Our Three Honeymoons November 4, 2009

I really only wanted to write this so I wouldn’t ever forget. Now, if I can only remember that I once had a blog . . .

Honeymoon #1 – Orlando

We were married Saturday, May 2nd of 2009 at 4:30 pm at the Bell Farm in Harleyville, SC. After the reception, we drove back to our apartment in Jacksonville, FL to spend our first married night together. The next morning, we arose and traveled 2.5 hours to Orlando, FL where we checked in at a Time Share thingy. We were given our appointment to meet with someone to listen to all the benefits of owning a time share and went to unpack in our nice 2 bed, 2 bath room with a jacuzzi tub and flat screen tvs. There was also a kitchen and den area.

During our three day stay there, we played putt-putt, went to the movies, spend a day at Islands of Adventure, went out to eat, rented a movie or two, went out to eat more, listened to a woman try and sell us a time share, stopped to ask the price of bunjee jumping (for hubby only, I’m a scardy cat) and then eventually came home where we opened presents and watched our wedding video.

Honeymoon #2 – Key Largo, FL

This one was only sort of a honeymoon, and mostly not really one at all. Hubby’s family went on vacation together to Key Largo at the end of July of 2009 and we tagged along to join in on all that family fun. His parents rented a house right on a canal there. We went out to eat once, but mostly his mom cooked dinner and his brother & sister in law cooked too. We spent the first few nights in the loft and then switched with the brother & sister in law for the bedroom with the tv the last part of the week. We went on a glass bottom boat tour that really wasn’t as fun as I had hoped, snorkeling which was awesome, sort of deep sea fishing where I caught a little guy and hubby caught 4 eel that were gross and snake-like. We played games with his family and I think that’s about it.

Honeymoon #3 – Montana (our REAL honeymoon)

This trip was meant to be taken in July, but due to miscommunication with the people we were booking with, we had to wait until October of 2009. We had fun and plan to go back – in the summer. We had our own cabin that was 2 bed, 2 bath with a loft, kitchen, den, and hot tub outside on the deck. We enjoyed a fire made with real firewood nearly every evening. We travelled all over the Flathead Valley and ate steak almost every day. We loved the little hole in the wall restaurants. Once I had a buffalo steak and hubby had an elk burger. We went shopping at the neatest antique/consignment shop where we found some great Norman Rockwell stuff. We even took a day to drive over to Idaho to see my uncle and he fed us steak! We went to play frisbee golf and enjoyed the racoons and deer in his front yard. There was a cold snap while we were there, the coldest temperatures in 30 years! We went on a 4 hour horseback riding tour in 7 to 12 degree weather. We had a hot air balloon ride scheduled but the weather wasn’t condusive to flying so we were considering a helicopter tour but it was rainy and cloudy by the end of the week so that was a no go too. We did make it ino Glacier National Park one day annd spent a lot of time driving on the Going to the Sun road, but it was closed halfway through so we did some off roading on scary dirt roads that hugged a cliff. We went to see a Hungry Horse Dam which isn’t much different than Hoover Dam, but hubby had never seen a dam either way so he was excited. We took lots of beautiful pictures and went to the movies one day. We even went to a cemetery where my Grandfather is buried, but we couldn’t find his headstone because there was about 6 inches of snow covering the whole park.

When we go back, we want to go white water rafting, mountain biking, horseback riding, hot air ballooning, and all the fun outdoorsy things we couldn’t do due to the cold. We almost went hiking one day, but didn’t quite make it. We’d like to go on horseback to see the actual glaciers, but hiking uphill didn’t sound very exciting . . . more like tiring.

Oh, and we stayed 7 hours away from the airport, so we really did get a wonderful scenic tour of a lot of Montana. It was wonderful and we had a blast. Even though it may not sound fun – we had the time of our lives!

Freedom Revisited November 4, 2009

So I am going to finish what I started (as I pat myself on the back).  A few posts earlier I started a blog about freedom but then had to leave the computer abruptly as is the norm now. Although we have three working computers, only one is connected to the internet now due to a wireless router issue. We found a way around it though and now we have both laptops going.

