Awesome Thing #5 ~ Weddings!

I always try not to over-romantacize weddings. I would rather go with the thought that the wedding is only one party out of a whole marriage. Maybe this is because as a kid I always thought I would jinx my own chances of getting married if I planned for it - kind of a "don't count your chickens before they've hatched" type of thing. So I wasn't/haven't been one of those girls whose had it all planned out since I was knee-high to a chipmunk.

The lack of my own wedding plans however, has in no way diminished my absolute love of weddings. Any wedding. I've been to traditional church weddings, backyard weddings, mountain weddings and even a surprise wedding in a park. I've been fortunate enough to have been a flower girl, a bridesmaid, a soloist, a speaker and a photographer at weddings. I've watched my grandmother re-marry after being widowed, I've watched close friends marry and I've celebrated with coworkers who have taken the plunge. I have yet to meet a wedding I didn't enjoy. 

After all, what's not to enjoy!? Family, friends, food, entertainment, beautiful dresses and ambience, gifts, speeches and memories. It's like an extra Christmas. On top of that, you get to share in the special day when two people you care about pledge their commitment to each other for the rest of their lives. It's an event that has the potential to remind you, once again, about what's important in life. 

There is one wedding experience that I have anticipated for a long, long, long time. Probably ever since I forced my little brother to marry his GI Joe to my Barbie. I definitely thought about it again when as teenagers my brother and I went out to a driving range and he told me that he was buying a promise ring for his then six-month girlfriend. Now there is an engagement ring on the left hand of that same "six-month" girlfriend and wedding planned for September! 

My brother marrying the love of his life. . .

AWESOME!!!!!

My brother marrying the love of his life, ensuring that my "almost-like-a-sister-in-law-friend" will officially be my sister-in-law. . . . .

EVEN MORE AWESOME!!!!!