part III: {ring ceremony}

 

many that are close to M and I were not able to attend our sealing inside the temple, and so we wanted to do something that would somehow include them in witnessing our union as husband and wife, so we opted to skip exchanging rings at the temple and wait until the next day. 

Now, disclaimer: this is something we had been planning to do for a long time though, because I knew it was something I would definitely do when I got married, and so when we started talking about how we would do it we quickly came to one conclusion, it was going to completely shout to the roof tops "THIS IS SO M AND J" and that is how our ring ceremony was born. 

We had it at the beach because thats one of our favorite spots on earth. We did it on the NC coast because thats where I have spent so many of my happy memories. We had M's dad conduct the ceremony and speak. We had our brother and sister as our MOH/BM. We said vows that we literally thought of on the spot. And we had M's other brother play piano for our intro/extro {yeah, not words.} It was so us, and I am so happy we did it, not only for those close family members and friends who had the opportunity to participate in our wedding in some way, but because we were able to express to eachother in another way our symbolic sense of our love that will last forever.

and hey, I got to wear my dress twice. not too shabby, eh?

part II: {sealing linner}

so before we ever got engaged both M and I knew that we didn't want our sealing and reception on the same day. for many reasons, we knew it. well when we decided to get sealed in the Raleigh, NC temple and then have the rest of our festivities on the coast {2 hours away} we knew we wanted to do something after our sealing to celebrate even before the rest of the celebration! I mean for goodness sakes we would be married!

so, we had a linner. {lunch + dinner - and yes thats exactly what I put on the invitations thankyouverymuch} and we had it at one of the most delicious italian places in raleigh I've eaten - ok maybe I was just real starved but for reals, it was the bomb dot com. Anyways we decided italian because {spoiler!} we had barbeque at the reception {and its my fave, duh}.

and oh, italian we did eat.

we had our own private room with a bunch of round tables set up - it was a perfect way to have all our family and friends in one room and let them get to know eachother - and catch up - some of them hadn't seen eachother for years! and it was a great way for M and I to mingle and really connect with everyone in the midst of all the wonderful wedding-ness.

side note: I didn't take any pictures. these are stolen from various people.

Some things I remember about the dinner:

• I was showing Mary Grigg my ring, and telling her about how M & I's wedding bands are identical and have the same engraving inside - and she told me a hilarious story about her 10th anniversary gift {which by the way, their anniversay was THAT day! now we have the same anniversary! shout out!}
• M & his cousin Robert sitting and chatting forever like little girls. There was a few times M would disappear and I knew I would find him next to Robert - {they hadn't seen eachother since before M's mission and used to be real close}
• hearing the laughter from the table in the corner {which housed the following: Ashley, Jessica, Rachael, Lara, Ryan and my brothers Billy and Michael. yeah, what a combination}
• Madeline sitting on my stepdad Gary's lap pointing at all the pictures in the Wilmington guidebook and saying "daddy!" "daddy!" "daddy!" at every picture she saw. yeah she wasn't too good at talking yet.
• and lets be honest here - THE FOOD. IT WAS SO GOOD.

The room was full of love and how grateful I am for those few hours that we got to spend with those people that just shared such an important event in our lives. I'm so glad we decided to do it, and a big thankyou to M's parents for making it happen :) best in-laws ever!

up next: part III: {ring ceremony}

the {un-royal} wedding of the year!: part I {temple}

So most of you have seen {most, if not all} of these pictures on face book. I don't care.

ok sorry, I care - but I'm still going to subject you to it again, because I love telling the story of our wedding, and I never want to forget my thoughts about it.

so the first place to start is of course, the actual wedding! - our sealing in the Raleigh, NC LDS Temple - for time & all eternity will always be the most spiritual, happy, love runneth over, experience of my life.

the details of that experience, however, are private to my husband and I, so onto the 'after'!

I remember thinking as we waited in the entrance of the temple as our photographer got ready, "it is probably so hott out there and I really like the AC" - ha, no I'm kidding {thought I should have thought about that! it was 107 degrees!} what I was really thinking was "i'm married, we're married, i'm still crying, this is awesome" and as we walked through the door i started laughing because seeing everyone crowded around the entrance of the temple for some reason was so ridiculous looking to me, and I had no idea that was what normally happened. 

and then I remember seeing my brother Billy who I hadn't gotten to see before our wedding because he goes to school/works on the coast so he met us there -

so after hugging him I scanned the crowd and found my mom. and started crying, again. Seeing my mom for the first time after I had gotten sealed was a really emotional moment for me for a lot of reasons, but at that moment all I can remember is her smile and the happiness she expressed on her face. I was so grateful for that.

