Is that the time!

After a bit of eating, a LOT of drinking and general chat and larking about we realised that it was 5am and probably time to go to bed!

Cheers Dren:


Emma:





We were all impressed with Dren's 12 year old wood (insert rude puns here!)

Nightmare journey to Stoke!

Toni picked me up from work and we headed off on a long drive to Stoke to go and stay with Dren and Emma for the weekend. As Toni hadn't eaten all day we hit TGI Friday to stock up vital energy and then hit the road. Traffic was really bad and it took us hours just to get to Cambridge services so we sent a text on to say that we would be a few hours later than planned. Much roadworks and detours later we finally arrived at midnight. On the plus side there was chinese food and alcohol waiting for us!

From Shining Century to Admirable Equinox

Southampton has played host all week to the new Celebrity Equinox, the second of the cruise line's Solstice-class ships and the first to be named in the UK.

And the initial review, feedback and gossip all suggest one thing - this is a HUGE success for Celebrity that brings them firmly back into the front rank of cruise ship hierarchy once again. Back in the limelight, and loving it!

I vividly remember all the hype and hoopla around their Century class ships back in 1995/96, when then Celebrity chief John Chandris led various press trips to the superb Meyer Werft shipyard at Papenburg, Germany.

The Century itself, quickly followed by the slightly larger Mercury and Galaxy (the latter of which is now sailing for TUI Cruises as Mein Schiff), proved to be something of a revolutionary vessel, breaking the existing mould of other new-builds at that time which were either horribly traditional and dull (P&O, NCL) or outrageously garish (Carnival).

For the first time, here was a new, European-styled cruise ship which was completely modern and stylish but also kept things in perspective, maintaining a solid cruise tradition with some revolutionary touches like their AquaSpa, expansive Sky Suites and a grand, two-level main Dining Room that offered a truly classic touch.

The Century was a beautiful ship to sail on, big enough to provide a choice in almost evertything you did but small enough to be comfortable and highly quality-conscious. You never felt you were on a vessel of 70,000-plus tons, and her two sisters were equally impressive.

The follow-up Millennium-class quartet slightly lost the plot, however. They weren't massively bigger at 91,000 tons compared to 71,000/77,000 but there was something horribly bulky and blockish about their design. The smooth, refined service which was a notable feature of the Century-class vessels wasn't quite so smooth and the standout feature of their main dining and alternative dining didn't measure up the line's Chandris-era standards.

Celebrity needed a game-changer to put them back at the forefront of the current welter of new-builds (greater quality from Carnival; more glitz from Costa; huge diversity from NCL; extra glamour from Holland America; and more of everything from Princess) and they opted to go for the bigger-still policy.

November 2008 saw the advent of the 122,000-ton Celebrity Solstice, a kind of combination of the original Century series and Royal Caribbean's massive Voyager-class. But this time, instead of just enlarging the blueprint and losing the focus, Celebrity kept things sharply in line, adding new features like their AquaClass staterooms and manicured Lawn Club (a surprisingly attractive novelty) and a truly indulgent alternative dining line-up.

Now, without allowing any grass (ho, ho) to grow under their feet, the line has made sure their new series is showcased firmly for the UK audience, hence the 7-day Southampton prelude to her first full inaugural sailing.

And it really looks like they have a massive hit on their hands. The travel trade has been suitably wowed, the grand Southampton naming ceremony was a complete headline-grabber and a 'taster' cruise for an assemblage of cruise and travel writers also seems to have been wamly received.

There is a good reason for this, of course. In April 2010 the third of these glamorous new-builds, Celebrity Eclipse, will hove into view and take up semi-permanent residence in Southampton for a seven-month season, becoming a 'British' ship in all but name (Equinox is off for a summer season in the Med shortly).

Celebrity badly needed Equinox to blaze an impressive trail for Solstice to follow. And, by the look of the past 7 days, they have achieved all that, and more besides.

