Special Wishes & Advice (via guestbook pages)

Seasons greetings, everyone!
So, as previously mentioned, Devin and I went with a unique guestbook from The Guestbook Store for our wedding. Instead of simply signing their name in a book, each guest received a double-sided placemat of sorts, where they answered questions, drew pictures, and shared special wishes and advice.

YOU CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE HOW AWESOME THEY TURNED OUT!! Not because the artwork was immaculate or because each and every sentiment tugged firmly at our heartstrings - really, it was because of the opposite! Most of the drawings were stick figures (making them AWESOME) and we got quite a few colorful responses that made us LOL (a few of them actually couldn't be shared on here...). Oh, how I wish I could scan and post each guestbook entry we received...but, the next best option is for me to share all the wishes and advice for us, from guests young and old; single, engaged, married; hilarious, serious, and everything in between. I might also end up taking pictures of some of our favorite drawings...but for now, enjoy the gems that our guests shared with us - maybe it applies to you, too ;-)

"Special Wishes for Us"
-That you make Christ the head of your home.
-Joy in your marriage - agape love!
-That you keep Jesus Christ as the center of your life together - and may you always encourage each other!
-Happiness, joy, and all that rot. Above and beyond that, I hope and pray that in 2061, you can look back and say, "You know, it hasn't always been easy, but I'm so glad we stuck it out and worked through our disagreements. You are  my best friend, and I love you more today than when we were married 50 years ago."
-That you both continue to grow in love and happiness on your journey together.
-That the Lord will remain in your hearts and home; that your love for each other will grow.
-Many many happy years.
-May your love and joy grow every day and may God give you peace and strength for the days that are tough.
-To love & live; to care & give; to have & hold; to love ever bold
-Some babies to snuggle; and may all your life's ups and downs be in between the sheets!
-Redheaded children! (Tyler...)
-No redheaded children. (...Monique!)
-Always keep laughing! You both have such great personalities. 
-Self-knowledge; flexibility; pursuit of your passion; 10+ kids (I'm NOT kidding on this one...)
-Enjoy your many wonderful years together, you lovebirds!
-To ALWAYS be as happy as you are today; to always be quick to forgive; be a good listener; that each of you will always think of the other first, and yourself second.
-God bless you both in your new life together and your life with Him. I love you both!
-That you have a happy life (I know you will because you have a great outlook on life) and that God be at the center of it all!
-Enjoy every day together, the good and the bad. Have a blast in Hawaii/Oahu!
-May you know unbounded joy, unconditional love, and the strength to weather all of life's storms in each other's arms, eyes, and heart.
-Live long and prosper.
-Long life, full of opportunities for growth and love.
-Love God, and you WILL be happy!
-That you live the joy and love that God has made you to experience.
-My wish for you is to have a God-centered marriage and life, and a love that will continue to grow, even as it changes through the years, a love that will get you through the tough times as well as the good times - a beautiful and blessed life!
-That you love each other always and live to celebrate your 75th wedding anniversary together - I'll be watching!
-A life filled with laughter, love, and each other!
-Live long, be happy, and celebrate each and every day.
-A lifetime full of laughter, love, music, art, with good health and joyful hearts!
-Remember this day and the special memories yet to come
-No disease, & puppies, & maybe a kid or 2
-400 BABIES
-Take what you can! Give nothing back! Yo! Ho! (Capt. Jack Sparrow)
-Pick one another day after day; learning the love that comes with time
-I have no doubts that you two will make an amazing life together. Enjoy yourselves.
-I hope you guys stay as annoyingly happy as ever and as deeply in love as you are now (cause both are ridiculously obvious!)
-Have beautiful babies!
-Have a great time in Hawaii!
-I wish many special wishes that are especially special; that is my wish...
-To drink 1 gallon of milk in 10 minutes
-I wish for you to get 3 more wishes.
-Years of happiness and lots and lots of fat babies.
-A life that is full of happiness, joy, and love. I've never known a more perfect couple. I hope your life together is as wonderful as you two are.
-A long and happy life together, of course! And plenty more silly memories...and maybe some red-haired children.
-Great success!
-A lifetime full of happiness, family and friends.
-Many years of blessings, happy memories and frequent visits from Jerry
-I wish both of you a life full of happiness, creativity, love, and most importantly - sillyness! :)

"Any Advice for the Newlyweds?" 

