Illinois Wedding Shower

At last, a moment to post some wedding shower pictures! During the last weekend in January, my friends, Claire and Jan, in Illinois gave me a shower/tea. It was a wonderful day and it was just so much fun getting to see the Illinois friends that I miss so much. Going back made me feel like a grad student again, in this case, a nice feeling. My mom and I drove out on Friday after classes. I got to sleep in my "old room" again, which was cool, but also made me remember those dissertation-writing days which were only a year ago! Saturday was spent getting ready for the afternoon shower at Claire's house. Here are some pictures to put the day in perspective.

Because it was a shower thrown by and mostly for people who teach writing or who are involved in English in some way, the day had to begin with a little writing/creative activity. Claire had materials all set out for people to put together a page of wedding advice or some personal message to Ken and me. I got to wander around and supervise what people were doing as I was going to get to read the book later in the day/evening. People wrote some really touching messages, and I know this will be a book I'll treasure forever.

Then, of course there was the absolutely wonderful carrot cake that Jan brought to the shower, along with chocolates from the Chocolatier in Bloomington, nuts, and tea. While people were feasting on the delicacies, I began opening presents so as not to delay the afternoon too long. I was taken aback at how generous my friends were as Ken and I received many lovely gifts for our home. Among some of the presents received were cookware, a cake plate/dome, roasting pan, picture frame, fondu pot, birdhouse, and wine. Some friends were not going to make it to the wedding in Iowa, so they shared shower and wedding gifts including a clock, webcam so Ken and I can stay in touch while he's in Iraq, and a GPS navigator for the car. In all, Ken and I now have many wonderful items to help build our home up. I am excited because now we have newer items to start with and can pass along some of our grad student/bachelor apartment items!

It was great to see everyone again. Before we knew it, the weekend was over and Mom and I were driving back to Iowa. The following weekend we had another shower for my Iowa friends and family, which was also a lot of fun. I'll try to get pictures posted from that soon.