March 25, 2007

And what follows??? Bring on St. Lucia

Our honeymoon was just a great as our wedding was, and we only have God and His kindness to thank for that. M & I headed off to St. Lucia bright and early Monday morning. Well, I don't know how "bright" it was (we got to the airport at 4:15am) but what soon followed made it all worthwhile. St. Lucia is an island in the British West Indies and possesses all the carribean island charm you would expect from an island so far south.

We spent our week at the Anse Chastenet resort, which was a small resort (not touristy at all) on the more unpopulated side of the island. Our humble bungalow featured two solid walls and two completely screened walls, a blue sky mural on the ceiling, a canopy bed and no air conditioning. It was so perfect for us, though - just what we wanted. Our travel agent outdid himself in setting this up for us (and all for free, too! Anyone looking to book a honeymoon should definitely give them a call!)

Anyway, the resort featured two restaurants which served the best food I have literally ever tasted. Basic, but accented with multiple herbs, spices and coconut. I loved it. As you will see from the pictures, our bungalow set about 200 feet above sea level... that's 200 ft of stairs... above sea level, and possessed a fantastic view of the Piton volcanic mountains and the crystal Carribean sea. Breathtaking! Sometimes literally. :-)

The weather was sunny every day, with temps in the high 80s during the day. It was paradise. Enjoy the pictures. (To view larger images, click on the pictures themselves).



The entrance into our bungalow. 5C, the Cordia room.









Our room, in all it's glory, in the evening. Not fancy, but just the way we wanted it: authentic. Even the lighting is very dim there.








A sunset view from the balcony of our bungalow to the right.








Our view of the Pitons to the left.









Here's a view of the entire resort from the water. It's all tucked away in the mountainside under the palm trees.















Scuba diving is our new favorite thing. We went twice and absolutely loved it! The second time we went we dove beneath the waters at the base of the Petit Piton mountain. It was beyond amazing. While make our way through the reefs at 50 ft below, we encountered a even more magestic sight - a giant sea turtle, calming making his way through the 80F water. There are not words to describe how awesome it was.

But diving did have it's costs. Here you'll see my scuba diving boo boos. That's what you get when you run into a coral wall. Stupid.










One of the nearby, secluded beaches.









And this was a very pleasant surprise. We were on our way back from diving when our guide pulled us up to this ship. Turns out it's the "Black Pearl", the ship used in the filming of the movie Pirates of the Carribean. Sweet!





M loved the sailing we got to do. But I didn't feel so good. *Sheepish grin* But being out on the water for the sunset was great and we ended the evening on the boat with a toast of champagne.





During the day we spent our time lounging around under the cous cous hut, or...







On a hammock in the shade of a palm tree. Yes, life was rough. :-)









In the evenings the local fishermen brought in their catches of the day! Time to eat!






Our beach.









Our beach table. :-) Nothing like eating your dinner while the waves come up to you.






Two of the many friendly birds we encountered on our trip. In fact, M & I have a video of me feeding one of them by hand. The two friendliest birds were brown finches and bananaquats.






Needless to say, it was very difficult to leave such a beautiful island. It was the perfect getaway for a newly-married couple.

The Time Has Come... The Wedding is Here

Mr. & Mrs. Almagest & Flitgurl S.
have arrived...


I don't know how one goes about blogging about their wedding day, aside from showing pictures. There aren't words for the beauty of such a sacred and celebrated event, but single words come ot mind: memorous, ideal, inspired, invigorating, perfect.

M & I were blessed with such a beautiful day. And the number of friends who turned out to help make our special day so great brought us to tears (of gratefulness and amazement) on several occations. We are so grateful to be blessed with such priceless friends.

March 10th, 2007 looked something like this for all of us... Note: I've only gotten a few of my pictures back, so you will have to settle on seeing more pictures of our honeymoon than the wedding right now... not that I think you will mind, right? :-) I will certainly post a link to all the pictures as soon as I have them.















The Bride and Groom. So happy!















Our lovely wedding party... doing what they do best: create awkward moments, and awkward pictures. They're all fantastic!

