The long-awaited post
As you may know (I'm not sure how many times I may or may not have mentioned it in the past year), my sister, Phoebe Chidester, married last Saturday on October 18th, 2008. Yes, the date is significant, but don't ask me why. I left for America on Wednesday in the morning (very early morning, dammit!) alone and arrived in New York's JFK Airport at around 7:30 at night (ECT).
The flight was near to unbearable, but at least I got my reading done for the review I'm supposed to hand in on the 9th of November (why do publishers always pick horrible dates?). Anyway, arriving in JFK went smoothly, customs went by rapidly, I was one of the first people at the conveyer belt. So, of course, I had to wait 15 minutes for the cursed thing to start and then another half hour for my suitcase to come. I guess the unloading crew thought it would be funny to torment me (and yes, I'm fully aware that that's not anywhere near true, but let me be a drama queen!).
So, after I got my luggage (I was seriously thinking the same thing had happened as last time and they forgot my bag in Paris or something...I woulda been pissed...), I headed out into the reception area and was received (like what I did there?) by my mother and grandmother. Big hugs, lots of talk and a car ride later and we were at Aunt Susan's house for dinner. More hugs, some mexican food à la Mom and a bunch of Q/A later and we were off to Grandma and Poppy's house for a "good" night's sleep.
Before I go into detail there, I have to stop and make a side note here. The week Mom was gone, the week before I left, my body had the insane urge to wake me up every morning, starting on the weekend right before she left. And normally, that'd be just fiiiiine. But not when it decided the best time to wake me up was at 5:55 am. Every. Morning. And back to the actual story...
So, Mom and I popped in a movie after some more talking and some unpacking and stuff and pretty soon, I fell asleep. We were watching Sister Act, by the way, just so you know how tired I really was. I think I fell asleep at around 11 pm (ECT) and I woke up at around 12:30 am. Guess what time it was in Austria! Yooooooooooou guessed it: 6 frigging am. Ok, so it was thrown off by a half an hour or so, but hey, I was jetlagged.
Anyway, I went back to bed after grumbling something that apparently my mom found funny, and slept until 3 in the morning. After that I basically just stayed up until my mom forced me to turn the TV off and go to bed and I woke up at 7 for the third and final time.
At around 10ish, we started the drive up to Pottstown (or rather, down to Pottstown, geographically speaking), which, all in all, with a gas stop and some slight confusion, took about 3 hours. We arrived at Phoebe and Andrew's house at around 1 and had some lunch and then headed out to go get my dress fitted, get shoes for me, get shoes for Mom, a dress for Mom, and a bunch of other stuff. While we were shopping (we being me, Phoebe and Mom), Aunt Jen and Uncle Matt were on their way to Pheebs' house as well, along with the chillins. Andrew met up with us at the mall and after about an hour and a half, we finally went home to go meet the Eagers.
Oh, have I mentioned that not once in that whole week did I get to see one of my friends? Or that the school they go to was literally five minutes away from where I was staying? I guess not. Well, now you know.
Yea, so, after the shopping, we went back home, more hugs, talking, unloading and blehness and then we had to decide what we wanted for dinner, which meant more shopping, this time with Aunt Jen, Mom, Rach and me. After we got home (and I'm talking RIGHT after, as in, two seconds after), Andrew and I went back to the store to get paper plates, plastic utensils and cups. So I did quite a lot of shopping that day. That night was a different story. We wanted to go to a haunted house, but we never did, just to tell you in advance, so I don't have to keep repeating myself (like I don't already do that...), so instead, we stayed home and played Apples to Apples, which is a FUN game. Like, seriously, especially if you know the people played very well and if you have an odd sense of humor.
Then Rachel and I got bored, so we went into the living room and played on the Wii (well, Rachel played, I fell asleep).
The next day was possibly just as hectic. We had a nails appointment and I had to go try on the newly fitted dress again and in the midst of all that, I forgot to bring my shoes - twice. After nails and dresses and things, we headed back to the church's reception hall (oh, yea, I forgot to say that before the nails and everything we were at the church, decorating the hall for the reception ^^) and then I went home with Poppy (who had arrived with Grandma, Matthew (Crippen) and Matthew's mother, Paula earlier that day and who had taken me from the salon to get the dress stuff done and then had taken me to the church and then back to the house -phew-) and we waited for Grandma and Aunt Jen to get home with the kids.
Once everyone was ready, we all headed back down to the church for the rehearsal, got lost going from the reception hall to the sanctuary (those darn signs can be comfusing!) and had a wonderful(ly loooooong) evening rehearsing everything. After the rehearsal, we went to Andrew's parent's church and had dinner courtesy of Marilyn (dunno if her name is spelled right or not), Andrew's mother. I sat with my mom, Grandma, Poppy, Aunt Paula and Matthew and we discussed skiing....Interesting topic, even though I loathe the thought of the sport with a passion.
