Mr. & Mrs. Brandon Benke

My middle weekends in May were filled with fun to say the least. The former Brooke Butler, my friend (and former roommate) became the first of my closest friends to take that life changing walk down the isle. Brooke met Brandon Benke about three years ago or so, and they proved that even the most extreme obstacles couldn't keep them apart. Brandon, for as long as I've known him has been an extremely hard worker , a lot of times working night shift while Brooke has found her place in the 9-5 banking business. Their conflicting schedules has always been something to contend with however they've made it work all this time. After about a year of dating, Brooke and Brandon were separated by distance when he moved to Northern Kentucky and Brooke headed off to Tennessee for a year. Despite the miles, they would often reunite at mine and Heidi's house on Heron Ln. and every time they saw each other they went right back to being disgustingly cute, inseperable and in love. After a year in Tennessee Brooke decided it was time to come home to Kentucky and moved in with Heidi and I at our house on Alpine Ct. Brandon quickly became part of the family although he still lived in N. KY. He was there every weekend and whenever he could be through the week to be with the lady of his dreams. It didn't take long before they decided it was time to combine their lives and in February, just six months after returnig to Lexington, Brooke and Brandon were finally where they always should have been, together without any distance at all. It wasn't long after combining living quarters that Brandon got on one knee and asked Brooke to be his for life. Of course she said yes and another year flew by. Before we knew it we were having bridal showers and bachelorette parties and rehearsal dinners and weddings and receptions. Pure successful craziness uniting these two for life.
Brooke and Brandon were my first friends to get married. So Brooke's was my first bridal shower and bachelorette party. We had a wild time and I was glad to get to take part in the fun despite being 5 1/2 months pregnant. I was the D.D. (of course) and partied way too hard with shots of cranberry juice and too many glasses of water to count. We started out at a clubhouse in some neighborhood where Brooke got a lot of hilarioud gag gifts. My favorite had to be the Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia penis Heidi and I got her. We all got "lei'd", pink light up rings and made up new identies for ourselves for the evening. Brooke became Naughty-a, I was Trixie, and Heidi became Bizzi after we corrected the spelling error that first had her being named Buzzi. We were also galavanting around with a Kandi, Lola, & Bambi to name a few. After the present unwrapping, we all received our scavenger hunt list and were off for a night on the town. The scavenger hunt was fun and ironically it was Brooke's future mother in law that ended up winning with an obscene amount of points...like 400 or 500.

Our first stop after grabbing a bite to eat at TGI Fridays was to Survivors (the karoke bar). We all got on stage to sing a variety of songs from Salt-n-Pepa's Shoop to Dixie Chicks Wide Open Spaces. It was a blast. (Brooke is the blonde with the white lei and garder on her leg-far right.)

Quite a few scavenger hunt points were racked up here. Items checked off the list include a lap dance, kissing a male, kissing a guy twice your age, and having someone buy you a drink. The good sport pictured below is named Dino. He bought the girls drinks and posed for many pictures to fulfill the foolish requests on the scavenger hunt.

After survivors we very unsuccessfully attempted to get into Blue Moon with 19 year old Summer-then Brooke's soon to be sister-in-law. We then found ourselved at CCI-Chevy Chase Inn- where again we had a great time. CCI is a little hole in the wall bar. It is the oldest bar in Lexington and is frequented mostly by regulars. It's an older crowd however they were quick to buy Brooke a "blow job" shot, myslef a shot of cranberry juice, and the rest of the girls a shot of love. It was a great place where we danced to the man on stage playing guitar. Summer fit right in and she actually ordered her first beer in a bar all by herself. She was so proud!

After CCI we ventured to Trumps where once again we couldn't stay cause of our youngin' but it was already pretty late so we decided to go eat at Waffle House and call it a night. It was three in the morning before I got home and I was beat. Brooke had a great last night out with her girls and the next weekend, she became Mrs. Brooke Benke. The wedding was also tons of fun. There were friends that had moved away that no one has really seen in a while. It was like a huge reunion and we danced and ate cake and partied like we know how. Brooke and Brandon were sent off in a limo with fireworks and all the love in the world from everyone they know. Congratulations Brandon and Brooke. I love you.