Way down yonder on the Chattahoochee....

My annual summer vacation to the Volunteer State was pretty much bursting at the seams with seeing people. I just got back on Monday night and I am pleasantly-exhausted. But because there is so much to talk about, I am going to string along the rehashing of details (and pictures) in a few, and hopefully a week's-worth of blog posts. The first to take stage was the action-packed "got hitched" party my brother, CNIB, and my now sister-in-law (SIL!), Faith, threw for all (and I do mean ALL) of their family and friends in Chattanooga.

To shake things up a little bit, I thought I would put the description of the eventful night to the tune of but what else than Alan Jackson's infamous country song, "Chattahoochee"?

That's right peeps, I went way down yonder on the Chattahoochee,
where it got hotter than a hoochie coochie.
We laid rubber on the Virginia asphalt,
we got a little crazy but we never got caught.

Down by the river on a Friday night,
pyramid of solo cups in the jazz club light.
Talkin' ta family and dancin' 'with friends,
never had a moment, just wishin' it wouldn't end.

Yeah, way down yonder on the Chattahoochee,
never knew how much that party would mean to me.
But I saw an old friend and I saw my old man,
Tried to spend time with everyone I can.

Well...

We made a lot of noise, always had to shout,
and even took pictures with a cardboard cutout.
It's a bad beer when it's hot, a bad beer when it's cold,
but there was no line at its keg, so we drank Fat Tire like it was '49 and gold.

Down by the river on a Saturday night,

Can you even tell that my Princess Nana is standing next to
a cardboard cutout of the bride and groom?

pyramid of solo cups in the jazz club light. 

Talkin' ta family and dancin' 'with friends, 

never had a moment, just wishin' it wouldn't end.

Yeah, way down yonder on the Chattahoochee, 

never knew how much that party would mean to me. 

I swapped shoes with my sister and still got a blister,  

Wore the same dress as another, but it didn't even bother. 

'Cause I learned a lot about lovin' and a little about livin'. 

Blew the couple a kiss, said cheers to Faith and Chris. 

Chanted USA! USA! USA! but then I couldn't stay. 

Phew! That was tougher than I thought it was going to be... wonder if I can at least insert the background music onto this thing so you can at least TRY to sing along. I am pretty sure my syllables aren't matched up correctly and that I added or forgot a whole other verse, but I am very okay with that. 

Well, in case you didn't follow the lowdown I gave you in the beautiful lyrics I wrote above, here it is again for  all of you who aren't exactly the "read-between-the-lines" type of people (men everywhere). I went down to Chattanooga for CNIB and Faith's wedding (you gotta have Faith! - George Michael), where they apparently know every single person in that town. Seriously, I think they have a fully-blown addiction to friends. Sure, you say, a person can never have too many friends. But I beg to differ, one such time a person might have themselves thinking they have too many friends would be at... say... a wedding where they were footin' the bill. 

They had a HUGE crowd at their wedding, and it was so much fun. My aunt looked at me during the party at one time and said, "Where the hell did they get all these people? They can't know all of these people."  It was purely logical though- she was in a sorority, he was in a fraternity, they had the party in their college town- it was only natural... AND FUN!

Holritz Photography captured the feel perfectly. I was just looking at all the
 professional pictures of the party and they are spectacular. 

I hardly sat down the whole night. I got to dance for the first time in a long time thanks to my little sister J who doesn't mind doing the goofy kind of dancing I like to do (once you roll out the shopping cart, it is only a matter of time before the sprinkler is in full-force and roger rabbit makes an appearance). 

It was awesome getting to see all my family (even though I would be seeing them shortly at the 2010 Riverunion! *future post*), and I even got to see some of Chris' old high school friends. Speaking of old friends, I ran into Krystyn Cochran! I feel like the last time I saw her we were moon-bathing, emptying one of those Sam's Club-size Cheetoball Tubs onto her trampoline, and sticking people's underwear in the freezer while they slept. Oh, the good ole days. 

My dad, who lives in Costa Rica, even made an appearance (which I learned about the day before I went). PHOTO OPT! (I am hoping to eventually have some better pictures for this post, but I didn't take but one while I was there and now I am at the mercy of others for pictures.)

Hmmm... I believe that is all I can say on the matter. I mentioned the cardboard cutout, right? Awesome. 

I mentioned that the bartenders couldn't keep up with the amount of people at the party, right? Hilarious. 

I told you about the pool party before the actual party, right? I didn't?! Well, the wedding party was actually on my brother's birthday, so we all went to his house for a pre-party party, where he received a gift that lit up his entire face... a truly CNIBerish gift... I will also leave you with this gift...