Welcome to the (Future) Pedoto's Blog

Hello, there! Glad to welcome you into our electronic space; grab your coffee (or tea) and enjoy your virtual time with us as we prepare for May 2nd. Comment, email or subscribe and we shall be in touch. With love -

Friday, February 20, 2009

Ramon takes on the cake and maybe more

Upon discussions about food, drinks, and cake for the reception during the family lunch, I asked Ramon what kind of grooms cake he wanted. He went into detail about stacking up cakes and cutting them in such a way that they emulate some great feat or steep-jaggedy mountain with him on it. He then said he wanted to make it."WHAT!?" came the chorus. We now have a plan and I am excited about the cake. Ramon will put it together and it will be grand and glorious. He is so great! He often tells me how excited he is about making the cake. He says, "I've never made one before. I think it'll be fun!" As Peter Pan asked the children to believe in fairies so Tink would get her strength back, well, I'm asking you to believe with me that my dear Ramon can make his dream grooms cake.(Don't we have to clap or something? ;)
I love that Ramon is a dreamer like I am...we have both found a mate who understands how important it is to be believed in...no matter how impossible the dream is. Here's to dreams: Cheers!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

SPAM-A-LOT

Last night Ramon and I went to see Monty Python's SPAMALOT here in Huntsville as a date. I have to admit, it was hilarious to watch the movie come to life and I left reminded of the fact to “Always look on the bright side of life.”
The story today is not truly about the musical as much as it is about the way that we got the tickets. It all began three weeks ago when I was searching for ways to get cheaper tickets to go see the show and I came across Lite 96.9's webpage which adverstised that they were sponsoring an Iron Chef Spamalot contest and the reward was two tickets to see Spamalot Tuesday night. So I sent in a recipe and lo and behold I received a call a week later telling me that my recipe had been chosen and that I needed to show up on Feb. 12th with my SPAM creation made for the big contest. There had been over 150 entries and my recipe was one of five. Being chosen as one of the five contestants promised me two tickets to the show and some other goodies too. But you had to be there on that day... thus the problem... so since mom and I cook together, the radio station let mom go for me and represent us in the contest. So, while I was in Atlanta presenting, mom went and to all of our surprise... won the whole shabang... she was Iron Chef Spamalot... she won the elusive title. And that is how we got the tickets. I have included a picture of mom and dad preparing the samples for the chef judges there at the VBC.

It was one of my proudest days of my life as mom did a great job.
Okay, so back to the musical... the night was filled with belly laughs and surpirses like the exploding confettiti at the end and this quote whcih got everyone laughing and cheering, "We are no longer the knights who say ni! We are now the knights who say ekki-ekki-ekki-pitang-zoom-boing Sweet Home Alabama!” It was quite the night to say the least, but as they always say... the journey was half the fun. So, if you are thinking about going to see Spamalot, please go.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Valentine's day...

...the first of many to come in our relationship.
I know I am one of the luckiest women in the world to have a man like Ramon who is so romantic in speech and deed. I can say this because he was picked as one of the most romantic men in Huntsville less than two weeks ago by a contest on WAY Fm. They had created a contest for men for Valentine's Day. The deal was that husbands had to finish the line... "The sweetest thing my wife does is..." Well, when my dad mentioned it at Sunday lunch, he sugggested that Mr. Romantic Ramon enter the contest and he did. But I did not know he he had entered till I heard a quote by a Ramon from Madison who had been not only choosen for the top ten, but also was the grand prize winner of the contest. Now, there are not many Ramon's in Alabama, let alone Madison, so I knew it must be my Ramon. Ramon said "The sweetest thing about my fiance' is... the way she sometimes takes my arm and wraps it around her, almost subconsciously, like she's half-asleep pulling a comforter closer on a chilly night." So, with this he earned himself a get out of the doghouse pass and Fireproof the movie, The Love Dare book, flowers, and a night for two at Gooch Place here in town on Valentine's Day night. It was wonderful... he is wonderful.
So, on Valentine's Day, after we went to his mom's house in the morning to wish them Happy Anniversary... we came back to his house to get ready for our first Valentine's Day Dinner. The first thing I noticed when we pulled into his driveway were how his daffodils were and still are blooming beautifully! After Ramon got ready to go, showered and all, we began to gather our stuff when we realized we had forgotten his camera at his mom's house...so we were off to Walgreen's to find a disposable camera for the night. We were at Gooch Place for more than two hours as we enjoyed a wonderful Valentine's meal. I have the BEST VALENTINE, I love you Ramon!

(Pictures to come later when they are developed)

Friday, February 13, 2009

The movies and marriage



Here’s a question to scratch your head over: what is your favorite movie that portrays love in the context of marriage?

My premise is that most movies that portray “love” are primarily concerned with the pursuit of love – love’s starting point. The overwhelming majority of romantic movies are concerned with “boy meets girl.” Very few movies follow up on “boy marries girl, has three children, etc.” Think about your favorite romantic movies (or for guys, your wife’s favorites). I’ll bet you that the movie ends with 1) a wedding, or the very likely prospect of one, or less often, 2) the death of one or both of the leads. There are probably two main reasons for this. One is the necessity of movie plot mechanics. You need three acts in a typical romantic movie (or any movie). Act One: Boy Meets Girl. Act Two: Complication – Boy and Girl Separated. Act Three: Resolution, happy or otherwise.

