until then, au revoir!

Life Update

(I'm out of clever titles for now. . . )

So, yes, I haven't forgotten that I own a blog. I've just been curled up in bed sleeping or reading, or generally just avoiding the computer and the-front-room-that-is-too-close-to-the-kitchen-smells ;-). I am fairing nausea better than I thought I would, but it's still not jolly. Oh, and note to people whose blogs I read: if you post pictures of food, I probably will just skip right to the next post; same with descriptions of food :-).

Adrian has been the sweetest, waiting on me hand and foot, doing the dishes for me, and finishing supper when I'm unable. He's the best :-).

I'm at 10 1/2 weeks now. I've been to the midwife once, and am going back for a more complete exam, bloodwork, etc., in another week and a half, but even though I finally found a midwife I really like, we're back to square one in January because. . .

. . . We're moving to Connecticut the last week of December! Adrian's grueling job search finally paid off, and he has accepted a job in Windsor, CT, just north of Hartford. A few weeks ago, when he first flew up there for an interview, I started googling blogging friends who live in New England, and Zan is only 2 hours away, and Becky less than that! So I was pretty happy about that :-). I've never even visited New England, so this could be interesting. I've always been intrigued by the area, and all of its ties to history, but various relatives are already chuckling at the thought of me living in such a cold, northern state. I'm going to have to get some warmer clothes. Or drink hot tea constantly. Or both.

We had a good Thanksgiving with Adrian's brother Arne and various family in Louisville, and we're going down to Georgia for 4 days at Christmas, just before coming back and moving. So that means I'll be frantically packing to get it done before Christmas week.

A Little Taxonomic Exercise

I've observed with amusement the variety of responses we've received from friends and acquaintances, regarding our pregnancy announcement. And so I give you a classification system:

The Presumptive (Type I):
Before we've even taken any pregnancy tests, certain peoples were already asking, "So, are you pregnant yet?"

The Expectant:
When told that we have news, "Susan must be pregnant."

The Incredulous:
"I heard from someone. . . *pauses with questioning/unbelieving look* . . . that. . . you're pregnant?"

The Curious:
"So. . . were you and Adrian hoping to start a family this soon?"

The Presumptive (Type II):
"So I bet you weren't expecting to be pregnant this soon, were you?" *wink*

The Consoling:
"I wanted to let you know that I've never regretted any of my children. . . "

Hehe.

Reformation Day: A Reminder for our Times

Today is Reformation Day, a holiday celebrating the great faithfulness of our forefathers in the faith, as they defended the Word of God in the Middle Ages. On October 31st of 1517, Martin Luther nailed his famed ninety-five theses onto the castle door of the church at Wittenberg. He was challenging the Catholic church's practice of indulgences, and what ensued is what is commonly known in history books as the Protestant Reformation.

Many Christians today (myself guilty at times!) look at our culture today and think that there is no hope for the Gospel, and that we are indeed sinking into greater and greater unbelief, heresy, and corruption. We are prone to see the earth on a freight train headed straight towards a great engulfment. We see our current political situations, the unBiblical laws passed, the millions of our children who are murdered by their own parents each year, prayer stripped out of schools, Gospel truth replaced by moral relativism, and the "Christians" in our society following mammon and Hollywood more readily than Jesus. And we take a VERY pessimistic view of where our glove is headed. We think there is nothing that can be done.

But look at Europe at the time leading up to the Protestant Reformation. The Word of God was held captive by a religious elite who were corrupt to the very core, hiding theft, adultery, greed, swindling, and lies underneath the guise of the name of our Lord. The Gospel was not being preached to the masses; instead they were hearing select portions of scripture read to them in a language not native to them, and the public were being taught that they had to help earn their righteousness. They were so frightened of the future of their souls, and so frantic to do anything to earn their way into heaven, that the poor would give away some of their last pennies to buy off a few years from purgatory or to save their souls from hell. The masses murmured rote prayers in penance, trusted in priests to be their mediators before God, and lived in utter fear and spiritual darkness.

That, my friends, is despair. That sounds like a place where the Gospel truth would never spread. That's a society sinking into greater unbelief, heresy, and corruption. The Word of God was not even available to the masses! Yet God was still sovereign, even when His church came to the brink of self-destruction. He used a monk who was bold enough to challenge the powers that were, and He used corrupt church counsels and men who were still searching for the truth to accomplish His will. And look at the fruit it has born! Churches around the globe still benefit from the courage of men like Luther, Calvin, Knox, Zwingli, and others. God's church continues to spread, not because all the factors are aligned in its favor, but because God is in His heaven, and He is still ruling.