(Our flowergirl and ringbearer wrestled with that pop gun the entire time during our pictures. It was darling.)















You gotta love the "boy band" ushers. Priceless... and bored. :-)














The ceremony was so meaningful to us, and our pastor did a fantastic job!














Afterward the bride and groom made a rather unique recession down the aisle. Hey, we were just adding a little CA charm. :-)













And of course, what wedding would be complete without a *H* picture?! There's a couple missing, but hey, getting everyone together is kinda like herding cats.














And after a wonderful reception, it was off to our honeymoon... by way of the trashed car. :-)

February 22, 2007

Soulforce comes to my alma mater

I'm not really surprised to see PHC targeted on this list. Just thought you all should have a heads up - http://www.soulforce.org/article/1158.

Let's hope it doesn't get too out of hand.

For an interesting debate about this, check out: http://thepoint.breakpoint.org/2007/02/when_the_missio.html#trackback

January 16, 2007

Around the US... just another weekend

No sooner did M & I get back from New Years in sunny California, than we were off for another adventure... this time in the Southern US. We joined forces with W00SH, Moughon and CEIL and headed down to Karl A. Kilgore's house for some MLK weekend fun with the family. What an awesome weekend it was! Although little Autumn Kilgore battled with a cold, we nonetheless had a terrific time strolling through downtown Savannah, GA and spending a day on Tybee Island. With temperatures around 80F, who could complain?





Moughon appreciated Karl's story about
Robert the Rose Horse

























































































































December 14, 2006

Welcome to the Holidays

For your enjoyment, here are seven tips to help you have a polically correct holiday season.

You will find that nothing fills your heart with more holiday cheer! Give the gift of recognition and acceptance, when you care enough to give the very best.

Smith takes the Heisman

#10 is retired! Whoo hoo!

Gotta love this.

December 1, 2006

I'm thankful for....

It's amazing how quickly time flies once the holidays arrive. My sincerest apologies for not updating the blog in so long. I've received many complaints and so I'll try my best to raise my grade from failing to passing with flying colors. :-)

Matt and I are doing well, although flying by the seat of our pants. In the midst of our busy life we decided to push the limit by travelling to Ohio for the Michigan/Ohio State game the weekend of the 17th...

and then turn around three days later and drive back to Ohio for Thanksgiving. Insantity!

The Buckeyes played a great game, BTW, and we were glad we went home. The energy flowing in the city was incredible. No, we didn't actually get to go to the game... but it was the next best thing. Rachel got to come along and the best part was... we built a leaf pile!!!! It was so much fun.
Thanksgiving was really nice, althought Matt spent a lot of it studying for law school. But we made the most of it and and Matt was sure to spend some time wrestling with my little cousins in the leaves.

While we were home my Mom and I were able to tackle some wedding details and also decorate the house for Christmas. The weather, though, has been absolutely so warm that it doesn't even feel like Christmas. Gosh!


Coming back after the holiday was kinda hard, but it was nice to get back in the groove of daily life. Matt finished his last day of classes yesterday, so it will be nice to have him around for a month or two. We're looking forward to taking care of some wedding details that have been ignored for too long. And yes, I know many of you want to hear our engagement story... I will post it soon. I want to do it justice when I do, so I guess that's why I've been procrastinating.

We finially found a reception place! The Middleburg Community Center will be our location for the great affair. I am really looking forward to that day and know I will see many of you there.

I need to run, but I will try and update again soon.

October 23, 2006

The Passion of Friendship

Love Inspires.
"What we do out of love, we do because we want to do it. Love is, indeed, one kind of desire; but it is a kind that takes us out of ourselves and carries us beyond ourselves." ~ Arnold Toynbee

Our engagement story is coming soon...
But in the meantime, please view the wonderful snapshots taken by our dear friends at K.P. Photography.

Matt & Faith
2006

October 1, 2006

It finally happened.

















I said yes. 'Nuf said.


Party in Virginia. Be there. March 10, 2007.

September 14, 2006

Was I dreaming?