After dinner I rode home with Matthew and Paula - well, Paula dropped me and Matthew off at Phoebe's and stayed for a little while to talk and stuff (while Rachel and I played Wii. Again. I kicked her butt in baseball ^^ and if I'm going to post butt-kickings, I should tell you that that afternoon, Aunt Jen played tennis against me and Rachel on Wii and Rachel and I both lost brutally. Almost every game, except one each).
Saturday was the day of the wedding. The most hectic day of all. We were out of the house by 9:45 am and off to the bridal shop to pick up my dress and Dana's dress, then Paula (this time Dana's mom, not Matthew's) took our dresses and my mom's to the church and me, Phoebe, Mom and Dana all went to an outlet strip mall to go to Picasso, a salon, to get our hair all did up ^^. Next came the mall, where we got our make-up done (all except Kristi, who got it done at Picasso for 45 bucks, whereas we got it free at the mall). Then we went to the church, peed (it was necessary), got dressed, took pictures, got shimmered up, took more pictures, everyone arrived, took professional pictures, took more pictures, hugged people and blah, blah, blah until it was FINALLY time.
I walked out into the Narthex of the church (the small entrance room you walk through to get to the Sanctuary) and told Matt, a groomsman, that we were ready (while Mom made Phoebe cry in the dressing room -.-'), who then told Poppy (the minister ^^) we were ready so he could signal to everyone we were ready and so the music could start playing. Kristi walked down first, then me, then Dana and then Phoebe and Mom. I won't bother you with the break-down of the ceremony, because it was too long and painful the first time, but the ceremony was breathtaking as was Phoebe.
When it ended, the bridal party walked out and stood on either side of the doors to greet the congregation and then the bride and groom with bubbles. More kisses, hugs, "OMG I haven't seen you in forever!"s, "You've grown so much!"s and blah and Phoebe and Andrew came and left, only to come right back to take MORE pictures.
And then it was time to party.
Well, almost.
The bridal party and the grandparents and parents of the bride and groom had to be announced, which basically translates into: We had to stand outside in the freezing cold and wait to be announced before we could go in. But we weren't allowed to sit down, because we had to wait for the bride and groom to have their first dance, and then the bridal party had to dance and then we had to stand for the speeches and the toasts and THEN we could sit down, only to get right back up again to go get our food from the buffet in the back of the room. -.-'
But the night was awesome. I ended up dancing the whole night through with Brianna, Meghan and Juliana (and occasionally Ben and Jeff, the best man ^^). I also danced with Matt, Andrew's brother and I tried getting Tim to dance, but he wouldn't. hehe.
Once everyone was gone and the decorations were all put away and the hall was cleaned up, the bridal party and Mom and Paula (Dana's mom) headed out to the parking lot for some celebratory champagne (there was no alcohol allowed in the church...there were actual spies in the reception hall watching us) before Phoebe and Andrew left with Jeff for the airport with tearful goodbyes to everyone.
Matthew stayed over at Phoebe's with us that last night, but we didn't stay up until 3 am like we had on Friday. I think most of us went to bed at 1:30, Mom and Matthew at around 2. Mom turned Matthew into a drinker ^^.
The morning after the wedding was hectic yet again. We had to pack, clean, eat, make sure everything was fine, and mom ended up losing her jacket and with it, her key to the rental car, but it was behind the bed, so we left (obviously ^^) for Uncle David's house and a great party, which made me miss Thanksgiving and everything because the atmosphere was just the same.
I went for a walk with Matthew and we talked about our futures and stuff and the boys, Rachel, Brianna and I played soccer and dodgeball in the back yard, Nic and I drew a poster, Julia taught me how to play a song, which I then taught Emma (she didn't want Julia to teach her, so I was appointed the job).
This is for Aunt Jen now, another anecdote for her collection:
Emma and I were sitting at the piano and I was teaching her to play the song Julia had just taught me (in pieces) and I was helping her with the keys and all of a sudden she goes, "You know, I'm going to be a musician when I get older, so we're going to have to practice a whole lot!" After a few more scales, I left the bench to Emma and went to draw a poster with Nicolas, which Emma immediately joined in on by drawing hands in hands in hands in hands...etc. Well, as we were all leaving, I was in the kitchen with her, Grandma and Matthew and she goes, "I can draw real good because I'm going to be an artist when I grow up!" Now, it's pretty obvious what she meant by that, so no smart comments about it, ok? ^^
And now that I've retold the tale, the last two days are unimportant because next to nothing happened, except we made Meghan cry a whole darn lot...And then we cried thinking about Aunt Jen crying for the dolphins because they "just do such a good job!" (Sorry, Aunt Jen, but it was funny!)
