6 Months Ago . . . part 1

I was just days away from my wedding!  I've been meaning to write about it before I start forgetting details, but this has been the fastest-moving 6 months in (my) history. 

Here's the first installment:

The week before the Big Day, I was one big bundle of nerves.  I wish I had been finished with packing to move before that last week.  Wedding jitters combined with trying to decide what to pack for the move and pack for the wedding and pack for the honeymoon cruise and what to get rid of and dropping boxes off at Josh's and dropping stuff off at the D.I. and cleaning all the things and get it done RIGHT NOW and get to work on time and try to find time to sleep and glue the sparklies on my wedding slippers and boy I'm drinking far too many highly-caffeinated drinks . . . not fun.

Lucky for me, I had a magic dress.  My wedding dress was a sample on sale, so I got to take it right home with me same day instead of waiting months and months.  Not only was it soooo beautiful, it possessed magical calming powers.  Whenever I was feeling super-stressed I'd go to my closet, unzip the bag that held my lovely treasure, and *POOF!*, butterflies settled down and I was able to focus on being more excited than stressed.  There must have been Xanax sewn into those gorgeous little flowers, so perfect for a spring wedding.

*sigh*

 

I know this is uncharacteristically girly for me.  I'm just as surprised as you are.

 



I took most of the week before the wedding off of work, thinking I would have packing and cleaning under control by then and could use that time to leisurely finish the few little bits I'd have left, with plenty of time to relax and enjoy my last few days of being a bride-to-be.

Didn't quite work out that way.

Instead, despite my Mom and Dad coming down to help, (VERY appreciated!) I worked frantically right up until the afternoon before the wedding, when I had to admit defeat.  I was 97% done, but was all out of time. I was down to 1 hour before being due in Woods Cross for pedis with Mom, Chrys, and Manda.   Panicked, I told my landlady (Josh's aunt, Dorrie) my situation, and she told me it was fine if I left the last bit til after the honeymoon, and to go have fun and pamper myself.  Relief!!  So I quickly showered, grabbed everything I would need for the next week, and threw it in my car.

 Except for my dress, which I very carefully placed in my car.

There was some confusion as to the location of the nail salon where our reservations were, The little shop was tucked back away from the road and not easily seen.  Manda found it first and guided us there by phone.  As I was able to sit quiet and still for the first time in about 10 days, warm water bubbling around my feet and ankles, I began to really relax.  Ladies, we should make getting pedicures together a regular thing.

After about an hour of pampering and getting cute little flowers on my toesies, it was off to dinner.  I had wanted to eat at Thaiphoon at the Gateway, but it was shut down and closed forever. So we moved the party to Z'Tejas instead.  My good friend Sarah met us there, and we commenced eating (I LOVE their corn bread.  Yum!) and talking and laughing.  I heard some words of wisdom about putting up with learning to live with a new husband.  Much less nervous now, but still some butterflies a-flutterin'. 

Post-dinner, we adjourned to the Radisson by the airport.  Josh and I would be flying out super early the day after the wedding, so being near the airport would allow us to sleep a little longer. 

Like, 5 whole minutes.

Ok, in all honesty, Josh's condo (now OUR condo.  In the ghetto.) is maybe a 10 minute drive from the airport, so we very well could have saved money and spent the wedding night there.  But I'M THE BRIDE, and I wanted a nice hotel room, dang it!  With room service!! (the height of decadence, in my limited experience with decadence.)  I splurged and got a hotel room for 2 nights, so I could have the room all to myself the night before and as my bridal staging area on the Big Day. Waaaay more glamorous than my plain-ol' bedroom and bathroom in Magna, and a good 15-20 minutes closer to the venue in Bountiful to boot.

I think I read it used to be a trolley depot, hence the interesting architecture.

Can't tell in the pic, but that bed is HUGE.

Chrys stopped at a candy shop at the Gateway for some goodies for us to munch on as we hung out in my room for the evening.  We piled on the ginormous (bigger than my current bedroom, I'm almost positive) sleep number bed, and had fun testing all the settings. Uuuuuuuuuppp.  Doooooooowwwwnnnn.   Firrrrrrrrrrmmmmm.   Sooooooofffffttttt.   After a nice evening of low-key girl time (just what I needed), I was feeling much calmer than the anxiety-ridden near-wreck of a few hours before.  Assuming I'd be too nervous and excited to sleep, I took a nice long bath, made double sure everything I needed for tomorrow was present and accounted for, filled out my breakfast room-service order (YAY!!), and settled in for the night on the huge island of a bed to watch some TV.  And then . . .

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

to be continued . . .