"You should..."
- Express your thanks to your spouse when he or she does something for you; practice saying 'ours' instead of 'mine.'
- Have a date night once a week.
-Learn when to and when not to speak - and just because you think something does not mean you should say it!
-Keep God as a key member in your relationship and remain in His word; if it's late and you're tired and you still are arguing - go to bed. In the morning, it won't be as important as it seemed the night before.
-"Put on the mind of Christ." Laugh, giggle, enjoy the time - it goes by quickly.
-Be humble - humility will go a long way. Forgive each other. Think of each other first.
-Have many grandchildren for your parents to enjoy!
-Don't sweat the small stuff. PS - it's all small stuff!
-Come and visit more often!
-LOTS of communication; lots of silliness - it keeps things light; lots and lots of love!
-Laugh. Facetime when apart. Have an adventure
-Go on adventures! Also, always keep things in perspective. The stresses in life will always pass! Enjoy every moment of peace.
-Tune out everyone's unsolicited advice, especially when it begins with "you should..." (There will be a lot.)
-Never go to bed angry, never lose those 3 hour midnight conversations, and make cake for no reason.
-Follow your heart...give each other space.
-Love each other 100% all the time; be ready to say "I'm sorry;" do the unexpected!
-Make a 5 year plan, a 10 year plan, and a 20 year plan...then try to figure out what to do tomorrow afternoon! Take some chances while you're young (and old!)
-Never go to bed without resolving a fight - no, seriously. Cherish each other. Laugh - a lot. Remember that the flip side of the things that annoy you are the things you really admire. Say "I love you" everyday. Cook together. Have no secrets. Tell each other about your day. Have big adventures. Have small adventures. Have LOTS of adventures. Always remember the way the other person looked at you today. Don't forget we're always here for you.
-Believe half of what you see, none of what you hear.
-Develop selective hearing - ignore the crabbiness at the end of a tired day.
-Remain friends!
-Keep your sense of humor - you're going to need it!
-Always kiss each other when parting, waking, going to sleep...and in between, optionally.
-Respect each other.
-Keep having fun; say I love you at least once a day; laugh a lot; and, if need be, learn to COMMUNICATE!
-Do something nice for one another - even (especially) when you don't want to. You need to lose yourself to the other - hard to do, I am still learning.
-Always have a dog in your life.
-Never leave less than 1/2 cup of milk in the fridge; never leave only the crust piece in the bread; and use separate knives for the peanut butter and jelly!
-Don't sweat the small stuff; always communicate; make time for fun.
-Remember that the definition of true intimacy is honesty. Be honest, stay honest.
-Stay in touch with your younger cousin ;-)
-Cook with your stereo cranked up (adds extra flava!) Always laugh and play like kids - it slows down the aging process.
-Respect the sea or she'll gobble you up in one foul swoop (Capt. Jack Sparrow)
-Stay young at heart and always volunteer to babysit ;-)
-...could, and would. But by all means, don't worry about it.
-Keep your childhood in mind.
-Kathleen should never dye her hair (it's pretty!) but Devin should dye his blue & purple again :)
-Try to beat the Duggers and get a TV show. Don't buy your kids a pony, they are very expensive!
-Really like each other a lot...
-Learn how to "Dougie"
-Try to get self-raising children, it's lots easier.
-Diet! Don't mistake children for food!
-Don't forget to tell each other that you love each other.
-Count your blessings, and remember to fall in love all over again each day. :)
-Communicate! Don't assume they know what you're thinking, or the other way around!
-When you're mad, lay off the ginger jokes...
-Make each other laugh once each day
-Just remember you may wear the pants, but she picks them out.
-Suspenders make to outfit!
-Laugh always...and keep Jerry around!


In case I don't do more bloggings the rest of the week - I (we!) hope you all have a safe and wonderful Christmas!

The Story.

First blog as "an old married lady!" <--- my aunts kept calling me this/asking if I felt like this last Sunday...the answer is NO! :)

Naturally and obviously, time got away from me during those last few weeks before the wedding. Especially the week before, blogging was out of the question! So now I get to recap and tell everyone my experiences of my final days as a single woman...

Let's begin our story in the area of Nov. 28th. We had just finished all of our Thanksgiving travels (very fun!), and were now getting down to the wire with all the things still left to do. Because we were making the playlist for the reception ourselves, Devin had asked a tech friend in TN to come up and "babysit" the console during the night and also help set up all the sound and lights beforehand. Unfortunately, with about ten days to go, we found out that he had a work conflict and couldn't make it. ....Oh. And so began Devin's mad search for a last-minute replacement.

On Dec. 1 I agreed (along with another main member) to shoot the first TWO event assignments for IPC (Indianapolis Photography Cooperative). They were back-to-back that day and both were very successful; everyone we talked to was extremely nice and really excited about the work we were doing! Both organizations have asked us to do more, and I got to hand out several business cards to other people who could use our services! Anyways, it was nice to get out and shoot for a few hours, and focus on something other than the wedding. But then for those last 9 or 10 days, we really worked hard to pull everything together. Devin worked until the Tuesday before, but every spare moment was spent mixing the music and arranging our light n' sound rental & transportation. With about 5 days to go, he found another tech guy to help us out, which was a big relief for him (I mostly stayed out of *his* wedding business with the attitude, "it will get figured out somehow. The wedding is still happening!")

At one week until the wedding, I personally had the worst day I'd had in a long time - not at all related to any wedding/relationship stuff, just lots of unpleasantness. Devin worked most of the day, and soon after he left that morning I witnessed a man beating up a woman right outside our apartment (yes, I called the cops). Then, since it wasn't very cold out and Chewy hadn't gotten much exercise lately, I took him down the road to one of our favorite spots - a nature park with trails through tall grass and a stand of trees. We were heading back to the car (which is parked off of a rather busy road), with him straining heavily at his leash, when the leash BROKE and he tore off, full-tilt, directly towards the road. All I could do was watch helplessly because he's way faster than me..and then he turned down a  side trail. Gah! Thank the Lord! I knew I'd never catch him so I just walked in that direction, and found him cozying up to a pair of basset hounds (and their owners, who grabbed his harness) that he had to have smelled a hundred yards off where we had been walking. Nice one, Chewmeister. Let's head back to the car while my heart rate returns to normal. Oh, you're too wound up to sit nicely in the backseat? That's okay, those muddy paw prints add a rustic charm to the interior...

