it's so nice to meet you (or taking your boyfriend to utah)

Ryan and I went to Utah last weekend for my friend Ellie's wedding.  The weekend was short and packed and lovely.  I got to introduce Ryan to my family and vice versa.  He also met some of my friends and I met more of his family.  It's kind of a right of passage.  Bringing someone you love and care about to meet the people who have made up the pieces of your life.  To give your significant other a broader and deeper view into who you are. 

It all went quite well.  I'm really fortunate with my family.  If you were to sit them down and press them, they'd tell you that they believe same gender relationships of the romantic variety are wrong.  Maybe not in those exact words, but that general idea.  However, I think most were genuinely excited to meet Ryan.  Several of them expressed it in the weeks leading up to our visit.  We kept it casual, a BBQ with the family at my parents' house.  They did a really great job at welcoming Ryan and making him feel comfortable.  No one broke out the Bible to read from Leviticus.  Also, the fabric of society still seems to be in tact.  We tried not to leave a mess of broken families deciding they want to get gay married in our wake.  I think we were largely successful in that regard.

Friday we had lunch with Kendall.  We did a little exploring at the new City Creek Mall afterwards, but I could feel it sapping the life from us, so I suggested we go lie on the grass in the sun somehwere.  We ended up on Kendall's sleeping bag in Liberty Park talking about big ideas and using words like phenomenological.  Well, it was mostly Kendall using that word and me gently poking fun.  I realized how much I enjoy introducing people's minds and then sitting back and watching them enjoy each other's minds.  (That kind of sounds like we got dirty there in Liberty Park, but it was all family friendly.  Promise.) 

Friday evening was a family dinner for the wedding at the Garden Park Chapel in SLC.  Have you ever been there?  The grounds were gorgeous.  If I went to church there, I'd probably just opt for sitting out by the pond.  Yeah.  This chapel has a pond.  The interior is just as lovely.

After the dinner, we met up with friends at Bruges to wish Dan and Ryan well as they were about to move across the country to Maryland. 

Saturday was a day of eating.  We started out by going to breakfast with Ryan's uncle, then we drove to Provo and had lunch #1 with some of Ryan's siblings.  For lunch #2, we ate with my friends Ninny Beth, her new husband, Krisanne and Freyja.  We ate at Communal and the food and conversation were lovely.  Ninny and Krisanne told Ryan about when I came out to them and how surprised they were and Ryan wondered how they couldn't have known.  Ryan told them how he thought I had a screw loose when he first knew me.  Again, introducing minds is one my most favorite things. 

We ended our gluttonous day at the ring ceremony and reception, which had a panini bar and like half a dozen different kinds of cake.  We took it upon ourselves to try every single cake and decide which ones we liked the most. 

I didn't get to see and introduce Ryan to everyone I wanted to, but our time was limited and I didn't want to completely overwhelm him, only just kind of.