It all started with this cute couple.... Let me rewind for a minute. Mathieu and I met in 8th grade. We quickly became friends. One, Mathieu is a likable guy and two, I tend to have guy friends. We both had Mrs. Rhodes class at the same time; that's how it started. Our friendship grew from there. His family moved to Alaska (Soldotna) a year later but we stayed in touch with MSN Messenger. Who remembers that?! Ugh! My family had dial up (this was 1999 after all) and his did too, so it took forever, but we messaged whenever we could. There were a lot of "are you on?" messages, but that's the fun with messenger. It's instant {who wanted email? not us two}!
Fast forward another year and his family moved back. We picked right up where we left off. I remember one night he and our friend Leland {his name is Lee, but Leland is the nickname he earned when we became friends :)} were coming to my house to pick me up and we were going to eat. They drove back and forth past my house about 17 times before they finally made it up the driveway. Leland stayed in the Jimmy while Mathieu came to meet dad. That was fun {oh, being a teenager...} Moving on... we were always close. He got a girlfriend and I had a boyfriend and you know how high school is. But we stayed friends. Then comes junior college and we hardly saw each other. Then I moved to Oxford for my BA and he moved off. I mean across the country! He has lived in Louisiana, Wyoming, Colorado, Illinois and now New York! I'm missing a state, but I cannot think of it at the moment. We talked some while I was at Ole Miss, but not that often.
When I moved back we talked more and in the last few years we have become even closer. He went through a really difficult time while he was living in Illinois and I spent many nights on the phone with him (talking or texting). Then, one night while we were texting he met this cute little blonde, Kelsey. As they say {whoever "they" are}, the rest is history.
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| The cute couple! |
So, Friday, August 3rd, we loaded up and drove to Illinois. Everyone of his groomsmen were friends of his from high school except one guy that he met while working. All five couples plus me made the 9 hour drive. Illinois is a beautiful state. It was so sad to see that most of their crops were dead. Their crops, income, it was all just in the fields fried and crispy. Thousands and thousands of acres of useless crops. The draught was tough in MS, but it seemed much worse in IL. Closer to Dwight {where we were} the crops were actually green! I was in awe of those windmills. They were HUGE. I need to do a little research for more info, but I do know that if you allow the power company to put windmills on your property, you get around $20,000 per windmill. Yes, you read that right. The power that's generated is SOLD to CANADA. Interesting? Yes!
The rehearsal dinner was held in this new restaurant in downtown Dwight. The bride's mother is the manager there. It's such a cool place. They really put a lot of thought into every.single.aspect. of that building. That firetruck you see used to be a big heep of rusted metal in someones pasture, but the restaurant owner bought it and restored it. They also wanted to pay their respect to the firemen that were lost during 9/11 and they actually have real helmets, flags, etc in the building to showcase. We must never forget that day.
Wedding Day! Us girls decide to do a little shopping before the afternoon wedding so we hit up the nearest mall and shopped, ate, walked until time to get ready. We ended up stuck on the interstate with very, very heavy rain. Everyone had their flashers on and were completely stopped in their lane. We were so worried about the wedding because everything was already decorated and set up! Luckily, the rain stopped and the fields dried up! Matt & Kelsey were married in front of this barn {isn't it awesome?} Such a simple backdrop but a huge statement.
I snapped this picture of the guys waiting on the girls to get ready. The man in white is Mathieu's dad. Mathieu is the taller one to the left of him. Look at those blue skies, green fields and huge windmills!
The groomsmen left to line up so Mathieu and his dad are all alone. Keep in mind these pics are taken with my phone! And no editing!
I told him to NOT put his hands on his hips... such a good listener. Not!
Ralph Lauren shirts, dark Levi's and boots... ahhhh :)
Bridesmaids!
I'm not a frilly, girly person, but I was IN love with her dress. Totally not like me at all, but I loved it. She was such a beautiful blonde bride!
Mr. & Mrs. Mathieu Segerson Vansandt!
From the reception tent looking back at the barn. Love it.
Their first "dance"... haha Matt is not a dancer. At all. This was the best she could get until the very, very end of the reception!
On our way home, we drove through St. Louis. We didn't stop (or slow down) but it looked like a nice place to visit one day!
Nikita
put her foot down said we were going to
Lambert's. She had never been and wanted the experience. If you've ever visited one then you know the experience I'm talking about! Such good food (HUGE portions) and great tea, but those rolls?! Those rolls and molasses?! This girl could gain some serious weight eating those! We had a 45 minute wait so Nikita and I made ourselves presentable and then snapped a picture or two. Or four. :) You'll have to ignore Dustin. He was such a trooper!
Dustin not only rode in the back seat the entire trip to IL and back from IL, but he also tolerated not only his wife but me in the hotel room. One tiny room, one tiny bathroom and two women! He said "you know you're staying with two women when you use the hotel soap and shampoo then the next thing you know there are 47 bottles of junk in the shower!" Hahaha Dustin has NO idea what he's getting into.... their twin girls turned 3 that weekend. 3 going on 13!
It was a great trip (minus the two speeding tickets and a few detours thanks to the GPS and road construction). I'm so happy for Matt and Kelsey. They are starting their married life in close to Buffalo, NY-- just minutes away from Niagra Falls. I'm jealous! They've invited everyone to come visit and you better believe I'm trying my best to plan a trip!
