Toward the end of May (yes - month before last - for a blog designer, I am a terrible, terrible blogger), Kevan and I left Merit for the first time and headed to California for the weekend for a wedding. My amazing parents stayed at our house with her. I have seen that baby girl every day of her two years, and leaving was hard, but we all made it. I am positive that it was good for all involved. Nina and PaPa would especially agree, I'm sure.
I have flown many times since Merit came along, each time with her...and her bag..and her stroller...and her sippy cup that just rolled down the aisle. It felt very strange to carry my little purse and - that's all! (besides baby sister, of course)
at the airport Friday morning, approximately 4:45am
We stayed in Venice Beach, which has a very, um, interesting board walk by the beach. People watching at its finest. I felt bad taking pictures of the crazy people, so I just stuck with my favorite subect, Kevan Hayes Albright.
Our fun hotel, the Cadillac Hotel, was right on the beach, and we had a great view of the ocean and Venice Beach from our window.
The wedding was on Sunday, so we had most of Saturday to roam around LA. We had brunch at Kings Road Cafe near Beverly Hills, which was where we saw McSteamy.
We then headed to Santa Monica to see the pier and sit by the ocean for a bit.
Neither of us have spent a ton of time at the beach. We thought we were far enough from the tide (or the shore? See, I don't even know what to call it). Really, we did. We even moved back twice. Then, I decided to video a bit. Kev decided to goof off in said video. And then, when our guards were down...
(If you know either of us at all, you need to watch this.)
Oh, man. I was crying I was laughing so hard. As were many strangers around us as they thought, "Dumb tourists." Notice how much quicker Kev gets up than the pregnant girl he was with. The water came up over my belly! It was a wet and sandy walk back to the car, that's for sure.
We had planned to do some more sightseeing that day, but due to sand-lined jeans, we had to go back to the hotel a bit earlier than planned. We met up with the groom, Brad, that night for dinner.
SIDE NOTE / HISTORY OF MY BLOG ADDRESS, which, really should have been my first blog post like 3 years ago:
Brad and I have known each other since Elementary school. We went to church and school together all the way through college. He and Kevan were also good friends as they grew up. My sophomore year at ACU, I had a formal to go to for my social club, but my boyfriend at the time, none other than Kevan Albright, was still in high school and didn't feel like he needed to go to a college formal. (I know, what was he thinking?) He suggested that I take Brad since he trusted him. :) My friends and I had decided to make posters and go stand outside our dates' windows to ask them to formal. I have no idea why we thought this was so great, but it was fun nonetheless.
This is the poster I made to ask Brad.
I decided that "'Sharon' the fun" made perfect sense....meaning "share in the fun". No one else, including Brad really got it and all thought I was giving myself a nickname - the Fun. So, for the rest of college I was occasionally called Sharon the Fun, or sometimes just the Fun. Which, my friends, is why my blog address is sharonthefun.blogspot.com.
Here is our formal picture from 2002...lovely bead work, Sharon.
SO, my former formal date's wedding was the next day. It was at a beautiful ranch house north of LA, so we took the Pacific Highway to get there. It was so fun driving right by the ocean for miles and miles.
Brad asked Kevan to be a groomsman, as well as sing a song at the wedding, and Kev was so honored to do both. I didn't get any pictures during the wedding, but I did get a few when Kev rehearsed before the wedding. He sang "Love Never Fails" by Brandon Heath and did such an amazing job. Pretty sure I cried every single time I heard Kev sing that song. It was beautiful. And so was he!
Brad and Janelle's wedding was in the backyard of a beautiful house, and the reception was on the front lawn. The reception was wonderful. We had good BBQ, hung out with a high school friend of mine, Clinton Pickens, danced a little, and had tons of fun.
After the wedding, we swung by In-N-Out burger since we hadn't had a chance yet and were leaving the next day. A good burger at 11pm? Sure.
As great as our little getaway was, this was probably the very best part of our trip...
Oh, MerMer, we missed you, girl! We talked about her constantly while we were in California, and I found a way for everything I saw to remind me of her. I think she was glad to see us, too. Especially since our return included a fun souvenir!
