Bridal Party 101: Nolen Deibert, Brides-Man Extrodinaire

Three for Three people...this may just last :-)
So I don't know about you, but whenever I go to a wedding I tend to wonder about the bridal party. Who are they? Where did they come from? Why in the world would they agree to wear matching outfits all day? I intend to shed some light on these important questions by profiling all of our attendants over the coming months.

He's quite excited...about everything!

The inaugural profile is of the most unique member of our bridal party, the Brides-Man. I'm generally not one to buck tradition, but the entire wedding situation didn't feel right without one of my best friends and biggest supporters standing up there with me. While JP is also good friends with Nolen, over the years he has become one of my nearest and dearest, despite the fact that he's been living half a world away in Asia for the past two and a half years. Will some people be like WTH is a dude doing on the brides side...possibly. Do we care...not in the slightest.

A Shot from the Early Years demonstrates we don't care about appearing normal at all

Nolen and I met in the infamous Regan Hall in August of 2004 when we both started college at CUA. We bonded one weekend when we were among the few students who chose not to go on the Freshman Retreat. History was made that weekend and we were pretty much inseparable for the next four years or so (minus summer and when Nolen studied abroad in Belgium). We braved USG, the Honors Environmental Science track, Pryz food, and finally entering the real world together during our time at CUA. Nolen was one of the brave souls that made a go of it in DC for the first year after college, but in order to gain valuable international experience so he can be an important diplomat someday, he moved to Korea and then China in early 2010. LUCKY FOR ME, he's headed back to the good old US of A for a couple of years to go to grad school...and help me pull this wedding off!

All three of us are INAPPROPRIATELY VERY close

So for your enjoyment...here are Nolen's answers to the best probing questions I could muster:

Interests: Filling out surveys about myself, Moving around Asia, Speaking Chinese at inappropriate moments to people who don't understand me

Favorite color: Light Urple (JW: It is very possible he meant purple...I chose to keep it like this for artistic reasons)

Note: This is definitely NOT warm milk with a little honey in Nolen's cup

When did you first know you'd have to show up at our wedding: Wait, I actually have to show up? This is going to be problematic...

Favorite Cocktail to get you in the Party Mood: A nice glass of warm milk with a little honey in it. (JW: This is absolute crap and he will pay for the answer he gave here...)

This sums up JP and Nolen's relationship fairly well

What is your favorite wedding movie/pop culture wedding moment: The marriage of the Sea Captain to his wooden mermaid on The Simpsons. (Or if we're getting sentimental, when gay marriage was legalized in DC)

Is there a song you can't wait to shake your grove thang to at the reception: Well, it's not MY grove thang that will be shaking (JW: doubtful...), but I am SERIOUSLY excited for Baby Got Back. Jill knows why...

This has got to be the only normal, attractive shot of us taken...EVER

If you could skip any normal wedding tradition...what would it be: Ugh the dollar shot dance or whatever. And the chicken dance. Oh and if you write your own vows I WILL LEAVE SO HELP ME

Chicken or Fish: Chicken, but only if it has been killed by being drowned in the ocean. SEA DEATHS FOR ALL THE CHICKEN.

The Dynamic Duo is more awkward awesome than pretty much anyone else

Any last thoughts you'd like the public to know: So since the rest of this has been fairly ridiculous, let's get real for a minute here. Jill and JP have been like mom and dad to me for the last couple of years. I've been traipsing all over the world, but it's been pretty excellent to know that Jill would be there for my 3am/3pm drunk chats, or that JP would be there for my "OH CRAP WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE" crises. So when they asked me to be in their wedding, it was a no-brainer. I'm so happy that they are making this commitment to each other, and so proud to be part of it. Congrats, Jill and JP!

Vacationing with A Boy Day 3: What Happens in Mexico, Stays in Mexico

Greetings internet...yeah I know I haven't been keeping up with my Vacation series. Sue me!!! Its been a crazy kind of week here at the home base, but now I finally have some time (and humor?) to keep this going. So without further BS...let's travel back in time about a month to our day in Mexico!

Today's Towel Animal: A Frog...later known to us as "Wise Frog." We grew quite attached to this one...

Today's Fruity Drink: Giant Mango Margarita from Pancho's Backyard

Today's Bottle of Wine: Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay

Location: Cozumel, Mexico

Huge Mexican Flag!

Highlights: DIAMONDS INTERNATIONAL, the fun xylophone players at the restaurant we had lunch at, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, now being able to say I've been to all three of the major North American countries!

Today's Lesson: FIGHT-CLUB!
So I know that vacationing with one's significant other is supposed to be a dream come true and perfectly romantic all the time; at least, that's how they show it in the movies. You're always smiling, every minute is fun, and your usual personality clashes are left at home with your poor abandoned pet (sorry Dean!). If this describes your typical couple's vacation...GET THE HELL OFF MY BLOG RIGHT NOW!!! You're officially labeled..."that" couple. The truth is, unless you're reading from a script and the Carnival Cruiseline film crew is in front of you, clinging to this vision of the couple's vacation is probably going to end up totally disappointing you. This rosy vision of a vacation for two is pretty naive considering even the BEST plans/planners are often way too ambitious and most vacations involve being outside in places that are hot and humid. EXPECT A LITTLE DYSFUNCTION!!!

As you might have picked up by this point, JP and I decided the best way to spend our first hour in Mexico was arguing. Originally, we were going to take an excursion to see some Mayan Ruins, but we decided a 7 hour trip that consisted of roughly 3-4 hours of sitting on a bus was NOT worth $100 each. Therefore, we decided (read: I half-heartedly researched things to do in Cozumel and JP forgot discuss his personal desires with me) to COMPLETELY AVOID making plans for the day and "wing it". I would NOT recommend this plan to anyone unless you're visiting a place you're intimately familiar with already. Sooooo after wandering around all the tourist trap shops near the pier, having an awkward argument by a taxi stand, saying things we generally didn't mean and angrily getting into a cab... we decided to go shop for jewelry???!!?

TANZANITE!!!!!!!

I know...it makes no sense...TOTAL dysfunction. Are you really surprised? DID YOU READ THE TITLE OF THIS BLOG?? This is what we do...vacation or not vacation. The truth is about 5 minutes into the cab ride neither of us really cared about why the fight started. The water was too blue and the diamonds were too shiny. Could we have communicated better? Of course we could have...but a minor lapse in these skills shouldn't ruin an entire day in paradise! We moved on, did some shopping, bought some AMAZING TANZANITE JEWELRY and totally salvaged the day...TOGETHER. Its nice to have some alone time on any vacation (see Day 2's blog), but don't forget that you're also there to have a good time doing things you BOTH enjoy! The lesson we took away from Cozumel was to take the time to really talk about what BOTH of you want to do BEFOREhand, find a compromise and don't let bickering get in the way of buying shiny things.

See we made up...and not just because of the earrings!! Love you JP!

Maybe I'll publish Day 4 later tonight to compensate for my absence...
Jill-Ron