Snippets

I absolutely love Pat Conroy's book, The Prince of Tides, and I've been bursting to talk about it. Conroy has amazing description, and I feel like I could meet his characters on the street and strike up a conversation with them. He is truly inspirational. Here is one such description (of a funeral make-up artist) that blows my mind every time I read it:

"He was tall and thin and had a complexion like goat cheese left on the table too long. The funeral parlor smelled like dead flowers and unanswered prayers. When he wished us a good day, his voice was reptilian and unctuous and you knew he was only truly comfortable in the presence of the dead. He looked as if he had died two or three times himself in order to appreciate better the subtleties of his vocation. Winthrop Ogletree had the face of an unlucky vampire who never received an adequate portion of blood."

Wow! Someday, I will write like that. :)

I also find it interesting (and fun) that the main character is most passionate when he talks about books that he loves. "Alone, the greatest writers would sit with me and, in their own voices, tell me everything there was to know about the world," he says. How true that is. And I deeply appreciate what this book continues to teach me about life - the stubborn and sometimes irrational love of family, the bonding between lovers, the brutality of the world, the perseverance through terrible times, and undying faith. I could read this book fifty times and not be sick of it!

Marriage is what brings us together today

I was the personal attendant at Tiffany and Bennett's wedding on Friday, and I absolutely LOVED it! I honestly cannot get enough of weddings. I want all my friends to get married. I want to get married again! :)

It was a little strange, though, because Josh wasn't there. I spent the night with all the girls (my first time away from Josh), and though it was great to have giggly girl time, I really missed him. And then, because it was a wedding and filled with lovey things, I wished he was with me. Tiffany's sister said she looked at me during the ceremony and saw the "I was just there" look in my eyes. Maybe that's why it was hard not to cry!

Marriage is such a beautiful thing. I'm so glad God created it for us. It's a perfect union before God and man, a covenant to love and cherish each other, and the beginning of a wonderful, lifelong adventure. I get all giddy and smiley just thinking about it! :D

Anyway, I wish Tiffany and Bennett all the best in life and can't wait to see how God works in them!

Oh, and if any of my friends get engaged, I'm totally up for helping them plan :)

Love,

Heidi

Dancing Toward Bethlehem

If there is only enough time in the final

minutes of the twentieth century for one last dance

I would like to be dancing it slowly with you,

say, in the ballroom of a seaside hotel.

My palm would press into the small of your back

as the past hundred years collapsed into a pile

of mirrors or buttons or frivolous shoes,

just as the floor of the nineteenth century gave way

and disappeared in a red cloud of brick dust.

There will be no time to order another drink

or worry about what was never said,

not with the orchestra sliding into the sea

and all our attention devoted to humming

whatever it was they were playing.

- Billy Collins

This is your life. Are you who you wanna be?

These monumental times in my life (aka graduation) always bring me back to Switchfoot and their slightly discouraging, yet inspirational song, "This is Your Life." Discouraging because I have no idea if I'm who I want to be. Inspirational because it makes me want to change.

So, let's see, I'm married to a man who loves me deeply, and sometimes I fear that I'm incapable of returning that level of love. We live in a modest and nicely-decorated apartment on the first floor, but I want a balcony in the sun and a little porch swing.

I graduated with a degree in English, my favorite thing, but the writing jobs that are readily available (and by readily available, I mean actually hiring) are not in the creative vein. I hope that someday my journalling will amount to something.

I have a great family that lives thirty miles away, a hamster who responds to her name and begs for attention, and a brother who I've recently discovered I'd protect with my life.

Maybe I'm on my way to something great, to a cute little house, to an editing position in a publishing company, to a husband who has a 9-5 job. I don't know. But I hope I figure it out soon before this song drives me crazy.