Back From Hiatus

It was never my intention to be away from my writing for so long but this has been a year of many things. Unfortunately, writing has not really been one of those things.

Chris and I got married... twice. And those were two of the happiest days I have ever experienced. Though those days make me thankful that time machines do not exist as I would have told myself that throwing two wedding, a week apart, on opposite ends of California, is an absolutely insane idea. But I regret nothing!

We had two very different weddings but they both felt very personal and very "us." The first wedding was in the LA area and was for all of our family, family friends and local LA friends. This was the "fancy" wedding. I'd say the more traditional wedding but neither of our weddings were really very traditional at all except for the fact that at the end, we were married. We were married in a botanical garden by one of our dearest friends surrounded by... most of our other dearest friends. It was a truly magical day that I will never forget!

 Yes, our cake topper is high-fiving. What else do you expect?

 Gladly added our names and date to the wall of love in the bridal dressing room.

 First selfie as married people!!

 After the reception, we ventured back to our hotel where we stuffed our faces with In-N-Out burger and reveled in afterglow. One of the most fun things was having all of our friends staying in the same hotel. After Chris put me to bed and I was fast asleep, he went and played in a very special blanket fort that housed a keg. What more could you ask for?! A blanket fort!!! With a keg in it!!! I hear this was loads of fun. I was sooooo tired.

 We had planned to head straight home the next day but all our friends were there! Time for adventures! Off the Vasquez Rocks we went to recreate some of our favorite movie scenes and bask in the beauty of the desert. What a great way to unwind after a great wedding.

Before I knew it, my house in Eureka was full of people. Between my parents, Chris' parents, bridesmaids, groomsmen, and guests. No time to breathe! No time to rest! A second weddings is only days away! Why did we decide to do this? Oh my gosh! This was the party wedding mostly consisting of marching band friends. The wedding was the same weekend as the World Famous Kinetic Grand Championship which made this an event-filled weekend. I told the guests the dress code was either semi-formal (which I was later informed meant shirt and tie on top, loud boxer shorts on bottom), Kinetic madness, or Sci-Fi/Space. Our friends are very good at themes.

 Many beers were drank, many friends were hugged, and much good food was consumed. For some of the younger people attending, this was their first wedding and I think we may have ruined weddings for them forever. No other wedding is ever going to be like this one!

 One of the most fun aspects of this wedding was that our officiant, Brooke didn't show us anything to do with the structure of our ceremony before the actual ceremony. It was all new to us and both heartfelt and hilarious. There were tears of joy and laughter throughout the hall.

 My beautiful bridesmaids.

The wonderful groomsmen. Thank you Jeff for interrupting the ceremony to let us all know how honored you felt to be invited to that space wedding.

The planning and execution of these two weddings ate up every moment of free time I had for over a year but they were perfect. I wouldn't change a thing about either of them. They were such different days and I couldn't have asked for more from either of them.

But now the weddings are over. All that's left is scrapbook construction. Not only did I have my own wedding to worry about this year, but the weddings of several of my dearest friends. These joyful events took us all over the state. But now we're home and wedding season is over. I can finally start trying to remember what my hobbies used to be and what activities brought me joy. 2014 was full of changes and joy. I'm hoping to bring writing back into my life starting now and throughout 2015.