I've Moved...!

Dearest friends and family members who have so faithfully read my posts and so patiently endured my long periods of silence (sorry), I've moved here!  I hope you'll follow me there and soon, you'll see all the changes in store! :)

The Mental Snapshot of a Lifetime...

The snapshot I'm sharing with you is not something you can see.  It's something I can see in my mind's eye.  I suppose once my photographer sends me the images from my reception, you will be able to see... but even then, what you'd see would not, could not compare to what I see in my memory.  Let me paint for you one of the dearest, fondest memories I have from our wedding day:

The night was winding down.  I had danced myself silly, hardly eating or drinking anything, because in typical Amanda fashion, I didn't want to miss a thing.  I had done "The Hustle."  I had done "The Cupid Shuffle."  I had twisted and shouted.  I had shimmied while wearing oversized sunglasses as my husband wore a cowboy hat and even bigger glasses.  And now... it was time for our last dance.

We chose "Animal," a favorite of ours that I wanted to be "our song," except his friend already claimed it as "their song."  Weird.  Anyway, we danced gleefully, as all our dearest friends and family members gathered spontaneously around us, creating a giant circle.  We spun and laughed and sung and danced, as all around us, our friends laughed and sang.  I remember the feeling of pure bliss, the moments just before we said goodbye to our parents and left for our hotel.

It is forever etched in my memory-- a snapshot that will last for a lifetime, even if fire destroys the actual pictures.

While I'm at it, I'll give you a few more mental snapshots:
1.  Waking up to Bestie's soft harp alarm on my wedding day.  And then getting ready with good music, laughter, and hairspray-- nervous excitement.
2.  Feeling so beautiful as I slipped on my wedding dress, with my hair and makeup all done.
3.  Seeing TBH (HTB at the time) for the first time.  I hugged him from behind and choked out, "You can turn around now."  And then I promptly started crying.  The day had finally come, and I was overwhelmed.
4.  Eating a Starbucks birthday cake pop in the car on the way to the church after pictures, with my girls in the pickup truck with me.  My best friends were all in the same car. :)
5.  Standing at the doorway of the sanctuary with Dad, and hearing the beautiful harp music that began "Pas de Deux."  We walked slowly, and I let the memory sink in.  It was dark, save for the warm candlelight.  I saw no one but TBH at the end of the aisle.  My big smile wobbled as emotion took over, all the way down.  And the entire time, Dad tried to calm my nerves by telling me a story of when I was in tumbling as a little girl and I showed my instructor a nice booger.  He told me not to show a booger to the pastor.  I felt confused at that point.  Hahahahaha.
6.  TBH and I read our vows to each other.  Neither had dry eyes.  We meant those words and said them before God and promised them to each other.  It was intense.
7.  I remember the relief of walking back up that aisle, even though we had to do it twice for the photographer.  A weight had been lifted.

So there you go... before the actual snapshots show up on this site, there are a few from my memory, that I'll always cherish.

Over My Head...

Well, I may or may not have gotten in over my head when I said I'd post a picture a day.  Do I want to?  Yes.  Is it possible?  Not really.  Maybe if I was 37 and had been married ten years and knew how to balance caring for my husband AND daily blogging... but I'm not there yet.  In fact, this is, as TBH called it, "adjustment week."  We are figuring out how to live together, serve each other, and love each other, all while balancing jobs, bills, and housework.  I know, I know, you're thinking, OK, big deal-- like EVERY OTHER COUPLE EVER TO EXIST.  And you'd be right-- there's nothing special about our "adjustment week."  But it is all new to us.

So I will update my blog when I have time, which hopefully will be more than once a week.

And when I have even MORE time, big changes will happen on this blog, you'll see...

Heirlooms...

Today I had to throw away my bouquet.  It was a sad moment.  This is all that remains: some lace from my mom's wedding dress and some pretty pins.

And it got me thinking... what heirloom will my daughter carry with her on her wedding day?  Will she want to wear my dress with its handy hidden pockets?  Will she want to shorten my veil to chapel length?  Will she carry the hankie my mom embroidered?  Will she take the embellishment from my dress and design her own (with her mother's designer genes)?

It's kind of fun to think about.  I wonder what the wedding styles will be in thirty or so years.  I wonder how outdated my pictures will be, or if they will be timeless, like Jackie Kennedy (yeah right).

Brides-to-be, do you plan on using/wearing an heirlooms?  Mothers, what have you/do you hope to give your daughter to wear on her wedding day, as a little piece of yourself?

Catching Up With the Newlyweds...

I didn't have much time to blog in the last week and a half, but here we go: one picture from the last 14 days!

 Merely one picture from the bachelorette party.  Keep in mind, I consumed no alcohol... I was only doing what I was told.  Hahaha.

 Prettying it up the day before the wedding!

 Good morning... I'm a bride! :)

 This is what I got to wake up to. :)  My husband. :)  Now to be called: "The Big H" or maybe "TBH."

 We went to the 9/11 memorial.  There aren't many more words I can actually use to describe it.

 The honeymooners with Lady Liberty.

 Having lunch, New York Style.

 Our last night in the city led us to a nice Italian place for dinner.

 And the couple goes home.

 My beautiful bouquet, still in bloom one week later!

 Oh, the humanity!!!!!!  TBH moves in!!!!

 And I organize.  I've never seen anyone with a DVD collection like ours.  The ottoman is blocking the bottom 1/4.

 This is my guilt-less guilty pleasure snack.  This has no bearing to the actual day.  It's just a new vice.

Finally: today.  This is the first meal I made for The Big H, as his wife.  Homemade chili and cornbread... mm-mm good!