You're All I Need To Get By
What a year. As I get older, I know I'll look back and 2011 will be a pivotal year in my life! My parents moved to South Carolina after almost 30 years in Michigan. My sister and my brother-in-law had a beautiful baby girl, and as her godmother I'm biased, but I think Eila is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen.
And not least of all... I was blessed with the chance to marry Ryan, my curly haired better half.
Photo Credit: Rory Siefer
After a year of planning, our wedding day was a blur. As you plan, you do everything you can to make everything perfect, but it's the little things you can't anticipate that always throw you for a loop. Weddings are a perfectionist's dream/nightmare! We had a busy year filled with joyous weddings of some of our closest friends. It wasn't until September - less than two months before 11-5-11 - that I realized I needed to slow down and appreciate everything. I'm glad I did. We had a beautiful day surrounded by the people we love.
Photo Credit: Rebecca Barger Photography
People have asked me what my favorite part of the day was. Without a doubt, it was the ceremony. In the days leading up to the wedding, I was nervous about things like walking down the aisle, and exchanging our vows in front of 145 people. The nerves I had up until the minutes before the wedding dissolved when my Dad and I walked down the aisle.
Photo Credit: Chris Plentus
As Ryan and I we were sitting side-by-side at St. Thomas of Villanova Church, he whispered in my ear "This is surreal!" It was. The most important part of the day was right in front of me, I was relaxed, and my nerves were gone. It helped that Father Peter had us laughing at every turn, especially when he told us not to chitchat up at the altar with him. Our feelings about his wonderful homily can't be put into words.
Photo Credit: Chris Plentus
Photo Credit: Rebecca Barger Photography
During all of the planning, could I have anticipated that we would need to cut the lace under my dress with a scissor the morning of the wedding so that I wouldn't trip over my dress? No... but I have an awesome picture of Mo taking shears to my dress. Did I still trip once or twice? Yes... a vast improvement from the dozen or so times it would've happened otherwise. Looking back would I have changed certain things? Of course. The title of this blog post isn't the song we went with for our first dance - it was one of the final two. When I look back, though, I somehow hear this one playing in my head. I came away from 2011 with so many things, but the most important of all is that I walked away with the only person I need to get by.
