Faithfully

I spent first through seventh grade living outside of Dayton, OH--and while I was there I was lucky to have two families.  The B's had two girls almost the same age as Laura and I and we were blessed to have such great pals to grow up with.  Fond memories include Shelli making us star and environmental club in the bushes and having her own cooking show in the garden, ice skating on their back patio, climbing trees, Erica reading me thrilling excerpts from her middle school diary and playing "Lexi-land" with their Legos.  Ah, the 90s.  Here is Erica and I--I tried to snap a few pictures of her son Ty, but he was a quick little almost-three year old!



Shelli was the third of us to get married--Erica and I got married within a week of each other and managed to attend each other's wedding (sans husbands.)  Shelli's wedding was far and away the most unique wedding I've been to--she got married in a field, my mother was the officiant and my sister was a bridesmaid.  It was a lovely, touching ceremony and the couple's love for each other was evident.



Shelli's goal was for the wedding to be carbon-neutral--they had a shuttle to take guests to the reception to save gas and reused items as decorations.  Two pumpkins came home with us!  The reception was more traditional and was a hoot.  It was in a lovely country club--but still bore the unique mark of Shelli.  The couple's first dance was to "Faithfully" by Journey, and it is one of very few first dances I'll never forget.  Bride and groom singing into bouquets, bridesmaids waving their arms in the background... it was a sight.  Additionally, Shelli had the DJ play "Let's Go to the Mall" by teen pop start Robin Sparkles.  Best. Song. Ever.



The groom's cake was a tent with their two little pairs of feet sticking out!  So sweet!



When I met Joey at the wedding (for the first time), he said "Sol and Rachel do a Blog!" and I thought, "Finally!  My blogging renown has spread near and far!"  And then I realized Shelli shows him the blog.  Eh.  Here's our family photo--and me in the J. Crew dress of my dreams.  I accidentally now own two of them.  But that's another story.



And by the way, Finley was a delight.  Twenty hours in the car--and the only tears were when Grandpa surprised him and he got his head stuck between a wall and a cow.  That, also, is another story.