I Must've Done Something Good: Part IV - The Honeymoon

Alright, hiatus over. Back to the good stuff.

We left off here: Part III.

This handsome fellow and I had just said, “I do!” to morning-coffee-drinking, dirty-laundry-doing, random-slow-dancing, bed-hogging, you-are-stuck-with-me-FOR-EV-A marital bliss, and we were ready to party.

Our reception did not disappoint. Have I told you how fun our friends are? 

(Also, ladies, please take note how ridiculously awesome and professionally good-looking Luke's best man and my new brother-in-law Jake is, way over there on the left. You're welcome, Jake.) 

The morning after the wedding, Luke quite literally had to drag me out of bed. I had a grip on my pillow that would suggest I had a million dollars hidden inside of the pillow case. Though this sadly was not true, I was tired. So, so, so tired. 14 months of planning our big day, mixed in with a dash of 1^st year teacher struggles, plus the idea of packing up to move 10 days later was finally catching up to me and made me want to bury my head in my fabulous hotel pillows and never come out, a-la-scared-turtle.

Alas, I did, but not after making Luke promise that I would get daily naps for the next few… oh… months. He’s kept pretty good on that promise.  

We spent the morning with our families at Panera opening our cards, and then were off on our fabulous honeymoon awaiting us! We headed north into Wisconsin, toward our final destination of Door County, Wisconsin. After a somewhat scary encounter of getting lost in Milwaukee, in which we encountered a hit-an-run accident in a not so great part of town, we decided to go a little farther and stop for the night. We had our first married date at Panda Express (because we are fancy like that) and bought an $8 bottle of wine for our stop at Super 8 for the night. Ahh… the dream honeymoon getaway.

On Sunday we actually made it up to Door County. Luke and I were loving all of the car time, because it is usually the only place that neither of us are distracted by computers, chores, T.V., etc. We had some really great talks and went through an entire game of Honeymoon Table Topics (if you are a talker and you like conversation starters, I highly recommend investing in some of these bad boys).

When we knew we were getting close, Luke insisted that we needed to pull over to take a picture right as we got into Door County. This is how that conversation went:

Luke: “I bet there’s a huge sign with a pull off so tourists can stop and take pictures!”
Emily: “ I bet it’s a small county sign that we’ll nearly miss driving past.”

Mmm… who was right?

Once we got there, we checked into our absolutely fabulous hotel, Stone Harbor Inn . We cannot say enough good things about staying here. 

  

 After we checked in, all of our days seem to run together, which was exactly what we wanted. We had no schedule, no appointments, no where to be at any particular time. And so, we got to do a little adventuring of our own. 

(The two of us exhibiting our new status as married adults by riding on the luggage cart.)

Waking up to my new husband serving me breakfast in bed. 

(I tell ya what, I am a lucky lady!) 

Biking 10 miles around the lake. 

(One of us was more excited than the other.) 

Kayaking on the bay side in the early morning fog.

(Scary cave we "walked" our kayaks through because it was so low! It was awesome!)

Some of you may ask, "Golly gee, Emily, why do you look drenched in some of these pictures?"
Ahh, thanks for asking, loyal reader. My hubby decided about an hour into our tour that he needed to enter into more of a state of "exhilaration" to get all the bang for his buck. Enter in white caps near to shore.  Enter in Luke paddling us over near them. Enter in kayak tipping in said white caps. Enter in tour guide laughing hysterically as I point at Luke saying, "Lucas! You did that on purpose!!!"

Enter in getting the kayak right-side-up and ourselves situated just as another wave tipped us over again. Our tour guide asked us if that was grounds for divorce.

(He looks quite pleased with himself. I look quite cold.) 

 All in good fun. It made for a great story. 

More of us exemplifying adulthood. 

Pondering the meaning of life, marriage, and the pursuit of happiness. 

Not needing to ponder anything at all. 

Eating. Lots of eating. 

Fancy date nights in fairy-tale-esque places. 

Playing "Find St. Francis." 

(Seriously, St. Francis adopted us. He followed us everywhere. We should not have been surprised seeing as we met here.) 

An afternoon spa surprise, planned ahead of time by by this guy, who made this girl very, very happy. 

(Kayak incident forgiven.) 

Studying the local art. 

But best of all... getting to wake up next to this face.

(And the gelato, of course.)

We never wanted the few days to end, as we finally got to sit back, relax, and soak in all of the blessings God has given to us this past year. We talked about the wedding a little bit at the beginning, but in truth, we spent most of our time just laughing about silly things and enjoying not having to "discuss" or "plan" or "decide". We just were, and we did it together. 

I am quite sure that there is no one else in the world that I would rather be annoyed by, tickled by, prayed for, laughed at, or laughed with for the rest of my life. 

