SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG

Google Search

Custom Search

• Site Search

Recently Written

• Wedding Day! Nov. 14, 2009
• Wedding Week, November 9-15
• Reaching My Goal Weight
• Who Am I?

Categories

• In The Moment

Connections

• The 23rd Floor

Archives

• November 2009
• September 2009

Admin

• Register
• Log in
• Wordpress
• XHTML

We awoke to the sun blasting through the windows.  It was a glorious day for a wedding!   Meg and Jeni were busy making scones for breakfast, along with a lot of other delicious goodies, and I started in on my cake assembly and decorating.

Meg and Michael had brought some beautiful, ivory roses when they came up Friday, and the girls went out after breakfast to gather fresh lavender and greens for the bouquets and boutineers.

Alan’s Aunt Beverly created a beautiful veil the morning of the ceremony, out of tulle Jessica and I decided at the last minute to bring, as well as a flower hairpiece I’d bought in Hawaii a couple of years ago.  Jessica already had a short “cage veil” she’d bought off Etsy, but decided to wear that one after the ceremony, because both looked so nice.   Bev also put the bouquet and boutineers together, and just about everything else that needed an artistic touch.   Jeni was a busy whirlwind too, helping me with the finishing touches on the cake toppers, getting her girls ready, and also doing Jessica’s hair and makeup.

Cole, the photographer, arrived around 1230, and we decided we should hurry and get dressed.  There was a flurry of activity and suddenly, Jessica had transformed into a beautiful bride!

I could never have finished assembling and decorating the cakes without Steve’s help, and they ended up looking pretty good and tasting a lot better.   The leaves on the table were brought from our Zen Garden to add a touch of home from Port Townsend.

The tiered cake was carrot with cream cheese frosting and the other was Alan’s request: chocolate with raspberry filling, to which I added layers of buttercream and ganache.   It was pretty decadent.

Out into the sunshine we went for photographs.  I’ll show some here, but the good ones are Cole’s so check out his link.

 

 

We came back in for the ceremony around 3 pm.   The men had moved the living room furniture out to the deck and set up chairs so we’d have room for the wedding in front of the fireplace.   Michael Rickard took his place at the piano, began to play Pachelbel’s Canon, and the processional began.

Michael K and Joe stood up with Alan, and Jeni, Meg, Kayla and Cami stood up with Jessica, and Jillian expertly handled Caleb, the canine ring-bearer.

It was a sweet, intimate, beautiful wedding ceremony.  Our longtime friend, Superior Court Judge Mike Sullivan officiated, and Steve, Michael K and Joe presented selected readings. I was especially touched by Jessica and Alan’s words to each other, including Alan telling Jessica that she was “his favorite person in the world.”

After the ceremony, Alan and Jessica went off with Cole to have more photos taken, while the rest of us snacked on beautiful plates of fruit and snacks prepared by Earl and Jeni.

Here are some photos by Cole Joseph:

After we had dinner and cake, we danced.   Jessica and Alan danced to The Magic Numbers’ I See You You See Me.  Steve and Jessica danced to Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely, and Lynn and Nancy chose a Michael Jackson song for Alan and me to dance to, which really got everyone into the act.

Later on, we all went outside on this perfectly clear night to stargaze.   We saw so many constellations, shooting stars, and even the moons of Jupiter.

After a perfect wedding day and evening, we eventually all drifted off to our bedrooms to sleep. Alan and Jessica had their own private cottage on the lodge property.

 

 

What a wonderful week it was! Monday, No. 9, Mom, Lynn, Mitch and I flew to San Diego, rented a 9 passenger mini van, and checked onto our hotel across from the historic El Cortez, just around the corner from Jessica and Alan’s condo. We had a delicious dinner at one of the Mexican restaurants in Old Town, where we sat outside on this warm evening, enjoying freshly made tortillas and beer, (with food too, of course).

We were joined by Nancy, Doug, Fern, Kayla and Cami on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, Steve and Joe arrived. I spent the afternoon baking and freezing wedding cakes, using the new Kitchenaid mixer I had sent to Jessica, while the rest went to the zoo and Balboa Park. That evening we all had pizza and salad in the spacious courtyard at Jessica and Alan’s, followed by wii ski.

Thursday, our car caravan headed for our rented lodge on Palomar Mountain, first stopping for lunch at Stone Brewery, an amazing restaurant/brewery built almost solely of solid granite.   A beautiful pathway winds through boulders and plants, thorough the gift shop and restaurant to an outside courtyard with granite slab tables where we had our lunch.  Jeni, Michael, Meg and Jillian met us there.  The beer and the food were great, as was the ambiance.

After we filled up on food and beer, everyone headed on to Upper Meadow Lodge while Jeni and I stopped to buy groceries at Cosco on the way.  Our first dinner at the lodge, Thursday evening:  Taco Bar – Yum!

