Kate's baby shower

I ventured up to Michigan this past weekend to see my Kate one last time before her baby girl's arrival next month (oh my heavens!) and to attend her baby shower. The pictures don't need my help in stating the obvious, but my-oh-my, Kate is glowing with joy and contentment. And it's not just in front of her cherished family and friends...it is a glow that never leaves her face and demeanor. Even first thing in the morning!

The shower was hosted by a lovely lady named Carol Long, who is an old friend of the Timmer clan. She served white chicken chili, which was incredible, and yummy desserts with tea and coffee in her nice china. Such an elegant afternoon...just the type of ultra-feminine activity I don't get enough of!
































(can you see the popped-out belly button???)







































gorgeous pink tulips (yes, it was a Dutch baby shower alright!)






























































Godspeed your way here, little Sweet Pea! Your Auntie B is eager to meet you and kiss your precious face!

The wedding of friends

On December 30th, we were guests at the wedding of our dear friends, Emily and Conrad. I have to say, this was one of the most beautiful AND most enjoyable weddings I've ever had the privilege of attending! Emily was a breathtaking bride, with her dark curls and gorgeous white and ivory dress. Simple but stunning.















A table set for two...sporting Em's gorgeous bouquet...

















Me with the beautiful bride













the bride getting silly...disrobing!

















because my-oh-my, it got HOT in that ballroom once the dancing got started! Isn't she so pretty???


















One of my favorite things about weddings is getting the chance to hang out with our friends...Here's Patrick and Suzy













Marc, Mariah, and Dawn













Kendall, Travis, and John













Me and Miss Casey!


















Adam chillin' with the groom


















then chillin' some more with his bro-in-law, Chris, who's always got his back!


















isn't this a cool shot of the newlyweds dancing with their parents?














to Emily and Conrad...may your happiness only grow and blossom even more than the joy you had on this beautiful evening that we were so privileged to share with you. Love you guys!

To my Kate

"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares."

~Henri Nouwen

To my Kate: even though I know you're exasperated with me for posting about you, I just couldn't help it! Thank you for having that "gentle and tender hand." For not trying to fix it, for just nodding and listening, for making it better by helping me to enjoy life as it is right now. These are gifts you give me every day. May the Lord grant me abundant opportunities to give back to you. I love you!

(p.s. -- that's a wee baby girl nestling in her mama's growing belly!!!)

I just found this...

in my draft archive and I can't believe I forgot to finish it and post it! Anyway, here 'tis:

Maria
This is my beloved friend and spiritual mentor, Maria.














She's married to this guy. He is Pastor Mario, and together they lead our sister church, Zoar, in Guatemala City. (Aren't they so cute?)















Do you ever instantly fall in love with someone? I did with Maria. Let's just say that after I got off the plane to Guatemala (those of you who know me just shuddered in revulsion at the mood you're picturing me in...), I was a zombie from all the Xanax and lack of sleep and basically, just wanted my mom and my bed. But Maria was the first one to greet me, and in her I instantly saw a mother, someone who already loved me. How could she already love me, you ask? This is how: she has been praying for me for 2 solid years and I just met her in March.

Words can't express the magnitude of the gentle wisdom that she imparted to me while I was with her. Her faith in God is palpable. You're with her for 5 minutes and you feel like a stronger believer because of her strength.

I miss her so much! Every time I hear her voice on my answering machine or over the phone, I well up in tears and get choked up, because she's my Guatemalan mama. She and Mario and their kiddos are supposed to try to come up this month, and I'm praying that it works out!

Here's a shot of me, Maria, and Dawn in Antigua, just having fun together!

new pals

clowning with new friends Emily and Conrad (don't know if he was going for the vampire look there?). We loves 'em. Conrad is a supergeek like Adam, and Emily's getting her degree in English. Need I say more?

random September

wouldn't that make a great band name?

In any case, it's how I'm feeling these days. Slowly but surely transitioning to fall, but since it's technically not here yet, it seems like cheating somehow? And random, well, the following is random.

