wedding circuit round 6

So last night, one of the court kids got married. Leslie and Matt were too adorable, and they look so in love! It was a fun time, especially getting to see people who I haven't seen in months.

My (former) neighbor Ryan and I got in to a discussion on what number court wedding this was. I thought it was 5, but after a careful (and somewhat tipsy) recount, we settled on 6. That's right, about half of the court kids are married now. These include (in chronological order): David, Matt, Amy, Ali, Ryan, and Leslie. That's some wicked good memory on my part, and I was lucky enough to have attended all of these lovely weddings. However, David and Matt's were somewhat different for me since I was in high school at the time.

It really is crazy to think about how much all of us have grown up. We got a picture of all of us last night, with a few people missing (I'm still mad at Brian, who was up at Purdue for the major OSU upset game...I'm over it...kind of). I of course chimed in after the picture as the proclaimed youngest of the group (Brian normally takes this honor, but by just a couple weeks).

Most people find it weird that we are so close with our neighbors. I remember going to college, and when speaking about people from home, many of my stories involved my neighbors. Many people were baffled that we did so much with the people that lived 50 feet from us, and I quickly found out that many people just aren't friends with their neighbors anymore. I practically LIVED in the Rieck household growing up, and as an adult (until they sadly moved to a smaller home a few years back). In fact, we had an open door policy (as well as an open fridge policy, since ours was always stacked with the good stuff) with everyone. So I found it disappointing that people didn't have the same experience growing up that I did.

I could go on about The Court, but there are too many memories to type. 16 year's worth to be exact. I'm just happy that we are all still close, even as adults with busy lives. And it's pretty awesome to see the group expand, with the addition of wives, husbands, and children over the past few years.

*Editor's note: This pertains to Jeni, one of my main readers. Speaking of open door/no knocking policy, a couple weeks ago when I came to your house, I just walked in and sat down with Pat and Mags. Maggie goes, "How come Laura doesn't knock?", and without missing a beat Pat said, "Because she's family." It was a major, major loving moment (in horrible British accent).