Jared's One Blog

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November 25, 2009

Tim & Hilary's Wedding

[On location in Cumberland, Wisconsin]

Last Friday afternoon I rented a car and drove out from Spokane, heading for my former roommate Tim's wedding in Yakima. I was glad to get a chance to see some of the countryside in eastern Washington, even though it turned out to be a rather dull drive. And for those who think Washington state is all mountains, you're very wrong. Interstate 90 between Spokane and the Columbia River Gorge is pretty flat and dry (though at least there are some pine trees near Spokane to break up the landscape), with very few signs of civilization (a town every hour or so, generally). The foothills of the Cascades were finally just ahead of me when I had to turn southeast at Ellensburg on Interstate 84. Oh well, I guess I'll have to leave a drive through the Cascades for my next visit to Washington.

I got to Yakima about 20 minutes before the wedding rehearsal started. The rehearsal lasted an hour and a half or so, and was somewhat chaotic and at times frustrating when there were obvious misunderstandings of what various people were suggesting or requesting. Maybe they're always chaotic, or maybe it had something to do with there being eight groomsmen (including myself), eleven bridesmaids, three flower girls and one ring bearer. That was a lot of people on stage, and sure took awhile to figure out how to get everyone positioned. That was the largest wedding party I've ever seen or heard of! But when you take into consideration that Hilary has 9 sisters and 2 brothers, and that she naturally has other cousins and good friends too, and that of course you can't really leave anyone out, you can see why the wedding party was so huge. :-) It was fun though, and eventually we got the whole rehearsal thing sorted out.

At the rehearsal dinner (which featured homemade lasagna from the moms, mmmm!) every table had a packet with lyrics to about 20-some hymns. So when we were done with the food, people just shouted out a number and we'd sing that hymn, with accompaniment from a guitar and djembe. We sung about a dozen hymns before we had to clean up and vacate the church for the night. I thought that hymnsing was really cool, and I'm going to file that away in my memory banks for awhile, as I'd like to do the same thing someday when it comes time for me to get married.

One of Hilary's uncles offered to put up all the groomsmen for the night at his house in Yakima, so that's where I stayed (two or three of the groomsmen stayed other places though). That's where we had a rather short and low-key bachelor party for Tim as well, which mostly consisted of us introducing ourselves and how we know Tim, Tim handing out his gifts for us, and then Tim asking for advice from the groomsmen who were already married, about all sorts of things. It was cool to hear. We all (and Tim especially) had to be up fairly early in the morning, so we called it a night pretty early too. It was the first bachelor party I've been to, but I'm guessing it was a pretty non-standard one. :-)

All the wedding photos were taken before the ceremony, so we had to be there quite awhile beforehand. I actually preferred having all the photos taken before the ceremony, instead of right after. It was a gorgeous day though, especially for mid-November in Washington, partly cloudy with temps in the 40s, so most of the photos were able to be taken outdoors. I didn't have my camera with me while the wedding photographer was taking all our pictures, but I ran back in to grab it when he was done with us, and just needed to take some bride and groom pictures.

We groomsmen were ushers as well, but about 5 minutes before the scheduled start of the ceremony (2pm) we got the hook to go line up. Before everyone lined up though, there was a group prayer for Hilary, then for Tim, then for both of them together, and then we all sung "Doxology" a capella. Everything about their wedding and wedding preparation was extraordinarily God-focused.

So all of us in the wedding party lined up, but then stood there at the back of the church for a long time because the organist kept playing "Be Thou My Vision" (the song to be played as the parents were seated) over and over and over again. And again. And again. And again. The wedding hostesses were trying to flip a light at the organ to signal him to move on to the processional, but he wasn't getting the hint. So eventually we just started the processional, and about halfway through the organist finally switched to the song for the processional. I suppose nothing ever goes 100% as planned at a wedding. :-) The ceremony was really good though, and was about an hour long (a long time to stand still on stage). The homily from the pastor was very Gospel-focused, the two congregational hymns were "O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus" and "Holy, Holy, Holy." While Tim & Hilary were signing the marriage certificate (something that's required by Washington state law to happen during the ceremony itself), one of Hilary's sisters sang "I Love You, Lord" as a solo, and while Tim & Hilary took communion as the very first act of their marriage (even before the kiss, which was their first kiss ever), another of Hilary's sisters sung "What Wondrous Love Is This?" as a solo. Near the end of the wedding, Tim & Hilary's parents came on stage to pray for them as well. It was a really nice wedding!

The reception was right after the ceremony at the church, and was a big pie and ice cream social. There seemed to be a never-ending supply of pies of all kinds that kept being brought out! Tim & Hilary chose not to have a dinner at the reception, and also chose not to have any alcohol. Instead they had sparkling cider for the toasts. Several people gave toasts to Tim & Hilary, and I gave one as well, partly since I was the only Penn Stater who could make it out to the wedding. The reception wrapped up at about 6pm though, when Tim & Hilary drove off to start their honeymoon (Leavenworth, Washington -> Victoria, British Columbia -> Seattle, Washington). In preparation of their car, some of the other groomsmen decided to pull a couple little pranks -- setting the radio at high volume and the windshield wipers so that they'd come on when he turned the car on, a piece of tagboard over the ignition, and then some whipped cream underneath the driver's door handle. Just a little harmless fun. :-)

With the reception ending as early as it did, and with the weather still being good (I knew snow was coming the next morning), I decided not to stay in Yakima another night, and instead to head back up to Larry & Marilyn's house in Spokane. Right before I left I got invited to an impromptu after-party with some of Hilary's sisters and cousins, but 3.5 hours of night driving in good weather (and then being able to go to church with Jonathan) was far more preferable to me than more hours of daytime driving on icy/snowy roads.

