Well, I made a goal to get this blog post up by this morning…but to be honest? Quality time watching friends with my husband and eating ice cream with a little bit of wine was more pressing. We are EXHAUSTED. And there’s only more where that came from guys!

It’s the good stuff I promise! This Monday we’re exhausted from our very first weekend/week of starting up CRU for the year and from traveling to be in a wedding! EEK! My friend Alex married the man of her dreams on Saturday and I got to stand by her side and fan her in the August heat and do all the things JUST like she did for me five years ago. What an absolute privilege to get to return the favor and to get to witness their marriage up close. Thankful. Thankful. Thankful.

Here’s us at my wedding! Can’t wait to see us at her wedding once Klaire shares the images!

And here’s us when we were little ones. Lieterally we’ve known each other since before we ever had our birthdays! That’s a long time! (can you tell we’re the outside two? ;] our sisters are the same age so they’re on the inside!)

We had a full steam ahead week of Cru leading up to Friday and then we headed off to Richmond to celebrate at the Mill at Fine Creek! The Herrintons hosted us on Friday night which was SUCH a huge blessing. (And so much fun because I was JUST telling Ashley at Creative at Heart that I wished we could all have dinner together…and then got to!) Saturday was a whirlwind of joy and to dos and then eventually DANCING and delicious food and celebration and it was wonderful. Sunday was a much needed nap/recovery day in which we had bread, cheese, and grapes for dinner. Amen. Did I mention we snuck in a “last day of summer day” too? We headed to the Children’s Museum in Roanoke with our friends and lived it up watching the kids explore and then we Chipotle-d. Too good. Today was the first day of school and tomorrow is David’s first day of teaching! WAH! Life is a rollercoaster right now!

Okay now for some feels in the midst of a hectic Monday.

• Being a bridesmaid was SO fun. I’ve only done it one other time and it was 7 years ago! I already love all things wedding, so it was super fun to be a part of the bridal party! And so special to get to love on my Alex and see her joy all day! From listening to her sister’s toast on the practice run, to writing table numbers on place cards, it was all such a privilege.
• But for real, it was WEIRD being on the other side of things. I got to see the emotional stuff up close, without a camera in my face…which means I cried even MORE than usual. Whew. Like when Alex’s dad’s jaw dropped when she came down the stairs. And like when Alex surprised her sister with a father daughter dance because she’d gotten married at a courthouse with no fanfare the year prior. Tears, tears, tears. No one warned me to bring tissues.
• Oliver is a sweet little wedding guest. He loved holding my flowers and running around the venue. He also promptly passed out on David’s shoulder after refusing to nap all day. It was rough, but he made it!
• My mom was the afterparty hero! She’d stocked away some bottles of wine and plastic cups and hummus, crackers, and pretzels “just in case” there was an afterparty. She cracks me up :]
• Biggest anxiety of the wedding day? Deciding which funny entrance to do into the reception. We went with finger guns. My sister said it looked like we’d committed to the awkwardness which I guess is what we were going for.
• Unrelated to wedding thought: I love seeing freshman flood the campus with their big red lanyards and wide eyes. The students on our campus remind me over and over again that the balancing of these two things – weddings and ministry – are so worth it.

More wedding peeks below :] We had so much fun!