An admirable Equinox indeed.

Buckcherry & The 69 Eyes @ HMV Forum

Sam and I battled National Rail strikes to make our way to Stratford to meet Toni to go and see Buckcherry and The 69 Eyes at the HMV Forum in Kentish Town. Detoured via Tottenham Court Road to grab food at Pizza Hut and then shot off to the Forum. We arrived at the end of Dear Superstar's set but according to Armitage we didn't miss anything LOL

Armitage:


Guess who!:



THE 69 EYES
Totally fucking awesome. I love The 69 Eyes and they certainly didn't disappoint. It's shame that, given the length of time that they have been around and number of albums out, they don't do headline tours and always end up doing short support sets. They played a mighty fine set of their classic and aired a new track from their new album. It was all very sexy goth n roll!






See all THE 69 EYES pics here: 300709The69EyesHMVForum


BUCKCHERRY
I have to say that after The 69 Eyes Buckcherry were a BIG disappointment. Their fans were well into it but despite enjoying their recorded output I thought there performance was pretty flat but what do I know LOL. I'll be honest the ridiculous bandana that the singer wore at the start probably didn't help me take thems seriously LOL






See all the Buckcherry pics here: 300709BuckcherryHMVForum

Valentine's Day Kiss Wallpaper

Kissing is one of the beautiful act to express feeling of love, affection and care. Kissing among lovers and couples expresses feeling of love to unite together and enjoy happiness of love making. Kissing raise the spirit to come close to each other and share lovely notes of togetherness. Explore these valentine's day kiss wallpaper to send it online to your dear valentine to express your need and feeling to kiss him/her.

Valentines Day Animated Wallpaper

Animation has added beauty and some life to our online market because of its tools making everything moving, real, talking and doing other activities. Inspired of the animation art, we would like to introduce our valentines day animated wallpaper on the theme of different cartoons, flash and other tools.

Valentine's Day Coloring Pages

Valetine's day is a day for love and romance when couples make their romantic love confessions to each other. This day is enjoy by teens, adults and youngsters but little kids and children also made advantageous use of this day by utilising their colors in doing some creative art work. These valentine's day coloring pages are gift for toddlers and little visitors who come here in search of their useful art material.

Himalayas – Journey to the Heaven - Pilgrimage Insight

The mighty Himalayas are home to Lord Shiva. On the tour to Himalayas every where you can find temples dedicated to Lord Shiva. In Uttaranchal alone there are many such temples, which are somehow related Pandavas – heros of the great Indian epic Mahabharata, who came here after their war with the Kauravas, in order to attain salvation. It is believed that Pandavas lost control over their mind after the war, in which they had to kill their own brothers and other relatives.

According to the legends, Pandavas went to Kashi (Himalayas ) to worship Lord Shiva in oder to wash away all their sins. But the Lord was in no mood to compel and forgive them. And so he left Kashi and went to Uttaranchal and turned himself into a bull to evade Pandavas.

Mythologically, Lord Shiva is considered as the Supreme God with three eyed and crescent moon on his brow. Of now it became almost impossible to recognize Lord Shiva in the massive herd of cattle. But the Pandavas didn't gave up. The gigantic bhim (five among the Pandavas brothers) stood astride the mountains and the Pandavas started leading the cattle under his legs. But one bull refused to pass under the Bhim's leg. And hence Pandavas soon recognized that the bull was Lord Shiva. Bhim took hold of bull and banged it on the earth.

Lord Shiva was pleased to see the true determination of Pandavas and decided to appear in his actual form. But is said that bull was banged into the earth with such a power that its body scattered in differed directions at different places. The hump fell at the place now called as Kedarnath, face at Rudranath,the arms at Tungnath, naval at Madhmaheshwar and the locks in Kalpeshwar. All these five place are alltogether known by the name of Panch Kedar. In-fact the Shivalingam worshiped in these places resemble the body parts of the bull.

