I got up around 4:30 am on Friday morning to head to the airport. I took MARTA (Atlanta’s train service) for the first time which worked out pretty well. I think that’s a better alternative than making someone drive all the way out to their airport at ridiculous hours.

My flight was uneventful, landing in Indy at 9am. The pilot then came over the loudspeaker and told us that we were leaking hydraulic fluid and the firemen were going to check us out. We hung out at the far end of one of the runways while men in big, silver suits walked around discussing amongst themselves. Also there were two big firetrucks (bigger than normal) that had these sort of lenses that were looking at the plane. The end decision was to power down the plane and tow it to the terminal, to avoid spilling fluid in an area where there was a lot of traffic.

So, with a powered-down plane (have you ever been in one? it’s so eerily quiet and dark… I never realized how much noise a plane makes even when it’s not in the air) we were hooked up to the tow truck and pulled very slowly to the terminal. One by one, people’s cell phones were ringing and you could hear apologies being made to waiting rides in the airport. Josh was picking me up, and he called me at 9:45 wondering, “Did I miss you?”. He told me later that he was standing with several limo drivers who were very annoyed – especially since the flight info TVs in the airport didn’t say anything about being delayed.

FINALLY at 10 we were able to get off the plane and I met Josh no problem. We headed out to the car and were about to enter the garage when we were greeted with thick smoke. We were confused at first, and looked ahead to find a minivan on fire.

Josh and I hung around the airport until the reopened the garage at 11 am, when we were finally able to leave. I was really nervous because I had thought the bridesmaid luncheon started at 11:30 and I wanted to get a shower before. Fortunately, the time had been changed to 12:30 and I arrived in time to take a quick shower. The talk of the morning was the fire and wondering what else could go wrong. It was so random! I’ve never seen a fire like that before.

The rest of the weekend went by without a hitch. :-) No more fires or anything else exciting. We had a lovely bridesmaid luncheon where Joanna gave us each a Willow Tree Angel figurine. Mine was especially appropriate – an angel cuddling a little cat. Joanna knows me so well. :-) We spent the afternoon on Friday helping decorate the church and prepare for the rehearsal dinner, then came the rehearsal and the dinner! I really enjoyed myself. It was fun being in the privileged position of “bridesmaid”, and the four of us (Caroline, Melissa, Kristen, and myself) all got along really well. I love being completely comfortable in a group of people like that. It’s so much fun, and even in just two days inside jokes can spring up (no coveting!), and we can get silly like trying to balance the bouquets on our hands (or heads). We took Joanna out for ice cream afterwards (except she drove and she bought her own ice cream… so I guess we didn’t really take her out, just accompanied her). While we were there, Joanna saw someone she knew and he asked her what she was up to this summer. She answered, “I’m getting married tomorrow!” Hehe I can’t wait until I can say that.

Joanna went to bed fairly early, and Kristen and I stayed up late trying to figure out how to iron those bridesmaid dresses! We were afraid to put the iron directly on the fabric in fear of ruining it, but we finally had to do just that because nothing else was working. In the meantime, though, Kristen and I had quite an adventure as we figured it all out. :-)

Saturday morning we all awoke early and got our hair done. I’d never gotten my hair done by a professional before, and it was really fun! All the bridesmaids decided to do up-dos and they all looked really nice. It as funny to see the hairdressers quiver when they saw Melissa’s long, thick, curly hair – but they recovered and the end result was gorgeous. It was fun to see Joanna’s hair in curlers. :-) I really liked what they did with my hair – I told her I didn’t want it to be completely slicked back when you look at my face straight on, so she did a unique part and curls in front of my ears. The back was all fun and bouncy curls, and we decided that fit me perfectly. Fun times.

The wedding ceremony was lovely, and we all melted when Josh choked on his words when he put the ring on Joanna’s finger. Aww… The flower girl refused to walk down the aisle, but she was willing to walk back during the recessional. The ring bearer bolted down the aisle and flung the pillow at his mother at the front. Someone must have forgotten to tell him that it wasn’t a relay race. :-) They were both cute, though. The reception was nice, and Melissa and I coped with the slow dances by talking about our absent boyfriends. We are in very similar places in our relationships (except she’s not engaged yet) so it was fun talking to her. Then, all too soon, the bride and groom were getting into the car and waving goodbye to all of us. People went home… I went home… Now I’m back in Atlanta with the warm fuzzy feeling you get from excellent weekends, and looking forward to another wedding next weekend. I have a lot of ideas in my head, and I’m a little daunted by everything that still needs to be done. But I’ll save that for another post.

I have uploaded all my pictures onto Facebook, so I encourage everyone to go check them out! Joanna’s wedding pictures