Wedding Madness and Bigfork Edition #2

Alrighty! So. The wedding. Let me just say that I was really pleasantly surprised with the whole outcome. Moe (short for Monique...we all call her Moe) has been one of best friends since high school, so it was super exciting to see her finally SO happy and getting married. This ceremony was really just a formality though, she and her hubby were actually officially married by the JOP in March, which means that her wedding really marked their 6-month anniversary of being married. I was a bridesmaid for her, and our other best friend Allison was maid of honor. (You can check out Al's blogs here and here if you'd like.) Myself and the other two bridesmaids where in burgandy and Al was in sage green. Our dresses were actually pretty cute. Floor-length formal dresses with a scoop neck, and same-color embrodery of roses that started at the left shoulder and wrapped around to the right thigh. (I have pictures...I do. But I lost my camera cord again so they are hopelessly trapped on my camera for the moment. Sad panda.)
Moe decided that she wanted the ceremony by Canyon Ferry Lake at the campground - on Labor Day weekend. She also wanted to have 200 guests, have them bring sides for a potluck, and have a big poofy traditional gown. Al and I were skeptical. We asked about weather, a backup plan, dresses getting dirty, places to put so many people and all their side dishes. We were always supportive, we just wanted to make sure she had thought things through. She definitely had a plan. There were tents set up and chairs and tables for all the guests, the aisle (shortest on the planet I think!) went between them and we all stood on the ledge looking over the lake for the ceremony. As it turns out, she had about 50 guests and only a handful of salads, which was good! Plenty of room for the guests and their food. The weather? For the ceremony (also the shortest ever I think. Maybs 20 minutes? Probs 15. So fast.) the weather was perfect. Sunny, a slight breeze, not too hot but not chilly. Gorgeous lighting. Yes. Good. We got through the ceremony, finished the receiving line, and did all the photos. All the guests were eating and the wedding party was just getting our food when...the clouds came. And the wind. And the rain. It was instantaneous. At first we igored it, mostly protected by the tent and it's sides it wasn't really a bother. A couple minutes in the wind got to be too much and we had to take the smaller of the two tents down so it wouldn't blow away. Now it's blowing dust and rain at a healthy speed while all of us - wedding party, bride, guests - are trying to reorganize. We took down everything and moved everything into the building that she had also rented. It had two closed sides and two open, and a roof of course, so everything was perfectly fine in there. Of course as quickly as it had come in the storm blew over, and of course it finished up right as we got everything packed away. It was a very pleasant evening after that though. The sun came out again and the wind died down and we just milled around and enjoyed the food and company. Al and I spent the rest of the evening drinking our very large drinks that we made in glasses we found earlier that day. So after the toasts, this is what my evening looked like (courtesy of my cell phone camera):

For the record, this is not a perspective shot. My face is right behind my glass. It's really that big, lol. Also for the record, yes they were full, yes I drank the whole thing, and yes I felt TOTALLY FINE the next day. :D
All in all, the wedding was a success. Cheers!

Alrighty! Bigfork Edition #2:
Christmas in July

One of the traditions at the Bigfork summer playhouse is Christmas in July. It's awesome. We all pick a Secret Santa and get a little gift for them. It's usually something funny, like with an inside joke from the summer so far, or just something random and entertaining. We also preface our party with Christmas caroling the night before in Big Green, the playhouse's giant green WWII truck. It's got a big green cab and a huge wood planked bed in the back that fits all 30 of us comfortably. It's main purpose in life at the playhouse is to haul scenery from the shop to the theatre, but he comes out for some other special occasions too, and Christmas is definiately one. So we all pile in after our evening show, and spend an hour or so driving around Bigfork and singing our little hearts out for the town. Good times. :) The next day (which is always Sunday), we have a matinee, and right after that's over we head up to The Big House (the owners' house) to go sit on the lawn, eat food, and pile our presents under the huge pine tree and wait for Santa. Santa usually shows up after we've had a sufficient amount of time to get plenty of food and drink in our bellies, and then makes his grand entrance on a tractor. He'll pick a present from under the tree, call out the name on the gift, then that person will go sit on Santa's lap, open their gift, and try to guess who gave it to them. I have to tell you, I really think I got the best deal this year. So Santa pulls out this giant piece of cardboard that was part of what we painted for the yellow brick road fro the Wiz, and calls me up. It says: "Lauren! Ye gift lies buried where Cash parks the Black Pearl. X marks the spot! Good luck!" So I trot off to go find my gift. I will take this oprotunity to say that I'm a HUGE pirate nerd, so this is awesome to me. I get to the truck (aka the Black Pearl. This truck is a monster folks. You'd have to see it to believe it lol.) and I start looking around. Then I see a stake with an X on it stuck in the ground nearby. I actually had to dig it up! Awesome! And when I dig it up finally it's wrapped in brown paper and chains! So I trot up with my buried box of goodies and go back to Santa. I'm opening it up and it's full of a bunch of random things: a turkey baster, a Wonderbread sandwhich container, some lotion, some soap, and a cute pair of little pink sunglasses that I'm pretty sure Alexis' son has a similar pair of lol!

But the best part was the TWO build your own pirate ship kits! One was a Crayola model magic one with clay, and the other was a Lego set! I was beyond excited. And to top it off when I guess Cash (yes, that is his real name), he runs up to me and plows me over with a hug! Best Christmas (in July) ever!