So…a lot has happened in the last 7–10 days. Quite a lot indeed!

Nicole has been creating decorations for her cousin’s wedding for months and months and that all came to fruition on Sunday, Sept. 6 in a cute little park in Wallingford / Seattle. Unfortunately it rained so the would-be outdoor wedding got moved indoors.

On the way to Seattle to prepare and decorate for that momentous occasion, Nicole and I got text messages, yes text messages, from my little, baby sister (well, she’ll always be that to me) about her engagement. So congratulations to her and her-now-fiancée Brian.

Monday, the day after Nicole’s cousin’s wedding, Nicole’s mother, June, picked us up and drove us to get a quick bite to eat before dropping us off at the airport. We flew from Sea-Tac to Las Vegas to John Wayne in Orange County. Then we spent 2 gloriously fun-filled days at Disneyland and California Adventure. We highly recommend Bear River Run (weather permitting) and Mulholland Madness. Though our days were indeed filled to the brim with fun, I had started feeling like I was getting sick on Monday as we flew down to Orange County, and I felt a bit worse on Tuesday at the end of our first full day in Disneyland. I felt even worse by the end of the day Wednesday, I even broke a fever.

We flew back to Seattle via Sacramento on Thursday and rode the light-rail back to Ben’s apartment with Ben and Dennis who had flown into Seattle from Cincinnati earlier that day. We went out on the town with a few Seattle friends and then back to Ben’s apartment where Nicole, Ben, Dennis and Heather (who had driven up from Portland) played Nerts (a fast-paced card game similar to Dutch Blitz). I, however, took some CVS Pharmacy brand NyQuil knockoff pills and tried to get some rest.

We woke up as early as possible on Friday as we all had to shower and get ready so we could zip down to Uwajimaya (an Asian market) for brunch and then up to Bellingham for the rehearsal of Adam and Diana’s wedding. We arrived in Bellingham about 20 minutes late so we rushed to rehearsal and made sure we payed close attention and followed directions well. Friday evening was the rehearsal dinner, naturally. Once we got some lodging confusion all sorted, I took some more NyQuil knockoffs and attempted peaceful sleep once more.

Saturday morning we were late again. We showed up at the wedding site to help decorate and did all we could to both stay out of the way and be as helpful as possible. In the afternoon I got into my groomsman’s outfit and headed out with the rest of the wedding party to take photos. Then, before we knew it, it was time for the wedding. We lined up, walked in, stood for what seemed like eternity (as I was still coughing quite a bit and got kind of sweaty due to my illness), and then performed our choreographed and decently-rehearsed dance down the aisle. The reception food and entertainment were both supremely enjoyable but I really couldn’t wait to get back in the car and sleep as we were planning on driving back down to Seattle to stay with Ben in his apartment once again.

Sunday morning we decided to do brunch with the boys of Garage Voice since we hadn’t gotten to hang out with them much so far and we hadn’t yet seen their new house. We had delectably fluffy eggs made by Ben Blood and dynamically delicious potatoes made by Tommy. We hung out at their pad for quite a few hours, even making a small town out of paper and promptly lighting it on fire. We then headed back to Ben’s apartment to pack up our week’s worth of stuff, and head back towards Walla Walla.

On the way we made a fairly quick stopover in Yakima to eat dinner with Nicole’s dad and brother at her dad’s house. We had manicotti, salad, bread and a delicious selection of all-natural juices. We arrived home at around 11:30 or midnight, unpacked all of our stuff, piled it in our entryway, and then we both took NyQuil knockoffs as my illness has, of course, been shared with my wife.

Dallas