Aaaaanyways, I'm out.
--Cassy
The flight was near to unbearable, but at least I got my reading done for the review I'm supposed to hand in on the 9th of November (why do publishers always pick horrible dates?). Anyway, arriving in JFK went smoothly, customs went by rapidly, I was one of the first people at the conveyer belt. So, of course, I had to wait 15 minutes for the cursed thing to start and then another half hour for my suitcase to come. I guess the unloading crew thought it would be funny to torment me (and yes, I'm fully aware that that's not anywhere near true, but let me be a drama queen!).
So, after I got my luggage (I was seriously thinking the same thing had happened as last time and they forgot my bag in Paris or something...I woulda been pissed...), I headed out into the reception area and was received (like what I did there?) by my mother and grandmother. Big hugs, lots of talk and a car ride later and we were at Aunt Susan's house for dinner. More hugs, some mexican food à la Mom and a bunch of Q/A later and we were off to Grandma and Poppy's house for a "good" night's sleep.
Before I go into detail there, I have to stop and make a side note here. The week Mom was gone, the week before I left, my body had the insane urge to wake me up every morning, starting on the weekend right before she left. And normally, that'd be just fiiiiine. But not when it decided the best time to wake me up was at 5:55 am. Every. Morning. And back to the actual story...
So, Mom and I popped in a movie after some more talking and some unpacking and stuff and pretty soon, I fell asleep. We were watching Sister Act, by the way, just so you know how tired I really was. I think I fell asleep at around 11 pm (ECT) and I woke up at around 12:30 am. Guess what time it was in Austria! Yooooooooooou guessed it: 6 frigging am. Ok, so it was thrown off by a half an hour or so, but hey, I was jetlagged.
Anyway, I went back to bed after grumbling something that apparently my mom found funny, and slept until 3 in the morning. After that I basically just stayed up until my mom forced me to turn the TV off and go to bed and I woke up at 7 for the third and final time.
At around 10ish, we started the drive up to Pottstown (or rather, down to Pottstown, geographically speaking), which, all in all, with a gas stop and some slight confusion, took about 3 hours. We arrived at Phoebe and Andrew's house at around 1 and had some lunch and then headed out to go get my dress fitted, get shoes for me, get shoes for Mom, a dress for Mom, and a bunch of other stuff. While we were shopping (we being me, Phoebe and Mom), Aunt Jen and Uncle Matt were on their way to Pheebs' house as well, along with the chillins. Andrew met up with us at the mall and after about an hour and a half, we finally went home to go meet the Eagers.
Oh, have I mentioned that not once in that whole week did I get to see one of my friends? Or that the school they go to was literally five minutes away from where I was staying? I guess not. Well, now you know.
Yea, so, after the shopping, we went back home, more hugs, talking, unloading and blehness and then we had to decide what we wanted for dinner, which meant more shopping, this time with Aunt Jen, Mom, Rach and me. After we got home (and I'm talking RIGHT after, as in, two seconds after), Andrew and I went back to the store to get paper plates, plastic utensils and cups. So I did quite a lot of shopping that day. That night was a different story. We wanted to go to a haunted house, but we never did, just to tell you in advance, so I don't have to keep repeating myself (like I don't already do that...), so instead, we stayed home and played Apples to Apples, which is a FUN game. Like, seriously, especially if you know the people played very well and if you have an odd sense of humor.
Then Rachel and I got bored, so we went into the living room and played on the Wii (well, Rachel played, I fell asleep).
The next day was possibly just as hectic. We had a nails appointment and I had to go try on the newly fitted dress again and in the midst of all that, I forgot to bring my shoes - twice. After nails and dresses and things, we headed back to the church's reception hall (oh, yea, I forgot to say that before the nails and everything we were at the church, decorating the hall for the reception ^^) and then I went home with Poppy (who had arrived with Grandma, Matthew (Crippen) and Matthew's mother, Paula earlier that day and who had taken me from the salon to get the dress stuff done and then had taken me to the church and then back to the house -phew-) and we waited for Grandma and Aunt Jen to get home with the kids.
Once everyone was ready, we all headed back down to the church for the rehearsal, got lost going from the reception hall to the sanctuary (those darn signs can be comfusing!) and had a wonderful(ly loooooong) evening rehearsing everything. After the rehearsal, we went to Andrew's parent's church and had dinner courtesy of Marilyn (dunno if her name is spelled right or not), Andrew's mother. I sat with my mom, Grandma, Poppy, Aunt Paula and Matthew and we discussed skiing....Interesting topic, even though I loathe the thought of the sport with a passion.
