Yes, I'm still alive...I think

Since we last met, so many things in my life have changed. Of course, maybe life just seems so different when viewed through the sparkle of the diamonds on my left ring finger.
Yes, that's right, I got married! Labor Day weekend, The Boy (now The Hubby!) and I took a trip to Morro Bay, which included a trip to Hearst Castle, wine tasting at Kelsey Vineyards in San Luis Obispo (and a visit to my great grandma who lives next door), a day spent in Solvang, and --as always-- a trip to the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynes. While in the process of attempting to drag The Boy away from the slot machines so that I could get some food and sleep, he won a $50,0000.00 jackpot. Yes, there really were that many zeroes. Never mind that, after installing air conditioning on our house, buying my rings, and paying off some bills, there isn't a dime left.

After a marvelous weekend, he proposed on the way home, with Peter Frampton playing in the background. We had agreed to keep things quiet for a while because he hadn't had time to talk to my dad. Unfortunately, I ended up telling my dad that The Boy and I were engaged when I was visiting him in the hospital and wasn't sure he was going to survive. As it turned out, dad was in the beginning stages of a diabetic coma and doesn't remember most of the month of September. He has been doing much better, though.

We initially set the date for June 5, 2011. As you can plainly see, though, we didn't quite make it to June. The more I started thinking about what was needed for the wedding and how much it was going to cost, the more stressed out I got. The more stressed I was, the less I was  inclinded to do any kind of planning. It was a vicious circle.

The weekend of Martin Luther King, Jr. day, The Boy and I were in Laughlin, NV to visit his grandpa who'd been ill and in the hospital. The Boy's brother and sister in law were there, as well, and I had a nice time visiting with the family and doing a bit of gambling. Between the two of us, we had a bad gambling weekend, but we figured that we saved on other things, so it all evens out.

On Sunday morning, while The Boy and his brother were helping their grandpa with something on the computer, I was in the living room with my sister in law who mentioned that The Boy and I should get married while we were in Nevada that weekend. I can't blame everything on her, though. I'd been thinking about eloping for some time before that conversation. I mentioned it to The Boy when we got a moment alone and he made me make the decision (stupid man, always making me choose!). After visiting at his grandpa's house for a while, we ended up driving to Oatman, AZ to see the "wild" burros that roam the streets. We made it back to the hotel for a few minutes before we headed back into Arizona to meet some of the family for dinner in honor of grandpa's birthday.

There was a brief moment of hesitation when we found out that the marriage license bureau in Laughlin wasn't going to be open on MLK day. To solve that problem, we got breakfast, checked out of the hotel, and hit the road for Las Vegas. I'm infinitely glad that we had to go to Vegas, though. Since that was where we went for our first date, it seemed rather poetic to be married there as well. I got a frantic call from my sister in law telling us not to get married until she and my brother in law got to Vegas.

We got to Vegas and got our marriage license (before and after which we were mobbed by men with pamphlets touting the merits of their chapels), and toured a chapel before we headed down to Fremont Street to find some wedding bands. We ended up with a couple of plain silver bands and got a little more gambling in before my brother and sister in law showed up.

The ceremony was short and sweet. The preacher was a petite, vivacious black woman who also served as the photographer. In between performing the ceremony and our exchange of vows, she managed to capture several shots of us with which I have fallen absolutely in love. 

Seeing the silver band (he refuses to buy another ring for himself) on The Hubby's hand still send a little chill down my spine and saying "my husband" sends my heart into overdrive. I'm not nearly naive enough to think things are going to turn out "happily ever after," but it's still an indescribable feeling to know that I am part of someone else, and he of me. I am definitely blessed beyond words.

January 17, 2011