Looking Back

December 9, 2000 was the day I married the man of my dreams. The one God set aside for me. The one who loves me despite all my faults and sort comings.

Looking back, that was a crazy time in our life.

4 months earlier, I got ready to leave CA for MO and go to school. I remember sitting in the cabin I was living in on Donner Lake with Brook. We talked about how I was only going to be gone for 5 months and since his parents were sure we needed a long engagement, we would wait until January 2010 to let them know we were engaged. A long wait, but with me being at school that long, I could do it. Leaving the next morning was not easy as Brook brought me to the airport. But it would be good. He could get going in college and I could finish college and then we would be together. Little did we know....

About 7 weeks later I found out I was expecting Alex. I left school and came back home to Brook. We decided that even though the family was telling us to wait until the baby was born, we were going to get married before the baby came. We thought about eloping to Reno and just doing it right then. But I knew my mom would be devastated if she couldn't see her only child get married. So we pack up Brook's tiny apartment and moved to New Orleans, where my mom lived. She offered for us to start our lives out there.

And so began the planning of our wedding. It wasn't much. We did get our pastor there to give us the super fast version of pre-marital counciling, ending the night before the wedding. We did it all in 6 weeks. I couldn't get a nice wedding dress with my baby bump starting to show and so we opted for a small wedding in the livingroom of Mom's house. I wore a green dress and Brook wore slacks and a matching green sweater.

I made my own wedding cake. The 1st layer turned out great. A circle of Strawberry cake. I put the next one in the oven, this one shaped as a heart. Sometime in the 35 minutes the oven quit working.... my cake was just done enough to pull out of the pan and top the cake. Everyone was told not to eat the 1st layer :o) hahahaha.

In the video of the wedding you can hear Ashely the kitty meowing. She spent the whole time between us wanting to be picked up :o) Another funny part to our wedding.

After all was said and done, and years of wishing it had been different, I wouldn't have it any other way. We may have only had 7 people, but my Papa gave me away. My Aunt and Uncle and cousins came from FL, and I always treasured that. The most important is that Brook and I became one that day. What an amazing day!

So this year, as you know, we are going to have our 10 year anniversary and renew our vows. I, for years, set this as the wedding I didn't get. But now, at this time in my life, something is different in me and I am excited to remarry my husband, but like the 1st one, I don't plan on things being a "normal" wedding.