One year ago today...

I was up at the crack of dawn. I was tired, but I was afraid of oversleeping so I went ahead and got up. I also wanted to make sure I was out of the shower before everyone else got up. I had stayed up way too late trying to get the thank you notes written for the gifts we received at the rehearsal dinner. As soon as I got out of the shower, I put them in the mailbox.

My hair and nail appointments started at 8. People were stirring and I was seeing family here and there. It was exciting. I could tell everyone was excited for me and I had a lot of fun. I was asking what Jeff was doing and he went touring town! I couldn't believe it. I'm glad he got that time with his family though.

I got to the church early and there were boy scouts selling what smelled like smoked meat of some sort. They saw me unloading lots of stuff and would run over and take turns holding the door for me, which was sweet. Finally one of them saw me with my dress and veil and asked "Is someone getting married today?" I don't think I stopped smiling after that and said "Yeah, me at 2pm. Y'all can come if you want!" I think that moment made it all real. I was running around a little crazy dealing with the little details at the reception. Now I can hardly remember what I was obsessing over!

We got my makeup done and I was just a bundle of energy and excitement. My wonderful bridesmaids actually put me in a time out! They made me just sit in a corner for a while and stop pacing to just think and enjoy the moment. After my required 5 minutes I think I was up pacing again, I just couldn't hold still! It felt like it took forever to get my dress all laced and tied. Normally I'm really self-conscious, especially about people watching me get dressed, but I think I had an audience of almost a dozen (including the three people it took to lower the dress over my head and two photographers documenting the whole thing!) and I could not have cared less!

Pictures were nice, but the hour between pictures and the ceremony was the longest of my life. I knew Jeff was upstairs and I was just dying to be with him and see him!

The ceremony was great. It seemed to go pretty quickly, but my feet were hurting by the time it was over because I had to stand perfectly still or else my dress would make noise!

The reception was nice and I enjoyed seeing everyone, but by that point I was DYING to sit down and have something to drink. I didn't care as much about eating, but I was SO thirsty! That dress weighed a ton and it was HOT! I think I had three layers on and it was 90 degrees outside! Sadly, sitting and drinking wasn't an option. Jeff and I did get some quiet, alone time when we took our pictures outside. Those ended up being my favorite pictures and my favorite part of the day.

After the reception I didn't think we'd ever get to leave, but was so glad when we finally did! We went back to the Brentwood house and I was able to FINALLY go to the bathroom and get a sprite. Jeff took some of the junk off the car. I said hi to the family and then we took off.

Before we could head to Birmingham, we had to stop at Auto Zone (just married sign and all!) so Jeff could replace a tail light. Checking into the hotel was such a relief because we could FINALLY eat and relax. We went to dinner at ICON, the restaurant in the Tutwiler (which is called something else now). I had a really great steak. I don't remember what Jeff had. It was all good.

And at the end of the day, I was Mrs. Herren!