"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." -- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

THE END.

never enough time!

"Be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars; to be satisfied with your possessions... to think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends... and to spend as much time as you can, with body and with spirit. These are little guideposts on the footpath to peace." --Henry van Dyke

I am so glad of life right now... everything seems to be coming together quite perfectly personally, academically, and otherwise :) . As usual, I have an exam on Monday so I don't really have time to give you a full update, but for now, let me say that Sara and I went to Macy's Herald Square a few weeks ago to work on my registry and that's nearly complete. While we were there we decided to try on a few dresses, like this one:


I like the color and design, but I still have no idea what my girls will be wearing. Hopefully I'll post an update in the near future regarding the bridal party, more dress options, invitation ideas, new apartment stuff, registry info... so much to blog about!

"Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, 'The LORD reigns!'" -- 1 Chronicles 16:31

feels like real life...

"We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” –- Joseph Campbell

A wedding entry is long overdue, but life has been extremely busy lately! In my last post I mentioned that Al is starting a new job in DC during the next few weeks. Since then, I've been a good future wifey by trying to find us a new apartment and some furniture, in the midst of studying for my exam (which was yesterday and went quite well, I think). But I am happy to say that everything seems to be in place for his move, and I'm ridiculously excited.

In more wedding related news, I stumbled upon these dresses by Jenny Yoo on the stylemepretty blog and I love them all! What do you think? Before I was leaning towards all my girls wearing matching dresses, but after seeing these, I think I might be able to give them a few choices and have them pick the one they like best. I even like the purple, although we are still planning on using yellow. I have so much to blog about but so little time! Hopefully I'll be able to blog again some time during the next week, but I'm not making any promises. :)

Also, a few new blogs for you to check out: my brother's, my sister's, my sister-from-another-mister's, and my med school buddy's.

"Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!" -- Philippians 4:1

blessings & overdue praise.

"Whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should" -- Max Ehrmann

First of all, I apologize for the blog hiatus. Life has been quite busy! But anyways, on to an update (about life for now, not quite wedding related)... Several months ago I had a pretty clear idea about what I wanted in my life and for a while I was praying that everything in my head would become a reality. In the months that followed my prayers changed from "Please let this happen" to "Please let my will align with Yours," and as I began to trust in God's plan for my life, everything continued unfolding perfectly. I've been in Washington, DC for nearly 3 months now and I've been so blessed, especially by the handful of people in my life here who have supported my academically, personally, spiritually and every other possible way! The few things that still are missing here are my family, a few friends that I miss dearly, and my Alphonse.

Up until a few weeks ago Al had a few job interviews in the area, but nothing seemed to be a good match for him. That Sunday I kept praying for clarity because I was feeling a little discouraged not knowing when we'd be together. Later that afternoon one of my friends shared one of the most amazing stories I've heard about how God was "connecting the dots" in his life (ask me about the story some time... it's kinda long) and I felt quite uplifted. A few days later, I had a very discouraging encounter with my landlord, followed a few hours later by the good news that Al got a teaching job in DC! And once again, despite the emotional and mental roller coaster of a week I had, God showed me how he revealed clarity in someone else's life and then he gave me some clarity of my own. And I say it often, but I do love my life and I really am blessed. :) Here's info about the new school that Al will be working at: DC Prep.

Al and Shania on their field trip to the zoo last year (I was a chaperon!) Isn't he so adorable?!

And I promise an actual wedding entry in the near future!

"Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long" -- Psalm 25:4-5

may i have this dance?

"Music, when soft voices die, Vibrates in the memory" -- Percy Bysshe Shelley

A couple of weeks ago I asked my dad what song he wanted to dance to for our Father-daughter dance. He said he didn't know, so I decided to throw out a few options to get his wheels turning. Here are a few of the songs I suggested:

• Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles (here) -- because it's a happy optimistic song and growing up my dad always used to play the Beatles in the house because they're his favorite group.


• Somewhere Over the Rainbow, any version, but I especially like this one -- just because I love this song and it seems like a good "new start" song.


• You are the Sunshine of My Life by Stevie Wonder (here) -- because I love this song too and because my dad is my sunshine and my inspiration, and because Stevie has brought a lot of good to my life so far, I mean, Al proposed to me during Stevie!


• Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle (here) -- because I've loved this song for years ever since my babysitter used to play it for me and my siblings.


• What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong (here) -- because it's such an optimistic song... Can you tell I like optimistic songs?! I can't help it, I'm so optimistically mushy about my future with my boy.
  

He likes Butterfly Kisses best, and said that he actually had that in mind before. The only bad thing about that song is that I cry every single time I hear it! I don't know why, but it gets me so emotional, especially the end! And if I'm crying when I'm listening to it in my bedroom, I can only imagine the happy/sad emotional mess I'll be on my wedding day. For now the song hunt continues... To hear/see what we finally decide you'll have to wait until 08-23-09!

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him." -- 1 John 3:1

simply the best!

"Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero." -- Marc Brown

I just realized that even though I announced my MoH a while ago, I never announced Alphonse's Best Man! That honor belongs to none other than Alphonse's baby brother, Stephen. And being the good BM that he is, he's informed us that he's already started working on his speech! Of course there's a lot more than just a speech that goes into being the BM, just check out this list. Luckily there are websites like thebestman.com that make everything on that list seem like a walk in the park (definitely a fun website, even if you, like me, are not a best man :P).

Unfortunately, the photos you see below are the best I can provide based on what I have on my computer at this time. But since Steve is now my brother for life, I'm sure there will be many other opportunities for Steve-Al-Kat or Kat-Steve-Al photos, and any other permutations in between. TOP: At the PA engagement party. Alphonse is usually more clothed and Steve is usually more smiley, but you get the idea :) . BOTTOM: All of my current and future siblings at Nanina's. I have no idea why it's so blurry, but it does look kinda artsy.

"And when God had me wander from my father's household, I said to her, 'This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, ''He is my brother.''" -- Genesis 20:13

engagement party recap!

"You are my very greatest earthly blessing." -- Martha Finley

This past Saturday was our NJ engagement party hosted by my lovely future in-laws, Rosanne and Alan. Everything turned out quite perfect, from the food to the dancing to the fellowship. And speaking of perfect things, that boy of mine said all the right things all weekend... He always makes it so hard to leave him, and he makes me wanna marry him right now!

We both would like to thank everyone who came out and made the event so enjoyable for us, whether you traveled for hours by car or train, or whether you just took a stroll down the street... We're glad that you were able to share in our happiness and we're very blessed to have you all in our lives. And of course there were many that were missed, but there will be plenty of time to celebrate over the next year! And in the midst of all the picture-taking and people-greeting we did, we were told that that was just a small dose of what we'll have to do at our wedding, so any interim celebrations will be good practice! :) . Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment, feel free to email us others at alphonse.katrina@gmail.com!

Click to enlarge.

For more pictures, click here. And a few other random tidbits that I wanted to share: (1) congrats to my se17-mate Len, who recently got engaged (I think this captures the moment pretty well), (2) as of this afternoon I'm through with another one of those dreaded med school exams, and (3) someone bought the toy car that Al added to our registry (now we're waiting in anticipation to see who did it!)

"I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings" -- 1 Corinthians 9:23