Jessica Hall Turns into Jessica Burns

 Jessica is married!

It is so exciting.  Jessica has been my friend since we were in Seventh grade.  We got ready for dances together in middle school, got dressed up to go to prom together, lived together in college, lived together in San Francisco, and Saturday I got to be her Maid of Honor in her wedding.  What I'm saying is, we've had some awesome milestones together, and I was so happy that she and Ryan invited me to be a part of this one as well.

I was a regular paparazzo at the wedding, and I tried to capture as many moments as I could on the trusty Nikon.

 Keely was quite the trooper

That took a while.

 Good thing you are drinking that champagne because two hours from now your hairstylist is going to start all over.

 I know, I know, I can't believe that girl from Teen Mom is broke either!

 The bouquets were beautiful!

 A little pre-wedding snack

 Zipping...

 Zipping...

 Ta da!

 Take a picture of her hair and show her how it looks!

 So happy!

 Blaine Hall could not be cuter.

 And his daughter could not be prettier.

 Trolley ride to the church

 Mr. and Mrs. Norrell came.

Eric was sporting a fresh tatoo.

The Mrs. was none too pleased.

 Married hand.

 Keely and Nicole made the hottest of totties on the trolley to the reception.

Jessica has hit the sister in law jackpot.

 I mean, the Cliff House is BEAUTIFUL.

 So is Liz.

 and Katie

 Getting married makes you hungry

 Eric, Communion is over, you don't have to cross your arms like that anymore.

 Cute

 Clearly, Kristy is hilarious.

 Oh, hey Lee!

 The Hall sisters

 

Congratulations, tiny friend!

The following is an account of the most important incident of the day.

During the actual ceremony inside an actual Catholic church in the middle of actual Communion an uninvited guest entered the building.  No one noticed him at first, but it didn't take long for us to realize that the homeless man who had aimlessly wandered in from outside was not personally invited.  To his credit, he was very quiet and polite, and all he wanted to do was participate in Communion, which he did.  Twice.  

First he tried to receive the host from Father Xavier, but he would only give him a blessing, not the Communion wafer.  Thinking on his toes, the homeless man went around the pews and then got in the line where Ryan's father was passing out the body of Christ.  Mr. Burns was nice enough to give what he came for, and then the man did a few more confused passes around the church before he crossed himself and silently slipped outside.

Of course, all of us in the Wedding Party, perched on the altar with a perfect view of what was going on below, were trying not to lose it.  I was biting my lip, looking at the ground, and I tried to imagine a ventriloquist dummy (my number one fear) so I wouldn't laugh out loud.

Kristy Norrell tried to capture the man with my camera.  If you look just to the left of Lee's face you can see a dark outline of a person sneaking down the aisle towards the exit. 

I think it's fitting that we were only able to capture his outline, as we was gone just as quickly as he came.  From now on I'm going to refer to him as "The Shadow."

The Good Rehearsal and the Bad Rehearsal

Weddings require a lot of rehearsals.

The festivities kicked off on Friday with a trip to the nail salon, lunch, the Ceremony Rehearsal, and the Rehearsal Dinner.  The nails and the lunch were went off without a hitch, and I think their efficiency lulled me into a false sense of security when it came to the Ceremony Rehearsal.  Let me be clear, everyone in the wedding party and all of the accompanying family members were WONDERFUL!  Kind, supportive, encouraging, a really great group of people.  However, I can't say the same for Pat, the wedding coordinator  (tyrannical wedding overlord?) from the church where Ryan and Jessica had their ceremony.

I think Pat was displeased right from the start, as the actual start of the rehearsal was delayed due to a combination of traffic, large trucks, and out-of-towners.  She kept giving us all disapproving glares from behind her very official clipboard, and she spoke in hushed and judgmental tones.
"Make sure you keep six to eight pew lengths between you and the others!"  She hissed at us as we practiced walking down the aisle.  All we could do was nod our heads and avert our eyes in agreement, not wanting to anger her and risk receiving more dirty looks.  We filed into the church, linked arms, bowed to the cross, and followed the steps with expert precision. 

It was Mr. Ryan Burns, the bravest of the group, it would seem, who dared to cross her.  He decided that the Bestmen and the Maids of Honor would not stand opposite each other at the altar for various aesthetic reasons (These reasons, as it turns out, are just one: I'm a lot taller than the Bestman).  Well, Pat COULD NOT handle this change in the program.  She went toe to toe with Ryan right on the altar, explaining to him that the bestman ALWAYS stands on one side, and he NEVER stands in a different spot.  The conversation ended with Ryan refusing to budge and Pat shooting everyone a dirty look as she spat out, "Well, we'll see if it works."  Yikes.

I spent the remainder of the rehearsal with my eyes forward, not wanting to risk the wrath of Pat.  Also, there were no pictures of all of this because I was so paralyzed with fear I didn't feel confident in operating a point and shoot camera.

*Note* The change in position concerning the Bestmen did not, in fact, ruin the entire wedding.
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We went from the church to the Rehearsal Dinner.  We ate at Home, this great restaurant in the Castro right up the street from Ryan and Jessica's (and my old) house.  There were lots of introductions, lots of food, and an open bar.  A GREAT success. I took three pictures, which was a better turn out than at the Ceremony Rehearsal.

 Katie and Danny

 Liz and Darren

Lee and Robin

And Saturday, was Game Day

(For the Giants too!)

Sheena's Fall Wedding

On Saturday, my friend Sheena Zweigle got married. :)

I would say 90% of basketball games I ever played were with Sheena.  We were Gilmore Bombers together, we participated on an ill-fated AAU team together (we lost one game 98-11.  Eesh), and we were Lady Miners together.


Also, our Friend Megan (Curtis) Jackson came!  Sheena, Megan, and I were the "tall girls" on our high school basketball team.  They were well known for being aggressive and determined, while I could always be counted on to have a perfectly tied ribbon in my hair (we all have our talents). 

Here is the photo recap:

If you look beyond the embarrassing amount of drinks we nabbed, you can see the lovely center pieces that Sheena's students helped make.  (Sheena teaches Ag, not Kindergarten).

 Good ol' Chico beer

 Francis McFadden, folks

 The fruit kabobs were delicious!

 Sheena's parents are my favorite.

 Nothing's finer than a Lady Miner.  

(Sorry about the awkward hand on the stomach, Sheena)

Practicing our follow through.

(Looks like Megan is a little rusty).

This is my dad.

This is what he said at my friend's wedding reception, "You know, when I was younger, Maury and I always wanted to open up a salon where all we did was shave women's legs.  Of course, that would never work now; I'm too old."

Yes.  

Also, my mother told me that zombies have a code of conduct.

The wedding was just lovely.

The Best Part of My Day...

was getting THIS picture in my e-mail:

This is my friend Jessica and me at Kristy and Eric Norrell's wedding.  Their party favors were fake mustaches and dinosaur tatoos.  While Jessica went with the standard handle bar, I decided to pull a Frida Kahlo and go with the unibrow.

Now, three years later, Jessica is getting married (in a week and a half!).  She has been my friend since were were in 7th grade, and it only seems right that I honor that many years of friendship with a poster-size copy of this presented to her at her wedding reception.