This is my most indulgent texture.

I don't know how to do the linking to Amanda's blog. Even the directions need translation for me. But I typed my current favorite book into Flickr and this is one of the images that appeared! Wow! I love this picture. Can you guess my book?

Part 2 of Wesley’s Wedding and Other Recent Events

Wesley and Elisabeth chose Pachelbel’s “Canon in D Major” for their wedding march. Captain Marty and Wesley walked out onto the bow first, followed by Elisabeth’s mother, Wes and me. The bridesmaids came next. They were Elisabeth’s three sisters, Lydia, Esther and Rebecca, and three of her friends. Her maid of honor was Imy, but I can’t remember the names of the other two. Then the groomsmen came. Wesley’s best man was named Dave, who was running for State Representative, but I don’t know the names of the other groomsmen. Wesley or Elisabeth will have to fill you in on names. Then with all eyes on her, Elisabeth walked in on her father’s arm looking radiant and as beautiful as an angel. Her dress was indescribable, delicate and perfect. She wore her hair up in curls, adorned with a tiara, and her veil was trimmed with intricate lace. A picture would be worth a thousand words at this point, but your dad had forgotten to bring his camera. (Chelsee has posted some of the pictures from Elisabeth’s camera.) Wesley had written most of the wedding ceremony and it was very touching. Wesley and Elisabeth had also written their own vows and I can’t even tell you how beautiful their words to each other were. I have encouraged Wesley to post his vows so all of you can read what he said. After they exchanged rings and kissed, we all crowded around them and wished them all the best. They cut their unique wedding cake that had been decorated with real seashells and starfish, and served it to us, along with sparkling apple juice, while we were being taken back to the dock. After they had hugged and said good-bye to their friends and family, Wesley and Elisabeth, as well as Elisabeth’s parents, your dad and me, all rode out to yet another beautiful spot somewhere by Kodiak Island and enjoyed a lovely dinner for six, prepared by the captain’s wife. It was a very memorable day for me. I was so grateful to have been there to see Wesley marry the woman he loves.

After the wedding, Wesley and Elisabeth, instead of heading straight for their hotel room, headed straight for a walk the community was having that night to raise money and awareness for, I believe, cancer research. Elisabeth changed into running clothes, but still wore her veil while she and Wesley participated in the walk. Many people, including me, were impressed with that.

Saturday was the reception. Elisabeth’s maid of honor, Imy, insisted that she and some of Elisabeth’s other friends take over the decorating and other preparations for the reception. I think this was rather frustrating to Elisabeth and some things that she wanted done were overlooked. I thought it was a great reception anyway. The decorations were similar to those on the yacht. The tables were decorated with bowls of sand, seashells and starfish. Little sachets filled with chocolates and pretty little blue and white crystals were also set out on the tables. Elisabeth and Wesley themselves had caught all the fish that were used in the salmon and halibut dishes that were served at their reception dinner. All the food was fabulous. Music was provided by a Russian Orthodox group from a church school for at-risk kids and they did a marvelous job. It was touching to see Wesley and Elisabeth do their first dance as husband and wife, and also to see Elisabeth dance with her father. Dancing was really the main event at the reception, which was a fun and different thing to see and do. There was also another cutting of an even larger wedding cake that was decorated with seashells and starfish, like the one on the boat. During the reception, many people told me how much they admired and respected Wesley and how much he had contributed to their community. Many of the people who came to the reception knew Wesley and Elisabeth through their participation in plays and programs. Wesley’s best man, Dave, said the first time he met Wesley was at an audition where Dave had mistaken Wesley for Christian Slater.

On Sunday, Wes and I went to church with Wesley, Elisabeth and Elisabeth’s family. To counteract whatever goodness or evil came from attending church, we then went to a coffee shop (the Fly-By) for some conversation and coffee. Monty also took Wes and me to some graveyards there on the island to see headstones from World War II and from some earlier times when Kodiak was taken from the Russians. Sunday evening, Elisabeth’s parents invited us to their home for a pizza dinner. While we were there, Elisabeth showed us her drawings. She is a fantastic artist.

We had to leave on Monday afternoon, but before we did, Wesley and Elisabeth took us to a World War II museum and then for a walk around a nearby lake. It was so pleasant. The air was cool and it was just nice to walk with and talk to Wesley before we had to go. Wesley and Elisabeth took us to the airport and we said good-bye. Now I can say from experience that Kodiak is a great place to visit.

We landed in Anchorage at 5:00 p.m. in the pouring rain. Since it was light until about midnight at this time of year, Wes and I were able to grab a taxi and go headstone-hunting for the only Medal of Honor recipient in Alaska. It cost us $120 to make the round trip to the military cemetery at the army base there. Luck was with us, too, because we happened to get one of the few taxi drivers who had a license to drive onto the base. Wes got his picture of the headstone and we headed back to the airport, mission accomplished. That was the icing on the cake for Wes.

I hope Wesley or Elisabeth will correct any mistakes I made in the details I gave about their wedding. I do know, however, that my description was correct when I said that it was absolutely beautiful and memorable. I wish you all could have been there with me.

The “other recent events” part of my title refers to my new job. I was hired as an Outpatient Services Specialist at the Same Day Surgery Unit of the University Hospital. I have been working there for two weeks now and I think I am really going to love my job. There is a lot to learn and I sometimes feel overwhelmed, but I know I will get it and will be good at it in time. I am very happy to be among the ranks of the employed again, if nothing else. I am not making as much as I did at my last job, nor am I getting as many hours, but it is a good job and I am working with good people, among whom is Sonja Plumb. She is a beautiful, smiling, comforting face in the crowd of nurses on our unit. I am very happy to be seeing her every day.

