Last weekend brought a pretty major event to our schedule. Our nephew, Michael, was getting married. It was a must-attend shindig so Paul and I left Gabe to fend for himself. Actually we left him with good friends to be well cared for. While traveling with my sweetheart I learned a few things about myself, with ever more opportunities for refinement:
1.Two people can bring twice as much anxiety as one. Since that's way too much anxiety, I let my husband keep his while I attempted to lose mine. He got to be the one checking to make sure we were at the right gate, wondering if we would make the flight, getting a plan B if plan A didn't work. It must have been just the right amount of anxiety because we were successful in arriving at our beautiful destination of San Diego, CA.
2. There may actually be more than one way to live life and that might be okay. I spent hours finding the cheapest car rental. I was proud of the fact that my choice was 2 dollars less than anything available. We walked up to the counter, I confidently presented my reservation # that showed what a good consumer I am. Then my husband promptly upgraded to the tune of twice the amount. I seethed. I spent an hour reaching a place of forgiveness but not humility as I ruminated that I am so much more frugal, less extravagant, more practical, etc. And then when all was said and done and we turned the car in, a mistake had been made on their part and we got the upgraded car for 1/2 the amount--equaling my original price. Was someone trying to teach me to trust my husband and not be so prideful? Grudgingly noted.
3.I'm not the only person in the world. When I'm solo I always do what I want to do, unless I'm afraid which is bad or I want to help which is good. With a companion I have to think of others. I know, I know, that's one of the purposes of life. So off we went to the Midway aircraft carrier which was actually cool. It was made cooler by how enthusiastic my husband was about the experience. I usually just breeze by the displays, learning as little as possible and taking lots of pictures .But because I had a dear one with me I learned about navigating the carrier, landing a plane, taking off, and what wars were served by this particular carrier. Did you know that the target cable to catch with your tail hook is #2, not #1? And if the meatball is not centered you should be waved off. Everyone has made a mistake, but every time a mistake is made it is because of lack of discipline. Clearly, I need more discipline.
4. The list just goes on and on, so I'll stop with 3 things I learned and just tell about the beauties of the weekend.
We left the Midway feeling very hungry. Being in CA left us with a clear choice for lunch...In-N-Out hamburger, vanilla shake and fries. The weather was a cool 75 degrees with a slight ocean breeze. It was so perfect it almost brought a tear to my eye. To be loyal to my home state I will admit that Chick-Fil-A waffle fries are better than In-N-Out and Georgia is greener than California.
Then after a little navigation problem (it's not a true vacation if I don't spend a some time driving around lost) we found our hotel and with it our family. There's really nothing like traveling to an appointed spot on the earth and gathering with loved ones; babies that have grown like weeds, siblings who are beautiful even if none of us are twenty any more, nieces and nephews who have become the parents Someone commented to the groom-to-be, "Your last day of freedom." As I thought of all the blessings that have come from being married I had to add, "You mean, let's get this party started."
That night was the rehearsal dinner where both families came together to meet and share our love of the couple. Everyone had traveled from another state, but we were thrilled for these young people and were happy to celebrate with them. All the new people I met were lovely. We shared advice and compliments for Michael and Kim and had such an enjoyable evening.
 |
| Stoker brothers |
 |
| The beautiful couple |
 |
| Stoker girls |
The wedding was the next day, Saturday, but not until 2:30 pm. The groom's uncle came up with a fabulous idea. He invited us to join him in a cave kayaking tour in the ocean. He's a genius. We had time to kill and needed to stay out of trouble and who doesn't want an adventure? I was very thankful for his initiative. If I had thought of the idea, I would have talked myself out of it because of any number of anxious thoughts: "What if we get lost and we're late to the wedding?" "What if someone gets in an accident and we're late to the wedding?" "What if the tour goes too long and we're late to the wedding?" I'm thankful for level headed people who help me take calculated risks that make life so much better. And so, "Hello Pacific Ocean. It's been so long."
After kayaking we enjoyed a lovely lunch with Paul's sister and husband at a beachy little sandwich shop that sold European candy bars. I told my husband that I would have been a beach bum if I wasn't a mother of 9 children. My husband responded to my confession with a frightened look, but no worries. There's no beach and only a little bumming in our reality.
There were no accidents, no one got lost, and no one was late to the wedding, Well, no kayakers were late to the wedding. And it was beautiful. And thanks for getting married in the San Diego temple. I've always wanted to go there. The bride and groom were gorgeous and there was lots of love to go around.
A couple of hours later found us at the reception in another beautiful place. We ate hors d'oeuvres in the garden and dinner in the ballroom. It was dreamy actually. I'm not one to take a picture of my food, but I just had to be that person.
And then we left to take our rental car back and find out that it wasn't more expensive after all and not be late for the flight that we didn't get on. Then Paul told me that he wasn't interested in being one of the sleepers at the airport and would definitely be getting a hotel for 4 hours. Because of his extravagance I got to sleep in a bed and feel very pious about the fact that I wouldn't have spent the money on the hotel but was just going along with my husband. We got to the airport bright and early and only didn't get on 1 more flight.
We came back to good friends who had cared for our son and who offered us dinner which we accepted gratefully, and a resolve to definitely make the effort to see our family more often. There's just nothing better. Thanks Michael and Kim for a lovely weekend.
.
