Old(ish) Friends and New

Last Sunday evening we were met with a pleasant surprise: the Vaisey's - a family of six we met while we were in Berkeley - were in Bloomington visiting Rebekah's sister, Zilia.  They were only staying through breakfast the following morning, but with work in the costume shop winding down it was no problem for me to come into work a little late, so we scheduled a date.  Of course, we weren't in Berkeley very long and we didn't spend very much time with the Vaiseys before we all moved (they moved to South Carolina for Steve to teach Sociology at Duke) but when we did get together it was epic.  The same was true this time.  We only had a short time so we wasted none of it and had a blast in catching up.

 It was inexplicably good to see these people.  Obviously because they have good fashion taste.

My theory is that, though we technically met in Berkeley, there isn't really a specific time or place that connects us so when we get together we don't just reminisce about the good times we had together, rather we talk about what's happening now.  I have a feeling this will not be the last we see of the Vaiseys.

Especially because we are now friend's with Zilia!  When Rebekah first learned we were moving to Bloomington, she immediately told us about her sister.  But you know how it is when someone tells you they know someone who lives near you and that you should totally meet.  It doesn't happen.  Well now we've met, hit it off, and plan to be friends.

So that got our day off to an excellent start.  From there it only got better as we prepared for a 1950's THEMED MURDER MYSTERY DINNER!  And when I say "we" prepared I mean Ben shopped for groceries, set a pot roast on fire (on purpose), and obtained music and when I came home from work I spent 30 minutes getting pretty.  We were thrilled to see our friends commit so thoroughly to their costume and character.  It was a wonderful evening.

Left: Julia and Reynolds as Cal Q. Later and E.C. Leigh

Right: Christy and Molly (ladies from the costume shop) as Penny Loafer and Rick C. Alcitrant

Left: Jake and Erica as Joe K. Awledge and Dee C. Duecer

Right: Ben and me as Del Toydes and Pris E. Teene

My favorite in-game photo: the heat's on for Rick C. Alcitrant

So that was Monday.  The rest of the week was very laid back leading to an exciting weekend!  Friday night, IFT opened the second of it's rep shows: You Can't Take It With You.  It's a hilarious show and though Ben has little stage time, he's a hoot!  What this means for us is that we get more time together!  What it means for me is that shop hours are almost finished; I have two more three-hour days and I'm done.  Which means more self-structured work days on things like organizing my portfolio and our wedding photos.

Saturday, our dear friends, Katie and Jeff, got married!

Jeff and Katie's To-Do list :)

The ceremony was held at he Beck Chapel, a beautiful and very small chapel on campus.  The attendees were a small group of family and close friends so we felt so privileged to be invited.  The ceremony was simple and elegant; I loved it! Unfortunately, Ben had a show that afternoon and couldn't attend the ceremony.  He was able, however, to come up for the reception after the day's second show.

 Beck Chapel

Following the wedding, we all drove up to Greenwood for the reception, which was to be held at Jeff and Katie's home!  We spent the entire day there (I was there until Ben arrived just after 11pm) eating, swimming, eating, talking, eating, laughing - it was such a good time!  And the weather was perfect.  It had rained in the morning which kept the heat away and gave the air a fresh feeling.  Perfect for an indoor-oudoor cook out reception.

Katie had ordered a groom's cake for Jeff that had breakfast on it in fondant.  The story behind this is that one day, in one of those classic moments where two people start talking at the same time, Katie started to say "I like you" Jeff said "I love breakfast."  It's my favorite story of them, and we tease Jeff about it.  The cake was a surprise and his reaction was perfect: he loved it!

Katie made a beautiful bride!  Unfortunately, this picture doesn't do her dress justice but does show off the wedding mum, made for her by a woman in the theatre department.  None of us had heard of this tradition before, but apparently corsage-like mums are all the rage in Texas.  It was actually quite pretty. You can't see it, but hanging at the bottom is a framed picture of Jeff and Katie.

And the food was delicious!  There were BBQ ribs - not quite as amazing as those made for us by Katie's dad on July 4th, but I guess you can't hold all ribs up to such high standards.  It was literally painful to be surrounded by so much good food for so many hours.  The cupcakes were provided by the Flying Cupcake in Indianapolis - by far the best cupcake bakery I've ever experienced.  And of course, there were bowls of blue M&Ms everywhere.

Katie eventually changed into a stunning blue dress that was more comfortable to spend the warm day in.  She looked like she had just come from a tropical paradise and where ever she walked the dress flowed behind her.

 Left: all eyes on the beautiful bride.  Right: bride and groom together at the end of the day.

To wrap up: we started the week with a visit with some old friends (by comparison) and ended with getting to know some new friends!  Nicole and Jaron Harding just moved into the ward and last night they invited us over for brats and chili.  We really enjoyed their company and look forward to hanging out with them again tonight as we rewatch the first two Christopher Nolan Batman movies!