Back To Earth: Life Post-Wedding

So it's done. As of Saturday, August 9th, 5:00pm pacific time, my sisters and I completed Operation: Wedding Madness Take #1. I've decided that Take #1 is appropriate, since now that we've played music for Ali's wedding, I'm thinking that from now on all the cousins on that side are going to want us to play for ALL their weddings. The terrifying fact that I have 27 cousins on that side just sent violent shivers up and down my spine.

So seriously though, the whole thing went amazingly awesome. We had so much fun together, though we're all excited about watching the video of the wedding. (Surprisingly enough, when you're up on stage playing the processional music, you tend to miss being able to actually watch the processional. Who knew?)

I find one of the most amusing things about the ceremony the fact that my total lack of sentimentality kept me from tearing up once about Ali's nuptials, yet as soon as Megan finished playing her piano part of the wedding march, I started sobbing like a little baby. In front of EVERY SINGLE MEMBER OF THE KRISKE SIDE OF MY FAMILY. (Which is about 65 people, give or take). It was weird though; something about watching my little 14 year old sister play with such confidence and grace made me feel like I had just witnessed her grow up. Right before my eyes. It was terrifying. And now I am constantly trying to save face with her after that horribly embarrassing display of sisterly pride and sentimentality. Unfortunately she knows all my comments about her incredibly short stature and infant age are complete bull, and that I really do think she is the bomb. (I am so pathetic at being a mean older sister) :S

So dancing at the wedding reception with my sisters, cousins and a Christian DJ was SO much more fun than dancing at the club. Now that I've had the typical clubbing experience (well, albeit with a group of Christian girl friends and NO BOYS in our group, so probably not quite so typical) which I will not lie, was fun in its own way, I am relieved to discover that I honestly do still enjoy that kind of thing more with my family in a family atmosphere. I think S will eventually want to do the clubbing thing again, now that our whole group of friends has turned 21. But despite the fact that I enjoy that scene, I guess what the wedding reception really made me realize was how pretty pointless the clubbing scene is. At the wedding reception I got to dance and be ridiculous and have fun, and create positive memories with my family while celebrating something worthwhile. At the club it's all about looking cool and attracting attention from the opposite sex, and most of all leaving (if not all, then at least some) inhibitions at the door. If S does ask me to go out clubbing again, I think I'll just tell her I'm sticking with our family Thanksgiving dance party in Aunt Dawn & Uncle Jon's basement dance floor for my dance party outlet. :D

So a little over two weeks and I'm headed back to college and my dorm and classes and dorm food and RA's and volunteering and...but amazingly enough, I really am not that overwhelmed yet. At some point it's gonna hit me that I have to once again move an hour-and-a-half away from Heather (older sister and best friend) and my sisters and my brother and my niece and nephew, who are probably going to grow like weeds while I'm gone and forget all about me... ::self-pitying sigh:: But other than that, I'm not overwhelmed at all. ;)

So now that Kate's back from her MONTH-AND-A-HALF study abroad European trip, and I've spent at least two hours listening as show me pictures of places I've dreamed about going MY WHOLE LIFE, I am now dead set on taking a year out of my adult life to travel. When and where and with just what money I will be doing this are obviously questions I am asking myself, but really, these questions resemble problems only on the surface. Underneath they are great big giant obstacles. Hehe. But still, God can do anything, and I really think it's important to Him too that I experience the world that He's created. (I've started writing a pitch letter explaining all of this to Him in more convincing detail. To be posted later...)