A Glorious Day

The Big Day had finally arrived!

First on the agenda:  beautifying the bride and her attendants

…….not that any of them needed much help.  

Then, it was time to dress the bride 

and lace up the back 

Perfection!

With the fine touches complete, the time came to board the trolley:

which served not only as transport, but as a cool place to wait until the service began as the outdoor temps climbed past 88 degrees. 

The church, itself is breathtakingly beautiful on the interior, but, alas, has no air-conditioning, so the trolley was welcome relief for the bride and her attendants until the service began.

In the meantime, the father of the bride was trying to keep cool with the ring bearer.

Actually, speaking of "Cool", I'd say that they suit the part, don't you?

I't a long walk down the aisle,

but that little guy made it in record time with his pillow.

The three angelic flower girls, were quite the opposite, and needed a little urging on from their mommies to start,  

They slowly ambled down the aisle as if mesmorized by the beautiful organ music,  much to the delight of all in attendance.

And, finally, it was the moment we had waited for:  father and daughter, enjoying this special moment in time, walking down the aisle, radiant with happiness.

Even Dad had to admire her beauty as he escorted his daughter to her waiting groom.

He proudly stood between the soon-to-be newlyweds

They were greeted by the minister, who assured their intentions.

And now it was the moment for Dad to give his daughter a kiss on the cheek

join the hands of the bride and groom, 

and leave the couple together in the sanctuary.

And there they stood, tenderly holding hands,  enjoying every moment of the ceremony that they had so meticulously planned.

The bride's godmother read the passage 1 Corinthians 13.

both sets of parents lit the unity candle

and a friend read a prayer, "From This Day Forward".

The couple had chosen a special song to be performed by a close family friend, entitled, "When I Say I Do" by Michael West.

The bride's sister played the violin, and her father strummed the guitar as Dennis so eloquently sang the words to this special song.

He sang to them, from the heart, and we were just bystanders, watching the tender exchange between the musician and this special couple. 

The minister led them up to the altar, where vows were exchanged

rings were placed

and the unity candle was lit.

The minister announced that the groom could  kiss the bride

and the new couple was presented to all

It was truly a glorious day!

Prelude to a Wedding

Well……tomorrow is the big day!

And, today was filled with the excitement of camaraderie as well as meeting new friends and future family.  But it wasn't all about fun, there was some serious business to be done.

There was the presentation of the beautiful bows, made by a special friend

who brought along her cheerful handy helper.

Have you ever seen  a more able bow handler?  

And, of course, the father of the bride had to practice his walk and turns

which needed just a little fine-tuning, much to the amusement of all.

There was the entertainment of blowing some petals

and, admittedly, a brief moment of pandemonium

although the ring bearer admirably maintained his steadfast stance, carefully holding that decorative white pillow, while little girls were rushing around him.

And when it was over, there was time for celebrating in anticipation of the big day tomorrow. The perfect ending to this special day. 

I'm sure these two will attest to that!

Bride-anie?

You're probably familiar with the term "Bridezilla".  It seems that so many brides become so stressed as the wedding day approaches that they turn into demanding, much dis-liked creatures, thereby earning the title, "Bridezilla".

I can proudly say that my daughter, who will be married tomorrow, has been quite the opposite.
She is THE calmest bride that I have ever seen.  She's not worried about a thing.

More than likely, that is due to her extreme organizational skills and having lists and sticky notes and directions for the whole crew, so that people know where they need to be when.  She told me that when she has everything detailed and written down, it removes the stress.

I tried to think of a word to describe her, that would be the opposite of the word that stems from Godzilla,( evil dragon intent on destruction).

And, what kept popping in my head was Melanie from Gone With the Wind, a determined woman who could get things done, but one of the most understanding characters one will ever meet, excusing just about any bad behavior or bad luck.

So, I came up with my own term:  Bride-anie.

We had such a fun time making up our cookie trays for the wedding reception.

So, I suppose that I can say that I was definitely surrounded by sweetness yesterday!  

And, I'm sure there's lots more to come.

I'll keep you posted.

Celebrating the Summer Soltice

Most people think of June 21 as the longest day of the year, but for this Gallivanting Gal, there is much more to this day than that!

It is my wedding anniversary!  As of late, my husband and I have made an attempt to do something special when this day comes around, and this year was no exception.

I booked a stay at the Robertshaw Country Guest House as a special getaway for us this weekend.  You might think that staying at a B&B run by Benedictine Nuns would less than romantic, but Sr. Renata goes out of her way to welcome her guests, and it is amazing to see all of the fine little details that she has in place to assure the comfort of her guests here.

Upon our arrival yesterday, after we checked in, Sister highly recommended the restaurant, Rizzo's, for a dinner choice.  She apparently is very good friends with the owner, and the mere mention of her name resulted in the presentation of this complimentary jar of sauce, for which the restaurant is well known.

This was certainly convenient, as I made Marty scour the ingredient list to be certain that there were no peppers used in making it.  Once in the clear, I felt confident that I could order my meal and not have to worry about any life-threatening reactions later.  How lucky was that?

The wine we purchased from the restaurant, and we learned that it was imported directly from northern Italy by the owner.  Let me just say that it was fabulous!

So, our weekend began on a positive note with a great Italian Dinner and a bottle of free Sauce stashed in the back of the van.  With that kind of good fortune, who really cared whether or not it is raining?

