Wow!! Whirlwind doesn't even begin to describe the last 2 days! It has been a wonderful weekend full of lots of excitement! Let me start with where I left off - Friday during the day I went to Siesta Key beach with my Aunt. We met the Shields' and the Googe's there. It was such a beautiful beach and I had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone! Around 2:30, we came back to the hotel and began to get ready for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal went VERY well and I was able to meet a few more members of Rusty's family. I got to meet Rusty's Dad (Big Rusty as my family refers to him) and his wife Karen. They were who I was looking forward to meeting the most because Kristen just loves them so much! :) The rehearsal went off without a hitch and we practiced twice the whole service and then headed to Mattison's for the rehearsal dinner. The dinner was so nice and it isn't open during the off season (randomly, down here in Longboat Key, SUMMER is their "off-season." The busy months are the during the Winter - I KNOW!! CRAZY!) Anyway, Mattison's opened up for us and we were the only people in the entire restaurant! It was a beautiful evening and a great meal! I sat at the table with Quenby, and my cousins Sonia and Lee. Kristen and Rusty made a speech, passed out the bridal party gifts and then the girls were off to Civeche's! Mrs. Jody, Aunt, Mrs. Cindy, Sonia, Quenby, Kristen and I went to this Flamenco club in downtown Sarasota where there is a live Flamenco band! It was soooo fun and we had a BLAST dancing and talking. Quenby stole the show though and we laughed and laughed watching her. We got home around 1:30 a.m. and I got up around 8:45. I heard Kristen in the other room and went in to be with her. It was nice to be able to hang out with Kristen during that time because it gave us a chance to talk a little bit. I could tell she was nervous but also excited. Everyone began to stir and finally it was time to begin getting ready. We all took showers and then Kristen, myself, Mom, Aunt, Sonia and my little cousin Taylor were off to the salon to get our hair done! The salon was very nice and we had a great time watching each other get our hair done. After the salon, we came back here and hung out for a while and before we knew it, it was time to start getting ready! After that it was such a blur! We were all putting on dresses, Mom came in with Miles and he had to put on his tux. He was sooooo tired because he only took an hour nap and he was crying and being so fussy. We all were so worried that he would be TERRIBLE during the ceremony and reception. Anyway, we were all running around like crazy and then the photographer came in and started taking photos. He was a very nice man but some of the photos he wanted to take cracked me up. Like instead of having a regular "Stephanie standing beside Kristen" photo, he made me put my arms entirely around her shoulders .. awkward! We were like, "Uhhhh..." haha!
Well, I had intended on finishing this blog up tonight but my Dad wants me to come up to their room and sleep in there tonight. I could here him in the background saying "It's our last night! Just get on the elevator and come up here!" I think I'll go surprise him and actually stay in there tonight.
I'll finish this tomorrow night! Thanks for everything guys!
Love, Stephanie
Rehearsal Dinner - July 18, 2008
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