Big post, for reals. I took lots-o-pics this time.
Dan and I have been on 10 plane rides in the past year. I cannot wait until they invent teleporting or the Harry Potter Floo Network or Portkey. Each flight has brought us to family, well... not the honeymoon one but they have all been completely worth it. This time we headed north to Lansing, Michigan for Anna and Ryan's wedding. Delta did right by me when they offered me multiple snacks on the ride. Bischoff is my new favorite cookie. I mean dang. I also got the cutest napkin which looked exactly like my best-friend-in-law's Labrador. Yes, I know that's polar bear but his dog looks AND acts like a polar bear.
Once we landed in Michigan we headed to Dan's Grandparents' (The Bears) place, "The Ranch"...then we headed off to their farm, a real live, working farm!! Brandon Wood was there so we got to catch up with him for a hot minute before us Texas kids started salivating at all the green tractors we wanted to ride around in.
Uncle Brain fired up what looked to me to be the biggest tractor in the new barn. Mike and Kelly took the beast below.
Dan and I went with the Bear in another tractor and we all split off to romp around in these monster-truck-lookin' tractors.
I had to get a "me in the tire" picture!
I made Kelly get in another tire. She literally was frozen in this position until we left. Just Kidding. She moved. But we both were painfully cold.
In another barn we found a ton of old school John Deeres. There were fifteen tractors in this one; a real sea of green.
Dan's younger cousins raised up these chickens and sell the eggs to the neighbors. I cooked scrambled eggs with them and man, it was super yum. Also...I picked one of those girl-chickens up. She was real nice until she wasn't anymore and flipped her wings out and tried to escape. Luckily I did not freak out or one of the other Wamhoffs in the coop with me could have lost an eye or something. Anyways, I want chickens now.
Across the street another barn was there to check out. Uncle Brian said that Grandpa Bear must be the only guy out there that buys up equipment then has to build shelters for them afterwards.
My camera did a very poor job of capturing the sunset in the picture below. It was just beautiful in real life. Sunset, John Deere, Big Rigs, farm land and snow flurries. Can't get much cooler than that.
Dan next to Great Grandpa Brenner's Truck. (Thanks A!)
I sure do love Michigan grass. I think it is the softest, prettiest green. Hopefully we will get back to MI in warmer weather so I can go barefoot in it. Last time I was there in August '06 for Greg and A's wedding the grass was amazing!!! Some of the boys played football barefoot in it.
Part of the fields with snow flurries blurring the picture.
The next day we went around Michigan State's Campus. Everyone in the car pointed out the Beaumont Street sign. Whoop! Go Beaumont. State has a Beaumont Tower on campus. I did not see it. I do not know what it is about. But I like it.
Next we headed to Delta Township to go see the GM Plant Uncle Brian works at. GMC Acadia Denali and Buick Enclaves are built there. I mean I do love looking at brand new cars. Seeing them put together on the assembly lines was the coolest thing ever, and I mean LIKE EVER!!! Shiny, fancy, luxury vehicles being put together was like watching "How it's Made" but of course way better. Dan wants a Buick Enclave now. I have never heard the words "Buick" and "want" in the same sentence from that guy and now that's all I will hear till I die.
Before we went into the plant we put on ring guards and watch covers and belt buckle whatevers so we had no scratchy things that could hit one of the pretty vehicles on our tour.
I even put some on my purse. When Uncle Brain looked at the hardware on the straps of it, he just laughed and kind of "guffawed" at me. Hardware is in right now. My bad for being trendy.
We made our way through what looked to me like George Orwell work turnstiles. Big Brother was allover this.
I did not take anymore pictures past the people-counting-gate because I did not want to mess with their security. These are borrowed pictures I collected from the Google machine. The plant was enormous!!!
Source credit: http://www.informationweek.com/galleries/showImage?galleryID=193&articleID=208700771
Here is an older model but the set up here is what we saw. The moving platform, cool people in normal clothes, tons oh machines and stools and computers and fast hands.
After the coolest tour I have ever been on, we followed uncle Jeff to meet Frank, a Jeep enthusiast. We had to go through Potterville to get there. Potterville is famous for being "The Only Gizzard City in the World". Yep. The sign says so below.
