The Wedding

from Ben's mom

Here's the other side of the story: We drove to Portland Thursday night arriving late (11ish) due to a crazy day for my true love at the office. We had to switch cars with my dad and put our luggage in there and do a few things to get situated and then we all tried to sleep. I tossed and turned for an hour and then Ben started coughing and then crying. I got up with him and then took a shower to try and relax. I was up with him again. About 2, my mom took over so I could get dressed and ready to go. He proceeded to fully wake up, complete with dancing and jumping on the mini-tramp.

So without any sleep, we met the airport shuttle for the ride to Portland. I did sleep a bit on that. We arrived in Portland to find a line to the ends of the earth for our airline. We had been in it 20 minutes when we were triaged and triaged to be the ones who stayed in the line because our flight was departing an hour and a half late. This caused us to miss our connecting flight in Chicago and thus miss the rehearsal in Grand Rapids. We did eventually make it, but by then I was roaring sick. (Nothing brings on the "morning (ha!) sickness" like exhaustion.) So M caught the rehearsal dinner while I moaned in bed. At some point, I drug myself out for takeout because if I have an empty stomach, I only get sicker.

I woke up feeling great on Saturday morning and went shopping hoping to find a skirt I liked better than the one I had. I found Kohls 75% off rack and snagged a cool skirt for $5. (And Michigan has cheaper sales tax.) Made the wedding in plenty of time.

It was beautiful, lovely, short, and sweet. The reception was at the greatest Italian restaurant with a reception hall and a cool winding marble staircase. The food was fabulous (and vegetarian!!). My sweetie looked handsome. The happy couple beamed and there was a lot of kissing. And a very classy first dance.

And the sad news.... I forgot our camera. For the whole trip. I have been told that bringing it was my responsibility, so I can blame no one but myself. The good news is that the wedding photographer will have the photos up and on line for viewing in early April. And if you want to see the bride, check here. And here is a great one of the couple on that staircase.

The trip home was slightly better. Our flight from Chicago to Portland was 45 minutes late and I got sick again. But we had a very excited little boy on the other end who made me feel better.