Hello world. It's me, Amanda.

Dan and I got married one month ago today.  It’s amazing to think that a full month has already passed.  A lot has happened in this past month.  We experienced loss but we also experienced a lot of laughter.

Despite all of this, I have now been married to my very best friend for a full month.  He is the person who pushes me to be a better person.  The one who can make me feel better by simply wrapping his arms around me.  The person who makes all of the time spent at work and school not seem so bad because I get to come home to him at the end of the long day.  The one who when I think about him, fills me with so much love and happiness because I know that I get to spend the rest of my life with him.  

Thank you for a wonderful first month of marriage Danny. 

One of my friends, Jen, did such a great job taking pictures of the wedding (especially all of the decorations).  I am so happy she got these for I never had time to do that.  So thanks so much Jen!  I also stole a few from Rhiannon who managed to snap some during the chaos!  A few below. :)  I went for a “nature” theme and loved the end result!

My bouquet went in the vase with the D + A cover.  I had all of the guests names put on rocks ( I loved this and it worked so well with the decor).

The seating chart I created (great use of a photo frame!).

One of the two table arrangements that Tara and her two helpers, Jen and Krystal, put together.  So beautiful.  I purchased Mason Jars to be used as vases.  Worked perfect and was very inexpensive!

I carried over the rock theme and had the table numbers put on rocks.

Sign to show people what direction to go. :)

I had Tara create these Initials to have above us during the ceremony and to use at the reception.  I thought they turned out really well!

Our cupcake display (color accented thanks to Rhiannon!)  Looks so cool!

Our card box birdhouse.  I thought this was so cute and loved that it came with another roof to put on after the wedding so that we could actually use it in the future!

Life is slowly becoming a little less chaotic which means I have a little more time for blogging. :)  And I cannot wait to catch everyone up on life.  There have been many sad things that have happened over the last 6 weeks.  Some I may talk about, some I may not, only time will tell.  Either way, today I am focusing on the happy things.

I GOT MARRIED! :) 

The weekend is somewhat of a blur.  I spent Friday afternoon with my bridesmaids, personal attendant, and bridesmaid in my heart, Kyley getting our nails done.  It was such a great moment to sit back, laugh, and enjoy some time with some friends.  Once that was done we ate a quick lunch, picked up the bridesmaid dresses, and headed to the Harvester for the rehearsal.  The rehearsal was outside where our ceremony was to be and it was HOT.  Sunny and hot.  The rehearsal itself lasted maybe 15 minutes and then we all ate way too much food at the rehearsal dinner.  Back to the condo we went for a little fun and much needed sleep before the big day!

Saturday started with breakfast, hair, and makeup.  I love sitting back and letting someone else get me ready for the day.  The morning went by quick and then we were off to the Harvester to eat lunch and get dressed for the big day!  One thing people kept asking me “was I nervous”.  No.  I truly never once got nervous.  I was just so happy to be marrying Dan.  Nerves were not an option for me; I was full of happiness, excitement, and love!

Dan and I did see one another before the ceremony which I personally loved.  Seeing him and having that moment alone was huge.  Well, kind of alone; I guess our photographer was there but at that moment you do not even notice that.  We spent sometime talking, laughing, and deciding what the heck to do about the ceremony.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention.  Our ceremony was set to be outside. Remember that hot Friday I talked about above?  That weather quickly went away and brought a very cold rainy day in it’s place.  A decision had to be made on where to hold the ceremony.  I had the attitude of “wherever!  I don’t care, as long as I get married”.  Dan made the decision in the end to still have it outdoors but under a tent. 

After our “moment” it was off to start pictures!  Pictures were a blast.  It helps that we have a fantastic photographer.  It also helped that we had a room full of family and friends who were ready to let loose and have a little fun with it.  The DJ started the music and off we went on a little bit of indoor picture fun!  Once those pictures were over the bridal party took off outside for some outdoor pictures in the rain.  These pictures were a blast to take.  I had purchased a lot of umbrellas in case we had some rain and they ended up making for some really cute pictures.  Sure it was cold out but we didn’t care.  We were all having fun!

Then came the ceremony.  It was short and sweet and all I paid attention to was Dan.  Truly there is not much more to say about it.  It was perfect for us.

Then more pictures…

Then reception time!  We had Hickory Park cater (LOVE IT!) and had cupcakes in place of cake (DOUBLE LOVED IT!).  The reception definitely went by in a blur.  It consisted of talking to everyone (or trying to), eating, dancing, watching football, and just having a wonderful time.  Before we knew it, we were taking off out the door to get a few hours of sleep before our flight to Antigua for our honeymoon.

