Southern Wedding

Sometime during the winter (yes, winter is over here) Daniel and I were doing some exploring and found this ranch type place on a small lake. It's a great place to go for beautiful sunset pictures and photos of birds and such. There's a pavilion with a grill and some picnic tables, a small boathouse with some fishing boats and a lodge with a big porch overlooking the lake.

On Friday, Daniel and I decided to go there because Daniel was home early, the sun was getting low and a particularly beautiful sunset looked promising. When we pulled up to a good spot about 100 yards from the lodge, there was indeed a beautiful sunset. We got out and started taking some pictures. Then we noticed a man on the porch of the lodge. When we were done photographing we decided to go talk to the guy so he wouldn't think we were crazies or something. We also wondered if he might be the owner and could tell us a little more about the place. I stayed in the car while Daniel went and made a new friend. After talking for a while, the guy, who turned out not to be the property owner, invited us to his daughter's wedding reception the next day at the lodge! How nice was that?!

So we went! We were just in jeans and t-shirts when we arrived. Well, our new friend John was thrilled to see us! He introduced us to all his friends and his family and everyone there! Even the bride and groom were in jeans and t-shirts. We felt so welcome and glad we went. There was music, karaoke and occasional dancing. Well, if you know me at all, you know I just CANNOT help dancing to any dancable song. As it turns out, we weren't there 10 minutes before I was out on the dance floor getting my groove on with all the other ladies to a pop line-dancing song. It was SO fun and everyone seemed impressed that I just jumped right on in! Then I went up and talked to the DJ to arrange my karaoke-singing debut. I sang Material Girl by Madonna. I even danced and stuff. I think I felt less reserved than I typically would because a) All the people were so nice, b) I was wearing a new shirt, c) I had cute hair. :-) Daniel enjoyed visiting with John's buddies and talking about hunting, military stuff, and southern life. Oh, we also met a guy who is STRAIGHT out of Where the Red Fern Grows! Dog calls and all! John called him, "100% country" he doesn't even know the guy's real name! 100% Country even demonstrated how his huntin' dogs bawl when they have a coon treed. Seriously, it was a real, cultural experience! John invited us to his house sometime and he and Daniel exchanged phone numbers. Southern hospitality is not a myth. I have first-hand experience with it, and I really hope we can get ourselves invited to another wedding reception like that. :-)