christmas, weddings, and snow.

It is now the new year, and I wish a happy one to all those reading here. My new year was perhaps, no, decidedly the best I have had yet. The fact of which I completely owe to my brother Drew and his new wife (my new sister), Kelsey, and their nuptials on New Year's Eve. So congrats to them again and again. But, I get ahead of myself. There is much to be said, or at least alluded to in this post.
One is that the mountains had one of the biggest snows its seen here in nearly ten years. I almost died in it, and probably would have been sacrificed to the icy snow gods had it not been for my knight in shining armor who came to rescue me in my distress. We made it home safe from the castle to our humble abode, where I prompt let loose all the tears I was holding in as not to distract Jeremy from driving. The next day it was notably happier as I watched Cael frolic and prance in the two feet of snow. Here is a photo of said prancing.
Christmas was a smash, our first real Christmas together, Jeremy and I, or at least the first one where we got a tree and exchanged planned ahead and thought out gifts. It was great, and I made Breakfast Casserole and Strawberry Butter as per the Barker tradition. Oh, and on Christmas Eve I saw Emmanuel Lewis in Biltmore House, you know, Webster, from the 80s TV show? Pretty cool.
Then came New Year's Eve, after a stressful weekend of photographing a wedding without electricity. Jeremy and I arrived in Greensboro on the 30th for the wedding rehearsal and dinner for Drew and Kelsey. I was able to snap a great shot of my big brothers, Stephen and Drew, demonstrating for the bridal party how the bride's maids and groomsmen should walk down the stairs to the stage.
The wedding the next day went swimmingly, Kelsey looked absolutely radiant, and Drew incredibly dapper. Apart from a minor lack of oxygen and water causing a slight blackout on my part onstage--I was able to save it and stay standing--nothing went awry during the ceremony. The reception was wonderful, plenty of drink, dancing, and fun was had by all, and it was so terribly good to have my family all around me again. I don't realize how much I miss Drew, Stephen, Megh, and Jake until I'm around them a remember how much I truly enjoy their company. And of course, it is always ever so good to see my parents--they're wonderful to say the least.
Needless to say, after a full night of partying until close to 4 o'clock in the morning, the next morning we were a little rough for the wear. But, a stop to the local Irish pub for a full breakfast and some hot black tea did the trick to cure us enough to make it home. The Irish know how to do it. And now I'm back still trying to recover from a full holiday season, and looking back with fond memories. I love my family, both new and old, and am so thankful to have one such as them.