Wedding!

My college friend Angileigh's wedding was this past Saturday August 15 in Lexington, SC. She married Eric Hartman, a fellow die-hard Clemson fan and all around good guy. I was a bridesmaid and sang in their wedding. The Wednesday before on August 12 I took the "red-eye" flight out of Phoenix at 11:30 pm and arrived in Charlotte at 8:30 am the next day. With the aid of multiple glasses of wine, I was able to get a few hours of sleep on the flights, and although still a little tired, was eager to see my family.

My mom picked me up in Charlotte, and we went to Spartanburg, SC to visit Tim at his new school, USC Upstate, where he has transferred to play on the soccer team. He is living in a new dorm and despite the 2-a-day practices he is doing great!

We met Richard (on his lunch break all spiffed up in a tie!) for lunch at the Pita House in Greenville, SC - one of my favorite restaurants of all time. We saw his new apartment he'll be moving into in Greenville, and Richard experienced a minor panic attack as he realized all the furniture he was going to need to invest in!
I was fortunate enough to have a visit at my mum's house from my good friend Stacy, and we chatted over a glass of Malbec. Miss you!

My friend David Holmes (D-Day) picked me up in Greenville, and we rode Thursday night to Lexington, SC. D-Day is a friend of ours from college, and was also in the wedding -- we called him a Brides-man. Thursday night and Friday we bustled around Lexington preparing for the wedding, and then enjoyed the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner on Friday. Saturday we were up early and enjoyed primping for the wedding, posed for about a thousand pictures, and then got to enjoy the party! My parents and Richard attended the wedding, so I got to spend some more time with them too. I visited with a few people I haven't seen since graduating college; amazingly, it felt like no time has passed at all when I saw them. The wedding was beautiful, and I was really thrilled I could be there to share the day(s) with Ang, Eric and the whole Wingard clan. The whole weekend was such a whirlwind that I didn't take as many pictures as I would have like to with everyone I saw! My dad did take some of the reception, which I'll post this weekend. In no time at all I was up on Sunday, back in the car, and flying out of Charlotte back to Phoenix. Due to exhaustion, I had to stop in Phoenix and do some shopping for an hour (hehe) and then drove back up the mountain to enjoy my Sunday HBO shows and a delicious home cooked meal with Jason and Maddie. Jason greeted me with a glass of wine and a new recipe for stuffed shells...delicious!
In my absence, Jason had a short trip to Reno for work on Thursday - Friday, and spent the weekend in Flagstaff. On Saturday he and his co-worker David went biking on a more advanced trail for a couple of hours, didn't encounter any equestrian teams, but did have to make a few pit-stops for broken chains. Jason fell a couple of times, but only came out of it with a cut thumb...not too bad!
There has been a pretty bad wildfire in our region that started late last week. It is in the Coconino National Forest, about 13 miles from Flagstaff. On Sunday, driving up the mountain, I could see huge plumes of smoke coming up from behind the San Francisco Peaks. Monday was the worst day with a smokey haze and pockets of ash throughout town. Not a pleasant day to walk. It appears to be now under control, and we aren't under any danger. Had the fire spread to Flagstaff, the first spot to be hit would have most likely been Jason's Gore compound. Apparently a fire in a similar area a few years back did spread towards Flagstaff, and Jason's buildings were evacuated for a number of days. Here is an article about the fire


Last thing, my bio is finally up on the NAU website. Here is a link to our roster, click my name, and you'll find my bio.


We have both been trying to catch up on sleep this week. Jason leaves Saturday for Providence, RI and Albany, NY until next Wednesday, and I am working Orientation both Saturday and Sunday. We have been planning our trip to Utah for Labor Day weekend, and looking forward to my parent's visit on the 27th of August! I put a slide show of some additional picture from my visit to S.C. - more of the reception to come soon - enjoy!
XOXO