Ga-ga-ga-gorgeous Bride Alert!

Here she is...Mrs. Hoy! Got the e-mail yesterday that the pics were up on the photographer's website, and as you can see...well worth the wait!! Does this not look like a bridal magazine photo shoot??? I texted Brittany the morning of the wedding while she was getting her hair done to see how she was...and she was GREAT!! I reminded her that she was going to rock that Maggie Soterro designer dress...to which she replied, "Yes, I am...whoohooo." I knew she was excited and ready to be Charley's wife!! And were we wrong about her rockin' this dress?????? NOPE!!!! SHE SOOOOOOOOOOOOO ROCKED THIS DRESS!!!

My Paczki Adventure

So my VanderHorst Family friends, Charolette, Yvonne, and Mom Theresa, introduced me to Paczki. What the heck is that???? They were talking all about it on Facebook and were all excited, I had to join in the excitement. So with the information they gave me and the information on the internet I learned that Polish Catholics eat Paczkis on Fat Tuesday.

Like any recipe they vary, but the basic premise is that you are supposed to clean your house of all the ingredients for Lent, so they came up with this recipe of making this doughnut-type of a danish the day before Lent is to begin. Most are fried, but some are actually baked. Some are filled with fruit, some are filled with a custard, some are filled with a cream cheese filling. I read one article about this Polish Catholic church up near San Francisco that make these as a fundraiser for their senior citizen group, sell them on Fat Tuesday, and the proceeds from the sale are what funds their whole program for the year. I read one article that talked about people lining up at 4:30 in the morning in Chicago to get theirs, and one town in Michigan that has a whole Pazcki Day Parade. Crazy; doncha' think???

So Charolette picked up her Paczki at the market, Yvonne's hubby picked theirs up at a bakery, and Theresa picked hers up at Walmart since there were no great bakeries near her home. Where am I to pick up a Paczki in Norwalk? Tamales...no problemo...but Paczkis???? I hunted down a Polish Deli in Orange. Make the call, yep, they have them. Okey dokey...out the door I go on my search for this VanderHorst Family tradition.

I drive over there, three freeways later, and go in. The lady behind the counter is speaking Polish to a male customer who leaves empty handed. Then again has a conversation in Polish with a woman who leaves empty handed...whatever, I don't speak Polish; right? So then it's my turn. "Hi, I called a little bit ago about some Paczkis." "They're all gone." "What????????? Are you kidding me?" "You need to order them, if you want them." Okay, so I proceed to tell her how I drove all the way from L.A. to get these suckas and had never heard of them before today. She says they only make them three days a year; the Thursday before Lent, the Saturday before Lent, and Fat Tuesday. She explains that their belief is that they are good luck. If you eat them and then keep your fasts for Lent, God will give you good luck the rest of the year. "Well, I guess I'm outta' luck," I say. To this she cracks up!!!!

Well, long story short, she took pity on me and explained that she had some for her family and I can have ONE, just so I can taste it, but next year I have to pre-order them. I'm so humbled and blessed that she would take one from her family stash...but it hits me and I ask, "Am I taking somebody's luck?" She cracked up and I thought once again...always an adventure for Shannon!

So...what did my little guy taste like??? Well, like they said...a rich doughnut. Ours had a filling, which at first I thought I got a bonus with chocolate...but we actually think it was more like maybe apple, peach, and prune. It was tasty...but truthfully, the adventure made it special and worth it all. I've already warned the VanderHorst Family...I'm taking a trip back east next year to experience the whole Paczki Craze out there! You've heard of pub crawls...I'm going on a Paczki Crawl!!! I'll letcha' know next year about the experience!

Brittany & Charley's Wedding

What an amazing display of God's love for His children and the Love that only He can place in the hearts of those called to His service!

The wedding of Brittany & Charley was such a true experience of two people that truly love God and were put together by Him. There is no other word for this wedding than LOVE! Love of the couple for each other, Love of the family for the couple, Love of the friends...this wedding wasn't about the "show" of a wedding or the whole wedding production, it truly was about the Glory of God's Love here on earth in human form! I can never thank Brittany and Charley enough for the amazing experience of their wedding and being allowed to be a part of it!

Congratulations, Mr. & Mrs. Hoy!!

Behold I stand at the door and knock...

Here are some pictures of the amazing church that Brittany & Charley were married in. As I was taking pictures a Catholic monk that just "happened" to be walking by was explaining to me about the architecture of this beautiful church and how it was the exact replica of a Catholic church in France. I have to do some research because I HAVE to find out the information. He explained how the only difference is there is no Cross on the top of the church and the little alcove areas are empty, whereas at the Catholic church in France there were statues and the Cross. Interesting thing he told me was that Protestant churches at the turn of the century did not put crosses on top of their church for some reason. Crazy, I thought, especially considering our Lord and Savior died on the cross and it's such a symbolic thing for us Christians...but then again, Christ didn't stay on that cross!!! He arose unto Heaven, just as was prophesied...maybe that's why.

Shannon the Wedding Coordinator!

I'm lovin' this new role!!! So today we get to get into the wedding and reception sites to decorate and prepare for the Valentine's Day wedding of Brittany & Charley. Here are the chair signs I made for them as they're seated at their sweetheart's table. I, of course, had to "bling" 'em a little with Swarovsky crystals...you know me!!!

Love Letters From Our Father

I made these little mailboxes for our Experiencing God Bible Study today. Inside were a chocolate "Hug" and different scriptures that remind us of who He is; i.e.,
I Am your Prince of Peace-Isaiah 9:6..I Am your Hiding Place-Psalms 32:7..I Am your God of Comfort-II Corinthians 1:3.....I Am your Lord of lords-I Timothy 6:15.....
I Am your Friend-Job 16:20

We prayed over each scripture as we put them together, and as always, the Lord spoke today to the different women who received their personal Valentine from our Father!

The card on the table for each table leader read: "Inside are 'Hugs' from Heaven and love letters from the Great I Am for the ladies at your table." What better example of His love for us than the scriptural reminders of who He is to us and for us, our personal
Lord and Savior,
The Ultimate Valentine."

Movie about my Chelsea????

There's this really neat house (not pictured) by our house that John said hosts different events like the City's Prayer Breakfast, weddings, and even movies sometimes. So today I'm leaving the total wrong direction to go to Bible Study today...I usually go out of the track the other direction...but today I had to go this way and look what I saw...a full movie crew filming a movie. I'm hoping they forget the signs so I can go grab one...or maybe tonight when John (the nice one of us) gets home from work he can go schmooooooze the crew and see if we can get one of these signs! A movie about our Little Chelsea...see...it's not all bad living in Norwalk!