"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

him + me + sports = ?

"Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. In the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul" -- Max Ehrmann

This past Monday marked the end of Week 1 of football season. And with the Mets vs. Phillies series wrapping up over the weekend it is once again quite clear to us why our original plan to have a September wedding was a poor idea. While I may be the love of Alphonse's life, I can't really compete with that "other" love of his life, sports. And to be fair, he did love baseball and football long before he even knew me, so I can see this fight for Al's heart/his Monday nights ending badly. Instead, we've decided to just all get along (sports, Al, and me)... We've bonded over many a game (live or on tv), and I even have my very "own" fantasy football team this year (perhaps a bad idea for med school). The three-way relationship seems to be working out quite peacefully so far...

us dressed up in Mets gear. click to enlarge.

Also, the NJ engagement party is this weekend, and I'm extremely excited to see everyone (even though I have an exam Monday morning... why?!) Check back for a post-party picture update :)

"David said to Saul, 'Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him'" -- 1 Samuel 17:32

old school chucks.

"True Love is like a pair of socks: you gotta have two and they've gotta match" -- Unknown

A couple of days ago, Alphonse informed, out of the blue, that he wanted to buy a pair of old school canvas Converse Chucks. I thought the news was ironic since earlier that week I read a blog about how it's increasingly common that grooms, brides, and bridal parties are going casual with the wedding footwear. And while I don't see us going the "Chucks with the Tux" route any time soon, I'm sure we'll find some fun, creative ways to express ourselves on our big day, since we are, after all, fun, creative people.

"'Do not come any closer,' God said. 'Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.'" -- Exodus 3:5

one GIANT night.

"The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us" -- Ashley Montagu

Tonight was the first night of football season, opened with a win by none other than our Superbowl XLII champs, the NY Giants. As the first regular season game since their amazing end-of-the-season run last year, this was quite an exciting night for Giant fans, such as my future hubby (who had food catered for the event with his buddies, sans the wives/girl friends). Now you may be wondering what tonight or the Giants or football has to do with our wedding planning. Well, in fact it has everything to do with our wedding! As I told you many months ago, Al proposed to me the Thursday after the Superbowl because he "was having such a good week, that he just had to do it!" And he said that his original plan was to propose the following week, on Valentine's Day, but who knows... without that Giants confidence/happiness boost, he could still be just my boyfriend (although I don't know why he said he was nervous, of course I was always going to say "yes.") So thank you, NY Giants, for winning the Superbowl and making Alphonse's week/our life so wonderful.

And congrats to my SE17 friends, Mark and Pam, who recently got engaged!

Superbowl XLII with my boy

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you" -- Deuteronomy 31:6

i'm with the band...

"My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require." -- Edward Elgar

It's been a week since my last entry (which is forever in blog-land), but in my defense I did spend the last 7 days traveling to NY and back, spending a lot of time with my sister and my honey, and studying for yesterday's medical school exam... so it's been a busy past few days! But now that I finally have a few moments, I just wanted to give you a couple of exciting updates about our planning...

1) The band is booked! We've chosen The Infernos, a lovely 13-piece ensemble of Jersey's finest. Check out their website for more info and to hear a few of their songs. Now we just have to pick a few "must-have" songs for our big day...

2) Another engagement celebration is in our midst! Stay tuned for a post-engagement party photo recap in a few weeks.

The Infernos

Overall, I'm very excited. Things are moving along little by little... even though there's still so much to plan! And with medical school taking over all spare moments of my life, I'm feeling like a bit of a wedding planning slacker. But alas, things always seem to work out as they should in the end, and I'm sure this is no exception. :)

Also, in addition to being a wedding planning slacker, I might be a blogging slacker over the next few months as I adjust to medical school. But fret not, check out our long-distance relationship blog (spearheaded by miss rhea) or Al's sports blog for reading entertainment in the meantime.

"My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music" -- Psalm 57:7

some registry inspiration

"If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older." -- Tom Stoppard

So it's been a few days since I last blogged (med school is taking over my life!) and much has happened in the wedding planning world since then, but sadly I once again do not have enough time to share all the exciting things that have been going on (I promise to do some substantial blogging in the near future)!

