Wedding Recap

We may not have coordinated a wonderful wedding dance like the famous YouTube video (and as spoofed by The Office), but I think we made everyone chuckle well enough. At the bridesmaids' luncheon on Friday, I asked Lane if she minded if we danced as we walked back down the aisle. At Will & Allison's wedding back in May, I remember how everyone thought Elena's dancing down the aisle was so funny, so I thought it could be fun- and then Lane didn't say no. So at the rehearsal that night, before introducing myself to the best man (Brad), as we're practicing leaving the church, I said, "Oh, by the way, we're dancing as we leave tomorrow." But even he didn't say no! (I did finally introduce myself after the second walk down.) The other bridesmaids enjoyed the idea, but only one other groomsman seemed to enjoy it- Lane's brother, Ben. Bet you can't tell where this is going.
So, as Lane and Bill are walking down the aisle to leave the church, Brandy (the bridesmaid standing next to me) asked if we were still going to dance. I asked if she was, but she said that if I didn't (as the first one leaving after the junior bridesmaid), then no one else would. So as Brad and I met up on our stair, I asked if we were going to dance and he surprised me by saying "Why not?" So we danced going up the aisle and got a few chuckles.
Then Brandy met up with her groomsman and said, "Are we doing this?" and he said, "Doing what?" Jeff hadn't paid much attention to our dancing the night before, so they didn't. And then the next bridesmaid didn't either, nor the one after that (whose groomsman had missed the rehearsal and actually legitimately had no idea). And then came Raven and Ben to finish up the wedding party. They walked about halfway out normally (from what I heard), then stopped and started dancing. We could hear the church burst out laughing when they started dancing.
We were a little better coordinated for the reception- we all danced as we entered. I discovered that being twirled in a strapless dress is not the best idea in the world. In fact, dancing was rather difficult, because if we did anything that lifted our arms up, we all had to quickly grab our dresses. Hard to believe this is the same dress I almost couldn't fit into a few weeks ago!
I dragged Brad out to dance with me twice. He decided during the first dance that he wasn't good enough a dancer so he left me, then the videographer (my old church youth group leader) took my hand and showed him up. The second time was because I'd been turned down by two young boys (about 5 and 10), so I ran over and grabbed Brad and said that I knew he wouldn't say no. The third time, he took me out to dance to the "Tennessee Waltz"- turns out, he was much more comfortable with slow dances than all the fast songs I had attempted.
My speech went great. You know that it's going well when you've barely started and the bride says "Oh my gosh..." not even sure what item I could possibly have found from 7th grade. Speaking of which- that 7th grade English assignment that I wrote about Friday night was for us to write singles ads, like those found in newspapers. No names were listed, but I had gone through and written who I thought fit the ads. And Lane's could not have been anyone else in the grade (seriously- swimming and violin?) So I read 3 (saving hers for last, but finding two others that could possibly have been her). As I got to the third one though, everyone was laughing. They knew it too.

Maid of Honor speech

So, in case the bride-to-be happens to read this tonight, I have to be vague, but I'll clarify on Sunday what my speech is actually about (I'm not even sure if she knows about this blog!). I'm just too excited to completely hold it in.

We met in 7th grade. And in 7th grade, one of our English assignments was completely awesome- and everyone on our team (of 4 homerooms)'s responses were typed up and printed and given to all the students. And guess what I found tonight, as I was frantically trying to come up with some good idea of what I should talk about tomorrow night at the reception.

So- stay tuned for what the crazy assignment was and why it's so absolutely perfect for this wedding. CAN'T WAIT!

Cameras & More Photography

First off, happy new year!!! Here's hoping that 2010 is fantastic.

Now onto the real focus: cameras & other photographic fun. About a year ago, while in a really cool shop, I saw an awesome old camera- clearly not for use, but for decoration. As much as I thought it was cool, I couldn't justify spending money on a nonworking camera. So I didn't think about it much until something sparked my memory not long ago, and my mom mentioned that she had a camera that sounded just like that- and maybe my grandfather still had it. Unfortunately, he didn't have that one, but instead had four other cool cameras that are going to be great decorations once I find room for them. One is a Polaroid, complete with pull-out accordion-style lens (my grandpa even thinks it might still work- too bad Polaroid no longer makes film). Another is the super super tiny version of my SLR and DSLR Pentax (and apparently has/had exchangeable lenses? I'm going to go back and ask if he still has those too.) That one is definitely no longer in working shape, after a mishap at the beach. Oh well- it's very cute. The other two are very similar in appearance, one being a Kodak Pony 135 and one being an Agfa Apotar (German camera). I was keeping my fingers crossed (but not holding my breath) that when he kept talking about the German camera that it might be a Leica.

