Wedding Weekend Whirlwind

Thursday
Thursday started out like any other work day. I woke up at 5:00 a.m. (with angry cries of "No! No! No! I don't want to get up!). I worked out until about 6:00. And then I deemed it time to start getting ready. But this was no ordinary work day. This was, in fact, not a work day at all. Today I was going to spend 10 hours in the car in order to drive most of the way to a wedding I was in on Saturday.

I have never been particularly fond of being in the car for 10 hours, so I have gotten rather good at breaking up my trips. I wasn't especially thrilled about the beginning part of my adventure. As beautiful as I claim Colorado to be, northeastern Colorado is...erm...boring is a kind way to put it. Lots of scruffy looking sage brush stuff. And very dry.

Still, I was in a pleasant mood. Because of Labor Day I had only worked a two day week, (and although things had been hectic and stressful at work, I had sufficiently managed to handle my crises that had arisen with stressed out grace and poise...okay, I had mildly panicked) and was happy to be well rid of the work part of the week. Plus, I had had a nice conversation with Steph just two days previously and was looking forward to her wedding more than ever.

However, those first two hours weren't nearly as dreadful as I imagined. I was brimming with excitement and as I sped out of the city and into...nowhere...I found myself surrounded not by boring hills of sagebrush, as I was expecting (because every other time I'd made the drive, that's what I'd been gifted), but fields upon fields of black eyed Susans. These cheerful yellow flowers beamed at me by the thousands, glistening with dew, and sparkling in the early morning sun. The didn't leave my side until I reached Nebraska.

Nebraska is much flatter than Colorado (it's amazing the difference you notice the MOMENT you cross the state line), but also greener. The highway winds along with the Platte River, so you have plenty of trees to keep you company in the flat expanse.

Due to construction, too many bathroom stops, and some poor math on my part (how did I incorrectly figure out the time change from Mountain to Central?), I didn't end up reaching Lincoln until 4:15 (not 2:00 like I planned). My original plan had been to meet up with my aunt LIsa for a late lunch so I didn't get to Des Moines too late. However, my pokeyness turned out to be quite fortunate. Lisa was able to pick up Bella (my adorable 10 year old cousin) and meet me just off the highway. We shared an appetizer and I drank too much soda (I've given up caffeine, again, and of course was bouncing off the walls in no time).

I called Bets as I left Lincoln to tell her I would be getting to Des Moines until about 8:00, but she seemed relieved at this news, as she would have a little more time to pick up the house. Armed with caffeine and Harry Potter on my iPod (Half Blood Prince) the drive to Des Moines seemed to take no time at all. Plus the setting sun on the rolling fields of corn was quite pleasant.

I arrived in Des Moines as planned and found my cousin's house with ease. As I walked in the door I called out a "Hello?" and received a "About time! I'm hungry!" from George. I laughed. He called for Betsey and after hugs, exclaiming at Betsey's adorable baby bump (she's 8 months pregnant and looks amazing!), looking around the house a bit, and chatting, George managed to convince us that it was time to go get dinner. I was put in charge of choosing a place, which of course I was horrible at (10 hours in the car had made me fairly brain dead and I'm not always the best decision maker in these situations), but I managed to get a favorable reply from my suggestion of Mexican.

Their favorite Mexican restaurant was not one I'd been to with them, but I had been there. Once upon a time in a separate life. I just can't bring myself to put his name in my happy blog so we'll just say that I felt a bit awkward being there (although the food was pretty tasty) and enjoyed our McDonalds run for ice cream (vanilla cone for me) after dinner much more. The rest of the evening saw us sitting happily in the hot tub, me exclaiming at how much they've accomplished on the house (i've included a few before and after pix to give you the general idea...but trust me, the general idea still doesn't come close to conveying how much work they've put into this place), George putting software on my computer (yay!), me playing Scrabble on his iPhone, and us watching a movie in their movie room (which utilizes some of their DJ equipment and means that we were watching it practically on a big screen...a projector and everything).



I got to stay in the Pansy Room (Betsey loves pansies, which has been common knowledge among friends and family for so long that she now has quite the collection of pansy things...enough to decorate an entire room and then some) and slept very well (what would be my best night of sleep the entire time I was gone).

Friday
The next morning I got up leisurely, went for a walk, got ready and packed back up, and went to Betsey's shop (she owns a cat grooming and supply store). (Just now while writing this and looking for her website, I found this cute article)

I walked around her shop a bit before we walked to Palmers for a some tasty sandwiches. We chatted a bit more and then I headed on my way to Mason City for the last 2 hours of my trek.

I arrived at the hotel at 3:00, just in time for check in. The Comfort Inn blasted me with the smells of B.O. and stale cigarette smoke as I walked in, not a good omen, I thought. I'd been in my room all of 5 minutes when my room phone rang. Although I was hesitant to answer it, it was Rhonda ringing to announce that she'd arrived as well. She got ready while I relaxed (aka watched episodes of The Office on my computer and painted my toenails).

