Sileo/Stewart/Sherman Family Christmas

This year, for Christmas, Carl and I traveled to my hometown for an 8 day Sileo/Stewart/Sherman family adventure.  The decision to travel to DC was a joint one with Chris, Missy, Lucie and Audrey.  The only downside is that we can't all stay with my dad so we decided to rent a house for the first part of our trip.

We arrived to DC on a Friday evening, got settled into the house and made some dinner. The wine drinking began as did a few of us getting sick.  I had a cold before I left town and it just got way worse.   It didn't stop us from trying to make the most of our time, though.  For the 4 days we were in DC, we went to Natural History Museum, both Air & Space Museums, the Zoo, had friends over for drinks one night and went out to dinner, just Carl and I, one night.  In between all of this, we cooked some pretty great meals, watched a lot of Disney and holiday movies and even managed to go for a chilly run one morning.

From there we drove to my mom's, about 2 hours away, for the next part of our trip.  Lucie and Audrey were champs during this entire trip, quickly getting accustomed to things they don't normally have to deal with - like sharing rooms, stairs and snow.

While my mom doesn't have museums we made the most of being indoors at the local library, bowling (which I've quickly discovered I'd like to do more often), painting nails and watching more movies.

My parents were both good sports for having us with them over the holidays and we had a lot of fun.  I'm glad we go to see snow and Carl got to spend more time with my family and friends.  I know it's his obligation as my husband to spend time with my family but he really went above and beyond spending 8 days with them.  I love them but I know that it's not easy to spend 8 days with family that isn't yours.

I'm really happy to be home and to have a few days off before going back to work though and, of course, snuggling with Buster, who I missed terribly.

In the pictures of Lucie and Audrey below you'll notice they are often wearing their matching princess nightgowns that I got them for Christmas. They were clearly a big hit!

And, yes, I know that I'm still behind on blog posts - particularly our honeymoon and my trip to Australia.  I'm really hoping that 2013 is a bit less hectic than 2012 felt and I can enjoy more downtime.

Always a Bridesmaid....

Finally a bride! This is a direct quote from my friend, Leslie, who officiated our wedding.  And she was right. I had been a bridesmaid 12 times before getting married. This is one of the many reasons I decided not to have bridesmaids.  But I digress.....

The day had arrived.  Our wedding day.  And I'm pretty sure I've thought about it every day, multiple times each day, since then.  It wasn't just that I was finally getting married (yes, even my loving brother's speech had undertones of relief) it was that I was marrying Carl.

As much as I've thought about the wedding, I've thought about this post.  This feels like the most important blog post of my life for some reason. And the pressure I've been putting on myself to make it amazing has caused me to freeze up and not know where to start.

So I'll do my best.

I've always heard married women say that their wedding day was the best day of their life.  I secretly thought, 'really? the best day?" How can one day be that great? What about all the other things one accomplishes in their lifetime? Was marriage really better than graduation or getting your first job? It was just really hard for me to imagine how this one day could be so great.

Turns out, they were right.  In fact many of my married friends were right about a lot of things, including:

1. You really and truly don't feel nervous when you're walking down that aisle.
2. No one will ever know the things that went wrong. Even if you're obsessing about them.
3. The day goes by way too fast.
4. You won't eat.

And other things....

But most of all, they were right, it was the best day of my life.  How could it not be when I think about it now? Almost everyone I love gathered in one place to support Carl and me in taking the next step in our lives together.

Sure, some things weren't ideal. A cold front moved in - so we got heaters.  One of our buses was at the wrong hotel and picked up guests 45 minutes late - so we got a delayed start.  Carl's grandmother fell.  This was perhaps the worst part of our wedding.  But she's recovered from her hip replacement surgery and doing well.

But so much went right.  Even though I'm a huge fan of lists (see above) I don't think a list can hold up to this day.  A day that truly was the best day of my life.  But I'll try anyway.  Some of my favorite things from our wedding:



1. Our ceremony - more perfect than I could have ever imagined
2. Carl's vows - he totally upstaged me
3. Buster and his ring bearing duties
4. Peeing, half naked outside the airstream
5. Peeing, with friends holding up my dress, in the port-o-potty (clearly peeing makes me giggle)
6. The Hora dance
7. Carl's back flip

See, the list just doesn't do it any justice.  But it was worth a shot.

So for all of you who warned me about how fast the day would go and how I'd hardly talk to anyone but the night would fly by - I get it now.

I'm still awaiting our final wedding pictures from Natalie and most of you have seen the ones on Facebook so I thought I'd share some behind the scenes ones from getting ready that day.  The first Devon took of me on our morning stroll before the day got started.  The second is of Jess and me awaiting hair and makeup and the last one really captures the ceremony to me - silly and loving. This was us trying to get Buster to bring the rings to us.  He thought it was a game and went running up and down the aisle.

And, finally, because I truly feel like the wedding wouldn't have been as special to me without all the love and support I felt, I want to thank my friends and family. Those of you who stepped up (repeatedly) to help me brainstorm, plan, order, research, shop, organize, review, rationalize, indulge and celebrate with and for me, thank you. I was already pretty lucky before I met Carl. Now I feel even luckier.