I do plan to talk about freedom, just let me ramble, k? Now that we are comfortably situated here in my beautiful NC, I have had time to stop and smell the roses… or at least this cool crisp air! I didn’t realize what  a hellacious year I’ve had. Honestly, I didn’t even think about everything I was going through until after I was through it. There’s still maybe a little hurdle to jump, but after this past year it looks more like a molehill.

We made a surprise visit down to Jax to see a guest speaker at our church there. It was phenomenal! However, we stayed until Tuesday when the last church meeting was Sunday so we could spend time with our family and friends. That was fine, but we were SOO ready to come HOME. It’s amazing how much a place can feel like home when you know that’s the place you’re supposed to be. We miss our friends and family – sometimes a lot. But there is no place else we would rather be.

Since being here, neither of us have had jobs and our rent is still paid! That’s only one small reason we know we are in God’s will – His provision speaks for itself! Anyway, we feel that one reason we have been jobless is so we could travel to Montana for our honeymoon and go down to Jax for the meetings, but mostly to help out the pastor and his wife here. They both are working and would have no other help with their kids. Now that one of their jobs is slowing down, I might possibly be starting work. It’s all so divine!

I’m kind of just swimming around here and don’t really have much of a point to get to. I had doubts about being here for a while. Hubby was always sure. I was sure too in my heart, but sometimes the voices in my head influence my thinking abilities. After our trip to Jax, there’s no doubt in my mind. I am in my place. Also, being jobless and on this adventure has been wonderful for our marriage. We have had the opportunity to spend SO much time together. The pastor’s car has been broken so we lent him mine and hubby and I even have to go everywhere together in the same car. It’s been wonderful!

I told my mother that I feel like a kid that’s just gone off to college. I finally get to be on my own and use all the wisdom and discernment I’ve learned over the years from my pastor and others that have laid their lives down to pour spiritual riches into my life. I get to actually use that stuff in real life situations. It’s not like I never did before, but I’m the type of person that will sit back and let others do the work if they want to. Here, on my own so to speak, I am not spoon fed. I have to get it for myself . . . and I can due to what I’ve been taught.

Before we moved, I didn’t realize how suffocated I felt. That was no one’s fault at all. That just happens when you continue to grow and keep the same coat and shoes. It was time for me to go out and get new clothes that I can grow into. It’s so comfortable and free! I am free to search avenues of discovery and learn from other streams of belief. I am deeply grounded and rooted in the theology I was raised on. I own it now. I’m just saying that it’s nice to have the freedom to explore and not feel guilty or like I’m being unloyal to a particular belief system. I enjoy listening to different speakers and music and people that have had their own walk with the Lord for many many years. I don’t always agree and usually take the stance of what I’ve been taught – not because I believed at face value, but because I’ve proven it and walked in it. The revelation shown to me became my own revelation when I saw it unfold in my life experiences. I’m not trying to change my mind about anything I believe – I’m only trying to develop it further.

Not only that, but in being married I don’t feel such a deep need to prove myself to anyone or seek out approval for every decision. Trust me, I do still need accountability in my life and appreciate the wisdom of my pastor. I also sometimes struggle with wanting his approval. But most of the time, I know my husband is my biggest encourager, ultimate protector, and closest friend on earth. He has become my sidekick on this journey and we have so much fun figuring it out on our own.

I’m not sure I’m being very clear about this new found freedom, but I don’t really have any words to express it. I’m doing my best with the words I know – they just seem to be getting all jumbled up and confused once leaving my fingertips. I don’t want to sound at all like I’m leaving the path less traveled. I love the path that leads to righteousness and redemption. The path paved with suffering and dealings and hedged by joy and peace is the only road I ever want to be on. Only now, I find myself actually enjoying it. I love being in the way God has me. It’s not always easy and often I question circumstances in my life because circumstances are almost always louder than faith. The world we see influences so many people rather than the Word of God. I choose His Word, His promises, His way. In His life, I find true liberty, joy, peace, fulfillment, and utter happiness and contentment.

