November 7, 2009
So Then We Got Married
After I said yes to Chad’s proposal, I turned to him and said “Okay, we are getting married on July 12th (3 weeks later) at the Cobden house and I would like your sister to marry us”. Uh, not that I had been planning it or anything. We initially thought it would be cool to keep it a secret and just have our parents over for a “barbecue”. We decided to tell the boys and the very first thing they did was tell Grandpa who happened to come over that night. Chad did not tell his parents though so they actually did think they were just coming to a barbecue.
The day came and looked like a very bad stormy day but the weather held until after our ceremony, at which point it poured buckets. I had told Chad’s sister Nealy that I wanted it super short and she did not blink when I gave her what amounted to just the vows. I did a great job until I saw that Chad was misty eyed and then speaking my vows was very tough. No matter though, Nealy cried too so I didn’t feel alone. The ceremony was very touching and surreal. I love this man with all my heart and I am looking forward to our future together! Chad’s mom asked us why we got married so quickly (I won’t even joke about pregnancy, *shudder*) and I told her “July 12th is the day we met in real life three years ago”. She laughed and said what, was it fantasy life before that? So I told her “yep, we met on the internet a few weeks before that and the 12th was our first date”. I am pretty sure she was the last to know we met on a internet dating site, hahahahahahaha.
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| From Reception slide show |
We decided to have a reception three months later since we had such a busy summer planned. Less than a week after the wedding, I had a Program Director’s annual meeting which was being held in New Orleans. We decided to make that our honeymoon trip and it was a lot of fun. Chad was supposed to have gone the next weekend to take his State Troopers test however they cancelled it so we ended up flying from New Orleans to Chicago anyway as part two of our honeymoon. We went up to see the new sky boxes in the Sears Tower (not actually called that anymore), then hung out on the Navy Pier and then went on an awesome dinner cruise of the Chicago skyline.
We went horseback riding up in Champaign with a friend of Chad’s (Jeff Porter).
I introduced Chad to an annual party called Bash on the Bluff with some longtime friends of mine.
Chad went on a fishing trip with his dad.
Then we all went on a canoe trip down the Spring River in Arkansas with Sarah and Chris Omer (cousins) and Jake, Lisa, Eli and Morgan Wirtes. This is a trip we do every year with the boys but the first time we have had others come with us. We had a lot of fun. Except Chris who drank too much river water and didn’t feel good.
Then in September, we went on a massive road trip to Florida for my nephew’s wedding. We stopped in Destin (not exactly on the way to Gainesville but worth it!). The boys were awed by the ocean and we swam all day and then had some fantastic seafood. We stayed in a hotel in Gainesville so we could have access to the swimming pool and believe me, it did not go unused. The wedding was really sweet and was a family reunion too. I had not seen my mother in 7 years and probably longer than that for my sister Susanne. The next day we went to Fanning Springs for the boys’ first spring experience. BRRRRRR. That water is dadgum cold! It was actually a bigger hit than the beach since the water was not salty. It was clear as glass. Chad had bought an Olympus stylus water proof camera the day before for me so we tried out the underwater function with glee. The drive back was insanely long and now I remember why I like to fly.
Our reception was on October 17th. As stressful (and expensive) as the planning was, the party was fantastic! We had about 60 friends and family come out to Great Boars of Fire lodge in Cobden and have good old barbecue. Nothing fancy about it. The DJ was from Memory Lane Music Service (yes I am plugging them because they are totally worth it). His name was James and he did a great job. He even played the requests of the kids (who danced nearly all night). We did all the usual party line dances, even did the hokey pokey. It was fun to see the dance floor full all night long. At ten pm, most people were gone and we were still wound up. We dropped the kids off and being that we were pretty rowdy at this point, went to the local biker bar. And nearly got kicked out. Apparently, that was the night they chose to have an artsy fartsy coffee house type chick playing acoustic guitar who wanted her audience to just listen to her. She became more rude and bizarre to us in the hour we were there so we beat a hasty path over to Palace Pizzeria (yes, I am also plugging them). They are famous for pizza and great blues/rock live bands. Should have started there. It was midnight by then so Chad and his buddies paid the band (The Natives) to play another hour and we stood, kissing distance from them and whooped and hollered as they played one great old rock hit after another. I apologized in advance for our behavior and they laughed and said they liked having their own interactive audience.
So that is how we got married. That is how our whole life is as a matter of fact. Always busy and almost always fun. So when we tell you about our next planned trip and ask you to come – you should take us up on it!
Forgot: Since October we have started basketball season, went to the Omers for four wheeling fun and had our first marching band competition in Pinckneyville (Eli plays saxophone). The two middle boys are sitting in hunter safety class at this moment and Chad and Eli are up in Wayne County bow hunting. Next weekend, Chad and I are attending a marriage workshop in St Louis (price of being married by his sister). Christmas is coming and New Years, not to mention birthdays every month – Eli will be 15 on Monday! Then will be our annual ski trip we take for Chad’s birthday.
Click on the links below for pictures (comments WELCOME!!). Note, in order to leave a comment you have to sign up for FREE for the Picassa gallery. If you have a Gmail account already, just use that log in. You don’t need to sign in to just see the pictures though. Click on the first one and then hit the arrow keys at the top. The first album was actually a slide show I put together for the reception showing some of the highlights of our three years together.
Pictures of some of the other stuff from this summer coming soon!
Posted by DebC at 1:17 PM | Comments (3)
