Lovely Miss Samantha has some gorgeous new postcards available at her shop. Go on over there and check them out!

I was first introduced to Miss Lamb’s work whenever she shot a wedding that Kevin was in. Shortly thereafter I found some of her photography online and I just adore it. The way she captures light is really amazing and I look forward to each new capture she shares.

If you’d like to see (and purchase!) some of her photography, stop by Cuppies & Joe in OKC. Have yourself a cupcake and peruse the frames lining the walls. The spirit of that place is joyous and peaceful as it is, but Samantha’s captures really add a celebratory sense of life to the establishment.

Now that I’m the spouse of an educator, I’m on the lookout for some good deals on things that he can use in the classroom. As far as deals go I think there are better ones to be had for elementary school teachers than those teaching older children (check out the sales at Mardel this week!), but this time of year both CVS and Walgreens have some really good deals. I’ve been able to get some classroom supplies for Kevin for FREE or barely more than that.

This week CVS has some great deals on notebooks, pencils, index card cases, erasers, push pins, binder clips, pens, staplers, and sticky notes–all FREE after CVS Extra Care Bucks. If you aren’t a CVS card holder already, go and sign up!

For more details on how to save this week check out Money Saving Mom.

1. After the wedding people will start asking you if you’re pregnant. If you have family members that have been harassing you since you were 7, asking, “When’re you going to get married?” rest assured, they won’t be without ammo now that you are married. Nope. Now all you’ll get is the pregnancy question. Don’t you dare think you can suggest that you have “good news” or a “surprise” for any family members. That’s the first conclusion they’re going to jump to.

2. Suddenly, people will start treating you like an adult. It’s so weird. You may already be 30, employed, and well situated in life when you get married, but there’s something about having a ring on your finger that really convinces everyone that you’re settled firmly in Adultdom.

3. Paradoxically, others will assume you are still a child. And that you want their unsolicited advice.

4. The question, “How’s married life?” means different things to different people. You will need to become a skilled reader of body language and facial expressions. For instance, if the person asking is a sweet, elderly woman shaking your hand at church then you may feel free to beam and say, “Wonderful.” If the question is asked by a male and he punctuates it with a wink and a pair of waggling eyebrows, a simple smile and nod will suffice. Do not fuel the flame.

5. If you have family members who are easily offended you should write their “thank you” notes first. Not anything more to say about that.

6. Enjoy every relaxing minute of your honeymoon. Because when you get back and are thrust back into the day-to-day work thing again, it’s no fun. Your brain is still set on Honeymoon Mode (and may be for some time), but you have to go to work just like you did before the wedding. Sigh.

7. No wedding will ever compare to your own. Sure, grander ones will be put on and then seeing your children and grandchildren wed will be very special, but (at this point) I can’t imagine a wedding sparkling more, filling me with more excitement, or making me feel more like I was finally “home” than my own.

8. After about a month, everything about being married starts to feel like normal. I never would have imagined that part, but it’s true! (for us at least) So forget your fears that you’ll roll over in the middle of the night and wonder who’s there…you’ll know.

9. For the ladies…Boys eat a lot of food. Be prepared.

10. You will disagree and you will be okay. Even if you rarely disagreed before the wedding, something is likely to come up. You will get past it.

11. Go ahead and tell everyone you’ve had your first fight so they’ll stop asking. Next to the pregnancy one, this has got to be the most annoying question ever.

12. Attention, men. Ladies sometimes take a while in the bathroom. Wait. It literally takes you 5 minutes to get ready.

13. The first few months (years?) will be the time of your life. Enjoy.

I was walking down the aisle on my dad’s arm. The moment I had dreamed of since I was 2-years-old (no lie) was here and very different than I had imagined it. You see, by this point I thought I would be crying. In fact, it’s what I was dreading about the whole thing: getting up in front of all these people and crying so much that they couldn’t understand what I was saying.

But there I was, walking. And there Kevin was, standing at the end of the aisle. It was all so surreal. Instead of looking around to see who was there, like I’d thought I might, I was looking straight ahead, focused on my goal. At this point our ring bearer was pretty raucous down in front of the stage, but Heather finally managed to grab him. When we arrived at the front I kissed my mom on the cheek and then proceeded with Dad to be given away.

I’ll let the video say the rest.

A few things to explain: the violins (that I walked down the aisle to) were not miked and neither was the piano during the lighting of the unity candle. Both were plenty loud during the ceremony, that was just one detail that was forgotten. Scott (vocalist & pianist) did a fantastic job on the song. And my blinking during the vows, well, all I can guess is that I was trying not to cry and I was really focusing on what I was saying. Oh, and my veil almost fell out. Dad got a little too enthusiastic when he lifted it. Surprise! I never cried.

