Time flies! Grab ride and Wedding VACA!

Has it really been 3 WEEKS since my last post?!? WOW! Where did June go!
I suppose I'll jump back and do a little rundown of the month. It's been madness for me, and it sounds like everyone I know is in the same boat this summer!
A few weeks ago 2 teammates and I held our first fundraiser. We had a tip night at a restaurant/bar in Charles City that my friend works at. It was a great experience. So many people came up to us and told us their stories about who they knew who had cancer and how it affected them. It was really touching. I think we all felt like we were doing something great. We made a little money towards our fundraising effort and had a great time. :)

The next morning Ash decided to join me in Waverly for the annual GRAB (great ride around bremer) bike ride. I did it last year with my mom and a friend and it was a blast!
We rode 45 miles total with 4 or 5 stops along the way so it took us til 5 to get back to Waverly. Our favorite stop last year was an impromptu stop at a house along the route that invited us into their garage for a party. We decided to make it an annual stop and hoped they would remember us this year. Sure enough the garage party was hoppin and they were more than welcoming! It was the town's "GRUMP DAYS" and the crowned town grump made an appearance. She was actually a very nice lady :) We had so much fun in Pastor Barry's garage! We also met lots of new friends on the ride this year. The night ended with some amazing OP pizza and a movie on Whit's new couch in her new house :)  The pics below pretty much sum up how much fun we had.

some of our group :)

In Pastor Barry's Garage with the town grump :) mustaches!

New friend. NI PRIDE or NIP RIDE? You be the judge.

Okay, now on to the main event! John and Whit's wedding extravaganza in Breckenridge, CO! I've been avoiding posting about it because I don't even know where to begin!

Whit and I have been friends for 6 or 7 years now and we have a great time together! We've made a point to stay in touch after college and have remained really close :) I was honored to be a part of her big day!

I headed out there on Wednesday and came back Sunday. We packed SO much into those 4 days :) I was always exhausted and always having a blast! I am still recovering from sleep deprivation lol.

Wednesday: I arrived in Breck around 6 and headed straight to meet everyone at a brewery for dinner. It was a pretty low key night for everyone, as we all had to depart for rafting by 7 a.m. the next morning.

Thursday: 20 of us headed out to go rafting. We had signed up for the level 4 intense rafting, but the water was too low so we had to do a level 3. It was still a blast though and had some pretty good rapids. We were on the river for about 2 1/2 hours. The raft I was in had an awesome guide who was incredibly nice and fun. :)

By the time we finished rafting and were bused back to the start it was already mid-afternoon and no one had eaten all day. We immediately headed to Leadville to a pizza place our guide recommended. The pizza was great but the weather was bad, and by bad I mean 85 degrees and really sunny... I'm serious.. I know that doesn't sound bad, but we had to eat outside because it was a tiny restaurant, and we were all just baking in the sun lol. We couldn't wait to get in the air conditioned car!

That night was the first real night out on the town in Breck. We found a bar called the Gold Pan Saloon. There was a pool table, a small dance floor and live music. It was great :) We all started playing pool (which I've maybe played ten times in my life) and it turns out I'm kinda sorta really good lol. I don't know what the deal was, but I couldn't miss a shot. From that point on, the trip revolved around playing pool lol. We had so much fun! We stayed out way too late and had a few too many beverages!

groom and best man! :)

SO MUCH FUN!

Friday: Rehearsal time! We made our way up to Peak 8, Ten Mile station in Breckenridge. I had no idea the place where Whit would get married was going to be so gorgeous!! It was amazing. The perfect 75 degree weather the whole trip helped too!
After the rehearsal we all headed to lunch and then had the afternoon to do whatever. I chose to golf with a friend while others shopped and swam. Golf was great! I played surprisingly decent with rented clubs, saw some great views and had a great time!
Some of the group had signed up for horseback riding and BBQ that night. I opted out of that so we headed to dinner to kill time while the others finished riding. I decided to try elk for the first time and it was great!
Once we all met up again we headed straight back the the Gold Pan Saloon, of course! That night they had a DJ who happened to play everything I requested, so I was in heaven. :) If you are curious, I was in a Nelly and Usher kind of mood lol. We played pool yet again, and I still had the touch. We beat a lot of people and danced between games. It was a blast. We intended on this being an early night given the ceremony was early the next morning... BUT.... that didn't really happen lol. And let me just say, the groomsmen did not feel 100% the next day lol, but it was worth it!

View from where the ceremony was held. Gorgeous!

 Whit's dad, Jimbo is quite the character. Never a dull moment :)

New friend steve, the musician for the ceremony :)

Elk! yummmmmmm!

Some college kids I beat in pool.

Finally pulled the popular bride away for a pic!

Loved that I managed to squeeze a round of golf in!

WEDDING DAY!!!!!!!!

The big day had finally arrived. The ceremony was at 11a.m.
Whit looked GORGEOUS. Honestly one of the prettiest dresses I've ever laid eyes on! She rocked it.
She also rocked at planning a destination wedding. She was so organized and had everything she needed to decorate. I don't know how she did it! (there was one minor freak out when she thought she forgot the groom's ring back in Iowa, but we found it!!)

The ceremony was one of the best I've attended. They had their own reading which was them taking turns telling the story of how they met and fell in love! They both bawled and I'm pretty sure everyone in attendance did as well. They also wrote their own vows which were amazing and heartfelt. The weather couldn't have been better! Everything went great!

mimosas!

gorgeous, both of you!

They're bawling. AWWWWWWWWWWW

Steve was amazing!

Just after tying the knot :) The tears finally stopped.

Whit's mom and dad were so happy for her! They love John and you could tell they are sad to let their girl go but love that they are handing her away to John :) They looked so proud and happy all day!

After the ceremony, John's dad gave an amazing toast which made everyone cry again! Then we were off to the reception. They had great food and a really pretty banquet hall at One Ski Hill. Before we knew it the party got going again even though it was early afternoon. Whit and John started telling stories about their friends in attendance and we were having a blast on the deck enjoying the great weather. From there we headed to a bar with TWO pool tables! They had great music and we did lots of dancing and pool playing. It was a blast!

I bet I'm beating John right here.

Every new bride needs a glamour shot on a pool table.. right?

JIMBO!!! PAPA LOUIE!

What a great wedding! I really think everyone who went had a blast! Most importantly I think John and Whit had so much fun and were so happy that their closest friends and family made the trip to witness them tying the knot! They seemed so happy the entire time! Never a dull moment and so in love!

Congrats you two! I think I speak for everyone when I say thank you for giving me memories I'll never forget and the trip of a lifetime! Most importantly, best wishes to you two, you guys have a lifetime of happiness ahead of you!