Wedding Excitement

Ok, so I mentioned in my last post that I did NOT want this blog to be solely about Jared and I. So this will be my first and final post that discusses anything regarding the wedding and honeymoon.

First of all, everyone tries to tell you about how the wedding/wedding day is just completely exhausting and flies by. When I think back on it now, several weeks later, it does seem that way. But when I really look at it, you feel just such a mixture of emotions that by the end of the day you're exhausted from experiencing them all. Logistically, everything fell into place beautifully - once we hit about 1:00 pm that day, I wasn't worrying about anything. I was thinking about getting myself ready, having all of the photos done, and just following through with everything. The ceremony flew by (literally, I think, because I believe it lasted about 25 minutes, only 15 of which I was actually a part of it.) The reception seemed short and quick, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. I don't have any digital copies of photos from the wedding and reception right now, so here is a link to the wonderful Amy-Rose King's blog where you can get a pretty good preview (my photos are about halfway down the page):

Amy Rose King Photography

These are my BEAUTIFUL bridesmaids at the rehearsal.

The night before our wedding, in front of my little apartment door for the LAST time!

We spent the night of the wedding in Lubbock, and the next morning spent the entire day in airports and on planes on our way to Barbados - definitely worth the effort. Below are some pictures of us and the uh-mazing Crane Resort, originally opened in 1890.

One of 2 pool complexes on the resort grounds. This specific view is from our room's balcony.

Our very own private plunge pool on our balcony.

The Crane Beach has been voted in the "World's Top 10 Beaches" several times. I don't know if you can see well enough why, but the sand is PINK! You can kind of tell a little bit when you look at the water, and the sand that has been pulled up by the waves.

Barbados has the clearest, most blue water I have seen in my entire life - this includes Cozumel, Hawaii, and the western coast of Italy. I think you can even see the salt from the air stuck onto my face.

On our last full day there, Jared and I went on a tour of the entire island, which included a visit to a wildlife reserve where the monkeys run up to you and will eat out of your hand. I opted to just be the photographer, and let Jared play with the monkeys.

At the same wildlife reserve, instead I chose to hang out with the tortoises...the HUNDREDS (literally) of tortoises. You had to walk carefully to step in between them because they covered the entire path throughout the reserve.

OK, that's all. If I get any better photos of my in my dress I will definitely post them (that one day was the ONLY time in my life I will ever wear it, so I gotta show it off!) but hopefully this will suffice for now. 

Hopefully some pretty exciting stuff is going to happen in Jared and mine's life over the next 6 months, so I promise that my posts will get even MORE entertaining.

New Beginnings...again

Oh my goodness...I began this blog a year ago, almost to the date. The previous blog I posted was last August. Obviously, I'm not very good at this blogging thing. I would really like to be though, so I am going to try again. One of the words my coworkers use to describe me is "perseverant." I guess I am with most things...and that's usually because I like to make sure things are just the way they should be. And often that doesn't occur with just trying something once, so you have to keep at it until you get it right.

Obviously, I haven't made a blog any sort of priority in my life which is why I let it fall by the wayside. But it's a really fun way to keep people updated with what's going on in your life, and (even if no one reads it) I think it will help me with personal reflection. So here we go again.

Jared and I have been married for 18 days. 6 of those days were our honeymoon (in Barbados, which was amazing - I'll post photos next time) which means we've only REALLY been married for 12. This morning I was awoken by the (his) 80-pound chocolate lab jumping on the bed...with me still in it...on top of the BEAUTIFUL quilt coverlet from crate&barrel that is too expensive to clean and too expensive for us to replace should it become damage by someone's doggy claws. Needless to say, not the best start to one's day. But we're a family, so I'm hoping that the dog gets over this awkwardness soon, because clearly I am already fully adjusted :)

I've noticed that most people have a sort of theme to their blogs. A central idea of focus or point of interest that would make other people want to read them in the first place. I know several people whose "theme" is their new engagement/marriage. While I don't necessarily know if I completely agree that this type of occasion is indeed exciting enough to warrant daily/weekly posts about new developments or events, my 18 days of experience has already given me plenty of evidence that this marriage thing is indeed an adventure.

While many of my posts will probably have something to deal with this new life path I am on, I do not plan on this being the focus. Maybe I'm delusional, but I think I'm secretly hoping that if I put events down in words that they may become more life-filled than they seem in the immediate moment, and I can talk myself into thinking that my life is maybe a little more interesting than what just meets the eye.