I am going to tell the story of Tanaroo through photo captions because that's what I feel like doing.
This is me, hugging Brenda because I love her. Lemme tell you about Brenda. Will doesn't have a mother, Will has three mothers. Brenda is one of them. The other is De, and of course the third is his mother mother. I'll get to De in a second, but this little photo caption story is all about Brenda. When I think of Will and the people in his life that have helped to shape him into the beautiful man that he is, Brenda comes to mind as being one of the greatest influences of all. She has the hugest personality. The hugest laugh, the hugest smile, the hugest heart. She is just so special. I can't ever begin to touch on my love for her or how grateful I am for all that she has done for my husband. As part of the package that comes with marrying Will, I get to have Brenda in my life too which makes me feel nothing short of what I imagine winning the lottery to feel like. Seriously, she is THAT amazing. So. Tanaroo. Tanaroo started when Will and I went to visit Brenda one day while she was sunbathing in her backyard. We were discussing wedding plans, and she wanted to hear some stories about my friends Justine and Morgan. Thus the subject of Bonnaroo came about, to which Brenda coined the term 'Tanaroo' for a wild night with these girls (and other bests, too, of course) before the wedding. I had forgotten about it, and was actually secretly hoping that if something did happen it would just be a small group of us having dinner. I kinda hate the whole bachelor/bachelorette/it's your last night of freedom, AND as thoroughly discussed in the last post, I loathe the attention and didn't wanna go places where I'd be made to do stupid shit. So. So fast forward or else this is going to be so dang long/longer than it is already. The Thursday before my wedding and I'm getting ready (quick interruption: if there is one single thing that I miss about living with Justine and Morgan, it's getting ready with them) to go out to what I thought was dinner (quick interruption numero dos: I didn't eat anything because I knew I would be having an amazing dinner. I was starved at this point) with just Justine and Morgan and Brenda and De. We were to meet at my parent's house at five. This happens, except that Brenda and De show up in a freakin limo, and Christie is inside and we're picking up more gals and we're headed out to a French wine tasting and dancing. I was made to wear a hat that said Bride, and this awesome shirt that Brenda and De had made for us all. At first I was completely dying. But then I got over myself and had the best night. It was so dang special, and sometimes when I'm feeling really sentimental, and because I'm a freak, I actually cry over it still. So so special. Anyway, so this is me hugging Brenda because I love her.
This is Morgan and Justine and me and Christie. Having them altogether meant my life was complete, and I've been going through some serious depression now that everyone is gone. I miss them so, so much. It actually physically hurts my heart to miss them this much. I don't think it's normal! When I was a kid and dreamed up the kinds of friends that I would have when I grew up, these were the girls I dreamt about. They make everything in life so good. I am so lucky to have them.
This is my pops and my (now) husband and me and my momma. And the limo. My husband just got done working at the reception site, and was dirty as you can tell. Obviously you can see that I still think he's bangin'. Also this five second photo frenzy that was taking place during this photo gave me a glimpse into what the wedding day was going to be like and the amount of photos that would be taken of us. That pretty much sealed the deal on our decision to not take photos that day. Someday we wanna hire an amazing photographer and do some special shots of us dressed up in our wedding gear, but dude I tell you I could not handle that shiz on the wedding day. Anyyyyyyway. I love my parents. They are a really amazing example to me on love and life and authenticity and just...well, everything. I'm so lucky to have them, and as Will tells me all the time, he is so lucky now.
Here is Morgan and Justine and me and Christinus and Libby and Brittany. Love.
Brenda and De had given everyone a balloon and a tag attached where they wrote a special note or wish for me or for Will or for me and Will together. Morgan had just released hers, and clearly this is the beginning of the all of the tears that fell that night. I love these girls. Love love love.
Toasts in the car. The following pictures are of more toasts given. Things that I notice about each photo:
1. Morgan's face, because she looks so completely happy.
2. Holy crap more alcohol.
3. Morgan's face again. She's giving a toast here, and it of course made us both cry.
5. I devoured that cheese and bread. I actually got to the point where I couldn't swallow because I had so much bread in my mouth. That cheese was amazing.
6. My dance moves just keep improving.
I just realized that I have no photos of De from this night! So sad. She's another mother to Will, just like Brenda. Her support to the both of us these past nine years has been amazing, and for Will his entire life. She is consistently a positive look-on-the-bright-side type of person. She always always always is positive and funny and kind and thoughtful. I'm working right now with her best friend and sometimes we get to chatting about De, and hearing about her from a friend's perspective has made me realize how incredibly lucky I am to have her in my life. I really really love her. All of the things I said above about Brenda ring true for De. These women are incredible.
So that's the bachelorette night. We ended it by partying into the wee hours of the morning with my brothers and my guy and friends. Justine and I at some point snuck upstairs and played with the ouija board and had really absurd conversations on spirituality and life and that which is not seen. I don't even know. It was just an amazing night and I freaking love my friends.
