Bridesmaids

Last night was my bachelorette party. It was a fabulous relaxing evening of pampering and good food, good drinks, and excellent company.

I have seven bridesmaids. One is unfortunately locked away in a hostel in Ireland, so only six will be at the wedding. Those six were together in the same room last night for the very first time. It was amazing to look around and this group of girls, recognizing what they mean to me, and yet how different they all are. They represent many years of friendships, many stages of my life, many facets of my personality. You can read more about each one here.

I'm glad to have such a diverse group of friends. I consider myself a pretty complex person, and each one of them draws out a different side of me. They have been with me through growing up years, times of joy and times of sadness, times of struggle and times of fun. They make me more myself. I am very very blessed.

It will be awesome to have them all up there with me tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

I'm getting married tomorrow!!!

Ending Global Poverty

My selfish side wants to post about wedding stuff and how tired I am and excited to be getting married on Saturday. But today is a very special day for my church community and my pastor Eugene Cho. Not only is this his birthday, but today he and his family are launching their new nonprofit One Day's Wages. This has been a long time coming, from vision to early planning to final preparations for the launch today. It's been great to be a part of it in some small way, and to finally see the fruit of all the hard work that has been put into it.

Take a look around the site, calculate your one day's wages, make a donation. Jer and I are proud to partner with Eugene and Minhee, and everyone else who is supporting the cause of ending global poverty. This is something we can and should make a priority in our lives, both as Christians and as citizens of this world.

Meditations on the Miracle

The wedding is 9 (!!!) days away, and planning is finally winding down. Most of the major stuff is done and now we are just wrapping up lose ends, printing programs, buying foodstuffs, finding folks to help serve punch and pack up rental items and the like. In the midst of all the planning I have been trying to spend some time reading up on this marriage thing I am starting on. There are a plethora of marriage books out there so I have tried to be selective, taking recommendations from folks I trust and looking up authors I have read before that I feel have good theology.

My picks have ranged from old spiritual classics to fun books on having a great sex life. The best book I have read so far is Intimate Allies by Dan Allender and Tremper Longman. Hands-down, it is the best combination of the spiritual and the practical, discussing both the whys and hows of creating and keeping a strong, spiritually and emotionally vibrant marriage. It's definitely one I will reread.

Another recommended title was Mike Mason's The Mystery of Marriage. When I first started reading it, I found it a bit heady and theoretical, and in my stressed-out state I found that I had trouble wading through his wordy ruminations on his wonder at how surprising marriage is. But I've dug back into it the past few days, and I've been able to appreciate it a bit more. Maybe I am not as stressed (not likely) or maybe it is just that every now and then I stop and look up in amazement as I consider the fact that in just a few more days I will be a married woman, with a new name and a new role. I'm thrilled, excited, and more than a little awestruck at this blessing.

So I've enjoyed the meditations more. A few passages in his chapter on vows that struck me in my reading yesterday:

"God is not interested, ultimately, in natural attraction. He wants us to come to know the supernatural attraction of His own sort of love."

"When we surrender to marriage and to the sinner God once unaccountably gave us the ability to love, then we surrender in faith and in the very depth of our will to God Himself."

"Marriage is one of the supreme earthly ways by which God enables men and women to choose eternity, and actually to grow into His own changelessness and constancy by slowly acquiring the only constancy that is possible in this world of decay, which is the constancy of the heart, the constancy of loving faithfulness."

"While it is true that a man and a woman on their wedding day take a step toward a unique fulfillment of the commandment of love, it is even more true to say of matrimony that it is a sacramental outpouring of God's grace enabling such love to take place."

And he goes on and on, challenging our shallow ideas of love and commitment. He really digs deep into the spiritual reality of seeking to love another person wholeheartedly, of giving your life to them. It's good stuff. And despite the enormity of this choice, this vow I am making, I am more excited than ever to walk into this marriage with God's grace and love empowering me to love this man I have been blessed with.

Foodstuffs

We went to Maggiano's in Bellevue for dinner last night. I had been there once for a corporate event, but that is not the same as the actual dining room experience. We were seated right away and greeted promptly by our very energetic waitress (this was in contrast to our experience at a different establishment on Saturday when we were ignored for ten minutes, after which we went and talked to the manager and finally got some service). The perky gal asked us if we had ever been there before and when we said no, she said that she would get something special for us. This I found confusing, and kind of dismissed, until the executive chef herself came out from the kitchen with a complimentary appetizer and thanked us for coming in and thanked our waitress for introducing us.

I love it when restaurants take that extra step. They could have just provided good food and prompt service and it would have been fine. But taking the time to make a personal gesture went a long way. It also seemed to be a corporate culture-the front of the house manager also stopped by to ask us how our evening was going.

The food was excellent by the way-some of the best manicotti I have ever tasted (the chicken was so tender, it was almost like crab) and Jer's butternut squash ravioli was fabulous. And they had a great program where you could choose two half-portions of pasta, eating one at the table and having the other packaged and ready at the end of the meal. So you paid a normal entree price, but ate a reasonable amount, and had leftovers ready for you. Much healthier portions and a smart way to create value for the customer.

The dessert wasn't spectacular (I'm really not a fan of dry cake) but the wine and coffee were good and the entire experience was enjoyable. So if you find yourself over at Lincoln Square one evening and want a really great Italian food experience, try out Maggiano's.

Since we are talking about food, I should share that we have the menu set for our reception. Jer's chef friends Aaron H and Jamie K collaborated on the menu and Aaron will be cooking up the goods. We wanted a tapas-style setup-with an afternoon reception and a huge guest list we didn't want a full sit-down meal. Somehow through the discussion of our food likes and dislikes and their amazing creativity they came up with this fabulous list of tastiness:

-Moroccan Seared Beef
-Roasted Portabella Mushrooms with Lemon zest and truffle oil
-Sweet Grilled Butternut squash with Coriander
-Molasses roasted pears
-Mediterranean spiced risotto
-Muhumarra with walnut oil and Pomegranate Molasses
-Hummus with Roasted garlic and cumin
-Grilled flat bread with fig jam and olive oil
-Fresh Spinach with Garlic, roasted red pepper and lemon

I love the Mediterranean theme (it's kind of an unconscious nod to my Syrian heritage), as well as the inclusion of figs, since that is my animal/vegetable/mineral alter ego (if this confuses you, talk to my roommate Bethany). And really, these are some of my favorite foods: mushrooms, squash, red pepper, pears, hummus, spinach. I am very excited to have these tastes and smells at my reception. I only hope I get to eat a bite of everything in the midst of the celebration!

Three Weeks

There is a point in wedding planning where you just want it to be done. You had your fun, and now you want the wedding to be here, today, because you don't want to plan anymore, you just want to get married.

I am at that point, but there is still alot to do. Confirming things with the chef friend, putting in the rental order, picking up the dress that should have been done last week (wtf!) figuring out the ceremony order and printing programs, choosing music. And then there is packing and moving my stuff and figuring out what to wear after the reception and what to pack for the honeymoon. Most importantly though, there is trying to work on being mentally and emotionally and spiritually ready to be a wife.

I think I'm ready. Things may not be done, but I am ready to walk down that aisle. I'm ready for his house to be our house. I'm ready to be Mrs. Anderson.

Now if I can just get everything else ready in the next three weeks, I will be good to go.