Brynn's Party. And Evidence That I Need a Craft Room.

To wrap up Brynn's birthday posts:

All that girl wanted for a party was to have some friends over, popcorn, smoothies, and a movie.

The popcorn and smoothies went off with out a hitch, but those girls had no intentions of sitting down and watching a movie.

Brynn designed her cake and I helped her with it, but she did a lot of the work herself.  I think it turned out pretty good.

Brynn's bff, Hannah, gave Brynn, of all things... a fish.  A beta to be more exact, which Brynn promptly named Aqua Jay (maybe she can keep a named fish alive better than I can? (Here)) and which oddly I don't have a picture of.  I was too busy trying to get things set up before kids showed up (after having worked all day) and I had to keep moving that fish out of the way.  At first it was on the kitchen counter but I didn't want it to get knocked over in the chaos of the party.  Also, I had plans of creating a wedding gift on the counter while Brynn ran around crazy with her friends so I needed the fish out of the way.  So Brynn took the fish downstairs to what I had assumed would be her room.  A few minutes later I went down to check on something and found the fish on the floor of the basement great room, and looking somewhat wobbly on the cushy carpet. With a huff and a shake of my head, and with Brynn no where in sight, I grabbed that guy up and put him squarely on her dresser.  At this rate, I don't know how long he's going to last.  Also, he's a "he" simply because he's blue.

The signs of a successful party.  Happy girls trailed away home late into the night, and by late into the night I mean 10:30, but when girls show up at 7:00 and stay, screaming with pure delight, until 10:30, it begins to feel like late into the night indeed.

Check off another birthday success at our house.

All the while I was working on this puppy:

A subway sign for a wedding gift, which I will explain and show you the finished details, as well as the wedding, tomorrow.  Exciting, no?

Also, exhibit number one as to why I need to have a craft room.

I completely render the kitchen unusable when I start a project.  The Circus can only hope it doesn't take me longer than a day to finish it.

Our "engagement"... what really happened. Part 3

Part 1
Part 2

A few weeks ago I was sitting in church waiting for a youth meeting to start.  One of the Young Women, Mik, pointed at my wedding ring. 
"That's a gorgeous ring."
I smiled, I do love my ring.  "Thanks.  It was my grandma's."
"What does the ring look like that West gave you?"
"He didn't give me one.  I wanted to wear my grandma's ring."
"You said 'yes' without a ring?"
"Well... there wasn't ever an actual proposal..."

West wanted to get married and do it right.  And by right I mean with all the details that he and I wanted.  The beach.  The dress.  Family.  Food.  Music.  Mostly the beach.  And the dress.  And the family.  But he was done living apart. 

"Just come live with me and we'll save for the wedding."

But I couldn't.  It was ingrained into my very being.  I couldn't live with him if we weren't married.  But what if...  what if we secretly eloped and didn't tell anyone.  Then I could move in and everyone would think that we still needed to have a wedding.  If they don't know we're married, they'll be excited about a beach wedding with us and they'll want to come and support us in it... right?

It made sense to us then.

I can't remember the details.  The timing.  I know that we talked about it for a week or two, mentioning it here and there, testing out how we felt about that alternative.  I was for it.  West was unsure.

"You know if we got married by the end of the year we could do our taxes together," West suggested.
We decided to call the court house and see if there were any openings.  It was December 30, 2009.  We had one more day before the year ended.  The court was all booked up, but on New Year's Eve 2009, West and I met at the courthouse during my lunch hour to sign a wedding license.  West called up his neighbor who lived three houses down that we had met a couple of times.  He was the LDS bishop in the neighborhood. 

Are you busy tonight?  Do you have five minutes to help us out? 

He did.

In a matter of 24 hours we went from months of talking about it to just getting it done.

It was almost a surreal experience, standing in that office signing the license with West.  He wants to marry me.  He wants to marry me?  I kept going back and forth in my mind between it being an excited statement to an anxious question.

Was he really ready to do this?  Was I?

After work I got my circus ready to spend the night at West's for New Year's eve.  I loaded them into my car and drove down to meet my... fiance?  I guess he was my fiance for a few hours.

It was like our first date again.  I could barely look him in the eye, and when I did I was searching for reassurance that he really wanted to be doing this. 

He was looking at me and trying to assess the same from me.  He was nervous that maybe I didn't really want to do it.

But we never said these worries out loud.  Not until later, much later.

