OFT No. 13 - Two Weddings and a Little Waterfall

The first two weekends in August meant two weddings at opposite ends of the country. The first was Scott and Sonya's, in Ithaca, NY. Sonya was my labmate at USC, and we've kind of led parallel lives over the last little while. We defended our dissertations within about a month of each other, got engaged around the same time, and were planning our weddings at the same time too. Neither Brian nor I had ever been to Ithaca, so it was neat to be able to go out there and see Cornell and the area. It was a beautiful wedding, despite the threat of thundershowers all weekend. The rains did come down, but not until we were safely in the tent at the reception (and then they made for some fun moments, like seeing Sonya and Scott running through the grass under a big umbrella). Here are a few pics from the weekend:

The new husband and wife!

Us with Mr. and Dr. Lundy/Negriff at their Sunday picnic.

The suspension bridge connecting the north and south parts
of Cornell campus.

The view from the suspension bridge, one of many gorges around Ithaca
(whence comes the saying, "Ithaca is Gorges" on all those T-shirts).

Congrats Sonya and Scott! Welcome back from Belize!

On the way to the Buffalo airport on Sunday, we stopped at Niagara Falls to check out the natural wonder and gaze longingly at Canada just across the way.

The view looking East (Canada is just across the bridge!)

And now we've moved West. All that white behind Brian is mist

coming up from the falls.

So then we were home for a short 4 days before heading to the airport again, this time on our way to Tucson, where the temperature in August is usually a pretty unforgiving 105 or so. It ended up being a bit cooler than that - but it was really humid as it was 'monsoon season,' apparently. This time, the happy couple was (Brian's cousin) Michelle and Jesse, and it was fun to see some of his (my!) family. Their ceremony was in a new-ageish Catholic church which had a neat set up that had the guests facing toward the center rather than the front. I don't have a really good picture from it because I tend to be too shaky when I'm excited or emotional, but here are a few from that weekend.

The beautiful bride!

The hubs doing the honors of ordering at Sonic between the ceremony
and reception. I love Sonic! Word on the street is that the first Chicagoland
outpost opens next week, near the outlet stores, no less... sweeeeeeeet!

The couple and the bride's parents on the grounds of the Tucson
Country Club, where the reception was held.

The fam! Aunt Wendy, Donald, Peggy, Yeye and us.

A pretty desert sunset.

And after that, we ate cake, lost a jacket, and danced till dawn. Ok, more like midnight or so, but it was a really fun night. Congratulations Michelle and Jesse! Hope you are having a wonderful time on your honeymoon in Italy!

That's it for Wedding Season 2008, the BEST wedding year ever (I say with only the slightest of biases). No more trips planned till October, when we return to old stomping grounds and head to San Francisco. Frankly, all the travel we've been doing lately was getting a little tiring! But one of the things I took away from planning our own wedding was how meaningful it was that people made the effort to come, so it is was definitely our pleasure to be able to attend these two lovely events.