So when I get discouraged and am tempted to adopt a very pessimistic eschatology, I remember the Protestant Reformation, and give a prayer of thanks to God for always preserving a remnant of His people. And I remember a brave monk in 1517, and all the reformers who came after him, who were willing to die because of their beliefs, letting the truths of God be their dying cry:

Sola scriptura - Scripture alone

Solus Christus - Christ alone

Sola gratia - Grace alone

Sola fide - Faith alone

Soli deo gloria - To God Alone be Glory!

Make sure to read some of the excellent posts linked at the 2007 Reformation Day Symposium.

Answers to Various Questions

First of all, I think it's hilarious how quickly I got comments on the previous post. Y'all are very perceptive! I also find it interesting that the phrase I used is common to Australia too; I didn't realize it was that wide-spread.

Our projected due date is June 22nd, though that has not been confirmed by a physician or midwife; I'm just going by online sites on how to calculate it. I'm 6 weeks, 3 days along (for those who don't know, those weeks are never calculated from conception, in case you're starting to count backwards to our wedding date. . . ). We think it's hilarious that our due date is exactly 9 months from our wedding day :-).

I took the first pregnancy test two weeks ago tomorrow, and another (different brand because I'm cautious) the next day; both were positive. For the first several days my main symptoms were just hunger and a bit of tiredness, but late last week I got that unpleasant queasiness that now seems here to stay a while :-P. But no really awful nausea/vomiting. Just enough to make me feel really bleh and make me want to not do much at all, especially with the added tiredness that comes with the first trimester. I actually delayed starting to write wedding thank you notes, thinking that if I did get pregnant the first month, that would be a good activity for me while I languished in bed, so this works out well :-).

Even though I'm becoming terribly sensitive to smells, and don't have any appetite, and have queasiness, I'm actually faring better right now than I thought I might, as I am keeping down food (even though it takes me a long time to force it down!). Adrian, thankfully, doesn't mind it when meals aren't gourmet, and he's taking my whims about smells quite well. (Honey, didn't you say you liked that smell yesterday?) He's wonderful :-D. I'm VERY thankful that I started a prenatal vitamin, cod liver oil capsules, and a B supplement several months ago, so I don't have to adjust to those new smells/tastes as well, because the latter two are strong.

As for cravings, I haven't had many, yet, except for fresh fruits and vegetables (especially fruits!), so I definitely splurged on my grocery trip yesterday, and bought more fruits than I usually do. Right now I'm mainly preferring really bland foods, though. Even my cravings for dark chocolate have disappeared temporarily (Don't faint, Jessica!).

As to what our birth plans are. . . we don't know yet. Part of it is, we don't know if we'll still be in Blacksburg in June. Adrian will hopefully be done with his internship and have another job, which may be here, or it may be in California, or Nebraska, or New York, or South Carolina, or Timbuktu (actually, only lower 48). I am looking at options in Blacksburg, though, because we may be here, and I do need to see someone before too many more weeks have passed. My first choice would be a birth center with a midwife, but the closest one is an hour and a half away, which isn't my idea of a fun drive, while in labor. And the closest midwife who delivers in a hospital is still over an hour away. I've spoken with a midwife who does home births, and I really like her (not alarmist, very experienced, etc.), and we do live one minute (literally) from a hospital with a birthing wing if an emergency arose. Also this midwife recommended a local family practice that does birthing as well, at a more personal level than most OB/GYN practices, and at a nearby hospital. So answer: I don't know :-).

Names? We've only briefly discussed ideas. I have a friend who insists I need to send her a full list of our possibilities, but I simply don't have one yet. We do like Germanic names, though, or other Northern European names (Swedish, etc.). We're both of German descent, with other European mixed in (Swedish and English for me). We want names that have not been overused, but also ones that most people have at least heard of, so the poor child doesn't have to spell his name for someone every day of his life. And no, Hannah, Enoch is currently NOT in the running for a first name for a boy. We also don't know yet if we'll find out the gender. Part of that will be determined by if we have an ultrasound. We'll see :-).

Baking Experiments of Late

One of my favorite novel kitchen gadgets that we received for our wedding is a pizza baking stone. I've always gone with the old pizza-on-a-pan method of cooking, and it's sort of funny how I came about the pizza stone. I had planned on registering for two regular metal pizza pans, but Wal-Mart didn't have the particular size I wanted, and the pizza pans at Bed, Bath, & Beyond were $15 a piece! I noticed that BB&B also had a complete pizza baking set (stone, wood "shovel", rack, and cutter) for the same price, so I registered for the stone instead. And we both love it! It gives a great firm crust that is still chewy. Mmmmm. Highly recommended.

One of my next cooking experiments I hope to embark upon is sourdough bread. One of the women at our church makes fabulous sourdough bread, and I'm going to get tips from her. For now, though, I have a bun in the oven.

Playing House

Growing up, one of my favorite pastimes was playing house with Hannah and/or with friends. We'd organize our play kitchens, our baby nurseries, create forts, etc., and play shopping. I liked doing this because my dream was to someday "play house" for real. I am LOVING setting up my own (our own) house now :-). It is so much fun, and a fulfillment of many dreams.

