washington wedding

Welcome to another splendid #nomakeupmonday, brought to you by my face and the song "Boyfriend" by Justin Beiber, which I was reacquainted with during the 11 hour car ride to Spokane WA this weekend and has been my main beat ever since. Along with "All Day" by Cody Simpson. I'm just a sucker for the baby-faced boys with angel voices and super slick dance moves, ok? I guess you could say they're my crush of the week this week. And you probably should say so because I'm saying so.

Before I get into what I learned during the trip/wedding, let's just acknowledge that the first of the freshmen roommates is officially a Mrs. And it's super cray cray. But I mean, with a face as beautiful as hers, it was bound to happen eventually, right? Right. Ok. Fact acknowledged.

Also, did you know there's a town in Montana called Anaconda Opportunity? True story. Ok. Let's get on with this.


Everyone says how much you learn about people when you travel with them, and I attest that this is true. But as I think about it, I learned a lot about myself during this trip. And now I'm going to share those things right....now.

*I like things I didn't think I liked.
It makes sense, ok? Especially when it comes to Salt and Vinegar chips. Which, I admit, are good. I fought and fought the purchase of these potatoes but in the end, highly enjoyed them. But seriously, I don't like cilantro.

*I talk way too loud, especially when I'm with friends.
There was a delicious barbecue we were invited to upon arriving in Spokane. I was at a table with all the girls talking about anything and everything while groaning about how many cookies we had eaten and how good the homemade raspberry sorbet was. OHMYGOSHITWASSOGOOD. I was sharing my scientifically proven hypothesis that the size of your room in college directly correlates with how quickly you get married when I realized that everyone at the barbecue was staring at our table. Fortunately people from Arkansas are hilarious so they just played along and teased me about it the rest of the weekend.  shout out to the mother-in-law

*When given the chance, I am the most awkward.
After the barbecue the bachelorette party went down. Once we all got situated the hostesses told us all to ask the bride any question we wanted, making them as awkward as we could. I jumped at this and started asking away. Well, let's just say that other questions went along the lines of what the first date was, how he proposed, when she knew she loved him etc. Mine...weren't. It's whatever though. We got the most laughs and best stories out of my questions so I count it as a success.

You know what else was a success? That wonder-banana-caramel-chocolate-icecream-fantasy thing.

And that picture of the bride. Because shoot, she's a beaut.

*I say what I want.

The bride and groom walked out to the awaiting crowd and pictures were taken. They stood there, looking almost completely perfect. There was just one thing missing. So while everyone was taking in the general splendor of the moment in a quiet way, I yelled out, "KISS HER!" He did. Perfection was reached.

the fruits of my labor

#booyah #yourewelcome

*I open up rather quickly.
There were some super adorable girl-cousins at the wedding who go to school in Oregon and are super hipster and smart and have really long legs and beautiful faces. When I met them I decided I wanted to be friends with them. So I just dove right into all the good stuff, asking about relationships, travel plans, joking about political science and my future, sharing my greatest fears and how many children I want. It got real deep real quick.

*I take a ton of pictures.
Oh wait.... everyone everywhere already knows that. Let's try a collage so you don't have to scroll so much.

meh. the collage doesn't really do it for me, ya know? oh well. it took so dang long to make i'm going to use it.

*My friends know how to pose for a picture. I do not.
Just see for yourself.

Finally, after a "Rachel, just smile normally," this one kind of happened.

*I can get aggressive in a bouquet toss.
After not getting the bouquet more times than I can count this summer, I decided it was time. It was time for the flowers to be mine. The elbows were up and my dad would have been proud of the boxing out that went down in that crowd of girls. In the end, they're mine. So....now I just start planning and wait for Mr. Right, right?

little sucker is mine.

*I'm not scared of strangers. Men, specifically.
On more occasions than I'd like to own up to, but must, I "made eyes" at men on the way through Idaho, Montana, and Washington.

The first was at Five Guys. I was starving. And really didn't want to wait for my food. So I tried to be charming with the cashier and the other guy behind the counter, asking questions about stupid things. Somehow it worked and I got my food before the people who had ordered ahead of me. #score.

There might have been an incident in the basketball gym when I really wanted to use one of the basketballs the other guys were using, another on the side of the freeway when we needed duct tape for the front of the car and I decided that the man in the maintenance truck would be a good person to ask (he offered me everything else he had and suggested the Walmart across the road, giving directions, but ultimately failed us), the tall young man in the gas station who I sweet talked 5 pieces of duct tape out of without paying, and the cowboy who stopped and insisted on helping with the duct tape job I had just finished. He left with a "I don't know why anyone else hasn't offered to help you already."

I had an ecclesiastical leader my freshman year who once talked about the "womanly hex." I'm beginning to think there's quite a bit of potential there....

..............................

All in all, it was great weekend with really fun people who were nice enough to put up with all my nonsense.

And...now I feel worn out from this post. Is that pathetic or what? Don't judge. Please.

Happy weddings!
peace and popcorn bars

rrw