 

Name Calling October 20, 2009

The hubby and I never call each other by our given names. We both call each other Sweetheart, My Love, and Baby. He sometimes calls me Honey or Mama (one of my personal faves). The point is that we never say each other’s name – well mostly never. Twice this week I’ve been in a different room and said “Wi-ill” and he of course came promptly because he thought something was wrong with me. I did need him both times but only one of those times was close to being an emergency. I really didn’t even mean to sound like I was in harm’s way but according to him that’s exactly how I sounded. He didn’t like it.

The only other time we say each other’s names are when we are let’s say – not quite in agreement about something while being in a not so wonderful mood. Yesterday, hubby said my name while in a heated discussion and I did not appreciate it at all. I let him know by saying his name in the same tone after my rebuttal. He then said, “Don’t ever say my name again!” which is similar to my “Don’t say my name!” when he says my name. I guess we could call each other a lot worse like jerk-face or heiffer, but our name calling is simply reduced to our names.

The End.

Perfect Date August 27, 2009

The other night, hubby came down the stairs around 9pm to announce that he was hungry, he found a recipe, and he was going to the store to get the ingredients (he invited me along). So off we go to the grocery store to shop for goodies for an Italian pasta and we also rented a movie from Redbox - our best friend. By the time we got home, cooked dinner together (he took care of the pasta while I made the salad and garlic bread), and sat down at a candle-lit table to eat, it was about 10:30pm. It was a delightful meal accompanied by a toast given by my hubby – to me and the most wonderful conversation. We sat and talked for a while after we finished eating before taking all the dishes in the kitchen. We decided to leave them there until morning and retreated to snuggle on the couch while watching the movie.

We realized during our meal that we were grown ups in a grown up house eating a grown up meal. That’s the first time I think it’s really hit us that we’re married, very happily so, and living a grown up life. We both got teary-eyed at different points during the meal because we are so completely satisfied and happy with our life together. It was totally spontanious and we were at home, but it was the most perfect date I could’ve ever imagined.

Watching “Sleeping Hubby” July 3, 2009

a quick side note before I even get started – I think this is what mothers do with their babies which makes me question my normalcy . . . once again.

 Hubby was taking a quick nap on top of the bed before class, so I laid down opposite him and just watched. I have to do my studying of the hubby while he sleeps because he hates it when I stare. I inspected all the hair on his face and how there is a straight line in the middle of his mustache from the bottom of his nose to the top of his lip where no hair seems to grow. I’d never noticed that before. Maybe it’s because he just trimmed and as the hair grows, it intermingles together. I examined all the freckles on his legs and think it’s neat how the hair just stops growing at the bottom of his ankles. I know that’s the case for most men (and women) but I never really looked before. It’s like those leotards that stop at the ankle and don’t have the footie part. I always make fun of his hobbit feet as I call them, but he really doesn’t have hobbit feet. I just say that because we enjoy picking on each other. He has great feet for a guy – I’m a little jealous. He has perfect toenails and it’s just not right that his look better than mine  I continued letting my eyes roam until I found something to focus on for a minute and then watched as his chest raised and fell as he breathed through a slightly opened mouth. He was laying with his hand under his face which pushed the skin up around his eye, so I could see the bottom of his pupil roaming around in his sweet slumber. I thoroughly studied the lines of his tattoo on his left arm since he was laying on his right side and wondered why Jesus’ thumb and pinky looked exactly the same as they hold a banner that reads FORGIVEN. He won’t let me name his tattoos (because another odd tendency of mine is to name inanimate objects), but if they had names they would be easier to talk about. Then my eyes roamed and saw some long stray armpit hair that I thought about trimming. Yes, I know I’m weird – I have a strange fascination with playing with fire and cutting hair, neither of which I’m trained to do. 

