Minnesota

The morning of my trip to Minnesota for Katie's wedding I woke up thinking "it's so weird that I woke up before my alarm because it was set for 4:30...that's really early...I don't usually wake up before 4:30"  That's when I knew something was wrong.  I looked at the clock and it was 7:55!!!  My plane left at 8.  Needless to say it was too late to get to the airport.  After an hour on the phone and a little over an hour of semi-panicked hysteria I had a new ticket for the next day.

I decided to go to work since I had no plans for that day and I'm not one to sit around.  My co-worker commented "wow, you must really love this friend to buy two tickets to her wedding!"  Um yep.  Katie, I really love you, and I would have bought as many tickets as it took to get there :)

Julie and her parents who were picking me up in Minneapolis were so so kind and understanding about the delay.  Without hesitation they offered to wait around for another half day until I could get there.  I hadn't seen Julie in 4 or 5 years, but when we saw each other, it felt like I'd seen her just the day before.   We drove in "the limo" (really just a shiny black car, but we felt like high rollers!) up to Cass Lake Minnesota.  As you can see, kind of the middle of nowhere.  Just Katie's style!

It was so great to see the cabin we had been hearing about for our entire lives!  Even better was seeing the Brysons and meeting Katie's new husband, Tim.  After we toured the grounds and received sundry and thorough warnings about the dangers of the Minnesota backwoods (poison ivy, 'the itch' from the lake, etc.) Katie, Julie and I went over to our own little cabin (well technically we were sharing with a few cute little mice guys) where we decided to all sleep in the same queen sized bed so that we could talk.  And talk we did.  It was like a 5th grade sleepover allll over again!  

I love those girls and treasure their friendship!  I'll spare a lot more details, and just show some pictures now.

Julie, Katie, and Tim at the Groom's dinner the night before

This place was incredible. This is the sunset from the Bryson's dock on the Lake.  I could not stop taking pictures because it was so beautiful!

One detail I won't spare is we had a foot spa night back at the cabin after dinner and the sunset!  Katie's aunt's and Erin were angels!  They took care of helping everyone relax and making everyone's feet pretty! I have to say, I've always been skeptical about the value of foot rubs, soaking your feet, letting someone touch your feet, or touching someone else's feet for any reason, but I am now a converted fan!  Foot rubs forever!

The day of the wedding:

I woke up early and went for a run with Bill's wife, Erin, then we went swimming/bathing in the lake.  Let me tell you, it's one GREAT way to start a day!  Oh and P.S. I LOVE Erin!  After years of hearing about her I finally got to meet her! She is one of the kindest sweetest people I've ever met.  The whole weekend I noticed her quietly working to make other people's lives easier, or their time there more enjoyable.  Truly and inspiring person.

Then we went into Bemidji to get our hair and makeup done!  It was something I don't think any of us had done before, and we all loved it!

Julie and Katie post dress lace up, pre wedding

Possibly the most beautiful and wonderful girl I've ever known

Then they got married and we partied like it was 2012!  The wedding was beautiful, the bugs weren't even out.  I loved seeing Katie happy and I hope there is A LOT more happiness to come for Katie and Tim!

And then I got the chicken pox!  

Just kidding, but I did come down with swimmers itch from bathing in the lake that morning.  It itched. Like a lot.  It still kind of itches.  So worth it though :)

(note: the skin tone difference is due to light and not actual skin tone difference...I think...I hope)

And then I went to Denver and saw Annie for a couple of hours!  She is so cute and baby girl is so almost ready to meet her anxiously awaiting family!

Annie.  She so cool.

So there it was!  The epic trip!

I want especially to thank the Richardson family for taking me in and letting me stay with them and their friends wherever they went.  Minnesotans are so friendly and hospitable.  Minnesota really is one of the nicest places I have ever visited in the U.S.  I was not expecting that.  

Tangentially, I also wasn't expecting Spiderman to be one of the best movies I have seen in a long time.  I wholeheartedly recommend it.

By the end of the trip I realized that missing my flight was not a failure of any important proportions, nor did it necessarily have any special meaning or say anything about me...it was just one of those things that happens sometimes to normal people and it's ok.

This feels all a bit disjointed, but I wanted to write about it before I get too far away in time from it because awesome things keep on happening, and then I start writing blogs in my head about those things and stop thinking about the awesome things that happened before them.  

So that's a wrap!