You're My Everything: Team Bride Arrives

I spent the entire week before the wedding in Johnstown, trying to take care of all sorts of loose ends while Mr. Snow Cone stayed behind in Pittsburgh.  More accurately, though, I wrung my hands, wondered how my to-do list would ever get accomplished, and took turns with Mr. Snow Cone having spaz attacks over the phone.  To say that I was stressed would be a mild understatement; I was wide awake by 5:00 AM each and every morning, regardless of what time I went to bed the previous night.  I was irritable, scatter-brained, and frazzled.  It seemed like for every small task I checked off the to-do list, there would two newer, bigger, and badder tasks waiting for me, in addition to a list of questions I needed to answer for family and friends.  And, on top of all of that, I was trying my darnedest to take every moment in, enjoy these special last days leading up to the wedding, and reflect on the gravity of the upcoming event.

Despite this unattractive state of affairs, though, I decided that I would work my tush off until my bridesmaids started to roll into town.  At that point, though, all work of the glue stick variety would be done, and I would redirect my attention to work of the social variety.  I'm proud to report that I finished my very last small project a whopping 90 seconds before BM E showed up on my front porch.  Her arrival in many ways kicked off the wedding festivities; it seemed like after she made her way to Johnstown, our house was welcoming new faces every few minutes, with the anticipation and excitement continually mounting. 

Unsurprisingly, the arrival I was most impatiently waiting for was Mr. Snow Cone's (and, yes, I consider him a vital member of Team Bride).  The entire week leading up to the wedding, when I had been doing my best to act like a lunatic, my mom's calming mantra was always that I would feel better once Mr. Snow Cone arrived.  And, boy, was she right.  Once he got to Johnstown and we were there, together, on our wedding weekend, everything had reached a very pleasant status quo.  He was there for me and I was there for him, even if neither of us needed or asked for any support.  Having him there was all I could ever need.

From that point forward, all we had to do was catch up with our out-of-town friends and family.  I originally hoped to have the entire bridal party in attendance on Thursday night, to kick the weekend off in style.  However, it quickly became apparent that there was no need for the Pittsburgh bridal party members to pay for a hotel in Johnstown whenever they could just come into town the next morning.  I was kind of bummed at this turn of events, but, in retrospect, it worked out perfectly.  I had an extra night to spend a lot of quality time with some of my friends and my family who had come from hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away.  It sounds relatively selfish, but being surrounded by my people that evening was an unexpected but treasured turn of events.

My sophomore roommates.  Now I'm the only one in North America!

 The picture of maturity

The Snow Cones, less than 48 hours from the altar!

(Mr. Snow Cone's hugging himself extra hard to avoid displaying the Notre Dame sweatshirt I had to lend to him on that surprisingly brisk summer evening.  But judging by the smile on his face, I think it's safe to say he enjoyed wearing it.)

 
Photos by BM B