Bridal Chorus as it sounded at the wedding (minus the cello, we had two violins, played by Jennifer White and Kevin Lai):

The day of our wedding I woke up with the June sun shining through the curtains of my room at my mom and dad’s house. Every bedroom I have slept in up to this point has had at least one east facing window and because of this I am a naturally early riser. This morning was no different, with me up hours before I needed to be. Leave it to me to not take advantage of extra sleep on my wedding day.

I had played it through my head over and over how I thought my last night in my parents’ house would be and what it would be like to wake up the next morning, knowing it wouldn’t ever really be the same. Unlike I’d expected, I did not cry myself to sleep the night before. I was too tired. And I know you may be thinking, “Really? Cry?” Yes, really. I have always been a mama’s girl and no matter how excited I was to be getting married it pained me to think that I could really never go home again in the same way. We were going to start a new household. No longer would I be under my parents. It all seemed so new and frightening.

But what did I do? I went to sleep the moment my head hit the pillow and like I said, I was up with the sun the next morning and into the kitchen to make my coffee. My mom was awake, my dad already off to work (he has a 24/7 job in the oilfield), and at least one of my brothers was conscious already. Made myself some breakfast, took a long bath, packed up the rest of my stuff, and headed down to Granny and PawPaw’s to pick up my matron-of-honor and one of my bridesmaids (Heather & Aaryn). Together we drove over to Duncan and went to the nail salon to get all gussied up.

The only decent place to get your toes done (that anyone knew of) in Duncan was the salon in Wal-mart, so there we were. I made a coffee run at McDonald’s (Umm, yes. Again.) then settled into one of those comfy chairs to wait my tootsies’ turn. I think the massage chair did wonders to keep the knots from forming in my back. That’s where I tend to direct all my stress (there and my brain and intestines, but you don’t care about that). Eventually it was my turn and that, my dear readers, was The Best pedicure I have ever had. It lasted longer than any other pedicure and NEVER chipped. Bless their hearts at the Duncan Wal-mart. They know what they are doing.

Excuse me if I have to come back and edit some of this, because I realized that I lost quite a bit of my memory from the middle part of the day.

After we were done there, we went to the church to drop some things off and then grabbed a quick lunch. Next up were our hair appointments. Aaryn had one right before mine and we went to my cousin-in-law Cortney’s to have it done. Elizabeth Diefenderfer, a former co-worker, was doing the photography and she arrived to take photos while we were at the salon. It was right at this point that I started to get antsy. I couldn’t sit down. I was pacing in the shop. I knew what was going on though. Adrenaline was starting to fill my veins and I had that constant “I-need-to-take-a-tinkle” feeling that I used to get before a basketball game. You know, like right before you get on a roller coaster? THAT. At least I wasn’t having a panic attack.

After our hair was all done we went back to the church and started getting ready to take a few photos before the wedding. Just the ones without Kevin and I together though. Yes, we’re traditional. I hate being griped at for it. And I’ll be honest, I totally judge people who go ahead and see each other before the wedding. Sorry. I think my mom and my bridesmaids helped me to get the dress on. It’s a heavy sucker. Before I really knew what had happened, we were all completely dressed and ready to go take some pictures. Those went fairly quick, since I’d made a list beforehand of everything I wanted and I didn’t have any ridiculous bridesmaids. Thank you, ladies.

While all this was going on, Dad kept approaching me with his phone to show me pictures of Kevin (who was back in the choir room) and all of his groomsmen playing Phase 10 (whatever that is). I guess that’s a bit of a cheat, but whatever. Blame Dad.

When we were done the four of us (me, Heather, Aaryn, and Delisa) were ushered back into the lounge outside of the ladies’ restroom to wait for everything to begin. Oh boy. My tummy is turning just thinking about it. We had about an hour left to go and this time went by more quickly than anything else. There were a few people in and out of the room; Lindsay, the wife of one of the groomsmen, to deliver a letter from Kevin to me (I sent her back with one for him); a few aunts who couldn’t quite contain their tears; my grandmother who brought by the hair pin that I secured my veil with (belonged to her mother, my Nannie) and the handkerchief that I carried (belonged to PawPaw’s mother, my “Granny Christ” [pronounced KRISS] or Grandma Maggie Johnson to the rest of the family) and left quickly because she wasn’t going to be able to hold her tears in; and a few random people to say “hello.” (If you were there and you remember more of this, please share in the comments. I have lost a lot of it!)

I don’t know how it all went by so quickly, but suddenly my dad was peeking through the door to tell us that the video presentation was almost over and that they’d be seating the families within minutes. That meant it was almost time. Oh. My. Lands.

