The Wedding

So my friend Claire got married on New Year's Day. There are not enough words to communicate how incredibly excited I am for her. Claire is my oldest (in length of time, not age) and dearest friend. We have been through so much together. I met her when I was 13, she was 14, a few weeks shy of 15 (which seemed soooo old back then). We were always together because of church stuff, but really, really worked to have a great friendship. We are very different people and we learned at young age, literally, to value those differences. She's one of the few people on this planet that I know I can be my absolute self around. There are no pretenses. She's seen me at my best and my worst and everthing in the middle. Claire and Dave lived across the hall from each other and they had a great friendship way before Dave and I started dating. It made things really wonderful for me that one of my closest friends was great friends with my husband. She would always joke when we were teenagers that the worst part of pregnancy must be not being able to see your feet. With all three of my kids, I called or emailed the day that I looked down and could not see my feet. She came to the hospital the day Lucy was born and held my daughter. Leaving Claire in Illinois was/is hard. She was on the list of reasons why we should stay. We've kept in great contact the past five years and visit as much as we can. She comes here more than I go there, I've been having kids.

Last year Claire started dating Nick. Insert big, long, happy sigh. I'm still sighing, actually. For the first time ever she fell head-over-heels in love with this amazing man. They could not be more perfect for each other! They came down to visit last spring. It was amazing. Nick fits right in. We adore him. Our kids adore him.

She got engaged and asked me, Lucy, and Gus to be in the wedding. Of course we would be in the wedding! It meant more to me that she asked our kids than me. I was so honored. And let me just say, she was an awesome bride. The bridesmaids dresses were whatever we wanted as long as they were black. So I marched on over to the mall and got me a little black dress. It had been awhile since I'd had a new non-maternity one of those (seven years!). We got Lucy's dress and the ringbearers tuxes off of ebay, brand-new, gorgeous, and super inexpensive.

The wedding was New Year's Day, which happened to work out perfectly for us! We got to visit Dave's family in Chicago, my family in Chenoa, and then visit friends in Bloomington. We landed in Bloomington Wednesday night. We visited with Claire's parents for a bit. Then we had dinner with our friends Chris and Linette. On Thursday we were able to spend time with Shelly, Emily, and Anderson. I love their little family!

Thursday night I threw a shower for Claire and then the bachelorette party was immediately after. Claire wanted to go bowling and play pool in cocktail dresses. So we did, all of the bridesmaids and Nick's sisters. It was so much fun! We laughed a lot. I even got hit on, twice. That doesn't happen very much, I'm a kept woman who does not get out much.

On Friday morning we went to visit friends from our old small group and church in Bloomington. Only two of the couples were able to make it, but it was so fantastic. I love and respect those people so much! It felt like we just picked up where we left off. And the kids did great together. That whole group of people was on the list of why we should stay in Bloomington. Then we spend the afternoon with Christine and her kids.

The rehearsal started at 4 and the dinner was after. The whole week seemed like one giant reunion. While we were in Bloomington we stayed at our friend Michelle's house. She is amazing. She is single, with no kids or pets, and was such a great hostess to us and our family of five. After the rehearsal dinner Travis and Katie came over to Michelle's for a bit on New Year's Eve. It was wonderful.

The wedding was Saturday afternoon. Lucy and Gus were amazing. Absolutely amazing. I was so proud of them. They sat still, they were super patient. We were at the lodge for two and a half hours before the wedding started and they only had pictures for five minutes. They sat relatively still and were calm. They did great walking down the aisle and being still during the wedding. Travis and Katie were invited to the wedding, too. Thank goodness! They watched Judson, because Dave sat with Lucy and Gus. Judson was not happy and screamed for most of the ceremony, so they had to sit in the truck with him. It was a fantastic day. A big 'ole party celebrating Claire and Nick.

We drove home the next day. We did the drive in one day, and got home around 11. Dave and Lucy went to school and work the next morning. On Monday I unpacked and took down the tree. It took us about a week to get back into our usual routine.