For now, I just wanted to congratulate our friends Peter and Marianne, and Michelle and DJ, who celebrated their one year anniversary and wedding, respectively, this past Sunday (see below).

Also, I thought you should know that I left Al in charge of working on completing our registry while I was studying last night and to my surprise, when I logged in today I found that he had added this... yes, that is a remote control car. Today he informed me that he'll be adding more "toys" to the registry. Alas, I guess that's what happens when I leave such tasks to someone who is one of the biggest kids I know... or maybe it's just a guy thing? Either way, he makes me laugh so I wouldn't have it any other way. And speaking of registries, ours are almost done, so expect a link to those soon :) .

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." -- 3 John 1:4

happy future anniversary?

"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." -- Germaine Greer

August 23rd. Today is a very important day (for a couple of reasons). First off, my sister is returning from Uganda/Dubai today! Now while this reality may be sad news to her, it makes me quite happy since I have greatly missed her over the past few months (and I can't wait to hear stories/see pictures of her adventures abroad). And now that she's back in the States, she can reprise her MoH duties, which I'm sure she was thinking about constantly while she was being a humanitarian in a war-torn country (just kidding). But all jokes aside, today is also exactly one year from my wedding AND Alphonse is on his was down to visit again this weekend! So happy future anniversary to us... I'm so happy that I get to spend it with my honey (even though he laughs at me everytime I mention "happy future anniversary"). The way I see it, this is the only future anniversary we have, so why not celebrate it, champagne and all :P ?! And if that isn't corny enough, I just thought you should know that it's both the big things (like looking for jobs in DC) and the little things (like unexpected kisses) that Al does that keep me falling in love with him... and I doubt that will change over our many anniversaries to come.

My favorite girl + my favorite boy + me = sallykat

"...And that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."-- Deuteronomy 30:20

veil time! :)

"Humility is a necessary veil to all other graces." -- William Gurnall

It's been a pretty busy week for me, and to top it off, a few of my favorite people (including my friends Sydnie and Gemina, and that silly love of life, Alphonse) were in the area contributing to the happy, speedy disappearance of the past few days. So while I don't quite have time to share with you all of the wedding details we've been working on, here are a few really gorgeous photos of some beautiful veils I found looking through wedding portfolios. I'm leaning towards a cathedral length veil (so I can do this! looks like fun) however, veils are surprisingly expensive! Or perhaps not so surprisingly, since all things wedding-related seem to be quite pricey... but it's just a piece of fancy lace, isn't it?

Top: photos by Orange Turtle, Bottom: photos by Ed Pingol

click to enlarge

Also, I know Al's not supposed to see me in my wedding dress before the big day, but what about the veil? Does anyone know? I have pictures of me in a veil I was thinking of posting.

"How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead."-- Song of Solomon 4:1

suit yourself.

"Overwear, underwear, any time, anywhere... Dress has always been my strongest suit" -- From the musical Aida

When Al and I first started discussing wedding apparel, Al made it quite clear that he wanted to wear "a nice suit" and not a tuxedo. A few months back, when we first met with our photographer, she said that recently she's been seeing a lot of grooms opt for suits, particularly for summer weddings. So, considering our wedding is on a summer afternoon, and Alphonse and I are not really the super formal type anyways, we're on the hunt for a nice summer suit. Below are photos (courtesy of style me pretty) of a few recent summer weddings that Al and I both like.

For more info on this first wedding, click here or here. I like this wedding because their colors are the same as ours (yellow and blue!) and they do a nice job of bringing everything together:


and for more info on this second wedding, click here or here. I love this wedding because it has a lot of great details and the bride's dress is so pretty!


Enjoy! We'll keep you posted as we figure out more details (style, color, etc.) about what my lovely future hubby will be wearing. Also, we're in the process of registering, so stay tuned for that info :) .

"The LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him'" -- Genesis 2:18

blessings big and small.

"Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; / Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise. / Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above. / Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, Mount of Thy redeeming love." -- Robert Robinson

On Monday was my dreaded first exam of medical school, and I'm happy to say (results in hand) that it went over quite well. In fact, I'm having a ridiculously good week, and Al is coming down to visit on Friday, so it looks like it should just keep getting better. Last week while I was studying I played my favorite hymn (Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing) on repeat because I can always relate to the lyrics, whether I'm celebrating a really good day or just trying to get through an extra tough hour (actually it's the most played song on my iTunes, with >630 plays, no joke). Anyways, when I went to church on Sunday I was just so thankful for how blessed I've been over the past few months and I lifted up my exam and any anxiety I had about medical school. And right when I finished my prayer, none other than this hymn started to play. I almost started to cry because it's such a beautiful song and so relevant in my life (to be fair, I should admit that I also almost cried during the National Anthem when Michael Phelps got his first gold medal of the year over the weekend). I guess, all in all, it's been a week full of happy (almost) tears and lots to be thankful for.

Now you may be wondering what on earth this has to do with our wedding... well, as it may be, Al and I decided that we would have this hymn played at our ceremony. I mean it makes sense, after all, since the song is about praising God for his grace and blessings, and I feel sooo blessed that Alphonse is in my life for always.

Since the wedding is still a while away, I definitely recommend that you check out the lyrics to the song if you're not familiar with it, and to hear the song for yourself, click here and simply press play as shown here:

O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be! Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.

a transatlantic wedding

"Live in the moment and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering!" -- Fanny Crosby

With classwork starting to build up, I'm finding I have less time to blog (although there's always so much to write about!). To hold you over for a little while, I thought I'd share a fun update about my sister with you. As many of you know she's spending the summer in Uganda again this year, and just a few weeks ago she had the pleasure of partaking in a wedding over there. Since I love all things wedding related at the moment, I thought I'd share a snippet of her experience with you. She writes:

"Last Saturday I got to go to a traditional Uganadan wedding, actually I got to be in it! I met the groom in town, he works for the teso maternity project. It was soo cool, it was the "introduction" which is basically the traditional ceremony before the actual church wedding which will probably be sometime next year. The two families basically meet officially and the groom pays the dowry (it was 10 goats and some cows) and presents tons of gifts to the bride's family. And they do this skit where they pretend to be selecting the bride from a group of women (I think to imitate how it was traditionally done). I actually got to be in the wedding -- picture me carrying a basket of fruit on my head during the procession, which was presented to the bride's family from the groom."

Sounds like fun. Here's a photo of my sister at the wedding in the traditional kikoi with her friends Sarah and Jeje.


"When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them." -- Job 29:24

08 x 3 and recent happiness

"I can only think of one thing greater than being happy and that is to help another to be happy, too." -- Jim Thompson

Last night was a big night... not only did it mark the start of the 2008 summer Olympics, but it also was the most popular day to get married so far in 2008. I mean who wouldn't want to get married on 08/08/08? And on top of that, one of my good friends proposed yesterday (an engagement of Olympic proportions perhaps?). Together with all of my other friends who have been sharing happy news of their recent engagements, this new addition to the engaged club made me quite happy, to say the least. Seeing other people happy and in love makes smile (a lot).

Here are a few of my friends who recently got engaged: (L-R) Andrew and Julia, Julie and Dean, Jeff and Tara. Mazel Tov to each of you!


"...Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" -- Matthew 25:21

happy 6 month engagement!

"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." -- From When Harry Met Sally

Today is exactly six months from when Al first proposed to me. Part of me is in disbelief about how quickly time has gone by since that day, while the rest of me feels like: "Let's just do this already!" I can't believe it's still over a year until our wedding!

Six months, twelve months... one thing's for sure: we're still as in love and as silly as ever. To prove it, here are a few pictures from my NJ visit a few weeks ago:

Click to enlarge

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven" -- Ecclesiastes 3:1

blooming bridal party...

"Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher" -- Oprah Winfrey

Sooo, Al and I have a pretty big bridal party (so many family and friends). To be honest, I tried to veto the big bridal party, but after many a discussion, we decided to move forward and keep all the people that we originally hoped to include. And after browsing pictures of weddings on theknot.com and of my friend's weddings, I'm much more at ease about having a large bridal party. The more the merrier... I'll be posting the bridal party on the blog soon!

Photo from my friends Flo & Earl Manguiat's wedding
9 bridesmaids, 10 groomsmen, 1 flower girl, and 1 ring bearer!

"The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends." -- Proverbs 14:20