Christmas.

I just composed a thoughtful post about Christmas. I deleted it by mistake.
Merry freakin' Christmas.

The Wedding...From Beginning to End.

I haven't written a post in about 6 months. This is why...
(These are my favorite pictures. I had 756 to choose from.)
The photos were taken by Michelle and Eric Turner of Michelle Turner Photography in Augusta, Maine. They did a beautiful job.



September 16, 2006


The Retreat at French's Point - Stockton Springs, Maine


We rented the entire Retreat for the day. The women got ready upstairs, while the guys had the basement. How could it have been any other way? That's my friend Vicki. She's a STELLAR hair stylist and has been doing my hair since I was a kid.


This is my good friend Josh. He and went to high school together in Winthrop. He was ready first. He's typically this efficient.


Justin is on the left. He's my husband. One of my best friends, Eric, is on the right, helping Justin with that pesky collar. Eric knows his business when it comes to looking sharp. He's very GQ.

Mr. Efficient and Mr. GQ. I'm willing to bet that Eric was evaluating the quality of the jacket. It's Ralph Lauren, not to worry.

This is Justin's little brother, Jake. Eric assisting with another collar. That's Dave on the right. He's a good friend who also is the Reverend who performed the cermony.

This is Me. I was stressed beyond belief and a little pissed because I had just realized that I had forgotten my pearls at the hotel. Plus, I had already been sitting there for about an hour.

Our dresses.


One of my best friends, Audrey. She was a bridesmaid in the wedding. I love the floor in this picture. Audrey looks great too.

Here's my Mom, Beth, straightening my sister Karen's dress tails. Karen was the Maid of Honor. That's Karen's friend Kelly on the left. She traveled from the South to be here for the wedding. She was so helpful.

Audrey was the only one who seemed to know how to attach those damn boutonnieres. See thoose pins in her hair? My mother and I made those with a hot glue gun. Ha.

I was smiling because this was almost over. I also kept dropping the little hair clips. There were about 20 in my hair.

Of course the guys were long since ready. There they are...having fun. Hmpf.

Here my dress again. Pretty creative picture.

I got a pep talk from Jamie, one of my best friends and bridemaid. She is about the most rational person I know. I was not being rational and she was giving me a lesson.

Karen helping me put on my necklace. She did my makeup too.

Nice picture. Kinda like monkeys picking bugs off each other's backs. Ha.

Audrey is very serious sometimes. She's also very good at holding still. I really like this picture. I also think it's a great picture of the bridemaids dresses.

Karen graciously helping my mother with her shoes. Judging my my mother's face this wasn't the easiest task.

Hotties.

Ganstas.

Just some great looking guys.

Justin on the left - That's Josh, his Best Man on the right.

Justin again. That's Justin's brother, Jake, on the right. He was a groomsman.

Justin and Tim. Tim's a cool guy. One can tell that by this picture.

Justin and Eric. Eric was an usher. This wedding wouldn't have been the same without him.

Justin and Josh. Josh was also an usher. Neither he or Eric wanted to wear dresses and be bridesmaids, so they had to settle for ushing. And ush, they did.

Let me tell you, I was not enjoying myself. I couldn't breathe.

I don't know what I would have done with their help. Well, I probably just would have had a really hard time.

Getting my hair touched up right after getting hauled into my dress.

Jamie. I love her. I think that she was being rational here.

Here is Eric, making sure that Justin looks his best for me. I'm thinking that he was giving step by step instructions. Tim and Josh seem way too interested in this.

OK- the story that I received about this picture is that Josh had missed a few hairs while shaving and Eric was ever so gently pulling them out. lol. Wow. We missed all the fun upstairs.

lol.

This is my Dad, Gary. He was just popping in to say hi.

My Dad hadn't seen my dress yet. We bought it in June.

Karen's good at make-up application. She's assisting my mother with her lip gloss. My Mom usually gets in on her teeth.

Jake looking very MIB. I have a feeling that Justin is telling him to button his jacket.

Me all dressed.

Here's Dave, waiting to escort Justin down the highway to hell.

