June 24, 2017
Let me begin by saying what a wonderful trip to North Carolina we had. I could go on and on about what we did and who we saw but most everyone won’t care about those details. But I will say that the last Saturday we were there we attended the wedding of Erika and James, my sister-in-law (Matt’s sister) and her now-husband (WOW!).
The wedding turned out exactly how she planned. She had every detail laid out. For the last year, she has been planning her wedding to her and James’ vision…down to making their very own corn hole boards and Jenga blocks for the backyard reception. She didn’t even hire a professional wedding planner or coordinator…just an amazing lady from her church who made sure that Erika’s plans were in place and to run point on the Big Day. She sure had more vision and organization than I did eight years ago. Oh, and she had Pinterest!
One thing that was NOT on her plan was the humidity. Wow. Having lived in the South the majority of my life I have realized that I didn’t really understand what humidity really is. Yes, there were days that you could tell were stickier and muggier than others but overall a hot day was almost always sticky and muggy.
One of the big things I’m getting used to here in the Northwest is the weather. 70 degrees can be very hot and cause for sunburn but 85 can also be warm but quite pleasant.
When I walked out of the Raleigh airport with my sister two weeks ago, I was hit immediately by a wall. The automatic doors opened and suddenly it felt like the air was just pressing in around me. I don’t know any other way to describe it other than ‘thick air’. By the time we got to her car, I was already sweating and then we had to wait a few minutes for the car to cool down before we could even get in. I HAD FORGOTTEN.
Once the snow decided to stay away here in Montana the days have been so pleasant. Those 85 degree days feel nothing like back home. Yes, I have sweat out here but it is from the amount of time spent in the sun, not from the wet blanket that I seem to be walking in.
The other thing Erika didn’t account for (well, didn’t want) was rain. I hadn’t given it much thought but there aren’t really afternoon rain showers here like back home. In NC you could almost guarantee that you would have some kind of rain well into the afternoon. Those rain showers ruined many, many good pool days for me. Apparently here, all the snow we get in the winter (and fall and spring) makes up for the spring rains. The snow melts from the mountains and flows down into the rivers. Not saying it doesn’t rain here it just isn’t near as predictable as in the South.
But God was surely on her side on Saturday. There was a quick shower during pictures. And then minutes before she was to walk down the aisle giant drops started falling from the sky as everyone looked around in a panic. But as quickly as they started they stopped. And they held off until 5:30…mere minutes after they pulled away. And then the rain made up for lost time. It began to pour. But, the timing could not have been more perfect and it didn’t put a damper on the after-party.
And just after the almost-rain shower before Erika walked down, the humidity kicked into high gear. But she looked beautiful throughout the whole reception and while most of James’ groomsman retired their suits for more comfortable clothes, James somehow managed to make it in his suit without complaining.
When Matt, Liam and I stepped out of the airport in Bozeman on Sunday afternoon, the air that hit me was cool. I laughed to myself because my thought was “Seriously? It’s June and I’m wishing for a jacket?!” but I KNEW what Matt would say. And before I could say anything, the words from his mouth were exactly what I predicted: “Now THIS feels perfect”.