 As I laid there falling more in love with this man in front of me, my mind wandered to the place it always goes no matter how hard I fight it. I wondered how much longer he would be in my life. Would it be until I die or until Jesus comes back? Or would he leave this world one day far too soon and way before I’m ready to let go? It is sad to say, but I do believe my brain has been reprogrammed when it comes to life and death. I almost expect it when I hear news of someone’s passing – like I knew it was coming, but didn’t know exactly when. That in no way makes the loss any more bearable or easier. I know this sounds terribly depressing, but it really inspires and reminds me to cherish every moment I have with him.

 Anyway, I am reminded of a song as I write about watching my lovey sleep. You’ve probably guessed it by now – yep, Aerosmith. I always thought that song was absolutely ridiculous because I don’t care how much I love someone, I need my beauty sleep people! I can now understand how blissful it can be to revel in the beauty of love while watching that kindred spirit, that person who owns your heart, in such a peaceful state. The actual quote I was thinking while watching “Sleeping Hubby” was a line from the old Spartacus movie where he is laying on the ground with the woman he loves and he tells her how he wants to know every inch of her body.

 There’s actually a spiritual lesson I learned from my daydreaming gazes. Jesus spends all his time gazing at us and admiring every little detail of our spirit. We are his creation after all. We are his masterpiece and He spends His time choosing to look upon us with favor. I think we would be wise to do the same. We are all He gets. He already has all of creation, but we have a free will and if we choose not to love him back – He’s lost His entire inheritance. I am personally encouraged to spend time looking upon Him as I do my Sleeping Hubby. I want to know what Jesus thinks, feels, loves, laughs at, cries about. I want to know His WAYS, not just His ACTS. We could all benefit from studying and watching Him.

The Video Chair June 26, 2009

It’s no secret that the hubby LOVES playing video games. I can’t say I share the same affection for the 360 as he does, but I do enjoy a good sitting with Guitar Hero. Anyway, we got rid of my couches to make more room for his stuff the month before we got married. We decided to live in my studio garage apartment to save money for a while. It’s only 500 sq. ft. and one big room, so there’s not a lot of space for extra furniture. We’ve been creative though and positioned the tv on the opposite wall as the bed, so we just sit on the bed and watch it. But there is the space between the foot of the bed and the tv, so I told the mister that my old video chair was in my mom’s garage and I’m sure she’d be nothing less than thrilled for us to get it.

He had lots of questions about this video chair since I’ve had it since childhood (along with a lot of other things that he’s itching to get rid of). It’s not fancy – no buttons or volume or anything remotely electronic or technical about it. It’s just a leather chair that sits on the ground. If you lean all the way back, it rolls all the way to the ground and you have to throw your feet backwards and then down again to sit up (unless of course you want to roll over and dump yourself out of the chair). So it’s a video chair – you’ve all seen them I’m sure.

So now we have a video chair that the hubby loves to sit in while playing his games. He has mentioned that he would prefer an updated one that he can plug things into and have speakers by his head and all kinds of bells and whistles. I don’t get it. It’s a chair. I also don’t understand the fascination with souped up cars or super expensive cars. It’s a car. It takes you from point A to point B. Whatever - back to my point. . .

I don’t have a problem with the video chair at all. It is a little cumbersome and in the way at times, but it kind of does me a favor, so I won’t complain about the other little things. Before the video chair made its grand appearance in our humble abode, the hubby would lay on the bed or sit on the foot of the bed and play his beloved video games. Now, he sits in the chair which is WONDERFUL for me!  You might be thinking it has something to do with the space on the bed being free, but that’s not it at all. You see, now we can both get what we want. He can sit and play video games to his heart’s content and I can straddle him (please redirect your thoughts OUT of the gutter), and have my face squished into the back of this chair. I don’t mind the face squishing as long as I’m being held. So I get to be held, he gets to play his game. The video chair makes life grand!!

Good Grief – Really June 9, 2009

this is kind of an addendum to my last post about a heartcry . . .

