nothing to say

well, here I am trying to be a good blogista and a good friend but I really can't think of anything to say. how is my life you ask? hmm..."Same ol'" is the response you're likely to get. But, as that does not make for a good blog, perhaps something spicier.

--Well, here's a blog that the illustrious Mink introduced me to: http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/
It's really the bomb diggidy schmiggidy and gets me through many days of work.

--We have a new President Elect which is all good and well and I'm happy for him. However, I really don't want to hear anything more about race. I think it's very cool that we actually elected a non-white president but I just hope that wasn't the leading factor for most people. That seems like just an alternate form of prejudice. But, in any case, good luck to him.

--We just got back from Alabama for our friends' wedding and it was fun. Spent a lot of the time in the car. I just realized that driving is one of those things I get really frustrated about (just ask Henry or Jenn or Greg). I don't like people commenting on my driving, I don't like being lost, I don't like having to u-turn and I especially don't like when the GPS takes 10 minutes to find my location in Birmingham. And for some reason all of these things happened very frequently this past weekend. I try not to be frustrated but hate turning the wrong way--just one of the multitudinous ways in which my perfectionism manifests itself? I don't know what you're talking about.

--Dancing. I love dancing, my heart feels fulfilled when I dance. Today, my abs feel worked out from the dance. Never happened before...ever. It's pretty awesome though.

--Pumpkin pie. My heart also feels fulfilled by pumpkin pie and I'm pretty freakin' excited that we still have a giant $6 Costco one in our refrigerator.

--Getting engaged. Better the second time around...most definitely. Today marks exactly one year since the esteemed Greg Pfeifer (now my husband) begged for me to be his wife. If you want to read the story again (or for the very first time), go here. If you don't, then well, you're not my true friend. Jokes. I mean really how many times does someone really want to hear their friend's engagement story?

--Will post more pics, happenings and tidbits soon. This was just to get Katherine off my back :)
tata

Autumnal Awesomnity!

How does one celebrate Fall--even on an 80 degree day--in the Midwest?

Pumpkins!

So, the lovely Mink and I steadily made our way out to a Pumpkin Harvest weekend in Waterman, IL. However, we couldn't mosey on out without stopping at the Midwest's largest thrift stores or a Waterman estate sale now, could we? No, we couldn't.

it was fun even though the patch was pretty picked over, still got some good gourds and mini guys!

mmm...enjoying pumpkin pie more than a girl should ;)

PS. Also, I got my hairs cut! But that was about 3 weeks ago, that must've been right around the same time. Will post more pics of the shortness that you can actually see very soon! Gotta upload them, you know how it is....

long time, no write?

I can't believe I haven't written since May! I suppose Katherine came home in June so figured she didn't need my updates desperately and as for the rest, my blogging energy went into our couple blog which was fun but there will be more news than just couple news...not to mention that it's not CG.

Anyway, well, I'm married now! How crazy is that? I leave for a few months and come back with an MRS. Just kidding, but hey at least we went through with it this time...hooray! We got back from Seattle/Mt. Rainier/Vancouver this past week, after almost 2 weeks away, it was glorious...literally. I will do an entire story with images re: the honeymoon later. For now, I can let some of my itchier friends who could not make the wedding get a few tasty morsels so that when I speak of the event, they can have a picture in mind. Though, mind you, these are not the professional photos, they are still fine for painting a general idea.

More to come!

p.s.--Happy Hobbit Day and first day of Fall!

Precious in the Eyes of the Father is the death of His Saints

Margie Fawcett's blog said this today (I am CGing it for you):

John William Fawcett

Friend of the Father

10-21-61 to 5-27-08

Please lift up the whole of the Fawcett family. I will post more later but my heart is heavy with the news.

our big fat offbeat wedding

What a whirlwind! Fam came in last wednesday for my 25th birthday. Yes, quarter of a century. Outrageous. Where does the time go?

Wednesday we visited with Karen who's our contact at Winnetka Community House where our reception will be. So many questions, so much confusion, a few questions answered differently. It's hard to plan all of this stuff, not that I didn't know. But, it's crazy that you, the paying customer can have as many ideas as you want but really it's all sent through one or two filters of the people who run the venues and that limits-for better or worse-your sense of what you want. For instance, who would think that it would be okay to bring in your own flowers, tiki lamps and any other decor so long as it's not fabric? Weird, right? Bah. Well, I guess plain ol' white poly blend tablecloths and napkins it is. We got to diagram the tables and everything which was pretty cool. There were many references to "martha stewart brides" of which Greg and I are not. My mom found this really cool site that I think encompasses more the kind of values that Greg and I have: Offbeat Bride

It's just crazy that a person totally outside your sphere of influence really gets to determine what your wedding is or is not. How messed up! Oh well, I guess that's just how the world works. Of course, if our budget was one of those "average American weddings" you always hear about that's 21, 500 then I suppose we'd be like, "What's another $30 tablecloth matter?" But, as it is, we are not the average Martha Stewart Bride Americans, so I guess we'll find our flair elsewhere.

All in all, the meeting was fine. This is my initial (somewhat facetious) apology to our losh friends that we will not have a full bar at which to consume to heart's content. I know it's a little surprising since Greg and I love to drink so much. But, when the offerings are Bud, Bud Light and Heineken...well, ya know.... So, hopefully we'll think up a fun little cocktail just for us and you can drink that, like it or not :) A "signature drink" Martha Stewart brides call it is what we were told...why do they get to patent that phrase? Did they really come up with it? It used to make me think of a speakeasy...except now it's tainted with Martha. I don't in general have anything against her, but now she's the norm which makes those of us without her mad skills look sub par.