All this made us more exited and we decided to visit Rudranath and Kalpeshwar first. We started our journey from Noida and reached Rishikesh. We bath bath in the Ganges and the next day we boarded a bus for Joshimath and halt at Helang, located between the Chamoli and Joshimath. Our journey was truly adventurous, we started our trekking tour from Helang itself and reachedSalna, a beautiful village situated along the Hiranyawati Ganga. As we were already too tired and so we decided to went early bed.

Next day we wake early in the morning and start our trekking journey after the breakfast. Passing through the pines and rhododendrons, we reached Urgam, the beautiful valley petrified with lush green forests and terraced fields. It is quite similar to the known Valley of Flowers. After exploring Urgam, we reached our next destination called Devgram famous for its hundred of temple sites, which were earlier washed away by the floods. But luckily a temple dedicated to Lord Shiv and Goddess Parvati still exists here.

After the exciting one full day in Devgram we went to Kalpeshwar, which is only two kilometers from here. It is one the five Kedar temples. The shrine here is in small cave which resemble the jata (locks)of Lord Shiva. After paying homage at the temple we went for the sightseeing tour in Kalpeshwar itself. Although the best time to visit this place rests between April to October but if you want to see Urgam valley in its full bloom, than we recommend you to visit the pace soon after the monsoons.

Our next destination was Dumak which is a beautiful hill village, famous for its exciting jungle trials and wildlife tours. The villagers here worship Bazir God, whom they consider as the doorman of Lord Rudranath. From here you get the magnificent view of the Himalayan peaks namely Trishul, Nanda Devi and Nanda Ghunti. After this we left for Panar dotted with different variety of Himalayan flowers, such a blue poppy and many others. Our jouney was getting more exited, Next we moved to Rudranath temple located amidst the thick forests. Here Lord Shiva is worshiped as Neelkanth Mahadev in the shape of mukh (face).

After paying homage at the temple we explored the nearby excursions including the Chaukhamba Peak, Nanda GhuntiAnsurya Devi temple, Sidhapeeth etc. And with this our journey came to an end. We thank Lord Shiva for giving us strength for covering such a long distance and allowing us to peep into his divine abode.

Aparana Chauhan

Happy Birthday Dren

Happy Birthday to Dren

Hope you have a great day today and looking forard to helping you celebrate over the weekend

K.T. and Toni
x

Preparing to go to Taiwan was a long process, from packing to repacking, to buying needed items to the more extensive emotional preparing for the separation from friends and family. Many times it felt like we were spinning our wheels, and anxious to go, but the time ticked by so slowly that we thought it would never come. The day of our long trek arrived on Monday, July 27, 2009. It was wonderful because we had an almost complete day to finish our goodbyes, run errands, weigh our suitcases “one more time,” and get on the plane by 6:15 p.m.

That day felt almost strangely anti-climactic even with all of the “last American meals” and the “last-last American meals” that we had eaten earlier that day and week. It was bizarre to watch my sister Holly drive away with my beloved Dalia in tow, wondering if Dalia would even miss me, wondering if she would ever be the same dog without me, and how I had become so attached to an animal that had been such an ornery pup and had caused me so much grief during the first year or so of her existence.

It still didn’t feel real, like “we-are-really-going-to-Taiwan” real, even when Chris and I were sitting at the airport with my parents and the unspoken “goodbye” elephant in the bustling airport lobby. I am not sure what I was expecting, but I know it still hadn’t sunk in at that point. After teary goodbye hugs, Chris and I walked down the corridor and through the hyper vigilant airport security into our unknown future. It felt like any other flight, on any other day, but in our hearts we knew this would be a defining moment for our futures and what lay beyond the next 24-hour series of flights would change us forever.

We landed in Phoenix, Arizona a short three hours later, and were met with heat that could only be compared to the blast of air that hits your face when you open an oven door. The pilot said it was “a mere 111 degrees,” which I believe was an attempt to make us feel fortunate that it wasn’t hotter. It didn’t work.

