Well, will hopefully stay in Texas haha. This past weekend I went to go watch Tri buddy Jacob get married to Courtney. I had met Courtney before and I must say Jacob is a lucky man and bravo to him for putting a ring on it. The wedding itself was a short one, 30mins long or so, but the events surrounding it is what made it a great experience for me. I'll save a lot of the details for conversations over beers but here's some info!
I met a lot of quality people in TX. I mostly hung out with people from the wedding party I met at the rehearsal dinner on Friday, except late Sat... but that's a different story. The individuals I met were (mostly) of a good nature and willing to set up to the game when it came time to party. Which in most occurrences is when you see how a person really is and how they behave and react to certain situations. I met some big ol' Texas born and raised folks, cheerleader mothers, twins (or so they claim), and lots of peoples with accents. Overall I was happy my liver raised to the occasion and made a lot of the occurrences possible.
However the biggest thing I got from this wedding and the feeling I got was that True Love does exist. The examples of love I saw this weekend was eye opening. The vows at the wedding, the overall ceremony itself, the reception speeches... all were beautiful and put a smile to my face. But it wasn't only love, it was love through Christ. Which is something I haven't seen so prevalent in previous weddings. It was a different view about the whole Marriage thing, rather than just pledging your love to each other it was pledging your love together through the love of Christ and being appreciative of what he's giving and will continue to give you. Like I said it was a very different view than I've gotten from most weddings and I don't know if it's just a TX thing... but it was refreshing and I was a fan.
It helps to reassure me that current steps I am taking in my life are the right ones. I'm allowing myself to make time for other activities outside of Triathlon. It is either time for school, allowing myself to start going to church again, and getting rid of the "I'm training" excuse to hanging out with others and having a life outside of Triathlon. It's preparing me to get back out there, It's been a weird month for me as I had just gotten out of a 6 month relationship so I've taken some time to get back on my feet and find what I WANT in life and what I NEED to make myself happy. It's an ever evolving state of mind and there is no quick fix but I am confident in what I am doing now and I have the belief that it will lead to good things. And through my friends and family I have stayed strong and will always hold my chin up high. So thank you to everyone in my life... I will continue to learn from you daily.
LTD
Shanks
