From Texas to PUC

Everything really is bigger in Texas: the expressways, the buildings, the distances between things, and even the event itself was on a bigger scale than anything I'd seen in a long time. It was, in short, a wonderful weekend celebrating the wedding of my cousin Travis Purdin.

The rehearsal dinner was held in the Ft. Worth Stockyards, a truly elegant affair with candles flickering from low tables, a delicious avocado bar, and. . . a barbecue fountain. Only in Texas, no? The most foreign element of it for me was the bull, Big Jake, that was there for photo purposes. Somehow my parents talked me in to taking a picture on it, despite the fact that I was wearing a skirt.

The best part of it for me, though, was finally meeting Judy Purdin, Travis's mother, in person after corresponding with her for some time. I had some vague memories from my aunt Lisa's wedding years ago, but that was before I knew her. Meeting my great-grandmother's sister June was also a highlight, having seen her picture many times, but never her face in person.

Before the afternoon ceremony, we drove out to Keene, home of Southwestern University. Dad has many memories there (and I never knew he'd had anything to do with it), and it's always nice to get a better mental image of a place I hear about from other students. The most striking feature of the place to me was the library--it's a tall, elegant building, though I couldn't see any of its actual stacks through the windows.

The ceremony itself was in a big, beautiful Baptist church on Travis Road. It was beautiful in a way European churches aren't--it was airy and well-lit, with lots of clean, white surfaces. The bridesmaids were beautiful in brown, and the bride's dress was a lovely, intricate number with a long veil and sparkly beading on the embroidered details. Travis's vest was white to match her dress, though his groomsmen wore brown, also. I thought that was a nice touch. It was a lovely ceremony, though I think the Bible boy stole the show--he kept on peeking out at everyone and making cute little funny faces.

At the reception, everything was a harmony of pink and chocolate brown. The happy pair's initials were lit on the floor of the reception hall, and the cakes were probably the most elegant part of it, very modern and geometrical, yet lovely. The bride's cake had intricate piping all over it, a complicated design of scrolls and flourishes.

After goodbyes were said, we were back to Pleasant Hill to get ready for the school year, which started the following day. Since then, we've been pretty busy as a family. Choir Retreat, for example, was the weekend right after school started. The group sounds good this year. After seeing them do so well right off of such an early retreat, I think they have the makings of a great year in them.

For a week or so I've been at PUC, working at the library. In fact, I'm writing from the library now. I apologize that it's been so long since I've written; it's been a busy time, as you can see. I could write more about this last weekend at home, but I figured this was long enough already. Hopefully you'll all forgive me for this long gap; computer woes don't help anyone publish things on time. I wish everyone a great school year, full of great learning opportunities.