Looking Back

So I've been thinking about things that were going on around this time last year.
Ryan asked my dad for permission to marry me October 31st, on Halloween. I remember we were all trick-or-treating and then Ryan said he was going to go to the bathroom and he was gone for a while. My dad hadn't known what to say, I think he was just surprised. They had gotten home from Disney Land the day before so he probably wasn't expecting it. Especially since my parents didn't think we were going to get married anytime soon.

The next day, November 1st, Ryan proposed. I knew he had asked my dad, although I don't think Ryan wanted me to know, I found out by accident. I wasn't expecting him to propose already, we had talked about marriage but hadn't really talked about a set date yet. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. Totally unexpected yet perfect.

Then the next day Ryan and I gave my parents some more big news. We informed them that I was expecting. I hadn't known what to expect, since my parents weren't happy with me when they found out I was moving in with my boyfriend, although they readily accepted it. My dad told us that there was always room for more in the family, also looking in Ryan's direction.

And the wedding planning started there. We set the date for January 21st, 2008, which would be our 1 year anniversary. We only had three months to plan the wedding. I got lucky and got an opportunity to travel to Peru for free to get my wedding dress, wedding invitations, the cake topper and the little wedding tokens as well as the pillow for the rings, my shoes and my head band. I was gone for 5 days, the longest I had ever been away from Ryan. It was really hard on us.

The first wedding dress I tried on was the one I bought. It was handmade and it came with the veil, the detachable train, and the bouquet. It all cost me exactly $86. My invitations were about the same price for 200 invitations. My beautiful crystal headband cost me SEVEN dollars, and my shoes about ten!

When I got back my best friends mother did our engagement pictures. We took them up at Mueller Park in the winter! It was really cold that day but we had a lot of fun! We even got snow on us in one of the pictures! I put up some of my favorite pictures that she took. A few weeks later she did my bridal pictures, we took about 250 pictures!! Everything was coming together so nicely and beautifully.

The night before the wedding was nerve wrecking. I wasn't scared or nervous! It was all the anticipation building up! I was really excited, and it was so hard to believe the day was almost there! I hardly slept at all that night. I woke up at 5:00 am, too antsy to get going and get ready for the day. I was anxious to get to the church and when we finally got there I had huge butterflies in my stomach! As soon as I saw Ryan when I was walking down that aisle, I was calm and I had to bite my lip so I wouldn't start crying!!!
My actual wedding day was blissful and I'm grateful for my parents working so hard to make it perfect! Every morning I wake up happy because of the wonderful man I wake up next to each day and because every day is always an adventure and I wonder what each new day brings.