the wedding.

okay, so, tonight i went to a wedding that i had mixed feelings about, and now i am so glad that i did. it was the wedding of one of my oldest friends ryan.

when i first heard last summer that he was engaged i thought he was crazy. he and i are the same age (actually he's exactly 5 months older than me), and i thought that he was way too young and when i heard their story i thought that it was way too rushed. i've not thought about it much over the last year (avoided it really), but when i have i have maintained the same attitude about it. that is until tonight.

when i got the invitation to the wedding i decided that i was going no matter what. even if my parents decided not to, i was going to drive up and back in one day if i had to. my mom decided to come (and she's glad that she did too), so we got a hotel room, which is where i am now.

starting today i decided that i'd be positive about this whole thing. i came to the realization that when i get married (eventually, hopefully) it could be under circumstances that were similar even if not more "rushed" or whatever, and i'd want those i love to be supportive of me too. so, i decided to be supportive of ryan and amanda in their choice to get married. and i'm so glad that i did.

it was crazy seeing ryan up there in front of everyone waiting for amanda to walk down the aisle, and i couldn't believe that this was they guy who i grew up with. at this point i was still uneasy, then jaclyn walked down the aisle crying (which made ryan cry), and then the wedding party and finally amanda, and as soon as i saw them together, i was sold. by the end of the ceremony i was so happy for them.

the reception was great, too. i sat with the family, who are basically my family, and jaclyn's friends eileen and geoff. they are hillarious and so much fun to be around. it's been a year since i've seen basically everyone in that family so it was great to see them again. (last summer was jaclyn's wedding.) like i said, they are my family, and i've missed seeing them so much.

so, by the end of the night i was so incredibly happy for ryan and amanda (and i finally met her!). everyone had started to take off and we decided that it was time to leave. jaclyn, jarom, eileen, and geoff were going out the same way that we came, so i didn't say goodbye to them yet, but when i said goodbye to ryan the last time was the hardest. i could have talked all night but when it came to saying goodbye to one of my oldest best friends all i could get out was that i was so happy for him. that was it. that was the only time that i almost cried. my eyes welled up with tears, and even now as i think back to that moment i'm on the brink of tears. i'm just so happy for them.

like i'm sure i've said already, tonight was awesome in more ways than one and i'm so glad, beyond words, that i went. jaclyn (hi!), i hope that you read this one. tell ryan to come and read it. hopefully someday it'll be me.

happy & thankful, and feeling like a cow for the end of my last entry.
- corrie

(i have a picture that i wanted to put here, but it won't come up. check out my myspace for it. myspace.com/yellowmoonlite)