In other photography news, I decided to go along with Photojojo's Project 365, where you take at least one picture every day. Once I figure out where I will be posting them, I'll be sure to post a link. Today I got some great shots during the magic hour while riding in the car on my way to my grandparents! At least- they look great on the little display screen!

Almost There

Can this be my new theme song?





Mama! I don't have time for dancing,
That's just gonna have to wait a while.
Ain't got time for messing around,
And it's not my style.

This old town can slow me down,
People taking the easy way,
But I know exactly where I'm going
I'm getting closer and closer everyday!

And I'm almost there...!
I'm almost there.
People down here think I'm crazy,
But I don't care!
Trials and tribulations,
I've had my share.
But there ain't nothing gonna stop me now,
Cuz I'm almost there!

I remember daddy told me
Fairy tales can come true,
But you gotta make them happen,
It all depends on you!
So I worked real hard each and everyday,
Now things for sure are going my way.
Just doing what I do,
Look out boys, I'm coming through!

And I'm almost there...!
I'm almost there.
People gonna come here from everywhere
And I'm almost there...!
I'm almost there.

There's been trials and tribulations,
I know I've had my share.
But I've climbed a mountain I've crossed a river,
And I'm almost there...!
I'm almost there.
I'm al-most- there...!

Weekend Misadventures

So, this was supposed to be 5K weekend (the Jingle Bell Run). Note the "supposed to be." Clearly a higher power had different plans for me and my family.
The furnace (or a very vital piece of said furnace) broke at my parents' house yesterday morning or early afternoon- and temperatures here aren't much above freezing (outside- during the day) as it is. Rather quickly, after the repair guy said that it would be Monday at the earliest to get it fixed or a new unit installed, my mom got a hold of someone who thought they could get it done today. So we packed up some things (and the dog) and went to my grandparents' house. Thank goodness they live in town and had room for us.
When I went to bed, I held out hopes that it would be above freezing when we were supposed to run. And then it was 28 degrees instead- and felt even chillier being amongst the downtown buildings. In other words- we skipped the race and picked up our t-shirts (since we'd preregistered) and left. Besides, we weren't sure when the people who were installing the new system were going to be at the house (turns out, we wouldn't have made it by running anyways).
I'm so glad we didn't run- my ears were frozen just after the 15 minutes walking from the car to the registration site and back to the car!! And wouldn't you know- I saw one guy in shorts and a few people in capris. Craziness I tell you! So, I'll try again when it's warmer. I'll even try harder to follow the Couch to 5K plan than I did this time around. At least I gave it a try, right?
We made it back to our house at 11am- and it was down to 46 degrees inside (a whopping 10 or so degrees warmer than outside). So my mom and I huddled under several blankets with a heater on either side of us while we watched tv. We kept ourselves quite warm  that way! And by 1:30 or so, we had heat working again, and at 9pm or so, we were finally back up to feeling warm enough to turn it down!

I sound like a commercial.

So, my thesis is now turned in to the Graduate Studies office. Hip hip hooray!
And I've turned in my questionnaire that served as round 2 for a job. And I will turn in another application no later than tomorrow evening- with plans to turn in another in a week and a half.
So now that all this is accomplished.... "what are you going to do next?"
I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!

Nope. Not joking. Not in the slightest. I sound like a commercial. You know the commercials. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about...


That's the classic version. But after seeing this- this is now my favorite:


Adios amigos, I'm going to go chill with Mickey and Minnie for a week. And then enjoy Thanksgiving and decorating for Christmas!!! And basically not worrying about thesis for at least one week, but hopefully both weeks.

Advising

This could not have come at a better time. I'll just offer this out there with no comment.

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1248