(Since you all haven’t seen it, unless you were there, here’s the slideshow we played. YouTube quality is AWFUL, but the DVD version is great.)

There were a couple of small snafus with the timing and people knowing when to be queued in (blame me for being the wedding coordinator at the rehearsal), but it all worked out without me knowing.

I was standing there, the music was playing, and my girlie friends were walking down the aisle. The doors closed and then there were violins. Without any warning, I was on my dad’s arm and he said, “It’s all going to be fine.” The doors opened and there we were. And there, at the end of the aisle…was him.

Tomorrow – Reflections on the Ceremony WITH *tada* The Wedding Video!

The day before the wedding Heather showed up at my house early in the morning and we drove over to Duncan to help around the reception site. My mom and I had helped the wedding coordinator and her assistants quite a bit the evening before and things were really coming together by the time we arrived that morning. We doled out the tiny Mason jar cards at every place setting, along with one birdseed bag for each.

We picked up Kevin’s mom from their hotel and went over to the mall where we had our nails done. That was nice and relaxing. To myself I still seemed really calm. I don’t know how other people saw it, but I was freaking myself out a little with how calm I was. The rest of the afternoon we spent helping with all the decorating.

Sometime before the rehearsal started Jolene arrived and she immediately hopped in to help us out wherever we needed it. Before I knew what was happening, I had 45 minutes left to get ready, so I headed over to the main building to put on my dress and makeup.

Once the rehearsal got started, that’s when I really felt kinda…overwhelmed. Not with what was happening, but because (unexpectedly) no one was there to help direct the order of ceremony, show people how to walk in, etc. The person who was supposed to help with all that was tied up and it was left to me to do all the coordinating at this point. I was exasperated. Some of my family members don’t take direction well, and some of them (my brothers, ahem) hardly take it from me at all. There were just so many details, so many things to consider. There is always going to be something that you don’t expect and something that just won’t work out. But man. I was tired.

A few photos from that evening:

SOMEBODY needs an anti-anxiety pill. And it’s not one of the minors.

He didn’t want to walk down the aisle.

And he wasn’t glad to be onstage. Don’t worry. He sprinted down the aisle on the big day.

Doing what I do best: bossing my baby brothers.

And after all of this (I think the photos clearly delineate my descent into a frenzied state) I went to the bathroom to grab my stuff, already running 30 minutes late to the dinner, with a number of people on my heels, all with questions to ask. I broke down. Put my hands over my face and said, “I need to compose myself.” Before I moved my hands everyone had left the room. I stood there catching my breath for a few moments, remembering what Chris (our main officiant) had said to us earlier: “No matter what happens, at the end of the day, you will be married.”

I gathered my bags, went outside to meet Kevin for a few more pictures, and to enjoy my last evening as an unmarried woman in the company of many friends and family members. It was wonderful.

Next up, The Wedding Day…

Happy, crampy Sunday morning. At least for me. I share TMI all the time right? I mean, it’s not too much for me, I’m a girl, but I wonder if the guys around here get tired of it. My husband is pretty tolerant, I’ll say. It’s weird what changes when you get married. Seriously, there’s a laundry list. But those of you who are married know that.

Well, I haven’t posted in forever and since the only comfortable position I can find right now is me wedged into a corner of the couch with my Macbook tilted kinda funny and my back twisted to look at it, I thought I’d give you an edition of Sunday Morning Coffee. It’s been a while. And I’ve saved up a lot of links to share with you folks.

• “If we can’t date, then what’s the next step?” It’s a valid question and I think I’ll have to answer how I Kissed Dating Goodbye affected me–for good and bad. And while we’re on the subject, this.
• I want to have an end of summer party just so that I can make these Petite Watermelons.
• Man up already! Spot on, Ronnica, and worthy of a response that I hope to work up in the near future.
• Allowing people to write notes at your wedding that they do not have to be accountable for is risky–trust me. I found this out. At least these folks weren’t ashamed to own up.
• Eep. What an incredibly creepy find by Jorge Garcia (of LOST). Makes me think twice about this post.
• Hey, Friar: I miss the old David Letterman, too. Though I’ll admit my memories of him when he was in his prime are very limited.
• What I want: kids like this AND a stuffed John Denver doll.
• See? THIS. This is how my brain works.

Tomorrow what I will have for you is the rest of the wedding story, starting with the rehearsal on Monday, reflections on the day-of on Tuesday, Wednesday I’ll bring you my memories of the wedding, Thursday will be *drumroll* the wedding video, and Friday I’ll tell you all about the reception. It’s going to be a fun week!

This is about the only thing that will draw me out of blog hibernation–free food. So mosey on over there and get yourself some. Good until 7/12/09 only.