I love my sister.

Here are my parents! They look nice. I like seeing them smiling together. Kinda makes me want to get married.

A string quartet provided the music for the ceremony. I love cellos. Too bad I can't remember even hearing the music. I heard that it was lovely.

And it begins... This is Justin's grandmother being escorted by Josh. That's Justin's grandfather, Hal bringing up the rear. I chose Vivaldi's Winter for the grandparents' and mothers' entrance music.

Justin's Mom, Pam. Justin stepfather, Bob is on the left. Jake was kind enough to escort his mother down the aisle.

My Mom requested that Eric walk her down the aisle about a week after Justin proposed. She thinks very highly of him.

Here comes Jamie! I love the color of their dresses.

Karen selected shoes with 4 inch heels. She did surprisingly well.

And Audrey. I really love the black and white pictures of the dresses... Something about the way the skirts are blowing.

Lovely job.


Here we come. We had the longest aisle in history (Except for Princess Diana's wedding). My Dad and I found that small talk was the best way to pass the time.

Still comin'...

I asked Justin several times before the wedding if he would be happy seeing me walking down the aisle. This picture assuaged my fears.

Awesome.

I was having a little trouble here.

Tim read 1 Corinthians 13. I was pretty adament about having it read in its entirety. Most people only read the end. Tim did a bang up job. He's so articulate.

My Dad giving me away.

Our friends, Art and Amy were walking up to do a reading. We met during college and when Justin met them they became fast friends. I was really happy to see them. They got married about 5 years ago and I respect them very much.


This is our good friend, Jake. I met Jake at St. Lawrence. He's Amy's brother-in-law. Jake's wife, Missy wasn't able to come up to read since she was busy taking care of their new baby, Emma. Missy also went to St. Lawrence. Jake and Missy were married 4 years ago. They're two of our best friends.

Karen sang "In My Life" by the Beatles. She did such a great job. That's John McEwan playing guitar with her. We've known John and his family for years. He's a great guy. I sang at his daughter, Julie's wedding.

I really like this picture. This was probably the only time that I will pray with all the people that I love.

Justin starting to puddle up during his vows...

Diane starting to crack up during hers...

What a beautiful day!

Finally, the kiss! I was beginning to feel relief at this point.

Me right before the kiss.

Still kissing... lol

After our kiss, Dave took a few minutes to leave us with some word of wisdom. He decided to talk with everyone about lists that Justin and I had made about each other during our pre-marital counseling. We had to make lists of 10 things we love about each other and 10 things that drive us nuts about the other. He picked some pretty funny parts. It was really nice to lighten the mood.

Who needs a church when God made a place as beautiful as this?

The Benediction.

Mr. and Mrs. Justin Morse

We were both so giddy with relief. We couldn't get back up that walkway fast enough.

Dave asked all the guests to congregate for a group picture. Justin and I specifically requested this from the photographer. I've seen a lot of wedding albums and none of them have ever included a picture of everyone in attendance. This was a really important picture for me.

Yay!!!

And for the formal shots. I don't have much to say about these...



I'm actually about 4 inches taller than Karen. She was wearing some killer heels!



Classic Justin and Jake.

Justin's grandmother claiming her territory.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Justin and I.



Shahp. (That's "sharp" in Mainer.)


Me with Eric and Josh, my boys. I love these two fellas very much.

This is my favorite group shot. It's really hard to see detail in this size, but it looks really good in a 5x7 print. Our photographer, Michelle, is so talented.

I had to be coerced into sitting for this picture. I couldn't bend in half because I was wearing two corsets. Yeow. Cute picture though.

Justin's brother, Jake suggested sitting in the chairs for photos.

Not one of my favorites, but a cool picture. I've had some people say that it has an "Old West" feel.

Here's a string of pictures of Justin and I. We hiked down to the beach. That was quite an adventure in my dress.






Here's my bouquet. It doesn't look it, but that thing was so heavy it made my arm sore.


Jake and Missy had to leave. Their daughter, Emma was having a hard time. She was only 2 weeks old, after all. Jake came down to the beach while we were taking pictures to say goodbye. Art was taking a picture and Michelle snapped this picture from the side.


