Amy's Wedding

The bride and I

As many of you may or may not know, my friend Amy's wedding was last Friday, and what a momentous occasion it was indeed [although I needed a four hour nap and twelve hours of sleep to recover afterwords]. This wedding was especially important because Amy has been in my life for fifteen years [my neighbor across the street], and is not only the first Katsma child to get married, but also the only daughter out of five children [it's OK if you're thinking 'awwwww']. Needless to say it was a fun week, and apart from getting solicited for a one night stand at a bar by a very intoxicated young man during the Bachelorette party, I'd call it a success [though...I guess some people might count the aforementioned event as success, so I guess it's all about your perspective]. I made new friends. I mastered the "Hoedown Throwdown" which I NEVER thought would enter not only my musical repertoire but also my dance repertoire. I gave a toast and didn't forget what I was going to say. I ate a lot of cake. I was told I looked like Lea Michele of Glee fame at least five times [yessss]. While many of us thought we were going to melt into puddles much like the Wicked Witch of the West due to the surfeit amount of heat that had been ravaging the valley a few days beforehand, God decided to shine great favor upon us by draping a proverbial blanket over the sun and providing a lovely cloud cover that kept us all April fresh, or at least August Fresh, which doesn't seem to be quite as fresh as April, but is still much better then what it could have been.

Perhaps the best moment of the wedding [minus the exchange of vows and commitment of love of course] was when the bridal party was exiting the ceremony. Amy had thought it would be neat-o to dance out to Chris Brown's "Forever," similar to the YouTube phenomenon of last year, and that was parodied on the hit show "The Office." I thought this was an awesome idea as I enjoy any opportunity to make a spectacle of/draw attention to myself. Many of us worked on busting our moves pre-wedding, though none of us could have practiced enough for what was to come. My new found friend Liss said that her and the groomsman she was dancing with [our beloved Jason Katsma, the youngest of the Katsma clan] needed to make a "good exit, because we're the last ones out." And they did just that. At the end of their exit, Liss jumped into J's arms and J ran off into the sunset and...crashed and burned, dumping Liss and himself squarely on the ground, and earning a grass stain on his tux. Highly embarrassing and highly hilarious. I think the people at the tux rental place will no doubt be scratching their heads wondering if this was a wrestling themed wedding. An ab workout was not needed that day, as I had a good hard giggle. There is a video on facebook if you care to take a gander. Every time I watch it I think, "Maybe it won't happen this time...ohhhh no....here it comes." You watch out America's Funniest Home Videos, we're coming your way. Although, unfortunately I don't think I'm entitled to any cut of the money as I am not really an integral part of the comedy. Dammit I wish I lost my balance more often when carrying bridesmaids down the aisle!!!

Now, as many of you know, I've been super into buying locally as of late [I'm going to the Farmer's Market in West Hartford on Saturday and I am chomping at the bit as I cannot wait!], henceforth why I found one of the presents that Amy selected for the bridesmaids particularly beautiful: and let me tell you why. It turns out that one of her now-husband's neighbors on Whidbey Island has some sort of disease--I want to say cystic fibrosis but don't quote me on that. This girl's father bought her a kiln, and taught her to make jewelry out of broken pieces of glass. So we all got these different green colored necklaces, made out of glass that had been broken, melted down, and formed into something new. I suppose the reason that I loved this was because a) it supported a good cause [umm obvi] but b) I really love the metaphor of it all--I mean making something new and beautiful out of something broken and what many consider trash. It's too perfect of a metaphor for the human experience and God and redemption and all of that. And I loved that each piece was unique, but yet still made out of the same material, still with a common thread running through it. Really, Max Lucado or Philip Yancey couldn't have picked a better metaphor for one of their books if I do say so myself. They can use it, but only if they pay me the money that I would have won on America's Funniest Home Videos [oh and if you squint really hard you can see the necklace I'm talking about in the picture above].

The only downer to this week? My camera broke. I mean the screen on it has a big black blob. Fortunately I got ten pictures or so, but it really puts a damper on the upcoming fall season as I greatly enjoy taking pictures of the foliage in Connecticut. I guess I'll have to take up painting again, or something like that.