Friday night after church I started crying on the way home mostly because I was stressed but also I am often surprised at the times when grief rises up out of my heart and finds its way down my cheeks. I thought I was crying because I was overwhelmed, but as I started telling the hubby what was wrong – I realized I was releasing some tears that just needed to find their way out. There’s just a lot of things I don’t talk about because I figure no one wants to hear about it or would be judging me for continuing to grieve over something that happened years ago. I dunno, but I call it healthy.

So since I don’t really talk about it, I thought I’d try it out on my brand new shiny husband. I first was telling him how a car accident on Friday really got to me. Three teenagers were killed – one of them was a student my brother taught. It is just too reminiscent of Keri and Dan’l. Also, a little over a week ago on a Sunday - a lady in our church lost everything she owns to a house fire (reminder – ladies turn off your dryer before leaving the house).  Anyway, my heart so hurt for her and I realized also that a LOT of tragedies have happened on Sundays. Dan’l’s accident was on Sunday, August 19th. Jenna’s accident was on Sunday, February 17th (exactly 6 mos. after Dan’l), then my dad died on Sunday, August 17th (exactly 6 mos. after Jenna and 1 yr. after Dan’l). Strange, huh?

So I haven’t gotten to my point yet and I apologize, but I’m working on it . . .  so I was in the car telling hubby how every year I write a card to Keri around the same time. Her birthday is May 27th and she died less than a week later on June 2nd (4 days before she graduated high school). She would’ve been 30 this year. The card this year had a kitten on the front with a sad face and said “there’s something missing in my life” and on the inside – it says “YOU”. Every year, it’s a similar card. One of my favorites was Winnie the Pooh on the outside and it showed Piglet way far off in the distance.  It said “I’m here, you’re there” and on the inside it said, “No Fair”. So I’m sure you get the point by now – it’s always a card about how much I miss her. So I wrote in the card this year about my wedding and how I wondered what she would be doing with her life if she were still here. Then I wrote to her how I know she’s exactly where she’s supposed to be doing what she was meant to do, “Dancing in the presence of the Lord” as her headstone reads. I miss her grace as she danced.

(rabbit trail here) Last night, the news was on and I was listening to one of the kids that was just released from the hospital. She was in the accident with the others that were killed. There were 9 kids in the car, 3 died, 3 in critical condition still, 2 are out of the hospital, and 1 is still in fair condition. Anyway – I watched what she had to say and then completely lost it when they were talking about the accident. I had to change the channel. It’s so odd to me how most of the time I am okay but then all of a sudden something triggers grief from 11 years ago.

So back to the conversation in the car with the hubby. Let’s see – I told him about the card. Then I told him that Dan’l’s birthday is this month. That’s just hard for me. I’m not sure why. Then the conversation carried on to talking about my dad. It’s just becoming more real for me around Father’s Day. My siblings are all meeting at my brother’s house in NC for Father’s Day because he’s the only one of us that is a father and we wouldn’t ask him to meet us somewhere away from his children and grandkids. I never really gave much thought to Father’s Day before, but this year it has a certain twinge of pain attached to it. I got my brother a father’s day card which was okay and I was only reminded as I was walking away from the card aisle that I’ll never buy my dad another Father’s Day card again. Then another day, I was trying to help the hubby find a card for his dad. It was fine until I found the perfect card for my dad. I slowly put it back on the shelf and had to quit helping the hubby at that point.

As far as my dad’s estate stuff goes – I’m hoping it’s coming to an end, but as excited as that makes me – I’m a little sad about it too. We sold the rental and are just waiting to close on the house. I also gave the grandkids the share that dad left them. It was so bitter sweet yesterday when my nephew called me because he had just gotten the check in the mail. I said “Hello” and he said “Thank you Aunt Dana!”. We talked for a minute about what he wants to do with his money. He’s 17, so I figured the car would be the answer. He told me thank you again and I just told him to thank Granddad. I could hear the sadness in his voice too when he said “yeah”. He loved my dad so much. He was the only grandson and my dad lived with my sister and him the last year of his life. Anyway (geez, I didn’t mean to get so depressing - I’m actually in a very happy mood), the sad part about the stuff slowing down is that I won’t have any more bills of his or anything tying me to his recent life. Everything will become a memory instead of something new I have to do that’s related to my dad.

