An Unconditional Love! Derrick and Jesus are Married!
Our close friends Derrick and Jesus were married a couple weekends ago! Paul met Derrick in college and they have been best of friends ever since. And when we met Jesus several years ago we knew our good friend Derrick had found his soul mate!
I love their love as it's so clearly meant to be. I recall years before Derrick ever met Jesus, he told me he could never imagine meeting someone he could spend the rest of his life with. At the time and even now, I couldn't comprehend his way of thinking! I honestly feel like there is someone out there for all of us and we are bound to unite with someone in our lifetime and hopefully that love would continue for a lifetime!
Well Derrick and Jesus definitely found that lifetime love in one another and the ceremony was one of the most emotional I have had the experience of being a part of! Paul was the photographer of course and there are so many wonderful pictures it was so hard to narrow down!
Derrick rented out a beautiful house on Lake Norman (part of our long weekend), and it was a great place for such a fun and loving occasion!
Derrick and Jesus' closest family and friends gathered for the occasion and it was definitely a memorable day and evening! We couldn't have asked for better weather either.
I can't say enough about how sweet and thoughtful the vows were. It was absolutely impossible to hold back the tears! But even through all the emotion they are all smiles. Following the ceremony we jumped right into the party. It was more like a family gathering where everyone could mix, mingle and just have a good time.
Congratulation Derrick and Jesus! Here's to a lifetime of laughter, love and snuggles! We love you guys!
Our Trip to Waltrip Racing
A family friend, Janet, that works with my parents at their UPS Store is into racing hardcore! And when I say hardcore, her husband works for Napa Auto Parts, and her son used to race and now actually works at the Waltrip Racing facility (where they build their cars).
Because we were so close by (in Lake Norman), Janet got us some VIP passes to tour the facility and I have to say it was definitely an interesting trip! None of us are into racing at all... Paul loves cars but even he hadn't ever gotten into Nascar.
But seeing this facility was actually really cool! The spaces inside were divided up by specific vehicle functions like suspension, transmission, body work, etc.
We started by walking through the suspension area to get to the body and frame section. It was actually really amazing how sterile and white everything was! Not like what you see when you got the a normal mechanic's shop!
From the main floor we headed outside where we got to see where they clean and load up the cars. These trailers can hold anywhere from 2 to 4 cars at a time, and I think hold all the tires for the race too. It's insane! And on any given race they have a couple million $$$, between the cars and tires, traveling with them. This is no joke! We also got to check out where the pit crew practices and unfortunately came on a day they were not practicing. But it was cool to see where it all happens.
From here we went into the actual shop (no pictures allowed there). This is where they are building the frames, piecing the mechanics of the cars together and I believe actually building engines (although I didn't see any engines)!
After all that we headed back inside for the "museum-like" self-tour around the upper level where you can look down over everything. It was pretty cool. Of course I think the highlight for me was sitting in the adult carseat-like structure that the drivers actually sit in. It was a bit uncomfortable, but I could see why it is necessary to keep the drivers protected!
Overall it was a very cool experience! Thanks to Janet and her husband for getting us this VIP pass! Super cool!!!
Lake Norman Lake House - What a Sight!
The following weekend after my cousin's wedding we were to be back in NC for another wedding. My parents were attending this wedding as well so they decided instead of heading back to GA, and then back up to NC again they would rent a lake house on Lake Norman for the week. Unfortunately Paul and I weren't able to spend the entire week there with them, but we were able to make a long weekend of it heading back up to Charlotte Wednesday evening.
It was a beautiful cabin style lake house with an awesome view of the lake with absolutely amazing sunsets. The cabin sleeps 12 people comfortably, and would be a great house for a couple's retreat or family gathering! The driveway wrapped all the way around the house, so there is plenty of room for cars and whatever you need!
They have a bunch of decks and a screened porch. But the highlight was the covered dock and the awesome view! Check out these cool HDR photos Paul got while we were there!
We also caught an amazing sunset this evening! It was an amazing array of pink and blue colors. We couldn't have asked for a better evening setting!
The photography didn't end with this amazing sunset. Paul couldn't resist the clear evening sky and went out again to catch some more night photos. All of these are pretty amazing! You can see the stars, a shooting star in the second picture and in the third, what Paul says was planes taking off out of Charlotte. So cool!
It was definitely a very relaxing couple of days leading up to the beautiful wedding to come!
