Going On Holiday

I love that the Brits use the term "holiday" rather than "vacation." It has such a jolly ring to it! Either way, vacation or holiday, D and I are outta here at 4pm today! We are heading to Rothenburg ob der Tauber for the weekend to officially celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary! Let me tell you, I am SUPER excited about this trip! I've been eyeing this little walled town along the Romantic Road in Germany ever since I got my first Rick Steve's travel book. So, when anniversary time started to roll around, I knew this was the place we had to celebrate in. It's only a 2 hour drive from our lovely hotel here in Wiesbaden, so it was alot more do-able in terms of a quick trip than our original plan...London. We'll get there too eventually. London is number one on my list of places to visit outside of Germany. 


I know I was supposed to post photos and a recap from our wedding reception to round out wedding week last night...but seeing as it was our actual anniversary yesterday, I just didn't feel like wasting the evening blogging when I could be spending it with my handsome hubby. Besides, I wasn't really feeling the blogger love in the comment department, so maybe wedding week wasn't as well received as I had thought it would be. That's ok though. I blog for D, myself, and to update the family mostly, so it's going to be nice to look back at those posts one day and remember how I felt about our wedding events even 4 years after the fact! 


Even though we spent most of the day apart because D had to work, we still had a nice anniversary evening together. Because we are spending the weekend in Rothenburg, we kept it pretty low key last night. D brought home a bottle of our favorite wine and ordered pizza for us, as per anniversary tradition. This tradition is not something either of us would have particularly chosen to be our special "thing" each anniversary, but the military typically does alot of the choosing for us, 2 out of the 3 previous anniversaries we've spent in a hotel room because of various military training's and TDY's. And these hotels have all been either VOQ or TLF type hotels. Romantic, right? Eh, such is the life of a military family. You make due. Last year was the first year we actually did something WE wanted to do for our anniversary. We spent it in Mexico celebrating my parent's 25th anniversary and our 3rd! It was a great trip, but bittersweet. You know the military had to ruin it somehow, didn't you? Literally the day after we hopped off the plane from Mexico and a beautiful anniversary trip, I had to put D right back on one in Baltimore to send him to Cuba for his first 6 month deployment. The only word to describe that is SUCKED. It completely sucked. 

D and I before his championship Icarus game on our 1st anniversary.
 In a hotel room at Maxwell AFB for D's ASBC training.

In Mexico last summer- 3rd anniversary

Thankfully this year we aren't going to be ripped apart immediately after returning from our mini vacation. Although we did spend our actual anniversary in a hotel room...again...it's a tradition we've come to accept and laugh about. And really, I could be anywhere with D and be happy. He's my best friend. Everything's better with your best friend around. 


So, we enjoyed our cheesy pizza and got ready to go to our German language class. Halfway through the getting ready process, we decided to nix the class and enjoy our night alone together. It was kind of fun skipping class just to spend time with one another. It was like we were in college all over again! D even said, "I feel guilty skipping...but then, kind of not. I feel bad skipping. Bad as in naughty!" Too funny. Oddly enough, I felt the same way! Guess some things never change. As low key and boring as our night may have seemed, it was quite perfect. I'm so looking forward to spending 100 more years as D's wife!


Now, if you'll excuse me...I've got a bit of packing to finish up! Auf Wiedersehen, friends!

Wedding Week: Going to the Chapel...

“I dreamed of a wedding of elaborate elegance,
A church filled with family and friends.
I asked him what kind of a wedding he wished for,
He said one that would make me his wife.”
-Unknown-

Me and my lovely bridesmaids ready to start the beautification process!

D's sent me a really sweet letter. He's always been good with words.

And he made a video slideshow of all of his favorite photos of our life together thus far. It brought tears to everyone's eyes!

My adorable cousin and flower girl. She's 11 now and still knocks 'em dead with that smile!

My undergarments look almost like a dress...besides the almost see-through crinoline skirt.

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My florist is a flower genius! I absolutely loved him! Perfect colors and arrangement for a July wedding.

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D's best man either telling him not to go through with it or telling him to calm down. Knowing Elliott, he was probably saying the former. Gotta love 'em.

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I mean, could he be more handsome?

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Allure Photography

I love this photo of D and his Dad. Sweet men.

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I was lucky enough to have two fabulous Maids of Honor, my sister and my best friend.