So, that’s my second installment of Wesley’s wedding and other recent events. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Wesley’s Wedding and Other Recent Events

First, I must confess that I worried a lot about flying up to Alaska for Wesley’s wedding. I worried about the flights themselves, because they were red eye flights with long layovers. I worried about not having any money for things that we might need once we got there. I even worried about spending so much time with Wes, because it has been ages since we were together for more than a few hours at a time.

As is usually the case, I need not have worried. The first flight was the longest, but Wes slept most of the time and I got to watch the in-flight movie, “21,” which was fairly good. Staying in the Anchorage airport for six hours wasn’t bad, because they had lots of places were people could lie down and sleep, and there were many other people doing so. When we finally got on the plane to Kodiak, I was able to look down at the beautifully blue water and I could see all the gorgeously green islands surrounding Kodiak. When we landed and stepped off the plane, the first thing that I noticed was how cool and fresh and clean the air was. Breathing itself became the first pleasure and delight of my vacation.

Wesley and Elisabeth were right inside the door when we walked into the airport. They took us to the apartment where we would be staying so we could drop off our luggage, and then whisked us off to breakfast at the Chart Room. The food there was great and we enjoyed visiting with Wesley and Elisabeth. Then they just let us sleep until lunchtime, when we went to the Powerhouse Restaurant for the best food on the island. This was also when we met Elisabeth’s parents for the first time. I especially liked Monty, Elisabeth’s father. He was friendly, outgoing and very funny. He had some good stories to tell and was also a good listener when Wes told his stories. I think they found a lot in common. Elisabeth’s mom was quiet, but she seemed like a very strong, self-confident person who was just keeping herself in check. At the Powerhouse, I discovered that I actually did like the sushi that was served (California Rolls). I enjoyed the other food very much, as well.

Elisabeth was having her bachelorette party that evening, so Wesley came alone to take us to dinner. (Yes, the first day there, we mostly ate and slept, which seemed heavenly.) We ate at Henry’s, which was another place with splendid food. I had the best Chicken Marsala that I have ever tasted. We found out later that at Elisabeth’s party, all the girls dressed in hot red dresses. They went to the place where Elisabeth’s father was working and a lady there, playing along with them, told him that there was a fire. He came running out and when he saw all the young women in red dresses, he also played along. He got a fire extinguisher and ran around them all exclaiming, “It’s too hot! It’s too hot! I can’t put it out by myself.” He then called the fire department and they came out with a fire truck to put out the “fire.” Elisabeth and her friends got their pictures taken on the fire truck. I thought that was hilarious. It certainly was not something that you would ever see happen anywhere else. But everyone knows everyone in Kodiak.

Wes and I entertained ourselves for the next couple of days. One of our longer walks was to Near Island. Like the name indicates, this is an island that is close enough to Kodiak that they have built a bridge over to it. We crossed the bridge and followed a number of trails through the forest there. No, we didn’t see any bears, but Wes kept saying he wanted to find some – the nut. We read a lot and had many good conversations about the books we were reading. Wes finished God’s Problem, which was a book about “the problem of evil.” Then he started a book entitled The Gospel of Judas Iscariot, which told the story of the discovery and translation of a manuscript that was purported to be written by, who else? Judas. You know that your dad always reads interesting stuff and, like I said, we had many fascinating discussions. We visited two little coffee shops that Allison recommended and enjoyed the atmosphere as well as the coffee. Wes also slept a lot. Every day, he took naps in the late morning and the late afternoon, and then went to bed early.

Meanwhile, Wesley and Elisabeth were busy getting things ready for the wedding and the reception. On the morning of the wedding, they came to the apartment and told us that everyone would be wearing “Extra Tuffs” for the wedding ceremony. From what I know, “Extra Tuffs” are like short fishing boots. Wesley said he knew that he had been totally accepted on the island when he was given a pair of “Extra Tuffs.” Wes and I walked to the nearest carrier of the boots, intending to buy some for the ceremony, but found to our dismay that each pair would cost $80.00. We had to plead poverty. But yes, even though the picture on Wesley’s blog doesn’t show them, both the bride and the groom, as well as almost everyone else on the boat, are wearing these boots during the wedding! It was another one of those memorable details that made this a unique wedding (or if you are Allison, a very unique wedding).

Seriously, however, this wedding was beautiful. There were only about sixteen of us on the chartered yacht, which was named the Sea Breeze. We had the bride and groom, the parents, the bridesmaids, the groomsmen, the videographer, the captain, who performed the marriage ceremony and his lovely wife, who later provided the delicious wedding dinner. The weather had been temperamental during the week, but was fairly mild, with even a little sunshine, on this day. It was cloudy and cool by the time we got underway, but the rain held off. Elisabeth had decorated the bow and the cabin of the boat with touelle (white, chiffon-like fabric), ribbons, flowers and balloons and it really looked pretty. She had been careful to never let Wesley see her dress or her veil. Just before the boat got to the place where we had the wedding, Elisabeth and her mother disappeared to get Elisabeth dressed and ready. We stopped in a place that was surrounded by smaller islands that were a brilliant green and, even though the sky was grey, it was breathtakingly beautiful. When Elisabeth was ready, one of her bridesmaids started the music.

TO BE CONTINUED