whirlwind weekend

i don't even know where to begin. i just had one of the best weekends ever! okay, so really it was a few weekends ago, i have just been real lackadaisical in my blogging efforts. the thing is, i have really wanted to blog, but i just haven't made the time to do it - it's all about priorities, right kids? this blog entry SHOULD have been a top priority, because it was a weekend of fun, fun, fun. let me just get into the meat of this entry. oct. 24th through 25th were the dates of the said events. friday after work, julie mckinnon, enz crane, and i took a little trip up to logan in julie's silver bullet. we were headed to the land of logan to attend a special event - the premier showing of wizardry. wizardry has been a masterpiece in the making for the past year or so. enz's brothers, chad and travis, along with a few other helpers have been working on this movie for awhile now. i have been living vicariously through enz. (she has been on the set, and even helped control the fog machine.) she has been telling me step by step, piece by piece about the making of this movie. i was elated when enz told me the premier was going to be in logan at our alma mater - utah state university. we got there and met our dates. i know, i know - this is a big event, i had a date! even better, my date was taking me to the usu homecoming dance. in the 5-6 years (give or take) i was at utah state for my undergrad, i never once went to the homecoming dance. this was like a dream come true! i felt like cinderella at the ball. the best part about it was that there were no pretenses and it wasn't some big planned out event. our friend, levi wanted to take enz to the dance and i was coming up to logan as well. i think levi twisted our other friend eric gardiner into taking me. i had no shame. when he called me at the last minute and told me to bring a gown for the dance, i was all about it! we all watched the movie - which was AMAZING! chad and travis have talent. the movie was a 18 minute non-fiction film about dungeons and dragons. there were warlocks, gnomes, flying cheetos, and amazing one liners. it was very napolean dynamitesque in the most non-cliche way ever. there were points that i was laughing so hard i was crying. i loved it. as a side note, i ran into an old high school acquaintance. come to find out, he did the whold soundtrack for the film. (this is where, if we had audio, the "it's a small world" theme song would start playing.) julie, enz, and i parted ways. julie....well, i'll let you ask her where she went. the only information i am willing to divulge is that our gal jules had a pretty exciting night. the dance double dates headed back to the boys apartment to get all dressed in our prom date get up. it was so fun to get to wear my dress my "black tie event" dress again. i purchased it for a work event, and don't get that many chances to wear it. eric and i went to my parents house so he could meet them. (in all reality, eric just needed to borrow my dad's staple gun.) he didn't only meet the parents but 3 other couples that they are friends with. talk about baptism by fire...eric was up for it though. did you see that picture of him up above, with a fedora like that wouldn't you be up for it too? after meeting the parents, enz, levi, eric, and i were, in the words of steve miller, off to "dance, dance, dance all night long." what an enchanting evening it was. as cheesy at it may sound, eric really was a prince and he REALLY did make me feel like cinderella at the ball. the night was filled with all sorts of great dancing from big band swing, to waltzing, to some crazy hip hop jazz. in retrospect, i realize how patient eric was being. i don't really dance well, but we were just having fun and laughing every time i fell off my high heels or stepped on his toes. usu homecoming '08 was the BEST dance ever. what a night. the awkwardness of trying to be impressive and cool, like we all dealt with at high school dances wasn't there. you know why, because we didn't have anything to prove - we were confident in our coolness! it was also so pleasant having doubling with my best friend and one of the funniest guys alive. the fact that we didn't have to come up with some sort of creative way that included goldfish and hershey's kisses to say yes to the invite to the date was really refreshing too! not having to spend 12 hours of the day with our dates playing laser tag, having a picnic at willow park with sand volleyball and taking time to look at the peacocks and monkeys, spending 2 hours getting ready for the date putting sequins in my updo, going to dinner at the coppermill where all the old people in town could stare at us, then going back to the boys pad and watching "back to the future" and wondering if my date was going to hold my hand was a very pleasant thing to NOT have to do. it was just the right amount of everything. the next day was jam packed with fun too. stacie and i woke up super early on saturday and went on a little joggy jog. i wanted to do something active and know i wouldn't have a second later on in the day to do it. it was my old roommate, melissa petersen's wedding day. melissa and nolan johnson were finally tying the note. melissa and i lived together the last year i was in logan and we got pretty tight. we had a lot of late night talks about relationships and i think we pretty much had the world figured out by the time i moved out of the ole' blvd. house. melissa and nolan dated for a really long time. off and on for about 5 years. i learned a lot from the two of them and am so thankful for the friendships i have been able to create with the two of them. i recognize that they taught me a lot about two good people working hard to make a relationship work. they taught me about love and the importance of different aspects of it. it was such a sweet thing to sit in the sealing room at the american fork temple and see that love so vividly as they made covenants with God and sealed their love and marriage for time and eternity. recently i have been feeling a lot of turmoil inside because of the state of our nation and the world - so much wickedness is around us. however, as i watched and felt the love in the room as melissa and nolan got married, i was reminded that the world is going to be alright. my heart was at peace. the realization that good people are commiting to each other and to their future families to live good lives, to support and strengthen each other, to have faith in a power greater than themselves, and to bring children into this world in an enviroment where they can be nutured and grow in goodness, is a beautiful thing. after the wedding i headed to the luncheon. meagan wade latimer, who was another roommate of mine and melissa's, and her husband, scott, were there. they are another absolutely admirable couple. to my surprise, my new relief society president in my salt lake ward, andrea dawson was there. apparently she and melissa were roommates in logan before melissa and i were roomates. (it's a small world theme song...) after the luncheon i hurried to thanksgiving point. i met my parents, ryan, rachel, spencer, and jack. we went to cornbelly's. it as a little halloween/autumtime family play place. it was so much fun to just hang with the fam. (although, i was missing lance.) there was a pumpkin princess pageant with all sorts of little girls dressed up in princess dresses. if i'd have know ahead of time, i would have brought my prom dress from the night before to compete. alas, i just had to let the other little princesses enjoy the limelight. spencer raced rubber ducks with a water pump, we watched pigs race, papa and spencer roped fake bulls and we just soaked in the warmth of the sun. i drove to logan again after our little family event at thanksgiving point. i got to melissa and nolan's reception a little later than expected. melissa looked so beautiful. i loved seeing nolan's dad again. he is the coolest, toughest rancher cowboy. that kind of man is far and few between in our world today and i just like being around them. as i was trying to leave i kept running into people i knew. it was super fun. my favorite was when cute, little hannah whiting came up to me and tapped me on the side. when i looked down at her and saw who it was she jumped up into my arms. i sure miss those darling whiting kids. then hannah said, "sam, it's erin. remember, she used to live by us?" her little brother sam, just gave his sweet, little grin that is all too familiar. after the reception i raced to the ellen eccles theater to meet my sweet friend brenda sun. brenda has been trying to get me to go to a play with her since april to thank me for helping her with an art show she did. we were finally able to do it. i was a little late for the play, true to form, and brenda was sweet and gracious about it. we were both so excited to see each other and catch up. the play was wonderful. it was little women - such a sweet story. brenda was even more wonderful. it was so exciting to hear about her life. she recently got engaged to "the love of her life". it is such a sweet thing to see her in love. wow! what a weekend - dancing, weddings, family, friends - the important things in life!