Two More Weddings

This year was ringing loudly with wedding bells. I made my way back to Kentucky for 2 weeks to catch up and get down. And it was nice to be home for my birthday...26...ahhh! Ok, that's not old, still plenty of time to do lots of stuff. So my mom and I went down by the Ohio River to some pumpkin patches and picked some very cute ones for all the neighborhood kids to carve up. It was nice to be home for my birthday and favorite holiday and spend it the way I did when I was a little kid!

But the real reasons for the visit were my cousin's wedding Saturday in Indiana and then a quick sprint back home for my good friend's wedding back in Northern Kentucky on Sunday.

Mandy is the first of the cousins on my mom's side to get married, so we were all excited to enjoy in a country style wedding! And I'm not kidding- look at the cake! Tractors, horse drawn carriages, hay stacks and corn stalks were all proudly involved in the ceremony! My Uncle Keith actually fattened up the 2 pigs they butchered and we ate for dinner! We all boogied on the dance floor, but my mom and I had to cut out early to drive 4 hours back home so I could get a rest before participating in Nicole Spaulding's wedding the next day. (Pictured below are my cousins on the Freed side!)

So now back home in Kentucky, I drove to Nicole's house in the morning to help her get ready. Now Nicole and I go back quite a ways. I remember attending her 6th grade CO-ED (!) birthday party and creating our own glamorous Spice Girls tapes in her living room. We've had a lot of laughs along the way and so I was honored to participate in such a big day (and excited that our bridesmaid attire were reasonably priced cute little black dresses from The Gap...Nicole usually picks out my clothes anyway whenever we shop =0) ) Her wedding was typical Nicole style: trendy, simply and a whole lotta fun. She had a local bar band play at the reception and we all enjoyed the delicious pumpkin cupcakes loaded with icing! Her husband, Andrew, was the main attraction showing off all is fabulous dance moves on stage!
It is such a thrill to see people you've grown up with and loved your whole life to find such a special someone. To be involved in the beginning of that huge commitment that is marriage is a great honor and is wonderful to witness. I hope everyone finds their happiness in something bigger than oneself...whether that's in a commitment with another person, a place or a way of life. Cheers to finding peace, happiness and challenges that result in a stronger and more experienced you!