Joel+Alex

Yesterday was the wedding of my brother Joel, and Alex French. My brothers and I were all groomsmen, and Alex's sisters and friend Rachel were bridesmaids. I don't have any pictures of the wedding itself, as I was in it, but I have plenty of the events surrounding the wedding.

The night before, we had the rehearsal. I didn't get any pictures while we rehearsed, but I got a bunch of the reception hall as the finishing touches were being put up.

Before the lights were lit.

After.

The centerpieces would be lit the next day.

The guestbook station.

They had set up a photobooth with props for the guests to use.

The fake trees were made out of carpet tubes.

After the rehearsal Rachel wanted me to take some pictures of her, Alayna, Amanda, and April.

Then I was playing some music and April began to perform an interpretive dance.

She really got into it. :)

It was beautiful. :p

Then she realized Alayna was filming her and stopped. :p

Jenny was so excited that everything turned out so well, (and to be done) that she also did a dance. :p

And this time I was filming. :p

The Next Day:

I normally don't take selfies, but for today, I figured it was okay.

Plus bowties are cool. :p

My grandma, meeting Alex's grandma for the first time since they were school age! Apparently they went to the same school many, many years ago, and now their grandchildren are getting married. I'm sure that's something that never even crossed their minds back then.

We took wedding pictures all morning.

The French Family

The grandmothers

Joel with both our grandmothers.

The cake

Sarah helped out in the kitchen all day.

Sasha had a secret mission. :)

Shaina did the hair for some of the bridesmaids.

Rachel's kids, Ariana and Judah, were the flower girl and ring bearer.

Alex wanted some pictures with them, so Jared stepped in.

Waiting to begin.

It's almost time!

We decided to take more selfies while we waited. :p

They're almost married!

It's almost time to walk!

30 - 45 minutes later:

Mrs. Alex North signs the marriage certificate!

Followed by Mr. Joel North.

Also Jacob and Amanda, but I got distracted and missed Amanda's signing.

Waiting to go out to the reception.

Another selfie with my now-sister! Just like the other one, but totally different!

Sasha's secret mission!

She told me she was up almost all night blowing up these balloons.

It took her 5 hours!

Joel had a great time popping them all with his knife.

I was taking a picture of Joel but it turned out I was taking a selfie.

I don't think he got them all.

They're off to California!

Shaina, Sasha, Brittany, and I got in the photo booth together.

Cousins!

Rachel and my entrance to the reception was a lightsaber duel. We didn't get any pictures, so we recreated it before the day was over. :)

And that's the end! I have a new sister!

I can't believe I finished a post in a timely manner! I haven't done that in ages! Years? I still have a lot to catch up on though, so after this it'll be back to older photos. :)

TIIA 14 (The Internet is Awesome)

Let's open this post with a flashback to childhood. If your childhood was spent watching PBS in the 90's.



And speaking of childhood in the 90's... Stuart Edge and Peter Hollens recently came together and created something AMAZING. AMAZING!



There is also a second version, which is even better than the first.



VoicePlay doesn't release as many videos as other big name accapella YouTubers do, but when they do, they're alway's worth watching.



Steam Powered Giraffe is literally the best giraffe-themed steam-punk robot band that has ever existed.



I don't understand anything about this song, but the video is one of my favorite Mika videos ever.



When Star Wars came out at the end of December, it seemed like everyone and their grandmother was making a video for the occasion. But as is to be expected, Peter Hollens' video was the best of the best. :p



We'll end this with a video that has literally been YEARS in the making. Back in the day, Devin Graham and Lindsey Stirling used to make just about every music video together. They pretty much completed this tribute video for the game Final Fantasy, when they found out that the video game's publishing company was going to be a huge butt and block the video if they put it up. Devin tried for years to get them to change their minds, before he finally won them over. He finished the video last year, and released it at the end of the year. It's amazing!

I'm Married!

Well, the deed is done. No longer will I be plagued with people demanding that I conform to society and get married, simply because everyone else is. Sweet freedom.

I found out that my bride's name is actually Olga Yana. It turns out that Olga is not a town in Kyrgyzstan, she's from Bishkek, and Ludmila is actually her middle name. Like I said, the website was written in very poor English.

We were married in a private ceremony outside the Kum & Go next to the airport. We wanted to get married in the airport by the baggage claim, as that would be far more romantic, but the TSA kicked us out. They said we looked suspicious. I think they were just Russist.

Since we needed some witnesses, we used the only people we could find nearby, a teenage girl with a mohawk, a clown who had stopped at the Kum & Go for a rainbow slushie, and a guy who might have been homeless. He didn't smell very good. But then again, the clown smelled funny too.

As promised, I got some pictures of us after the ceremony. Enjoy. :)

APRIL FOOLS!

Ha! I'm not getting married! Since when am I the type to submit to peer pressure? Or societal norms? I have no plans to get married until something happens that's beyond my control!

This is my fifth year of writing an April Fools post. I look forward to April 1st like Christmas! If you'd like to see my past years' pranks, you can find them below.

Becoming a homeless street mime: Click HERE & HERE.

Becoming an interpretative dancer: Click HERE & HERE.

Auditioning for DWTS: Click HERE & HERE.

Joining a cult: Click HERE & HERE.

And if you want to re-read this year's, click HERE.

I'm Engaged!

Well, it's finally happened! Though, admittedly, not in the way that most, including myself, would have ever thought. I'm engaged!

It's been almost seven years since my brother Jared got married, and this year, all of the rest of my brothers are getting married. Every single one. You can't imagine how many times I've been asked, "When are you going to get married?" Or the sheer number of times I've been told, "You'd better find someone quick, you're going to be the last one!" I don't even want to think about the many, many times I've been told, "You're going to die, miserable, useless, and alone, unless you get married right away!"

So I'm giving in. There's no use in fighting against the opinions of the masses any more. Everyone else is doing it, so there is literally zero reason for me to not get married as soon as possible. The only problem was finding someone willing to marry me sight unseen, because this needed to happen now. I couldn't wait any longer, I'm almost 30! My life is literally almost over!

To that end, I've ordered a Russian mail-order bride. Her name is Yana Ludmila, though it could be Ludmila Yana, I'm not quite sure, the website I used had very poor English, and I'm not sure which one is her first name. Anyway, she looks very nice, she's from Olga, Kyrgyzstan, and her profile says she speaks some English, so we'll be able to communicate, a little. Which is all a good marriage really needs, right? I don't know much more about her, aside from the fact that she is a translator, whatever that means. She must not be very good at it.

Anyway, Ludmila's, or Yana's flight gets in tonight, and we're get married right away. I have a friend at school who became an ordained minister online, so he'll marry us, right at the airport when I pick her up. I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures, and I'll post them on my blog tomorrow, so stay tuned! Wish me luck!