my little cootie is all growed up!

My little sister, Cootie, got married Saturday. I still kind of can't believe it. It's one of those things where you wait for it for so long, then suddenly it's over. I was her maid of honor (or matron of honor - however that works), which I loved. It was so much fun.

It was a very beautiful Catholic ceremony. I myself haven't been to a catholic service in a long while (other than weddings). At her wedding both myself and the best man were up on the altar with the bride and groom, while the other 4 bridesmaids and 4 best men were down in the first pews. It was so strange, but very cool. I only cried once - when Cootie left Dad after walking down the aisle and she was crying. After that we were both okay. Thankfully I had a hankie! I was very glad the best man knew what he was doing. I'd look at him every time something new happened to figure out whether to kneel or stand (Cootie wasn't any help - they didn't know what they were doing either).

After the wedding and pictures we all piled into a rented van to go to Forest Park for more pictures. We scarfed McDonald's double cheeseburgers (yes, I ate one - damn thing was delicious, too) and chicken sandwiches and drank plenty of beer. I, however, was miserable - my hair looked gorgeous (a curly up do), but hurt like hell. It was unbearable by that point. I made it though, though.

We got to Schlafly's Tap Room at 5:30 or so, thankfully, so I could undo my hair. Sweet relief. It ended up looking pretty good in a ponytail with all the curls, but I didn't care - having it down was all that mattered. I was a much happier girl. The rest of the reception went off perfectly, just like the wedding. We drank great beer, ate great food, danced, socialized, and had a blast. I even did a good job reading my toast, which was shocking, as I'm not the greatest public speaker. I had multiple people compliment me on it, and tell me their whole table was crying. And laughing. I didn't cry until the very end, when I looked at Cootie (even though I told her not to look at me for fear of this very thing happening), and she was crying. It worked though.


We had so much fun dancing and laughing at her reception. Above is the room where it was held at the Tap Room - it was lovely. Her man's friends are so nice and great, which makes me happy. I think having tons of awesome friends says so much about a person...not that I needed to know more about her man. He's a wonderful guy, and they are so great together. We had cousins in from Wisconsin, and at the rehearsal dinner, one asked me what kind of guy her man is (they'd never met). I was able to tell him how great he is without reservation. That made me so happy.

I swear, I am so very proud of her. She acted like a lady the whole entire day. She didn't freak out, or lose her nerve, or anything else. She was calm, confident, classy, and absolutely gorgeous. She planned quite a bit of this day, and it all went off perfectly. Totally first class. I guess I still have this image of her from when she was in college, and haven't stopped to notice how much she's grown up. She spent the perfect amount of time socializing, making sure to talk to everyone, the perfect amount dancing and having fun, and was very careful to limit her drinking so she wouldn't be wasted (not that she drinks a lot anyway). I was in awe of her the entire evening. I'm not sure I would have been as responsible and courteous as she was.

Anyway, it's still crazy that my little Cootie is married. I'm so glad we're close. And as much as I think about moving away, it's times like this that I'm glad we all live here in St. Louis. I'd hate to miss my nieces and nephew (and my little sis) growing up. They're so darn cute!