Love in (and lovin' ) Oregon!

My awesome Wards senior, Daniel, let me take a "golden" weekend (2 days off in a row!) this weekend so that I could go with Shomir to his great friend's Henning's wedding (to Elissa) in Oregon!

Although Friday was a pretty crazy day in the hospital, we were able to signout at five and make it to the airport for our flight (only an hour and a half) to Portland (this week was great-- Shomir's on a rotation called MIC [maternal/infant care, where he takes care of laboring/postpartum moms and babies] while I'm, obviously, on the FP inpatient service; we have the same attending and so attend rounds together as well as cross paths in the call/workroom all the time!).

After we landed, and picked up our rental car, we headed to Newberg, OR (about an hour or so south of Portland) to stay with Elissa's family on the night before the big day!

Henning is a friend of Shomir's from grad school in Cincinnati. He is also German, grew up some in Africa and has been living in Scotland for the past 5 years ago. Elissa also spent time in Zaire as a child and teaching English in Korea. It was quite the international wedding, with Rachel, the maid of honor, flying from China, and Martin, one of the groomsman, coming all the way from Glasgow (complete w/ his kilt!). After the wedding, the couple planned to honeymoon in Finland and then move to Singapore for Henning's new post-doc! Wow!

Saturday was the wedding, which was held in the afternoon at Elk Cove Vineyard, a beautiful winery in the Willamette Valley foothills. Although the weather forecasted a bit of a dreary day, the sun came out in time for what was an absolutely gorgeous ceremony! Here are some pics from the event!

Elissa posing for pre-wedding bridal pictures Shomir rehearsing for his piece
The ceremony
Shom singing, "In Christ Alone"

The kiss!

The recessional (don't they look sooooooooo happy?!)
The vineyard (sorry 'bout the lil' head shadow)
The groom's party (Martin in the kilt, Elissa, Henning, Erik, and Shomir)

The reception was also fabulous! Great wine, as you can imagine, as well as great food and an awesome DJ. (Have I mentioned that I just adore weddings.?!I think I could be a professional wedding-attender!). There was even Scottish dancing, led by Martin. And here's the garter madness.

Henning, taking it off...

Shomir, catching it

Looking kinda cheerful!

(No, I did not catch the bouquet. And I don't think this has any significance-- "I have caught the garter like 3 times," says Shomir.)

Sunday, we slept in (I needed to, for I'm working and probably getting up around 4-4:30 a.m. for the next 12-13 days straight!), helped return the folding chairs to church, and then hit a couple of other wineries in the valley which is known for its Pinots (oh, and we had to change our flat tire, too) before returning to the airport.

Here's us with a very beautiful "upside-down tree"! Isn't it cool looking?!
More pretty blossoms in Dundee Hills mmm....

Pretty fountain

Horsies!

This sign (posted in Lange's Winery restroom) cracked me up (it only makes sense if you have seen those other silly signs posted in shops and in restaurants warning about alcohol use in pregnancy)!

In any case, we're back now in Sac and about to start another week (well, a long stretch of work for me). I almost felt like a "normal" person at times this weekend, forgetting about patient care and all the work I'd face when I'd return on Monday. Ah, I will just have to look fwd to the days when residency is over... with that, it's definitely bedtime...