So, five years ago Saturday, this happened:

Funny story, actually. The morning of the wedding, I went over to my mother’s house to get ready. When I arrived, I learned that my step-dad was not going to be attending. Apparently, he was sick to his stomach and vomiting. He had been quarantined to their bedroom. My mom, sister, and I joked around that he was obviously faking it because he just didn’t want to dress up for the wedding. Little did we know that, hours later, he would be having emergency surgery to have his appendix removed. (more…)

We traveled to my cousin Tom’s wedding over the weekend. Like any true family gathering, there were tears and laughter, music, heartbreak, joy, dancing, expectations, drama, tortillas and an open bar.

Babies cried and were tended by their grandfathers. My son ignored lunch but ate four stolen cupcakes from the back of the wedding dessert display. It was hot and there was shade. Jeff played guitar and cousin Grat played the piano. There were funny toasts and blessings and sombreros. My mother and I took turns dancing with my cousin Dan and mom and I both realized that he danced just like my dad used to. Two families were joined together. (more…)

A dear friend of mine (I met online @ Just Mommies) who lives in Australia, just announced she is getting married. I am so happy for Miranda as she deserves this so much. Her announcement really brought me back to our wedding preparations & ceremony. I know I probably don’t tell Todd quite enough how much he means to me. How much I love him for being who he is & how much I believe in him. He is my Superman.

So, rather than talk about the kids today, I am going to reminisce a bit. I remember very clearly the moment he asked me to marry him. He was very insistent on going to a nice restaurant on his birthday that year. I didn’t understand why & told him that I didn’t have much money so he offered to pay (what he didn’t know was that I was throwing a MASSIVE surprise b-day party the following Saturday). We got all dressed up for the occasion, at his request.

This picture was taken by (more…)

We got home last night at 1:30 a.m. from a long weekend of traveling. My family all lives anywhere from three and a half to five hours away, so every so often we have to make the trek up to see them. This time we also had to attend my cousin’s outdoor wedding. Luckily for us, it was the hottest day of the year.

Owen was meeting the extended family for the first time, and he hates the heat. Oh, and he hates crowds. So, a crowded, hot wedding was the perfect venue for his big debut. He was little cranky, but he handled being glued to me with sweat a lot better than I thought he would.

Snow White was in her element. Neither heat nor crowds nor (more…)

So this wedding next month? It’s in the northern hemisphere. Those of you living in the northern hemisphere will know that the weather is warm around this time of year up there. Those of us in the southern hemisphere know that it’s not warm down here. And that’s cool, because Mother Nature set it up that way and it’s her prerogative to do it that way.

However, it does make it incredibly difficult to find an outfit suitable for a summer wedding when you living in winter. Wool does not make a suitable summer dress.

And thus, my friends, I’m coming to you for help. Below is the dress I’ve found for the wedding. If fits perfectly, is made for my shape (round and bumpy) but needs accessories to make it work. And this is where you come in. It’s a Calvin Klein dress, found at a seconds shop around the corner from work (win!). The tag says it’s a size 6, and I’m running with that.

You need to (more…)