— 1—      

I am thrilled to be taking part in my very first 7 Quick Takes! Why I am so excited?  Because perhaps my favorite blogger is the creator and host of 7QT. Jennifer Fulwiler is the author of  conversiondiary.com. I have read her blog for years (seriously), so I this feels like quite a blogging (w)rite of passage.

                                                 — 2—      

Also exciting (perhaps just a little bit more exciting than number 1)—the wedding is officially ONE YEAR FROM TODAY! Or as my friend, Cesca, put it, today is my negative-one year anniversary. Yes, in 365 days, I will be a Mrs.!

I am very much looking forward to it, and I am also excitedly looking forward to reviewing my vendors. Some have been so amazing to work with that I truly want to tell people how wonderful they are in order to bring them to more business. However, there has been one in particular that has been horrible as far as their business know-how goes, and I would encourage people to think twice about them.  Sorry I can’t disclose who is who, but I have still have contracts out. More to come next year, I guess. 

                                                 — 3—       

Living in Colorado, these past few weeks, I have learned that keeping an umbrella in the trunk of your car is not at all helpful.  As I’m sure many of you know, as the flood waters decrease, there is still much damage and people who have been displaced. Please do what you can to help people affected by the flood in CO, most especially, keeping them all in your prayers. 

                                                  — 4—       

I got nothing done last night besides making dinner and talking to people.  Even though when I first thought about it, I felt like nothing on my to-do list really got complete, I realized there is nothing better than feeling connected to some of the people in your life that matter.  I only wish I had the time to talk to everyone I miss so much!

                                                  — 5—       

I am quite resistant to technology change. And frankly, I don’t know much about the technology that exists now. That being said, I still cannot decide if I want to upgrade my iPhone to iOS7. It looks cool, but different, and I don’t know how I will warm up to that. I like some of the features, and group messaging looks great, but I’m still so undecided. Anyone love or hate it? In the meantime, I will be scouring the Internet researching for something to sway my option. 

                                                   — 6—       

Not only do I not know much about technology, but apparently I am just prone to destroying it. Long story short, I can’t keep lattes by my keyboard anymore. Having a sticky keyboard to clean this morning might be ok if this was the first time it had happened… or even the second.                                               
                                                   — 7—      

This video has been getting a crazy amount of hits. A co-worker showed it to me about two weeks ago, and I can't believe how much buzz I have seen surrounding it since. Not only that, but within our events team, it has come up a lot-inside and outside of the office. 

My friend who student taught in Norway said their educational system has a great emphasis on creativity. Apparently so. In case you are looking for something to make you laugh this afternoon...                                             

Well, with that, happy Friday!

Today is my Uncle Mark’s 60th birthday, and we miss him very much.  After an 11-month long battle with brain cancer, he passed away August 12, about a month short of 60.  We were all hoping and thinking about how we could make this day special for him. Pam, who was a wonderful companion and a huge help with caretaking over the past year, had planned a Bob Chin’s lobster dinner and balloons galore to decorate. 

Now as the big day is here, there is no party and no balloons, just a quiet remembrance of a man who, for nearly 60 years, spent his time improving the lives of his family and friends. At the wake, all the remarks we were given were of how my uncle would drop everything just to help someone change a tire or fix something around the house.  He spent years taking care of his mother, my grandmother, during the advanced stages of her dementia. He gave, and gave and gave.

He is the only uncle that I have, and the family member who lived the closest to me growing up, so he was never extended family, just family. I learned so much from my uncle growing up.  He introduced me to music with his keyboard when I was just a baby.  He taught me trigonometry and was always explaining to me how things work. He had incredible professional accomplishments, and in spite of how much pride we have always had in his company, Path Electronics, more than that, I will remember how he taught me to whip my ice cream to make it like soft serve. I’ll remember the hours he spent helping me to produce my third grade news broadcasts.

And perhaps the best moment, I will remember the time we spent two summers ago.  I made several visits there before I left for my new job in Colorado.  During one visit, he took me out dinner and we were talking about my new job.  I was a little disillusioned because I had not yet received any support from family about taking on a job as missionary where I had to raise my own salary, mostly just people who thought I was crazy. What he told me changed my perspective forever. Uncle Mark told me that pursuing the career you love is what matters. “The money will come, but it’s not what is important. As long as you are working toward your dreams and enjoying what you do, you have plenty of time to build up your income.  But if you aren’t doing something you care about, then you are wasting your time. You should never have to feel bad or justify yourself for that.”  I have never looked at my life the same way before. 

And to honor my uncle, I will always try to make sure that I am living for what really matters—for my family, friends, my dreams, and theirs.  Uncle Mark left us a shining example of how you live for what you really believe and for what and whom you really love. He left us all with so many wonderful memories. He did not leave a life untouched, but with his generous attitude, he made each person feel loved. And we all remember him with some sadness because we miss him, some laughs because he always cracked the best jokes, and countless great stories.

Here’s to you, Uncle Mark! Happy 60th birthday! You are always in our thoughts and prayers.   

For years I have tried to reconcile being a detail-oriented planner with being a good follower of Christ. There is so much talk about how we need to surrender things and, for lack of a better phrase, “let go and let God.” So I would tend to consider my nature extra sinful, as I am prone to making decisions and thinking through the logistics.

I'll be the first to admit, I have my controlling moments, and yes, like most people, I do need to work on more trustfully surrendering my life to the will of God, regardless of the situation (Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence will shake up anyone’s world- give it a read sometime). But aside from that, for a while, there was still the anxiety that I was doing something wrong. I’m not even really sure what made this anxiety go away. Probably much is due to prayer, and the fact that event coordinators plan, plan, plan, but we have to be incredibly flexible because last minute changes are just a part of the job, and of life.

We all have our particular abilities and strengths, and we should exercise and even improve them.  Details are just one of mine. In Mass a few days ago the priest said something that struck me in his homily. He was talking about married life versus religious.  He commented that married people really have to live in the realities of this world. There is just no way around it.  There are so many details that cannot be ignored in order to maintain a life, home, and take care of others. Religious have the opportunity to live a little more ascetic of a lifestyle. So thankfully, my natural strengths should help me better ease into my vocation. This did give me a bit of a paradigm shift.  Maybe I don’t have to focus less on keeping life in order, but rather I can make these details, as part of my vocation, part of what allows me to grow in holiness.

It reminds me of the time I was venting to a priest about how I felt I just couldn’t make enough time to pray as much as I felt I should—to which he replied, “Well you don’t live in a monastery!” He reminded me that having a job, relationships, and daily tasks is part of life, and we have to embrace all of it- so long as we are including prayer as a part of our lives. 

We can’t ignore the world and the details. We live in the world even though we are not of the world. And to function, society needs the free spirits, the innovative thinkers, and those with an eye for logistics. So use whatever your gifts are for the betterment of your vocation, your life, and your world. 

After about a year of contemplating keeping a blog to record my time living and working in Colorado as a FOCUS event planner—with what will inevitably be some of the largest events I ever plan in my life—I am finally getting around to it.  Here is what you can expect: I highly doubt I will be intentionally entertaining. But I will be honest.  For me, this is way to share life and musings with others. My closest friends are in grad school or doing missionary work all over the country (or world, actually), and quite a few keep a blog. It’s a much more comprehensive way to feel connected than the snippets of Facebook or Twitter.  And as much as I love having phone conversations, time zones really do work against us. I've been inspired by a number of blogs recently, so I’m giving it a shot. I have a few different pieces in the works to launch my first week.

Also, as I have taken on free-lance wedding client, this is a nice way to “speak” with clients as I look to expand in the future. So, blogosphere, I’m here! Let’s get started!