The purpose of a honeymoon

The purposes of a honeymoon are evident in the fact that I cannot seem to start blogging regularly. Reality is jarring.
Newly married life is, truly, fantastic. But the moment we “de-planed” (I’ve always found that expression strange. You don’t “plane” to get ON the plane. Anyway…) after our glorious week in the Bahamas, our sun-kissed bodies were swept away by life once again. We were taken back into the folds of routine and the throes of things that happen no matter how recently you’ve been hitched.

The one really different thing about our lives: the wedding is over. It’s this frozen moment of our lives that we both want to keep re-living. But at the same time, it’s a freedom we are both struggling to grasp. We are in the same zip-code. We are married. We completed our registries. I’m close to thank-you mailing. So, we’re moving forward.

I think the purpose of a honeymoon is to allow couples to get back to that place where you can begin to move past the big date and slide back into routine. You spend a week canoodling on the sand and sipping cocktails with salt water in your skin. Or your spend a week flying through wine country with the wind in your hair and your person in the passenger seat. No matter the place, you have that sacred time of togetherness. All seems settled.

And when all seems settled you collect your baggage and go back to it all. Luckily and hopefully, we can use the glow of that week, the bliss of the wedding, and the happy phase we feel right now to keep things in perspective.

Sigh.

I love our photos! We were so blessed to have a dear friend and her trusty sidekick photograph our wedding. Shea brought humor and life to wedding photos that can sometimes be stale and posed-looking. Shockingly (not!) I sobbed the entire time I watched the slideshow. They are true artists and captured some of the most unforgettable moments. See the show here.

Had to throw this last one in. :) That's Shea (of byshea photography) hamming it up with my dad at our reception. Awesome!

Meet Ozzie.

He's clumsy, slobbery, and snuggly. He lumbers around on his too-big paws and nuzzles his little head up under your chin. He loves water -- can't slurp it up fast enough. He's Ozzie, the 1-year-old rescued lab we adopted on Monday and the newest addition to the Anderson family! This one's an adventure a minute, so there are sure to be forthcoming cohabitation posts featuring Ozzie as the star!

Wishes

One of my favorite moments of May 2: I arrive at the church, dressed, with my hair and makeup and veil on. We walk through the doors, and Maggie (our flowergirl and niece) runs to me. She stares up at my face with a soft expression and says breathlessly: “Oh, Sarah. You look so beautiful.”

It was a precious moment, and it caused me to pause. I remember breathing in and realizing the “bigness” of this day. It’s cliché but true that girls think about their wedding from a young age. A wedding was never THE biggest dream of my life or my ultimate goal. I never spent much time envisioning myself in ball gowns or practicing as a little girl playing wedding. But I remember watching my aunt Lisa be married and thinking how magical it was, how beautiful and happy she looked.

As I grew up and as I fell deeper in love with Patrick, I think that the gravity of a reciprocal, lifelong promise took on all the properties of a fairytale. For the last few years before we got engaged, I did think about the flowers. I romanticized about the way it might feel to walk down the aisle. I dreamed of our first dance. I wondered if I would cry. I knew it wouldn't be the most important day of my life, but I thought it might be the happiest. I was right.

I love this photo of all of Patrick’s little nieces standing around us. We were waiting for our first dance, and they were all looking at us with that sense of awe.

Later, after we returned from the Bahamas, we were sifting through notes that guests left for us. A sign and a jar marked "wishes" greeted guests at the door of the reception, inviting them to leave “wishes, memories, or a bit of wisdom for the bride and groom.” Most of the note cards contained traditional words: “We wish you a life of love and happiness.”

And then we pulled out the first little wish. “I wish for a dog, elly,” said one, a name scrawled below the wish. And then another: “I wish I go to Hollywood.”

And finally, “I WANT A PERSON.”

That last one really moved me. If we are lucky, we find a person -- to love, honor, to care for. Isn’t that what we all want? Someone. And that’s the magic of a wedding.