Several other frustrations later, my nerves were shot and I pretty much gave up on the day.

Unfortunately, on Tuesday morning I woke up with the first signs of a cold - sore throat and angry sinuses. I said NOO WAY and started taking the maximum dose of Airborne (3x a day) and stuck to it the rest of the week. I could tell my body was still fighting something, but my symptoms pretty much disappeared, so HERE IS MY OFFICIAL PLUG FOR AIRBORNE. DUDE IT WORKS.

Devin's first day off, Wednesday, consisted of LOTS of running around - picking up printed signs from FedEx, WalMart to buy food for everyone staying with us, TACA in Anderson to have our final meeting about setup...I know there was more that I'm not remembering, but the point is that this day marked the beginning of sleeplessness when I went to take a nap so I could chill, and just....couldn't. Laid in bed for 45 minutes. "Well, I feel better so I guess I'll get up and do one of the things that keeps running around my brain." Once I was able to cross several more things off the to-do list, I started to relax - in time for Devin's brother Tyler to arrive! Yay! Our first wedding guest :)

Thursday was another busy one. The boys left around 10:30 am to start collecting various lighting gear, and I headed to Kokomo around noon to begin my pampering - a bridal body polish from my sister's best friend Kristina, who works at Healing Hands Natural Therapy Spa. It was a blissful hour of full-body sugar scrub and hot towels, and I was thoroughly relaxed afterwards. aaaaahhhhh...
The evening was spent at my mom's house; she and my sister helped me put together programs and assemble the small pennant flags that we used for our sendoff. I/we accomplished everything that could be done. However, once I was in bed I was thinking of everything happening the NEXT day; long story short, I might have gotten 3 hours of sleep. Bah.

Friday morning: us girls (me, mom, sister) got up early(ish) to get pedicures together. I also stopped by the mall to get my engagement ring cleaned, pick up some more Airborne and also some bubble bath for our night in the Jacuzzi suite :) It was pretty surreal to be walking around the mall I used to hang out in as a 13-year-old, the day before my wedding. This is where time seemed to speed up considerably; suddenly I was with my sister, picking up my nephew from school, then we were on our way to TACA, then we arrived at TACA (which was already BEAUTIFUL), and then we rehearsed, and then rehearsal was done, and then we were bowling, and then I saw Devin for the last time before the ceremony, and then I was hanging at our apartment with the 5 other people staying there (yeah, it was crowded)...mercifully, I was able to sleep, but woke up about an hour early and just laid in bed in varying states of nervousness.

By some miracle of wedding day fairy magic, everything that morning ran on time. I walked into my hair appointment at noon - Angelica, a friend from high school, works at Bab & Co Hairdesigners in Carmel, and she did an awesome job on my hair and managed to finish about 5 minutes early. It was great to hear "We're all ready!" when I called my sister to tell her I was on my way back.

HOWEVER.

We ended up behind schedule because of a last-minute Wendy's run, where, naturally, the order got screwed up and the whole process was slow to begin with. Oh, well.

When I got to TACA, it was 2:30 - only about 15 minutes late. I already had my dress there, and in my dress bag had I also stored my shoes, jewelry, and warm comfy wrap to lessen the chances of forgetting anything important. All the bridesmaids still had to get their dresses on, but they had all at least prepared by wearing all the necessary *undergarments.* The additional complication came when my sister's zipper broke, and my aunt had to emergency-sew her into her dress, with her wrap attached (good thing she was matron of honor...it was okay for her to be different...) I didn't get to see this process because my mom and my bridesmaid Kate were lacing me into MY dress, but I did get to hear the delightful exclamations of "Shit!" coming from their general direction...at one point Uncle Tim, our officiant, popped his head through the door to ask if we were ready, and the resounding unanimous response he got was "NO!"

So, dear guests, I really have no idea just HOW late we were in starting the ceremony, but now you know why it happened...

And then it was a crazy wonderful blur of gettin' hitched and taking pictures and a brief but AWESOME limo ride with our wedding party, and the toasts were AMAZING and the food was AMAZING and then baby Andrew knocked over my Irish coffee and then we danced to a song that I didn't know would be our first dance until we were in the limo and then I danced with New Dad and then my mom and then everybody partied and there were family and friends and hugs and kisses and love and more pictures and champagne and other drinks and pretty lights!

Yay!

And then the night ended and our 45 minute drive to the hotel took about 3 seconds and then we arrived

and stuff :)

and then I woke up married to my one true love.


So begins our new life together.  S'wonderful.


...I noted earlier tonight that our marriage has already lasted longer than Kim Kardashian's. Score!

Coming up next: the delightful tidbits we received from our guestbook pages :)