The One with (another) Wedding

It's been a great couple of days. Not only has the weather been ideal for my preferences, but we've enjoyed a wedding, a children's led worship service, a fantastic time with the youth group, and more.

Friday evening, we traveling 20 minutes down the road to Clair & Caitlin's wedding rehearsal. It was kind of fun to be a part of the behind-the-scenes preparation but not have much responsibility. Kevin & I were privileged to be asked to read Psalm 100 as the prelude to the ceremony. We were able to meet new friends and enjoy a homecooked dinner before heading home (to watch the RedWings lose to the Penguins. darn it!)

Saturday morning felt fairly lazy, but I was still out of bed well before 8am and downstairs working out with Jillian. I made it over to the Dunbar Estates neighborhood garage sales and boy was I glad I did. I can definitely see myself becoming that insane garage saler who rises early on the weekends to arrive at the start of the best known sales with definite goals in mind. I just love it! What's even better is having an excuse to hunt for someone else. One of my good friends is having a baby and I was so excited to find sale after sale getting rid of never worn onesies for a quarter each. And they are all in adorable patterns too. So fun.

This leads me to my next point. I wonder how many church people saw rows of baby clothes hanging out to dry yesterday and, well, drew their own assumptions. *sneaky grin* I did talk with my neighbor (also a church member) and clarify that "These are not for us! Our friend is having a baby!" :D Should be interesting to see if any rumors take root. Not that I'm encouraging rumors and gossip. I just think it could be entertaining to see if anyone will actually ask me and then to have the great response of, "NO! Why? Do I look it?" and make them feel all awkward. Ok, so that's a little mean, but...still fun. Kind of like AFV. or Wipeout.

Saturday afternoon we made our way back down the road to the church to watch our great friends, Caitlin & Clair, be joined together in the holy state of matrimony. It really was a wonderful service (aside from the Pastor's mispronouncing Caitlin's name over and over again. It sound more like Kate Lynn then one fluid name. Emphasis on the second syllable rather than the first. I wonder if she was as annoyed as I was. Hopefully not.) We had a great time catching up with Dave & Lynne and laughing hysterically with the Bells--a couple in their 60s who were anything but a damper on the party.

:::Caitlin & Clair and their attendents::

::after The Kiss, the groomsmen pulled out newspapers to cover their eyes::

::a lovely cake::

I think I have a thing for cakes.

::the gorgeous, glowing new couple::

::four great friends::

Sunday morning was the first service Kevin and I had attended together in far too long. It was good. The kids led the first half of the worship and I have to tell you--it was one of the best worship experiences ever. Their joy, their innocence, their excitement--it was all a perfect reflection of the heart of Jesus. I think he was on to something in Matthew 18:3.

That afternoon, we finally got around to putting down our tent that had been set up in the garage since our camping trip last week. No, I will not be embarrassed by this. :D It needed to dry fully and be swept off and out. Now we are finally getting to be pros at the fold up and set up of this tent. Practice makes perfect.

I ran to the store for some "Celebrate the Start of Summer" Pizza Party supplies for that evening's youth group meeting and decided on Frescetta frozen pizza instead of the Little Caesar's Hot and Ready (that is, warm and mushy). I got home, threw two of the three pizzas in the oven. They cooked perfectly. Put the third one in to bake just before the troops starting flooding our entryways. Then the timer rang. And John, one of the teens, was trying to help me by pulling out the pizza. I looked into the oven to find not one but two pizzas--one perfectly cooked and the other completely charred. Ruined. Destroyed. Worthless. A waste of $4.96. I burnt a frozen pizza. Sure, I can make my own pizza dough and bake it to perfection, but give me a frozen variety and the result is anything but pleasing.

I'm laughing out loud at my own stupidity at this moment. I mean, it's seriously hysterical. The irony of that moment in my life was just...priceless. We'll see if I ever attempt the frozen pizza again. ;)

The teens quickly forgave my negligence and we all headed outside for a great game of Ultimate Frisbee. Boy, I did not realize how much I have missed playing. My senior year at SAU, I was out there every week--me and the guys--playing one of the greatest games invented. (Though I might just think that because it's the only sporting activity I find myself capable of playing rather well.) It was a blast and we were so excited to have THREE new students join us! That's a HUGE number when you consider a good night is 7 teens and there might only be 4 other nights. So our Ultimate Frisbee went over well even though the teams ended up a leettle bit uneven (unfair really) when Kevin and I both flips a "heads" and played together. It's not like we have the whole "married connection" thing going for us, or the fact that we had both played this game a thousand more times than anyone else. :D It was completely fun, though. Both teams played well and we didn't want to quit. And I think the students were a bit impressed with my skills. hee,hee. I was too, actually. I dove parallel for that disc a few times and succeeded. What a great feeling!

We all headed inside to the basement level teen room and were thankful for the cool air. Everyone enjoyed the 2 pizzas, pop, chips, and cookies while hearing about the awesome opportunities coming up for our group. We shared laughs and stories and managed to accomplish 99% of what was on my schedule for the night--which is impressive for us. Our group is rather talkative and we all love hanging out with each other--which is a blessing but can also result in difficulty getting the entire group's attention. :)

After all the teens left, Kevin and I were both completely pumped with the turn out and the involvement and the interaction. It was definitely a heavenly encouragement.

I could probably gone on and on about youth group right now or about all the other things that I'm learning in my personal life right now, but I think most of my audience was lost paragraphs ago to their drowsiness. :)