Jeni and Earl did most of the cooking, and the food was amazing!   Friday morning we had Earls’ blintzes and that evening we had Thanksgiving.  Jeni and Earl prepared and cooked the turkey, with Earl taking about 30 seconds to reduce it to a platterful of symmetrical slices, and Jeni doing the cranberry sauce and vegetables, and Michael made delicious mashed potatoes.  It was wonderful to have both families together, just like Jessica wanted, with a cozy, homemade dinner and Fern’s apple pie for dessert.

Wow, has it really been over 6 weeks since my first and only blog post?  A lot has happened since then.

Back in January I decided to rejoin Weight Watchers so I could finally lose at least some of the 25 extra pounds I’ve gradually put on in the last 15 or so years.  I’ve been off and on it for years, but never seemed to be able to stay focused for more than a few weeks, and quit going to the meetings and just gradually kept eating and drinking a bit more.    But this time it was different.  I’m not exactly sure why I was so mentally ready, but from the very first meeting, Jan. 5, 2009, I felt like I was on a fun adventure. Steve had become a vegetarian too, a few months earlier, as well as having a new diagnosis of Diabetes, so he was happy to eat what I was eating.  For months we talked of fiber and points, and I faithfully attended meetings, always looking forward to seeing my efforts paying off as I got on the scale Monday evenings.  I loved hearing the ideas of others  and gave the group some of my own.   We shared recipes and encouraged each other, applauding each other’s 5 lb star awards and percentage of body weight lost.

I could write on and on about this subject, including recipes and other details, but first I want to cut to the chase.  At last Monday’s meeting, after many months of counting points, lots of walking, and remaining faithful in my “lifestyle change”, I finally reached my goal weight.  I’m in the 130′s again!

People have asked me for inspiration, or  want to know how I did it.   Here are my thoughts:

1. Think of yourself in a different way.  I won’t think of myself as fat anymore, or addicted to sugar.  I’m not the same person who has to eat the samples at Costco, or eat food just because it’s free or it’s there.   I don’t have to rush to the cookies on the table at work, I can ignore them.

2. Don’t deny yourself what you really want, but first ask yourself if you really want it.  If so, have half of it, slowly, and if you must, just salad for dinner to stay within your points.

3. Get used to feeling hunger.   Don’t be afraid of that feeling.  In fact, you can learn to even like that hungry feeling.

4. If you’re on a plateau, and can’t lose another pound no matter how you try, just change something, like give up the glass of wine in the evenings til you start losing again.  Just one small change might be all you need.

5. Make it a game or adventure with yourself.  How creative can I be with this new way of cooking and eating?  What new low-point meals can I discover for myself?

6. If you blow it on a snack, like an ice cream at Elevated, make that your meal.  Say, “ok, I had ice cream for lunch.   Not the healthiest, but I really wanted the ice cream so that was my lunch for today.”

7. When at a restaurant, split a dish or dessert with someone.   My Mom and I will split a beer; one beer, two glasses.   I could never eat a whole sandwich at a restaurant, they’re huge.  Split it, or take half home.

8. If you’re going to weight watchers, attend the meetings so you can give and receive ideas and encouragement, without judgement.   And/or have a weight loss buddy.

9. Be patient with yourself.  It takes time.   It took me over 9 months to lose 26.8 lbs.

Steve has lost even more than I this year, and has brought his blood sugar levels down to normal, and will not need any diabetic medication.   He’s learned he can completely control his blood sugar  with diet.   Both of our cholesterol levels have come down to where they should be.  In less than a year, we both feel so much better and have had to buy new clothes.  He’s able to wear a suit that he couldn’t button in the past 10-12 years.   We both feel SO good just eating mostly fruits and vegetables, very little cheese (grated parmesan on soups or with a bit of mozzarella on homemade veggie pizza), much less bread, pasta and sugar, and of course, no meat or chicken.

Remember, one day at a time!

As I begin this blog, I am one year and two months from turning 60 years old, and feeling the best I’ve ever felt in my life.  I’ve never been very good at journaling; I am more into using photographs with brief explanations to document my thoughts and experiences, but I’ve decided to begin a blog to try to better explain the things I’m feeling and learning about life and myself.

A few years back, some of my nurse friends and I started a hiking group we call “The Healing Hikers.”   We’re all RNs in our 50′s and 60′s, and our motto runs along the lines of “healing ourselves as we help heal others.”   I see the name Healing Hiker as a perfect metaphor for my walk through this life, healing myself and, I hope, helping others along the way.

My husband, Steve, and I have experienced some profound changes in our individual lives and in our relationship in the past couple of years, and I want to write about some of the most transformative of those changes, hoping readers may be as inspired as we have been.

I’ll be talking much more about the incredible adventures of the Healing Hikers, as well as health, diet (mostly vegetarian, often raw), Zen thinking, family, friends, love, nature: all the things that have helped me thrive in new ways every day of my life.

I think we were meant to thrive, don’t you?