Where will you be...

We went to church on Sunday and our priest asked a question that really made me think. He asked "where will you be when you get where you're going?" in reference to our Lenten journey and our journey in life.

At first I was thinking, what is he asking? What does that mean? I'll be where I want to be of course. But as he talked I started thinking more and more about what he was asking (well between the times I was pulling Madeline off of the back of the pew or out from under it and handing Owen his stickers...going to church with kids is not as religious as it should be!). I unfortunately missed a lot, due mostly to kids under pews and sticker issues and snacks and such. Sometimes I really wonder why we go to church. But that is another post for another time.

I started to think about Father's question on my own. Where will I be when I get where I am going? Where will I be at the end of Lent? Will be I where I want to be? Or will I just need somewhere else to go? And this can be applied to the time outside of Lent as well. It can be applied to goals in my life. Or even this pregnancy, I am going to have a baby at the end but where will I be then? What am I doing along the way?

I think way to much about the future. I plan for everything, where we are going, what we are doing, who we will see, what we will do. I always need to have a plan. But what about now? What about today?

For instance I plan on activities that I will do with my children through the week but I don't always just enjoy the simple playtime. I allow them to free play, which is something they need, but I don't involve myself in it often enough. I have found that I spend too much of that time on my computer. For that reason I am not allowing myself to use my computer before noon each day during Lent. I originally had said that I would not be giving things up for Lent, rather I would do things for others and involve my family. But after losing an hour on Friday to the computer because my kids were quiet (and boy what a mess they quietly made!) I realized that this is something I need to change. So for the rest of Lent I will not touch my computer before noon. I won't add things into quicken, I won't check email, I won't check my blog or anyone other blog until I have spent the morning with my family. I am even including the times Jon may take the kids and let me sleep in.

My kids are young but they grow up so quickly. Madeline is going to preschool in the fall, seriously how did that happen? Owen is almost 2 and no longer the baby! And number 3 will be here in a few months. My family is growing and they deserve my attention. I hope at the end of Lent I will be more balanced in both the planning and the spontaneous play with my children.

In addition I am going to try and grow by reading to Madeline and Owen from their children's bible and involving activities and crafts for them to learn from. I am also going to try and set aside time for me to read my bible each day. This is something I have never made time for. And my goal for Lent is to set just 10 minutes a day aside for bible reading and reflection.

Where will I be when I get where I am going? Hopefully I will have a better balance in my life. And hopefully I won't have missed to much along the way in pursuit of my goal.

Where will you be when you get where you are going?

My Wedding

Jon and I got married alomst six years ago and while it was in May I am writing about it now because our wedding favor was featured as a tip over at Saving Money and Living Life on their Wedding Wednesday. They have some aweomse ideas and tips on their blog!

My wedding was on May 8, 2004. It was almost our anniversary of when we started dating which is May 10 (now Owen's birthday)which amuses us. We didn't plan it that way, it just worked out to be the best Sunday in May for us. We had a beautiful day and it was everything I had dreamed of.
The rehersal didn't get off to a great start though. Jon and his entire family were traveling from their hometown 2 hours away from my hometown where we got married. They got stuck in traffic and were about 30 minutes late for the rehersal. I was aggravated at the time and I had a bridezilla moment. I had wanted Jon to take the day off of work and he refused saying he could make it in enough time. It did cause an argument but we (obviously) got over it and looked at the bigger picture of our wedding and beginning our life together.
After we got over that hump things went beautifully. The rehersal when well and we headed off to dinner. At dinner Jon had an awesome surprise for me. We had planned to drive down to DC for our honeymoon. I know it doesn't sound very romantic but we figured there was a lot of things to do, it was inexpensive and we had just bought a house that we were fixing up (which Jon didn't move into until 6 weeks after our wedding...a story for another time...) so I was reluctant to spend a lot of money. Jon did some research without telling me, found a great deal and booked us a honeymoon in DISNEY WORLD! He gave me the itinerary at our rehersal dinner. He had planned everything. The flights, the hotel, our park passes, a car to drive us to our hotel from the airport and then back at the end. He had even contacted my parents to ask them to drive us to the airport and pick us up when we got home. I love love love Disney World. But I don't know what was better, the trip or having everything planned out for me. This is completely unlike my husband and it was wonderful.
Our wedding day was beautiful. In May weather can be unpredictable in New England. But we had a sunny day i the high 60's which was perfect. They were predicting rain but it held off until after our pictures were done.
I still remember seeing Jon up at the alter waiting for me. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. We had our wedding in my church and although we chose not to have a full Mass our priest easily accepted that and we had a wonnderful ceremony.

Our reception was lots of fun. Instead of having guests tap glasses to get us to kiss (as in the tradition) we asked that anyone who wanted to see the bride and groom kiss get up and sing a song with the word love in it. We were not sure how many people would do this. Well we have a very fun group of friends who really got into the whole singing thing. It was hyusterical to hear all the out of tune singing and well worth the pda which I am not always overly fond of.

My wedding was one of the best days of my life. Having all of our friends and family around us and happy for us was one of the best feelings for Jon and I. Many people talked about how opposite we are and wondered if we would make it in the beginning. But in the end our basic morals and values are the same and the things like neatness and organization and being on time and being outgoing or an introvert, those are not the important things. And over the course of our realtionship we have balanced each otehr out. He reminds me to have fun and not stress the small stuff. And I help him to not procrastinate as much, plan better stress a little more when he should =) Our friends and famiy see how well we balance each other out, although our differences are still very clear and commented on often =)

I think the quote on our wedding invitation really sums up our relationship
On this day I will marry my friend. The one who shares my dreams, life and love

All of my pictures are on my external hard drive which is with my dad at the moment. When I get it back I will share some of my favorite pictures with all of you =)