Happily Ever After...Posting from the Other Side :)

Ok, this post has several pictures that have been taken over the past few days. The first being a picture of the dancing walrus that Ben brought me back from the arctic. I have a dork dance that I do when I am happy, and this walrus is doing that. Very cool present.

Now, we get into some local flavor....this was taken by somebody's car outside the IHOP in New Albany, Indiana. I couldn't help myself.

I told you guys that I was going to have a Cheesecake at my reception, and here it is! I got a new flavor called Pineapple Upside Down Cheesecake. In case you can't read the note it says, "For BRIDAL party ONLY.....Cheesecake makes this bride VERY happy!" As to be expected, this cheesecake did not disappoint.

Ben and I at the rehearsal dinner.

Wendy and I at the rehearsal dinner. I am so glad that Wendy and I took quite a few pictures over the las few days. She is one of my best friends, and I don't have any pictures of us together since I have lost weight. It is always an after thought, and we have missed many opportunities to take some good pictures. What is weird as I look at the pictures that are coming in through Facebook and email is how similar our body types are. Granted, I am still a good 25 pounds heavier than her, I don't stand out like a sore thumb.

Wedding day picture!My former student Sierra....she was so cute. It was great having her in my wedding. I loved her outfit too.

This is the St. James room that we stayed at Friday night and last night. I love this bed and breakfast. It is so romantic and homey.

This van was parked outside our bed and breakfast, and I had to get a shot of it!

WOW! What a whirlwind the wedding day was.....and such a great one. I got a great piece of advice from my friend Cheryl. She said to take some moments and just stop, note the time, and savor what is taking place. This was such stellar advice. I have some great moments where I stopped and really took in the magnitude of the day.

The preacher came at 6:30 as promised to ask me if I was certain if I wanted to go through with the marriage, and I said yes. He asked Ben the same. :) I liked that he did this.

My bouquet was quite interesting. When this die down, I'm going to take pictures of all the elements of it. My friends did the "something old, something new...." in the bouquet. Something new was a small locket with a scripture verse from Proverbs in it. They also put a small picture of me with my family taken about six months prior to weight loss surgery. They commented on how even though I didn't want those pictures as a part of the wedding, they still loved the girl in that picture.

I told my bridal party that there was one thing I didn't want them to do....was tell me how full the church was getting. I knew that would make me nervous! I know I did that when my sister married, and reflecting back on that, that was not a wise thing to do.

I didn't cry during the wedding, but at the beginning got pretty misty eyed. I was expecting that I would sob during the service. I think what helped me is after we had the first part of the service, we had a presentation of the Gospel. I was able to pull my composure back together during that. Ben's friend Jason said I was beaming throughout the whole ceremony.

I got a zillion compliments on my dress....and they were almost always followed by, "You look so tiny." Yeah, that made me feel AWESOME!

Today we are off to DC....our flight heads out at 2:00....I can't wait!