Two of my very favourite people married one another this weekend! 'Tis the season for weddings, I know, and one can get jaded easily, but this one was special. David and Stephanie were both with me in Oxford in '04, though they were not dating at the time - Stephanie was actually dating one of our other guys then. David later dated one of my roommates, but once he realized he was in love with Stephanie (she'd known she loved him for a while), it didn't take long for them to start dating and then to get engaged. My friend Seth, who performed the wedding, calls this "an epic story of belonging to one another." It truly is.

Here they are holding hands during the ceremony:


And being introduced afterward:

And cutting the cake (concentrating intently) at the reception:

And posing with the Oxford crew, 12 of whom were present for the big day (including Seth, the minister, and his wife Charity, the wedding coordinator):
Those of us who weren't involved in the wedding party had a hilarious Oxford weekend, including protracted games of What If, Trouble, and Apples to Apples at Julianne's parents' house (they graciously offered us their living room). Three of the girls crashed at my flat, and the whole crowd of us scarfed down four dozen of the five dozen cookies I made on Friday. We had coffee and then lunch with David on Saturday and then peeked into the bride's room to see Steph a few hours before the ceremony. And Jeremiah made it to the wedding at 6:32, having left Cracker Barrel at 6:20 and then dashed home to change! He slipped in JUST before the bridal party made their entrances, but he made it - and looked snazzy, too.

Here are the girlies (Dani, Val, Julie, Julianne and Kara) at the chapel, waiting for the sweetness to start:


The Band of Brothers (well, several of them - Brett, Seth, David and Joey) at the reception:

And the House 9 girls (3/4 of them - Val, Julie and Dani) ready to throw...sprinkles? (Not rice or birdseed...we weren't exactly sure what they were...)

Oxford folk nourish my soul like nothing else in the world. I love these people and their stories, bear hugs, thoughtful conversations, penchant for picture-taking and hilarious senses of humor. I love game nights until two in the morning and "Remember that time...?" tangents every five minutes and the long, strong, deep, rich story that ties us all together. I love serious talk and funny talk and quoting random movies we all love and reminiscing about good times in Oxfordtown and in Abilene. I love the way they drove and flew in from four different states for this wedding, and how some of them will come back yet again for mine. I love that we're bound closer than even we know, and will be for our whole lives. I love that we can always find ourselves again when we're with each other. I love that we're family.