Mrs. Shelley Jo Whalen

Another one of my former SWG teammates is off and married!  Following in the footsteps of Aimee ('08) and Nikki ('09), Shelley was married to fellow Stanford alum Ryan Whalen.  The ceremony was held in Shelley's hometown of Seguin, TX and then the reception was in San Antonio.  Carly, Tenaya, and I all managed to get on the same flight out of San Francisco and flew to Austin because it was much cheaper than somewhere closer.  We got a rental car (my first time driving one) and drove the 90 minutes to our destination.  We actually picked up an extra passenger at the airport, a Stanford kicker and fellow wedding invitee from the football team who didn't really think things through and needed a ride down south.  We jammed to some good music as we tried to stay awake and when we finally made it we just crashed in our beds.

Saturday morning CJ and I got up and walked around a bit to see the cool things San Antonio had to offer.  We got to see The Alamo which was actually a little underwhelming but we learned a lot about the history along the way which was cool.  T and I later took a run down the same way and it was nice to just be outside and explore.  Afterwards we all got ready for the wedding, the '10's piled in our rental car, and we drove the hour to the ceremony.  It was all beautifully done, short and sweet.  We stayed around to shoot some pictures but then it was back in the car to Sunset Station for the reception.  The place had meaning to the couple and it was a very grand and regal setting (definitely Texas-style).  The food and drink were good, the dancing and band were great, the bride was beautiful, and the couple looked happy.  Around 11pm they drove off and people began to pack things in, though some members of the SWG clan decided to head downtown to continue the festivities.

Yesterday we got up leisurely, got breakfast, and made our way back to Austin; we figured we would explore there since we had already done San Antonio the day before.  It was crazy for me to drive up and realize how familiar it all was since I had been there not too long ago for my Gymnastike interview.  There was a certain sense of comfort walking around even though I hadn't spent too much time there and it was fun to share that with CJ and T.  We finally got back to the airport, returned the rental car, and made it home (not without a delay in Long Beach though).  We're all ready for the next wedding and are placing bets on who the lucky couple will be.  Whoever it is, we're all geared up for a good time so it's bound to be fun!!