This past weekend was so wonderful. Mike and Heidi's wedding was absolutely beautiful, but the rehersal dinner cruise up the Potomac was a dream. Dave & Jen Shaw joined Matt and I and we had a wonderful evening. The boat had a classical piano player, a dance floor, and an upper deck perfect for sitting and watching D.C. pass by in the moonlight.

The bride and groom were quite taken with one another (big surprise there, or not!) and their wedding was beautiful... and quite filled with romantic moments. The ceremony itself lasted well over an hour. I was certainly glad I was sitting down and not standing like Dave and Matt were.

Saturday night the Buckeyes took home a brilliant win over Texas!!! Following the reception Matt, Dave, Jen and I crashed in Alexandria and caught the 3rd and 4th quarters. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day! I've included a few photos below.

My brother (a.k.a. Gabe) was in town for the wedding and it was great to spend time catching up with him over a cup of coffee on Sunday. The biggest surprise was finding he had no hair. It reminded me of that interesting Stacey/Bonicelli picture from Hotel California inaugural year. Hmmm.








August 31, 2006

Maybe it has been long enough... :-)

Wow, I guess it has been awhile since my last post. I never would have dreamed I'd be so busy... but I guess I need to make time for some things. Here are some quick updates:

- I only received a portion of the scholarship I had prayed for law school. If any of you were wondering, I decided not to matriculate - a decision I don't necessarily regret.

- I recently moved to a new (and improved ) townhouse. If you need my new address be sure to email me for it and I'll send it your way. I absolutely love my new place and my commute would make any working woman/man jealous. God certainly was kind in His provision. I think what excited me most was that my car now has a garage!

- Yes, the rumors you may have heard are true. The Schwartz and I are courting. Big surprise? Maybe not to some of you. Lol. It certainly came as a surprise to me, but I'm always the last to know. For all I knew we had been sworn enemies since at least three years ago - as evidenced by this "horrible" but accurate picture from Matt and Katie's wedding:



Lol. Not a good picture of either one of us. I'm glad things have changed... at least I hope we've become more photogenic since then. But on a serious note we are amazed at how God has brought this together. We've both had our share of past ups and downs, but how kind of God to grant such grace and blessings to us. I could have never imagined a more loving and thoughtful friend. Wow.

Other than that... I think that's all of my most recent news. Hope everyone is doing well!

I hope to see many of you at Mike and Heidi's wedding. If not, drop me a line and say "hi".

~F

May 19, 2006

Every anchorman/woman's worst nightmere...

http://tinyurl.com/hyxtn

First comes the laughter... then comes the words: "You're fired."

May 18, 2006

Barbie: Coming to a Metro Area near you...




Capitol Hill Barbie:

She's a Barbie girl in a world of legislative language and partisan rancor. But, none of that means much to our little Barbie. She is too busy running from reception to reception for free food and booze because on her staff assistant salary she can't afford groceries after buying a $400 pair of shoes this month. Her dream date would be Tucker
Carlson or any member of the Kennedy clan (or any frat boy who's last name is Kennedy). She is often heard before she is seen with her giggly gaggle of fellow Barbie-esque staff assistants who flirt shamelessly with Capitol Hill Ken and his posse of uncool dudes who think they are hot stuff because they just got promoted from mail opener to mail answerer.



Reston Barbie:

This princess Barbie is sold only at The Reston Town Center. She comes with an assortment of Coach Handbags, a Lexus SUV, a longhaired foreign dog named Honey, and a "cookie cutter" $2,000, 000.00 house. Available with or without tummy tuck and face lift. Workaholic Ken sold only in conjunction with "augmented" version.


Springfield Barbie:

This modern day homemaker Barbie is available with Ford Windstar Minivan and matching gym outfit. She gets lost easily and has no full time occupation or secondary education. Traffic jamming cell phone sold separately.

Prince George's County Barbie:

This recently paroled Barbie comes with a 9mm handgun, a Ray Lewis knife, a Pontiac with dark tinted windows and a crack pipe. This model is only available after dark and must be paid for in cash (preferably small, untraceable bills). Unless you are a cop, then we don't know what you are talking about.



