boss got hitched!

this is "boss" a.k.a. brant thomas doyle. the one, the only. he's jesse's boss, best friend, the best man at our wedding, and bethany's new husband. below is "buffy" a.k.a. bethany... she's so cute and so perfect for brant. we are so happy for them and glad to have them as neighbors!
my presentation begins with some shots from the rehearsal dinner located at a family's home in newport, california. this is their backyard. looks a lot like kitty hawk, sike. the fire pit was awesome.

here are some of the ladies of the outer banks. at least 20 people made the trek from north carolina to california. now that's love. i feel like the girls managed to look classy for being from the obx, however, we had some guys show up in plaid flannel shirts, tennis shoes, and beards... then it was obvious we weren't from around there.
here is brant's sweet mom, julia, and his adorable little sister, laura. they love their brant.
dennis, andrea, and lil' berke received the award of "most patient and easy-going" on the overall journey. with 15 people and 3 rental cars, you can believe there was a lot of chaos and craziness. these guys didn't complain once. they are my heroes.
berke is awesome. he's only five months old and so chill, so quiet, and so cute. he and his mom, andrea, went with me to san diego at the beginning of the trip to visit the smiths. they were champs. we had a great time bonding.
before the rehearsal dinner comes the actual wedding rehearsal. the mariner's church is huge, and i mean HUGE. brant and bethany got married in the foyer if that says anything. the actual sanctuary holds 3,000 people. here they are after practicing their vows.

i must say, the boys of the outer banks are some good-lookin' boys. redneck at times, but handsome. they behaved well throughout the whole process and had fun times together all week surfing up and down the coast.
here's brittany tuning up for her solo... not really, she's not the best singer, but jess is (on the left), and she really did perform beautifully at the wedding.
here we have "the commander" a.k.a. tom doyle. yes, he looks like crocodile dundee and yes, he is as cool as he looks. this was his first time to california and i'd have to say he fit right in... as far as looks go atleast.
next up are some pics of things we did outside of wedding stuff. below is jamie, jesse, and nic chillin' in the hot tub at our host-home. this family's house was so incredible. they had a pool, hot tub, trampoline, rope swing and ping pong table. ken, tara, cohlman, stephanie, and davis were the coolest family. we had a great time staying there. click on the pic to enlarge, it's hilarious. one word for these guys: steaks.

this isn't that unusual. "rueben" a.k.a. jamie smith stayed with jesse and i one night and we shared the giant bed. ken and tara insisted that we stay in their master suite with a jacuzzi, king size bed, and big t.v. we took full advantage of it and had a slumber party. only thing missing was kimber.
jess, britt and i spent a little time at fashion island mall. it was very fancy compared to the tanger outlet mall in nags head, we ain't got no saks fifth avenue or bloomingdales. i realized that all we did while in california was shop and eat. it was fun though.
this is one of my favorite events of the trip (besides the wedding). while the bridesmaids were having a luncheon, i took one of brant's sisters on a little adventure. "doodle" a.k.a. sara joined me on the hunt for an "in-n-out" burger joint, one of my favorite eateries. one thing sara didn't tell me was that she didn't eat burgers. bad news for her, they ONLY serve burgers. by the time she ordered and we sat down, she finally admitted this was her first fast-food burger. she said she liked it; hopefully she wasn't lying. that's just how sweet she is. awwww doodle...

before the actual wedding festivities really began, andrea and berke rode along with me down to san diego to hang out with our best friends, the smiths. we stayed for a few days eating, shopping, chatting, and just really fellowshipping. it was great. the smith residence below; located in the heart of encinitas.

pastor james joseph smith. recent graduate of bethel seminary. wonderful husband, spectacular dad, great friend. we love this guy.
i could just eat this kid. elisa is our goddaughter. she is so stinkin' cute, so tan, so loveable.
the smith family: kimber, elisa, cason, jamie (partly pictured, pookie). oh, and there's another little girl on the way... she's gauranteed to be as amazingly beautiful as the other two, i mean look at their parents.

yes, i know i'm a giant. this is an adult bike. just kidding. we had so much fun playing, drawing, snuggling, and playing some more.
good buds, jamie and hagan. the smiths, along with hagan and erika, lived down the road from us when we were cali-folk. hagan is such a gentle, loving and mellow guy. we keep begging him to come to the outer banks; he'd love it. i haven't seen him in four years. he's rad.
this marks the end of our california journey. my camera died, so currently i don't have any photos from the actual wedding or reception. i'm hoping some friends will e-mail me theirs. when they come, i'll post them. it was a gorgeous event. perfect in every way. totally blessed by God. we all had an incredible time celebrating with brant and bethany!

but before jesse and i could finally make it home to look through our pictoral memories, we had to drive from el paso, texas to norfolk, virginia. that's right, drive. in a white, convertible, hideous mustang. uncomfortable would be a great way to describe the ride. yet, in all the chaos of trying to get home, we had a blast. jesse and i finally got some quality alone-time. sure, we never slept in a bed for two straight days, but we're only young once, right? here's a photo from the start of our 12 hour drive across texas. boring. really really boring.

the one place we stopped and spent a little time eating and looking around was new orleans. jesse was really feeling the vibe of mardi gras.
parts of new orleans were still in shambles from hurricane katrina, other parts were really pretty with the old homes and historic sites.

bourbon street was the most wretched, evil, vile thing i have ever seen. jesse agreed. it was so disgustingly filled with awful posters of girls, and just all over filth. we didn't know what it was like, now that we do, we would never walk down that street again!
here we are with our convertible. aw yuck. this is after at least 20 straight hours of driving. i'm very aware of how rough i look. we didn't have our suitcases, teethbrushes, or combs. the mustang doesn't come with a shower either.

this was definitely the highlight of our tour. cafe du monde is a famous, and very tastey, coffee shop that also makes delicous doughnuts... i can't spell the actual french word... something like beignets: pronounced ben-yays. they were like heavenly elephant ears you eat at fairs.

doesn't that look delicious? the coffee was divine also. we truly enjoyed ourselves during this portion of our unexpected, lengthy, uncomfortable, cross-country road trip!
i know that was one super-duper-long-blog. but every picture was so special and important on our journey to watch brant-boss-chicken-doyle get married. it was so worth it. these are memories we will never forget! there were a lot of folks who i didn't get pics of, so if you have any good ones, send them over. for now, it's good to be home!