Wedding Week: Ceremony

After doing the cupid shuffle with my dad and watching our bridal party disappear, I stepped into the view of all our family and friends. I met the eyes of Ben's Uncle who I have never met, my 2nd grade teacher, the family I spent three summers as their nanny, college friends, and then realized I needed to make eye contact with Ben! I avoided his eyes until I was half way down the aisle because I worried he would cry and he did. Ben eyes were bursting with love and my eyes instantly filled with the tears I promised myself would not fall! I again looked around and took in the moment, watching all our family and friends with huge smiles and watery eyes. I have never felt so much love in such a small space. All I wanted to do was run and leap into Ben's arms but I refrained myself and tried to display that much love through my eye contact with my future husband. 

Some fun facts about our Ceremony:

1. Our bridesmaid, Lauren, was newly pregnant and did not feel well during our ceremony. Thankfully there was a bench nearby that she could sit on and still see us get married! After sitting down for a few minutes, she was as good as new! :)

2. The Pastor, was my Pastor throughout my childhood and the husband of my 2nd grade teacher. He was just as emotional through our ceremony as we were. 

3. My poor dress was stepped on by so many people at our wedding. haha. I was so afraid I was going to try and walk as they were stepping on my dress and fall flat on my face! But I didn't!

Ben was filled with love!

I was so proud to walk with my dad!

Saying our vows!

Ben saying his vows!

I didn't remember doing this until I saw the evidence. 

My Pastor blessing us.

I love our faces at the moment we were declared husband and wife. 

*Deep sigh* We are married!

One big smile for my mom!

Hugs for my daddy!

Mommy hugs!

So proud to have them as my in-laws!

So many hugs!! My cheeks ached from smiling!

One of my favorite pictures!

Then everyone headed out and had some fun with the bubbles we provided!

They were waiting for...

US!

My Uncle Tom caught some incredible moments, better than our photographers! :)

I love the bubbles!

I was giddy!

Going in for the big kiss!!!

Another magical moment!!! 

Then we took pictures... many pictures....

Some pictures were totally typical of my family!

This was a great day to take pictures of those nearest and dearest to us!

And of course, some humorous moments were caught on camera as well!

You know it's true love when we both make the same silly face in a photo! haha

A shot of the back of my dress, veil and hair.

My family including my brother from another mother, Tim!

All of the kids who played a special role!

Lydia, the flower girl!

It's blurry but such a cute picture!

The bridal party!

While we took pictures, everyone else kept busy by taking some fun pictures too!

Logan and YaYa

Justin and Tia! 

Aunty Lisa and Mandy

Little Miss Addison

Aunty Ju

(Another blurry one) Complete Happiness!!

After the pictures were taken at the church, we went off to our favorite spot. The spot were Ben and I first fell for one another and where he proposed, Little Presque Isle, to take pictures with the bridal party. We then headed to our reception to dance the night away!

One year ago today, I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of our family, eating mass amounts of chocolate, and recapping my first week at my new job. Read more here.

Wedding Week: Preparing to say "I Do"

The big morning had finally arrived. I spent the evening with my bridesmaids; chitchatting, painting nails, and drifted off to sleep next to my soon to be sister-in-laws. 

Ben spent the evening with the guys in our apartment eating leftover wings from the rehearsal dinner, playing video game and introducing the guys to the local brewing company. 

The next morning was very calm. I was surprised how stress-free I was. I guess I just knew that whatever happened (or didn't happen) during the day didn't matter. I just knew that at the end of the day I would be married to my one and only. 

Some fun facts about preparing to say "I Do":

1. It was raining/sprinkling moments leading up to our wedding but not a drop fell after. 

2. While my morning was calm - Ben and the boys had to rush clean up our apartment from their fun evening! 

3. The last thing I did before walking down the aisle was to dance out the jitters with my dad. We did the cupid shuffle! Thankfully our photographer caught this moment! 

Mom H making the final alterations on the flowers. 

A goofy picture for Groomsmen, Lance

Justin and Tia taking a break and having some lunch; subs and chips!

Aunty Tracy, a Mary Kay Consultant, did my make-up! We spent a few sessions planning my make-up!

New Friends, beautiful and ready for the wedding! Both in dresses made by their grandmother!

The boys are looking sharp! They had to bring all their belongings out to the car before the wedding. 

Mom and Son! Pictures were taken before the wedding and it was fun to look back and what was happening while I was getting ready!

Lance arrived, he rode his bike!

Lauren, bridesmaid, brought Meghan to help with her daughter, Addison. Meghan kept Addison busy so Mom and Dad could do their wedding duties. :)

The dress is ready!!! 

Hair and Make-up done and ready for the dress!

My beautiful bridesmaids all helped me and so did Mandy. 

It was so special to me that so many people played a role in our wedding!

Lauren helped me with the final touches; garter and shoes. Lydia, flowergirl, helped me with my shoes too!