At around 5:00 Rhonda, Al (her husband), and I piled into Rhonda's car for the 45 minute drive to Osage for the rehearsal and dinner (we would have stayed in Osage for the night, but Osage is such a small town that there wasn't anything available). I hadn't been that impressed with Mason City (well, not by the main street at any rate), but I loved Osage. It was a small town, yes, but a small town with quaint old houses. It had class and character, this place.

Right when we got to the church, we saw Steph standing in the doorway. There were hugs all around, but I really just wanted to scream loudly with excitement. Steph seemed a bit subdued and I guessed stressed. Rhonda and I smiled at her happily.

The rehearsal went smoothly, and I even had some helpful two cents to chime in (I make sure saj transferred her bouquet to her right hand as Lee escorted her to the altar, as she needed her left free to hold up her dress). I think I'm getting to be pretty good at this. By the time I get to Alicia's wedding in January, I'll be ready to go pro :)

The rehearsal dinner was at a local bar-ish place. The food was un-remarkable, but it was nice to be able to chat with saj for a bit. By 10:00 I was completely exhausted. I passed out almost immediately, but didn't sleep well (hard mattress and lumpy pillows)

Saturday: Wedding Day
(Click link above for pix)
I awoke to my early morning alarm reluctantly, not feeling like I'd slept much at all. I grabbed all my necessary wedding stuff (shoes, dress, makeup, hair stuff), blearily showered, and met Rhonda downstairs for a continental breakfast.

By 8:00 the two of us were in my car on our way to Osage. Although the morning started out with erie mist, by the time we'd reached the church, the fog had burned off, revealing patchy sunlight and clean greenness everywhere (corn and soybeans fields). We met up with the other girls in the wedding party at Katie's (Steph's sister). There was a guy there to do everyone's hair (well, everyone but me. I have pretty long hair, which makes it a pain for others to do...I'm fairly used to it). After a couple hours, we all had snazzy hair (even me...I'll admit I was impressed in spite of myself) and makeup on.

We scooted on over to the church (4 hours till wedding time) to finish getting ready and take photos. Two Dr. Pepper's (which I'm pretty sure I haven't had since high school), a salami sandwich, 1 bridesmaid dress, and thousands of pictures later, Steph was walking down the aisle looking, as one would expect, incredible. She managed me make me tear up twice (she walked down the aisle by herself, but went over to the side of the front pews to hug her dad, who's had a lot of knee trouble, surgery, and is in a wheel chair; and at the end, she and Lee kissed so happily and sweetly that I felt...touched), but I managed to keep it together (which anyone who knows me knows...that's saying something).

Rhonda and I drove happily to the reception back in Mason City, chatting away and making me ache for the days when I lived closer to these incredible women. The reception went by in a blur, but here are a few of my favorite highlights: cinema theme in Music Man Square (this means lots of fun decorations in what feels like a quaint old indoor movie village, complete with a table of movie candy and cups for guests to fill up on), philly cheese steak sandwiches (best wedding food ever), an ice cream parlor instead of a cake (they opened up the cute little shop for a couple of hours for wedding guests and I must say, best pralines and cream ice cream I've ever had...although I had had a few beers at this point), and singing karoke with saj's friend Josh. The best was our rendition of Summer Lovin', even if we didn't have an audience of more than a few people.



I slept marginally better that night (curses to hard mattresses and lumpy pillows).

Sunday
After calling Michael (to let him know what time to meet me in Ames for lunch), I gathered my things and gladly left the smelly hotel (well, okay, not before enjoying some granola in my room...unfortunately, I spilled milk in the elevator, but these things happen. Especially to klutzy people. Especially when the elevator door tries to close on you!).

Michael and I met up at Flying Burrito, the location of our very first meal together. We enjoyed some pleasant conversation (although I was a bit grouchy) and walked around campus for a spell. By the time I was back on the road, I was feeling quite a bit more cheerful.

I ended up back in Lincoln later than Lisa anticipated, but after picking up Tastees (and trust me they are...oh, and don't get me started on the fried onion chips) and my grandma, I headed to Pioneer's Park for dinner with Lisa and Bella (and grandma). They had just come from an audition for Bella to be in a dance troupe. After our greasy and delicious meal, we shared pleasant conversation while Bella pranced around outside, eventually bringing us discarded shells from cicada larvae. Lisa did demonstrate that because the legs are claw like, they make excellent pins! My cousin did manage to show me a few dance moves before I headed back on the road (highlight: she can do the splits the REAL way. I don't think I've ever been able to bend like that).

About and hour out of Lincoln, I stopped at McDonald's for a vanilla ice cream cone (something I had quite a lot of when I lived in Des Moines). This will be my 4th of the trip, and for those of you counting at home, no, you haven't miscounted...I've just conveniently forgotten to mention a few indiscretions.

And now...the most horrible part of my trip. Nothing else to look forward to but getting home. 5 hours of driving in the dark (and to my surprise, drizzle). I had to have the window down, and though my nose was painfully cold, I didn't dare warm things up. The chill and the loud music were all that kept me awake into the wee hours. I didn't get home until 1:00 a.m. (Colorado time...that's 2:00 a.m. Iowa time).

Falling gratefully into bed, I breathed a sigh of relief that I didn't have to get TOO early and was pleasantly surprised when Gatsby came and slept with me (something he hasn't done in a while). He must have missed me.