I guess the moral of this very long story or collision of thoughts if you will is that it’s okay to grieve when you need to – if it’s 11 years later or only 10 months later. I don’t dwell on this as much as you’d think by reading my posts. Writing is a way for me to work out my grief so the times you see a post about it is probably the only time it ever comes up – and it’s a good grief.

recent reminders of a heartcry May 18, 2009

I suppose it all started on Friday when my mom and I were discussing my wedding.  She was talking about Dan’l’s mom and I was so blessed that his parents drove 3 hrs. just for me.  She told my mom of what a blessing I’ve been to them, but if she only knew how much they mean to me.  Anyway, later that night at church we sang an old song we used to sing in the Baptist youth group what seems like a lifetime ago.  As the lyrics came out of my mouth, tears streamed down my face.  I could almost hear Dan’l singing “As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after Thee.  You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship You.  You alone are my strength, my shield, to you alone may my spirit yield.  You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship You.”  (I think those are the lyrics, but don’t quote me even if it is in quotation marks).  He seemed so close like I could almost touch him.  As I sang, my heart was flooded with sweet memories of my dear friend and how much I treasured his friendship and cherished his place in my heart.  Even now as I type, my eyes well up with tears. 

The next day I was knee deep in my dad’s rental house affairs.  I don’t want to get into it – I think I get a new grey hair every time I talk about it.  Long story short, I was looking for some paperwork and came across a couple papers in my dad’s handwriting of repairs he intended to make on the rental.  The tears came again.  I think of my dad every day as I don’t have a choice dealing with all of his business, but seeing his handwriting made me actually think about him and how I miss him so terribly.  I miss calling him with questions about car insurance or what’s the best way to season and make fresh mahi or telling him about the possibility of moving to another state.  I just miss him, that’s all.

So Sunday morning came and the radio woke me up to an old worship song that we used to sing at FCA in high school.  My friend Keri always requested “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you, Halleu-Hallelujah.”  I always requested to sing the Grin Again Gang song because it was just fun, but not meaningful at all.  So as the song on the radio continued its melody, my heart began to sing to the tune of the friendship, the sisterhood I once shared with Keri.  Good grief, we could fight!  But we were sisters.  Her mom and sister were also at the wedding.  Her sister did my hair and I must say I was quite ravishing!  They were fighting back tears a little on the video when telling us congratulations and how much I mean to them.  They are family to me.

I then saw a little girl after church again that I saw the previous week for the first time.  She looks nothing like our adorable little Jenna from the front, but last week I almost gasped when I saw this little girl walk past.  I somehow caught the attention of Jenna’s mom and asked if she had seen this child.  She looked at me with such longing eyes and we talked about how almost uncanny this child is to Jenna from behind.  If only her hair were a shade or two lighter with curls.  I was thinking that there are so many adorable little girls, but none have matched the “adorability” (a word I think I just made up) of Jenna.  She could make any day brighter even in her worst of moods by just being so stinkin adorable!

I was talking to the hubby about this yesterday because he knows I’ve had a sadness about me this weekend.  I think somewhere in the business of my life, grief has been supressed – or at least put on the back burner.  Maybe I’m empathizing a little bit because you can see a hint of sadness or maybe a bit of pain even behind the laughter in the eyes of the parents of all these that I so dearly love.  All of them love the Lord dearly and walk daily in His wonderful grace.  It doesn’t mean there’s no healing; its just a heartcry for those who can never be replaced in our lives and an anxiousness to get to Heaven and embrace them once again.

Wedding of my Dreams (and honeymoon too)! May 7, 2009

Yes, I know – everyone wants to see pictures.  Unfortunately, I do not have any yet and if I did, I’m not talented enough to post them on here, so I usually redirect people to facebook or myspace to see pics.