It is quite a bit of work, though. Getting into a routine of shopping (and learning the location of stores!), making menus, creating a budget, etc. takes a lot of initial legwork. And then there is the great task of organizing! Adrian moved into the apartment in early June, and I brought up two loads of my stuff during the summer, then we added wedding presents on top of all that, so there were literally humongous piles to sort through and organize. Of course, being the type-A, hyper-organization freak I sometimes can be, this wasn't all that bad of a task, just very involved :-P.

Oh, and meals are great fun to prepare every day. Due to teaching, tutoring, wedding planning, and the distractions of a certain young man *cough*, I haven't regularly cooked meals in quite some time, so I'm really enjoying getting back into the kitchen. I think Adrian appreciates it too ;-). He admits his diet has vastly improved. We've greatly appreciated all the helpful wedding gifts people gave us, and are enjoying using them. We received a pizza stone, and I am completely sold on the idea of baking pizza on a stone, after just one try; vastly better than metal pan-baked!

Oh, a word of advice to all the young ladies who, like me, fill hope chests in their single years. I suggest focusing on specialty and handmade items that are priceless, not just cookware that can be bought at any department store. We were blessed with a lot of basic cookware like mixing bowls, casserole dishes, etc., even some that we didn't register for (but were nicer than we had!), so I'm glad that most of my hope chest items were handmade or more particular items (like a glass bread plate a la Laura Ingalls Wilder, or teacups, or a handpainted bowl, or handmade quilt). Anyway, just a suggestion. We couldn't believe how generous people were!

I feel bad, because as is often the case with weddings, I won't be able to really thank some of the gifters. Even with the precaution of having a few people to tape cards to gifts, we still have some cardless gifts, and one or two with a very generic first name on them. As a suggestion, please write your last name on a wedding card!

It's different being in a completely different area, and adjusting to a new set of stores and a new church. It helps that Adrian has lived here for a while :-). And I just spent most of today at various government agencies changing legal identification, etc. Long story as to why, but I had to go to the DMV three times! But it's done now :-). I'm officially Susan Garrison Keister. Yay!

Finally, a post! :-)

I finally decided that if I keep waiting for time to post, it's never going to come, so I'm posting anyway :-). Our professional photographs have not yet arrived, nor our video, but they both should be forthcoming the next few weeks. Meanwhile, we've been enjoying select photos by family and friends. For a more complete group of photos, see photo links in previous post. Many thanks to Grace True for providing the photos for this post :-).

We had a wonderful wedding day!

Family and friends started arriving on Thursday, my groom among them :-), and Friday consisted of a whirlwind of activity, including decorations and last-minute decorations at the church all afternoon.

Our longtime friends, the Trues, put together the flower arrangements.



And they did a beautiful job!!!



I felt like on Friday I was constantly being accosted by someone for a question, help, etc., which was rather necessary, but exhausting. But, I had already promised Adrian that Saturday was my day of delegation (not doing tasks myself), and I wouldn't worry about anything once the ceremony started :-). I'd planned the wedding all summer, and I wasn't about to not enjoy it from over-busyness! My mom is the one who really brought me through that last week, in fact, as I was finally wearying of wedding details. Mothers are wonderful :-D. But I digress.

Anyway, the rehearsal was very helpful and amusing, as we had quite a collection of witty people at the gathering, so it was a light, fun event.





Twins!



The rehearsal dinner was even better than the rehearsal. We made the mistake of asking various family and friends to "roast" us, and they did a really good job! Lane and Ben have both posted their roasts on respective blogs. My abdominal muscles were aching after Ben's roast of me :-).


After a late Friday night, we started pictures the next morning around 9:30. By this time I was done with any personal tasks, and was able to just enjoy the day. I wasn't nervous or stressed or anything, and I really felt so relaxed throughout the whole day. It was wonderful :-).

Here is our ridiculously cute flower girl, Ila Keister (Lane's oldest). Her mother, Sarah, made her beautiful dress and headpiece.





And here is the cutie ringbearer, Ila's brother James, held by Adrian:



Maid-of-honor Hannah Garrison and Best Man Lane Keister (you can just barely see my hair and veil):



Jessie was able to come down mid-Friday, and was vastly helpful Friday and Saturday, running to and fro, accomplishing an untold number of tasks :-). She and the Trues were WONDERFUL errand women :-). Here is Jessie, holding Edmund, who is Lane's youngest - only 2 months old! Awwwwwww.



This picture takes some explaining:



I decided that I didn't want to have a whole train of bridesmaids, making the rehearsal and ceremony much more complicated, but I did have several friends I wanted to honor. I asked Hannah to be my maid-of-honor, and I had no more bridesmaids; however I had 9 "bouquet maids".