Tim has been like another brother to me. He also played a big role on our wedding day. In this picture Tim carried all our purses to the cars! What a trooper!

 Church is ready for us!!

The ring bearers are ready too! Their mom, Mandy, picked out their outfits! I thought they were super adorable!

Deep breath... Preparing to walk into the church!

Moments before I walked down the aisle I remembered something important,

WE FORGOT TO PUT ON MY VEIL! No one was in the room with me except for the photographer. The photographer ran out and got my mom. We quickly put on the veil, slowing only a moment to take a picture. Then my mom ran out to head down the aisle!

Now I am finally ready! <3

I started to panic about the weather a year ago today, to read about it, click here. 

Wedding Week: Rehearsal Dinner and Into the Evening

After the bridal party showed up the rehearsal went well. Almost all the decorations for the church and reception location were complete. Then Ben and I spent a few more hours together before saying goodbye until I met him at the alter. 


Some fun facts about the rehearsal dinner:
1. We had Aubrees, a local restaurant where Ben and I shared many meals and memories together. It is our favorite place to eat and we wanted our family to experience the deliciousness! 
2. For most of our family members this was the first time they had met so I loved just taking a seat and looking around as our families collided! Our cousins became friends instantly and that was one of my favorite memories from our wedding.
3. I had on a cute little dress but I FROZE in the air conditioning and wore a jacket the whole night. 

The location. One of the apartments on Campus has a big Multi-Purpose Room. 

We spent our last few hours together surrounded by all the people we love so much!

Families collide! 

The boys playing with their Groomsmen gifts!

There were some precious moments. Like this one when Ben gave Justin his gift. 

This is one of my favorite moments, although it is quite blurry. 

New friends were made! 

Logan found a creative way to play with his gift!

Raena, Lydia and Erin reading Lydia's Flowergirl present. 

It was quite chilly in the room but I was thankful for the AC!

After the rehearsal and dinner Ben and I said goodbye for the evening. Ben and the boys (groomsmen and even his Uncle from California) went off for a night of bachelorhood at our apartment. I went back with my parents to the hotel to spend my last night as a bachlorette with my bridesmaids. 

Some fun facts about the rest of the evening:

1. I was a bit shocked entering the hotel to find almost my entire family was there. Everywhere you looked I found more of my family. They took over the pool, lobby and breakfast room. Family who had not seen each other for a while were catching up with quiet conversations, games were being played, and a lot of swimming was also done! 

2. I made a poor decision and ended up with a funny tale to tell..... (picture can be found below)

3. We had arranged the table place settings before the wedding weekend but due to some issues (crammed tables that couldn't fit as many as we were told...), my mom and aunts had to make more table runners and label all the place cards the night before the wedding!!! YIKES! It was a big job but they pulled it off!

Great Grandma and one of her many Great Grandchildren, Kaitlyn

Riopelle, Vieth, and Cole Pool Party! 

Candy, Drinks and Games!

Family catching up after not seeing each for a while.

Mini Hotel Room Parties were occurring with family members doing super secret wedding surprises. 

More fun with games! 

My Aunt bought me a scrapbook and many items to use in it! 

I am hoping to get started on it this summer!!

The book is beautiful!

And the mishap........

My soon-to-be-sisters-in-law and I used tanning wipes the night before our wedding. We were told, read the directions and don't miss anything! Well.... as you can see... we did! We were streaky and pretty orange. By morning you couldn't tell too much expect if you looked at my hands, they were pretty nasty looking! lol. It wasn't that big a deal, how many of you even noticed? :)

To read about what I was blogging about one year ago today, visit here. 

Wedding Week: Rehearsal

We are one week away from our First Wedding Anniversary so this week we will take a look back at all the fun we had during our first weekend as Husband and Wife. 

Every day I'll share some photos and memories of different aspects of our wedding starting with, our rehearsal! 

First, here is the wording found in the invitation that went out to the bridal party and their families, mistresses of ceremony, pastor, and grandparents. 

Practice makes perfect
well, maybe, not quite
please come for a run through
and we MIGHT get it right!

Ben and Jessica’s Rehearsal
June 11^th, 2010

At 5 o’clock, Redeemer Lutheran Church

Dinner to follow at Woodland Park Apartment 

Some fun facts about our rehearsal:

1. 3 bridesmaids and the best man were late

2. Our organist had to drive an hour to for a rehearsal that didn't even last an hour. 

3. The bouquets weren't quite done so a stand-in was necessary, see below. :)

For some reason, all the pictures that I have from our rehearsal are incredibly blurry! These are the best I could find.

Practice makes perfect! 

Okay, so it was not perfect but close! :) 

Aunti Addi, our stand in bridesmaid with her stand in bouquet. 

The flowers so lovingly put together by Mom H, Tia and others! 