I've been on a cleaning and organizing frenzy. Katers came over today and helped me clean out the big closet in the master bedroom. Adam let me buy a very purdy shoe organizer from Target (where else?) last week, which I promptly filled and now stand in need of another one! We put a tall dresser in there (yes, my closet is actually a small room and not really a closet per se...there's actually scope for the imagination in there), and I also bought 2 small jewelry organizer/caddy things for drawers. So, Katie and I sorted through all my jewelry and all my clothes...even down to my socks and tights. She even worked out knots in necklaces and coolly assessed my rear end in all of my jeans (anything that made me resemble a country-line-dancin' girl had to be tossed to the give-away pile...). So, I now have a closet that is arranged a) by season (only 2 seasons in my closet: warm weather and cold weather) then b) by function (work/church, casual/play) then c) by type (shirts, trousers, you get the idea). I feel ridiculously organized now. The best part about it is I actually know what I own, how it fits, and what I can pair it with. I'll probably actually wear all of my clothes now!!!

Hmmm, what else? Oh, watched "You've Got Mail" today. It's one of autumn's must-see movies (even though it celebrates all the seasons in New York City, I've always associated it with fall...?). Are there other must-see movies for fall? Please, do tell.

Took food over to Angie's house yesterday (she is recovering quite nicely from surgery) and she was burning a cinnamon candle on her stove and I think I could have drank the wax, it smelled THAT good. Does anyone have any good-but-cheap cinnamon/pumpkin/harvest-y candle suggestions? I don't want to spend the gross national product of a third world country on a Yankee candle, much as I love 'em. (Tell you what, I'm getting miserly in my old age...)

Speaking of old age, it has really begun to sink in that I'm turning 30 in 4 months. Everyone I know who has crossed over that great divide assures me that being 30+ is quite grand and that I won't even miss my twenties. Sorry, but I remain skeptical of that. I already miss my twenties and I'm still hanging on to 29 for dear life.

...and the randomness has only just begun...

Sarah's baby is still not here. She is technically due in 17 days, but Sarah ALWAYS goes at least 10-15 days early with her kids since the 2-foot-tall, 11-pound wonder (Ethan) made his appearance back in the day. Docs just don't want a 5'5" woman delivering half-grown children for some odd reason. Sar has been having contractions, but is ignoring them because, and I quote: "I've got 2 sick kids, I have no time to deliver a baby right now." I would love it if she gave birth on Labor Day...what a fun and ironic way to celebrate a birthday! Abby has New Year's Eve as her birthday, and we always tell her that the whole world celebrates another year of her life! Anyway, who knows? Maybe I'll be blogging about a brand-new baby boy by Monday's end...

Oh yeah, one other thing. I need a book recommendation. I'm finishing up the "Mark of the Lion" series by Francine Rivers (which I simply adored and will miss), and I'm not ready to jump back into my British history non-fiction stuff (where I spend a good portion of my reading time). I need a good piece of fiction, preferably set somewhere other than the Mediterranean in the 1st century AD (where M of the L is set).

Well, I think that's it for now. Adam is in Michigan this weekend with his parents, so I have tons of time to catch up on my blog, which I've really neglected lately. So I'll probably be writing again tomorrow. And hopefully Monday, if I have a new nephew!

so much to blog about...

So much happening!

First of all and without further ado, I've been given permission to post some wondrous news...

My best friend is pregnant! Yay! Kate and Dan are expecting their first little one in late March. "Tadpole," as the baby is being referred to at this moment, gave us quite the scare there at the beginning of things, but this morning, Tadpole gave Mama and Daddy a lot of reassurance; ultrasound showed a healthy baby with a beating heart. Praise the Lord!!! When Kate reported this news to me, I had tears of joy in my eyes, for I have prayed and prayed for this baby. And I know others have, too (thanks Monday night Bible study!!!). I'm so excited to be an Auntie to another precious human being...and I can't WAIT to meet a chip off the old Timmer/DeVries block! I also am thrilled to be introduced to Kate-as-Mommy; who that person is and what she is like. I know it will be very difficult for me to be 3+ hours away...I would just cherish being near to run over for some random babysitting! As it is, I will just have to smother the poor thing with kisses and love while I'm visiting.

