Happy Anniversary, Hubs!

Today is our sixth wedding anniversary! I thought it would be fun to do the marriage meme I've seen floating around. Oh, how I wish I could share pics with you - maybe by our next anniversary, I'll have a working scanner. :>)

1. Where/How did you meet? We met at Wal-Mart. (Holy cow, I just realized I haven't yet published "About Me, Part 4"! Story coming soon!)

2. How long have you known each other? 7.5 years

3. How long after you met did you start dating? About five minutes.

4. How long did you date before you were engaged? About seven months.

5. How long was your engagement? About 10 months.

6. How long have you been married? 6 years.

7. What is your anniversary? October 18, St. Luke's feast day.

8. How many people came to your wedding reception? Not sure . . . 200?

9. What kind of cake did you serve? It had three layers, chocolate, white, and lemon, I think, and one smaller cake. They were frosted in a smooth white frosting and decorated with pinecones, cinnamon stick twigs, and a few small green icing lines to look like pine needles.

The groom's cake was made my my MIL. It said "The Farmer Takes a Wife" and had a plastic couple on it, a toy husky dog (Hubs had a husky named Frosty) a toy tractor and grain cart, and toy cows. Wonder what happened to those???

10. Where was your wedding? St. Luke's Catholic Church in our hometown. My mom just made the connection last night that we got married on St. Luke's feast day at St. Luke's.

11. What did you serve for your meal? Our wedding was at 2 o'clock, so when people got to the reception hall, we had popcorn for them to snack on. For the meal, we served salad, chicken in a champagne mushroom cream sauce, some kind of beef, I think, potatoes, green beans and rolls? It's blurry after the chicken.

12. How many people were in your wedding party? Three attendants each. My sister-in-law was my matron of honor, and Hubs's sisters were my bridesmaids. I asked his middle sister to be in our wedding before I met her, since she lived out of state. :>) One of Hubs's friends was his best man, another friend of his and my brother were groomsmen.

My four-year-old niece was flower girl. No ring bearer. Hubs's cousin was my personal attendant, and I must mention that the music for the ceremony was provided by my family - aunts, uncles, cousins. It was *amazing*.

13. Are you still friends with them all? Yes.

14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? No, but I cried most of the way down the aisle and all during our vows. My SIL handed me a kleenex, I blew my nose, and handed the kleenex to Hubs, and he stuck it in his pocket. My SIL said she knew at that point it was true love.

15. Most special moment of your wedding day? The whole thing was wonderful, from start to finish.

16. Any funny moments? Our "get-away ride" was a trailer pulled by my uncle's old tractor. We put canvas camp chairs on it (including a little one for my niece) and rode it to the reception hall. I was hoping my uncle would cruise main just once, but he went straight there.

17. Any big disasters? None that I remember.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? Colorado

19. How long were you gone? A week.

20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change? Better photographer and videographer - he was not good. I've heard he's working at Menards now.

21. What side of the bed do you sleep on?: The right side (when looking from the foot of the bed).

22. What size is your bed? Queen.

23. Who pays the bills? He earns 95% of the money, I write the checks.

24. What is your song? You Never Even Call Me By My Name by David Allen Coe?

25. What did you dance your first dance to? The One by Gary Allen.

26. Describe your wedding dress: Ivory, short sleeved, square neckline. My skirt was plain ivory organza, but edged in lace and pearls. Long train. My veil was exactly what I wanted (and cheap!) - it was plain tulle attached to a comb. My mom glued pearls around the edge, and I wore a small tiara type hair piece that had metal flowers and crystals and pearls on it, I think.

27. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? Yellow roses, and cala lilies with a few pieces of wheat. They were real and they weighed a TON. (I'm guessing it was the soaked floral foam.) Tucked in my bouquet was my grandmother's rosary that my mother carried on her wedding day. My bridesmaids carried silk bouquets of fall flowers - mums, sunflowers, etc. with yellow roses and wheat.

28. How old were you when you got married? We were both 27.

OK, a few other memories I can't help but share!

The priest who married us has been at my home parish for several years, and had confirmed me. My mom had talked to him about dates and whatnot, but when I finally got back there and was able to visit with him myself, I proposed to him! I told him that I knew he and my mom had been talking, and I got down on one knee and asked him to marry me . . . and [insert Hubs's name here]. He got a good laugh out of it!

Before our rehearsal, I had an afternoon tea for my attendants. I made shortbread cookies, scones, and a chocolate pound cake, I think. We had a huge assortment of teas, but it was in the mid-80s, so we drank iced chai tea. I gave them each a tea cup . . . and I don't remember what my actual gift to my attendants was, though! (Hubs gave his friends Bill O'Reilly books, and my brother a Patrick McManus book. The priest got a bottle of Crown Royal!)

Our rehearsal dinner was held at a restaurant at a nearby lake. The weather was so beautiful, and it was a delightful night.

Our wedding day dawned a bit early for me - my then-six-month-old niece was up about 4:30. She got a bottle and went back to sleep, but I wasn't so lucky! I think that set me on edge for the rest of the day . . . I felt like I was on display and just not myself. I can tell it watching the video, too.

When I went to get my hair fixed (by the same woman who fixed my cousin's hair for her wedding two months earlier - we had the same cake lady, too!), I was nervous! She had a little stuffed Aflac duck sitting on her counter, and I asked if I could hold it while she curled and tucked and did her thing. She pulled the sides of my hair back in a small braid and curled the rest. Back then, my hair was waist-length.

My wedding day was the first and only time I've worn fake eyelashes. :>)

I did a bunch of internet research and instead of rice or birdseed, we had our guests throw spices as we came out of the church. There are lots of different meanings attached to them!

One of my cousins caught my bouquet - and it was her wedding that we attended this summer on our vacation to Wyoming.

Hubs's family watched my four-year-old niece get beer from the keg like she was a pro - and they didn't say anything, either!

Paging through my wedding album, I'm reminded of how much I loved our decorations - pumpkins, gourds, Indian corn, shocks of wheat and corn and grasses. The centerpieces were large round vases with layers of different types of grain with a small votive tucked on top. That's why I love decorating our porch for fall.

That night, we had booked a room at a hotel about 25 miles away that was owned by the son of some friends of my parents. Although he wasn't invited to the wedding, somehow they figured it out and upgraded us to the jacuzzi suite - for FREE - and had a bottle of chilled champange waiting for us.

The next morning, it is custom in my family to have a breakfast, which one of my uncles hosted at his farm. Really, it's an opportunity for everyone to visit just a bit more - I have a *really* big family, and we don't get together that often anymore. My mom is one of 10 and my dad is one of 11. Hubs told me when we met that he has a really big family - his dad is one of 5 and his mom is one of 4. I just chuckled.

Side story - Hubs and I are practically related. :>) My aunt (married to my mom's brother) is an extended cousin of Hubs's cousin's wife. So, not really. But it is a funny story.

When we returned from our honeymoon, there had been some "elves" at work. Lining our front walk were . . . plastic forks stuck in the grass. We'd been forked! They were hidden around our house in some obvious and not-so-obvious places. Hubs's cousins had also brought back some of our decorations and decorated our porch with them. It was a wonderful welcome home!

OK, for those of you who have hung on through this entire post - you deserve a medal! I hope to be back later today with a Reading the Whole Internet post, and look for the fourth installment of "About Me" this week - even though I jumped ahead with this part. :>)