The Best of 2011-ish

Madison

I hesitated to consider this as part of the "Best of 2011-ish". No, I'm not referring to Madison itself when I talk about my reluctancy. Madison is a great city; I just hate the reason why we went to Madison. We went to protest our governor and certain members of the state legislature making a horrible decision, the decision to try to use public employees as a scapegoat and to try to offset years' worth of financial mismanagement on the backs of public employees. Compound that decision with a proposed budget that would cut critical programs and people got pretty riled up. Angry, in fact. Turning that anger into empowerment, thousands of people took to the Capitol to be heard. Politicking, however, trumps democracy. Some pretty bad legislation was passed, programs were cut, and scores of people are disenfranchised; however, the spirit of what made Wisconsin the great state it is refuses to fizzle. Oh, and the fact that over a million signatures (to this date, they need to be verified) have been collected to recall our dear governor. Therefore, my travels to Madison made the ranks of the "Best-ish of 2011".

I Wanna Be a Cowgirl, Baby

Themes are a very important part of a bachelor or bachelorette party. For my best friend, we celebrated the coming of her special day cowgirl style!

Sommerhalder-Meyer Wedding

When I was six, I wanted nothing more than to be a ballerina. Or a real life princess. Seeing that it was a tad more feasible for my parents to get me to ballet lessons than to try to establish royal blood, I decided it was okay to commit myself to being a ballerina. After all, I was only six. I had time to become a princess. During my first ballet lesson, I was introduced to a bevy of tutu-clad ballerina-wannabes. That was my first introduction to Megan. Little did I know that our first unofficial encounter would lead to a lifelong friendship.

While almost every little girl wants to be a princess at some point, mostly thanks to the world of Disney falsely convincing all of us that it's possible, most of us get our chance...even if it's just for a day. June 11, 2011 was Megan's day.

My First Muslim Wedding

I first met Fouda when I agreed to mentor an Egyptian student who would be studying at the Fox Valley Technical College campus in Appleton, Wisconsin. Fouda, who had no family here, certainly had no problems making friends with his fellowstudents, and he was quickly "adopted" by my family as a fellow family member. Almost two years after meeting Fouda, I was happy to see him marry a beautiful woman named Kaylah.

All Dressed Up and Everywhere to Go!

As mentioned before, themes are VERY important for bachelorette parties. Heather's bachelorette party was certainly no exception, nor was it to be "average". Heather's bachelorette party entailed a night of of fully-painted, winged fairies tearing up Chicago.

Lichtfuss-Stinson Wedding

Chalk it up to destiny. That's probably the best way I can describe how I met Heather and Paul. Aaron and Heather first met when Aaron was working his first summer at Outdoor Outlet in Appleton. Shopping with a friend, Heather was looking for bike jerseys, which Aaron was more than happy to help with. After helping Heather and Trish for a while, they got on the topic of how Aaron and I had recently moved back to Wisconsin and that I was looking for girls to ride with. Long story short, I rode with Heather one day and we became fast friends. Not only did Heather and I become fast friends, we eventually met Paul and many of their other friends. Almost three years to the date of our first bike ride, I was happy to be part of this beautiful wedding party.

Boise-Bound

"Idaho? What's in Idaho?" I was asked this question quite a few times when I would excitedly tell folks of my pending travel plans to go to Boise. "A friend's wedding. I've never been to Boise and I think it'll be fun." Yes, a generic response, but I really had nothing to go off of. I had never been to Boise and I really didn't know what to expect. Yes, a friend from grad school was getting married, which also meant that I would get to see friends who I have not seen in a long time.

As it turns out, Boise was spectacular! A historic downtown offset by a beautiful mountain vista. Endless hiking options. Amazing food. Ice cream shaped like a potato. Really, what isn't there to like about Boise?

Wedding in Idaho

Liz is a nature girl. That's why her decision to have a purely outdoor wedding, including reception, was not surprise to me. From a wedding cake topped with a bird's nest to local honey as a party-favor, Liz's and Aaron's wedding was a perfect reflection of who they are as both individuals and as a couple.

Quick Trip to Minnesota

While I'm sure there's more to say about our trip to visit Aaron's brother Michael in Minnesota, I'm goingto leave it at this: I learned to wakeboard!

White-Sprague Wedding

(Note: I have pictures from our trip to Lake Geneva, but my duties as wife of the best man prevented me from taking pictures of the actual wedding. I will do my best to find said pictures of Lake Geneva so I have some way to show this beautiful city. With that said, it would be almost taboo for me to miss one of Aaron's and my best friend's wedding as a "Best of 2011-ish" just because I'm not responsible enough to keep track of all of my pictures!)

Ortiz-Rucci Wedding

Adam and I first met my freshman year of high school. Our first encounter reminded me of a scene out of Napoleon Dynamite. Sitting behind this black-haired junior, I couldn't help but notice that he was more preoccupied drawing an imaginary creature than listening to our math teacher. He turned around and introduced me to his version of what Napoleon Dynamite would call a liger. While I cannot remember his name for his hybrid creature, I do remember this being the conversation that sparked our friendship.

As with every friendship, there are major milestones that you reach and celebrate. One such occasion was celebrating Adam's and Carmen's wedding in November of 2011.

Mountain Biking on New Year's Eve Day

2011 left us with unseasonable weather. So unseasonable that Aaron and I were able to actually go mountain biking. Normally this time of year, we're on our skis, not our bikes. Thus, my first time mountain biking in the winter. That's noteworthy for me :)