I’ve spent today trying to return to normalcy after an incredible weekend with my family in Pasadena. My cousin, Debbie, married her awesome husband, Jason, in a beautiful outdoor ceremony. It was a wonderful gathering of all of my cousins on my mom’s side, most of their spouses and kids (a few couldn’t make the trip from back east), my aunts and uncles, and my amazing grandparents. We all had the best time together, sharing old stories, creating new memories, and simply laughing and enjoying life. Seriously, a fun time.
In the days leading up to the wedding, we were all wondering if it would work out okay. While there was no doubt that Debbie & Jason would begin their married lives together on Saturday, we were concerned if the weather was going to allow it to take place outdoors. In our facebook cousin group (yes, we have one), Debbie provided regular weather updates. I also checked, trying to insure that my suit would still be a good match for the ceremony. For quite sometime it looked like it was going to rain during the ceremony. There was an indoor plan B, but we were all hoping for outdoors. Even 2-3 days before the event, it looked like it was going to rain.
And then the winds came.
Huge, crazy winds.
Winds that shutdown the LAX airport and caused travel to be rerouted. Winds that toppled trees.
HUGE, CRAZY WINDS!
When we arrived in Pasadena on Friday night, we were surprised to see so many crews fixing traffic lights, moving trees, clearing downed power poles. At breakfast the next day, I heard many hotel guests discussing how they were hoping power would be restored to their home that day. On the drive to the ceremony, I counted 6 downed trees and many sidewalks and bike lanes lined with branches and debris.
The church itself had huge clumps of pine needles and branches in the parking lot.
But then we walked to where the ceremony was…
…and it was gorgeous.
Apparently, volunteers had helped clear the ceremony site of its storm debris. It was absolutely stunning.
The HUGE, CRAZY WINDS had cleared the sky of any clouds.
And so… my cousin, Debbie, and her husband, Jason, had the most beautiful outdoor ceremony.
Far too often in life, we stress out about things we can’t control. We have our own impending “rainstorms” that we worry will ruin our days, or we see the “winds” come into our lives, and worry about how they will destroy things.
But sometimes life is just beautiful and things work out.
There were still a few hiccups in the wedding–all weddings have them–but it still remained beautiful. During the ceremony and reception, it was so obvious that Debbie & Jason could handle the twists and turns the outside world was going to throw at them. They were enjoying the beauty of the moment and their time together.
Let’s try to do the same.
“CHARITY” HIGHLIGHT
As I mentioned in my Advent Conspiracy entry, I want to highlight some of the great charities out there. My first highlight isn’t for a charity, but rather a business that functions as one. Yes, we’ve all heard of TOMS shoes (which I love), but I want to highlight PAIX Clothiers. A few of my friends just started this company. Proceeds from the sale of clothes will help clean drinking water projects throughout the world. The clothes even have a cool interaction part with QR Codes on each item showing how the money is helping people. These clothes are a very cool idea for a Christmas gift. I’ll do a longer blog entry about them down the road, but in the meantime, I encourage you all to check out PAIX Clothiers