In our melancholy states we exited into the corridor to look for our flight to Las Angeles airport. We quickly became frustrated with the utter lack of organization in the Phoenix airport. We chalked it up to the heat frying any resident’s ability to think clearly and logically when planning this unnecessarily massive airport system. After wandering for what seemed like ages, asking for directions approximately four times we were finally directed to leave airport security. We dragged our extensive carryon baggage to the corner and waited for the ghetto airport bus shuttle to drive us the twentyminutes to the correct corridor where we were to be subjected to another hyper-vigilant airport security system.

Although there were no Mandarin characters, and everyone spoke something similar to English, Chris and I finally felt like we were heading out of the country. The first trying traveling experience was the last drop in the “is this really happening” bucket. It was too late to turn back. This was it. The sacrifice was real. We were and would continue to be far from home. We called our parents for the last time from the convenience of our Sprint cell phones, and taxied down the runway. We made it through Phoenix, and together we could make it through anywhere. Funny how it hit so soon, but it still took so long. I can’t explain why it was Phoenix, but that moment will continue to be a reminder. We are sacrificing for this experience, and we resolve to do everything in our power to make this worth it. We will live these two years to the fullest potential.

Tom and dick plus good news

Was off work today with rough goats. Really need to keep them better looked after :o)
Seems going back to the healthy eating ways has finally worked it's way back through my digestive system......... you needed to know that didn't you? Am sure it will all settle down quickly....... I hope!

In more interesting news:
1) Sam finally got off his backside and filled in his college application form and went to Chelmsford to hand that in so all being well he'll be staying in further education (assuming he gets on the course). I can't wait as he wants to study food and become a chef so I am looking forward to lots of lovely meals!

2) Sophie went back to court today to sort out arrangements for Scarlett with Shane. The most important point here is that they have both agreed that Sophie should have residency of Scarlett and the judge has made an order to this effect. Secondly, and the reason why this all started in the first place, on the contact front, Shane has now agreed to let Sophie have Scarlett on the first weekend of every month with him having the remaining three. Apparently the residency is set in stone so that won't change and the contact agreement will become set in stone in six months time if neither party have a reason to take the matter back to court so fingers crossed this is all over now and everyone can try and get along and enjoy bringing Scarlett up.

Durga Puja Celebrations in India

Durga Puja 2011
3rd October 2011 - Saptami
4th October 2011 - Ashtami
5th October 2011 - Navami
6th October 2011 - Vijaya Dasami

Maa Durga, the patron deity is the Goddess of Power.Come September, preparations to celebrate Durga Puja, begin with great enthusiasm all over country. The six day festival begins with the installation of beautifully sculptured Durga idols in homes and pandals (large tents), fully decorated depicting religious themes or scenes portraying the life maa Durga. The goddess idols are worshiped with friends and families. Lot of cultural events are organized and people love to participate in them with keen interest.

Durga puja also known as Durgotsab is the biggest festival of Bengali's in India. Apart from Bengal, it is also widely celebrated in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Delhi, Kashmir, Karnataka and Kerala. Duga Puja refers to all the six days observed as Mahalaya, Shashthi , Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Nabami and Bijoya Dashami.

Story of Durga Puja : According to the Hindu mythology, Maa Durga is personified as Maa Shakti – the power of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesha. According to the legends, see entered the earth to kill monster demon – Mahishasura, who wants to conquer the earth with his caesarism and unbeatable power. The Gods, got disheartened, and decided to combine their power to create a beautiful maiden, and so each one of them placed his or her most powerful weapon in one of her hands and made her seated on lion. After fighting hard, maa Durga killed Mahishasura and restored the heaven to the Gods, which was earlier acquired by him.

Since then, Goddess Durga is worshiped for protection from the power of evils. The victory of Goddess Durga over the demon symbolizes the victory of good over the evil.

