A Wedding

It should be required that all married couples attend a wedding at least once a year. They’re an amazing reminder of where you started and why.

We went to a beautiful wedding on Saturday for a guy that I used to work with at The Backpacker. He was definitely one of my favorites – kind, serious, hard working, loyal . . . a true, good man. He, in particular, has always held a special place in my heart because when he was about 21 years old and an employee of The Backpacker, he had a heart attack while running in downtown Charleston. He was lying on the side of the road, not breathing when a nurse spotted him and gave him chest compression’s until EMS arrived. And a cardiologist was driving by and stopped to help. (Talk about faith and miracles!) It turned out that he had a major heart defect that had never been detected. At the time, lil Luke was just 3 months old and we were in the thick of major heart issues ourselves. This man went into the hospital as a John Doe and it took his girlfriend (now wife!), friends and family several hours to find him. His story is full of miracles and blessings. As his mother said at the wedding, “I have to remember that this almost wasn’t.” His now wife was by his side through everything. Their love is deep and true, the kind of love that makes you feel like you can do anything. It hasn’t been all cherries and roses for them, they’ve already navigated some tough times. Being a part of their day felt like an honor.

Their ceremony was very personal. They had several readings that I had never heard before. Their minister read pieces of letters that they had written to one another. They wrote their own, very moving, vows. I was a mess! I had a steady stream of happy tears, I could have boo-hooed. It was so cool to get to witness such LOVE. Big Luke said to me, “I wish I’d never married you so that I could marry you again.” He even shed a few tears.

The minister said that marriage was created for “mutual joy.” That is how I feel about my marriage to Luke, MUTUAL JOY. There is almost nothing better than knowing that someone you love is going to be well loved and cared for in their marriage and that is certainly the case with these two.

Other than the fact that I couldn’t boogie down because I am 8.5 mos pregnant and super uncomfortable, the wedding was also lots of fun. And my shoes totally disintegrated so I walked around barefoot and pregnant the whole time – seriously, this happened. They were wedge sandals and the wedge just started falling apart. Pregnant women really shouldn’t go places . . . ever. Geez!

Look at these shoes!

Look at this beautiful setting!

A Baby Shower

Ya’ll sometimes I can’t even believe what amazing friends and family I have. How did I get so lucky?

My BFF since 6th grade, Katie and her SIL, Kirby who is also a very good friend of mine hosted a baby brunch for me on Sunday. They showered me with flowers, delicious food, chocolate cake, baby books, diapers and tons of other goodies.

Kirby (tall in white) just had a baby 3 weeks ago! And Katie (long dark hair beside her) has a 4 mos old! Not only do they look amazing but they somehow found the time to host this for me! And everyone else has little children and/or lives out of town and they made the time to come celebrate. I’m honored.

This is how I felt after the brunch . . . so much good in the world . . .

We are officially ready for baby. His nursery (aka corner of our bedroom) is ready and fully stocked with diapers and burp clothes. My bags are packed. My belly is surely as large as humanly possible! So come on baby. We can’t wait to meet you.

Life

A couple of little funny stories for you.

First, I decided to take the boys with me to the park on Saturday morning for my “quiet, meditative time.” This was a mistake but oh well. Anyway, I was trying to do a little 10 minute guided meditation. All the while, Fleet is in the background playing guitar and Luke has found a nail and a screw and is pretending to fight them while making shooting and bomb noises. I really just had to laugh at my life.

Later in the day I decided to deep clean Elle’s room. The kind of clean where you vacuum under the bed and the dresser and reorganize the closet. I do this about twice a year. I found a rotten banana behind her crib. Again, had to laugh.

Same day, my shoes disintegrated at the wedding. Yes, this was all in one day. I am probably leaving stuff out. It’s crazy around here.

Have a great week!