Even if that means tipping over in a kayak once in a while to keep things interesting. 

Next up, the last in this series of posts! I Must've Done Something Good: Part V - Army Life, Army Wife! 

I Must've Done Something Good: Part III - The Wedding

Aaandd, we're back. This is gonna be a long one, folks. Hold on to your hats. This is

THE WEDDING POST. 

(Duh Duh Duh)

We left off with this guy:

And this girl:

And this moment:

And their mutual agreement that the other person was pretty darn swell.

Nearly a month ago on July 5th, Luke and I were married at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Lacon. It is the church my dad grew up in, and the church my sisters and I were all baptized and confirmed in. It has always been my home church and probably will always remain my "home church", despite moving away. The threads of my family's lives are so intertwined with this place, and I'm blessed that it was the church my dad got to walk me down the aisle to marry the love of my life.

The morning of the wedding started off pretty normal. I slept in until about 8 AM, which was awesome. So much for a jittery bride or getting up early to get my hair done (more perks of sisterly-talent). I woke up, and with the advice of a dear friend in mind, prayed a rosary to get in the right state of mind for the day. It absolutely made all the difference, because there was hardly a moment of the day that I found unbearably stressful.

Before I went downstairs to hang out with my family (to be greeted by Steph with "BABY DAY!!" and "LAST SINGLE MORNING!!"), I prepared Luke's wedding gift. I wanted to put a lot of time and thought into it because, well, I've been putting a lot of time and thought into it for about the last 5 years.

Since 2008, and 2 1/2 years before I met Luke, I had been writing letters to my future husband. They included many of the times I was happy, sad, frustrated, and homesick for the person I wanted to meet more than anything. I didn't know who he was, but I wanted to let this special person know just how much I prayed for him, loved him, thought about him, and was waiting for him, until the moment I could give him the letters on our wedding day... whenever that would be. Obviously in the time that I knew Luke, I continued writing letters, but never addressed them to him (you know, just in case he left me at the altar). So, on the morning of our wedding, I wrote my last letter and finally got to write his name at the top of it.

(I know, totes adorbs.)

After I stirred from my beauty slumber/lounging, I went downstairs, got my hair done by my sister, laughed so, so much with my family, and pretty much just chilled. In fact, that's really all I did for the next 6 hours... chilled. Very calmly, very patiently. Over at the church my lovely ladies gathered in the rectory basement to get ready, and we ate, laughed, and chilled some more. It only added to the absolute perfection of the entire day.

Until the chilling became, "Um... uh oh. It's 20 minutes til the wedding and Emily is not dressed yet." Oops.

So I got dressed very quickly without much nostalgia or 1000 pictures of me slipping on my shoes or pinning my hair or freaking out because my fake eyelashes kept popping off. Those moments will have to be left to the oral histories.

 About 15 minutes before the wedding, Luke and I were each led to a corner of the church by our bridal party, while both of us had our eyes closed. Around the corner, they pulled our hands together, and the two of us had a few minutes to pray together quietly before the wedding, still without seeing each other and spoiling the fun.

And then, the rest is pretty much documented through pictures.

Seeing Luke for the first time. 

Cracking up halfway down the aisle because my dad whispering, "There's still time to run... I have the truck keys.... you can still back out." Mostly to keep both of us from losing it. Also laughing so loud the entire church heard and laughed, too. 

The beautiful wedding Mass. 

This moment. FINALLY. 

The sabre arch exit, that I managed to walk through without tripping over my killer awesome heels, which I thought was a win for the day.  

The hilariously terrifying moment when Luke did not know where his keys were. And this face I made. 

THIS PICTURE. (Our photographer was like, "Done. We are done for the day. I got all I needed.")

These beauties. 

 And these beasts.
(And I mean that in the best, 'you-are-such-a-beast' way). Seriously, these gents rocked it.

Our walk-in song, which Luke picked out and is pretty much my favorite now. 

Dancing with my dad. 

 Dancing with this guy.

(You know how happy I look? Not even close to how happy I felt.) 

New friends. 

Old friends.

 Being serenaded by devastatingly handsome military men in front of 225 people. 

But most of all this: 

And this. 

And this.

I know it is just disgustingly cliche to say your wedding day is the happiest day of your life, but seriously people. I got to have one big party with all of the people I love most in this world, and it was a blast. I got to marry a man with the biggest heart and have a beautiful wedding to celebrate our love. 

Most importantly I got to start a marriage with someone who will not be afraid

to show me the way in dark times,

who I will get to have my cake and eat it too with,

(Maayyy have been a stretch, I know.) 

and share in this crazy adventure we are about to embark on called life. 

