Picture Overload

The wedding day was nothing short of amazing!  I've never smiled so hard in one day in my whole life.  I couldn't help myself.

I felt stunning and gorgeous, but most importantly I felt loved.  The entire wedding party radiated from the joy and excitement of the day.

I was on a high that lasted the entire weekend.  It was a dream come true to see all of our family and friends in one place.

It was a perfect wedding!  Literally, the best day of my life.  And to be honest, I wasn't shooting for perfection...it just happened that way!

I was making big, life-altering promises to the man I love and I was surrounded by the most important people in my life.

I danced like a mad woman and laughed and screamed with joy!

I'm so glad that that everybody came...I'm so glad that we didn't take on anymore DIY projects...I'm so glad I have such amazing women in my life...I'm so glad we composed our own ceremony and vows...

I'M SO GLAD WE DIDN'T ELOPE!!!

If I had known the wedding would be so amazing and that marriage would be this good, I would have had a MUCH shorter engagement.

To watch our families intertwine to a degree that they appeared as one made my heart melt.

18 Days of Marriage

(I'm taking a small break in my wedding recaps while I patiently wait for our professional pictures to arrive.)

We've officially been married for 18 days.  In these 2-1/2 weeks as husband and wife I've learned a few things.

• Marriage is WAY better than I ever hoped and dreamed it would be.  The fact that every day you wake up and choose to love this person 'till death do us part' is an unbelievable feeling.

• Marriage is about growing together as much as it is about growing as an individual

• Marriage is about compromise.  I knew when I married Don that he would always be late, he's got a "truckers mouth" and he whole-heartedly believes that ketchup makes any food taste better.   I, on the other hand, will always arrive early, I will not touch raw meat, and I'm a sucker for bad reality television.  You find ways to make each others quirks work instead of trying to change each other into who you want them to be.  We knew who we married and love each other anyways.

• Getting a surprise text in the middle of the day from your husband is lovely.  It's great to know that someone is thinking about you, especially when it's your other half.

• And lastly....If you are a bride who chose to take your husband's name, it will take longer than 18 days before you get used to the change.  I see my new name show up on emails, mail, etc. and for a brief second I still wonder who this person is!