Congrats, Brad and Janelle. Thank you so much for including us in your wedding weekend! (And a special thanks for having your wedding in California!)
Neither of us have spent a ton of time at the beach. We thought we were far enough from the tide (or the shore? See, I don't even know what to call it). Really, we did. We even moved back twice. Then, I decided to video a bit. Kev decided to goof off in said video. And then, when our guards were down...
(If you know either of us at all, you need to watch this.)
Oh, man. I was crying I was laughing so hard. As were many strangers around us as they thought, "Dumb tourists." Notice how much quicker Kev gets up than the pregnant girl he was with. The water came up over my belly! It was a wet and sandy walk back to the car, that's for sure.
We had planned to do some more sightseeing that day, but due to sand-lined jeans, we had to go back to the hotel a bit earlier than planned. We met up with the groom, Brad, that night for dinner.
SIDE NOTE / HISTORY OF MY BLOG ADDRESS, which, really should have been my first blog post like 3 years ago:
Brad and I have known each other since Elementary school. We went to church and school together all the way through college. He and Kevan were also good friends as they grew up. My sophomore year at ACU, I had a formal to go to for my social club, but my boyfriend at the time, none other than Kevan Albright, was still in high school and didn't feel like he needed to go to a college formal. (I know, what was he thinking?) He suggested that I take Brad since he trusted him. :) My friends and I had decided to make posters and go stand outside our dates' windows to ask them to formal. I have no idea why we thought this was so great, but it was fun nonetheless.
This is the poster I made to ask Brad.
I decided that "'Sharon' the fun" made perfect sense....meaning "share in the fun". No one else, including Brad really got it and all thought I was giving myself a nickname - the Fun. So, for the rest of college I was occasionally called Sharon the Fun, or sometimes just the Fun. Which, my friends, is why my blog address is sharonthefun.blogspot.com.
Here is our formal picture from 2002...lovely bead work, Sharon.
SO, my former formal date's wedding was the next day. It was at a beautiful ranch house north of LA, so we took the Pacific Highway to get there. It was so fun driving right by the ocean for miles and miles.
Brad asked Kevan to be a groomsman, as well as sing a song at the wedding, and Kev was so honored to do both. I didn't get any pictures during the wedding, but I did get a few when Kev rehearsed before the wedding. He sang "Love Never Fails" by Brandon Heath and did such an amazing job. Pretty sure I cried every single time I heard Kev sing that song. It was beautiful. And so was he!
Brad and Janelle's wedding was in the backyard of a beautiful house, and the reception was on the front lawn. The reception was wonderful. We had good BBQ, hung out with a high school friend of mine, Clinton Pickens, danced a little, and had tons of fun.
After the wedding, we swung by In-N-Out burger since we hadn't had a chance yet and were leaving the next day. A good burger at 11pm? Sure.
As great as our little getaway was, this was probably the very best part of our trip...
Oh, MerMer, we missed you, girl! We talked about her constantly while we were in California, and I found a way for everything I saw to remind me of her. I think she was glad to see us, too. Especially since our return included a fun souvenir!
Congrats, Brad and Janelle. Thank you so much for including us in your wedding weekend! (And a special thanks for having your wedding in California!)
4 comments:
hilarious video and story!
so glad you took advantage of such a special weekend together!
i am proud to say i got what you meant the first time i read your blog title, but we have always seemed to think alike:) and i think you could earn the title of sharon the fun too!
You make such a beautiful pregnant lady! That video is priceless.
Love your blog! It really meant so much to brad and I to have you two out for the wedding (and I agree with you - how could you not cry during Kevan's song?? It was perfect!) Praying for you and the arrival of your little one
love,
Janelle
ps. and btw when brad and I were first dating and I was hearing about all his friends from home... you were identified as "sharon the fun" haha!
Haha! I love the picture from 2002 - wow! And what a messy dorm room we had - but such a fun night and nickname! You really are "the fun" and that video about did me in! Kevan's girlie laugh at the beginning and the fact that he jumped up and was then like "oh yeah, let me help you" - oh so classic!
And I cant believe Brad is married - I love it! Good post, friend!
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