Then there were a lot of pictures! and sweating! and pictures! and lots of sweating! By the way, it was NOON when we came out of the temple. nuf said.

I had previously sent my photographer a 'shot list' for pictures since there were so many of us, and were going to be our "more formal" pictures of the wedding. I'm so glad I did because her assistant for the day just called out names and groups and it was so organized {mostly}

 

Once we got through the list everyone peaced out {and cooled off} and headed to the restaurant and Morgan and I took the 'us' pictures. I was still processing everything, and completely sweaty and we were hurrying because they were going to close the temple but for some reason, I was totally calm.

I'm so grateful for family and friends that were there to support us on that amazing Friday afternoon that changed the course of our lives and sealed us together for eternity. We were so humbled by the outpouring of love from every side - my side,  morgans side - every which side. and still talk about it almost every day.

So thank you to all who were there to support us, parents, aunts, uncles, family friends, friends that are like family, all of you who were present {and even those who werent} - we thank you

up next: Part II {sealing linner}

See look! I'm involved!

Last weekend.. no two weekends ago... no, whatever - a few weekends ago was our General Relief Society Broadcast. {like everyone else, the Deetster's talk was my fave} My stake held a dessert reception and an event called Women in the Arts beforehand, and invited any sister to display one of their talents throughout the cultural hall.

So what did I do? I cheated and and put my scrapbooks on display.. that I did years ago. Oh and threw in our wedding guestbook for good measure {that post is coming, promise} and tried to make it look pretty with a homemade chalkboard and kraft paper.. {yes one of the RS sisters may have forced me to use one of their table cloths because I wasn't 'fancy' enough... woops}.. and here is the proof.

told you people I'm not a hermit who doesn't participate!

though i did not actually take my camera, i stole these pictures from the RS blog. baby steps, people.

Monday Night Menu: Becoming a wife

So most of you know M and I dated for almost 2 years before we were married. We started being a "thing" only 3 months after I moved to Memphis - 6 months after I had graduated from college.

Ok, I'll make it more simple: I was on my own for two and half years and never did I think to prepare to be a wife.

So that might sound weird, but its true. Now that I look back {after only 2 months of marriage, I know, I'm being dramatic} I can see the ways that I did prepare - but I never really did it on 'purpose' - now I don't know if thats a good thing or a bad thing, and I don't really care {and at this point it doesnt matter, right?} but I'm sort of happy that I did it that way, because right now, I love learning how to be a wife with my husband.

I can't really explain why, just that I love it.

One thing that is probably one of my favorite things about becoming a wife is cooking! {I know, another weird thing}

I'm not the kind of girl that has always loved to cook and has been honing her cooking skills for years - nope, I'm the kind of girl that ate mac & cheese and blueberry muffins all through college {from boxes, of course} and is completely content eating a bowl {or two} of cereal for dinner. So its been an adventure ever since Morgan and I started dating and started cooking together, and it continues to be now that we're newlyweds.

One thing I've started doing since we got married is make out a menu every week - not to say that we always follow it because things always come up {like chicken not thawing for 3 days in our freezing fridge} - but it has helped me organize our grocery shopping {and budget} and try new recipes every week. What I've found is that the some of the things that I've always been scared to try or shy away from have become part of my "Staples Menu" {or a running list of things I think I'm particularly good at, or taste muy bueno}

So this week's menu:

Monday - homemade pizza {whole wheat dough. great garlicy-olive oil sauce with leftover chicken from this}

Tuesday - whatever {Morgan plays basketball after class - which means either leftovers or cereal - guess which one I usually choose :)}

Wednesday  - Buffalo Wild Wings {yea, we're going to IKEA, and guess whats down the road? yep, cop out}

Thursday - Brinner - waffles & strawberries, turkey bacon, scrambled eggs {waffles - my dad's recipe}

Friday - Date Night - Tacos! {not exactly original, but new thing: making hard tacos out of tortillas} + a redbox.

Saturday - Chicken Parmesan

Sunday - Cheeseburgers + Parmesan Ovenbaked Fries