Published September 11, 2007 by

Wedding flowers

Might I rant about flowers? A trip to three florists the other day has it on my brain. I am booked in for an appointment on Saturday morning to ‘discuss’ further ideas.

Firstly, I have decided against trying to do them myself despite it being the far cheaper options.

Fact: flowers are living things and they die if you keep them too long. I do not want to be mucking around with trying to get things right for me and 4 bridesmaids the night before or the morning of the wedding. We are cutting costs elsewhere. This is my justification and it aint going to change.

Tell me why people find the following flowers attractive, particularly in weddings?

Lilies
I don’t get it! Big showy spikey things. Colour is the only thing that saves many from looking like they belong in funerals – but even then they don’t work.

A prime example of lillies being used in the most hideous sense.

Let me now express my dislike of trailing bouquets. Give me a round maybe even slightly disorganized bouquet, but not something that looks like it belongs at Niagra. None of this cascading crap. (Alliteration is the only reason I’m using the word crap here, I have seen a few bouquets like this look okay but most don’t work).

Orchids
Leave them in the tropics, they don’t look good in bouquets. They grow attached to trees…. On the odd occasion (if small and mixed with a mass of other stuff) they’ll pass, but nope. If you’re in Hawaii, you can have orchids. And NOT the fluro purple ones.

Finally, any bouquets that resemble this should be banned, they belong in… the 80’s (I think – if ever)

Throw me something more wild – poppies, peonies, ranunculus, roses (some), green leaf things, berries…

Wedding

Published September 11, 2007 by

Starred: May-September

There is rain falling beautifully, softly down outside. I’m wishing I could skip uni today and foetal on the couch and read, read, read and sleep, because it’s a happy thing to do.

While the past while hasn’t afforded good concentration for reading blog feeds, I’ve managed to stockpile a mass of starred posts which in just a minute, I am going to attempt to go through and kindly link here for you while providing myself with a record so I can clear up Google Reader a bit. I’ll attempt a one-liner as to why I bothered saving each link, however this could be quite an experiment/impromptu wander

These posts track back from May. Hold on.

Leadership in Incarnational Missional Community – Neurotribe
Link love because of the definition of church, “a group of people called out from the crowd to articulate an alternative vision of what the world could be like”

‘Christian’ in all sorts, colours, and practices – Jason Clark
Interesting article on diversity and Christianity

Organic God – Confessions of a Pastors Wife
A book I am interested in getting my hands on, I think I saved this also to follow the author blog up later

Keith Scott Morton, Photographer – Decor8
Looking at photography in interiors

Canopy Bed – Oh Happy Day
The second photo made my whole insides smile. I like.

The Noble Art of Self Defense – Mattias Inks
Admit it, the drawings are incredible and fun and quirky and…

More on Young Adult Ministry – Virtually Paul
A link to a link that I was going to follow…

Art to Share – Decor8
The painting at the bottom of the post!

SHOP – frank – Print & Pattern
Nice designs

Guest Dad – Oh Happy Day
Interesting links

We are before You in our guilt – Donec Requiescat in te
Good quote

Types of Blogs – Smulo Space
I think I was going to write a post about this or simply starred it to ‘comment on’ later

Why I can’t have kids – FlowerDust
I laughed (cartoon)

Ad-on to the post below – Swinging From the Vine
Sticking it to the man!

How to Integrate Story into Your Young Adult Ministry – Threads
I think I was going back to read it later…

New Sketches by David Navas Garcia – Moleskinerie
Funky sketches

Brain Coffee – Swinging From the Vine
Just a good post.

Tagged again – Swinging From the Vine
I was going to do a post like this (meme alert!)

Pure Life Aggravation – Just Another Pretty Farce
Love a good rant.

Mad Church Disease – Jason Boucher
I think I spotted stuff about Anne Jackson’s book here first

What books are you willing to read?: Part II – Jascon Clark
Interesting article about investigating other religions

4th Friday after Trinity – Charles Williams: The New Christian Year
great quote: “I love thee more ardently than thou hast loved thine abominations.” -Pascal: Pensées.

Aubrey Trinnaman – Oh Happy Day
Wedding photos to die for… I love them

What should submission to leadership look like? – TheGeoffReport
I think I was going to follow this up with a post of my own – woops.

Recent Surfing Highlights 61 – One Plus One Equals Three
A design blog that I read and their link list, I think I saved for the link to Typographica

Are you a great resource? – Naked Pastor
Fantastic/interesting article about church and people

Church as Organism – Swinging From the Vine
This got me thinking quite a bit

Pick Your Nose – Oh Happy Day
These cups are way too funny

Can a Nintendo Wii Strengthen a Relationship? -  BrauchTalk
More evidence why owning a Wii is a good thing

God is the Centre – Charles Williams
Another good quote: “God is all centre as that he looks to all, and so all circumference as that he embraces all.” John Donne: Sermons

Sin and Salvation from an Eastern Point of View – Swinging from the Vine
I was going to listen to this later… don’t think I got there.

Let’s Hear It for the Me-Meister – Letters from Kamp Krusty
Good post

Why I am an Egalitarian – Swinging from the Vine
Another interesting post from Makeesha

Virtually Real – Backyard Missionary
Stuff about online relationships/friendships

Why Theology Frustrates Me – Swinging From the Vine
Interesting Interesting Interesting

Kim Rosen – Decor8
Featured artist, nice nice work

OK – HI + LOW
Interesting typographic work

This gave me chills it’s so beautiful – Swinging From the Vine
Maasai Creed

Modern Printed Matter – Decor8
Niceness and prints

MLK’s Conversion to Christ’s Limitless Love – Backyard Missionary
Inspiring?

