So many things have happened since I last posted! In fact, just this morning, I made breaded avocado fries for the first time and I discovered that my cayenne pepper (which I’ve been using fairly regularly) was infested with fat little bugs. Yum. I also ate a delicious chocolate covered fortune cookie last night, and on Sunday I spent all day watching a Matlock marathon while working on a very challenging 750-piece puzzle. Friends, I’ve had a glimpse of retirement, and it looks pretty amazing. 

Oh and also, I had a wedding and got married. The thing about the wedding is, it involved so much planning and effort that I never actually thought I would see it happen. Not that it wouldn’t come to fruition—I knew people would show up and the vendors would do their jobs—but I didn’t think I would survive long enough to take part in it.

I figured that before the wedding, I’d get hit by a car or fall off a balcony . . . something that would prohibit me from actually taking part in the event. I had the same feeling in college when I wrote and directed a play. I think it’s a coping mechanism that helps alleviate a small portion of my stress. In the back of my mind I kept thinking “it won’t matter – I won’t be there to see it and everyone will be so distracted by my untimely death that they won’t be paying attention to this particular detail.” Does anyone else have this experience?

Anyway, I did survive long enough to attend the wedding. And, obviously, I’m so glad I did. My superstar bridesmaids took me on a fabulous winery trip the day before (I will never, ever turn down a trip to a winery), we pre-partied on Friday night at a lounge in downtown Austin, and then . . . the wedding! It was kind of a blur, but here are the standouts:

• Our pre-ceremony photographs with the wedding party. I’ll admit, I was a little skeptical about the whole first look situation, but I’m so happy I trusted our photographer and decided to go for it. Hanging out and taking pictures with our best friends beforehand was such a fun way to kick off the celebration. 
• Our officiant, Pastor Joseph, who made everyone laugh and delivered an extremely touching ceremony. Someone once told us that Joseph is more like a half professor, half pastor hybrid, and I completely agree. I was hoping for an officiant who was intelligent, fair-minded and kind, and I never expected to find someone who had such an abundance of all those qualities. If you’re in Austin, I highly recommend visiting his church downtown. 
• Our four-year-old flower girl, who took her role and her responsibilities very seriously.
• My dad’s beautiful toast, in which he mentioned that my mother never actually wanted kids. I have three siblings, by the way. Whoops. 
• Our choreographed first dance to My Girl. We got a standing ovation!
• Dancing, dancing, dancing! I rarely left the dance floor and my friends were always right there with me. Two of my toes were numb for nearly a week.  
• Running out to the limo as the late-night partiers cheered us on.
• Getting into the limo (it was about a 40 minute ride to the hotel) and recapping the entire day. As soon as the limo door closed, we looked at each other and said “wow” in unison.
  

Those were the highlights, but the best aspect of the wedding was having so many of our friends and family members all in one room together, drinking, eating, dancing, talking and having fun. I may have mentioned it before, but about a year ago I was seriously advocating for more of a mini-elopement kind of situation. But my husband (that’s a weird word . . . it makes me think of animal husbandry, and I'm not even sure what that is), my partner (that sounds better, I think) pointed out that our family members and friends from around the country would probably never have a chance to meet one another if we eloped.

And he was right. Of course, we can always throw big catered parties for various occasions in our lives (we probably won't), but I don’t think we would ever manage to bring together so many people we care about at any other time. (A small) part of me understands the (now defunct) Heidi/Seal phenomenon of throwing a wedding every single year.

I’m honestly still critiquing little things I could’ve done better, I’m just now getting over a week of a post-wedding sickness, I’m relieved that the planning is over, but mostly I’m in awe that the whole thing happened.

Photographic evidence that the event took place: 

Oh, and by the by, we haven’t taken a honeymoon yet. So far we’re considering Hawaii, Disneyworld, Costa Rica, St. Lucia and Greece. Let me know if you have any other suggestions!

P.S. – Two posts ago I wrote that my next post was going to be about how my husband/partner/cat co-parent (pictured above) and I started dating, but . . . I guess I lied. Lo siento. But I will, probably, at some point, write a post about it, perhaps.