Wedded Bliss :)

So, I am going to interrupt the Haiti talks for a little walk down the aisle.  :)

On October 13th, a little over a week ago, I supported my seester (aka my half-filipino sister-in-law) and my newest brother ;) as they said "I do" 

The weekend started off with some last minute decorations and preparations for the ceremony and reception. I learned how to tie a fancy bow as we decorated the church. That will be invaluable come christmas time! We rehearsed walking up and down the aisle and then went back to the hizzie for the most scrumptious filipino food, made by Lula :) I got to know a few Kiwi's (the affectionate nick-name for New Zealanders) as Charlie had so much support from home!! I thought it was really awesome for  Kirk, Peter, Andrew, and Rory to all fly over from New Zealand to be in Anna and Charlie's wedding. It was great getting to know all of those really awesome and down-to-earth guys.

Come saturday it was time to get done-up and the salon, put our make-up on and get dressed to walk down the aisle. One of the special moments of the day was being alone at the house with Anna as we did our make-up, then later, getting to do the make-up on my filipino Mom. Those quiet moments were very special times that I got to spend with the both of them and I won't likely forget them. Then it was off the the church to wait. 

The ceremony was beautiful and the bride brought tears to my eyes as she walked down the aisle. She was glowing! The music was absolutely beautiful, everyone look so gorgeous/handsome and it flowed so smoothly. It seemed like it was over in the blink of an eye, then my seester was married! I think most of the audience was a little misty in the eyes and I know the maid-of-honor, Erin, spent the entire ceremony sniffling. Nobody fell down, no wardrobe malfunctions, over-all, it went much smoother than my wedding. (not only did someone fall down the stairs, but a groomsman got a nose bleed before the ceremony and blood got on his shirt!!) 

At the reception, we had some really tasty food and some amazing red velvet cake from The Boll Weevil. Then we boogied down!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.phpv=10151079910385825&set=vb.696240824&type=2&theater (you can click the link and see a fun video of the bride and groom dancing) It was so much fun dancing and visiting with friends and family. Everything came to an end far too soon though and we had to say some pretty tearful goodbyes. I'm still on the verge of devastation at the fact that Anna now lives halfway around the world. So I will desperately save my money to go see her ASAP!! 

-Cas

Silent Auction!

I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone involved in our silent auction this past friday! Everything went over very well and hopefully soon we will have an update as to where we are with our fundraising efforts. Everyone has been so generous, I am absolutely blown away with the love and affection that has been shown in our direction. So here is a run-down of how the night went, from my perspective :)

So, all of us dedicated servers and auction staff arrived about an hour before to prepare and make last minute adjustments. I had been trying to get rid of a bad headache all day, so I didn't come early to set up, but everyone did a wonderful job! It was a perfect set-up for a fall evening with the decor. I brought in my contributions (shout out to Anna, Catherine, Crystal, Anna, Jill, Jillane, Dennis and Zhao-Zhao for putting things together for us to auction) and got things set up...then I twiddled my thumbs and wandered around the room...trying to figure out what to do. It was a little discouraging, but everyone was so efficient, that there wasn't anything that I could do to help at the moment. Every work station had two or three people there already, so my desire to help was overwhelmed with the lack of a need and no more space for me to work in. It all got done, that's what matters right?

So about 7p, people started coming in and I was super pumped to start serving people their food and drinks. But everyone just wanted to stand around. Yes, some people were milling around looking at auction items, but some were just standing and chatting. Once again..it had me feeling a little awkward and out-of-place as I decided what to do. I did start to serve some people with drinks and then we had the food blessed and got down to business for real. 

Well, I've never been a waitress. Never ever. I don't count the two mornings that I worked in a hospitality tent at the Masters Golf Tournament. One, I was probably not even old enough to be working there, and two, it was a total of about 3 hours or so. But you would think, even with the lack of experience, I would be familiar with the basics. Drinks first, then salad, entree and finally dessert. I had my two tables of 8 picked out to serve, so i just started serving them. Whatever kind of food that came out of the kitchen, that's what they got. Whoops. So much for everyone at the table having salad, then their entrees. Some got everything at once, others got one at a time. People came in later and had to catch up...I give props to all the waitresses out there because not everyone is cut out for that kind of work. Anyways, everyone got food. I didn't drop any food (not on anyone, or the floor thank you very much!). So in my book, it was a successful first time as a waitress. 

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My wonderful mom came and supported us!! She came away with some really great things at AMAZING prices. I'm still flabbergasted. I even did some last minute bidding and came home with a beautiful stella and dot necklace. 

It was a good night and it was great to see the team put in such hard work. I know if we're all such hard workers, the trip will definitely be an awesome success :) I really can't wait to see what God is going to do through the people on this team for the people of Haiti! ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ -Matthew 25:45

Stay tuned for wedding bells via my lovely sister-in-law, Anna

oh the countdowns!

So one of the things I didn't mention last week when I wrote my blog is that I hadn't gotten my passport yet. See, I had one. Then there was this whole thing where I got married to a crazy person (Loveyou!) and decided to go with his last name. So I pulled it out a month and a half ago (the passport) and the pesky thing still had my maiden name on it. How dare it! Well, I went through the hoops and send off a chunk of my paycheck and looky here...a passport. It came last week in the mail and then it hit me. I'm going to Haiti. I have no excuse not to. I'm raising money, I have my shots, I have a passport. This is happening, and I may or may not be freaking out just a little inside :p It's all so real now! 27 days from now, I will be on a plane, flying across an ocean and landing in a foreign country! 

That's not the only thing coming up worth counting down to.

My Seester's wedding (a.k.a my hubby's sis) .............12 days

My Sister's due date (Baby M!!) .................................... 31 days

Visiting previously mentioned new baby .................... 1month and 17 days

Trust me. These are not the only things going on in my life either. Unfortunately work and church and school and gigs don't stop coming just because a few extras are thrown in there. I feel tired just thinking about it. 

-Cas