A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

I married my best friend on the five-year anniversary of our first kiss. He wore his clan's colors and I, my wedding dress. My little sister made my bouquet and is having it shipped to be preserved and framed. My family was there, my friends were there and it was a perfect, beautiful day. I can't thank enough the people who helped make this all happen.

The night before, I took my friends out for a bachelorette party. We were let into a club on K Street for free and my friends were given champagne (I don't drink). We danced, we hung out, we enjoyed each other's company and had some great laughs. We drank from straws shaped like penises. That's what the single life is all about, and I left it behind on Saturday.

I got my hair done and had coffee before going to Chris's parents' house to get ready. He was there, so he had to hide in his mom's craft room while me, Lindsay and Yazzy hid in the spare room. Careful coordination and a system of announcing, very loudly, when bride or groom were coming out of their respective rooms succeeded in preventing sight of each other.

There was a moment in the room when Yazzy was helping clean my wedding jewelry and Lindsay was helping me get my dress on when the moment hit me harder than it had before. I had gone into fits of heavy breathing and "Oh My God" a few times the previous week, but at this moment, my body shook, tears began gathering in my eyes and I had to hold onto Lindsay to stay up, saying, "This is really it. This is really my wedding day." She told me to hold it in. I wasn't there yet and I didn't want to mess up my makeup. I love her.

Chris hid in the reception hall when I pulled up so that I could get into the easy-up on the lawn without him seeing me or I him. When I saw my dad, tears welled up again. My daddy was giving me away. Lindsay, also a daddy's girl, knew that this was a big moment and updated my facebook from my phone (which I left her in charge of), "Shit just got real." I had to kick out the family members that came to the easy-up (the Bride Hut, as we called it) if they were too emotional because I didn't want to cry. My mom handed me my flowers, Lindsay touched up my lip gloss and finally everyone sat down and it was just me and Dad.

Chris walked to "All You Need Is Love" and when I heard the first few notes of "Across the Universe" I knew it was time for Dad to walk me. I came around the corner out of the Bride Hut and saw my husband standing there, handsome as can be, proud and looking only at me. Everyone stood up as I walked down the aisle. My Uncle Mark officiated and asked who was giving me away. My dad, ever fair to the other gender, replied, "Her mother and I give her away." He kissed me on the cheek and Chris took my hands. We exchanged rings and vows and got through the ceremony. I could see myself in his eyes. I wish I could always see myself like that, the way he looks at me.

Pictures, toasts, food, cake and dances afterward are all a blur. I had spent ten months planning and waiting for this day and it came and went. Chris and I danced to "I'll Back You Up" by the Dave Matthews band. I danced with my dad to Louis Armstrong, "It's a Wonderful World." Chris danced with his mother to "In My Life," by the Beatles. It was exactly how I imagined it and everything I ever wanted.

I've spent a lot of time on the wedding and don't have much room for the Disneyland part of this left in this blog entry, so I'm going to cut it short here. I finally got home yesterday with my new husband and we are enjoying all the bliss of being newlywed. I never thought I'd get married. I never thought I'd find a man like Chris. I never imagined that I'd be doing the things that he and I do together, from our trips around to the world to even just the every day fun stuff. My heart made a wish and it came true. From now on, it's Happily Ever After.

I have to blog this quickly

Last night Chris and I went on Storybook Canals and when we got off, they brought out "Grandma," the fairy godmother, an older woman with a great smile, and she gave us a bag with a gift. She then had one of the canal drivers walk us over to "it's a small world" with a bell and rang it, announcing our arrival. We got our own private small world boat ride. How incredible. Disneyland, you really do make dreams come true.

3 days, 14 hours, 30-something minutes.

Finally wrote my vows. Finally starting to feel like things are coming along. Finally got a good shade of foundation and a nice lip liner.

10 Days

Filling out my forms for my name change. Not exactly the most fun thing about wedding planning. I can't just call Homeland Security? No, I have to notify everyone with forms I have to get by filling out more forms. Bleah.

I've joined a credit union. Banks have to give money to shareholders. Credit unions don't. Banks charge for checking to make up for the gap created by the government trying to stop them from screwing people over. Credit unions don't. Banks do things like involve themselves in toxic assets and high-risk mortgages. Credit unions don't. All pluses on this side, it seems, so hey, fuck the banks.

Chris and I put together our ceremony and are working on our vows. I'm excited. Things are really coming along. Rehearsal dinner this weekend to get the last details straightened out. I think I know where I'm getting my shoes, finally. Ten days. My goodness.

I'm a little stressed. I was getting sleep this week but still feeling tired in the afternoons, so I made some coffee tonight at around six and here I am still up. I'm not worried, however, as it seems that no matter how early I go to bed, I still feel tired the next day. I'm thinking this will pass. What will also pass is my inability to cook certain things. I somehow burned brockwurst tonight while trying to cook it on a George Foreman Grill (would have work with kielbasa) and had to go out instead. Chris and I enjoyed a meal at Rostini's, a little pasta joint at the Marketplace. All's well that ends well.

Chris got his free PS3 games from the PSN. Now that his papers and finals are done, he can unwind from the quarter by playing them. That means a lot of down time for me, as well, tumblring and doing my general time-wasting (like right now). Fun stuff. I'm ready for summer, for being a wife, for going to Disneyland, for finally getting back to beating L.A. Noire. Right now, I'm ready for bed. Goodnight world.

spaghetti cooking