Celebrations of Duga Puja : Preparations for Durga Puja starts well in advance. Employees in private and government organizations, get extra pay or bonus to celebrated this auspicious festival. Huge idols of ten armed Durga accompanied by her two sons, Lord Ganesha and Kartikeya, and her two daughters – Goddess Laxmi and Saraswati, killing the buffal demon are created by professional artisans in Kumartuli area of north Kolkata and are placed in Durga pandals.

The celebrations of Durga festival start with ‘Bodhan’ on Sasthi (the ritual of setting up a giant banana tree adorned in a saree beside Lord Ganesha and worshipping her as his ‘wife’) on Saptami. After that there is the ‘Pushpanjali’ paying homage to Maa Duga followed by foral offering during the morning time and Maha Sandhya Aart.

Ashtami, is the biggest day of the festival. The third day called Nabami is the day of animal sacrifice. There is on more occasion called ‘Sindoor Khela’ (the tradition of putting vermilion on the forehead of the Maa Durga).

Finally, on the last day, the immersion of these huge idols of Goddess Durga in the ganges.

Durga Puja Aarti or Puja Bhajan or Song :

Jai Ambe Gauri maiya, jaa Shyama Gauri
Nishdin tumko dhyavat, Hari Brahma Shivji,
Jai Ambe....
Mang sindur birajat, tiko mrigmadko,
ujjvalse dou naina, chandravadan niko,
Jai Ambe....
Kanak saman kalevar, raktambar raje,
Raktapushp galmala, kanthhar saje,
Jai Ambe.... Kehari vahan rajat, khadg khappar dhari
sur nar munijan sevat, tinke dukhahari,
Jai Ambe....
Kanan kundal shobhit, nasagre moti
Kotik chandra divakar, samrajat jyoti,
Jai Ambe....
Shumbh- nishumbh vidare, MahishaSur ghatia
Dhumra-vilochan naina, nishdin madmati
Jai Ambe....
Brahmani, Rudrani tum Kamala Rani,
Agam-nigam bakhani. turn Shiv patrani,
Jai Ambe....
Chaunsath yogini gavat, nritya karat Bhairon,
Bajat tab mridanga, aur bajat damru,
Jai Ambe...
Tum ho jag ki mata, tum hi ho bharta,
Bhaktan ki dukh harta, sukh sampati karta,
Jai Ambe....
Bhuja char ati shobhit, var mudra dhari,
Manvanchhit phal pavat, sevat nar nari,
Jai Ambe....
kanchan thal virajat, agaru kapur bati
Malketu men rajat, kotiratan jyoti,
Jai Ambe....

Aparana Chauhan

Hair today and gone tomorrow!

Sam went for a drastic image change at the weekend and decided to have all his hair cut off as we just found it unmanageable!

Here is the new look him:


And here is a sample of what we removed!

Chevy Camaro

ON THE SHOWROOM FLOOR...READY...

Last.FM listening post

Here's last week's top picks music lovers!

Top weekly tracks:


Top weekly artists:


Overall top tracks:


Overall top artists:

Happy Birthday Kathryn Ferraby

Happy Birthday Kathryn

Hope you have a great day

Oh what a day.............

.........a completely shite one that is!

Toni dropped me at work at 08:00 (as the boss had suggested that I might like to be in early as one of our customers was an hour ahead and we were anticpating problems). By the time I reached work I had a raging headache and had to take painkillers. Got in, no emails at all from the customer so that was a complete and utter waste of time! The day didn't get any better. Another problem with another customer and all sorts of unnecessary comments when all I was trying to do was manage the situation and get things sorted. Fortunately we did manage to get it all sorted by the end of the day but I could really have done without the stress and just been able to resolve things with no grief. Still it's done no so hopefully tomorrow will be calmer! Headache did subside but it is still lurking :o(

Roof racks and vaccuum packs

After a healthy breakfast of fruit and yoghurt, Toni dropped Sam off at Livvy's house and then we went to Chelmsford to get roof bars and a roof box fitted in preparation for us going on holiday in four weeks. Let's just say that the reservation process was not exactly smooth but fair play to the assistant, he sorted us out and fitted the roof bars and box. Due to some inventory balls up (he couldn't find one of the items we needed) we had to upgrade to more expensive parts but he did at least give us a discount.

