I learned two things this weekend during Family Invasion:
- Things never go as planned.
- But Plan B (or C, or D, or Z) isn’t so bad after all.
It turned out to be a lot more difficult than we expected, having both families in town for the weekend. I was hoping for cross-family bonding time; in the end, our families spent only an hour together, sharing dinner Saturday night.
It wasn’t the weekend I had in mind.
(Not to mention the horrible loss to Navy on Saturday. See item number 1 above.)
It wasn’t anyone’s fault (ok, maybe the football team’s). My brother had a band commitment Friday night, so he and my mom had to fly in to Chicago on Saturday morning. They were all exhausted from early departures, so spending time together at night was out. Then my family wanted to do more on-campus gameday stuff, while one of Joey’s relatives was limited in mobility, leading them to stick to tailgating. In the end, it was no one’s fault, but things just didn’t quite work out.
Nevertheless, the weekend was beautiful in its own way. Board game playing, steak sandwich eating, photo snapping, conversation sharing, out-loud laughing… these are just a few of the special moments we shared.
Today, I am thankful for:
21. A dad who left Georgia at 5 in the morning in order to make it to school in time to walk on the field with me. (Even though they didn’t actually let us on the field.)
22. A lovely family, reunited
23. My other family 
(Doesn’t Joey look like his uncle in this picture?)
24. Dear friends who stick it out even when the game is miserable
25. The world’s cutest Irish Guard
Here is not my home. There is not my home either.
My home is with the Lord.
via Sarah at my sweet sojourn.
She’s a smart cookie, y’all. Sarah and I have never met in real life, but I can tell you that her deep devotion to the Lord shines through in every post she writes. She is a true Christian. So pay her a visit, why don’t you, and tell her I sent you.
—–
From time to time, I will introduce you to favorite blog-friends whose work I greatly admire. Community in the global age is possible. If you’d like to see more blogs I recommend, take a look at the Blogs I Enjoy link at the top of this page.
Guess what guys?! My family is going to be at Notre Dame this weekend. Dad is going to be here in about 10 minutes (He drove up. Let’s just stop and think about how early he had to leave to get here by 5:30. GA is a long way away, people) and my mom and little brother are flying into Chicago tomorrow. With any luck, they will get here in time to get a Knights steak sandwich before the game. Joey’s folks and his aunt and uncle from Cinci are already here. Hurray, family!
Now I need to head out because I’m going to go walk around the Notre Dame football field with this guy:
Ok, MAYBE this photo is actually three years old, and was taken when I first got my MAC and was playing around with Photo Booth. Irrelevant, we look pretty much the same anyway. Also, yes, we look exactly alike.
Where were we? Ah, yes, the restaurant. It was fancy. The menu, featuring mostly Asian food, was of the sort that lists the head chef as well at the owner at the bottom. Fancy.
We settled on a reasonably-priced Chardonnay. Joey ordered a roasted duck breast with plum sauce and noodles, and I asked for the pad thai with shrimp and crab meat.
But the waiter did not leave us to hungrily anticipate our meal! Even though we passed on the appetizers, he brought us little hors d’oeuvres on soup spoons that he called amuse-bouche. That first bite told us all we needed to know about how awesome our meals were going to be. It was some sort of chicken in sauce on top of rice- yum!
Next the waiter brought us pineapple sorbet (again with on soup spoons) and a plate of dinner rolls. At this point, we were getting a little concerned. Our fancy restaurant experience is rather limited, and we were both a little worried that we were getting charged extra for all of this. In Greece, if you don’t eat something that they bring you, you don’t have to pay for it. A lot of restaurants put out lots of extra dishes to catch tourists. Anyway, we decided to take the chance and dove into the sorbet (keeping in mind lessons learned from the sorbet scene in The Princess Diaries) and then the dinner rolls. The rolls came with a cilantro lime butter. Guys, believe me when I tell you that these were some good rolls. Like, worthy of asking for extras and stuffing in pockets rolls. Not that I did any such thing… but I thought about it.
Our main courses arrived with our food arranged beautifully on our plates. Of course, the first thing I did was to mix all the toppings on my pad thai into the rice noodles! I’m not the best at describing tastes, so you’re just going to have to trust me when I say that our meals were absolutely delicious. For once, the food was worthy of the fanciness of the place. It was incredible. And the portions were right too- not too much or too little. A+. It’s not a place I would go more than once or twice a year, but it’s going to be my go-to special occasion spot in South Bend. Props, Club Noma.
After dinner, we strolled over to the South Bend Chocolate Factory to split a slice of oreo cheesecake (mmmm…..). Then we went back to campus and opened presents in my room. I got Joey a collection of C.S. Lewis’ major works (Mere Christianity, Screwtape, etc) and a book of daily reflections by the Holy Cross Priests. Joey got me a pair of Notre Dame high ball glasses (and let’s not forget the roses!). Lovely all around.
And then, we went to Starbucks and worked on homework. Ah, the life of a student.
Seriously, though, it was a fabulous evening and celebration befitting four wonderful years. Here’s to many more!
On Monday, Joey and I celebrated our fourth anniversary. (Fourth! FOUR YEARS. We’re twenty-one years old, people! Four years is a LONG time in Laura years.) Our celebrations were hampered by the fact that our anniversary fell on a school day and I was out of town all weekend, but Joey worked hard to make up for it by pulling out all the stops Monday evening. (Before we went to the student center to do homework. Because that’s the kind of people we are.)
