Time to Practice!

After the Bridal Shower, Bachelorette Party, and a few hours of sleep, it was time to pack up and head to the coast for our rehearsal, dinner, and the main event. I had a made a list over the last week of things to remember to pack (the last thing I wanted to do was drive three hours only to realize that we forgot the multiple boxes of Christmas lights we bought and stored for the last 8 months), so the actual job of "packing" was pretty low stress, however, what I was NOT expecting were the intense emotions around actually LEAVING our apartment.

It may have been a combination of my lack of sleep the previous evening, the behemoth beverage I ingested, and nerves/stress, but I almost started to bawl in those last seconds before stepping out of the apartment. Everything was packed in all of our cars, my purse and my coat were in my arms, and I just stood there, looking around at the apartment, feelings rushing over me. We weren't moving. We were coming right back to the same apartment, same furniture, same everything... but, for some reason, it was a really emotional moment for me.

And those feelings continued on the ride... though they changed slightly into some pretty intense nausea and, really, dread (I'm telling you all this now because I want you to be able to compare my "day before" emotions to my "day of" emotions when I explain them later on... it's a pretty interesting comparison). I knew that *I* was going to be "in charge" of the evenings events (the rehearsal). I knew that I would be answering all kinds of questions and have to make spur of the moment decisions. I pleaded with Jacob on the way down to please help me--to take the reigns and make some decisions, to absorb some of the questions... but, still, I felt intense levels of stress.

We made it to Waldport (after stopping along the way to pick up some rental chairs), and the weather was looking pretty good! Jacob dropped me off at the house I'd be sharing with my girls that night (who were already there waiting for me), and then took off next door to the house he'd share with his guys. The girls were scheduled to do a "make up trial" that afternoon with Jacob's aunt, a Mary Kay Consultant. It was kind of fun to just be able to sit back and watch them (and give my stomach a chance to settle). Then, it was off to our park for the rehearsal and dinner.

I rode with my girls. We got to the park and there were a TON of cars! This particular state park is not usually populated much at all! We pulled up to a group of people... only to discover that they were not OUR people. There was another wedding going on! lol The theme seemed to be on the, umm, alternative side, but it was Friday the 13th, so I guess it makes sense. =)

Anyhow, we gathered our group, and wandered down to the beach for a rehearsal (read: quick run through) before dinner. My goal was for everyone to know who to walk with and where to stand, and to check volume for my brother/officiant and brother/guitarist (we were unable to project anything via our permit specifications)... once that was a determined I didn't much care about the rest.

And now, here are the photos. =)

Jacob pondering... he ended up breaking that stand (the first of our "what went wrong" moments).

My dad directing.... he was an air traffic controller, so he does that well. =) Plus, it was really helpful for me.

Not really sure what we're looking at here... but I thought it was a funny shot... =)

We decided to walk down the aisle with both of our parents. I didn't think about how complicated it was going to be to 1) match steps/strides with TWO people and 2) Link arms on both sides while holding a bouquet.

"C" is for cookie? lol... again, no idea what I'm doing, but I found humor in it. =)

I hope to get at least one more post (about the rehearsal dinner) done before we leave for our honeymoon (on TUESDAY!!! Only one more day of work!). Then I'm sure I'll blog a little here and there from the road!