When I was out in Greenville for Heather Caddell's wedding, Curby and I had lunch with some old friends of mine from the Greenville days - Maura and her husband, Marcus, and Jenn. Jenn and Maura were part of a small group bible study that I led back in 2004-2006, and it is a total joy to still be in relationship with them and call them friends.
Well, while I was introducing them to Curby, Jenn mentioned that she had heard about my meeting and falling in love with Curby at (basically) first date, and prayed for something like that. And a week later it happened. Seriously! Cool, right? So when we saw her in May, she was saying that things were moving quickly and that she thought they might be getting married, too! (Curby and I were not yet engaged) I'll be darned if they weren't engaged just a few weeks later (one week before Curby and I) and their wedding was planned for two weeks before ours.
Curby and I had talked about it before we knew the date of their wedding and agreed that if we could work out the $$, I'd be at the wedding. Later, Jenn asked me if I would be IN the wedding as one of her bridesmaids and I was so honored to be able to say "Yes!"
So there I was, two weeks before I tied the knot, on a flight to Milwaukee. I"ll admit that even I thought I was crazy! At that point, I had started having trouble sleeping - on a few days I'd wake up at 5 in the morning thinking about wedding stuff, unable to get back to sleep, and basically was barely hanging on with the work I had to do. My head was totally full of wedding stuff. Despite that, I was really looking forward to hanging out with Jenn and helping her get hitched to her beloved, Edward. I was also excited because my friend, and bridesmaid, Laura lives near Jenn, and we were going to get to hang out on Sunday - and I was going to get to meet her baby, Hope, for the first time.
I arrived late Thursday night and had a great drive home getting caught up with Jenn and hearing all about the wedding. On Friday, we worked on some details for the wedding, like making the bouquets and some crafty things (centerpieces and such), a rehearsal and a really fun time decorating the rehearsal hall. Saturday was the wedding and it was just beautiful. The pastor knows Jenn and Edward well and really tailored the ceremony for them, and the reception was tons of fun! We had a blast!!
After the reception, I went home with Laura and Andy, and stayed with them until Monday morning. While I was helping Jenn, I slept great - we were burning candles at both ends and so I was sleeping HARD - but the night after I got to the Petersons', I woke up at 5am again and could not go back to sleep. It was all back - wedding thoughts! Luckily, it was just a really great day and I was so blessed, despite my full mind of worry. I had breakfast with another friend (and former student) and her husband, Jamie and Zach (who I hadn't met before), then hung out with the Petes the rest of the day. I got to play with Hope (see below) and enjoy that time together.
And then later I was treated to an amazing amazing treat.
People.
Laura's mom treated all of us to dinner and a show at the Fireside Theater in Fort Madison, Wisconsin. Laura and I followed the rest of the crew, so that Hope could sleep a little longer in her nap, so we had a really great visit on the way there, and then we got to have a delicious (!!!!!) 4 course dinner, and see one of my all-time favorite musicals: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
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| Picture from the preview of the show |
It was really awesome and I was so blessed. It was a small theater, so every seat was good, and the music was amazing and the dancing great, and it took place on this small round stage, so the staging was interesting and fun, and it was just awesome. I was completely grateful.
It was a great end to a great trip. I flew home excited to see my future husband, excited to see my friends and family, and fully ready to begin running the sprint that was set before me.
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