wedding

Black Wedding

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Hey Kids,

Today was Wedding Day!

To say this wedding is different from any other I’ve experienced would be understating the fact so severely that I would be borderline guilty of lying by omission if I failed to say so.

First. Being in a commercial haunted house already set it apart. We were given the run of the place from closing last night until opening tonight. The place is dark, creepy, and well worn. The décor is gruesome and the feeling about it is cheap and spooky. We are in a commercial venture of scaring people- in order to exchange vows of love.

Two. The wedding ceremony was held in what I believe was “Satan’s Throne Room.” The podium for the officiant was an altar of skulls. The walls were black and attended by deformed and tortured souls. The lighting was barely enough for any notes to be read.

Three. The grooms’ arrival consisted of one being brought in within a coffin. The other tied to a furniture hand truck. Both were in full costume: a vampire and a Hannibal-type character.

Four. The groomsmen were zombies. The Maids of Honor were in mourning (dressed in black with veils).

The Poe Cake By: BakemeaKake.com

The Poe Cake By: BakemeaKake.com

Five. The attendees were encouraged to dress up. Most did. The cake was a Poe themed cake.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention what was the same.

The exchange of vows. The expressions of love. The sentimentality of what the occasion meant and would mean for the rest of these two gentlemen’s lives.

Tears fell, noses sniffled, and a few even had to be blown. The special nature of the moment wasn’t lost on anyone there that I witnessed.

I’ve noticed a trend of tradition-challenged events; weddings being a main target. My wedding, although not as Haunty as this one, pushed and broke many traditional norms.

What I think is important is the meaning of these events and the understanding of what marriage is, doesn’t change.

From what I saw and heard today, I think the idea of marriage and love were well understood.

 

Day 246

A Hellish Wedding

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Hey Kids,

Tomorrow ends our self-proclaimed “Epic October”.

We started it out with our own wedding. We got the green light and planned it and did it.

Next was our trip to Texas to visit my sweetie’s home country.

Now tomorrow is the next event. My sweetie’s oldest son’s wedding.

And like our wedding, it won’t be your classic setting. We went for mountains, fresh air, and a natural setting; they will be exchanging vows in a constructed cemetery, in the middle of a haunted house venue, while in full Halloween costume.

All guests are expected to join in the dressing up part too.

Both her son, and now my step son, and his partner work at the Haunted house, so this actually doesn’t strike any of us as odd. It sounds like it’ll be weird, creepy, and a whole lot of fun.

I expect it to be also tenderhearted and genuine.

I know that there would be some that wouldn’t approve of the venue, of the costumes, or even of the couple.

To hell with them.

Or I guess, considering the venue, to hell with us!

In a staged cemetery anyway.

 

Day 245

Wedding Day

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Hey Kids,

You’re going to have to excuse me today but this will be a short post, it’s my wedding night.

So why am I on the computer blogging?

Good question. Except it’s what I do.

The ceremony was great. Had cops show up but all was well. The weather remained rainy but broke long enough for us to have our moment and walk around the lake for pictures. It started again as we reached our cars. I’ll thank our prayers for that miracle.

Our Wedding Chapel- Fall Edition

Our Wedding Chapel- Fall Edition

The cabin served as an excellent host for our guests. Adults visited, kids ran wild through the trees. Everyone found enough food to make them happy. Many sneakers and school shoes were muddied and possibly ruined, all to the chagrin of the parents who let their kids run wild outside.

The rains have again subsided and the air has cooled to 38°F. Luckily the hot tub is maintaining 106.

We are going to enjoy the evening into the night soaking up the hot water. Then we’ll see if we can find anything else to keep us occupied until sleep finds us. After that we will sleep-in to as close to the 11 o’clock check-out time in the morning, as we possibly can.

I’ll be back tomorrow and fill in some more details.

 

Day 222

Canyon of Memories

mikemjensen Life's Truths, Vanity Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

Hey Kids,

It’s the evening before our wedding and the start of our marriage.

The normal thing the day before, apparently, is to be nervous or anxious but I’m not. I’ve got a still cool and inner excitement instead.

At this writing, I’m sitting at a large kitchen table in a cabin located at an elevation of about 8,000 feet in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah- my favorite canyon in the world.FullSizeRender (2)

This canyon holds so many memories for me. My family and I have made so many trips up here over the years. I can tell a story or share a fact about most of the 17 miles of road from the mouth of the canyon to the glacier-cut bowl at the top. I know every curve of the road, every stretch of hills, and every turnout. We have been up here so many hundreds of times that I bet we border the 1000 number.

Tomorrow the ceremony will be at Silver Lake. I know this lake even better. Every part of the 1 mile trail and boardwalk holds a story of when this or that happened. Over there is where the boys scaled the rock wall. That sign over there is where Dakota slipped and cut his head just above the eyebrow. We’ve seen moose here, and here, and over there. The best place to spot the fish is on the bridge or the overlook on the other side of the lake. I can go on and on. The memories come on so thick sometimes they crowd out the mosquitoes.

Sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes I wonder why I keep coming up here. The memories attempt to mock the fact that there will be no new ones made.