Anyway, the reception will be awesome and it will be very Greg and I...as it should be. Not even white poly blend tablecloths can stop that! Mom and Dad loved the space and Mom got to stun everyone with her use of the word "perambulator" and we had a very lovely day all in all.

And that was only the first 5 hours of their being in town...more posts to follow.

rear window

On April 10th, I sat in my office. It was raining outside and I was just bumbling on with my work. Then I got news that there were police outside on the tracks (which I can easily see from my window). I prayed at first that this didn't mean a suicide, but really, what else could it mean? Isn't that what it always means? Another Wheaton man had killed himself about 4 days before that. And 3 Wheaton students this year, though not by train and not even in Wheaton, IL.

And as people approached my window wanting to see what the police were doing and perhaps even to see if they could have proof of a body. That, along with irreverent comments like, "wouldn't the person just be bits and pieces anyway?" fueled my already discontented self. The last news came when a friend and colleague walked in and said she'd actually walked out back to look. And she saw the body of a man in a hoodie. The other details not need be repeated and really I didn't need to hear them either. But, I did. I only had about an hour before I had to leave or else I might have thrown up on the spot and left. I felt and knew that the Son wept at this man's death and that the fellowship should have felt holiness at this troubled passing. But, perhaps I just read into things too much...

Anyway, I was so disheartened. Why all the deaths? What sorts of devils had a hold on these men? I did look up online to see if there was anything in paper or on the news about it. There was a police transcript, nothing else for days. Then today I looked again and was glad to see that there was a name: Kurt. (He also had a last name but I don't want to take the Google searches away from those who deserve much more than I do to give final words for him). Anyway, I was led to his myspace page where I found he was a wanderer but much loved by those who knew him. From there I went on to a page by the Detholz!, the best obit probably anyone could have asked for. It was a beautiful memoriam and representation of Kurt in life. They'd even written him a song (well before his death which is perhaps even better) which is more than most receive in this life, I think! He is loved and grieved by people who loved him in life as still in death.

I received a sense of peace (and a stranger sense of relief!), along with a sense that I could weep. It was really restorative and healing to read that this man, plagued as he was by devils, was loved, fed and blessed by lives with brothers. So, I lift up the family and friends that survive Kurt and also hope that no one feels at blame for it. I also lift up Kurt and commit him into the arms of the Father.

Anyway, just wanted to share that experience. It was a very troubling one and as I explained to Greg, one that sent my sadness farther and yet, now, I think, I've been given a grace to let it go...at least for the grieving at death and suicide. Help my unbelief!

Happenings

I always think not much has been "happening" but then I come here to blog and realize, "Wow, time has really passed by and I have not had a moment's peace." My biggest issue at the moment is that I have not had time to clean my room and once again the clothes have proven themselves to make a great carpet. One day I will get to cleaning, I promise! That's what I tell myself anyway. It's funny because it seems that so long as I acknowledge it's a mess and make sure others know that I know, I feel like I don't have to clean. It makes me feel better, anyway. :)

I've had kind of a hard week, all joking aside, my room is merely one of the many ways in which I feel life is out of control right now. I don't usually like to share anything too personal on this blog or any blog, I guess. However, I'm not sure that many people read it anyway and those that do can just deal.

2 weeks ago, I went in for a lady doctor appointment. We all know those are thrilling in the first place.... But, I was going because my PCP had told me I should because some of my results were "off". Sooo...I went and she says I probably have PCOS. You can read about it here. I'm partly bringing this up because if anyone reads this and has firsthand experience, I'd love to know more about their experience. So, feel free to comment! Anyway, my new doctor was nice about everything and didn't seem to be worried so I wasn't either, she gave me a pamphlet said to call her at the end of the month and we'd go from there. There's nothing life threatening about it if it's treated and it seems that a lot of the symptoms get better through different medicines. Basically, my journey here has been hallmarked by not having a cycle for about a year and a half. So, ya know, best to get it dealt with.

But, here's the rub, doctors always seem to think that if you're overweight, that's where your problem started. That obviously my overweightness incurred the PCOS. However, the more I read, it's sort of a chicken and the egg problem. That those with PCOS find it really hard to lose weight because they're producing more testosterone than they should as well as other hormones and lacking some of the others. And, you're much more likely to get Diabetes with PCOS which also adds to the possibility of weight gain. So, I thought at first that this would be a liberating discovery; here was the answer to my mom's, coaches', dad's, my own questions about how I can exercise tons (especially in high school when i was a Varsity athlete), eat normally and still always have a roll around my waist and still struggle to get weight off. But, this week, it has not been, because the more I read, the more I learn that this is just a symptom of it and that none of the meds used to correct PCOS actually have any bearing on weight whatsoever unless you're determined to have an insulin deficiency.

So, from one medical alert to another, I looked up a condition that I had when I was a kid called Precocious Puberty. This is the first time I've ever shared about it in this public a setting. Apparently, it is sometimes linked to PCOS...so it would have been nice to know that and to watch out for it. (Incidentally, we've always contributed a lot of my weight issues to that because it makes you basically go from baby fat to puberty fat with no break in the middle like most kids have...but apparently that may not be the case).

All of this has resulted in my being upset with the Father--mad even. I finally pinpointed this a couple nights ago which is definitely a good first step. But, just being upset about having so many physical disorders through my life and for being given so many things that stack up to make me have a terrible self image. And sometimes I wish I were the kind of personality that would just give up. But, no, I still work out (nearly) everyday, eat well and try to take care of myself. And sometimes I feel like it's an uphill battle against Father which isn't right probably but it's how I feel sometimes. And I'm finally being honest about that. Anyway, so, that's something to lift up.

Well, I didn't mean this to be such a downer but I must return to working now. I feel a little better for having written this out though.

Hope all reading this are well and don't be a stranger, comment me!