White Wedding Picture

This is Gene & Esther's wedding picture.

Gene and Esther have been married for 60 years. Bryan has looked at this picture for most of his 45 years and believed it to be a picture taken on his parents wedding day.

But, the picture was not taken on Gene & Esther's wedding day.

Yes, Esther is wearing her wedding dress, and yes, she is carrying flowers, but the picture was not taken on the White's wedding day in 1950.

While talking to Gene & Esther about their anniversary party plans, I learned that this "wedding" picture was actually taken nine months later at a college senior night banquet. Esther told a story of how the photographer showed up to their wedding without a flash and there was not a flash available for purchase in her small Oklahoma town - so, the White wedding was one without pictures. Esther decided to wear her wedding dress to the college senior night. There was a photographer at the event. Esther told her story to the photographer and he took a picture that is now known as their wedding picture. Esther's friends made a bouquet from the centerpieces at the event.

Lesson learned - ask questions, family stories are not always what they seem. :)

More anniversary weekend pics...

The grillmaster.

We knew they were a corny pair.

Bryan likes this picture, not just because of the people in it - but because it showcases our backyard movie theater. :)

Thanks to Steve for sharing these pictures. I was a bit too busy to take pictures.

60th Wedding Anniversary Celebrations

Friday the 13th was special not just because of it's eery date, it also marked Gene & Esther's 60th wedding anniversary.

Bryan and I hosted a few events to bring the family together to celebrate the event. On Saturday, August 14, we hosted a family cook-out and movie. Sunday morning we joined Gene and Esther for Sunday services at First Baptist. Following church services we hosted a luncheon at our home.

I know that Gene and Esther appreciated having their entire family together. 60 years of marriage is certainly incredible and worthy of celebration.

Communication

I had to chuckle when I saw this post on Jon Mark's blog today - especially since the sign is in our neighborhood.

I sure hope this person was able to reach David.

Read the story here.

Five Years

It's true, five years ago I arrived in Amarillo. Honestly, when I moved to Amarillo in 2005 I had no intention of staying this long - there was part of me that believed I would move on in two or three years.


But I didn't.

For a girl who grew up in a small town in Eastern Iowa, I never would have predicted that I would have move 1100 miles away to a place where I knew no one.


But I did.


The seed of an idea to pick up everything and leave Dubuque, Iowa was planted Memorial Day weekend 2005, my brother's wedding weekend. I knew it was time to move on to a new adventure, call it an ephiphany if you will.

On Memorial Day I sat down and my desk and began browsing for job opportunities. That first day I identified a few possible opportunities and began drafting resumes and cover letters. That week friends helped me revise my resume (Thanks to Jason and Bobbi M.) A week after the letters were mailed, I had appointments for phone interviews with 3 different orchestras. Multiple phone interviews occurred during those June weeks and eventually invitations to travel to three cities for on-site interviews. I opted only to travel to one - Amarillo.

A two day interview extended into three (as my flight was cancelled due to excessive air traffice in Dallas) and I spent the Juy 4th holiday in Amarillo.

Earlier this month I was reminded that during one of those many interview panels (July 3, 2005) I was asked where I saw myself in 5 years. The young and optimistic Sue answered, why, I'd like to be the Executive Director here or at a similar size orchestra. The irony was revealed earlier this summer when I was named Acting ED.

Mid-July 2005 I was offered the opportunity to move to Amarillo, and so I did.

Prior to my departure my friend Tori told me that I needed to move to Texas, buy a pick-up, get me a dog, and find me a cowboy.

Well, Tori, I didn't do what you said, but I have found happiness here in Amarillo.

Logic

No mistake is more common and more fatuous than appealing to logic in cases which are beyond her jurisdiction.

Samuel Butler

A source of chaos

To say my life has been a bit hectic the past month would be an understatement. I offer my new found level of chaos to be an explanation for my lack of blogging.

Hmm, that's probably a fairly pathetic excuse for a lack of blogging. There are many folks who would say that I should blog regularly to find an escape from the chaos.

I'll work on that.

In the meantime, you my blog reading friends are probably wondering what caused all of the extra chaos in my world.

Well, I can't say much - but you should read this as a start to understanding what's going on. I'll try to keep this blog free of the work stuff. But, it's the work stuff that is causing the more chaos than normal type existence.

Here's to a new month, and new experiences.