Well, the weather did put a bit of a damper on things today….literally, but it didn't stop us from getting out and exploring some fascinating historical sights in the area.

First stop:  Bushy Run Battelfield.  This State Park recently celebrated its 250 year commemoration of the famous battle that occurred between the British troops and Native American Indians in Aug. of 1763.  

General Bouquet was passing along the Forbes Trail from Ligonier to Fort Pitt when he was ambushed by Indian tribes just outside Bushy Run. Bouquet's clever attempt at feigning retreat resulted in his troops taking the Native Indian Warriors by complete surprise.  The battle is considered to be so significant to this day, that it is still studied by military experts.

Upon arrival, we were quite surprised to find an extremely informative Visitor Center.

The place was loaded with information and, Marty, of course, couldn't help but delve right into the history.

Here he poses with a warrior, painted for an attack:

Red seems to be a common color.

 Then, he thought it would be fun to dress up as a redcoat.  Here you see him standing with a soldier from the Scottish Highlander brigade.

Amazing how he fits right in….don't you think?

The place was loaded with all kinds of artifacts and interesting history.  It went on to tell how the Indians had been promised the retention of their land, only to have the British go back on their word, pushing the Indians further west, away from their home.

Despite the wet drizzly weather, we decided to hike along the battle trail that is preserved at Bushy Run.  The original attack is memorialized by this statue that stands at the bottom of the hill.

Note that Marty is posing at this monument in his new shirt.

Did I mention that the Visitor Center has a Gift Shop?  Yep…. lots of t-shirts to choose from, too.

Walking the trails took us to the spot where the wounded British soldiers were huddled with flour bags surrounding them, in an attempt to keep them safe from further attack.

Here you can see Marty studying the placards that commemorate this spot.

And, I couldn't resist zooming in on the back of his shirt while he so intently studied the information.

We headed down the path and found ourselves walking along the famous Forbes Trail.

Now, what I found fascinating about this trail is that I had only recently brushed up on its history while staying in Dunfermline, Scotland with Marty.  In Pittenween park, a placard stands that outlines this very same trail in its path across the state of Pennyslvania.  Forbes had lived in the house in this park, Pitt was from Edinburgh, and Andrew Carnegie had donated the park to the town of Dunfermline.

How fascinating that we were walking along this very same trail that is commemorated in Scotland!

The rows of trees behind us line the original location of the Forbes Trail.

From there, we headed to a place called Hanna's town. It was a settlement that was set up by the Scotch Irish in the mid 1700's.  In 1783,  Hanna's town was burned to the ground by a combination of British troops and Indian warriors who were intent on ridding this area of colonial sympathizers.

Our tour guide was awesome, and, once again, we learned a lot of history.

One of the most fascinating articles that is preserved here is an original Conestoga Wagon.  It is kept in a locked shed for safekeeping.

Apparently someone had it in a personal family collection, and, generously donated it to the Hanna's Town Center. 

Here you see the reconstructed jail and Hanna's Tavern

And that's Marty standing in front of the tavern.

In the background you can see a fort.  The color red comes in handy….don't you think?

It was here that the people of Hanna's town sought refuge when their homes were being destroyed by fire.   The town stands right on Forbes Trail, and it was once a common stop on the road from Ligonier to Pittsburgh.  However, after the houses were burned to the ground, most of the inhabitants decided to start over elsewhere.

One of the important aspects of this town was that it was actually the original County Seat of Westmoreland County prior to Greensburg taking over the role, so it plays an important role in our state history. 

After our tour was complete, we had a lovely dinner in the city of Greensburg, then headed back to the grounds where our B&B stands.

We decided to go out exploring and were thrilled to stumble upon this shrine to St. Walburga:

The interior was breathtakingly beautiful!

Although it was obvious that this shrine was relatively new, those windows certainly could not have been new!

My hunch was right, and when I checked, I found out that the windows came from a German Church, St. Walberga, that had originally been in Pittsburgh.  With the downsizing of churches, it was closed, and it was agreed that the Benedictine Sisters could have the windows if they could figure out how to get them relocated.

They had them removed, and the windows stood in storage for 8 years, but have finally been displayed once again, in this magnificent chapel.   What a pleasant surprise for us!

By this time, the weather was clear, and we were able to enjoy the sunset from our room, which is appropriately called "The Sunset Room".

Lucky for us, it's the longest day of the year, because we certainly covered a lot of ground in one day!

Hope you enjoyed traveling it with me!

A Diamond Anniversary

Sixty years ago today, a monumental event occurred:  the marriage of this special couple.

Of course, I would be partial to the importance of this event, since these are my parents, and let's face it…..if they hadn't said,  "I do" sixty years ago…… this Gallivanting gal wouldn't be around to offer adventure around every corner. 

How sad would that be?  (You need not feel obligated to answer that question.)

So, today was a day for celebrating….and that we did!

There was the special artwork presented by the grandchild who so graciously decided to be born on this couple's 50th Anniversary.  She's the "Golden Grandchild", of course!

And, quite obviously, artistically talented:

She knew how much her grandma loved hummingbirds!

The afternoon was filled with fun

Food

and family

some obviously interesting diversions

random entertainment

And let's not forget the cake!

which was certainly a big hit, needless to say

Finger-licking good, for sure!

I had every intention of finishing this blog with a photo of the "Diamond" couple, but the only one that I could find with them smiling had me right smack in the middle of them.

And  how could I resist posting that?

It certainly was a glorious day for celebrating!!