On Saturday, the morning of the wedding, we all went to the new art museum on campus. The art inside was super cool. There were several exhibits I could have stared at all day. BUT the building itself was a slap in the face to the beautiful school's traditional architecture.
I couldn't believe they put it on campus. It looked like a spaceship. Mike suggested that Gillette may have been a sponsor. Maybe the razor company is coming out with a sextuple blade in Sparty green. lol JK. But you just might've severely sliced yourself if you got near the outside walls.
All I could think is that if they put something like this on my beautiful LSU campus I would be super upset.
I'm not saying I am an art person but I really do enjoy viewing art. Museums are great escapes for the public. We didn't even get charged to go inside, they just asked for donations which was really cool and approachable. I like that art can make you uncomfortable. I like that is is a stitch in time. I like meeting artists and hearing about why they did what they did. But honestly, to put this building on State's campus is a huge 50 MILLION DOLLAR waste of money. Moving on.
Here is a shot of all of us at a super cool 3D video piece. The artist somehow pulled movie clips from hundreds of famous movies and pieced them all together in 3D and called it the End of The World. It was amazing!!!
Later we tried to get onto the football field. I really wanted to lay down on it. We failed but it was a fun adrenaline rush getting as close as we did. The next day the crew that didn't fly out (meaning everyone but Dan and I) got a legit tour of everything!! Uncle Jeff got the hookup! Yes, I'm jealous but I'm really glad they got to do it. The alums deserve it!!
Wedding time! The Catholic Chapel backed up to the Red Cedar River that runs through campus. The stained glass windows were super cool. You can see the Sparty "S" in the pic below. Well maybe YOU can't because the picture is so small, but just take my word for it.
Anna's veil was so gorgeous.
Jill looked beautiful. This picture does not do her justice.
Action shot on the way out!
Da Bears
I went all paparazzi on Anna to get all angles of her dress. And what came out here is a funny little flip book of Anna walking around waiting for her jacket, prepping for their receiving line and Ryan being a sweet new husband trying to negotiate her train. Enjoy.
Look at those shoes!! I want!
THEY ARE SO CUTE!!!!!
She got to put on her super cute jacket!
...And the receiving line began.
I think I need to send those pictures to Anna. Talking to her the night before I totally fell in love with her. She is super cool and vivacious and a breath of fresh air. I think she would love the pictures above :) I think they would both find them too cute. Plus the lighting was good with the overcast sky.
The getaway car.
I believe it was Ryan's younger brother Trevor who put these hearts on the headlights. The first heart didn't work out so he made it a kitty. That one is my favorite.
The reception area was so cool to have options for the party like the mood lights. Go GREEN! Go WHITE!
Blurry, my bad. It was yummy. Spice cake and marble were the options. I had the spice. Such a good winter treat!
The menu. The food was sooooooo gooooddddd!!!!
The favor. Chocolate and mallows. Just add warm milk.
The head table
I made Dan channel Grandpa Bear and wear suspenders. He was all about it, thank goodness, because he looked great!
All of the speeches were really, really good. Funny, mature, insightful, and just plain awesome. Below is a picture of the Father of the Bride addressing everyone. He talked about milestones as Anna grew up. Ones that make you happy and ones that make you anxious. This wedding was a milestone that made him happy. When she drove away in a car for the first time, that was anxious. When he dropped her off at her dorm, anxious. But her wedding made him happy because he liked Ryan so much. What a sweet daddy!!
Jill being gorgeous.
Uncle Chuck is fun to sit with. I dared him to heat up his mallows with the table candle so he did. Then he added some of the fudge for a make shift smore.
Then he shared one with his eldest Annabelle. That's a fun family. I'm glad we got to sit with them!
Dan and Momo
The four of us had a fun late night experience. I have learned where the liquor cabinet is at the ranch. We dusted off a bottle and took it down, and I mean we LITERALLY dusted off a bottle lol.
It was a really great wedding. Anna and Ryan have super cool friends that danced the night away. It was a great trip that I'm super glad we got to go!