I have a husband and I am now a wife.  Do I love it?  Absolutely! There are so many reasons why I love it.  I love saying husband.  I love being called a wife.  I also love that the wedding is over.  Does that mean I didn’t love the process of planning a wedding?  Definitely not.  I loved the process.  I was incredibly hands on from the very last detail of decorations to the entire outline of the wedding ceremony.  It was exactly what I wanted and I would not change a thing.  I wouldn’t take back the rain (it truly made the day more memorable and quite fun) and I wouldn’t take back the fact that we had our wedding here.  Many say when it is done that they wish they had done a destination wedding but I do not feel that way at all.  I loved having everyone there.  I loved seeing so many people who have been a part a huge part of my life for the past 30 years in one room.  That would not have happened if we had gone away and gotten married.  However, I am happy it is over.  That I am now married.  And that we can now move on to the next chapter in our life.

It is finally here!  After the past 10 months of planning our wedding will happen this Saturday.  THIS SATURDAY!  4 short days from now we will be starting the crazy day.  So excited and so happy. 

Still quite a bit to do.  However, it is all completely manageable.  Either way, Saturday I will be a married lady and Sunday I will be off for a week long vacation.

Life is pretty good right now. :)

• I have been an awful blogger lately. :(  I apologize; I love blogging but with a lot of things on my plate something had to go.  Promise to get back to regular blogging soon!
• I officially started graduate school this week to work on getting my MBA.  Woot!  The drive to Des Moines twice a week for class will most likely get tiring but so far so good. :)
• I get married in 2 weeks!  Crazy!!!
• I had my final dress fitting today.  It looks perfect. 
• Heading to Chicago to visit my sister for the Labor Day weekend.  Can’t wait!
• Work has been BUSY!
• Thank goodness I love chaos.  Life is beyond chaotic right now.

That’s all.  How is everyone else doing?

That’s all. :)

Once again, I have been MIA.  Oopsie.  Life keeps getting in the way of my blogging!  Although I guess there is something to be said for getting out there and actually living life instead of talking about it.  However, I miss my blogging and I miss all of those who take the time out to read about my life. :) 

Some fun things have happened since we last “spoke”.

• Kyley had her baby!  Yay!  He is adorable (not that any of us are surprised by this…his parents are beautiful!).  Congrats again to Kyley and Bryan on the birth of Maximus.
• Dan and I did have our final meeting before the “big day” with our wonderful photographer, John (if you want to take a look at his work go here.)  We were excited to map out the timing of our big day!
• Most of the final details were wrapped up with the Harvester.  I say most because I am sure something will come up, however, we feel we made all of the big decisions now.
• Dan had his bachelor party!  Which in turn made for a crazy girls night out here in town.  I would give details but what happens in Marshalltown, stays in Marshalltown.  However, one of the most fun nights I have had here in a long time!
• Supplies were purchased for the programs and seating chart.  May not seem like a ton to others but for me this is a huge weight off my shoulders to get this out of the way!

This weekend we will be joining a few of our closest friends (ummm… 40 or so?) and floating in tubes down a river.  Should be a great time and a nice way to slowly wrap up summer!

Sorry I have been MIA.  I have been 100% absorbed in work and wedding planning for the past 2 weeks.  It is such a fun, yet crazy time!  However, we have been very productive:

• Music is picked!  YAY!
• Final decisions were made on decorations and name cards. :)
• Our entire ceremony was planned out by Dan and I.  We took pieces we liked, changed some wording on things, and made our perfect little ceremony.
• We meet with the photographer tonight.  Final meeting to go over all the pictures we want taken and to confirm timing.  Woot!
• Monday we will go out to the Harvester one last time to get all the questions answered that we still have.

It is nice to be ahead of the game.  The last two weeks we will still have things to do but having all of the above out of the way will ease some of that chaos. :) 

51 days to go!

We are now at the point in the wedding planning where things have picked up again and there is quite a bit to do.  Final meetings, final decisions, and oh yeah, some final payments. :)

Best news in the past week?  We paid off our honeymoon!  YAY!  It is wonderful to see that all of our hard work in the terms of “saving” has really paid off.  We should come out of this completely debt free from any wedding expenses. :)  Very exciting.  Being that we are paying for the majority of this ourselves, that is a HUGE accomplishment.

