My cousin Stephanie got married this summer, and I took off work and rode down with mom and Lew to New Mexico to meet up with my sister. I was so excited – I had not seen her in a year, which is hard when you have no other siblings to hang out with. So the ride down with the Road-Trip Queen was fairly uneventful – although at one point I do remember being passed by a minivan. I was so shocked, I think I took a picture. Mom and I spent the time by playing some intense hangman – at one point it went into overtime, and mom was very close to sentencing her hangman to an unpleasant afterlife. We are amused easily, ok? All that hangman stirred up our appetites, and the search for 'real' mexican food was on - although it interestingly enough was decided in the end by the need for root beer floats. They were out, much to Lew's dissapointment.
Naturally, we took the long way so we could see the lights of Santa Fe as we crested the hill. I was totally asleep by this time, but I think I remember mom trying to wake me for this.
I woke up the next morning to find myself in a lovely little motel – it was so fun just to wander around and look at the different gardens around the place. There was just that overall feeling of ‘change’ that lets you know you are in a different part of the country – I love experiencing that, everything so different from what I’m used to. Then there was the the Sister Reunion - Courtney! There was much rejoicing. 
We had a great time spending time together, even though we never did get back in time to use the hot tub. Hotels go to extreme measures to make sure you don’t use those things past 10 pm!
Steph’s rehearsal dinner was lots of fun, hearing stories and meeting relatives I didn’t know we had. One of them is the best dancer ever - - Court, you know what I mean. He was great to hang around with, as was his brother. Wandering around that night we came across this liberal store, and I think we found the source for all Bush-hating paraphernalia. It was hysterical the amount of buttons, bumper stickers, shirts, and whatever else was large enough to slap a slogan on that this store had.
Then came the wedding, in a beautiful Santa Fe church, followed by good food at the hotel. That’s a pic of my adorable step-dad, Lew, and my mom dancing at the reception. 
There was a lovely cake made by my aunt, Joan, who to her credit managed not to have a nervous breakdown while doing this and being mother of the bride. Everyone was getting into the fun of the wedding - here is my Aunt Cheryl table-dancing to the YMCA. 
After the festivities, we snatched Holland and went to the movies – Steve and Cheryl were certain they were never going to see their daughter again, but all went well and we headed home later – only to once again be foiled by hot tub protection methods.
You might be wondering what this is, but without fail, we would all try to walk through this pane of glass on the way to our rooms everyday. Thanks to Court for the lovely reenactment.
All in all, it was a wonderfully relaxing trip, with great breakfasts at the Pantry, good laughs with my sis, and time with the family I don’t get to see near often enough. All was well with the world, and I boarded my plane back to Dallas – I had even got to change my ticket to fly with my Grandmom – what providence!
It turns out it was more like ill omen. As we landed at Love Field, I noticed we were taxing to this area all by itself and surrounded by high concrete walls. When we ask our benevolent flight attendant, Rita, she had this to say: “Someone did something stupid.” Which was ever so helpful. This same lady also later told my sweet grandmom that “I don’t care what’s in that bag, you aren’t taking it.” Or something to that effect, anyway.
Apparently, some frat boy from Vegas was denied a beer, so naturally he told them he had put a bomb on the plane. Idiot. Meanwhile, my poor husband is following our Love Field Protocol, which is circle the airport until the other comes out and then you can pick him/her up. However, my cell phone was stolen in NM, and David had just gotten a new cell phone number that I had not memorized yet. Once we finally got inside the airport for question by the FBI, I grabbed some random Southwest airlines employee and informed him that my hapless husband was probably on his 73rd circuit of the airport, and could he please go find him and let him know what was going on?
After 10 pretzel bags, 2 cokes, 1 fistfight, a brush with a possible hospital visit, and four awful hours later, we were finally allowed to leave the airport. It was awful, but I am glad I was there to help grandmom through the press of crazed passengers. As for the guy who ruined our night, forget sentencing; - just let the other 200 passengers on that flight alone with that guy for 10 minutes. Especially all those big, burly guys who had Mavericks finals tickets.
