For the last two weeks, I have talked about how Aaron & I met and fell in love. This week I'm going to write about how Aaron proposed and planning our wedding.
I haven't liked being the center of attention for a very long time now. It's funny because if you were to ask my mother, I certainly didn't shy away from being in the limelight when I was little. Truth is, to have everyone staring at me makes me incredibly uncomfortable. I also don't like people bringing attention to me so when someone wants to talk about something wonderful I've done, I try to change the subject as quickly as possible.
I haven't liked being the center of attention for a very long time now. It's funny because if you were to ask my mother, I certainly didn't shy away from being in the limelight when I was little. Truth is, to have everyone staring at me makes me incredibly uncomfortable. I also don't like people bringing attention to me so when someone wants to talk about something wonderful I've done, I try to change the subject as quickly as possible.
For that reason, our proposal was less of a proposal and more of a conversation. There wasn't a big, romantic plan involved. Aaron didn't pull out all of the bells and whistles. I would have hated it. Instead, he simply told me one night in October, 2004 "I'm going to marry you, you know." I said "I know." That was it. From that point forward, that was what we talked about, prayed about (oh how we prayed!) and prepared ourselves to do. We weren't young kids, we weren't looking for some big drawn out engagement. We wanted to be married, to start living our lives together. We knew God intended for us to be together so why dance around with it.
In February of 2005, Aaron presented me with a ring. He did actually ask me if I would marry him when he handed it to me - it wasn't an order I was obeying. We had been looking at rings for quite some time and we had narrowed it down to two. When he asked me which one I liked better, I told him to surprise me. Made him nervous. He was afraid, I think, he'd pick the one I liked the least.
Truth is, he nailed it. The ring he surprised me with was my favorite of the two. For someone who didn't want an engagement ring, I have become quite attached to mine. Here we are almost five years later and I hope to have a band made for it but even if we don't, by itself it is still the most beautiful thing I have ever owned.
Our wedding was beautiful. It was a simple, quiet wedding at my parents' home. We were married at the pond, under an arbor my sister decorated. We were married by the pastor who was running the singles' group at the time we met and there were about 40 people present for the ceremony.
For the reception, we held a potluck bbq. We cooked up hamburgers and hot dogs and just... spent time with our friends. No big fanfare, no garter throwing or bouquet throwing. Neither one of us had even really wanted a wedding. We did that for my mother. We were quite happy with the idea of getting married quietly, with witnesses and that's it and going on our way. My mother, however, wanted to see me get married this time. We won't talk about my first wedding too much but...suffice it to say she wasn't happy about it and we eloped.
So...the wedding and the party were more for her than they were for us. It's funny, too. I LOVE parties. I love planning them, preparing for them, throwing them. Except when it involves my being the center of attention. Hence the real reason I didn't want a wedding. I just didn't want to be the center of attention....
My mother took care of that!
My parents had a swing hanging between two tree stumps (very tall stumps...) in their back yard. It was screwed into the trunk of a tree my father had put across the two tree stumps. It had been there a while. Apparently, long enough for the tree to rot enough around the swing bolts that when my mother, a friend of mine, my niece and another friend's little girl were all on the swing, it gave way and fell out of the tree.
Fortunately, the only injury was my mother's. It wasn't a little one, mind you but no one else was hurt. She, however, broke her ankle. It got caught under the swing on the way down and... well...it was ugly. My sister had to take her to the hospital for x-rays, etc. and as she was leaving, she asked me not to leave until she got back.
Because of that, I truly believe we are the only bride & groom in America who were the last people to leave their own reception...
At least it was a wedding to remember. For us.
That was June 18, 2005. In my next and final post in this series, I'm going to write about why I love my husband. Why I know I'm going to be with him until I die. Why I know he is the greatest husband in the world.
In February of 2005, Aaron presented me with a ring. He did actually ask me if I would marry him when he handed it to me - it wasn't an order I was obeying. We had been looking at rings for quite some time and we had narrowed it down to two. When he asked me which one I liked better, I told him to surprise me. Made him nervous. He was afraid, I think, he'd pick the one I liked the least.
Truth is, he nailed it. The ring he surprised me with was my favorite of the two. For someone who didn't want an engagement ring, I have become quite attached to mine. Here we are almost five years later and I hope to have a band made for it but even if we don't, by itself it is still the most beautiful thing I have ever owned.
Our wedding was beautiful. It was a simple, quiet wedding at my parents' home. We were married at the pond, under an arbor my sister decorated. We were married by the pastor who was running the singles' group at the time we met and there were about 40 people present for the ceremony.
For the reception, we held a potluck bbq. We cooked up hamburgers and hot dogs and just... spent time with our friends. No big fanfare, no garter throwing or bouquet throwing. Neither one of us had even really wanted a wedding. We did that for my mother. We were quite happy with the idea of getting married quietly, with witnesses and that's it and going on our way. My mother, however, wanted to see me get married this time. We won't talk about my first wedding too much but...suffice it to say she wasn't happy about it and we eloped.
So...the wedding and the party were more for her than they were for us. It's funny, too. I LOVE parties. I love planning them, preparing for them, throwing them. Except when it involves my being the center of attention. Hence the real reason I didn't want a wedding. I just didn't want to be the center of attention....
My mother took care of that!
My parents had a swing hanging between two tree stumps (very tall stumps...) in their back yard. It was screwed into the trunk of a tree my father had put across the two tree stumps. It had been there a while. Apparently, long enough for the tree to rot enough around the swing bolts that when my mother, a friend of mine, my niece and another friend's little girl were all on the swing, it gave way and fell out of the tree.
Fortunately, the only injury was my mother's. It wasn't a little one, mind you but no one else was hurt. She, however, broke her ankle. It got caught under the swing on the way down and... well...it was ugly. My sister had to take her to the hospital for x-rays, etc. and as she was leaving, she asked me not to leave until she got back.
Because of that, I truly believe we are the only bride & groom in America who were the last people to leave their own reception...
At least it was a wedding to remember. For us.
That was June 18, 2005. In my next and final post in this series, I'm going to write about why I love my husband. Why I know I'm going to be with him until I die. Why I know he is the greatest husband in the world.
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