Next stop was Argos where we bought a new strimmer and some vacuum storage bags.

Following the fitting of the box we went to Pizza Hut for lunch before heaading back to SWF.

The rest of the day was spent blitzing the house from top to bottom (including strimming the front garden and using the vacuum storage bags to compress a load of things and put them under a bed) My house is now all sparkly YAY!

Pictures of Haridwar

Popularly known as the holy city of India, 'Haridwar' is is the gateway to the four pilgrimages of Uttaranchal - Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath. As you enter Haridwar you will find great statue of Lord Shiva at the fork of the Ganga Ghats. You will find thousand of pilgrims taking a holy dip in the river Ganga and performing rituals. All around the river ghats are the numerous ancient temples - Maya Devi Temple, Mansa Devi Temple, Daksha Mahadev Temple, etc. Although there are hundred of bathing ghats in Haridwar, but the most famous among them are Hari-ki-Pairi, Gangadwara, Kankhal, Nila Parvata, Bilwa Theertha and Kusavarta.

Lord Shiva Statue in Haridwar :


Pious Ganga River Haridwar :

Fairs and Festivals in Haridwar :
Ardh Kumbh and Kumbh Mela
Kavand Mela
Kawad in Haridwar : Maha Shivratri July



How to reach Haridwar :
By Air : The nearest airport is Jolly Grant, Bhaniawala, Dehradun, 41 km. Deccan Airlines services from Delhi. Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi (220 km)

Train :
Connected with all important cities of India viz., Bombay, Delhi, Agra, Howrah, Varanasi, Allahabad, Ujjain, Amritsar, Dehradun, Lucknow, etc..
Major trains are:
4309 / 4310 Ujjain-Haridwar-Dehradun.
2019 / 2020 Bombay-Haridwar-Dehradun.
4041 / 4042 Delhi-Haridwar-Dehradun.
4265 / 4266 Varanasi-Haridwar-Dehradun.
3009 / 3010 Howrah-Haridwar-Dehradun.
2017 / 2018 Delhi-Haridwar-Dehradun.

Road :
Haridwar on National Highway no. 45 is well connected to all major cities and other parts of the state viz. Delhi (214 km), Agra (386 km), Ambala (168 km), Badrinath (325 km), Dehradun (52 km), Kedarnath (250 km), Saharanpur (81 km), Nainital (286 km).

Local Transport Services :
Private bus services, tempos (vikrams), auto rickshaws, tongas, cycle-rickshaws and taxis.

Copyright ©aparana

Megan and Jeremy marry July 25, 2009 in the Apple Orchard at Fearrington Village

It was a beautiful summer day for a wedding. After 10 years of knowing each other, Megan and Jeremy decided it was finally time to get married so they chose Fearrington Village as the location for the ceremony, which was held in the apple orchard by the large arbor. Standing on the brick steps heading into the arbor, Megan and Jeremy were glowing in the sunshine. They both looked radiant with happiness and the sun shining through Megan’s veil onto her hair and face was just beautiful.

Helping them keep everything going on time was Cheryl Jansen van Rensberg of Fearrington Village. Fearrington Village is a great location for a wedding because aside from the beautiful setting and professional service, they can also provide the wedding cake, flowers, reception - and even a wedding night suite. Everything is always first class and Megan and Jeremy made a wise choice to use their all-inclusive services.