Even though I didn't know anyone other than Tim & Hilary, I had a great time going out there for their wedding. They're so happy together, and love each other and love God tremendously. It's cool to see. :-) It was also an honor to be a part of their wedding, and I wish them nothing but the best in their marriage!

More about the rest of my Washington trip in an upcoming post. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Posted by Jared at 08:23 PM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2009

Jake's First Trip Out East

[On location in Spokane, Washington]

I have some free time on my hands while my cousin Jonathan is at work and while other people are here checking in on my aunt Marilyn, so I thought I may as well catch up some on my blogging backlog...

Last weekend my younger brother Jake flew out to State College from Wisconsin to come visit me. It was pretty cool that he did that, especially since it was his first time ever flying or venturing out that far from home. I tried my best to entertain him and show him a good time, and in the process we both got pretty tired. I think he enjoyed his visit too.

His flight arrived early afternoon on Thursday the 12th, but not before he had to put up with some of the "interesting" things that sometimes happen on flights. For instance, on the MSP-DTW leg, he was stuck ahead of a kicking and screaming 2-year old kid whose parents thought everything he did was just the cutest thing ever. I'm actually impressed that Jake waited until after everyone deplaned in Detroit to have a short chat with the dad. Anyway, when he got off the plane all the monitors indicated that his DTW-SCE flight was cancelled. In the process of finding out that it was not cancelled, but instead merely delayed a couple hours, he had the pleasure of dealing with at least one thoroughly unhelpful gate agent, who told him to go back to the original gate for the DTW-SCE flight and ask the agent there what was going on, even though there was no agent at that gate. He was definitely ready for a drink after all that finally got straightened out, haha.

Right after picking him up from the airport I took him to Wegmans for lunch, and then we went back to my apartment for a bit so that he could take a nap and whatnot, not having slept much the night or two previously. For supper that night I took him to Pickle's downtown, after swinging by Lions Pride so that he could buy a PSU hoodie. Then we went to Hollemans to watch "The Office" and some football, and so that he could meet several of my friends from PSCG (he'd met Ash before, when Ash came out to Minnesota with me for Aaron's funeral last year).

On Friday the 13th we got up early and hit the road at 8am for Washington DC. With Jake never having been out east before, he wanted to take a day trip somewhere to see someplace other than the university (and I don't blame him!). We parked at the end of the Metro red line (Shady Glen) and rode the train in to Union Station near the U.S. Capitol Building. It was a cool, grey day in DC, with the remnants of Hurricane Ida just offshore, but fortunately it only was rainy and windy for the first hour or so that we were in DC. We were both fearing a washout, so we were glad it was actually dry most of the day. We did a TON of walking, going from Union Station around the Capitol Building, then to the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum in search of a food court (which was closed that day to our chagrin), then the rest of the way down the National Mall, by the Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, all the way to the Lincoln Memorial. Then we walked up to the White House (after having to double back a few blocks because of missing a turn), and walked all the way back to Union Station along E Street. It was interesting to see how many people were using their flash to take photos of the White House at night, especially given we were a good half mile away from it. I kinda doubt their little flashes could reach that far, haha. And several times during the day Jake was whinging (a little Aussie lingo there) about how much walking we were doing and that I wasn't walking slowly enough. I basically told him he needed to suck it up. :-D Right before heading back to PA, we also met up with an old friend of his from Wisconsin who'd moved to the DC area, who Jake hadn't seen in 9 years. That was actually a big reason why he wanted me to drive him to DC, I suspect. ;-)

(All these pictures were taken with a camera of Nathan's that Jake brought out for me to borrow for the weekend and for my trip to Washington that I'm currently on, since my camera was being fixed by Geek Squad. Thanks Nathan!)

After getting back to State College at almost 1am Friday night, on Saturday morning we left at 9am to go tailgating. Unfortunately we didn't have some necessary supplies, so we wound up spending almost an hour driving around making various stops before we finally went up to campus for the tailgate. As a result we were only able to be there for about an hour or so before it was time to head up to the game. Oh well. On the plus side, the tailgate was set up by some parents of the younger meteo grads, so there was actually good, homemade food there. Yum! And Jake and I did manage to fit in one game of pong (good side: we won, hooray!; down side: we played with skunked Iron City, blech!). As for the game, Penn State was sluggish out of the gates, falling behind Indiana 10-0 on the strength of three first quarter turnovers. Ugh. Eventually PSU woke up and took a 24-10 lead in the 3rd quarter, en route to a 31-20 win. Jake said he enjoyed the game, but that he had more fun watching the crowd. The Blue Band had a really creative halftime show, with the Batman theme (forming the Batman logo) and the Rocky theme (forming a pair of boxers that even came together and slowly boxed a little bit!). And about Beaver Stadium, he said, "This place is huge." Very observant, he is. :-)

After the game we were exhausted from the last couple days, so we hung out at Walter's for a bit, watching some more football and playing some games.

