Crazy Carmen & Jamar - And the Best Wedding Ever

So, my cousin Carmen is, well, crazy. She may be the funniest person I know. She definitely has the best laugh. (Followed closely by my husbands wild cackle and my friend Jen's deep giggle. Both amazing!)

Her wedding was seriously, one of the most amazing events I've ever been to - and I used to plan wedding for a living.

Here's why:

1. My girl had a serious theme. She's a HUGE UGA fan. She even considered a tailgate, stadium-side wedding. And though she got married at an Atlanta hotel, she brought the tailgate right to us. The centerpieces featured little UGA helmets. The table cards were photos of the scoreboard (all games that UGA won) and were named for the opposing team. The seating cards were tickets. The aisle runner was astroturf with yard lines. The bar was under a UGA tent. It was serious.

2. She came ready to have fun. When the bride is ready to have rockin' party, everyone is ready to have a rockin' party. And Carmen has a way of making friends with everyone! Rich, poor, black, white, (and yes, some black and white) fat, skinny, gay, straight, you name it. If you like UGA football, you're good. If you like a good party, you're good. If you're family, well, you were still invited.

3. She played a HUGE mix of music. Journey. Usher. Curtis Blow. Some hip hop so new that this mom of three doesn't know it. Etta James. It was all there, and it got everyone on the dance floor.

So here are a few of my favorite pics from that awesome night. Congrats, Nikki! Love you and Jamar!

We Bowl! Corey Williams - Baby Child Photographer - Chapel Hill

Every now and then we do something so fun, that I want to do it again right away. And last weekend, we went bowling. WG has been asking to do it forever. Mel takes her through the parking lot of a bowling alley on their secret way to school. So, it's a regular request. What I didn't realize is how much we would all like it. We had a blast, and I learned a lot too!

Here's what I learned.

1. My mom hasn't been bowling in at least 15 years. She didn't know they had electronic scoring.

2. For WG, there's nothing better than beating your parents at something. If there's a big scoreboard...well...that's just a bonus.

3. Those little contraptions that look like walkers really help little kids bowl. Wow, the kids bowled in the 150s.

4. Apparently, there's no bowling in Brazil. Sorry, Feffie. And if there is, it's a lot like pool. And they use gutter guards like the sides of the table.

Here are some of the highlights

In Memorial

I just got back from a week in Auburn, Alabama, the town I grew up in. It was one of the most challenging weeks of my life. We were home for two funerals.

On Sunday, my grandfather passed away. Buster was a big man most of my life. He had coal black skin and long hair. He wore cowboy boots and a big cowboy hat. On summer afternoons he would load me, my siblings and cousins in the back of his customized pick up truck and take us to Krystal for hamburgers in the parking lot. He pinched our cheeks, laughed giant belly laughs and loved Jerry Springer. But on Sunday, he passed away as a result of complications from cancer.

My grandmother and aunt, together with his family, began making funeral arrangements, and then unexpectedly my grandmother had a massive heart attack and died early on Tuesday morning. She was standing at the stove in her home making an early morning breakfast and then she was gone. We were all so stunned.

My mom and I packed up the kids and got on the road early on Tuesday. Tuesday and Wednesday were full of people who were calling or stopping by to offer condolences – but many of them were stopping in to check on my grandmother. When they heard the news about her they were stunned and our family bore the full brunt of their shocked reactions. Seventy-year-old men crumbled into heaps of tears on her sofa. Large bodies and slight frail ones rocked with sobs in her chairs. Some could hardly speak and some had many words. Some just repeated – no, no, no.

Grandma's House

I think it will still take me a while to recover. I know that in many ways I haven’t yet begun to grieve their passing. I am still adjusting to the shock of their absence in the house that was so much a part of my youth. And I’m still working through my own feelings about those friends and family members that reacted so powerfully to the news.

In the end, I know that it won’t be this past week that I remember – although it’s made a powerful impression on me. It will be the way that Buster looked in that white suit and string tie, my grandmother’s infectious giggle and the way she referred to herself in the third person ("Grand-mama loves you"), and the steadfastness with which they loved each other and each of us.