The week before the wedding was extremely hectic and emotional.  All the hard work paid off though because everything went smoothly the day of my wedding. . . even the minor incidentals like one of my buttons popping off my wedding gown.  At least it was the bottom one next to the zipper, so no one could notice.  Those little things usually don’t bother me anyway.  My heart was bursting with appreciation and awe at the people that drove for hours to enjoy our little love fest and at the people that worked tirelessly for days to make all my dreams come true.  I kept wondering why we didn’t just elope, but after the wedding I’m so grateful that we didn’t.

It was at my family’s farm in SC as I’d always planned.  Some of the details I wasn’t thrilled about didn’t seem to matter in the end anyway.  We had white chairs and I wanted wooden chairs.  That’s okay though, pretty much everyone had a place to sit under the shade of towering pecan trees with a breeze blowing.  My best friend of 14 years or so was my matron and her daughters carried my train for me.  The now hubby’s brother was his best man.  Our beloved pastor performed the ceremony, complete with a time of worship.  I walked down the aisle by myself with a charm around my bouquet of my dad holding me as a baby to a song that so adequately describes the love story of Jesus and His Bride.  My hubby wore his uniform, in which I’d never seen him before so it was a first for both of us seeing the other.  He forgot to wear his white gloves, but that worked out anyway due to the exchange of rings.  We both had tears in our eyes as I approached closer and closer.  We wrote our own vows that I haven’t stopped hearing about how sweet and precious they were.  My precious Sumi-friend sang a song during communion I recruited her for years ago, so I’m sure she was happy to see the fruition of that promise finally be over.  hehehe.  Oh, and everyone kept making fun of me for pouring the sand instead of the unity candle, but it turned out to be a wise decision.  If we had candles, the wind would’ve surely blown them out, so yay for me on that one!!  We walked out to the tune of “Linus and Lucy”, the Peanuts theme song and people chuckled.  I just think it’s always been such a happy little number. 

The reception was nearby in the yard.  The wind kept blowing over my portrait, so now the frame is brutally scarred, but that’s okay.  It has more character now.  The picture boards that I made (actually, I picked out the pictures and a couple wedding elves put them together for me) didn’t get put out til the end due to the wind.  One had the song lyrics of a little diddy I wrote for my dad several years ago as he lived on the opposite side of the country.  The basic chorus says, “Through the years and the tears and the distance in between us, I will always be your little girl.”  It was surrounded by pictures of my dad and I from birth until the last few years.  The other picture board had a poem I wrote for my late Paw-Paw and his wife, Louise (no blood relation, but I claim them as my real grandparents).  The poem is called the Imprints and is about letting people go when they die, knowing that their life goes on in the Heavenly arms of our Father.  This picture board was peppered with pictures of loved ones lost in my life and in my hubby’s.  It was kind of my way of honoring the place these people hold in my heart still and I know they would’ve been there in person if they could. 

Anyway, we had 5 different flavored cakes all made by family members and all are my favorite kinds of cake!  There was a huge bowl full of fresh strawberries from down the road.  The punch was delicious (it was strawberry too).  The meal was absolutely wonderful thanks to my uncle.  It was boston butt bbq, chicken perlot rice, and green beans (I think).  My uncles also cooked the night before for the rehearsal dinner.  We had fried fish down at the pond on the farm and my wonderful mother-in-law made all the fixins!  It was lovely.  I forgot to mention the brunch the day of the wedding.  I invited family and friends I consider family to a brunch on a pecan orchard.  The lady there served us homemade goodies in the likeness of a “tea”.  I gave gifts to everyone and wanted to say something sentimental about each one, but I started to cry at the first person I came to, so that didn’t really happen.