First, we went to 5:15pm Mass in the Basilica. It’s always sort of hard to be appropriately sombre and reflective for All Souls Day when we’re thrilled to be celebrating our anniversary! Pray for the souls in purgatory… then go have a fun night out! I wonder if Joey thought this through when he asked me out four years ago 
After Mass, Joey informed me that we had 7:30 reservations at a mysterious restaurant. We went back to our dorms to change into appropriate attire, and then he picked me up with a bouquet of a dozen red roses waiting for me in the front seat. (First dozen roses from a boyfriend! My dating life is complete.)
The mysterious restaurant turned out to be Club Noma, a very, very chic eatery in the middle of downtown South Bend. Neither of us had been inside before, so we were a little floored at just how chic. Joey took it all in stride, but then he didn’t have to deal with a waiter pulling out his chair for him. The restaurant is decorated in a very modern style, but I liked it.
…. Waah, I have to go. If this wasn’t NaBloPoMo month, I would just save this as a draft and finish it later, but since I have to post something today…. TO BE CONTINUED!
:epic suspenseful music:
Hey there muchachos. I may be participating in National Blog Posting Month, but I’m not going to churn out a decent and lengthy post every day. Just not gonna happen. However, I did recently make a desktop background for myself and I would like to share it with you. I used a photo I took at the Carbon Leaf concert at Notre Dame a couple months back. Carbon Leaf is one of my favorite bands, and if you haven’t heard their stuff, you should. Folk-rock is my best characterization, but they’re one of those bands that doesn’t stick to strict genre rules. They’re awesome.
So, without further ado, desktop background:
And here’s where you should go to listen to their music. Ennnnnjoy!
See you tomorrow.
Today, I am grateful for:
16.Vows, freely given, to last a lifetime
17. The forever-love bond between parents and daughter
18.The happily married couple, racing away to their bright future
19. All four siblings, reunited and laughing
20. The Great State of Texas 
Disclaimer: This post is a little more serious than most that appear here on The Bronzed Shoe Archives. It has graphic moments. Look for a return to our regularly scheduled frivolity tomorrow.
At the chilly, dark hour of 3 AM, we made our way towards the Austin airport. This weekend my mother’s side of the family converged on Texas to celebrate my cousin’s wedding, but our 36-hour reunion was over and my mother and I needed to catch early flights back home. My uncle calmly piloted the large truck, awake despite the early hour. He and my aunt and cousin had a long drive back to Alabama in front of them. We chatted and joked, making the most of our last bit of time together.
We were almost to the airport when we noticed blue flashing lights at the side of the road. There was only one squad car, so my uncle easily moved around it, assuming someone had been pulled over for speeding. But the car ahead of the police unit was warped and dark. My eyes followed a dark red trail from the front of the car. Twelve feet ahead, a man lay sprawled on the ground, his body a heap of impossible angles. The truck’s headlights lit up his vacant eyes as we swerved to avoid the scene of the wreck.
Just as quickly as the gruesome sight had come into view, it vanished behind us in the dark. The truck cab overflowed with exclamations of shock. My mother reacted by seeking to comfort me, and my first thought was to reassure her that there was nothing her medical skill could have done for the dead man. The hubbub faded away and we pulled up to the airport. Goodbyes were lovingly exchanged, but we spoke with quite less joy than before.
All day, I have been turning the scene over in my mind. The memory of the dead man’s face confronts me at idle moments.
While waiting for my plane to board, I thought about my immediate emotional response to the crash. My honest reaction was embarrassment. I felt like I had trespassed on an event that was not for me to see. I thought about what would happen to the body next. It would be autopsied to determine the cause of the accident. Then a family member would have to come to the morgue to identify the broken body. All of this is abnormal- it’s not how death is supposed to take place. Someone’s passing should be expected, prepared for, and witnessed by loved ones. Above all, it should be private. This morning, I unintentionally violated something sacred.
As the day went on, I thought about the significance of the death’s timing. All Saints’ Day, November 1, had technically begun, but dawn was hours away. The death took place in the time when we knew that All Saints’ Day was coming, but its arrival was not yet in evidence. Is this not the point in time Christianity has occupied since the Resurrection? We know that the Kingdom of God is at hand, but we can’t see it yet. The day when all saints will rise and sing God’s praises is coming, but for now we still wait in darkness. We can’t see the dawn, but we know it is soon approaching, and our faith keeps the pressing darkness at bay.
We know that death is not the end.
I was conflicted about whether to share my thoughts about this in so public a place, but it occurs to me that all I can do for the victim of the crash is to bear witness, both to the tragedy of his death and to the hope and promise of eternal life. We have heard the Good News, and it has set us free.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:1-5
Here I am, waiting for my thoroughly delayed flight to board at OHare, when it occurrs to me I forgot to tell you bloggies about this short trip! I’m heading to Texas for the weekend- no, not for the Notre Dame game in San Antonio… wait for it… I’m going to my cousin’s wedding! Hurray, weddings! And seeing family! My mom will be there plus all her siblings, including the one who just got home from dam-building in Afghanistan. Hurray!
I realized I couldn’t show up to this shindig with hair thta hadn’t been cut in a year (hush, don’t tell me I could have, it was a good excuse). Ergo, haircut! More about the salon that did it later- I’m all about blogettes sharing their reviews of local businesses- but for now, picture! It’s short. And split end free! Anyway, I’ll write about the wedding/ my mom’s awesome family/ cowboy hats and BBQ on Sunday for the beginning of NaBloPoMo. Have a great and festive weekend, everyone!
Joey: You have said multiple times that you like my beard!
Laura: I like it when it’s well maintained.
Joey: It is so well maintained!
Laura: It is not.
Joey: It’s still alive…
Laura: This had better not be how you approach child-rearing.
<laughter>
Laura: I am so posting this on my blog.
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