Wedding Week

It has been a while... it is my goal to write blog posts frequently enough so there is a point to visiting my blog... it is pretty annoying when you click on a blog and the same stories are up. That has been the case for 'Nomadic Ute' as I have been traveling (hence the name of my blog!) for the last 2 weeks. Here is the recap of the week out in North Carolina:

Wednesday: I arrived at NC at 9am... after catching the redeye from Seattle at 11pm the previous night. I thought this was a good idea, being that I could spend the cross country flight sleeping. Well sometimes good plans aren't executed. I didn't sleep at all, and I lost 3 hours in the time zone switch overs. Additionally, Adam, the groom, was picking me up from the airport so we could drive 5 hours to Charleston, SC for the bachelor's party. Basically, I knew once I got off the plane that a 40 hour sleepless state was in the future.

...of highlight during the time in Charleston was

1- Riley placing a 'wet floor' sign in the middle of the hotel driveway during a torrential rainstorm

2- 3 dozen oysters among 5 people... all of which may or may not have come back out an hour later

3- group picture in middle of a fountain followed by at least 3 failed piggy back rides (leading to grown men being dropped onto the ground)

4- Arguing about college football with random people on street (teams included Ole Miss, LSU, Oklahoma, Utah, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, and probably more SEC teams). We did this inside and outside a cigar shop (outside only because the owner kicked us out for being loud).

5- I danced on a stool at a bar. Why? They were allowing every girl in the place to dance on the bar but no guys. So I decided to make a fool of myself (only for Adam's enjoyment, not mine...:) and dance on the stool next to the bar. I was told to get down within 5 seconds. Equal opportunity?

6- many more stories that deserve their own blogpost or a phone call. Disappointingly, no photos of this night!

Thursday: Recovery

Friday: Rehearsal and dinner... At the rehearsal, we learned how to stand and how to look. Basically, the goal is not to attract any attention to me (which is hard to do, I mean look at me... Just Kidding!) At the dinner, we had a delish set of appetizers, garden salad, chicken pasta w/ white sauce, and my favorite desert, chocolate mousse cake. I happened to get myself in trouble with the bride (inappropriate ettiquette... my bad), Kristen, but I of course made up for with my charm and humor. The night ended with Adam giving our groomsmen gifts (Abita bucket, alma mater miniature football helmets, beer, and cufflings... mine were Utes cufflings). They were awesome gifts!

Rehearsal Dinner: Adam looked too sexy to not post!

Saturday: WEDDING DAY! All the groomsmen got together for a bucket of range balls in the morning at the UNC golf course. Great way to start the day! Afterwards, we got all primped up and suited for the wedding... and arrived an hour before. I ushered guests to their seats... not too hard of a job. After 45 minutes, the Father proclaimed "for the first time,... Mr & Mrs Parker". He was quite a funny man (a staunch conservative) and did an excellent job of administering the wedding.... Following at least 3 hours of wedding photos, which everyone else typically dislikes, but I didn't mind (does this speak to my subconscious interest in being photographed?), we got to the reception.

Groomsmen with Bride

The best part of all of this, is that the wedding party gets treated like VIP's. Everyone is all asking you questions (i.e. what have you been doing all week, what are you wearing, can I get a pic of you?... RED CARPET treatment basically), and you have a backroom to retreat to, where food and drinks await. We spent some downtime there, so we could be ready for the reception dinner.

To enter the reception, each groomsman and brides maid entered as a pair to the song "Go Ninja Go". I was told my ninja roll and strut was the best by far. I have entered a room at least 3 times like this. Dinner was good again. Lots of dancing ensued with all my ole TFA friends. We wished the Parkers a great time in Hawaii and thanked them for such a great wedding.

TFA Friends @ Wedding, we threw it down on the dance floor

Post wedding was basically reminescent of TFA-ENC. Ten of us crowded in a hotel, played semi-loud music, played some 'games', and ate pizza. You just can't do it better than how we do it in ENC.

Sunday: Recovery Part Deux... headlined by a NICE cracker barrel breakfast with people in above picture.

Monday: 9 holes of golf, in which we were hasseled by the course marshall. This was followed by a Bojangles lunch, a necessary stop while in the South, being that such food (aka hearty, fattening, well-seasoned, greasy) is impossible to find in PHX. This was followed by another 9 holes of rain interrupted golf. After an hour and a half of hiding under our carts from the rain, we proceeded to play golf through puddles/lakes/mud. At this point, scores really didn't matter... we were all hacking it up and running around, being that no one else was on the course and that we had some pent-up energy. I proclaimed that I was going to make every putt and from what I remember, I did?!?!

Tues: Morning work out, followed by a southern BBQ lunch (pulled pork, baked beans, potato salad, and hushpuppies). I have a pic of its deliciousness on my phone, but I most likely lack the technology to transfer said picture to this blogpost...probably because my phone is about 4 generations old. ...I flew back to Seattle to await the arrival of my mom, so we could drive down to Utah.... more pics and stories from that trip soon.