CELEBRATING LOVE: MATT'S WEDDING

So I know it's almost a week late, but I wanted to write about Matt's wedding and all the fun that was:

Cody and I drove up friday night with Joey and Greg in his truck.  The drive felt good, and it was nice to see, briefly, a part of California that I wasn't very familiar with (which isn't much considering I've been up and down this ol state and study maps of it all the time).  It really is a beautiful state.

We arrived at the rehearsal dinner, very late, but met all the family and it was pretty nice.  We then tried to take Matt to Dave & Busters for a bachelor party, but we had some i.d. trouble (which was absolutely stupid since we were of age).  So what do you do when you can't go to Dave and Busters?  We went bowling.  It was actually more fun than it sounds.  We had a few drinks, but it was just good fun being with Matt on his last night as a single gentleman.

When we got back to the apartment, Anders was there, so it was good to see him and hang out since he's been working in Stockton for a month.  We got to bed late because we were talking and having fun.  The funniest phrase from that night: "surprise, I'm inside of you!"  (Yeah, it's probably exactly what you're thinking).

The next day we woke up and drove over to the church where he was getting married, Saratoga Federated, which is a beautiful church where he is the Jr. High Youth Pastor.  We had some fun, got dressed up, took pictures, and then got ready for the ceremony.  Us groomsmen were sharp and dapper, let me tell you what!  The ceremony started as we walked in and what a privilege that was.  I felt so honored that Matt would ask me to stand at his wedding... and we did plenty of standing, and I wish I had packed some gels for the shoes or something because I was positive I was going to pass out.

When Kelly, the bride came in, they both started crying and I got this real feeling inside that this was real love.  As her father walked her down the isle to the front and then stood there, I watched Matt, between tears, whisper "I love you so much."  What a beautiful couple, and as the ceremony went on I felt even more in love with the fact that these two were in love, and it made me long for a love of my own.  After they kissed and exited, the wedding court proceeded out and into a back room where they signed the license and made the sucker official in the eyes of the law.  Then we went back inside the sanctuary to take pictures for a long time, which was nice because I had down time to rehearse my wedding toast.

Then we proceeded to the reception in the courtyard and HAD A BLAST.  I can't tell you how much fun that was.  We danced for a long time to the best and most ridiculous songs.  Who doesn't love La Macareña?  The dancing was insanely fun, and we had a great time.  Anders, Greg, and I danced with some girls we didn't know and they were really cool.  I danced with the cutest blonde girl named Abby, and she was a doll!  She probably thought I was just a dork, but it was all fun.

Then, without any notice, it was suddenly time to give the toast.  For some reason I thought I was going to get a warning or something, but suddenly it was time to get in front of all these people I didn't know to try to say something meaningful without stuttering and looking like a idiot.  As I took the microphone and pulled out my script, I could hear Joey mumbling "don't do it geoffry!" (in response to the way I almost started off the toast).  I gave him the a'ok and then waited for a miserably long time in front of them all for the cider glasses to be passed out.  Finally I started my speech and it seemed to go over very well which was great!  I tried to mix in some jokes, a funny story, and some really "hearty" stuff, and it seemed to be a good mixture.  I told the story about him catching me breaking curfew in Bowles 2 years ago.  I kinda changed the story a bit to make it funnier, but I didn't bend any details, just left a few out, but it was really good.  I got a lot of compliments and heard a lot of laughs, which is always a good thing.  Maybe they were just being nice ;)

Then, more dancing, and what fun it was!  We went crazy.  Later, the bride's mom personally thanked me for making the party.  That was really kind, but I just couldn't think of a wedding without fun.  Like all good things, it came to an end as we sent them off, and how cool that was.  They had a final dance in the center of everyone as millions of bubbles danced around them (and were then subsequently blown into my face), and then we ran them to their car and watched them drive off.  After some cleanup and other stuff, it was south to Capitola to hang out with Joe, Ryan "Rhino", and Dino Citti (Joey's family).  Praise God for that man, Joe, and his hospitality.  God gave him a gift, a gift to cook.  The next day we took off and came home to Oakley.

Oakley seems to get better and better every time I got there.  When I was young it seemed like the most boring place ever, but now I see that there are tons of things to do, and I wish I had more time there to just relax and kayak around in my back yard.  The delta is a great place for the adventurer-poet-soul like me.

I painted for a few days, and then flew back from Oakland yesterday.  It was great seeing Stacy Champine randomly at the airport.  God made that woman special, is there a more lovely person in this world?

Well, my words for Matt are this:  enjoy every minute of your life.  Every minute is a worthy of celebration, and every tear of sadness is a moment to remember that God made you for great things, and for the best of this world.  Keep your wife happy and you'll be happy too, and if ever you need anything, remember that you've got friends like us who care about you and love you.  Remember that God's love makes all other love complete.  Love you Matty Bleckly.