Family Resemblance

I was scrolling through my blog and I realized how much
Robbie and I look like our parents. Can you see it??

The Gent Wedding

Well, I am back from Humboldt ... I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and had SO much fun being a part of Jonathan and Lindsey's wedding. Last time I was in town, Lindsey was traveling through the foreign land of WEDDING; a place where men and women "discuss" how many buttons should be on a tux, mom's spend evenings tying bows on hundreds of little candles, brides check the computer every evening to see what was purchased from their registry, paper napkins arrive on the front porch with names printed on them, bridal magazines cover every flat surface in the home, Michael's is visited weekly for last minute decoration purchases, couples spend time picking out bedsheets and throw pillows, and after much discussion/debate certain people are sent an invitation or removed from "the list".

Now, both her and Jonathan are permanently dwelling in the foreign land of MARRIAGE; a place where men and women live in the same home, share the same bed, make decisions together, and even combine their finances. These foreign lands are difficult to comprehend. They are read about in books but one can only imagine what it would be like to visit. Even the greatest travelers of the world have not ventured into these mysterious lands.

Now, the moment you've all been waiting for .... the photos! (the lighting inside was very dim so I apologize in advance for bad exposures)


THE REHEARSAL

The Bridesmaids


The Groomsmen (I walked down with Robin - the guy with the BIG hair)


Rehearsal Vows (look how happy Jonathan is!)


Flowergirl (Rachel) and Ringbearer (Christian)



THE REHEARSAL DINNER

It's tradition in the Gent home to sing songs at the table together before eating ... so, we kept to tradition during the rehearsal dinner.



GETTING MY HAIR DONE

Lindsey asked that we have all of our hair up on our head.
This can be difficult when you have lots of hair - but it turned out okay.
(the best part was all the old ladies in the salon that were watching me)





THE JOHNSON HOME

Getting Makeup Done (check out all the makeup on the counter!!)



Lindsey Prior to Makeup and Bridal Gown


My Mom and Lindsey's Parents - Jim and Cheryl



The Flowergirl and Ringbearer


Lindsey's Brother, Brad


Jim with Christian


The Gent Brothers - they look SO much alike. I actually watched people congratulate Joseph (far left) because they thought it was his wedding!


Jonathan and Christian


The Groomsmen (check out Robin's new haircut!!)


The Best Picture Ever Taken! - Lindsey Snacking Before the Ceremony



THE CEREMONY



The Groom Waiting for his Bride







PHOTOS AT THE CHURCH

The Gent Parents and Their 11 Children!


Parents of the Bride and Groom










THE RECEPTION

The Wedding Cake (with photos of parents and their cakes)


A Blurry Nic and I Tearing Up the Dance Floor


First Dance (danced to "You and Me" by Lifehouse")



Bride and Father (danced to a song he sang her as a child)

The Jenny Show

Do you ever feel like your life is a movie or a TV sitcom?
Do you imagine people sitting and watching your life
play out while they wonder what comes next in the script?


It is time to share with you an excerpt from today's show … to fully understand you must first go back to a previous episode. The scene takes place at Oak Valley Middle School where The City Church members have gathered for Saturday night prayer. Jenny, the main character of the show, has left her purse on a chair in the front row of the sanctuary. A few young men (known characters from previous episodes) begin stealing items from her purse (phones, notebooks, etc.) in order to play a practical joke. Jenny later realizes what has been taken and eventually finds the perpetrators outside the building after prayer. She demands that her items be returned, but shortly thereafter her cell phone is accidentally dropped on the cement by one of the men. He apologizes several times and gives the phone back to Jenny. Jenny does not appear to be upset or frustrated … she assumes that the phone can be put back together and will be in working order in just minutes.

The scene changes as Jenny is found driving home in her white Camry attempting to steer her car while reassembling her phone and praying loudly, “pleeeeeeeeease Lord, let it work!!” When she arrives home, she pulls a screwdriver kit from her car and disassembles the phone. She repeats her cry of “please Lord” while reassembling the phone - her family watches with anticipation from the living room couch - her attempts are unsuccessful.

The episode goes on to show Jenny’s frustration because of the loss of phone numbers. She explains to her friends that more than anything she would just like to have the numbers from her phone. Later in the episode, she stops by her local Verizon store where the customer service agents claim they can do nothing for her … she does not have insurance and the phone went out of warranty two months prior. The only option is to take her brother’s phone upgrade for $30-$70 (leaving her without her phone numbers). Jenny is not satisfied so she goes home to further investigate her options. She calls the Verizon headquarters where a nice young man claims that Verizon has a machine that can be hooked to her phone to retrieve her numbers – he has even used it on his own phone. He apologizes for the bad service at her Verizon store and gives her a number for another store in town that will supposedly fix her phone AND retrieve the numbers. Jenny immediately calls the store and the employee explains that Jenny was given false information – Verizon cannot repair phones and the number retrieval system only works if the phone can power on. Jenny holds back her frustration and kindly explains to the man that if her phone powered on, she would not be calling him in the first place. He apologizes and once again reminds her that he can do nothing. Jenny then gets on the internet and finds a local company (the only one in San Diego, of course) that repairs cell phones. The woman on the phone says, “Good news – we would love to fix your phone. Bad news – we don’t have the parts to fix it.”

After more research, Jenny finally finds a place in Florida that will fix the phone. The claim they will have it fixed overnight and will send it back WITH the numbers intact. It is a small risk to send the phone to some random company in Florida, but Jenny is desperate and decides she has nothing to lose. She sends the phone priority mail and the company calls just two days later saying they have received the phone and have already begun the repairs. Jenny is more than satisfied with the speed of their service. They call back in the evening and claim the phone repair is complete and the phone will be sent back to San Diego the next morning (Saturday) via priority mail … it should arrive Tuesday. Unfortunately, by Wednesday afternoon, Jenny has still not received the phone. The episode ends as Jenny leaves her home to go out of town for the week, hoping the phone will arrive while she is gone.

Now, I finally bring you to today’s episode … when Jenny arrives home Saturday, she runs to the mailbox to find that her phone still has not arrived. This is a cause for both concern and frustration. She wonders if the phone was lost in the mail … if so, she would not get her money OR her phone back. Unfortunately, the company is closed for the weekend, so she waits until Monday morning to call back.

Monday morning, she opens the repair website to find their phone number. As the website pops up she reads, “URGENT NEWS --- PLEASE READ!” She reads the text... “On Sunday, May 14, Mothers Day, a major fire swept through our original cell phone repair location in Orlando. The destruction is beyond imagination. More than 1000 customer owned cell phones were ruined beyond repair along with virtually all of our own electronic equipment and business furnishings. Our regular phones and our helpdesk are also out of order until further notice. We will update this page with the latest news as it occurs.” Jenny stares at the computer screen with her mouth wide open --- the credits roll.


CLICK HERE for website text or CLICK HERE for newspaper article.

Congratulations Robbie!

Today is Robbie's graduation from Joshua Wilderness Institute. Congratulations Robbie!!! Look how far you've come ...