The invitations are also put together, addressed, and ready to go in the mail box.  A little anxiety comes with this.  “Did I forget something important?  Did I forget somebody?”  However, I will be relieved once they are in the box and ready to go!  Thanks to those who helped put them together.  I got an incredible deal on them but that did mean a little more manual labor. 

Next week the “meeting” madness begins.  We have a meeting basically every other day for two weeks straight.  The exciting part of this will be seeing all the plans falling into place.  Something I love.

Until then…

This past weekend Dan and I hopped in the car and headed back to Ohio (but this time to a different part of the state).  We were headed to Athens, home of the Bobcats.  I admit, coming from Marshalltown, Iowa, I am used to the red and blue Bobcats so was a little thrown off by the green Bobcats, but whatever.

Anyway, we had the joy of being a part of one of Dan’s college friends (and fraternity brothers) wedding weekend.  Dan was a groomsmen and I was playing the part of his other half, as always.  This was actually the first time Dan has been in a wedding so I kept reminding him that this would be great practice.

Upon arrival we quickly checked into our hotel, changed clothes, and headed to the lobby to meet another groomsmen and his wife to head to the rehearsal.  The church is on the Ohio University campus (where the bride and groom met) and was a very beautiful, small, church.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that this tiny church had air conditioning which was helpful during a very sunny and hot weekend. 

After the standard introductions, I sat in the back of the church with two others playing the part of “other halves” and watched the show. I payed close attention to the interactions between the bride and groom.  I had just met Hannah (aka: Bride) and had only briefly met Brad (aka: Groom) so this was a fun way to get to know them a bit, if even just from afar.  Instantly I could tell there was a very strong love between them.  I have been to a lot of rehearsals and they seemed so relaxed, laid back, and just plain happy.  They didn’t care if something went wrong or if something was not figured out.  They just rolled with it.  You could tell they had so much trust in one another and that no matter what it would work out and it was a happy time where nobody should be stressed out. 

I should mention that Hannah and Brad had two groomsmen step down at the very last minute.  Brad’s younger brother was deployed to Iraq and another college friend’s girlfriend was dilated and very close to giving birth to their first child.  They just rearranged things a bit, had two groomsmen have two girls, and it was solved.

After the rehearsal we headed to the rehearsal dinner where we chowed down on appetizers, bread, salad, pasta, and a delicious chocolate dessert (well, for me).  Then it was time to hit the town!  Well, the campus bars at least. ;)  Dan was very excited for me to see where he hung out during his college days and it was fun for me to see where he spent these crazy times in his life.  It was also nice to see Dan around his friends (who are slowly becoming mine as well).  Life is different in Iowa.  My friends turned into Dan’s friends.  I have somewhat taken that for granted and forget that it is hard to be on that side of things.  After many beers, shots, pool, and photo hunt, we  headed back to the hotel for a few hours of rest.

Saturday I took the opportunity to spend a little time relaxing after a very hectic month of June.  I put on my swimming suit and headed to the outdoor pool for a little vitamin D.  I spent the next 3 hours bathing in the sun, hopping in the pool, and doing some reading.  I would periodically have guests join (mainly as a pit stop while waiting for others) but it was nice to get to know the others at the wedding a little better.  I finally decided at about 2:00 it was time to head to the room and get ready for the 3:30 wedding. 

The wedding was beautiful and for a couple who have been dating for almost 10 years, it all was very natural.  Even when the unity candle kept going out, they improvised and just pushed their two separate candles close together and had a good laugh. Below is a picture during the ceremony (kudos to Dan for looking at the camera right when I took it!)

After the ceremony we took a few quick pictures and Dan headed off to the limo.

I was off to pre-reception drinks with my small group (Buffalo Wild Wings!) and then we headed to the outdoor reception back at the hotel.  I was happy to see that my table was under a nice tent to block the sun,although unfortunately for the bridal party, there table was directly IN the sun.  I enjoyed a vegetarian dish, an amazing portabella lasagna, as well as some conversation with some terrific girls I had the pleasure of getting to know (a girlfriend and wife of two other groomsmen who had both gone to OU as well).

It was then time to dance the night away!  We spent a good two hours laughing, talking, drinking, and decorating the bridal suite before we headed back to campus to hit a few bars to end the weekend.  Dan wanted to make sure we got one picture in the bar where he spent a lot of time during his college days (new life meets old life).

Thanks Hannah and Brad for an amazing weekend!  And Congrats on your new life together.  We look forward to doing it all again in Iowa in September!