Miniseed

I took a little break from blogging to take a little breather, but I think it’s time to resume the action.

Today I attended a very unique wedding.  During the part where the pastor asked, “If anyone has any objections, let him speak now or forever hold their peace”, the uncle raised his hand.  So the uncle gave a speech about being troubled for not meeting the wife earlier than a day before the wedding, and proceeded to read a letter in the form of Chinese poetry from the father in China, saying (translated to English by yours truly):

The rain is coming
Mother is remarrying
It’s all destiny
Let him go

Then the uncle said that despite the despair, he has to give his blessing–after all, the groom is still family and he made the decision.

After his speech came the rebuttal from the groom.  He thanked the family and bowed, then also produced a letter from the father giving him support for the wedding.  The scene was so dramatic it seemed like a Chinese drama unfolded before our eyes.  The tension in the audience was high, as no one has seen this before, and there were tears in the audience both sympathetic and awestruck.

I commented to a pastor afterwards, “Bet you haven’t seen this before!”  and he replied, “Sure, but you know what?  This is the best wedding I’ve been to.  It really demonstrates true love between two people.”  I suppose I can only agree.  It’s when you persevere in these situations that you truly see the love and commitment you have toward one another.

For these two newly weds, I wish them the best in their journey of life together.

Just to show how much Karen insists on enjoying the summer, here’s a little peak at her new-found habits from this stealth shot…

In case you missed it on the thermometer, let me give you a 1:1 crop of the interesting portion…

Anyone question her dedication of enjoying every summer’s day? 

(btw, as good as I may be at digital manipulation, I certify the authenticity of this picture)

This was our dying white pine…

We have waited an entire year for it to recover, but it kept deteriorating. With the right side completely dead, during days of storm we kept cringing in our seats hoping it wouldn’t come tumbling down on the house.  Finally, we decided we had enough excitement and decided to go the route of euthanasia… 

It hurt to do this, but it had to be done… and now we were left with a bunch of pellets… 

While it opened up a lot of space in the yard, it also exposed our house to more sun.  We’ll need to plant some tall-growing trees near the fence…  just what we need, more yard work!

Can’t believe Karen and I have been married for two years!  Instead of shelling out major dough for some restaurant, we decided to dine at the local Karen Lee House of Tea…

The fine dining began with a mango salad dish…

then continued with a mushroom soup…

and then the Lobster with piña colada…

After the dining at this fine restaurant with a world-class chef, we decided to take a little Vista tour (not to be confused with Windows) at the place where we held our banquet 2 years ago, the Edgewater Hotel.

Then after a leisurely walk, we returned to the Karen Lee House of Tea for some dessert…

It’s easy to take for granted someone who’s with you all the time, but I truly appreciate sharing my life with Karen the past two wonderful years. 

On Saturday, Karen and I attended Jerry & Eva’s wedding.  It was in a cozy, wooden Lutheran church with a very Lutheran pastor, who interestingly could speak Mandarin.  You can see him in the picture denoted by the … head.

Afterwards, we headed over to the reception.  It was funny for Karen to have been enlisted to bring salad before we even RSVP’ed, but whatever. 

Call me a carnivore if you will, but apparently Karen’s salad was the only item I didn’t try that night.  The roast beef was good, though…  it was prepared by someone whom I haven’t seen for a decade!

The last time I recall seeing the Chef was back in 1995 when I attended College Fellowship at ECC.  All I remembered was heading to his Greenlake residence with a few other CFers after jogging where he, a student of the culinary arts, gleefully produced cooking oil by placing huge pieces of lard on the frying pan.  That was my only memory of him.

Apparently his memory was better than that as he called me by name on the way to the wedding on Saturday! 

Anyway, my sitting around while waiting for Karen didn’t sit well with the other helpers, so I was enlisted to help fold the napkins around the utensils.  By the end, I was an expert napkin folder who outshined all the others–a rare gift.

In the meantime, Karen was busy setting up the wedding cake…

By now you’re probably thinking that this is a very DIY wedding, and you’d be right.  I suppose every wedding has its own character.

Finally we were able to sit down and relax.

After dinner, the bride and groom toasted each table…

When they came to our table, all the helpers were gone busy doing stuff, except for me.  I would have helped, but I wasn’t feeling well because…  let’s just say that I forgot Lactaid that morning with my cereal.  The helpers never came back and I never got to toast the bride and groom!  Wats up wit dat?!

Still, I wish Jerry & Eva the best on their new marriage.