It was about 80 degrees the day of the wedding. I'm surprised the roses held up as well as they did. In the lower right corner you'll see our wedding favor. We had shot glasses made with our names and the date printed on them.

Lining up for introductions.. Josh and Eric first.

Jake and Audrey.

Jamie and Tim.


Karen and Josh. That's a great shot of the bridesmaid dress. She looked really good in it.

And the Bride and Groom. The DJ introduced us as Mr. and Mrs. Justin Young. That was stellar.

First Dance

We hate to dance.

Jusint's Mom.

Here's the cake. It had three different flavors... Chocolate, Vanilla, and Carrot. They were supposed to save the top part for Justin and I to freeze to eat on our anniversary. Didn't happen. It was served. Oh well.

Justin's family has a tradition of cutting wedding cakes with his grandfather's Navy sword. That was an interesting experience. Looked cool, though.

Just a thought...

I'm beginning to think that there is something significantly wrong with my brain. Sometimes I sit down, look out whatever window is closest, and realize that another few months of my life has gone by. This happened twice today. I try to take stock of accomplishments, memories, and acquired knowledge and I always come up more or less empty handed. My relationship with Justin and it's progression is a very comforting constant.
Awakening #1 occurred at about 10:30AM when I was sitting at a desk in the Bath satellite office. I didn't realize that I was doing it until my supervisor cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone and called my name...three times. I was staring at the field out the window wishing that there was a cow to see.

Awakening #2 occurred at about, well, right now. I decided to write this post because of it.

Generally speaking, I suppose that it's OK for time to pass, however I would prefer for it to stop and allow me to gather myself. I feel as though I run to keep up, and then I always forget to stop and do what I need to do. It's a regular occurrence for people to tell me that I've said and done things that I have absolutely no recollection of. This is most likely because I was too busy worrying that time was passing to make a memory of the given event.

Things that I need to do include: Tell the people that I love that I love them; Spend as much time with said people as I possibly can before one or all of them dies; Get a cat; Take care of my body; Breathe; Enjoy the moments that I'm living in; GET A NEW JOB (the uppercase means that this is a PRIORITY, unfortunately I don't have time to make it one)....

There are more, I just am too tired to list them right now.

My attempts to cope with this situation I find myself in are usually interpreted as "Diane being crazy." This makes me sad.

I need.

If you want to know what the hell this is all about please go read the most recent entry of Justin's blog... www.thelog.tk


1. Diane needs the numbers so we can keep our noses clean ...
2. Diane needs to find out the age, sex, and educational level of her target customers so that she can effectively market her services to them.
3. Diane needs a pigfoot and a bottle of beer, some reefer and some gin, and a crawlin' kingsnake..
4. Diane needs to apply herself more conscientiously
5. Diane needs no direct medical treatment for immediate survival, but is terminally ill.
6. Try not to be too critical of Diane's needs and desires, however inappropriate you may think them. You don't have to let them impinge on you
7. Diane needs our prayers
8. Diane needs assistance in paying her bills
9. Diane needs to meet with Doreen and set up security
10. "Diane needs to be more sexy and more out there," J. said, after noting that Diane had difficulty accentuating her voluptuous figure. ... (God, if only this were true!)
11. Diane needs to accept that moving here was a choice and so her expenses are tuition in the University of Life.
12. Diane needs to be out of there, she is definitely the spawn of satan
13. Diane needs a little discipline and a little training.
14. Diane needs to craft a story about her vision.
15. Diane needs to go talk to a Cowboy right now.
16. Diane needs bossing. Trust me.
17. Diane needs to be in the kitchen. Arrogant bitch.
18. Diane needs complete physical and dental exams, given the multiple health issues described above.
19. Diane needs help right now.

Hm. If you know me, enough said.
If not? Welcome to my world.

Poo Poo.

See the picture ? Funny, huh?
Notice the green eyes, they're significant. (It's a reference to the whole "green-eyed monster" cliche.) I call her "Jealous Janet". Justin must be given credit for this catchy cognomen. She is my namesake, after all. Touching.

