Min & Aaron

We spent the last weekend in May in Lewiston, ID. Why, you may wonder, would we drive 12+ hours to spend the weekend in Lewiston? Well, there is one, and only one, reason . . . my best friend got married!

Rod and I tried to break up the drive by staying overnight in Boise on Thursday night. By the time we got to Boise, though, we didn't have time to do anything except sleep. The next morning, we spent some time shopping and exploring Boise. We stopped at one of my favorite stores of all time, the Boise Co-op. It has great food and even better clothes, dishes, gifts, etc. We also stopped at Idaho River Sports to get info on the kayaking situation and to the Sierra Trading Post outlet to get deals on gear.

On the drive up, we stopped at Horseshoe Bend so that Rod could do some kayaking. The location was not especially picturesque and it started raining, but we still had fun. It reminded me of the early days of our courtship, when I would spend hours watching Rod play in his boat.


The drive to Lewiston was beautiful, but slow, long, and without cell phone reception. When we got in, we immediately went to visit Alex, Carley, and the adorable Baby J. I swear J is the cutest baby I've ever seen. When I'm around her, I'm a one-woman paparazzi. I think she liked her belated birthday present.
Carley and Alex directed us to the best Indian food I've ever eaten. Who would have thunk it in Lewiston? Afterwards, we met up with Aaron and Mindy at a gaming place, where I tried (against my better judgment) the bouncy castle. I survived

The next morning, Min and I went for a run. I took advantage of what I knew would be the only time I had alone with her to give her our wedding present and the vows book I had made for her. After our run, she invited us to breakfast. More pics of J.



I love this picture of CarleyAnne and J both chewing on their fingers.




While we were eating, we started talking about what was left to do before the wedding and rehearsal. To save money, Min and Aaron were doing everything themselves. We quickly (at about the time that Rod asked, "Do we have the ingredients for potato salad?" and got the response, "I don't know. What goes in potato salad?") that we had our work cut out for us. Rod soon became the defacto caterer. At one point in the weekend, Aaron's family commented that it was great that Rod got to do what he loves for a living. They thought he was a professional chef! :) We did food prep and created centerpieces until it was time to get ready for the rehearsal dinner, which Min and Aaron were also catering themselves.

For those of you who haven't heard, I've added a new title to my name: Reverend. Min and Aaron asked me to be their officiant so I clicked "Ordain Me" on the Universal Life Church website. :) My favorite moment of the whole weekend was after we had rehearsed the processional and recessional, Min and Aaron dismissed the wedding party and the three of us went over the ceremony. Min started crying and Aaron was getting choked up. It was an incredibly intimate moment, and I was there to share it with them. You could feel the emotions and all of the stress of the day/weekend just melt away.

The rehearsal dinner itself was fun. We had veggie chilli and my new favorite campfire dessert: s'mores made with reeses peanut butter cups. Try it. You will never go back to regular s'mores. Afterwards, we went out with Min, Aaron, our friends from high school, and their friends from NYC. Despite the truly heinous karaoke, I was falling asleep at the table. We called it an early night at around 11 (10 our time).

The next day, the wedding, was another full day of cooking. We started with a cupcake brunch. My candied bacon went fast. In between rounds of bacon, we frosted cupcakes, assembled pies and kebabs, put together centerpieces, and, of course, prepped/cooked the rest of the menu. Min made us cute matching aprons to wear while we baked. We finished just in time to run into town to grab a late lunch at a cute riverside restaurant. We tried to go to the Indian place, but it was closed. :(

By the time I made it back to where Min was staying, Min had locked herself in the bathroom. She let me in and we chatted while she made herself the most bubbly bath I have ever seen. Sorry Min! I just could not help myself. I loved having these few minutes alone with her. CarleyAnne and Alicia showed up shortly thereafter and we all frantically put the finishing touches on our makeup and Min's hair. Min made us really adorable earrings and I bought us all matching hair barretts to match Min's theme. We all looked smoking hot!

The ceremony was beautiful, even if I do say so myself. :) Min and Aaron looked so happy. Rod eventually completed his grilling duties, and I eventually got to sneak in a few dances with him.






Here are some fun pics from the "photo booth".




On Monday, we drove all the way home. The drive was SO excruciating. But we did break it up with lunch with Carl, Alex, Baby J, and Ms. Courtney at an incredibly cool restaurant that was featured on Diners, Dives, and Drive-ins and a stop at the falls in Twin Falls.

By the time we got home from our holiday weekend, we were ready for a holiday. :)

Congrats Min and Aaron!