To see what I was blogging about one year ago from today, visit here. A few special packages came in the mail that had me extra excited!

Sunshine and Summertime!

My playlist this morning....


Faith Hill: Sunshine and Summertime
Jessica Andrews: Sunshine and Love
Frank Sinatra: Summer Wind
New Kids on the Block: Summertime
Rascal Flatts: Summertime
Phil Vassar: Six Pack Summer
Grease: Summer Nights
and Kenny Chesney


It is officially summer!
The sun is hot, drinks are cold, flip flips, skirts and tanks are out in full force! Ben and I went for our first bike ride last night to Eric and Lauren's and rode back in the dark. It was a beautiful night for a bike ride! 


I am looking forward to going to the Zoo with the DeRuischer's, completing the To Do List Raena and I created, visiting the Meijer Gardens, watching cousins play baseball, attending some festivals, biking, rollarblading, gardening, Alyssa and Bill's wedding and spending some time on the beach... 

Okay, okay. This isn't a beach in Grand Rapids but a girl can dream! 

What are you most excited for this summer!

American Idol

I have never watched American Idol. In fact I kind of made it a point not to watch it. Not that I didn't want to watch as these singers took their shot at becoming a star but I really did not like the judges. My parents came to visit us a few months back and they watch American Idol. After watching one week.. I was hooked! I loved listening to everyone and quickly found my favorites. I spent an hour on Wednesday and another hour on Thursday texting with my Aunty Jodi, cousin Kaitlyn, Mom and Aunty Lisa. We cried together, yelled at the TV, and cheered on our favorites!!! 


My favorites were kicked off before the finale but I feel like both Scotty and Lauren are also amazing and deserve to be American's Next Idol! 


Here are my favorites this season!!! 

Pia

Kicked off pretty early but still going on tour!
It was a shock to everyone when she was kicked off!

Mr. James Durbin!

James has turned me into a Metal fan! :)

He is extremely talented and although he was kicked off in the surprise of the season, he will go FAR!

And my favorite...

CASEY!!!!! 

Casey Abrams had it all - personality, stage presence, and a great voice! 

He was so fun to watch and I will be buying his future CDs!

Anyone else watch Idol this season? 

Who were your favorites?

Hi Ho It's off to Grand Rapids We Go!

We have made it to Grand Rapids!!

Friday I said goodbye to my student teaching classroom.
Sunday I said goodbye to my job at the zoo.
Tuesday Ben said goodbye to the Discovery Center and Boy's Ranch.
Wednesday we said hello to my parents!
Thursday morning we made a quick trip to the airport to visit with a friend for 30 minutes who was in town interviewing at a college in South Dakota.
Friday morning, 8am, we left our little apartment in Sioux Fall to travel to Grand Rapids!!
We stayed overnight in Illinois on Friday before completing our trip making it to Grand Rapids a little after 3pm on Saturday afternoon!


In a short amount of time we caught up with the Ben's family, some family in Holland and our best friends! 


Since arriving in Grand Rapids Ben and I have moved into the room that his older sisters shared when they lived here. Most of our belongings are in little pod type containers and were taken away. We have looked at one apartment and have others scheduled for this week. 


We were able to attend Raena's lacrosse game and then got a phone call from our friends who needed our help unexpectingly this evening. We live a life with no regrets and we enjoyed our time in Sioux Falls but we are so thankful to be here and so involved with their lives and happy to be back in Michigan! 

Favorite Day of the Month

I have a favorite day of the month.
It is not the same day every month.
I know my favorite day has come when I open the mailbox.


I open my mailbox and there it is..
a tiny little bundle of fun....


Any ideas what it is? 


It's Reader's Digest!!!


Someone must have bought it as a gift for us but we don't know who. Well, we have our suspicions... but all we know for sure is that we did not buy it. I have never read Reader's Digest but I have fallen in love with the information, funnies, and all the other great things found in this little bundle of fun! I look forward to this day all month long and love when that precious day comes and I open my mailbox to find the little book! 

Lots of BIG news in a tiny post

Here is a tiny post of all the BIG things happening in our life...


1. Ben got a job in Grand Rapids, his dream job on a family-owned, organic farm learning all that he wants to learn! We are moving to GR in just a few days. This means living near our family and friends! 


2. I graduated college!! I am officially a college graduate. I was not able to make it back for the graduation ceremony but I had a wonderful graduation ceremony and party with my students, teacher and aide. 


3. The weather is beautiful! We kinda skipped Spring and jumped right into Summer. From rainy and 50s to sunny, hot and 80s! I haven't gotten out much to enjoy the weather but will be able to do so soon!


4. I am so excited for not only the changes happening in our lives but in the lives of all of my friends as I watch them preparing to graduate, searching for dream jobs, getting engaged, married, having children. Even though I am not able to be near all my friends I am thankful for things like Facebook and cell phones so I can keep up with everyone!