My cousin Jake (below, with Elena) got married this weekend to his now wife Anne. We got to enjoy a great party with delicious, organic food on a beautiful flower farm. My family on that side tends to be very loud, a lot of fun and pretty laid-back. I think the laid-back part was apparent this weekend in the fact that our bathrooms at the wedding were port-a-potties (although for some of the men, even these proved unnecessary due to the ample surrounding of trees), and after we ate, the caterers washed the dishes with a garden hose. In the port-a-potties' defence, they were comparatively nice - complete with flush toilets and sinks for washing. The sinks, by the way, had little signs next to them advising people not to drink the water. I hope that the signs were not really necessary to deter people from drinking the port-a-potty water.
Lest you think that the most memorable part of the wedding was how we all went to the bathroom, I will move on. Jake and Anne made a beautiful bride and groom, and it was so fun to watch them share this day together. I love watching couple's make their vows, especially when you can tell they mean it. There is something very moving in watching two people promise each other that their love is not contingent upon constant happy days and romantic feelings, but that they will wake up every morning for the rest of their lives and do their best to love each other even on days when they might not feel like it: for better and for worse (not for better or forget it). I love this picture because you can see Anne holding back the tears.
Aaaahh...marriage is a marvelous thing and I love it. I am moved with pity whenever I hear someone tell me that their marriage "doesn't really mean anything" or "didn't change anything." Marriage always means something because at that point, the two enter into a relationship that they cannot simply walk away from - the 2 become 1 (yay!). This is a very important aspect to any relationship that carries with it the potential for children, who all desire to grow up with their loving parents.
And so many others have told me that they don't want to get married because they think it will ruin the relationship. If you think promising someone that you will stick by them through thick and thin will harm your relationship, you may want to reconsider that relationship. Call me a romantic, but oh! these people are missing out on the beauty of true love (even when - especially when - every day is not happily ever after). So congratulations to Jake and Anne for grabbing onto and embracing true love with all of its joyful potential, scary uncertainties, and assurance of trials to come.
Elena got to wear a very pretty dress for the wedding (thank you, Pavi). Later we changed her into play clothes so she could crawl around, and she started walking (on her knees, of course) straight for the middle of the dance floor, trying to dance with everyone. Unfortunately, the people dancing couldn't really see her and we had to pull her out when people started stepping on her. Someday, Elena...
And my Aunt Linda came up to me at one point and whispered, "Can I ask you something?....are you pregnant?" "Uh...yeah. You didn't know that?" Her husband (my Uncle Paul) had failed to mention to her that we were expecting when he found out 2 months ago. She had figured it out because I was going to the bathroom so much and not drinking wine. Poor Aunt Linda - she loves babies and gets so excited to have more in the family, while Uncle Paul is a little less excitable when it comes to babies (and cuddling and affection and stuff like that...) Here's a shot of them at my sister's wedding. It's a little fuzzy, but I think it portrays their personalities pretty well :)
