A few photos I forgot

At the shower I had each of the ladies write Heather a note and then I made them into a paper chain so that Heather can read one each day and countdown until her wedding day. The picture at the top of the chain is from the night they were engaged with the date of their wedding written on it.

Here is a close up of the favors from the shower. I put loose leaf tea in these little canisters from Michael's. 

Milka chocolate has nothing to do with the shower. Heather bought it for me when she and David went to the European market in Salem. We ate these daily while we were in Germany. Such a tasty memory.

Bridal Shower

I've never been very artistic or enjoyed crafts very much. But then something happened. Heather got engaged and I started planning her bridal shower. I checked out a couple of websites and thought about ordering some. But I wanted the day to be special, even down to the invitation. So I started playing with some ideas and discovered that buried under the camp wrangler and history major parts of my identity there is also a creative part. I came up with something rather cute. 

One of Heather's bridesmaids was kind enough to host the shower at her house in Heather's hometown.  

"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea." - Henry James

It ended up being four hours dedicated to this special tea honoring the future Mrs. Holcomb. Everyone who came was so glad to see her, as many had not seen her for a couple of years. 

The tea set on the left is Heather's - a gift from her grandpa. 

While she was opening her gifts we all played bridal bingo, which was actually really fun. I also passed out strips of paper that are Heather's wedding colors and all the ladies wrote notes to her. Then I linked them all together into a chain counting down the days until her wedding. Now she will read encouraging words from her friends every day between May 20 and June 16.

The hostess.

Shooting Trip

I've learned something while living in Oregon: everyone likes to hunt, or at least shoot. At least everyone at my church. I learned this my second year at Corban when I started attending the college group my church had. While the girls were talking about everything else, the guys were talking about hunting. They even brought a wii hunting game to a college retreat. Coming from Southern California, I found this very amusing.

 A few weeks ago a couple of the guys in my Sunday school class bought new guns. This led to someone suggesting a college group shooting trip.

I hit a few clay pigeons with a shotgun. I can't tell you if I hit the target with the revolver or not. But it was a "cowboy gun" so I was happy.

Spring!!

I am SO excited for spring and summer and colors and sundresses!

(thisnext.com)

(modcloth.com)

This is what our spring has looked like so far,

not to mention all of the rain that has poured down this season.

Heather and I had a snowball fight in our front yard the night that it snowed. Brody even got in on it. :)
As fun as that was, and as green as everything will be because of all this rain, I'm ready for the sun to come out and stay for a few months.

Suche Nach Gott in der Kulture

I decided to start posting again on my blog that I started for class senior year. The title is in German because I had just returned from Germany when I started it and I missed it. It means Finding God in Contemporary Culture. Not all of the posts will be about contemporary culture, as you will see with the latest post.

http://findinggodinculture.blogspot.com/

Brody Goes to the Barn

It happened at last! Brody had his first visit to the barn to meet his cousin. He loved it! He poked his head into every stall to introduce himself to each of the horses. They were all quite pleased to meet him and he remembered all of his manners.

Unfortunately, Ribbon was less than pleased about meeting Brody. She wasn't even curious about him. She acted like he was a very annoying little brother. It was a little comical. She pointed her snooty little nose straight in the air and laid her ears back. And he tried so hard. He's heard so much about her and he was so eager to meet her, but all she wanted was be left alone to eat her dinner. Maybe she just needs some time to warm up to him. :)

"Hmm," my supervisor at the Willamette Historical Center pondered, tapping her fingers together. She looked at me with a suspicious smile. "I'll be right back." She disappeared into the back room and returned with a cardboard box full of old pictures. "Someone donated these pictures and we need to decide which ones are relevant for us to keep and which ones we should sent to another historical center in Oregon."

I settled into a chair and began sorting carefully through the century old photos. Most were portraits taken at studios in either Salem or Portland so the studio was labeled, but not the identity of the person. A few were picture postcards addressed to "Aunt Nora" from "Lucille." One picture simply had a first initial to identify the person in the post card. Why would you only write one letter to remember who the person is? Didn't they know that someone in the future would want to know their entire life story and all they would have is a picture?

There was also a copy of a poem cut out of a newspaper folded up inside a photo book.

Such is Life

Clyde Ralston

We walked o’er the farm where the wild clover grew;

He told me he loved me, I thought it was true.

Oh, girls, don’t believe men whatever you do,

Another face charms them and they forgotten you.

I sing of my love in this heartrending rhyme,

I know Fred’s a-courting a girl at this time;

She thinks she has got him, but won’t she be vexed

When he wearies of her and flies off to the next?

He tells you the sweetest things ever you heard.

You raise your eyes doubting, he says, “On my word.”

I scarcely know why I am writing this stuff,

It puts Harry Arlington all in a huff;

He says I don’t love him as much as I ought;

I don’t think I do, now I’m sure that he’s caught.

Bob’s coming this evening; he’s wealthy, and so

Just which one to marry I really don’t know.

You say this is flirting; perhaps so, and yet

The lesson Fred taught me I cannot forget.

Tho’ I may be guilty, ‘twas he did the harm;

He stole my heart from me last year on the farm.

I would have been true had he made me his wife,

While Bob, he is rich, and I – well such is life.

Among all the loose photos was a scrapbook. There were no pictures, but there were calling cards and card sized business posters. A few pages were filled with Bible verse cards that the little girl probably got in Sunday School. After some further research I discovered that the scrapbook belonged to a little girl born in 1881. She probably began the book in 1887/1888. There were calling cards from her sisters and cousin. I was able to find the rest of her family and who she married, I even found a baby picture of her daughter as well as one when the little girl was five years old among the collection of pictures. It's so fun! It's like a treasure hunt back in time. :)