Wedding Thoughts and Good Times

After an exciting but long week of work, I finally reunited with several of my friends for a joyous occasion, the marriage of Chris Wheatley and Michelle Nilsen. I’ve been looking forward to this event for a while and can’t believe how quickly it arrived. Thinking back, I still remember when Chris told me he was going to propose. When he told me, I sensed something in him I’ve never seen before. It was happiness so rare and pure that absolutely nothing in the world could ever break it. I saw that same happiness in Michelle when I saw her at the announcement dinner. This summer, I finally left Spokane and returned to my beautiful home state. I haven’t been back to the Pacific Northwest since. It felt good coming back. Friday morning began a little before 5am and I didn’t arrive at the airport terminal until 7:30. David Gaines’ connection was in Denver and we spent the majority of the flight to Portland catching up on life. Once in Portland, my friend Rachel picked us up from the airport and took us to lunch. After lunch, she went back to work and David and I headed to the church to practice music and orient ourselves. I picked Rachel up from work and we both headed to the rehearsal. Dinner was fabulous although a little chaotic and filled with enjoyable stories and great company. After dinner, Rachel and I headed back to her place to grab her debit card and the plan was to rejoin everyone at the hotel for a night at the bar. Well…that didn’t happen because the tunnel we needed to go through to get back to the hotel was closed for cleaning. Yeah, you read that correctly. They were power washing the tiles of the 26 West tunnel around 9pm. Needless to say, Rachel and I never made it back to the hotel. We watched the movie 21 and had wine back at her apartment. I had a little bit too much to drink and I’ll just leave it at that.

Saturday, Chris and the groomsmen were pampered and treated to massages. They were full body massages and I really must add that David had a male masseuse whose name was Roberto. David said it was not really awkward except for the fact that the man was whispering to him. When I heard this, I laughed SO HARD!! Anyways, after the massages, had lunch at the Cheesecake factory and spent the rest of the day relaxing before heading to the church. Pictures were taken before the ceremony and although it was pretty cold, I was told I couldn’t complain because, “the men at least have jackets while the bridesmaids are freezing.” Chris looked pretty slick and Michelle was absolutely gorgeous. The ceremony went quickly and I’ll admit I had to fight back a few tears when I saw Chris cry a little bit. Even more strangely, it was at that point when I accepted the notion that I think I could be ready to think about marriage. This is absolutely not saying that I’m gonna start looking desperately for a woman just to get married but it’s simply saying that the idea isn’t something I’ll immediately dismiss anymore. The reception was a blast and I’m thankful for new friends and FAMILY, especially Kari and Laura – sisters of the bride and groom.

It’s gonna take a lot to top this weekend! Pics to be posted later...