Sallie's wedding

My best friend/college roommate got married October 1st and Ty and I were blessed to be a part of her big day! Sallie moved to New York after college and has worked there for the past 11 years. She now teaches the visually impaired in the Bronx but actually lives in Connecticut where the wedding took place. She and her fiance (now husband Clark) are super involved at the church in Stamford where they go so the wedding was outside on the church grounds and was absolutely gorgeous!

Ty and I got into town late Thursday night after a three hour delay at the airport and stayed with Sal. Friday our other girlfriends from Harding and I took Sallie out for a bridesmaid luncheon with her family after manis/pedis at her favorite salon. It was so wonderful to see her family again! She brought me home with her at least 10 times in college and I LOVE her parents and brothers :) After the luncheon, we helped Sallie frost the 250 cupcakes she had made the day before for the wedding! She's our resident Martha Stewart and they were delicious! The rehearsal was that evening and dinner afterwards. I was the matron of honor and gave a rambling speech but the gist of it was that I wish Sallie and Clark all of the happiness in the world! I definitely teared up...I love my Sallie-gal :)

Sallie and her mom at the Bridal luncheon

Sal and me...this was the cutest little town ever in Connecticut! It's where Sallie and Clark's new house is :)

Rachel, Randi, me, and Sal--college roommates 11 years later!

Ty and I at the rehearsal dinner

On the day of the wedding, there was a 70% chance of rain, but the skies were clear and beautiful! They had a very symbolic, beautiful ceremony and a super fun reception afterwards :) After all of the festivities, Sal had requested that we all go apple picking with she and Clark at their favorite orchard--she even wore her gown and got some great pictures! I have to say that New England is just gorgeous and we loved the apple festival!

Sal and I before the ceremony with the necklace I gave her

The happy couple!

Shannon, Randi, Amanda, Rachel, and me

The Harding gang at the wedding

A great picture of Sal dancing at the reception--she looked gorgeous!

We took advantage of being close to NYC and Sunday spent the day in the city with our Harding friends. I can't say enough how much my friends mean to both Ty and me. He and the boys get along so well that you would think he went to school with us, too. I soaked up all of the quality time I could get with the gang and enjoyed just hanging out in Central Park! Ty and the boys also took advantage of the fact that there was a Yankees play-off game and went to that. My friend Randi and I found a great restaurant on the upper east side and just enjoyed a rainy New York day...so very magical.

Just hanging out in Central Park!

Randi and Rach in Times Square

Monday, Ty and I visited his college up at Kings Point and then flew home. It was a wonderful trip for sure!

Ty and I at the academy

September in pictures

September started out with a fun visit with my precious nephew Nash. The kids loved playing with Nash and having him visit. Unfortunately, Nash got sick and we didn't get to do everything we had planned, but we'll have plenty more opportunities in the future for more fun!

Nash and Gracie in their college gear

Grace and Jake in their OU jerseys...this is my favorite time of the year...college football!

Gracie all dressed up ready for a girl's day of shopping and lunch with Mommy!

Meanwhile, Jake and Daddy went to the Gulf for a day of fishing!

In the middle of September my Grandma Stump passed away. This is the house she and my Grandfather lived in for almost 50 years in Royal Oak, Michigan. I am going to do a separate post just about Grandma when I get some more pictures, but all of her grandkids and kids were there to tell her goodbye. My dad spoke at the service and paid such a nice tribute to his mom. I was so proud of him! It was a bittersweet reunion for all of as all of the cousins hadn't all been together since my Grandfather's funeral. My friend Claudia, Ty, and Jonesa took care of the kids so I could go. I was very thankful to be able to say goodbye to my Grandma! She was one spunky lady for sure who loved me very much! We're so glad she's not suffering anymore and in Heaven with Jesus!

Another blessing on the quick trip to Detroit was getting to spend quality time with my brother. He picked me up from the airport and we had lots of time to talk. We accidentally went a sketchy way on the way to the funeral home and passed 8 mile road. Ryan laughed at me when I rolled down the window to take this picture. Maybe not the smartest decision :) It was wonderful to get some QT with Ryan, though :)

I got home from Detroit just in time for the It's My Heart National conference. Ty was one of the speaker's on the CHD adult panel and did an outstanding job! Jake got to go to the kid's conference where child life specialists taught the kids more about their hearts. On Sunday, It's My Heart went to the Astro's game together. The Astros played terribly, but we met some new friends and had great seats and a great time! Above are Jake and Grace posing with "Astro Mickey" and below is Gracie at the game.

September was a busy month!

Back to School...

