CaSondra gets married...

So, my kid sister is getting married...Here is CaSondra, better known to me as "CaS"...

We have been on a long road together as friends for almost a decade. I met her when I was an advisor for our sorority. She was a leader in the organization and searching for God (though she might not have admitted it at the time). We became friends and I pursued the friendship and learned a lot about taking the time to get to know someone. She is a wonderful lady.

Through our friendship, she knew me as Regina Simon, married to my first husband. She watched me have a baby (well, not literally), move on from the sorority, go back to school, become a teacher, raise my son, she moved in with us for a little while, then was there for me through Chad's injury and death. She has been a friend for a lifetime. Most recently though, my friend showed her support and loyalty through pointing out love that I couldn't (wasn't looking) to see.

After a long weekend in Indianapolis for New Years Eve with the Single's ministry there...she saw love for me in Mark. I was blind or clueless, either way, I was shocked. With gentleness and compassion, she helped me step into a lot of my fears and pushed me to embrace his love...I say push, but really all she did was knock me up side the head a little and the rest was Mark and me.

I write all of this to give you a small hint of why I dearly adore this young woman. It was so exciting and challenging to watch it be her turn to get married. Knowing it was something she's wanting her entire life made me keep forcing myself to let go. I just wasn't ready. Thankfully there are things like showers, personal showers and rehearsals to keep reminding us that the event (and changes to follow) are really about to take place. I really needed to begin to let go of her...she was about to become Ben's...I'm choked up thinking about it even now.

We had such a great time celebrating their wedding on July 26 of this year.
For pictures -
(Go to: http://www.frphoto.com/ for photos, go to "online catalog", locate CaSondra & Benjamin, password - "opensesame")

Who would have thought when we met a decade ago that we'd be brides within months of one another. I'm so grateful for this friendship and know that God handpicked us for one another. I didn't have a sister in my family, but CaSondra is definitely filling in that role for me.

I love you CaS (and Ben too)...CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Barb Konopacki (CaS' mom), me, the bride-to-be and Bea (CaS' aunt)...
Shannon (bridesmaid), Lindsay (bridesmaid), Leah (reader; 1 Corinthians 13) and Kate (bridesmaid & sister-in-law)

Cause to Celebrate!

So, the house in Monona is no longer ours.

And to be quite honest, it was much more emotional than I'd anticipated. While I have an amazing new life, the permanency of nothing else with Chad's name on it, was a bit sad. That we get to have the experiences that we do because of someone else's death, a loss. But, moving forward is part of life, no matter how challenging it is and that's what we decided to do.

I grieved the finality of the sale and shared my heart with Mark and a few friends and then we decided to celebrate with our kidlets by taking them out to dinner at Red Robin. We shared the good news (it's been challenging for Dylan) and we laughed and talked and really enjoyed this experience together. Because of the blessing of a home sale - especially in this market - we spent a little time explaining the purpose behind the celebration and that this level of "order what you will" won't be happening very often. They were grateful and we enjoyed ourselves and their company as well.

Just a quick plug for Red Robin. Dylan and I have been frequent patrons of this restaurant and it is definitely in our top 3 of faves, we introduced Mark to it with a date back in January of 2007. They have great portion sizes for the kids so that you don't feel as though you're wasting a lot of food AND, my new favorite is that they have side dishes and healthy choices (Dylan and Veronica had melon slices), like seven of 'em. Go there! http://www.redrobin.com/
We topped off our night with balloons and laughter. They requested the colors of the balloons and decided to get into the red, white and blue pattern you see here.

It was a fun, mellow celebration considering we took four children out to eat. We hope that the celebrations will continue throughout the year and certainly outweigh the challenges.

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything...

So, I'm a baller.

A softballer...well, not really. I play for my church league this year for a team called, "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything". I haven't played softball in years; like 6 or 7 years. Mark and I signed up to play together, but with his knee being so unreliable (read: "Whoa Is Knee" post) I'm carrying the Erickson team this season. I really am having a good time. Since the last time I played, I've learned to relax more and really enjoy the game play-by-play. My high school cheerleading experience comes to the forefront as I am comfortable cheering on my teammates. Mark keeps talking me up, telling my coaches that I'm not afraid of the ball (pretty true) and that I have a strong arm (surprisingly kinda true). I have really enjoyed being a part of a team and league that isn't focused on the end results; though who am I kidding, we still keep score. Right now, I play right field. I haven't had much action out there, but I am in the game and loving it. I'm most encouraged that my family, whether E6 or E3, comes out to watch me play and be at the park. They are truly a great support.

I think our record is 1-2. We have a double header on 7/13 and I'll have no one there to cheer me on (Mark's driving a bunch of kids to pre-teen camp) so if you're reading this...I hope you'll come and cheer on the Pirates. Arrrrr!!!


I may not make any super huge plays or be the team star, but I'm in the game as a Pirate and I am doing SOMETHING.