Secondly, and speaking of babies, Sarah's little guy Elijah will be making his appearance in the next 4 weeks or so. It's time, little man! Ready or not, here you come! Mom and Sar and Kater and I have been pulling together resources and creativity to get Sarah all set up to welcome the baby home. The nursery area is standing at the ready...clean crib sheets, mobile in place, diapers stacked, blankets piled...now if we could only keep Abby from stealing those blankets! Abby calls blankets "nunnies" or "wunnies" or "winnies" (she mixes it up from time to time, but you can always tell what she's saying). And she does NOT like the fact that there are wunnies placed out of reach and obviously not intended for her use. It will be interesting to see what she does when there's a baby wrapped up in a wunnie! We tried to explain to her that there's a baby in Mama's belly who will need wunnies, too, but that was pretty much over her head. Ethan understood, though! We asked him where Mama's baby was and he touched her belly! And then he kissed Sar's belly! It was so precious, my throat caught with tears.

Let's see. Well, there's other stuff going on but none seem so important as talking about new people coming into the world, so I'll save some goodies for another post. Coming soon!

fun and funny shots from Sam and Mel's wedding reception

Nettie demonstrating that she is, indeed, from Evans-tucky.























Is Nettie teaching Casey the fine art of feeding wedding cake to another person???




























Whose idea was it to let the adults into the bounce house? And I use the term "adults" loosely.

















having a more mature moment with my girl, Angie















and finally, with the bride, Melissa. This picture doesn't do her justice...she was breathtaking on her big day!!!

Spotlight on...Leslie!

So I've been thinking that I want to use this blog to shamelessly love on those near and dear to my heart. Therefore, the first "friend featurette" will focus on Leslie McKellar.

Friendship stats:
*met my sophomore year in college. Rather famous story: Leslie, Christa, and myself all signed up for a trip to the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, Canada without really knowing any of the other people going along. By "chance," the three of us shared a seat on the crowded little van and started talking like we'd known each other forever. By the time we arrived at our bed & breakfast in Canada, the 3 of us raced up the stairs to find a bedroom to claim for "just us," which we did. It's really when the 3 of us fell in love with each other. I have a tear right now just thinking about it.
*used to spend long evenings and weekends with Leslie (and Christa) at her parents' condo in Grand Rapids, usually trying to write papers for one of our lit classes. Instead, drank lots of coffee, did too much laughing and talking, only getting down to business around 3 am (paper due at 10 am). Often fell into Leslie's heated waterbed for a few winks before we had to go to chapel at 9 am, only agreeing to get up when Leslie's mom Jan brought down the thermos of, yup, more coffee.
*she was my boss at one point in time. She and Martha Markwat (nee VanderMeyden) were the co-editors of our school newspaper, The Herald, and I was a staff writer. I have to say, Leslie was a hilarious (and terribly non-strict) boss. I'd get to beg off of deadlines all the time, no excuses needed.
*when I decided to move home to Indy middle of my junior year after accepting Adam's proposal of marriage, Leslie and I cried together my entire last night in Grand Rapids. Literally. I can remember crying in her house. In my dorm. In the car. We blubbered our way through the evening.

Current stats:
*lives in Charleston, South Carolina with her black labbie Dignan
*is a photographer (check out her website at www.portrayonline.com), writer, dog-watcher, and sometimes barista
*has a boyfriend, Jay
*has a hilarious brother Mark who can quote the movie "Clue" from beginning to end, has the sweetest dollfaces of parents, Dan and Jan McKellar, and a new sister-in-law
*loves thrift stores and vintage clothes, crossword puzzles, traveling, reading lit, and long walks on the beach. Folly Beach on James Island, that is.

Recent pix!

Me and Leslie













Leslie, contemplative













Leslie, crossword-solvin'