Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Hoop-la

If you're looking for this week's Hodgepodge questions you'll find them here.

As Paul Harvey liked to say...'and now for the rest of the story.' The weekend weather perfection continued into Sunday which made the afternoon bridal shower that much nicer. Isn't everything in life sweeter when the sun is shining?

The bride was beaming and she got so many nice things. Personally I think couples who hit the 25-year anniversary mark should be thrown a shower. You kind of need all new everything at that point...linens, pots and pans, updated small appliances.


I bought her a pretty Lennox pitcher and filled it with some of the kitchen items she had on her registry. I'd seen a cute wrapping idea on Pinterest and since the bride loves Gerbera Daisies and the color orange I gave it a try.

It turned out cute.

Where there are bridal showers there are games and this one had a fun twist-hula hooping. We were divided up into teams and each team hula hooped to find a winner and then the winners from each team competed against the bride. Oh my word it was hilarious watching women of all ages give this a go. I will not post their pictures (you're welcome!) so you'll have to take my word for it.

Luckily our team had a ringer-


Daughter1. When it comes to hula hooping she has serious skill. People love to watch her because she is the tiniest thing on two feet and quite literally seems to be standing still while the hoop flies around her. Pretty sure she could read a book or do her nails while hula hooping.


Even in six inch wedges.

I remember my own bridal showers some 28 years ago. I remember the excitement and anticipation I felt then about my upcoming wedding.


Today's brides seem a lot savvier than they did back when I was the girl with the ring. Their wish lists include professional kitchen gadgetry as opposed to fine china that gets dusted off and used a few times each year. Their dresses are sophisticated...you won't see big puffy sleeves on brides in the 21st century. Cake and punch are no longer the norm and it seems there is no ceremony or reception detail too small not to be considered and embellished.

While weddings have changed a great deal, marriage remains mostly what it has always been. Two imperfect people committing to live and love, for better or worse, forever and ever, amen. Looking back it will not matter if you wore a sophisticated sheath or a puffy sleeved frock. What matters on the day and what matters in the all the days after are patience, kindness, forgiveness, selflessness, trust, respect, loyalty, communication, and compromise.

Oh, and humor.
Humor helps.
Keep a sense of humor.
I speak from experience here.

17 comments:

  1. You are so right. Girls/women today seem to be leaps and bounds ahead in the sophistication department, but then I think kids grow up much quicker than we did so that probably explains it. That and all the shows on TV showing them the possibilities. For us, all we knew was cake and chicken salad. LOL

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  2. I love Gerbera Daisies. I have 2 in my outdoor pots this summer.

    Amen on the "what matters on in all the days after" the wedding.

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  3. What a cute idea with the Lenox pitcher! Showers and weddings have certainly changed in the nearly 23 years that I've been married...no doubt about it! However, what really matters in the long run remains the same. Oh...and I had a GREAT time at the Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney concert...BEST EVER!!!

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  4. This was my favorite line of your post:

    "Two imperfect people committing to live and love, for better or worse, forever and ever, amen."

    Love it! :D

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  5. i love this gift--and i know--showers and weddings and even proposals are certainly not what they used to be!

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  6. I love to go to bridal showers and I do agree after 20 or more years we should be thrown another shower!

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  7. Great gift you gave....I agree after 25 years we need replacement showers! I never mastered the skill of hula hooping...look at D1 go!

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  8. Oh yes, the puffy sleeves. Not a good look, why did we ever think it did? Your gift to the bride was perfect. Looking forward to seeing more photos.

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  9. I love it when the lovelies come home and we throw showers for their friends. We have such fun! Lately, we've had a couple of baby showers--and we recently found out that the lovelies' favorite cousin and his wonderful wife are expecting Dec. 10! Guess that's another shower coming!

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  10. That is so true!! Humor is everything. :-) And the hula hoop photos take me back to the days when I could hula hoop like crazy AND do back bends easily. Days of yore. :-(

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  11. Oh yes, we certainly do need a shower, don't we? LOL
    Loved your idea for the bride. So pretty and practical. And your daughter was so cute with the hula hoop. She makes it look so easy!

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  12. I said the same thing at Katy's shower about getting a shower re-do at year 25! I was told if we do a vow renewal they (my girlies) would go for it... I informed Paul due to my tired kitchen gear that he has two years until we do it all over again ourselves... He pointed out that would be one wedding a year for three years and would probably land us prematurely in a nursing home and if for our 25th anniversary I want all new kitchen gear, he'll buy it for me!

    I love the pitcher idea... Your gift looked so cute!

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  13. Hula hooping! What a fun twist to a shower game, and very entertaining, I'm sure!

    You are so right, after 25 years of marriage, we need new everything!

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  14. What fun seeing you at YOUR bridal shower - loved that photo a lot!! You're a wise woman regarding marriage. Great words of wisdom!
    BTW, your gift was really cute - gotta love Pinterest!

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  15. Such an interesting post. I had to laugh thinking about how short my hula hoop performance would have been. Also, remembered how stressful it was to select the just right fine china pattern and silver, crystal, plus items for every day. I got three hand blenders, and was so disappointed when I had to finally replace some of the towel sets. Memories! BTW, your little daughter#1 is adorable.

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  16. Very sweet!
    Humor is SO important! Even in hard situations we always say we will find something to laugh about later!

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  17. Look like a really fun afternoon! And your bridal shower photo is great!
    I remember my bridal shower of 30-plus years ago. I'm still using the blender and white Corningware, among so many other items. I get sad when one of the gifts finally bites the dust!

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