I know I am terribly behind in updating the blog, but we have had a crazy busy last month or so. I went back to work this school year teaching a transitional kindergarten class at a Christian pre-school. Jake is in Pre-K there and Grace is going to the 2 year old class. We go three days a week, Tuesday-Thursday. It's a wonderful school and the kids are very happy! Jake loves his teacher and his best friend Jackson is in his class. Grace has been begging to go to school for a year now so she loves it, too! Apparently, she's friendly to everyone and a leader in her class. That might be code for "bossy," but we're proud of her :) I'm adjusting to teaching again, although it is quite different from AP English :) I have ten adorable little 5 year olds who are lots of fun! I'm really enjoying all of the creative lessons/crafts you can do with them. I just promise not to break down and wear a Christmas sweater or anything like that! Our new schedule is keeping us busy, but the kids love it :)

Jake on his first day of Pre-K

Grace on her first day of two year old pre-school

Jake's nap mat...I just bought a black body pillowcase and ironed on the batman logo...He loves it and it was super easy :)

Jake, Grace, and Jackson on crazy hair day. It's hard to tell, but the boys had blue hair and Grace had a pink ponytail. They thought they were too cool :) Unfortunately, I forgot we had two appointments after school that day so we got lots of strange looks!

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Apple.com homepage on 10/5/11

As I sit here on my Apple computer which is linked to my Iphone and Ipad (all of which have become convenient tools of life for my family and I) this news hits me kind of hard. Many of these tools that claim to make us more "productive" and can entertain us as never before are in large part the creative genius of college dropout Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs is really a modern day Solomon. His story is a story of success, perseverance, creativity, entrepreneurship, & genius is unequaled. Many people aren't aware of this but Steve was given up for adoption because his parent's wanted a girl and also for him to raised by parents who had a college education so he would have a better chance at becoming "successful". After dropping out of college himself he started a little company out of his garage. This company called Apple would later fire him in 1986. He was hired back in 1996 after helping modern computers come into existence by coming up with ideas such as modern typesetting that began with the MAC (learned from a calligraphy class he wasn't required to attend) , the idea of using symbols instead of text to click on, and the foreign concept of a mouse. In 1998 the iMac became the most successful selling computer in history and became a link to this new thing called the internet. In 2001 Apple introduced something called the Ipod which many said would not serve a good purpose since so many people would be unwilling to get rid of their 8-tracks, records, tapes, & CD's in lieu of digital music. Seeing how digital was the coming future Apple introduced the Itunes store in 2003 so people could start shopping for their digital entertainment on the internet. People then said that digital music could be a possibility but that most people would never buy a movie or TV show to watch on something such as an Ipod. Apple then introduced the video Ipod in 2005 and optimized all other versions of the Ipod. In 2007 Apple introduced the first Iphone and then wireless capability for their devices. People resisted at first because they questioned the need to always be connected (wise decision or not?). In 2008 Apple introduces the Apple App Store which enabled people to link with many other tools of business and the ability to connect to social media networks. People resisted because they questioned the viability of social media networks. In 2010 Apple developed the Ipad which began the race between a few companies to create the smallest and most portable computer known to man. People told Steve that there was no way the original Ipad could be thinner but he didn't listen to that either. All the above doesn't mention many, many other areas of Steve's creative genius such as the development of Pixar animations among others. In just 15 years Steve Jobs had a hand in almost every area imaginable from computing, all forms of entertainment, business, government, & has had an impact in almost every person's personal life here in the US. At one point in the summer of 2011 Apple is reported to have more cash on hand than the entire United States government. Steve Jobs personal networth is more than 11% of the cash the entire United States government currently has on hand. All this and today Steve has passed on to meet his maker.

We will continue to be impacted by his (and many more to come) legacies of innovation but what's it really worth in the end? Will all this "technology" really have that much of an impact when we leave this world? I think about the sweet old lady from Oklahoma who has mailed Jake a card saying she is praying for him every single week for over a year now (that's right over a year now every single week). I can hardly think of one thing I've done every week for the past year. She is having an impact with only a pen and a stamp. What's more important is her desire to do something nice for someone and then do it consistently. I regret I haven't saved all of her cards for Jake to look at one day later in life but I plan to save every one of them from now on for this specific purpose. We don't need everything we think we do sometimes to make an impact or leave a truly valuable legacy to our family and friends or the world. We definitely don't need to exert the extra effort we do at times to research and obtain the latest products because it's not going to be "new" when the next announcement comes out.

There is no question that Steve Jobs has had a positive impact on the world's economy and played in huge part in the technological advances of the entire world in basically 15 years. However, Steve learned some things in the last part of his life that we all need to be reminded of from time to time. In a 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University, Steve said,

" Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked."

This thought helped Steve Jobs become a legend. He was not influenced by much of what was said about him as he was focused on using his gifts and talents to simply do what enjoyed to do. He was not worried in the slightest that many of the things he poured himself into totally ignored the conventional wisdom of the day.

Hopefully, this is the legacy we all can focus on more rather than all the new features the Iphone 4S will have but sometimes this type of thing is a challenge. However, you have to identify a challenge first before you start working towards conquering it so good luck to all those who attempt it. Anyway, just my thoughts.