The view from my adirondack chair

One of my favorite places to be is Catawba. Whether its spending quality time with my family or enjoying the company of our friends- there is never a shortage of laughs..
Many summer days we spend at the beach- relaxing on the sand with a drink in our hand, lounging on the floating island or cruising & hopping waves on the jet ski.
I have been fortunate to enjoy this place since 5th grade when my parents bought the land and built their little slice of heaven.
As a kid we would spend a majority of our summers at the lake, playing home run derby or soccer in the playground or tubing off the boat.
Dad would try to intimidate us with what he called "the whip". He was skillful at the maneuver, slowing the boat down seemingly giving the tubers clenched knuckles a break- and just as they thought they were safe-without notice he would push the throttle down & straighten the boat out... from the view of the tube-you could see the boat picking up speed- yet you were standing still in the water. All of a sudden CRACK the line went taught & you nearly ripped your neck off from whiplash!  it was terrifying but hilarious from the view of the boaters.

Then there would be those times your tube would "popcorn" off the wave & fly 5 feet in the air only to come crashing down in the water below. After ungracefully smacking the water at 25 miles an hour- you panic slightly *which way is up? which was is down?* what was that thing that just brushed my leg?-a shark? can't be-its lake erie dummy-
when you make it to the surface, finally able to breathe air & clear the lake water from your nose you realize you lost your bathing suit bottoms 10 feet behind.

crap.

As we grew up- visits to the cottage grew fewer & farther between.
In high school you couldn't imagine a weekend without tv.. stuck in a house with your parents, playing board games.. ugh...
now a little older I appreciate those weekends spent at the lake with my mom & dad, without the television- playing farkle or enjoying a drink by the campfire with our friends.
The peacefulness of watching the sunset over the lake or listening to the waves crash from our open window.

 (taken from my iphone)

Thats why when Scott & I decided we wanted to have our wedding in Ohio we could think of no better place to host it than Catawba.
We wanted our friends & family to understand just how special this place is to us & how many great memories we hope to make there  in the future.


little did we know what opportunities lay just ahead...