On Sunday morning I dragged Jake to church. :-) To be fair, I didn't have to drag him, he came willingly, haha. I asked for the week off from the worship team because of his visit, so I wasn't playing this week. After church we had the obligatory photo-op at the Lion Shrine and visit to the Berkey Creamery, sandwiched around stuffing ourselves with pizza at Home Delivery. After the pizza and ice cream, I seriously didn't eat anything else the rest of the day! Later in the evening I took him out to Otto's for a drink of their home-brewed beer, but by that point they were down to just three types of beer on tap and the kitchen had just closed. Oh well, the Ottonator is still good. We even ran into someone at Otto's who was familiar with the Spooner/Hayward area in NW Wisconsin. Small world!

I dropped Jake off at the State College airport late on Monday morning. It seemed like he had a good time in PA, and was more interested in traveling to other places, now that he had a first plane ride under his belt, and could see that the whole process wasn't that bad. I was glad he came out and that I could show him around a bit, and that he could get a taste of the world outside Wisconsin!

So now my parents have been out here once (Oct 2005), my brother Nathan & Laura have been out here once (Oct 2008), and my brother Jake's been out here once (Nov 2009). Who'll break the tie? :-) I do wish Aaron could've come out here at some point though. It would've been great to show him some of the great scenery here in Pennsylvania, and show him that while it might not be Colorado, it's still really pretty out here. :-) And I wonder how he would've thought the atmosphere for a college football game at Penn State compared to the game(s) he went to at Nebraska back in the 90s...

Anyway, now it's time for me to get ready to drive from Spokane to Yakima in a little bit. Jonathan will be swinging by on his lunch break to take me to the rental car place. I'm excited for Tim & Hilary's wedding tomorrow, and looking forward to seeing them again this afternoon! Much more about my current trip to Washington will be coming up in a future post when I get a chance.

Posted by Jared at 01:58 PM | Comments (0)

November 08, 2009

SCEFC Set List (8 Nov 2009)

I intended to post this before today, but I didn't have a chance (just as I haven't written about my visit to Michigan a couple weeks ago yet either). I didn't even get the songs picked out until Friday night, and then rehearsal was later than usual last night, at 8:30pm because of the Penn State-Ohio State game. The main part of sermon text this week was John 7:37-39, dealing with Christ being the source of streams of living water for us. As such, I picked out a couple of songs to go with the water theme. We had two new guitarists this week, Meredith and Carina, plus Mike on bass and Suzanne and Erin on vocals. A good-sized group!

Prelude: Unashamed Love - by Lamont Hierbert

I chose this song because of its call for us to calm our busy minds and focus on God and His sacrifice for us. I know I'm easily distracted, at least...

Song #1: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing - by Robert Robinson and John Wyeth

Song #2: I Need a Saviour - by Among the Thirsty

This was the first time we'd sung this song as a congregation, though Mike introduced it last week as a prelude.

Song #3: Breathing the Breath - by Matt Redman

This was the first time we'd sung this song as a congregation as well. I played it last week during communion, and a couple people commented to me how pretty they thought it was. So I decided to have everyone sing it this week! A YouTube link to the song is here, in case you're curious to hear the version from Matt Redman's "Facedown" album.

Song #4: O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus - by Samuel Trevor Francis

One of my favorite hymns/songs of all time. In addition to awesome lyrics (likening Jesus' love for us to an ocean that's all around us), it's a beautiful Welsh melody in a minor key. Mike likes to give me a hard time for my fondness for songs in minor keys, but minor keys are just so awesome--I can't help it! :-)

Closing Song: As the Deer - by Martin Nystrom

I chose this to go with the sermon theme in particular: "As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you."

Now I'll be on a three-week or so hiatus from being on the worship team at SCEFC. Next Sunday my younger brother Jake will be in town (he's flying in from Wisconsin on Thursday), the Sunday after that I'll be in Washington state (either still in Yakima following Tim & Hillary's wedding, visiting family in Spokane, or somewhere in between), and then the Sunday after that I'll be flying from Minneapolis to Detroit and then driving from Ann Arbor to State College, returning from spending Thanksgiving with my family in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

All of this upcoming stuff with Jake's visit and then departing for Washington the day after he leaves is why I'm so frantically trying to get ahead on work. Oh yeah, and I have to make a poster by Wednesday to send with Walter to this year's Chemical & Biological Defense conference in Dallas, as well as take an exam in my Numerical Weather Prediction class on Tuesday night. But even with all of this busy-ness, and with feeling so tired, stressed and worn down lately, I felt like I was able to get recharged to some degree this morning at church. Not fully, but at least some. Sometimes being forced to take a time out is the best thing for us. It's really easy for me not to take time for God when life gets hectic...

Posted by Jared at 11:10 PM | Comments (3)