(By the way... Since I think that my reader pool is expanding past 2 people...Justin is my most favorite significant other in the entire universe and this is his blog.)

So...
Sometimes when I've been described as possessing a certain trait, I look it up in the dictionary to find a loop hole in the definition (Merriam Webster Online). I succeed in rationalizing my way out of having the above mentioned attribute about 70% of the time. If I can't? Well, then I turn to the DSMIV. I look up the mental illness most commonly associated with that trait and quickly realize that I do not meet the criteria.

Referring to Jealous Janet...I waltzed right out of HER shoes. The first definition in the dictionary is: "Intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness". (Note: I will be disregarding definition B.) Hm. That doesn't seem so bad. I would say that it's very normal and productive to be intolerant of "one of two or more striving to reach or obtain something that only one can possess" or "not adhering to vows, allegiance, or duty." See? What was once bad has become good! I'll shout it to the hills!!! I AM INTOLERANT OF RIVALRY OR UNFAITHFULNESS!!!! WOOHOOOO!!!!!!! Justin most assuredly followed this same train of thought before calling me jealous. Right, Bub? :-)

In an old post, I commented that I only write a blog when appropriately inspired. I wrote this today because someone called me controlling and it's bugging the shit out of me.

Yummy.

Justin and I kinda made up a recipe together one day and I think that we've come pretty close to a pretty good chili. It's actually good for you. Well, the South Beach Diet man says so. For anyone who's doing that diet, this chili can be eaten constantly on Phase I (by my calculations).

Here's the recipe:

3lbs of ground beef or ground turkey (They're both good! Drain all the fatty shit off it!!)
1 REALLY big onion (I like to use the Vidalia kind cause they're expensive and that means they're better... right?)
1 bunch of hot peppers of whatever kind (this time I put in about 6 jalepenos.. WITH the seeds. If you don't like it hot, then I would just put in a couple anaheim peppers. Those are the flourescent green ones that look like sketchy green peppers.)
A big glob of minced garlic
About a half to 3/4 of a cup of chili powder (I buy the big vat of it at Sam's Club.)
Enough cumin powder to make a little mound in the palm of your hand
2 cans of black beans (with the juice)
2 cans of dark red kidney beans (with the juice)
2 big old cans of crushed tomatoes
1 regular size can of beef broth
.

Get a big pot 'cause this makes a lot.

1. Cut up the onions and peppers and cook them with the garlic in olive oil till they're kinda mushy.

2. Add the chili powder and cumin to it all and cook it for a few minutes.

3. Open all the cans of beans and stuff, then dump them all in the pot.

4. Then you add the ground beef, but make sure that you cook it first. I forgot that part and it should have been step number one. Whatever.

5. Stir it.

6. Put the burner on low/mediumish and cook it until it looks done. (The chili that I'm cooking right now has been on the stove for about an hour and it's not quite done. Oh, and also....Make sure you stir it often because it might burn to the bottom of the pot. That makes the finished product taste like shit.)

Usually I buy shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream to put on top. YUM.

My level of excitement about this post is unnaturally intense, but I gotta reap pleasure where I can...you know?

I fully realize that I have a very small audience, but if anyone out there stumbles upon my post, decides to try this, and likes it, let me know!

If you hate it that means that you screwed it up.


http://thehotpepper.com lol. This is funny. There certainly is something for everybody in this world. I think that I might join.
http://www.briansbelly.com/scovilles/primer/index.shtml Very informative!!

Cobwebs in my ears!

I had the urge to read my old posts. I really only like one of them...the one about my New Year's diet. The rest of them are obnoxious and wordy. Sorry 'bout that, folks.

And now.... In response to my diet resolution blog....

(Drum roll please)


I've gained about 25 lbs! Please, please.. no applause.
I'm not worried though. New Year's isn't far away.

I also noticed that I received an unsolicited comment from someone that I don't know. She likes my blog! Thanks :-) I sincerely appreciate that.

Later alligators.