Top Facebook Applications for Eco- and Justi- visits – James5
What it says

Eyes Online – AJs Opinion
Link to cheap contact lens source, just ordered some from there and saved at least $30.

Antropologie Ditte Slipcover Sofa – Decor8
Drool.

Communion This Sunday – Joe Thorn
Good quote by Issac Watts.

That’s it! Now I’ve saved some space, I think Makeesha from Swinging from the Vine got a very good run out of my linkings – not intentional at all, she must just post some good stuff!

 

Blogging

Published September 10, 2007 by

Email and Professionalism

I have a dilemma. Perhaps I am a little forward thinking, but clearly not enough.

My current email address is rebecca.mysurname@gmail.com
when I happen to acquire a new last name in January (Ignore the hogwash in the Age that says women should keep their old last names… I’m quite glad to get rid of it’s horrible spelling) I will theoretically need/want a new email address that reflects it.

BUT

being a slightly more common surname,

rebecca.newsurname@gmail.com  and rebeccanewsurname@gmail.com are TAKEN.

This is somewhat devastating. I’d like something professional, none of this imahotchick@hotmail business.

I could go for rebecca@allsaid… or rebecca@geoffandbec… but I don’t know how ‘valid’ professionally they are?

What do you think? Do you have any suggestions?

Life Wedding

Published September 10, 2007 by

Bridesmaid numbers

Unbeknown to most, my bridesmaid count upped itself the other day.

Three became four, when my good friend worked out that going to India over January wasn’t going to happen. After talking about it with Geoff we decided that it makes very little difference to include another two people, especially two that we’d really like to be a part of the day. So Jess joined Laura, Analise and Elyce and Paul joined Mark, Col and Tim.

Such a fun crew!

But that’s it. Four is quite enough – probably more than enough. My little sisters are still cut, but you just can’t have everyone.

As for the question I keep getting asked, “How are wedding things coming along?” Let me answer: It’s a slow plod, but things are getting done. Invite list is pretty much set. Bridesmaid dresses will get made, reception will mostly sort itself out (maybe *crossed fingers*), we’re having dinner with the guy doing the ‘official stuff’ shortly, the pre-marriage counselor couple are almost free enough to fit us in and I’ll get around to doing the invitations one of these days…

Wedding

Published September 8, 2007 by

Continuum has a double u, like vacuum

230.jpgI was thinking this evening about hindsight. We often talk about ‘learning from past mistakes’ but don’t really treat them as anything other than a mistake that something good has come out of.

Three examples of this stand out to me:

In my penultimate-final year of school I picked Physics as a subjects. This was purely a pride/self thing in that I nearly failed the year before and had to prove to myself that I was capable. I’m sure I’ve told the story before. Happily for my pride I did reasonably, but wisely and gladly gave it up in favor of Biology the next year.  Here’s the thing. If I hadn’t done Physics in year 11, I would’ve found Chemistry in year 12 much more difficult, instead I really enjoyed myself.

My job at a bookstore was a sore point for a good five months (that is under exaggerating) and yet it taught me not to be such a wuss when it comes to phones and to appreciate the kind of job that I have now. I really do have a fantastic part time job and my less-hate of phones is a better thing for it.

A year at uni starting out in multimedia told me exactly the avenue of career I didn’t want to wind up in, but I picked up some useful concepts along the way such as User Centered Design and the guts of what it’s like to be in uni and what’s required. Now I am in a course where I love what I’m doing.

These things all sucked (mostly) at the time but I’m pretty confident God whacked me there midst my pride/general stupid ideas/luck of the draw situations.

Not to take the prosperity angle, but more for my pessimistic self to look at these things not as mistakes that God miraculously flipped into perfectly cooked life situations, but as a continuation of life. Not to be morbid or… fatalist (I’m sure that’s not quite the word I’m looking for) about it either.

Face the fact, reality serves up more unresolved mistakes than hindsight opportunities.

There’s something that really disturbs me when we put things down to a destination. Be it ‘when I grow up’, ‘when I have the career’ or even, ‘when I go to heaven’.

It can’t be about arriving.

I don’t know what heaven will be like. Place, state of mind, new earth, theory a, b, c… z. I can’t claim to even get close. I kind of understand once we hit (classic) “heaven” we are content forever with God because we are ‘with him’, but I don’t understand that God is okay with mindless, yet very content zombies… and hey – isn’t God already with us?

It’s ridiculous blaming life and just chugging through life as ‘fill in time’ before we get to heaven.

Plenty of wacko heaven theories out there, rethink (or think) the whole thing please. I’m sure I’ve done a disaster in explaining my head, but it’s not about ‘meantime’.  What does a continuum look like? Where did God start? Where does God end? I don’t know if he did or does.

Cheers to Yellowcard for sharing our common lament,

And I’m sure the view from heaven
Beats the hell out of mine here
And if we all believe in heaven
Maybe we’ll make it through one more year
I hope that all is well in heaven
Cuz it’s all shot to hell down here…

We are selfish beings in our expectation of ‘now’ – even in our expectation of ‘next’.

Christianity