The VanDyke Wedding

After months of anticipation, Ross and Hannah's wedding weekend finally came!  Drew and I proudly take credit for our friends' marriage... if it weren't for us, they wouldn't have met.  Long story short: Hannah came to visit me in Portland on Memorial Day weekend 2009, Ross came to climb Mount Hood with Drew that same weekend, they met on the campus of Reed College, we took them on a progressive dinner around Portland, then on a road trip to Seattle the next day; Ross and Hannah went back to Texas, he asked her on a date, they fell in love; exactly two years later, Drew and I are standing next to them at the alter.

The wedding weekend was a whirlwind, but it was absolutely wonderful!  Hannah and I had an amazing group of girl friends in college and it was so much fun to spend time with all of them.  It's very rare that we're all in the same place at the same time.

Ross and Hannah: I'm so blessed to have been a part of your relationship from the start.  I had the unique opportunity of watching your relationship grow through both of your eyes.  Your love for one another is so apparent to anyone who is around you.  You encourage and challenge one another, you lean wholey on God as the foundation of your relationship, you're selfless and find joy in one another, and you have more fun than any couple I know!  I'm so happy for you.  Congrats, Mr. and Mrs. VanDyke!

Friday bridesmaids luncheon

the bride and bridesmaids at the rehearsal dinner

bridesmaids at the reception

the bride and her wedding party

the happy couple

  

The Perfect Woman...

This passage in the book I just read and blogged about, Through Painted Deserts, made me think of Ross and Hannah and I used it in my rehearsal dinner speech:

"Describe the perfect woman."

"She's got a great smile. She's going to be an athlete and like the outdoors. I want to travel so she'd have to be willing to live on the road. I'd like to hike Europe sometime. And when we hunt, she has to help carry the deer back to the truck. I want a companion. Just someone to share life with. I want her to be my biggest fan and I want to be her biggest fan too. I want us to raise kids in a home where they know their parents are in love with each other and with them... A friend. A true friend, someone who knows me and loves me anyway. You know, like when I'm through putting my best foot forward, she's still there, still the same... I guess that's all I want."