What I'm Loving Wednesday

Linking up for What I'm Loving Wednesday...

After a lovely three day weekend, I'm feeling pretty good about things this week. Here is what I'm loving:

1. TOMS!! Steph finally talked me into getting a pair of TOMS (she has two pairs), and I love them. They are so comfortable, and they can be dressed up or down. I didn't feel quite so bad about spending the money when I learned that for every pair you buy, the company donates a pair of shoes to children in need in Third World countries. Yeah for helping others while looking good, too!

      

2. I'm loving that a close friend of mine is pregnant with her first child! I'm praying that her every minute of the day sickness morning sickness goes away soon...

3. I'm loving that Sophie got to spend Grandparents Day at VCA with two very special people, Connie Mack and Linda. They had a great morning at school, and then had a fun lunch in town. She could not stop talking about it all week.

4. I'm especially loving that we spent a wwonderful Labor Day weekend together at the beach. More importantly, it was Stephanie's 18th birthday! (more on this later)....she got to take a much deserved break from school and relax with the family.

Have a Great Week!! :)

Catch up....

I know that it has been awhile since my last post, but lots has been going on, and I have not had access to a computer. As you can imagine, it has been quite a week. We are still reeling from the news of Chris's death and are getting ready for the wake and funeral tomorrow and Saturday. He had a memorial service in New York yesterday and over a 1,000 people attended...just one more testament to the type of person he was. I am so proud to say that I knew him.

We managed to fit in a few days at the beach for Easter and Spring Break. I plan on posting pictures as soon as I can get the time to sit down and download the photos.

And, just like every other female in the world, I plan on setting my alarm for 4:00 am tomorrow morning and watching the Royal Wedding! It has been the one bright spot in my week. I have been anticipating it since the announcement in November. I can still remember spending the night at a friend's house for Charles and Diana's nuptials, and my young and impressionable eyes stared in disbelief at her wonderful cupcake dress! (which I'm sad to say my wedding dress resembled!)...What girl doesn't like to see a fairy tale wedding? (minus the not-so-fairy-tale ending of that story)....William and Kate's story seems completely different, however, (thank goodness), and I cannot wait to see how it turns out!

I LOVE this new photo that appears in the Wedding Program...gush.. (by Mario Testino)

I also love the post by Paige at Simple Thoughts...she says that she has started asking her own teenage daughters "What would Kate Middleton do?" in touchy situations. Kate appears to be the definition of class and poise, and I would like to think that Stephanie and Sophie will grow up to be the same way too...it's also nice to throw that one out there when one of them is behaving non-princess-like (which is quite often!)...

Our own little Fairy Tale Princesses...(circa Disney 2008 and Prom 2009)....

I also love this drawing of Kate from Caitlin McGauley via Lonny Blog....

 
Steph on our trip to London in 2009...I love it there, but I'm glad that I am watching the wedding from the sanctity of my couch, chaos-free!!!

Enjoy the wedding festivities!

Remembering Chris...

 

I had my blogs planned out for the week...What I Like Wednesday....Easter Decorations...The Joys of Spring Break...Craft Nights....I was actually composing some of them in my mind and thinking of which silly pictures to use...and then a not-so-funny thing called "LIFE" happened that made my narcissistic posts seem...well...what they actually are--pointless...

A longtime family friend passed away. All deaths are traumatic--trust me I know. I lost both parents in 17 months, and I know that we will never completely recover from that. But on Wednesday, April 20, 2011, Chris Hondros passed away while photographing civil unrest in Libya...it was a horrific event that has been broadcast all over the Internet and television since it happened...

Chris and my husband grew up together...as part of the Greek community, they had a natural bond. Chris, my husband, and their siblings and cousins were inseparable and enjoyed the innocent joys of childhood together. They played games, watched movies, and did the things that all kids like to do--be carefree and young. It was a wonderful time for them all, and it was just about as an idyllic childhood as they get..

As they grew up, they didn't get together quite so often, but their bond remained close. I met Chris when I was a student at UNC, and he and my husband were at NCSU. I immediately liked him (who didn't?), and marveled at their quick-witted conversations and bonds. Over the years, we've closely followed his career and were in awe of the images he bestowed on the world. We relished his many visits home, and I will never forget the custom tour of New York he gave us when we visited in 2006. As a born and bred Southerner, I was mesmerized by Chris's "New Yorkness," and I know that I will never be able to visit the city without thinking of him...

I have cried countless times over the past 2 days...I'm sure that the wealth of information at my fingertips has something to do with that....but I'm crying for so many reasons that they are all so hard to process..

• I'm crying for the loss of a truly compassionate and kind man that impacted so many people and touched so many lives. Chris's untimely death had a worldwide effect, and I am in awe of the outpouring of emotions from all walks of life...
• I'm crying for the loss of a true Renaissance man whose interests were so varied but were tied together seamlessly into a physically and spiritually beautiful man....
• I'm crying for a mother who has to deal with the tragic loss of a beloved first-born son...in her own words, "no mother should ever have to bury a child"...
• I'm crying for a woman that I have never met named Christina and for a future that they will never get to share...
• I'm crying for a husband that has had one more important figure from his life taken away unexpectedly...
• I'm crying for the haunting pictures that will never be taken...
• I'm crying for a community that took so much pride in their hometown boy that made it big...
• I'm crying for the millions of people suffering that will never benefit from his photographic perspective...he shed light on so many in despair...
• I'm crying for me because he had a way of conversing that made you know that he was really listening..
• I'm crying for everyone who lived their lives vicariously through him (including myself)...he did things that no no one else would/could do, regardless of the risks...
• I'm crying for humanity because his work proves that one person can make a difference...
• I'm crying for the senselessness and brutality of war...
• I'm crying for Christopher...because he is worthy of every tear that will be shed for him...

Rest in Peace Chris Hondros...you will be missed...

Good-night sweet Prince; and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest....

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