Thursday finally arrived! Kelly and I left Bluefield at 9:00am (I was very proud that I left on time and was not late)! We had been on the road no more than an hour when one of Kelly's cats, Fluffy--who isn't very fluffy--got the runs! Poor thing! Her stomach couldn't handle the jostling and motion of the car. After making a pit stop at a Food Lion in Christiansburg we were on our way again! Approximately thirty minutes later we arrived in Roanoke, where we had lunch with my mother (Berta) and brother (Nathan) at CiCi's Pizza at Towers Mall. It was so nice to see them! At that point it had been several months since I had seen my brother! Lunch was great, we all chit-chatted about random stuff in our lives, but had a wonderful time! After lunch Kelly and I began the rest of our trek east across this lovely state, and finally a few hours later arrived at her parent's house in Montpelier, VA! Her house was so cozy. It's tucked away in the woods right off the road and cats were everywhere! My favorites were a black pregnant cat that was about to pop, and another gray calico whom the family calls "Cinco." He's named that because he has one too many toes on each foot, but even though he has six, it's just a nickname for him. The rest of my day included Kelly's amazing parents taking me along to celebrate Kelly's brother's (Stephen's 30th) birthday with them Kelly, Stephen, and his wife Angie! I had ham with crab--it was a scrumptuous albeit expensive dinner from a local restaurant called "Tavern on the Rail." It was a great place, and I recommend it to anyone--it's in a crazy small town called Bumpass, VA--good luck with the pronunciation!
Friday morning Kelly & I headed off to Richmond, VA to meet up with our friend Angela Turpin who attends VCU and lives in the heart of the city. Kelly's GPS on her new Blackberry was a bit confusing, but we finally made it to Angela & Dave's (her husband) apartment. It's a clean and modern apartment that suits the two of them and their two cats--Lucy & Texas. After chatting and catching up, we made our way to Primrose School where Angela works and then made our way over to Panera Bread, one of my favorite restaurants! The sandwiches and soups are yummy! After lunch we made our way over to the local mall where we shopped for a little while. I found a lovely white, green, and blue striped with silver lining dress from New York & Co. for $10! I actually wore this dress to Lindsey & Derrick's wedding! After shopping we stopped by the Cheesecake Factory where Kelly bought well of course, a piece of cheesecake. Before leaving the mall we made a pit stop in this store called "Not of this World" it's an amazing Christian store that just opened! The owner of the store even asked us before we left if he could specifically pray with us! It was so amazing! Oh how I pray and hope this store minister's to people that desperately need the Lord! Finally after our busy yet blissful afternoon we went back to Angela's where I indulged the ladies with pedicures! Since Kelly didn't live to far away she went back home, but Angela and I continued to have our girls' night--going out to dinner @ Tarants, watching "P.S. I Love You," eating ice-cream, and finally falling asleep after talking past midnight!
Saturday finally arrived! I got dressed in a hurry and Angela drove me over to JMitch's house to meet up with Kelly, JMitch, and Sarah for the drive down to Lindsey & Derrick's wedding in Chesapeake. The drive flew by and we made it to the wedding with an hour to spare! The wedding itself was in a gorgeous white Baptist church that shined brilliantly due to the wonderful warm sunshine. Inside the sanctuary was a light blue and the front set up for the wedding to take place. At exactly 2pm the bridal party was ushered in and the preacher began the ceremony of vows, exchange of rings, and of course, the kiss! The ceremony itself lasted about 20 minutes, while the reception lasted nearly if not close to 3 hours! What a reception! Two tables were actually taken up with students from Bluefield College. At this point I would love to post some pictures from the wedding, however my computer "crashed" and I lost the pictures I had and I had already deleted them from my camera. But Lindsey was absolutely stunning in a white A-line dress with a teal/turqouise ribbon tied around her waist. The bridesmaids had matching color dresses and the groomsmen had matching teal/turqouise vests and ties. The whole esemble was beautiful! Back to the reception, it included delicious food--chocolate fountains, a beautiful cake decorated with the colors that matched the bridal party and a silver "W" sitting at the top, seafood, fruits, vegetables, and an assortment of crackers, meats, and so on! Lindsey & Derrick danced together and then with their father and mother. Music that really defines who they are as individuals and as a couple was played and of course the cutting of the cake and tossing of the bride's bouquet was done as well. Unfortunately, a little 8 or 9 year old caught the thing; I'm afraid there's not much hope for the rest of us! ;-)
That evening as the wedding came to a close, we saw Lindsey & Derrick off with a car covered in saran wrap, and writing, along with three cans dragging behind as they made their way to Charlottesville for their honeymoon. After the wedding our car decided to help take back some of the gifts, as well as chip in for the $630 TV the couple had registered for but did not receive! (What a great surprise they would come back to in Bluefield!) As we made our way back to Richmond we ended up spending some time with our friends that were in town--Sara Hubble (who is in from South Africa), Kristen Clarke, Amy Montgomery, Brad Shockley, Amy Abshire, Sara's family, and JMitch. We all went out to Sara's favorite Chinese restaurant and had a relaxing and wonderful time. I can't remember laughing so much in my life! Kristen, Amy M, Brad, and Kelly kept cracking me up! I love good times like those! Oh how I love summer but do miss my friends :-( but I know that they are well and I pray and hope God blesses and takes care of them everyday they are not in my life.
Ok so now the blog is getting sad. But all good things must come to an end. Kelly and I left Mechanicsville and made it back to Montpelier a little after midnight. The next day we took our showers, got dressed, and went to Kelly's parents church. It was so adorable and cute! It's a gorgeous red brick Methodist church that took my breath away. The actual preacher was out on her honeymoon so they had a lay-speaker preach and his sermon was about "Serving the Lord." It was interesting to say the least. But after church we had subs at Subway and then made the long trek back to Bluefield leaving the cats and our friends behind.
On the actual "Memorial Day" Kelly prepared for her trip to Nashville and I relaxed and enjoyed reminiscing about the veterans in this country, as well as tagging along for TLC's "John & Kate plus 8" show. Our day ended with a miniature cookout attended by me, Kelly, Michael Gullion, and Rachel Russo--but having a small group to entertain and feed was splendid. When dinner was finished I found myself meandering around campus and eventually received a phone call from a good friend of mine, Brad, whom I was able to talk to for a while. It was nice to just catch up and sit outside before the sun went down. All in all it was a great weekend, and I'm so thankful I was able to see my friends, and I'm so happy for Lindsey & Derrick. I say bring on the blessings Lord :-)
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