But isn’t that the fact with all memories? Their entire existence is based in the past. My nest simply emptied earlier than expected and much earlier that I would have ever wanted. That’s what hurts.

Tomorrow I will start a new era of my life. A woman I love and who loves me is about to become a permanent part of it. Instead of leaving my favorite place in the world in the past with its memories, I’ve decided to continue to create new ones. Tomorrow will be a huge addition.

There will be no sadness as I gaze on the familiar rocks and trees and see the reflection of my young children. My walk around the lake with my new bride will be but another set of footprints added to the thousands I have left before and but a small example of what I hope to leave in the future.

The cool calm and the inner excitement is what I call happiness, and I seem to have plenty of that nowadays.

Especially tomorrow.

 

 

Day 221

Find the Special

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Hey Kids,

You can always find a way to do something special.

It takes a little effort at times, but it’s possible.

My sweetie and I have been putting the final touches on our upcoming wedding this weekend. It’s not the first time for either of us so the plans aren’t as elaborate this go around. Most of the details, not including the vows, are all worked out.

The idea of getting married sprang up quickly; we had no intentions of squeezing it in before our road trip later on this month. It became the right thing to do at the right time and the plans simply started happening.

This afternoon, I got home early and started the Spaghetti sauce simmering. When my baby finally escaped her place of employment, the bowtie pasta boiled away on the stovetop. She took her quick bath and as soon as she was out and ready for dinner, I stopped her in the bedroom and said I had an important question to ask.

She looked very nervous, wondering what could be so urgent to make her wait for the delicious (if I say so myself) dinner waiting for her in the other room.

I dropped to one knee, whipped out the ring that she didn’t know I picked up on the way home, opened the lid reveling the ring angled towards her, and asked,

“Will you marry me?”Proposal

She was surprised.

And very pleased.

The proposal had been just a given and neither of us appeared to think of it as needed. If thought of at all.

Luckily she said yes and our wedding plans and dinner continued.

I didn’t have to do it, we both knew it’s what we both wanted. We’re pretty happy with each other and the lives we are sharing. The wedding is turning out to be exactly how we wanted it: simple, with close friends and family, and in the mountains.

But I didn’t want her to get married without ever being asked if she wanted to. Officially.

Other than the price of the ring, it cost me nothing and the happy look on her face was priceless.

Do something special for someone, even if it’s something simple.

Everyone deserves to feel special every once in a while.

 

Day 219

My Lake

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Hey Kids,

I moved around a lot during my upbringing.

Although a little skewed, I attended 10 schools in my 13 years of public education. Yes that includes Kindergarten. No I didn’t repeat a year. Nice try.

During that time, it’s hard to grow attached to any one place. So when I find a place to which I do grow attached, rest assured it’s a good one.

During the years of raising kids, the recreation money wore thin and we found many hours recreating within the minivan and driving into the mountains that border the Salt Lake valley.

Within these Wasatch Mountains is a canyon called Big Cottonwood and 17 miles up the canyon, where it ends at nearly 9,000 ft. elevation, lies a small mountain lake called Silver Lake.

During the hundreds of trips, we saw the improvements to the trail and boardwalk around it. We’ve been there during scorching summer days and have tromped through knee-deep snow banks. I pushed strollers and later begged kids to slow down. I’ve dragged teenagers out of the car and watched them reluctantly enjoy themselves.

We’ve seen moose and deer, watched the beaver build their dams and lodges, and watch the hundreds of trout rise in the evenings for their daily gorge of insects.

Silver Lake grew to my most favorite place in the world. Every step holds a memory. I know the trees, the banks of the lake, and the wood planks of the boardwalk as if they were family. I can tell a story related to every point on the one mile trail. It’s a picture board of my life with my kids.

Those days and events have stopped now. The chronicle of my children’s life will no longer be measured against the backdrop of this beautiful setting. The visits have dropped in frequency and always void of children.

In less than two weeks Silver Lake, however, will be the site of the wedding to my new bride.

The past will remain in the past and in my memories. The future lies before me. The thing that will remain consistent is my favorite place in the whole world shared with those I love the most.

 

Silver Lake Utah

Silver Lake

Day 209

Epic October on the Horizon

mikemjensen Vanity Tags: , , , 1 Comment

Hey Kids,

Wedding. Road trip. Wedding. Whew!

This upcoming month of October is going to be a crazy time!

First up is my own good news with my own wedding on the 3rd. Pretty cool, eh? A mountain setting, with a friend to marry us, I expect nothing less than fantastic in a most simple way. The dress will be mountain casual for the guests and we’ll be at one of my most favorite places in the world. I’ll be talking more about all this in the next coming weeks. Two of them to be exact.

Texas will be on the docket during the middle of the month. For Annette, it’s going home.

Spray painting creepy table decorations.

Spray painting creepy table decorations.

October 27th will be the wedding for her oldest. The ceremony will be in a Haunted House venue. Crazy!

On top of all that, I have two books that need to be finished. Ouch!

Every weekend will be jammed packed, so I need to cut this off short today because I’m bushed with all the wedding prep work going on around here.

More fun to come!!

 

Day 208