Great Falls Barbie:

This yuppie Barbie comes with your choice of BMW convertible or Hummer H2. Included are her own Starbucks cup, credit card and Scioto Country Club membership. Also available for this set are Shallow Ken and Private School Skipper. You won't be able to afford any of them.



Fredericksburg Barbie:

This pale model comes dressed in her own Wrangler jeans two sizes too small, a NASCAR shirt and tweety bird tattoo on her shoulder. She has a six-pack of Bud light and a Hank Williams, Jr. CD set. She can spit over 5 feet and kick mullet-haired Ken's butt when she is drunk. Purchase her pickup truck separately and get a Confederate flag bumper
sticker absolutely free.



Herndon Barbie:

This collagen injected, rhinoplastic Barbie wears a leopard print outfit and drinks cosmopolitans while entertaining friends. Percocet prescription available.



West Virginia Barbie:

This tobacco-chewing, brassy-haired Barbie has a pair of her own high-heeled sandals with one broken heel from the time she chased beer-gutted Ken out of another Barbie's house. Her ensemble includes low-rise acid washed jeans, fake fingernails and a see through halter-top. Also available with a mobile home.



Falls Church Barbie:

This doll is made of actual tofu. She has long straight brown hair, archless feet, hairy armpits, no makeup and Birkenstocks with white socks. She prefers that you call her "Willow." She does not want or need a Ken doll, but if you purchase two Clintonville Barbies and the optional Subaru wagon, you get a rainbow flag bumper sticker for free.



Southeast D.C. Barbie:

This Barbie now comes with a stroller and infant doll. Optional accessories include a GED and bus pass. Gangster Ken and his '79 Caddy were available, but are now very difficult to find since the addition of the infant.



Dupont Circle Barbie/Ken:

This versatile doll can be easily converted from Barbie to Ken by simply adding or subtracting the multiple "snap-on" parts.


Arlington Barbie:

This doll comes equipped with happy hour schedule and north face fleece. Her seemingly Republican day outfit turns into a tight pair of seven jeans and a sluttly top in the evening (but the pearl earrings stay in of course). She comes with an overpriced condo and flashy car that she never drives since the metro is a block away. Graduated Frat
Boy Ken is sold separately but comes with a pair of new balance shoes, a hat from the college he graduated from, and a polo shirt with a collar you can flip up or down.

May 16, 2006

In Memory of Jack







In memory of Jack Saunders: 1948-2006



This picture was taken in 2000 at Park City, UT during one of our many trips together. Jack was sitting in a bobsled at the site of the 2002 Olympics and was having a grand time.

Jack, we all miss you terribly.

May 14, 2006

Three Dead, Including Two Children, near Swanton

http://www.nbc24.com/Global/story.asp?S=4899866
http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=4899750
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=local&id=4168971

This has been a terrible blow to myself and my family. Jack and Patti Saunders were good friends of my family and I have many memories with them and the kids. We have even spent the night at their home and traveled together. Please pray for my family and the Saunders family as we attempt to sort through this devistating and confusing news... and for Patti, as she has lost all that was dear to her. We have no answers as of yet and so many questions.

May 11, 2006

Rain, rain, rain...

I had the brilliant idea to work from home today. Bad idea. The rain is making me so sleepy it's not even funny. Oh well.

So I was in our monthly editorial meeting at work a couple of weeks ago and the most alarming thing happened. As I sat chewing on the end of my pencil, Chuck (Colson) was debating with one of our authors about the state of affairs in the church community. I gasped in surprise as I heard Chuck exclaim: "I just don't know what we're going to do with those Southern Baptist Bastards!" I blinked, and looked quickly at my co-worker. The look on her face told me she had heard it too. As our mouths gaped open Chuck took one look at me and barked: "What in the world is wrong with you?"
"Would you mind running that by me again?
"What?"
"About the Southern Baptists."
In his thick Massachusetts accent he repied, "I don't know what to do with the bastards."
Frowning I looked at my co-worker, who was now chuckling quietly. "The Pastors. He doesn't know what to do about the Pastors."

Duh, Faith. Thankfully Chuck thought the mishap was hilarious... once I explained. :-)