photo credit Liz Duren Photography Blog
After much anticipation, my brother's wedding came and went... much too quickly! Everything was SO beautiful! The day could not have been any more perfect. Jaime had planned every last little detail, making sure that there were special touches strewn throughout the event. It was so much fun to spend time with friends and family that I don't see often enough. It was amazing to watch my brother marry my best friend... and know how truly happy they are. It was wonderful to spend time with my sister-in-law's family and get to know them all a little bit better. Thinking of that day now still makes me tear up. I feel very lucky to be blessed with such wonderful family and friends. The bride and groom are enjoying the tail end of their TWO WEEK (ummm... yes... I'm jealous!) honeymoon in Hawaii and the rest of us have gotten back to life as usual.
I'm officially crossing the last two wedding related things off my list: 1) I survived the wedding weekend. This was ONLY an item on the list because of our two year old. Since my husband and I were both in the wedding and all of my family and 99% of my friends were AT the wedding, that left a great deal of worry about who was going to take care of our son in the ceremony and what we were going to do with him that night so that Matt and I could stay and enjoy the reception. My wonderful friend Katie had offered to pick him up from the reception and bring him home to our house and spend the night with him so that Matt and I could stay at the hotel downtown. God bless her, because she was a savior. She even showed up with a new Thomas the Train Engine for Andy so he didn't even notice they were driving away without his Mama. The bigger issue came when we quickly realized at the rehearsal that there was no way he could even be in the sanctuary during the ceremony, let alone walk down the isle. So, I was completely panicked the night before trying to find someone to come keep him in the nursery during the ceremony. When my friend Michelle called on Saturday morning about something unrelated and I told her how the rehearsal went, all she said was "just tell me where you need me to be and what time, and I'll be there!". I started crying because it was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders and I could finally just relax.
Although, I have to say, it was really strange not to see Andy AT ALL on Saturday until after the ceremony. It was so hard for me to just trust that my husband had everything under control, that my friend Leslie had gotten to the church early to keep Andy occupied while the groomsmen were having their pictures done, that my friend Beth had found my husband and been introduced to Leslie so she could show her where the church nursery was... so that Leslie could show Michelle where to go when she got there... and finally, that Michelle hadn't gotten stuck in traffic or had trouble finding parking and had made it there in time, gotten Andy from Leslie and gone to the nursery! I thought I was going to start crying again after the ceremony when I went into the nursery and there was Andy in his little dress pants, ivory shirt with cuff links, dress shoes and tie, playing happily with Michelle, her husband Matt and their little boy Owen. In there he also had a gift bag from Leslie with some new matchbox cars and a farm puzzle. I really am just blessed, blessed, blessed to have such awesome and amazing friends!
And number 2) I wrote my Matron of Honor speech. I had been composing this in my head for a few weeks before the wedding, but I finally sat down and wrote it all out a few hours before we had to head to the church. I felt very emotional honoring both my brother and a friend I have known for almost 12 years. I promised my brother I wouldn't embarrass him. I figured I'd leave that up to the best man, so I took the sappy route. The last time I had to give a Maid of Honor speech was nine years ago. I definitely didn't have the poise to carry that out without having something written, so I cried and spoke awkwardly through the whole thing. I was determined NOT to do that this time! It was really hard not to cry, so I just focused on reading the words on the paper and not actually feeling the words on the paper at that particular time.... otherwise I never would have made it through.
So now that it's all over... it's time to get back to real life. I finally and officially feel like I'm out of my slump. I've been more productive at home and feel ready to tackle lots of projects. I have something fun and different planned for my November resolutions, so I'm going to have to work my behind off to finish up my list by the end of October!