I processed on my dad's arm with only a white Bible in my hands, and then after the congregation was seated, Anne's Theme was played on the harp while the bouquet maids slowly filed to the front from the back row of the sanctuary, carrying one to two roses each. They handed me the roses individually, as they came up to where I was in the front of the sanctuary. Then the last maid tied a ribbon around my bouquet, and they all returned to their seats down a side aisle. It was a nice touch, I thought, and was a simple way of honoring my friends :-). I got the idea from a woman in my church. The above picture is all of us practicing just before the ceremony.

Back in the bride's room just before the ceremony:



I made Hannah's dress and Jessie and I made mine together, in July.


Dr. and Mrs. Adrian Keister!

Link to Some Photos

One of our friends, Camila Mota, has saved some pictures on the Internet for us to see. We thought we'd pass along the link. In addition, Ashley has a few pictures on her blog. Enjoy!!!

Miscellaneous Items on Blogging

1. Yes, I finally took down my book lists. I haven't accurately been updating them since April or May, ever since I started wedding planning, and I'll be merging my blog with Adrian's soon anyway. I've been reading in the past few months, but not updating!

2. I've had several people mention to me that they're unable to comment to my blog because of the way I have comments restricted. I wish I didn't have to restrict comments! But I've had blog troll problems in the past, lifted restrictions after a few months (without announcing the lift), and had the same problems again. Rinse, and repeat. It's irritating, to say the least.

To comment to my blog, all you have to do is establish a Blogger account, though. You don't have to give out personal information, or pay a dime. And you don't even have to register a blog, just an account. Visit blogger.com and sign up. It's pretty straightforward, I assure you!

3. I think my sister Hannah is bribe-able, and with payment of dark chocolate, she will probably post some wedding details and preliminary pictures next week, on Monday or Wednesday. So stay tuned for that.

4. I think this will probably be my last post before the wedding. I'm going to lie around and sip tea and eat bon-bons for the next 5 days. . . or frantically get ready for everything. One of the two ;-). So, adieu until early-to-mid October. Adrian and I will be back from our honeymoon trip on October 5th.

Last-minute advice, anyone? :-)

Autumn?

Hmmm. Around the blogosphere everyone seems to be experiencing delightful signs of autumn, whether it be crisp cool air or even the start of leaves changing. Australian friends are a noticeable exception, of course ;-). Well, in Georgia the heat has dropped off, but it's still rather warm and humid, and NOT FALL-LIKE. Hmmmph. I have a wedding in a week, and I want it to feel like fall! Autumn is my favorite season of the year (Adrian's too), and it would be marvelous to have a fall crispness in the air :-). I'm still holding out hope, because in Georgia the change to fall is very sudden, and usually a few days before the official start of Autumn.

Oh, and poll: when is the first day of autumn? I seem to be running into discrepancies online. Some sites say the 22nd; some say the 23rd. So our wedding is either the last day of summer or the first day of autumn. And it's so funny, because I have a friend whose birthday is the 22nd, and one of Adrian's nieces has that birthday as well, and of course Bilbo and Frodo have that birthday. So much competition for the 22nd of September!

I know I haven't been able to response to all your lovely comments on the courtship post. Glad several of you enjoyed the book :-). Ashley is coming over soon to stuff tulle with birdseed, so I better go!

Interesting Critique of the Courtship and Betrothal Movements

Here is a very interesting online book that is a self-proclaimed response to the courtship and betrothal movements. It is written by Robin Phillips, son of Michael and Judy Phillips, who are well-known in the courtship and betrothal communities for their writings, particularly Best Friends for Life. Unfortunately, I don't know how to copy and paste parts of a PDF file, or I'd give a sampling of the book, but let me just say, if you are an advocate of either betrothal or courtship, in whatever form, READ THIS BOOK!

It's. . . interesting. . . refreshing. . . largely true, to say the least. I like Robin Phillips perspective. He doesn't think recreational dating is a good practice, and he understands problems with our culture's general view and practices related to romance, but he also has some very good critiques of commonly-held views in courtship and betrothal circles. He attacks the movements, not all courtship. It's a very good read.

I'm feeling mischievous. . .

Go here. . .

Engagement Pictures

Per request, here are some pictures. Mother Dear took our engagement pictures in July on Virginia Tech's campus. She did a lovely job, I thought :-).

Okay, okay, this is not an engagement picture. This is a picture of Adrian and me sorting through books. We were lining up L.M. Montgomery books to put on the shelf. This is the 3rd and smallest bedroom in our apartment, and we're using it for a library/office.

I love this picture, with my hair squished between me and Adrian :-).

We took this picture for Hannah, and other obsessed Narnians :-D.

This is on a bridge on the duckpond, near where Adrian proposed.

This is our "official" engagement picture. I love Adrian's smile in this one :-). And actually, our coordinating clothes weren't planned on our part.