Sunday, July 3. After seven weeks, Jennifer is finally home again. Bad weather caused her flight from Boston to be delayed; she missed the connection in Charlotte and spent the night there, finally getting back to Tallahassee on Thursday. She is feeling good, and is in good spirits. She and Winston haven't set a date for their wedding yet, but are planning it for some time in the Spring.
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Proposal details: Winston gave Jennifer a series of puzzle pieces, each of which looked rather abstract. The final piece made it clear that the picture was of the two of them, but the markings on the picture didn't make sense. Then he gave her the frame and cover glass, which had additional marks on it. When placed over the picture, they resulted in the Question: Will you marry me? She said yes. |
Sunday, July 10. More good news: Jennifer had another routine MRI Tuesday, and it showed no changes. No news is good news!
Our 4th of July fireworks were rained out on Monday, so we lit them on Friday. Even though they were the legal-in-Florida kind, we enjoyed the display. During the week, Jennifer tried on a number of wedding dresses, and looked at even more in magazines. Her cousin Elisabeth, who married Danny just a couple of years ago, sent her a wedding planning book and she's studying it carefully.
Sunday, July 17. It's been a happy, quiet week. Hurricane Dennis passed by to our west and caused minimal problems for us. Our electricity was out for several hours, and a large limb fell on our deck and damaged it slightly, but it could have been much worse. The weather returned quickly to typical summer-in-Tallahassee conditions, with the heat and humidity broken by late afternoon thunderstorms. We went for several Lake Ella walks in late afternoons, when it was damp but cooler. Our visit to Gainesville Monday went well, as Jennifer's doctors continue to be very pleased with her progress.
Jennifer is continuing to work on her wedding plans, and is considering locations. She and Winston prefer an outdoor wedding, and Maclay Gardens is a possibility. It's probably going to happen on either April 22 or 29.
Sunday, July 24. Jennifer has been under the weather this week, with a sore throat that several of us have had. She's feeling a little better now, and is planning a trip to Pebble Hill (north of Tallahassee) to check out another possible wedding location.
Sunday, July 31. Jennifer still has a bit of a cold, but is feeling better. She is continuing to consider possible wedding locations, but is leaning toward Maclay Gardens on the north side of Tallahassee. The date is not final, but probably will be in mid-March.
Sunday, August 14. We had a great trip to Nebraska, visiting a lot of assorted relatives and even taking in a zoo. We visited Jennifer's grandmother, Cousin Latisha & her son LaCorian, Aunt Barb & Uncle Mike, and her other Uncle Mike, in Lincoln. We drove out to Cambridge in Western Nebraska where we stayed with my Aunt Jaccie and Uncle Roland, visited with Cousin Suzanne, toured the studio of Sondra Jonson (a local—but nationally known—sculptor), and enjoyed much good food. Some of my mother's cousins organized a mini-reunion—special thanks to Jim and Pat—in Waverly (near Lincoln), where we ate very well and visited with a wonderful assortment of cousins of various kinds (second, once or twice removed, etc.).
Through it all, Jennifer stayed in good spirits and even managed to make some additional wedding plans.
Sunday, August 21. Jennifer spent most of the week getting ready for her role as Maid of Honor in her friend Lisa's wedding. She threw a shower for Lisa on Friday morning, and she and the others in the wedding party did all the necessary preparations for the dresses, hair, make up, etc. It was a lot of fun for her, even if it did wear her out occasionally. The wedding itself was at Dorothy Oven Park and was a beautiful and fun occasion.
It was made even more fun for Jennifer by the fact that Winston was able to attend. He arrived in town late Friday night, and will be able to stay until late this afternoon.
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| Jennifer and Lisa inside the reception area at Dorothy Oven Park | Winston and Jennifer after the outdoor ceremony |
Sunday, August 28. The festivities of Lisa's wedding left Jennifer tired but happy. She's getting back into her routine now, concentrating on her own wedding plans. Winston has completed a training/getting acquainted phase at his new computer software job in Virginia near Washington DC, and is starting real work. Hurricane Katrina seems to be headed too far west of us to cause any major problems in Tallahassee.
We don't anticipate anything too exciting happening over the next few weeks, so I may be updating this site less frequently. No news is good news!
Sunday, September 11.
Jennifer has had some good times during the last couple of weeks. Last weekend she got to spend some time with Katie, her friend and fellow survivor. Katie, who has her own blog, was in her old home town on a visit from California. |
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Jennifer also got to see her Latin teacher from Leon High School. Mrs. K. is now teaching in central Florida.
The weather is a little bit cooler now, and Jennifer has started to get back into the habit of regular walks. With the high price of gas we're more likely to walk around our neighborhood after stepping out the door than we are to drive several miles to Lake Ella first, but getting out into the fresh air is always good.
Sunday, September 25.
Jennifer enjoyed Winston's visit for her birthday last weekend, and enjoyed hearing from a lot of old friends, too. In the photo she has just opened a gift cookbook, which she is looking forward to using. Jennifer continues to work on wedding plans, including the guest list, music, tent (to handle overflow from the Gardener's Cottage at Maclay during the reception), tables, chairs, etc. Lucy Ho, an long-time friend of Winston's family and a restaurant legend in Tallahassee, will handle the catering. |
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Sunday, October 2.
More good news: Jennifer's latest quarterly MRI again showed no tumor growth! She's been in good spirits, and her energy level has been picking up a little. She continues to work on wedding plans; yesterday we toured the shoe stores in the Tallahassee mall looking for shoes to match her wedding dress.
Sunday, October 14.
We had a great visit with Jennifer's doctor in Gainesville on Oct. 3. Besides getting to hear how well she was doing, Jennifer didn't have to endure any needles for blood tests—that could wait until later in Tallahassee. Later in the day we were able to spend some time with Lauren, who's now in graduate school at UF, and she and Jennifer caught up on the latest happenings with each of them.
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| Jennifer and Lauren in Gainesville |
Thursday Jennifer left for the DC area to spend some time with Winston. Earlier in the week she had been under the weather with some kind of virus, but she got over it quickly and was in fine shape when she left town. Today she called to say that she and Winston had a great time yesterday in Baltimore, where his company had an annual corporate get-together at the National Aquarium.
Sunday, November 27.
Jennifer returned from Northern Virginia Wednesday evening, with a bounce in her step and a ring on her finger. She and Winston took their time picking out a ring after their engagement, and found a beautiful one. Jennifer's sister Monica also arrived (from Chapel Hill) Wednesday evening, and we all enjoyed getting together with family and friends over the long weekend.
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| Michelle, Monica, and Jennifer. Monica's friend Michelle, and her parents (old friends Steve and Judy), came to lunch Saturday |
Sunday, December 25.
We all celebrated Christmas Eve with Jennifer's Oma (German grandmother). We're certainly glad that everything is going well with Jennifer, and we're looking forward to the upcoming year.
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| Jennifer and Monica take a bow after their performance of Christmas carols at Oma's house. They both played a keyboard, and Monica also accompanied Jennifer as she sang beautifully. |