Wednesday, September 28, 2005

The Wedding

Well I think it is about time that I recap the wedding that happened a few weeks ago, so that those who didn't attend could at least get an idea of what went on.
To start I guess it would be fair to talk about the rehearsal first. I took off a few hours early from work, because Barclay (groomsman) and I were going to go for a motorcycle ride around Jackson, but that got cancelled due to some lovely downpour. So we ended up just chillin' for a little bit and then headed up to the church to meet up with the whole family. We started the rehearsal about 7, and were done with it by about 8. We only did one full run, and just talked about any mistakes, or changes. We then all went down the road to Corky's for some good food, and just had a good time with both families talkin. After the dinner, the guys in my family, would have had the guys from Amber's family go, but one of them is a scum ball and when he is drunk he is an even bigger scum bag, all went out to a bar for some drinks. I ended up have about 7 beers total, which isn't too bad. Barclay and I started to play a game of darts, when a stripper named Danielle came up and asked if she could play, she was a good dart player, but was definitely not that good of a looker. We left that bar after a while, and went to a place called Hal & Mal's which had a band, and we kind of just wound down there, before calling it a night.

The next morning, Barlcay and woke up around 9:30, and saw that it was pretty nice outside and decided to take the time for our bike ride. We were out for about an hour, and we had to just stop because the Love Bugs in the area were so thick that we had to stop a few times through the ride to wipe them off because they were so caked on. We then got back to the hotel around 1:30, and needed to start getting dressed for photos which started at 3PM sharp. Got to the church and then had to start working on the whole not seeing the bride before the wedding thing, which kind of made it like a small game, because I'd have to have people go ahead of me to make sure she was behind a closed door or not in my sight. We finished our photos, and went back to the reception hall to finish decorating it until it was time for the wedding to start.

As the wedding was getting ready to begin, I was in a back room that the minister and I would walk out of after the mothers were seated, and I was feeling just fine, maybe I was little fidgety, but other than that nothing serious. We then are able walk out after getting a signal, and I take my place on the floor waiting for Amber. The bridesmaid's and groomsmen all come out, and stand up at the front, and then the music plays to signal Amber's entrance. Everyone stood up, and blocked my view of her until she got up to the front. When I saw her, I knew the reason why it is worth any hassle to not see her before the wedding, she looked so beautiful, that I felt tears coming to my eyes. It was everything I could do to keep them back, because I knew if I started, she'd start, and I didn't want her to ruin the make up she had put on. The minister said his thing, and then her dad handed her to me and we walked up the stairs to finish off the ceremony. Everything went smoothly, no stuttering, everyone was able to hear us, and it was over in about 20 minutes from start to finish. As we walked down the aisle together, and out the door, I felt a huge weight off my shoulders, because the thing was over with and all the stress I had about it was finally gone. After everyone left to go to the reception, Amber and I had to go and take our pictures together since we avoided them before the wedding.

The reception was pretty nice, we did some of the typical things that you do at a reception, and with a crowd of less than 80, it was a pretty nice experience. I wish it had been a little bigger, but nothing could be done about it. The only problem about the reception was that for the first half of it the music was pretty poor quality, because the A/V guy didn't have things setup right. All in all though it was a wonderful day and was so happy that I had such a wonderful woman for a wife.

I will post some more later on about the honeymoon, and what not.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Count down to D-Day - 5 Days

Well, it is has been a while since I've posted, mainly do to the
hurricane, and a back packing trip to the Smokies. Last week I had
to work only 1 day, which was nice, and then I got to fly up to
Nashville, and the rode up to Gatlinberg with my Dad and brother. We
got up at the butt-crack of dawn, and headed to the trail head to get
up the mountain. We were to travel 5 miles, and climb 3,000 feet in
those 5 miles. The climb up took us about 4.5 hours, and we had to
make several stops. My legs sometimes felt like they were on fire
because of all the up hill climbing. Once we go to the top, and to
the lodge we were staying at, we at some lunch, and then hiked out to
a place called Mrytle Point, where you can just see forever, and it
is so quiet. We sat up there for a few hours, bad idea, because I
ended up getting sun burned on my face and arms, and now I am
starting to peel. It was real pretty up there, you could hear
Swallows as they flew by trying to catch food. We then headed back
to the lodge, and ate dinner at 6, when they rang the bell. We met
the people who were in the same cabin as us, the husband was an
attorney, and the wife was a real estate agent. They were pretty
nice people, and they were up the mountain for their first time.
After all that we went up to Cliff Top Point, and watch the sunset.
After that there wasn't much else to do, so we went to bed. The next
morning we got up before dawn, and my Dad and brother went to watch
the sunrise. We then ate breakfast at the lodge again, and got ready
for the trek back down. I let gravity take control of my pace, and I
ended up getting down the mountain in 2 hours, while it took my dad
and brother 3.5 hours. We then went for a drive through Cade's Cove,
and headed to Lebanon for the night, and then I took off the next
morning for Jackson. That's what's been going on the past several days.