My friends Calli and TJ finally tied the knot! It was kind of the event that our group of friend’s entire summer had been leading up to. Calli and TJ are that one couple that you just knew from the beginning completed each other, and to see them seal that deal forever was one of the greatest joys I’ve ever had of being a friend.

But there was another reason for excitement: I had a wedding date.

Now no one get all excited, we all paired up as dates for the wedding so we could all go on a group date together after the reception. But hey, after my string of bad choices a friendly group date was just what I needed, and I think my date needed it too lol

My date was a new friend named Trevor. Trevor is actually a very close friend to my best friend Garrett, so upon his return from serving a mission in the Dominican Republic we became friends quickly. He’s been trying to get back into the whole dating scene (after spending two years in a foreign country American women tend to be really confusing once you get back, and I mean even more confusing than we naturally are).

By 7 the reception was going underway and we were all heavily invested in what random food we could use in the chocolate fountains. Sadly, I lost my fountain privileges when I accidentally got my whole plate stuck in the chocolate and made a bit of a mess. Can they really expect any different from me?

We had planned for the group date to really start when we could leave the reception and go to a fancy outdoor shopping mall called village point. This proved to be difficult because 1) When your date has just gotten back from being out of the country for 2 years everyone and their dog wants to talk to him 2) As a single woman I can’t leave a reception until the bouquet is tossed…

Luckily Calli again proved to be the most awesome woman on Earth and did the toss early so we could get going. And there may have been some conspiracy for me to catch it, but if you happen to be the chick I almost elbowed in the face for the flowers then no, it was not premeditated for me to catch it at all….

After the toss THAT I WON (sorry, my ego makes me put things like that in caps) we headed out for the rest of the night. We started out at this sports store called Scheels that has a ferris wheel that every Omaha resident has to ride at some point in their life. When we went to the cashier to buy tokens we just started chatting about where I got my dress and she ended giving us a free ride. When we walked away Trevor asked how I knew the cashier, and I told him I’d never met her before. He was a little shocked (and possibly unnerved) at how well I got along with a complete stranger, but this is nothing new for me (I am the one in our group that used to enjoy picking up hitchhikers, until my friends made me promise to stop that fun).

Once we got on the ferris wheel the worker asked why we were so dressed up. I answered that we were at a wedding and Trevor jumped in saying it was ours. Suddenly I realized we could maybe get more free rides if we played up the married couple part, so we began our charade. I think we would’ve gotten free rides if our other friends would have just gone along with our story…

After the ferris wheel ended and I chased down a bunch of kids to find out where they got their faces painted. Sadly I was too old to get my face painted (which I’m betting was a lie the parents told me just to get me to stop speaking to their children) so we went to Cold Stone Creamery. Again, I astounded Trevor by how well I got along with strangers. I simply asked the person serving us what her favorite mix was and decided to try it. She was flattered and upgraded my Like It to a Love It. Trevor thought I must’ve known her, but no, I was just blessed for once in my life to run into people that like me for once.

We finished the night going over to a friend’s house to watch a movie. Our friend Michael had us watch a Korean film called Castaway On The Moon. This was not our first choice for a movie, but with how adamant Michael was we reluctantly gave it a chance. It turned out to be one of the best movies we’ve all seen and we even freaked out when a small disk scratch caused a skip in the movie. Sadly Trevor was getting a little uncomfy with all the girl contact so I ended up having to put a pillow between us on the couch to make him feel better (this is actually really typical for guys right after they get off a church mission… I’ll be sure to explain more on that some other post).

Once the movie was over we all realized it was barely midnight but we were all wiped out from the day’s events. Trevor and I ended things with a friendly hug, but that hug actually got me thinking a lot about how my summer has gone. It’s been crazy with the whole starting and quitting the insurance job, becoming an aunt, going on quite a few dates, having things not work with Creighton guy, and having all my friends start to pack up and leave Omaha for good. But you know what? It’s truly been the summer of Lauren Freaking Minor Harrahill! Why? Because I caught the bouquet!