Malibu --> Tahoe --> KC

Sunday, November 22:

I was beyond worn out last night, and crashed pretty hard.  What a week, and what a fun ending to it! But Sunday morning, it was back to work!  We had to load up alllllll of the flowers from the venue and take them to Shannon's parents house in Malibu for the farewell brunch.  They barely fit.  Barely.

But they looked great as decorations at the house!

Plenty of people were already there by the time we made it.

Look at that spread of food!  Breakfast burritos, cinnamon rolls, salmon, yogurt cups, bagels... Mmmmmmm.  

So many people came.  Way more than I expected.  Shannon and Ryan are very loved. :)

I was there until around 1, when I finally loaded up Shannon's car with what I could, and hit the road for the 5.5 for drive from Malibu back to the apartment in Mountain View.

It's hard to complain about a long drive when this is your view for the first couple of hours:

Even away from the ocean, it wast still a beautiful sunset. 

I made great time, only stopping once for gas and a bathroom break.  I pulled in to Mountain View around 7:30...and TRAFFIC.  Come on!  Where do all these people come from!

I unloaded the car with all the wedding stuff, ran a couple more errands to return stuff, and crashed.  

Another long travel day tomorrow...

Monday, November 23:

I got up at 5am and hit the road by 5:30.  I'm getting tired of these early mornings!  But I have to make it back to Tahoe to drop off Scott's car, and then get to Reno for my flight at 1.  Poor planning on my part, but too late to do anything about it now.

Sunrise just east of the bay area:

The drive got a lot better when I got away from all the cars and people of the city and in to the mountains.

I always get so excited when I finally catch a glimpse of Lake Tahoe, and today was no different. I about went off the road trying to take this picture, and you can hardly even see the lake!

I drove 90 the whole way and made it to Gardnerville in record time.  Dropped off Scotts car, hopped in the van, and made a quick trip over to the lake for a short little hike at Cave Rock.

It was all of a 10 minute hike, which was perfect because I was in Toms wedges and jeans.  Not quite hiking attire.

Look at these views.  Isn't it gorgeous!?

The hike got a little tougher at the end, to get up the actual rock.  But I made it.

 

And man was I glad I did.  The view is always the reward.  This was an exceptionally good one!

Just a little windy up there...

We sat up there, feet dangling off, just watching the cars go underneath us. 

With not much time to spare, it was a short stop.  Back in the van and off to Reno we went. 

We rushed through traffic and made quick stops at Jamba Juice and a mexican place next door for some food for my trip.  I got to the airport later than I wanted, but it was pretty quiet and Southwest didn't fight me on checking my 53 pound bag (it's only supposed to be 50).

Thankfully security let me through with my food and quickly (TSA Precheck is the way to go!).  Just in time to see that my flight was delayed from Vegas.  

 

I think I've been delayed more times than I've been on time out of Vegas.  It ended up being delayed even more, and I watched an entire movie while waiting. 

Oh, and I hit Jamba again for dinner.  Lunch and dinner in one day.  Not bad.  (Why don't we have this in KC!?)

I finally left Vegas -- couple of hours late, but oh well.  I don't have to work tomorrow. :)

Leaving Vegas (above) and landing in Kansas City (below).  Just a little  different view!

I know it's the week of Thanksgiving and all, but it's only Mondy!  Why is the airport a complete zoo already??  And it's like midnight!  Crazy...

It was a fun few weeks on the road, and an amazing wedding.  But I'm ready for some family time and quiet Kansas life for the next couple of weeks. 

Malibu Wedding {Oak Canyon Ranch}

WEDDING DAY!!  

Shannon's wedding was today, and it was oh-so-spectacular!

The morning started early with hair and makeup gals showing up before 8am.  

You can't really see it, but it says Mrs. in sequins. :)

The girls were no joke and got to work on the bridesmaids.

We were there until 10am, when we moved everything and everybody to the venue to finish getting ready.

This is the picture I sent out to everyone that text Shannon during the week saying, "Hey I lost my invite.  When/where is ...xyz."  Come on people!  Don't text THE BRIDE on her wedding day and ask what time the wedding is.  Ugh.  I took her phone and responded to everyone with "Please see the previously sent invitation for details."  HA! ;)

I was ready first because I didn't get my makeup done and I had my hair done the night before for the rehearsal dinner.  Which turned out to be a good thing because the wedding coordinator didn't have the tables set up right and I had to go out and physically move them to get them where they needed to be.  

I walked around the property to check everything else out, and snapped this selfie with Carson.  We were looking sharp! 

Back in the bridal suite, it was almost time for the "first look" and bride/groom pictures!  

The bridesmaid (Shannon's sisters are in the tan dresses).  Don't we look good!  I mean for all getting random dresses, I think we pulled it together really nicely!

We took a few wedding party pictures before the wedding started, so there wouldn't be as many to take afterwards.

I walked down the aisle with Wembley, and she did, well, okay.  She jumped up on one random person and almost knocked off a bucket of baby's breathe, but I did the best I could!  I had bones for her up front so once we got to our spot she was fine.

The ceremony was short and beautiful, and Shannon cried when she walked in.  I was SO mad at her because then all of us girls started to cry, too!   ;)

Once the ceremony was over, it was straight to the bar.  I don't normally drink, but I decided to have one of the "Bride Drinks" that Shannon picked out for the night. 

My seating chart turned out okay!

People mingled around and talked and drank while the wedding party and family finished up a few pictures.

Carson was practicing his best man speech before dinner.  I just wanted a picture of the head table. ;)

Kelsey, Shannon and I.  We all worked for the same guy in Tahoe back in 2007.

Dinner (and speech) time!

First dance:

(I cut that piece of her dress of with scissors after the dance.)

Raider Don (Shannon's dad) is just hilarious, so of course he did something crazy for the first dance.  He doesn't drink (he wasn't drunk) but he still acted like a mad man and ripped his shirt off and danced to a couple crazy songs.  Hahaha - still makes me laugh to look at these pictures!

(Shannon is covering up her face in this one!)

SO. FUN.

I can honestly say I've never seen a more packed wedding dance floor.  And not just at the beginning. The DJ was so good and kept it going all night.  I mean it was packed the whole time.  It was just too much fun!

The night ended with pretzels and water ice...all the way from Philly!  That's where Ryan is from (and where his family still lives).  Such a cool surprise and fun way to end the night. 

Honestly, the whole event -- the whole night -- was like a magical fairy tale.  The mountains and lanterns in the old, bent trees.  The flowers and food and fun.  The great people.  I was (and am) so honored to get to be part of their special day.  I will remember it always.