It was the perfect day. A lot of words and stories still really can't say any more or any less than that. It was more than happiness, because there is a reason that marriage is formed as a symbol of Christ's love for the Church. It is joy, sadness, fulfillment, and sacrifice all in one. It is the rock I am going to form my family on, and the springboard for the rest of my life. I am blessed, overjoyed, and still in awe of the people we have come to know on our journey who have made the paths we took toward each other full of beauty and faith. As our paths merge into one, Luke and I just want to thank, from the depths of our hearts, all of the family and friends who made our day what it was.
Without you we would be lost. 

"Cause you make me
Laugh a little louder
Love a little harder... 

And I feel alive when I'm with you.
Every time it's something new.
You're the only reason I fight.
You're the best thing in my life." 

Dudes, if you made it through all that, rock on. Next up is Part IV: Honeymoon Stories.

It won't be as long, totes promise.

I Must've Done Something Good: Part II- The Courtship

I know it's a little overzealous of me to think that people want to read a multi-part love story leading up the wedding when all you really probably want is some pictures of the day. Too bad. My blog, my way.

(But really, hang with me. I like you too much.)

We left off with my courtship escapades and brilliant first words as Luke's girlfriend: "It's about darn time."

Luke and I went on our first date two days later (if you don't count the E.R. date, which we don't necessarily when telling people about our first 'date-date'. It comes off as strange for some reason...?) After an Advent day-retreat we attended with our Newman friends, we went to Chick's on the Square in Macomb to grab some dinner. Luke had to switch places with me because the TV was in front of him and he couldn't concentrate on what I was saying (a switch that still happens regularly 2 1/2 years later). After this we went to Argyle State Park, where I, in the hopes of looking cute and casual, swung my feet off the side of the dock we were sitting on, and plunged them into the icy waters of the not-so-shallow frozen pond. Prince Charming dropped the ball on my castle-sized hints that my hands were getting cold and offered me a pair of cozy gloves to warm them up.

It is a wonder we are not still sitting on that dock.

Our first kiss was December 11th, after a Newman Christmas party. We stood outside for HOURS trying to get up the courage before he took me home. HOURS, people. We would just talk, and laugh, and talk, and look shyly at each other, maybe hug. I was in a dress and heels. He kept brushing our noses together, sort of testing out the waters. I thought it was cutesy at the time, but really, I should be thankful to him because otherwise I probably would have had frostbite.

I Love You's were exchanged February 24th, 2011 on the floor of the Newman chapel in front of the altar which had become our spot for good long talks and the like.

Luke went away for part of the summer for Airborne School on May 4th, my first taste of military life and too-long absences. I decided being apart from him for any period of time from there on out wasn't gonna fly (haha... Airborne...fly...) with me. I wanted this guy around. For a long time. So I did the only thing that made sense and didn't tell him.

August 26th was the day I finally admitted it. For some very forgettable reason we were getting into a bit of a tiff and the only reasonable thing I could say to explain why I was acting crazy was, "It's because I want to marry you, okay?!" He luckily had returned the sentiment for quite some time, and excused my abruptness for happily agreeing with me. We started making plans that same day.

In the summer of 2012 we were facing another summer apart for more Army training, this time twice as long as the last. On May 25th, two days before he had to leave, Luke got down on one knee on a corner of my family's farm after an elaborate plan that involved all of my family members and a favorite country song. He had caught me totally by surprise, and for as long as I live I will never forget the look on his face: joy, love, excitement, fear, and above all - the "I actually pulled this one off without you having the slightest" look. He had coordinated with my sister Steph to take pictures of it all. He even moved over mid-proposal for a more opportune angle, bless his heart.

He returned on July 17th, and after a month of only talking for short times on the phone, and then another month of writing nothing but letters back and forth, boy did it feel nice to be back in each other's arms. Little did I know, exactly a year from this day would also be the day we moved into our first home (ahem, 800 miles away. Another unknown detail at this time. Never mind that, you could have told me and I wouldn't have cared a wit at that moment.)

We were engaged for 14 months, which proved to be the happiest, most fun-filled, stressful, hilarious, hard, annoying, busy, awesome months of our courtship. I like to laugh at myself when I think of February 24th, 2011. I had no idea what kind of love I was getting myself into, nor did I think it would get so much better than that.

Luke thinks it's strange that I keep all these dates in my head. Maybe you think it's strange, too. But I, perhaps being overly romantic and a story-lover to boot, hope that one day they will be important to someone besides the two of us. Maybe I'll write our story down into a novel someday and make millions, or maybe it'll just be a compilation of favorite bed-time tales for our babies. But I hope one day, when my daughter asks me the question of how I knew her dad was the one, I'll be able to tell her it's because he was my first love and my last love, and I knew from the start that we had a story that would be worth retelling.

Next up: Part III and The Wedding Day!