I was quiet and didn't know what to say.  I couldn't figure out why I was feeling so shy around him all of a sudden, but after we got the kids settled down he took my hand, smiled at me, called me "Mrs. Withers", so he could be the first to say it, and we slipped out of the house and walked three houses down.

We stood in front of our neighbor's fireplace, holding hands, listening to him speak our vows, saying 'I do' to each other.  He slipped my grandma's ring, which I had been wearing on right hand up until then, onto my left.  And then a gentle kiss.  A kiss full of promise. 

We were in jeans.

In five minutes it was done.

I didn't get a single picture.  I regret that desperately.  And in hindsight, I regret that our kids weren't there.  We wanted them at the wedding. The wedding we were certain we would pull off. 

Two and a half years later we still have yet to seriously go for it.  We're too busy living.  Remodeling, vacationing, being a family.

I'm okay with that.

Since we made the decision to get married in a 24 hour time frame, I had yet to make any preparations to move to West's house and we lived seperately for the first month of our married life.  It was odd, not living in the same house as my new husband.  I finally got it pulled together, the house was on the market, the trailer was loaded up with all my worldly belongings, and the move was finally made.

A month after we got married, life with my new husband could really begin.

That's the real story. 

And we haven't looked back.

Part 4

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florida trip: nick and sheri have a wedding

Once upon a time I gained a little brother.  I was 17.  He was 15.  My dad married his mom and we became a family.

Nick was annoying, he had no sense of humor and was ornery all of the time.  (I'm imagining his face if he ever reads this ha ha :).

I'm sure I wasn't all that great to be around then either.  I imagine I was prone to create drama in my teenage years.  Maybe I still do, but I certainly try not to.

Things change.  People change.  Nick was my rock when I needed him.  I grew a bond with him that will last a life time.  I never laugh so hard as I do with him.  He gets me.  He's protective of me.  He wants nothing but the best for me.  And I feel the same for him.

How happy I am that he found Sheri.  She and Nick are a perfect fit for each other.  To watch them interact with each other makes me smile.  It makes Nick smile.  I'm grateful to Sheri for that. 

Nick deserves her.

We left Orlando on Saturday night to meet up with the family in Ft. Lauderdale for dinner the night before the wedding.

We headed to Flaningan's, an Irish pub and restaurant that specialized in sea food and was ready for the upcoming St. Patrick's day.  Maybe a little too ready?

The wait was long but the food was oh so worth it.  We threw Sheri into an "animal rights" tizzy when we discovered that dolphin was on the menu.  Be rest assured that it was not dolphin, as in dolphin the mammal, but dolphin, as in the mahi mahi dolphin fish.  It was a sea food eating rookie mistake :).

Sheri

The night was warm with a slight breeze and we ate outside on the water (pond, not ocean) where fountains and lights played.  We (as in, not me, but West and Julie-mom and others) ate garlic clams while we waited for our food.

I got to sit by my cute new nephew, Christian.  That boy is a fountain of random knowledge.  He would spout random facts about mythology to me, but I was okay with that.  I was vying for my place of "favorite aunt". 

The next morning Sheri finally hit her bridezilla groove (she'd been far too relaxed through out the process so far) and was scattered and had nerves. 

Tums.  Give the woman some Tums already!

I got to do her hair which I felt was an honor to have been asked, I was so happy to help.

And after 25 runs back and forth from hotel room to hotel room for things forgotten... jewelry, shaving legs, bra... Sheri, West and I finally hit the road to the restaurant where the ceremony and lunch would take place.

I had the privilege of escorting Nick out of the main room and to the bar upstairs to get him out of Sheri's way so she could finish getting ready with out being seen by the groom to be.  He was as calm as could be, a perfect contrast to Sheri.

Back in our pool playing days, Nick and I were often mistaken as twins.  We still refer to each other as "my twin" or caller each other simply "twinner".

Picture by my bro in law Fred

We all followed Nick out to the beach for the ceremony, to wait for Sheri and her son Christian.

Pic by my bro in law Fred

Pic by my bro in law Fred

My brother in law Fred is as sarcastic as they come.  When I first walked into the lunch area before the wedding started he put his finger to his mouth and "shushed" me.  When I looked at him he replied, "your dress is too loud."  This coming from the man who wore a swim suit to the wedding... I'm not too worried about taking fashion advice from him :).

Pic by my bro in law Fred

Pic by my bro in law Fred... my "loud" dress

It fell to my dad to give the toast.  He simply stated, "Live long and prosper," and gave a peace sign.

