wedding part one.

it was 6:00 AM and my body was too anxious to lay in bed any longer.  i looked at my phone and found several text messages wishing me a happy and wonderful day and my heart began to beat in pure gratitude for all of the great people in my life. all of the planning was done, all of the lists were completely crossed off, and i took one deep breath as I got out of my bed for the last time with the name i grew up with. i sat at my computer and looked at every single thing i've ever written about nick and between the memories i pictured, the songs that continued to play over in my head, and the thought of him actually becoming my husband everything all of a sudden became very real.   and it was.   our wedding day was everything i imagined it to be and while i don't have many pictures back yet, i was able to get a few throughout the day for blogging purposes weeeahh! 

i reallyyyy wanted to have a big breakfast the morning of because i knew i wouldn't eat much all day but when your body is that excited and your happy nerves are dancing all over the place i knew i would be lucky if i got two bites down.  and i was right.

 

even though breakfast was a complete fail i believe these two things are what truly saved me (and maybe the panera bagel i inhaled around lunch time).  i have never drank so much water in one day EVER.

 

and since i am currently sitting in the airport about to board the plane for our honeymoon, i only have time for a couple actual wedding pictures!  i will have lots of love posts coming soon though i promise!  

before the ceremony...

after...

and after a day filled with smiles, laughter, tears, drinks, dancing, hellos, good byes, and manyyy fun reception activities...a peaceful morning with my husband which filled my heart with joy.

so far so good.  it was a very exciting but stressful nine months and i'm looking forward to some time away with nick.  but before we take off i'd like to leave you all with a piece of marriage advice (ya know...since i've only been married, what, 40 hours...)  

actually, this piece of advice is from my mom which she gave to me in a letter she wrote for me to open on the morning of our wedding day and it is that as long as you love one another and love deeper and deeper every single day, you will be happy no matter what.  

while love can seem like a complicated thing, i was reminded that it really doesn't have to be as long as we love and give a lot of it all of the time.  it is watching my parents all of these years and reading her words that morning that helped me realize this and i will carry it with me always.  let love be the center of everything you do.  not just in marriage, but in all your life.