and the telephone.  Nine times out of ten when it rings, it's for my 12 yr old.

I hate the phone.

Just sayin.

Did that get your attention?  There was a discussion about men watching scantily clad women (not porn), lust, that whole thing about if you've lusted in your heart you've committed adultery.  That if you've ever lusted, you need to repent before God and your spouse.  And it doesn't matter if you don't think it's a big deal, because it's a big deal to God, so big that he put it in his book.

So I told husband it was about time we got a mommy/daddy grown up movie, a bottle of wine and practiced some serious lusting.

I don't think that's what this group of ladies was hoping their conversation would inspire.  If they only knew the ideas they put in my mind.

A big pot of beans cooking on the stove for refried beans.  The sourdough starter is on the counter warming up so I can feed it tonight so tomorrow morning I can feed my family sourdough pancakes.  All the leftover Christmas stuff is packed away.  About time on that one.  I'm eating a bowl of cottage cheese with pears, oatmeal, almonds and sunflower seeds.  A good start.

Last year seemed to have a lot of not so happy things such as losing jobs, stressing over insurance, compressed vertebrae, but there were a couple of very happy occurrences with the happiest one being my daughter's wedding.



The beautiful bride with pre-wedding jitters exacerbated by the fact the groom was still MIA (off finding something to do with music, I think).



The groom (showed up in plenty of time but the music still wasn't working) looking relaxed.



The bride with her nervous father.  Giving daughters away is a very emotional experience for a father.  I notice the bride looks taller than the father, but she isn't.  She had on some ridiculous thing like 5" heels; even with that the groom is still about a head taller than her.




The groom managed to melt every female heart in attendance by getting down on his knees to recite his vows.



The happy couple.



The entire wedding party.



One of my favorites, of course.  Sisters and best friends.

Again I apologize for the crappy quality of the photos.  The real photographer was the one in the bridal gown.  It was a wonderful day.  Rachael had taken a lot of time picking out the music; each song meant something special.  She and her dad were to walk in with Rye Whiskey by The Sons of the Pioneers.  The music chosen was diverse, representing both Rachael and Dan.  Alas, as with every big event in life, something goes wrong.  They could not get the music to work.  In the end, she and her dad walked in with The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face playing.  I don't think Rachael even knew the song.  The important items were all in place, though.

The wedding was simple.  The fanciest thing was the bridal gown.  We rented the old Town Hall in the ghost town of Genoa, Nevada.  The decorations were simple.  The food was sandwiches, veggie/fruit trays, salads and chips with plenty of beer and wine.  No tuxedos; the men wore black shirts with pink ties.  It was a fun, relaxed, easy day.  No stress, no debt.  My kind of wedding.  Rachael and Dan paid for most of it themselves.  We bought the food, drinks, and made the deposit on the building.  They wanted to pay for their own wedding.  Tim and I paid for our own wedding except my parents bought all the food.  I guess it's the way we do things.

Dan's parents took everyone out for a wonderful dinner before the wedding so we could meet each other.  Everyone pitched in and helped with decorating and transporting food and such.  After the wedding, Dan and Rachael had a short honeymoon stay in a motel, and then they were off in the truck.  Tim and I took the girls and headed towards the coast.  We had a pleasant drive through California to Mendocino, stopped at several wineries, had picnics, and finally headed up the coast to Newport and then home.  It was short and we were watching our pennies.  Unemployment seems to hamper vacationing.  Still, it was fun trip and definitely the highlight of 2009.