Think about your favorites (or your significant others’.) This applies to all of them. I think it’s easier for screenwriters to portray “the pursuit,” or courtship, or “falling in love,” or what have you, in the span of two hours than it is to portray “married love” in the same span, and with the same kind of plot structure. The other reason I think movies primarily deal with courtship is because of a more general societal definition of love. When we think of romantic love, whether we are trying to or not, we usually think of the feelings involved in “falling in love.” Not that there’s anything wrong with falling in love! Falling in love is great! But – what does that say about our definition of love if the popular portrayal of love “ends” with marriage. We see a wedding in a movie and this is movie shorthand for “and they lived happily ever after.” But that feeds into the belief that all love always feels like falling in love.

For more on this idea I recommend with my most heart-felt recommendation “Sacred Marriage” by Gary Thomas. The subtitle of the book is “What if God designed marriage to make us holy, more than to make us happy?” A friend of mine suggests that the key to a successful marriage is that it requires both parties to become more mature people. Thomas says in the first chapter, appropriately titled “The Greatest Challenge in the World:”“Romantic love has no elasticity to it. It can never be stretched; it simply shatters. Mature love, the kind demanded of a good marriage, must stretch…Any mature spiritually sensitive view of marriage must be built on the foundation of mature love rather than romanticism. But this immediately casts us into a countercultural pursuit.” I don’t think that it is the fault of movies that our general perception of love is limited to the romantic, “falling in love” sort of love – but I do think movies perpetuate this idea. So, what are some “countercultural” movies? Which ones show a different side of love than the pursuit? I thought of these: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) – Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed. Gets me every time…I am always surprised at how many people haven’t seen it, or haven’t seen all of it. You need to see all of it.The Family Man (2000) – A sort of reverse “It’s A Wonderful Life.” In fact, I’m sure that’s how it was pitched to the producers. Still a good movie, though.The Bishop’s Wife(1947) Cary Grant/The Preacher’s Wife – The original, and the 1996 remake with Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston.The Notebook (2004) – Not my favorite, but I will admit that it portrays married love beautifully – the bulk of the movie, though, is flashbacks to “the pursuit.” The Quiet Man (1952) – A great movie! John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. Guys, if you’re patient, you get to see one of the longest fist-fights in movie history. Jerry Maguire (1996)– Maybe you’ve heard of this one.

A lot of these movies are centered around Christmas – interesting.

All of these follow the same three-act structure mentioned above – but in all of these films the major conflict for love comes after the marriage. These movies require their characters to do more than “fall in love.” They are required to stay in love – which is quite a different kettle of fish - a different set of emotions, a different kind of commitment, than the emotions and commitments that come with falling in love.So, back to the original question. What’s your favorite movie that portrays love in the context of marriage?

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Wedding announcement

Amy Myers and Ramon Pedoto
Wedding date: May 2, 2009
Location: Huntsville, AL
Kelly and Sarah Myers of Hampton Cove, AL are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter Amy Eloise Myers to Ramon Walter Pedoto on May 2, 2009, at the Preserve at Clayton Pond in Huntsville, AL.
The bride is a 2003 graduate of Samford University and a 2008 graduate of Baylor University where she received her doctorate in educational and cognitive psychology. She currently is conducting independent research in the Huntsville area.
The groom is from Madison and is the son of Dr. Constance Pedoto and the late Joseph Pedoto of Curry, Alabama. He is a 1998 and graduate of the University of Alabama in Birmingham where he received a Bachelor of Science and Masters in Computer Science. The groom currently is working for COLSA on the arsenal as a software engineer.
Ramon and Amy met this past year through a mutual friend and although they were friends at first, Ramon was in love the moment he met her. They are now inseparable and plan to spend their lives together and someday start a family. Ramon proposed to Amy on November 29th and Amy happily accepted. Both of their families are extremely happy for the two of them, and wish them nothing but love and happiness as they start the next chapter of their lives together.

Apples to Apples


One of my favorite games of all time is “Apples to Apples.” I first played the boxed version, but at one party in Waco a few years back some old friends discovered that, with a little labor-intensive preparation, you can have an even better experience with a homemade version. The game itself involves each player taking turns reading an adjective (a word that describes a noun). Then the other players turn in a noun that they feel fits that adjective. The adjective reader is then the judge, and decides which noun best fits the adjective. This process is theoretically like comparing apples to apples, hence the title
.I know it sounds less than awesome, but it’s actually great, especially if you are a strange person who comes up with strange nouns and adjectives. Remember, a noun can be any person, place, thing, idea – even a situation. For example, “the sun” is a noun. “Inside the sun” is a better noun. “Tom Cruise’s secret hideaway inside the sun” is an awesome noun. You just have to twist it a little into weird territory. Purists might say that such a “noun” includes too many adjectives already. Well, purists are boring.
We are really good at coming up with weird nouns, including nearly-forgotten inside jokes from the past. Here’s some of my favorite adjectives to use:- Apocalyptic- Strangely Attractive- Likely to Float- Almost Certainly InedibleAnd here’s some of my favorite nouns from past homemade games (including yesterday), both mine and others’:- Unlikely break-dance king- Buttered pillow pajamas- Laser vision catfish- Magical talking barbecue sandwich- The Word Find of Love- Pickle-sicle- Moses MacGruber- One-winged plane that still flies on the power of hope- 9 and ½ volt battery in a twelve-volt world- Flesh-colored ice skates that aren’t fooling anyone- Epileptic banjo prodigy.
Feel free to use these the next time you play a homemade version of Apples to Apples!
** Oh, you may ask "what does this have to do with marriage or Ramon?"... Apples to Apples is on my gift registry.

Monday, February 2, 2009

guily pleasure

I think most people want to find their soulmate, and would do anything it took to find him/her. And once you grow to love someone, you really would do anything for them.
Everybody deserves their chance, no matter what "box" it comes in. Ramon and I met on a blinddate, some meet on the internet through sites like eHarmony, some meet on blind dates, some in high school, work, church, anywhere.



Less than 100 days till the wedding!