Congratulations Brian and Bethany!

Okay. Let's get back on track with this blog, shall we?

This past "weekend" we were blessed to attend the wedding of good friend Brian Smith and his lovely bride Bethany. The wedding was held down in South Carolina on Monday morning,, and it certainly was a whirlwind of a weekend. Above is a photo I took of Amanda on Sunday night, as we walked around the camp where the wedding was to be held. I am not a good photographer, and we do not have a good camera, but the lighting off the little pond was just beautiful, and I wanted to capture the moment.

Neither Brian nor Bethany are from South Carolina, but they chose a beautiful place for their wedding. The most surprising thing for Amanda and I (and Andrea and Michael, I think) was just how "abnormal" the four of us are for, essentially, living in one place for an indefinite amount of time; Brian, who is an Anglican priest, and all of his "priest" friends, are truly amazing in the way in which they, at any given time, live in any given region of the country. We mingled with people from probably twenty different states, and, interestingly, all of them seemed SO interested in the goings-on of Maine and NH!! New England RULES!

One of the true blessings of the weekend was getting to spend so much time with our two dear friends Andrea and Michael--and their little friend "Gayle." Meeting them at the airport, trying to find our way around the backcountry of Nort and Sout Carolina, eating at an amazing restaurant called Christopher's (where I got the 'Sunday Dinner,' which consisted of a PILE of fried flounder, mashed potatoes with gravy, biscuit, collard greens, friend okra, and peach cobbler for 7.99!!), and just sharing stories truly put a capstone on the weekend!

On the way to the wedding ceremony on Monday morning, we came across Bethany and her bridal party....a great looking group, and all exceptional people. Bethany is truly a "female" Brian, and everyone knows they will be gargantually happy together!

Amanda and I have been to MANY weddings--some of them wonderful, and some of them not. Brian and Bethany's wedding ceremony was, without a doubt, the best wedding ceremony we have ever witnessed. On so many levels--scripture readings, sermon, hymns, location, etc--it was a true testament to God's design for Holy Matrimony. The man who married them is actually the Episcopal Archbishop of Florida, and I believe Brian knows him from when he served as a priest in Fla (one of the 54 states in which Brian has worked....)

It was truly a unique wedding experience (how many weddings have you been to where they have people coming around to your table with poster boards recruiting you for jobs like carving beef,, tending the smoker, pouring toast glasses, etc??) that was absolutely GRASSROOTS from A to Z, and it was definitely how Brian and Bethany wanted it. I will never forget trailering a four tiered cast iron smoker with Brian's silver Scion around a South Carolinian Presbyterian Camp. My apologies to Andrea and all the other grammar mavens who will scoff at the misplaced everythings in the last sentence...haha. The toast, in fact, was unique--we toasted them with water taken from Seventh Lake in Inlet NY (the site of the Smith Island Camp in the Adirondacks). Someone made the trip up there and brought back forty gallons of lake water!

For Amanda and I, it was a rich respite and great time together--just simply flying was wonderful, as we got to talk and read and sleep. Lynne and George stayed with the kids, and Amanda and I got some time alone. A VERY tiring weekend though...we were up at 3am on Sunday to fly to Baltimore and then North Carolina.....we got to bed around midnight that night....then we were up early the next day for the wedding and reception, before flying back last night and getting home at around 1 this morning. #tired