Back to the reception, we had a few people toast – not as many as I had hoped, but that’s okay.  I cried at a few people’s comments of course.  We danced later on to our first dance which was “At Last” by Etta James.  We were talking about something and just realized yesterday that we didn’t even take the time to enjoy the dance.  The flip flops I was wearing rubbed a hole in my toe – I think that happened when my brother and I were shagging (that is a dance) to Carolina Girl.  Hubby and his mom danced to the Hawaiian version of Over the Rainbow.  I tried to do something really sweet for my best friend, but it was a bust because the DJ only had the remix of a very slow and intimate song.  Oh well.  My mom caught the bouquet and our videographer caught the garter (while filming mind you).  We found the garter when we opened our camera to watch the wedding yesterday.  He’ll get it back sometime unexpectedly we decided.  As we left, we were showered with bubbles and lavender buds.  My hair looked incredible, but it took forever after we got home to get all the stuff out of it because of the hairspray and curls.  So off we went in my Git-R-Done car straight to the car wash where I changed out of my cute little leaving dress into jeans and a t-shirt (finally).  Hubby just changed into his flip flops.  We then drove home to Jax over the next 3.5 hrs which only seemed like the blink of an eye because we chatted the whole way home.  We had barely seen each other up til the point of the wedding because we were working so hard to get everything done in time.  We caught up on the weeks events and shared what people had said to us and that kind of thing.

The next morning came and we headed off to Orlando for a much needed getaway.  We were SO EXHAUSTED.  We slept all afternoon after checking in.  We stayed at a 2 bedroom condo and our bathroom had a jacuzzi tub which I used A LOT.  I don’t even have a bathtub at our apartment, so I took advantage while I could.  The next few days were filled with sleeping, renting movies, Islands of Adventure, Putt-Putt, going to a chick flick, Planet Hollywood, and back home.  Oh, well we did have to do that annoying little time share tour with a pushy sales person, but other than that we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  We came home to a very disappointing empty house.  Somehow, we assumed it would be filled with presents for us to open, but instead they were at my mom’s house.  So we brought in our luggage and went to get our presents.  It took a long time to open them all when we got home and then we watched the wedding while drinking leftover wine from the ceremony. 

Now, we’re forced to get back into the daily grind.  Hubby is at work.  I need to clean and tend to my dad’s estate stuff and should probably go to work for a few hours at least.  I’m still ecstatic that I don’t start school until Tuesday again, so I can enjoy a stress-free weekend!  Plus, it’s my very last class before I graduate.  After that, I can try to make a wedding scrapbook or something.  Hopefully, tonight we can make it to the stores to return some very lovely, but not needful gifts.  We went through our registry last night and decided on a few things we REALLY wanted, so that’s the plan.  Plus there’s mother’s day and his siblings birthday – so we need to get a few gifts. 

I’ll let y’all know how the real honeymoon goes when it happens . . . Montana in October!!

Important Dates January 20, 2009

I may or may not publish this, but figured while I was on here and thinking about it, I could make myself a list of important dates in my life that I never want to forget and lately they’ve all been getting jumbled in my head and hard to keep up with.

June 2, 1997 – Keri
May 27 – Keri’s birthday

August 19, 2007 – Dan’l
June 25 – Dan’l’s birthday

February 17, 2008 – Jenna

August 17, 2008 – Dad
October 3rd – Dad’s birthday

November 13, 2007 – first date with Will
October 4, 2008 – engagement day
May 2, 2009 – wedding day

Family Birthdays:
January 12 – Karen
January 14 – Will
March 15 – Zach
April 11 – Kyle
April 20 – Ashleigh
Aprill 22 – me (like I’d forget)
May 8 – Anna/Tyler
May – Dawson
June 1 – LaVonne
June 16 – Rachel
June 30 – Grayson
July 24 – Lu
September 1 – Josiah
September 16 – Craig
September – Logan
October 4 – Charlie
October 5 – Sandy
November 3 – Becky
December 3 – Josh
December – Lynne’
December 11 – Danielle
December 21 – Hunter
need dates – Lorraine, Kristen, Nina, and my great-nieces

after this, I’m thinking I should start buying birthday cards in bulk!