After dinner I rode home with Matthew and Paula - well, Paula dropped me and Matthew off at Phoebe's and stayed for a little while to talk and stuff (while Rachel and I played Wii. Again. I kicked her butt in baseball ^^ and if I'm going to post butt-kickings, I should tell you that that afternoon, Aunt Jen played tennis against me and Rachel on Wii and Rachel and I both lost brutally. Almost every game, except one each).
Saturday was the day of the wedding. The most hectic day of all. We were out of the house by 9:45 am and off to the bridal shop to pick up my dress and Dana's dress, then Paula (this time Dana's mom, not Matthew's) took our dresses and my mom's to the church and me, Phoebe, Mom and Dana all went to an outlet strip mall to go to Picasso, a salon, to get our hair all did up ^^. Next came the mall, where we got our make-up done (all except Kristi, who got it done at Picasso for 45 bucks, whereas we got it free at the mall). Then we went to the church, peed (it was necessary), got dressed, took pictures, got shimmered up, took more pictures, everyone arrived, took professional pictures, took more pictures, hugged people and blah, blah, blah until it was FINALLY time.
I walked out into the Narthex of the church (the small entrance room you walk through to get to the Sanctuary) and told Matt, a groomsman, that we were ready (while Mom made Phoebe cry in the dressing room -.-'), who then told Poppy (the minister ^^) we were ready so he could signal to everyone we were ready and so the music could start playing. Kristi walked down first, then me, then Dana and then Phoebe and Mom. I won't bother you with the break-down of the ceremony, because it was too long and painful the first time, but the ceremony was breathtaking as was Phoebe.
When it ended, the bridal party walked out and stood on either side of the doors to greet the congregation and then the bride and groom with bubbles. More kisses, hugs, "OMG I haven't seen you in forever!"s, "You've grown so much!"s and blah and Phoebe and Andrew came and left, only to come right back to take MORE pictures.
And then it was time to party.
Well, almost.
The bridal party and the grandparents and parents of the bride and groom had to be announced, which basically translates into: We had to stand outside in the freezing cold and wait to be announced before we could go in. But we weren't allowed to sit down, because we had to wait for the bride and groom to have their first dance, and then the bridal party had to dance and then we had to stand for the speeches and the toasts and THEN we could sit down, only to get right back up again to go get our food from the buffet in the back of the room. -.-'
But the night was awesome. I ended up dancing the whole night through with Brianna, Meghan and Juliana (and occasionally Ben and Jeff, the best man ^^). I also danced with Matt, Andrew's brother and I tried getting Tim to dance, but he wouldn't. hehe.
Once everyone was gone and the decorations were all put away and the hall was cleaned up, the bridal party and Mom and Paula (Dana's mom) headed out to the parking lot for some celebratory champagne (there was no alcohol allowed in the church...there were actual spies in the reception hall watching us) before Phoebe and Andrew left with Jeff for the airport with tearful goodbyes to everyone.
Matthew stayed over at Phoebe's with us that last night, but we didn't stay up until 3 am like we had on Friday. I think most of us went to bed at 1:30, Mom and Matthew at around 2. Mom turned Matthew into a drinker ^^.
The morning after the wedding was hectic yet again. We had to pack, clean, eat, make sure everything was fine, and mom ended up losing her jacket and with it, her key to the rental car, but it was behind the bed, so we left (obviously ^^) for Uncle David's house and a great party, which made me miss Thanksgiving and everything because the atmosphere was just the same.
I went for a walk with Matthew and we talked about our futures and stuff and the boys, Rachel, Brianna and I played soccer and dodgeball in the back yard, Nic and I drew a poster, Julia taught me how to play a song, which I then taught Emma (she didn't want Julia to teach her, so I was appointed the job).
This is for Aunt Jen now, another anecdote for her collection:
Emma and I were sitting at the piano and I was teaching her to play the song Julia had just taught me (in pieces) and I was helping her with the keys and all of a sudden she goes, "You know, I'm going to be a musician when I get older, so we're going to have to practice a whole lot!" After a few more scales, I left the bench to Emma and went to draw a poster with Nicolas, which Emma immediately joined in on by drawing hands in hands in hands in hands...etc. Well, as we were all leaving, I was in the kitchen with her, Grandma and Matthew and she goes, "I can draw real good because I'm going to be an artist when I grow up!" Now, it's pretty obvious what she meant by that, so no smart comments about it, ok? ^^
And now that I've retold the tale, the last two days are unimportant because next to nothing happened, except we made Meghan cry a whole darn lot...And then we cried thinking about Aunt Jen crying for the dolphins because they "just do such a good job!" (Sorry, Aunt Jen, but it was funny!)
Aaaaanyways, I'm out.
--Cassy
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Aunt Jen