Had I given the toast, I would have said
To the brother who has been there for me.  You have been through so much, and wanted to find that "someone" so badly.  That "someone" who would get you and not want to change you, but who would love you as you are.  You found her.  I can see it in your smile, I can see it in your eyes, and I can hear it when you talk about her.
Cherish each other.  This is the type of love everyone dreams of.

mine, West's, and my dad's hands

good morning beautiful

The Man didn't have work today.  Usually he's up before me and already downstairs doing whatever it is he does in the wee morning hours before I roll out of bed.

Mornings, to me, are not pretty.

It's not that I'm ornery or grumpy, because I'm not.  You can talk to me and I'm not going to bite your head off.  I'll even most likely give you a smile.  But I'm slow.  I don't get things.  My brain doesn't work.  And often times West will find me back in bed after my long shower when I should be putting clothes on and blow drying my hair.

But this morning it was me who was getting up before him.  Slowly.  Agonizingly.  It doesn't matter what time I go to bed, or how much sleep I get, it's the same ol' I can't get this brain to function routine for me.  I usually stand in a glazed over daze in the shower for a really long time.

Since West was still in bed, that meant that I couldn't get back in it because the lights were off, and that would mean that I would be out cold in a matter of seconds.  Usually when I crawl back in bed the lights are on.  That keeps me coherent enough to get back up again.

I stepped out of the shower, got dressed in the clothes I had put in the bathroom the night before, and blow dried my hair.  By then the circus was stirring. 

I stepped out of our bathroom into the dark bedroom and made my way around the bed to go downstairs and make the circus eggs.  We had 1/4 of a gallon of milk.  Cereal wasn't going to happen today.

As I groped through the dark I hear, "I hear my beautiful woman."

Does he know just what to say first thing in the morning or what.  Instead of finding the door, I found him.  Then he whispers to me, "what are your lunch plans today? Oh yeah, you have lunch plans with me."  Like he's the luckiest man in the world to eat lunch with me.

I'm the luckiest woman in the world to be having lunch plans with him.

West's cousin (but I'm claiming him too!) Got married to a cute girl yesterday.

{I totally stole this off of his facebook.  Aren't they reeking of fun personality?}

I love their family.  They are down right the nicest people on this earth.  I don't usually do wedding cakes.  I prefer to do character cakes and birthday cakes.  I usually pass the wedding cakes on to my friend Aislinn, who is Amazing with a capital "A", and actually in business where I am not.  I just have a hobby.  But when this family of ours asked me to help with the wedding cake I wasn't going to tell them no.

Like I said, I'm no professional.  And it shows.  But what it lacks in pristine perfectness it makes up for in taste and flavor. 

I think I'll stick to "fun cakes".

Happy wedding to our cousins.  Their wedding lunch is today and I get to meet my man there to celebrate the union of a cute couple and the fact that we are a part of a great family.

"Oh baby she's beautiful"

The other day on facebook I made mention in a status that my only regret for eloping the way we did, was that we didn't even think to take even one picture.  Not a single one.  I have no pictures of my marriage day with West.  And that kind of sucks in my book.

Today West sent me this via text.  It's from after our elopement, but still during that time when we thought we'd do a wedding.  We even went dress shopping.  He was very insistent that he was going to have a say in the dress I wore.  I told him he could help narrow it down to two or three but he didn't get to know the final decision.  It was a good compromise. Of course, by now we know we're too busy living to do a wedding.  Maybe sometime later in life we'll get around to a renewal of vows.

"Oh baby she's beautiful.  MINE. May not be a wedding photo but close enough ;)"

How grateful I am, during this week of Thanksgiving, for a man who actually loves me.  He truly does.  He doesn't tear me down.  He lifts me up.  He holds on to me, he cherishes me, and he leaves me with no doubts that he feels this way.  How blessed am I to have him in my life.

Wordless Wednesday: Sheri Vs. The Wedding Bouquet

Just as a side note... this was at my sister Kimmy's wedding. Sheri is currently dating my "twin" brother Nick. :)

Some of these pics (OK, only two) were mine. The rest belong to Lucy Knorr Photography. The rest of Kimmy's pics (if you're interested) can be found on Lucy Knorr Photography's website here.

Wordless Wednesday-Cali's pictures of Aunt Kimmy's wedding

(Not bad for a self shot though, huh?)