Happy Anniversary

7 years ago today Jamaal and I were sitting on his couch in his apartment watching Shark Tale. We were at an awkward place in our relationship. We had started talking in emails back and forth while I was at school across the state. Then I came home for the summer. We hung out everyday (after I was healed from having my tonsils removed) from about May 15th on.

I got an email from him around June 3rd (or so) that basically said: I like you a lot, I want to be more than friends, but I'm not sure what you want.

It was a very tricky time. We both felt the same, but didn't know how to move past being friends.

So there we are on his couch, he had his arm around my shoulders, my head resting on his chest. Completely comfortable, and yet oh so awkward. The ending credits began to roll and there we sat, both of us afraid to move. Unsure of what to do. I wanted him to kiss me, he wanted to kiss me. But he was in a position where he would have to really jostle me in order to be able to find my lips.

After nearly watching all of the credits...seriously folks it was so awkward, I finally decided that it just had to be done. We had to break that tense line. And I kissed him first.

We still laugh a little about that. And Shark Tale holds a special place in our hearts.

7 years later, I am married to my best friend. We had our first kiss as boyfriend and girlfriend on the same day as our first kiss as husband and wife (albeit 4 years later).

Happy Anniversary Babe. I love you!

Back to life

Back to reality.

On Wednesday, bright and early, Jamaal and I left for Vegas. We had a nice relaxing time. We didn't do a ton of crazy shenanigans. We were pretty tame, as far as Vegas goes. But we did enjoy ourselves. This was our way of celebrating our 1 year anniversary of marriage (5 years total) a little early.

We walked a ton. One day, we took the tram down to the far end of the strip to go to the Stratosphere. It was ridiculously expensive to go to the top, and pricey to ride the rides. (which I didn't want to ride anyway). So we just looked around and left.

We ended up walking the entire way back to our hotel, stopping a few times on the way to check out some of the hotels.

Most nights we were back to our room by 2100, but always no later than 2230. We didn't go right to sleep, but just lazed about in our plush hotel suite.

We stayed in a corner suite in the Aria hotel. It is a new hotel, that I think opened in January of this year (but maybe opened at the end of '09). One of my favorite parts was the lobby smelt so wonderful, like vanilla and cinnamon and something else. It was like a beautiful cologne that would work for both sexes. At times it smelt very masculine, and other times it smelt feminine. At any rate, it made me forget about the cigarette and cigar smoke that lurked behind random corners.

We visited most of the hotels on the strip and did a few of the attractions. We spent most of our money on food, which was very expensive. It reiterated the fact that eating out costs a lot of money.

Friday evening, we went and saw Hot Tub Time-Machine in a theater on the strip, and had a good time there. A friend who lives in Vegas said that we were the first people she knew to go see a movie in Vegas. Oh well...she also didn't know where the theater was. (And since there were 5 others in the theater with us, we think no one else knows where the theater is either.) Ha!

To look at some of the few photos we took, check out my web album below...I'm going to try to use Picasa a little more to see if I like it...

Vegas

Wedding photos are up...

If you're my friend on Facebook, you can check out the rest of my wedding photos. There are so many, I had a hard time picking photos to put on here. I probably put more than I wanted to on here...but oh well!

June 6, 2009: Our 4 year anniversary. We were able to celebrate 4 years together by getting married!

This is a photo from the rehearsal. Dad and I walking down the aisle. (the aisle moved for the actual wedding to limit the amount of mud we had to walk through)

This is simply a photo of the centerpieces with my precious favor boxes. Stay tuned for some up close photos of the favor boxes on my crafty blog!

Jamaal getting his boutonniere on.

My ladies and I.


Our "special moment."


The bride.


My prince in the spotlight.


My groom.

My favorite.

The whole gang.

My ladies.

See our pretty flowers??

What time is it? (I love Connor Bly in this photo, my nephew and one of my ring bearers.)

My family, with the newest addition, my husband!

Our parents.

Mom and dad, I need some space!

"You were supposed to pretend kiss me mom!"

Dad and I being "us." Don't remember what was so funny, but that's okay.

Me and my new family.


I love this photo of Jamaal and his brother!!


Connor Bly playing with the Sit-to-Stand. (The chair perfect for elderly and/or people with arthritis; you push a button and it lifts up to make it easier to stand up from sitting.)


For Connor it was a ride.


Our champagne toast, my last as a single woman.

Our beautiful, gorgeous, yummy yummy cake! Made by Jamaal's cousin Tashina!


A close up of the top of the cake.


So here is where the ceremony gets interesting. We had two ring bearers. Connor, my nephew, and Sienna, Jamaal's cousin's kid. Apparently Sienna wanted to hold Connor's hand down the aisle, because she wanted to marry him. But Connor did not want to hold her hand, nor did he want to get married.

Sienna was very upset. Her heart was broken, and here she is crying/pouting down the aisle. She later said that she didn't want to marry him anymore, and that she didn't like him anymore.

Once I left the comfort of the Senior Center, I started to cry. I was trying very hard to not cry....but that effort was futile.

During our very very short ceremony.


First kiss as husband and wife.


Getting food! I was so very hungry.


Connor acting as professional photographer. He probably took 20 pictures of me and Jamaal eating.

The rings.

My Gonzaga group (the ones able to make it).

My nursing school crew.

First dance as husband and wife.


Cutting the cake.

We were nice to each other.


Speeches. Bret said he wouldn't make me cry, which was a lie. (It's very easy to make me cry...)

Kristina's speech.

Dancing with my father. He is a big baby too. From the very start he was crying.

Jamaal and his mom.

You ready for this??

She dropped it, but was the one that caught it.

Careful now!

My girls from high school.

Being silly.

Signing the marriage license.

I just like this picture.

I think she's a little young for a drink, don't you?

High school buds.

Our ride

"Are you serious?" I could not believe our ride was so big!!

Good night kiss. I feel so over dressed!