You Can Find Me In St. Lou-ie

I am not a fan of rap music.  Yet, it's amazing how many rap songs I know word for word.  This would be the only line I know of that song by whomever sings it.  Thanks to him/her, it came in handy for naming this post.

It seems as if each time that Justin and I have gone on vacation this year our return is always threatened by a impending storm.  Back in February, we survived our first stressful return from a weekend trip to Niagara Falls.  What would've been a 2 1/2 hour road trip turned into a 10 hour nightmare due to a horrible snow & ice storm and an extra night in London, CA to allow some ice to melt.  When returning from Baltimore in August we were delayed in the airport for 7 hours due to stormy weather in Baltimore and Chicago.  We have also been to Pennsylvania in April and last weekend and have experienced non-stop construction or torrential downpours each time we travel - making the 7+ hour drive at least an hour or two longer.  We can't complain though because we always experience beautiful weather during our time away.  Maybe the stormy weather just suggests we shouldn't leave so soon...

Yesterday, we were closely watching the threat of Frankenstorm as we returned from a weekend in St. Louis. Thankfully, there were no delays this time around.  Maybe our year-long vacation return curse is gone??

Why were we travelling to St. Louis?  Well, because one of Justin's best friend's, Amanda, was having her first wedding - and we were so excited to share that with her!  Don't worry, she will be getting married to the same man at her second wedding which is planned for December.  I'll explain more later.

We hopped on the first flight out Saturday morning to head to St. Louis and landed at 9:30am, leaving us the entire day to explore since the wedding is on Sunday.  We spent a few hours visiting St. Louis, starting with the famous arch.  I've passed this plenty of times on the highway, but have never (that I remember) been this close.  No, we didn't go up to the top.  I honestly didn't want to waste the time; I've been to the top of tall buildings plenty of times.  I want to eat some good food.  And maybe find some cute boutiques with unique items.  So we only spent an hour or less seeing this...

I think my favorite part was that it is right on the water, the weather was perfect and the park was full of beautiful trees that were full of color.  After talking to some locals, we were guided towards what they considered to be the best little part of good 'ole St. Lou-ie; the Central West End.  Although St. Louis is really historic and very well maintained, they do find themselves just below Detroit as one of the most dangerous cities.  So I sought out the well-dressed wedding party to point us in the right direction.  And they did!   

If I had to live in St. Louis, I would chose that humble little gem on the far right.  Not only did we find some yummy grub, we also came across (only) one cute boutique full of interesting items that gave me a ton of good ideas for future DIY projects.  And later we would stumble into this restaurant with a barn wood paneled ceiling (at Firefly Grill in Effingham, IL) - this is what love at first sight looks like folks.  

We left St. Louis and headed about 2 hours east to Effingham, IL (Justin's childhood home).  Did you know that Effingham is the home of the tallest cross (which stands 208 feet high)?  Justin is a history buff and loves to share interesting facts.  And when he does, he raises his hand near his head and shakes his "index finger" as if he just came up with the greatest idea.  So, let's try this again, raise that hand and shake your finger while repeating (and memorizing - you'll thank me one day when you are asked this trivia question during Quizzo)...

 

Did you know (pause for effect) that Effingham is the home of the tallest cross - which stands 208 feet high?

 

I tried to take of picture of Justin shaking his finger and telling the world's most interesting fact...but I was threatened to a death-by-sports if I posted it in the blog.  I relented. Here's the cross from the highway, which I snapped quickly while we drove by it:

This was my first time visiting Justin's hometown, and Justin's first time back in over 8 years!  He was very excited to show me his high school, the football field (where I heard that he may have dropped a pass a time or two...hehe), Niemberg's (a favorite local restaurant), and his Dad's first business which he sold a few years back.  We also drove through his old neighborhood and passed the house he grew up in. 

Interesting Fact: Justin's Dad went to University of Tennessee and had a pool dug to look like the Volunteer "T" in honor of his Alma mater.  It's tough to see in the picture, however, there is a beautiful Magnolia tree in the side yard.  Loved this house and the neighborhood, and I'm wishing I could've brought that Magnolia home!  

Sunday = Wedding Day! Amanda and Justin grew up together and have always remained good friends, even after she moved to Cambodia for her job.  I met Amanda last year when she visited Justin in Detroit.  Shortly after her visit to Detroit, Anan (Amanda's boyfriend), proposed to her - and she said yes!  Anan is a citizen of Cambodia so they decided to plan two weddings; one in Amanda's hometown, Effingham, IL (as long as his travel visa was approved), and one in Anan's hometown (Prey Veng, Cambodia). 

 The ceremony was held at Amanda's church in Effingham, IL.  The best part is that Amanda and Anan had chosen to incorporate both traditional Cambodian wedding traditions and modern Western wedding traditions in the ceremony and reception.  I'll skip the description of the modern Western wedding traditions since we are most familiar with these.  However, here are a few of the Cambodian Wedding traditions that they incorporated.  I used the information provided at the wedding for the descriptions below, I'm sure you could google search the keywords should you would like to learn more:

 

Fruit Procession: The fruit procession represents the groom's delivery of the bride price to the family of the bride.  Today, the bride price is normally paid in cash (from $100 to $50,000...), but the fruit procession remains a fixture of traditional Cambodian weddings...Though Amanda's family did not ask a bride price from Anan, the groom <led> a small fruit procession at the beginning of the wedding ceremony to show his gratitude to the family of the bride.

Foot Washing Ceremony:  Cambodian Christians have...included a reciprocal washing of the bride's feet by the groom (and the groom's feet by the bride) to represent the couple's mutual commitment to serve each other.

Thread Tying:  In Cambodia, where wedding rings are still not commonplace, wedding guests tie strands of red thread around the (left) wrist of the bride and groom to serve as a visual representation of their marriage.  Traditionally, the new couple would wear the threads until they naturally fall off...

Flower Throwing:  The end of the Cambodian wedding is marked when the guests bestow their blessings on the newly married couple by showering them with palm flowers.

 

I caught Justin tying a thread around Amanda's wrist (and attempting to strangle her wrist by tying it so tight)... Please excuse the blurriness caused by Justin's quick ninja-like actions.

And a few more:

 

They rode away from the ceremony on a motorcycle...I'm assuming is symbolic for how they met.  Anan, while attending college, was working as a motodop (motorcycle tour guide) and was hired by Amanda to be her guide through Phnom Pen.  Very romantic, movie-esque story if you ask me... Justin and I met in a bar - I think anything is more romantic than that!

Our weekend flew by with our quick jaunt to St. Louis.  And Joe and I survived our first two nights apart from each other.  Joe Louis and Lucy stayed with my parents and wreaked havoc at their place (and apparently became quite fond of cat food).  I was a little sad that he didn't seem to miss me as much as I missed him!
  

Back home, our friend's were having their annual Halloween Bash.  I had our corny costumes all planned out, they'll be equally appropriate next year...thankfully my good friends sent me pictures to show what we were missing out on.  From what I can see, we missed Dan holding up his wife, Dana.  Hm...is this what happens after marriage?!?

 

How was your weekend? Have you ever experienced other wedding traditions? Did you cross off any projects on your to-do list? Do your dogs seek out the cat food? (Maybe I should be thankful it wasn't the litter boxes)

Mary

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