Blake and Keni’s Wedding

First of all, if you are looking for pics from the rehearsal dinner… go here

I get the feeling that writing a blog post at almost 2 in the morning immediately after a wedding is not the best idea. However, you, as my readers, friends and family probably realize that I’m not one who is known for making decisions that are void of consequence, based on logic or are conceived with the aid of a sound mind. Thus, if you would like to experience a bad decision along with me and the rest of the world, please continue your reading of this post.

It’s done. Blake Ramick and Keni Bosse are no longer exist. As of just a few hours ago, Mr. and Mrs. Blake Ramick the married couple have replaced the individuals I have partied, vacationed and enjoyed life with. They walked down the isle, said the famous two little words, and started their journey together as husband and wife in front of almost 200 friends and family.

Now, I’m not the most emotional or reflective guy that you might know, but this wedding really made me think. This might be the case because I met Kendra the same night that Blake met her. I met her in a loud sports bar (Jake’s, not the Fox and Hound as was told by the pastor at the wedding!) in Lubbock for one of our annual trips back to Texas Tech. I was there along with much of what turned out to be many the Groomsmen on the night that they first met, sitting crammed in a little booth. When they spent that first weekend together in Lubbock, I will be honest with you and tell you that I didn’t think much of it. Keni was very lovely and a very nice girl, but Blake was going through what I call a pre-midlife, midlife crisis. The story that the pastor told at the wedding today about Blake dating girls at the time, and Keni being known to many as “number 4″ was almost true. As I remember it was 5, and she was in fact number five to me for a good while. I wasn’t trying to be rude, but I didn’t make it a point to call her by her real name until a month or two later when it was clear that he was memorized and had fired numbers 1-4. Why would I ? He had girls of every flavor, and this one might have been as nice and fantastic as I remember her being, but she lived 5 hours away. 350 miles… a looooong way for someone who was playing the field to cover when there were other local contenders. I was wrong. In fact, I couldn’t have been more wrong. She was as nice as I remember her being and so nice that she tamed the Stallion and made an honest man out of him. Seeing this process, and seeing this relationship form from a difficult and unlikely beginning through to wedding vows in front of God, Family and Comrades was something that really made me think.

That is Keni in the hat top left, two days after they met. (awwwwwwwwwwwww)

First of all I think they are truly lucky. I can’t think of a better match for Blake than Keni. All of his quirks, talents and tribulations are exquisitely counterbalanced and brought to harmony by Keni. But if you were to ask me honestly what started my mind in motion this evening….what was it that mad me start thinking of 9million different things….. It was about 30 seconds before the wedding started:

I was an Usher (that’s right, capitol U, cuz I’m worth it!), and had a great view of the wedding from my standing position behind the rows of chairs. Right before the ceremony started I looked out and saw the Bride and her Bridesmaids on the left, and Blake and he guys on the right. There they were, and that is when it hit me. Blake, Rob, John, Matt, and Vivek. Next to me as an Usher stood Ben. Wow… that was all I could think. Wow.
That was an impressive group of guys, and not only were they Blake’s Groomsmen, they were all my friends. Those guys are of the caliber of character and person that most of you reading this post will never know. I hate it for you, but most of you will never even know guys like these guys. Not only am I fortunate enough to know them, I’m lucky enough to call them my friends. Men that I could call on at any time, for anything with no questions asked and know they would be there for me (tried, true, and proven). How fortunate is Blake that he gets to start his new journey into marriage with guys like that backing him up? How fortunate is Keni to have those guys as part of her family who she can call upon at any time for anything she might need or desire? How fortunate am I… a regular Joe….a working stiff… just some bum… have guys like that who form the foundation that I stand upon every day? God damn’ lucky, that’s how lucky.

I know what you are thinking. Looking at the Groomsmen made me think about how lucky I am, but what about the girl’s side? Beautiful girls in beautiful dresses…that has to do something for you right Zach? They were one of the most beautiful groups of bridesmaids that I’ve seen, and from what I know of them they are also of the quality of being that anyone would be fortunate to have as friends. Let’s face it….they were very pretty (ok ok ok… hot is probably a better term) and I couldn’t help but notice. That’s not what I thought about though oddly enough, when I looked at them. ***Disclaimer added 5-7-2007. Some people have read the next few paragraphs of this post and were worried that I was down in the dumps, or otherwise depressed/frustrated with being single or any other part of my life. This is not the case. My spirits are high (as always, I’m a fun guy (not to be confused with a fungi (wow, i think this is the deepest i’ve ever gone with ()’s, ))), and I’m no more troubled by being single now than I have ever been. The point isn’t that I’m single or not in love, the point is that I am still extraordinarily fortunate to have the friends that I have…ok… read on***. I had a bit of an epiphany: I’m not in a rush to find the girl of my dreams or get married. I want to go down that road, but I only want to travel it one time with the right girl who I can love forever. Anything less than that isn’t worth worrying about. I’ve had some fantastic dates. Some beautiful dates (I’m talking top %1 of all of the beautiful girls in the world) and I just realized that of the last 4 girls over the past few years that I’ve gone out with who I really thought I could enjoy getting to know and could see the possibility of something working out over the long term…. have all ended up either falling in love with their “best friends” or falling for an X-boyfriend. How I didn’t realize that until tonight, I’m not sure. Kinda strange though isn’t it? I think I’m cursed ( <- was that the comment that had you guys all worried?). I guess it's better than my friend who had two X's (i think one was a wife?) who ended up batting for the other team (read: became lesbians). That really has to mess with your brain and do some serious ego damage.

All in all I’m lucky. I may not be in love or have a partner to walk with me through life, but I’m ok with that until I find the right one. I may not have love going for me, but I have some unbelievable friends, some unbelievable memories, and big plans for the future. Things are going to work out. Blake and Keni reminded me of all of that today. And concerning those two sea monkies: need not your heart be troubled. They are going to be just fine and kick ass dancing down the road of life together.

I’m sorry that I don’t have any pictures from the wedding. I left my camera at home, and took my flask in it’s place (good trade!). I’ll see if I can get some pics from other cameras soon. Congrats Blake and Keni! Thank you for letting me be a part of your big day.

In case you missed it, Rehearsal dinner pics are here