All the floral decorations, bouquets and boutonnieres were provided by Fearrington Village and you can see here how full of lively color everything was. It was beautiful. The pomanders on the aisle chairs matched the ones hanging from the top of the arbor above the Bride and Groom and even the flower petals thrown by the Flower Girls were bright, multi-colored petals, which looked beautiful on the grass and the brick of the steps.

A drink table was thoughtfully provided for the guests to enjoy before the ceremony began. In the hot summer heat, that was a most welcome addition. Water, tea and lemonade - pure Southern elegance.

A string trio for the ceremony was provided by Arioso Strings. Composed of Mary Page Block and Rebekah Carlson on violin and David Oh on cello, they were exemplary. I always know when I see them that the music is going to be special. And it definitely was.

At the end of the ceremony Megan and Jeremy exited out the aisle and their guests joined them in the parking lot. In a shower of bubbles from the guests, the newlyweds headed out for some private time in a limousine ride. What a clever way to escape the craziness for a few minutes and just be together to savor your new status as husband and wife. That must have been a very special time for them.

The photographer for the event was Shane Snider of Shane Snider Photography. His card says, “different wedding photography,” and that is certainly true. His work speaks for itself. Can’t wait to see his photos of this lovely wedding when they are posted.

The reception was held in The Barn at Fearrington. Keeping things jumping was the ever lively Ken Holmes of Joe Bunn DJ Company. Ken is always fun to work with and he and I had just done a wedding together the evening before so it was good to see him again.

Also from Joe Bunn DJ Company was a videographer, Kevin Alexander. He was all over the place with his camera, making it a certainty that the video he makes for Megan and Jeremy will become a precious keepsake.

During a quiet moment, I caught this sweet photo of Megan and the Flower Girls, Abby and Hannah, and couldn’t end without adding it here.

Megan and Jeremy, I wish for you all the grand things Life is sure to hold in store. May all your dreams come true for you in unique and wonderful ways.

___

Kaitlin and Mark marry July 25, 2009 at E. Carroll Joyner Park in Raleigh

Kaitlin and Mark met because of their dogs. His is a great Dane who comes up to my chin (!) and hers is a boxer mix who is no slouch in the size department, either. They are great dogs and I was definitely enjoying being around them. The four of them make a really cute family unit.

Because the dogs brought them together, it was important to Kaitlin and Mark that the dogs be with us for the ceremony - so we all walked from the house over to the chosen location in the park, with the dogs chomping at the bit to be let off the leashes.

Kaitlin, who had to have unexpected emergency surgery just 3 days prior to the wedding (!) was determined to make sure things went off as planned, regardless. She was quite the trouper walking such a distance in that summer heat, but she was a radiant bride all the same. Mark was watching out for her and it was sweet to see.

They wanted to be married with only their parents and dogs in attendance and had put together a lovely ceremony that included special elements from all their parents. His mom did a hand ceremony, his father said a prayer, her mother read from the Scriptures and I provided the vows and the pronouncement of marriage. Couldn’t have been simpler - or more touching. Exactly what they wanted. And the dogs stayed right beside us as the ceremony progressed.

The location chosen was the new E. Carroll Joyner park right across the street from their home in Wake Forest. What a nice park! It is apparently an old homestead with a restored barn and other buildings, plus a log cabin, sitting in an old pecan grove. It has been beautifully restored and landscaped and its quiet serenity was perfect for the ceremony. (I’d love to know how old those pecan trees are. They are huge.)

On hand to take the photographs was Abbie Cooke of Chariot Creative. Her husband, Jason, was her “roadie” for the day and helped with her equipment and also the dogs. (Very thoughtful, Jason.) Abbie is growing her photography business and watching her work it is obvious she has a good eye and will be very successful. Her photos of the wedding are sure to be terrific.

Kaitlin and Mark, it was a true joy to be a part of your beautiful wedding and to share in all the love that was surrounding you from your parents and your dogs. You are sure to have a wonderful life ahead of you. Thanks for inviting me to be a part of your special day.