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My family

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Allure Photography

One of my favorite photos of the entire day! A girl can do anything with her ladies by her side!

 

 Back down in the bridal suite...getting nervous while waiting for 4 o'clock to roll around.

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Allure Photography

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The string quartet started playing and it was time to start...

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Allure Photography

Allure Photography

Allure Photography

“When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”

-When Harry Met Sally-

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Allure Photography
Exchanging of the rings

Lighting of the Unity Candle

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This was one of my favorite parts of the ceremony. Our pastor prompted D and I to partake in the Lord's Supper in a very intimate way. He turned off the microphone, spoke directly to us in hushed tones, and used exaggerated hand movements as if to interpret what he was saying to us to the congregation. Some of my family in the pews farther back said they couldn't hear a word our pastor was saying, but the silence was powerful. It was very important to us to enter our marriage fully committed to God and to show our loved ones our intention to uphold a Christian household for ourselves and our future children.

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Allure Photograpghy

You may now kiss the bride!! Yippee!

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Happy newlyweds!

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As with any great wedding, there is a little bit of smoke and mirrors. Make-up, fancy dresses, faking a getaway from the church to the reception hall in a super cool Rolls-Royce but actually parking out back and going back into the church to take more pictures. Yeah, it was like a scene in a movie. I love that we did this, though. The photos turned out great and the fanfare made for some awesome memories! We felt like celebrities!

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Allure Photography

Allure Photography

We got to ride in not one, but two different Rolls-Royce's on our wedding day. The first car's A/C conked out as we were "faking" our getaway and while we were inside the church taking more photos, they sent another air conditioned one to the rescue. Thank goodness because it was one of the hottest days in July!

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This photo still cracks me up to this day! Poor D had no idea what to do with his hands...so this is what he came up with! He said it felt weird wearing a ring and he was afraid it would fall off. Almost every one of our formal photos has his hand like this. So funny!

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“Never above you. Never below you. Always beside you.”

-Walter Winchell-       

                                                                             

Happy Anniversary!!

To my Mom & Dad!

This photo was taken last year on our trip to Mexico for their 25th wedding anniversary and our 3rd anniversary!

Today, they are celebrating 26 years together as husband and wife! Not only are they the best parents a girl could ask for, but they've been and continue to be a wonderful example of what a loving, Christian marriage should be. 

Here's to 50 more, Mom & Dad! 

Love you to the moon and back!

Wedding Week: Last Fling Before The Ring!

 I know I was supposed to post about this last night, but D came home a little down and super frustrated with work last night, so I had to be a good wife and tend to his jilted spirit. Life comes first, so that's where I was! Now on to the Bachelorette fun!

I have such an amazing group of girlfriends. Being here in Germany reminds me of that fact each and every day. I miss them so much! I wish I could pack them all up in boxes and mail them here! These girls helped to make my last fling before the ring a night to remember. All I will say is that before the night was over, we had all tested our phallic drawing abilities, a certain groom's bachelor party crashed our bachelorette fun, and 2 (yes TWO!) people lost their underpants in all the party chaos. It was definitely a night to remember...or at least we tried to remember. Eh, thank goodness for cameras!

Getting crowned and sashed before heading out to dinner.

Pin the macho on the man...a MUST at Bachelorette parties!

Hello gorgeous!! My fabulous roomie made me this busty bosom cake! How cool is that!

Wiener cookies anyone? My wieners even had bow ties. Super clever.

 All of my beautiful, sassy ladies!!!

A mini lingerie shower!

Checkin out all my naughty goodies!

Leopard handcuffs?

I don't remember doing this. At all. 

Time to pin the macho on the man!! 

She completely missed the target. Completely. And it was HILARIOUS!

The finished product. I have to say, my favorite is the zebra print shoulder sash. LOL

Uh oh! Look what the cat dragged in! The boys just couldn't stay away! This happy fella was one of D's best men (along with his father).

D being super inappropriate...but kind of hilarious.

The boys decided to show off their talents in order to win Bachelorette badges. Let's just say, by the end of the night, I had been handed a pair of recently worn underwear, groped by a member of the bridal party, and was the recipient of 3 different versions of a lap dance. Priceless.

Here are a few of the "talents." This is all I'll share because the talents all go downhill after this. Boys have no shame.

All in all, it was a fabulous night! Bachelorette parties are always the best parties!

Later...finally, it's wedding day!