I'M ELOPING

I'm back. I know, I know, you've been sinking into a deep dark pit of depression during the week that I've been missing from the blogger-abyss. Well, I have returned to rescue you all from the brink of insanity.

Oh and don't worry about the title of the blog. I'm not actually eloping, like, this week or anything. Just one day when I decide to actually get married. And the reason is Tim and Andee's wedding. I mean, don't get me wrong. It was beautiful. But I could NEVER handle actually planning that. I mean, I generally plan absolutely everything! I´m talking what time I´m going to the bank to withdraw money and who I have to call during the day...even things I need to do on the internet. I know, I'm psychotic. Like, everything! (My keyboard just switched to German for some reason and it won´t let me change it back. I am frustrated beyond belief. z and y are switched around and all the ü, ä, ö buttons are all wrong. and I can´t find any of the proper buttons. i can´t handle this! If there are tons of spelling mistakes, itäs cuy of this fricking computer kezboard that sucks! (see why I´m frustrated...I can´t find the question mark button...!"§$%&/()=? there it is!) Rebekah is making me eat m&m´s to make me feel better. hmmmm. not working.YAY. i just figured out how to change it back. stupid 'puters...

Anyways, as I was saying, normally I'm totally a planner. I plan everything. But after this wedding

there is nothing that could induce me to plan a wedding anytime soon.

Like, if I had been dating someone for three years and he proposed to me tomorrow, I'd either say we run off to the Bahamas to get married by the banana king or we make it a decade-long engagement so I don't have to deal with planning. Not even kidding. Like, just listening to Andee and Tim talk about all the work they put into this and seeing how stressed Andee got at times. I mean, they (Andee's whole family) have been working on their cabin and property for almost an entire year just for the wedding. And I saw that fat ol' notebook Andee's been carrying around since they got engaged, just filled with lists of things. People she had to call, things she had to buy, stuff she needed to get other people to bring out to the cabin because she hadn't thought of it, stuff she had to plan for in order to plan for all the plans....ya, that's right! You heard me.

And then I went out with them last week Tuesday to help set up for the wedding. And the stuff we had to deal with! Like, Andee had to get a whole extra tent THE DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING cuz the ones they had rented weren't big enough. And that was a gamble because we had no idea if the tent rental company (which was an entire headache in itself....seriously, never rent from Best Way in Kenora) even had any more tents or the time to set another one up! And decorating was NOT easy. That pink and orange organza was freaking PINK AND ORANGE, folks. (Kudos to Lindsay, who was in charge. I just stood on the ladder all day and pinned what she wanted me to pin. And let me tell you, this was not easy/fun pinning, like pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey or whatever. I'm not very good at decorating...) And there was some other big thing that almost went all screwey that I totally can't remember right now. But like, even the small things. I mean, all of a sudden we realized we needed power cords, like, a buttload of them. So we called Jared and made sure he brought tons of every different length. And don't even get me started on how utterly USELESS glue dots are. "Holds everything and anything" my a**. And I just want everyone to know that I hung all the green lights that went around the sides of all the tents. Bonnie handed me stuff and Andee held the ladder, but I dealt with ALL the large spiders hiding in every corner where I had to zip-tie the cords. Grrrr. (Oh, and then taking them all down after...)

And then came the rehearsal. I mean, it all went well, it's just another thing that has to be organized and takes up time. But it actually went super-smooth:

getting the wedding rehearsal started

the flowergirls/ringbearers playing ring-around-the-rosy
the groom's side (Pastor Donovan, Tim, Craig, me, Jared, and Josh)

all the kids tumbling down the hill to not spot in particular...good rehearsal....

icing all the wedding cupcakes

So anyways, it was a lot of work. I mean, it was absolutely beautiful. (Thank the LORD the rain stopped 45 min before the ceremony started.) I hope their day was as amazing as they hoped for and I was very happy to do everything I could. I loved helping. The 2-hour beer breaks were helpful. Plus being a groomswoman was really awesome....except the picture session in the rain with Tim and the other groomsmen where I looked like a drowned rat about 10 minutes in. I am scared to see those pics... :) Honestly, don't get me wrong. I had fun setting up for the wedding. I don't want you to think I'm complaining. What I'm saying is....

I WOULD NEVER EVER SURVIVE PLANNING THAT WEDDING.

Andee is obviously amazing. I mean, I don't possess much sanity to begin with....so it wouldn't take much for me to go absolutely mind-buggered.

Here's a few pics of the reception, though.

the beautiful bride

taking the boat as we left the ceremony. that's the whole bridal party!

my bro-in-law, craig, and i at the head table (he was best man)

the newly-weds

oooooooooooooooooooooooo.

THE END.