keeping it light

If one thing has come to light in the process of planning this wedding, it's that I am NOT a details girl. Not even hardly. You want that place card? No problem. Invitations should include that information? You got it. I should be here, at that time, meeting with that person? Sure thing.

Mi madre, on the other hand, is Queen of All Details. This event is of utmost importance to her. And as we've previously established, I'm more excited to be married than to get married. Which is why mom is an invaluable member of this team. Definitely more useful than me. And I am so grateful for her efficiency, her attention to detail, her organization, and her savvy negotiating.

She's also really fun to mess with. ("with which to mess"?)

It all started with the wedding website. There's a place to suggest songs for the dance, and the very first suggestion we got was from "Audrey Thomas." She suggested the song C'est la vie by Bob Seger and commented, "It really gets me moving." Turns out, my dad was the mastermind behind that one and wrote my Mom's name on the suggestion. Classic dad move. Hilarious.

Ten days ago, I forwarded Mom a proof of our wedding invite, as designed by the one and only Sean Rubin (Jon's best man/best friend). The copy read like this:

Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Thomas
request the honour of your presence
at the marriage of their daughter
Communications Director at Rivendell Sanctuary
and member of the Screen Actors' Guild
Margaret Emma
to
Jonathan McCrary Keller
CEO of MNY Group, LLC
and son of Rev. Dr. & Mrs. John Keller

Ooh, we got her good. She shared it with my dad, too, and at first blush, they figured it was a joke. They let it soak in a minute and then, so they tell me, shared a horrified exchange that went something like: "They're joking, right?" "What if they're serious?" "No, it has to be a joke." "Wait, but what if it's not?"

Oh we're so bad. So mean. Of course it was a joke. We would never. But it was hilarious.

And then today happened. Sean got her again. He designed everything for our invitations, including the insert cards. He sent us a proof today for a new one that read:

Make the Celebrations Stop!
Feel free to nap on your bar stool,
delirious from exhaustion
Chili's Express
MSP Airport, 5pm Saturday
RAIN OR SHINE
Hosted by Jeff Richmond-Moll and Sean Rubin
First person to arrive please claim a table.

It was hilarious, and what I've come to learn is a classic Sean move. Jon forwarded it to Mom, and we got her again. She now says she can hardly wait to meet Sean, as he seems like quite the jokester.

Sean, this is why we love you.
And Mom, this is how we show you we love you. Thanks for being such a gracious good sport! ;)

on trying so hard

I spent a good chunk of my Sunday at that bastion of commercialism, Mall of America. Granted, I had a really good excuse (finding shoes to get married in!) but 4 hours of speed-walking around strollers, tourists, and old slow people with nothing to show for it at the end was exhausting.

While in a certain upscale department store's dressing room, I overheard two little girls in the dressing room across from me. Let me clarify: they were likely about 12 years old. Now that I'm double their age, they qualify as little girls.

(What's that, you say? You thought I was shopping for shoes? Yeah, well, I found some dresses I wanted to try on. Not the point.)

So I can hear them in the dressing room. They're trying on dresses. Helping each other get zipped in. Chatting endlessly. And then I actually start eavesdropping listening.

They're trying so hard to talk like grown-up women.

Girl 1: I just have 2 dresses left to try on.
Girl 2: Yeah, me, too.
Girl 1: And then we can go try on teen dresses. I could tell you really wanted to try on teen dresses, but I just really wanted to try on these gowns.

(later)

Girl 1: You're so lucky you have a strapless bra.
Girl 2: I bought it from Victoria's Secret.
Girl 1: My mom doesn't let me buy fancy underwear or bras. She always asks me, "Who are you showing your underwear to?" Like, mom, I'm not showing it to anyone! I believe in a strong foundation.
Girl 2: I bought a bra once for $36. My mom told me I couldn't wear it to school. She said it wasn't appropriate. I was like, "Mom! I bought this with my hard earned money!"

(later)

Girl 1: Ooooooh this is like a wedding dress! I thought this store didn't sell wedding dresses!
Girl 2: You be the bride and I'll be the bridesmaid. Dum, dum, da-dum...
Girl 1: I can't wait til I get to go wedding dress shopping someday.

Oh, sweetie. It will be here before you know it.

As I was listening to their conversation, it struck me how anxious we are to grow up. How hard we try, even subconsciously, to sound older, more adult. How easily we mimic the words and phrases we hear adults use because that is the external indicator of adulthood. I say "we" because I'm confident it was me in that dressing room, 12 years ago, trying ever so hard to not be 12.

we actually did it.

Well, we pulled it off!

Yesterday 29 new students (and their parents, siblings, even a grandparent or two) moved onto campus as the newest class of our growing college. 1 more moves in this afternoon.

It was a blessed day. And it's been a crazy several months, weeks, and days leading up.

From scrubbing furniture to hanging pictures to setting up classrooms to organizing orientation schedules/folders/nametags it has been a constant stream of work for many months, growing ever-crazier by the day.

I am grateful, so overwhelmingly grateful, to be part of a team - this team - who loves God and loves students. It brings us to tears (quite literally - my boss choked up during Orientation) that parents would entrust their precious children to us to mold, disciple, shape, challenge and influence for 18 months. It is a weighty responsibility and a privilege. And I love my job.

A couple families pulled me aside yesterday and told me that I am the reason their child is at Rivendell. How humbling. How encouraging. And the truth is that this is so much more than a job for me; this is a calling. God has placed me here to help guide students through the process of transitioning to the next stage, to excellence, to better.

So thankful for a job that calls out my strengths and assembles a team that is strong where I'm not. So thankful for parents and students who are understanding, coworkers who are tireless and unflappable, and friends and family who are supportive -- even when I work 40 hours in 3 days.

Here's to our ever-growing "family" and all the richness therein.

Yep, therein.