Our Wedding Day - June 25 (Part Two)

The grandparents and mums and dads were seated, and then we had our pastor give a Gospel message. While Pastor Tom talked, the bridal party (except for Ryan and his best man) waited downstairs. We just talked and waited until we could go into sanctuary. This was probably the hardest part of the day. What was the funniest thing was when I was waiting, I got the exact same feeling that I got when I competed in gymnastics and was waiting for the judge to salute me before I started my floor routine. I would jump around in place until the judge saluted me. Then once I got on the floor and started, I was fine. It was the same thing. I wasn't nervous, I just wanted to get started. :)

Finally, we all headed up to the double doors that lead into the sanctuary. Everyone walked in to Jesu, Joy of Man's Desire...the bridesmaids and groomsmen, my sister (who was my maid of honor), and the flower girls and ring bearer. Then me and my Daddy walked in to Allegro Maestoso. I headed down the aisle to meet my groom with a huge smile on my face. :) I hugged my Daddy and then headed up the stairs with my soon-to-be-husband. One of our groomsman led everyone in singing my favorite song, In Christ Alone, and then another groomsman read 1 John 4:7-19 and Ephesians 5:21-33. 

Then our youth pastor (Aaron), who was one of Ryan's groomsmen, began the "officiating." He gave a challenge to me and Ryan, and then we exchanged our vows: 

I, Ryan/Melinda, take you, Ryan/Melinda, to be my lawfully wedded wife/husband, I vow to continue to love and serve the Lord Jesus, I vow before God and these witnesses, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 'til death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.

We gave each other our rings, saying "I give you this ring as a symbol of my unending love. With this ring, I thee wed."

Then we lighted the unity candles, which was the scariest part of the whole ceremony. ;) Our friends, the DeVries family, played and sang "I Will be Here" (Steven Curtis Chapman). They did a lovely job. :)

Then Aaron pronounced us husband and wife, and for the first time, we kissed!

Our Dads came up and prayed for us, and then Aaron introduced us to everyone as Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Anderson. :) As "Go, Cubs, Go" started playing, we skipped back down the aisle as husband and wife.

We came back in, and dismissed everyone by row so that we could at least say hello to everyone. As everyone left, they were given bubbles to blow at us when we walked out of the church.

We took some more pictures at church, and then headed over to the reception at Aurora Christian. My sister-in-law had decorated it beautifully with flower, streamers, ribbons, and vases.

We ate a few things, cut the cake, and listened to the Best Man speech and the Maid of Honor speech. We played a slideshow of our lives, and my Dad give a little speech. We took some more pictures, and I tossed a bouquet. The time flew by, and before we knew it, it was time to change and head off on our honeymoon. We said goodbye to our family and began our drive to the Smokey Mountains.

It was an absolutely wonderful and unforgettable day! We pray that the Lord was glorified as we began our life as husband and wife!

Gobble, Gobble

On Friday, I went with my Mom to the Learning Vine (a large homeschool co-op type of thing), where she teaches sewing and cooking classes. It was fun to see what she does and to see the kids I've heard her talk about.

Throughout the sewing class, her girls where saying all phrases that she always tells them. Like "You need to clip some threads." Or "Can I sit down?" (That one means there's a big problem!) There were several things they said, and it was funny to see how they remember all the things she says.

She had two cooking classes, one with older kids (9-12ish) and one with younger kids (6-9ish). They made turkeys (not a turkey, but turkeys), which we used to make when we were younger. And believe it or not, the turkeys the younger kids made looked better.

My Turkey :)

Isn't he so cute?!

Best quote of the day: (My mom asked the kids what their favorite Thanksgiving food was.) 6 year old girl - "I know what my least favorite thing is." (Adults look at each other.) "Umm, okay..." "FOOTBALL!" :)

"Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep..."

What movie is from? If you guessed right, you get an extra scoop of mashed potatoes tomorrow! ;) White Christmas. I started to "watch" it, and I thought it was fitting since this is a time that our forefathers set aside to be thankful. We are always to be thankful, but I am glad that we can have a national holiday to celebrate all that God has blessed us with!

So here is my list of things that I am thankful for:

-My faith in Christ. I have been forgiven and given the amazing gift of eternal life. I am God's child because of Jesus' excruciating death, burial, and resurrection! I have the Holy Spirit in me, giving me the strength to live my life and illuminating the Word so I can understand and apply it to my life. I am loved unconditionally by the God of all the universe.
-My husband. I have been married for five months (well, I will have been in two days), and I cannot imagine life without being married to Ryan. I know that when I come home from work on the "early" nights that he'll have dinner all ready to go. I have the joy of knowing that he will be there with me for the rest of our lives. I get to dream of where the Lord will have us in five years, and ten years, etc.
-My family. My amazing, godly parents who raised me to love the Lord, to love my husband, and to know how to take care of a home. My sister, who has been my friend basically since the day she was born and who  has also found it funny/comfortable for me to squish her since she was a baby (see picture below!). My grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and all my family-in-laws. I have been blessed with a family that makes the Lord their priority and who has shown me amazing faith in the hardest times.

-Our home. God has given us the cutest, most-perfect-sized house in the perfect place. I love that we can walk to church, and I love decorating and make our house a home.
-My dear friends. The ones who you can talk to for hours and it felt like it was only a few minutes. The ones that truly care about you. The ones you miss like crazy when they are away. The ones you can tell anything to.
-My job. I get to work with people I like, doing something I like, and I get paid to do it. Yes, there are those frustrating moments, but nevertheless I am glad that I can coach gymnastics, which I love.
-Our church. It is full sweet, godly, wonderful, friendly people that are like family.
-Sports. Yes, it may seem a bit silly in the whole scheme of thins, but they are fun. I love gymnastics, and what would summer be without my Cubbies, and how about the long winter that is made shorter and more fun with the Blackhawks?
-The excitement of Christmas. Getting to bake cookies and decorate our home, get together with family and friends, and give others presents.
-Pictures. To help me remember all the beautiful memories God has given to me.
-The small things in life that make you smile. Things like...the sunshine after a cloudy day, a little person's laugh, the cereal you eat every day but still love, the personal letter in the mail for you, the arrival of a package at your home (regardless of who it's for), the sound of Christmas music, the changing of seasons (especially winter to spring!), the smell of cookies, bread, or dinner cooking.

I could keep going, but I'm sure your bored by know. What is something you are thankful for? It doesn't have to be anything huge, just something small...

Our Wedding Day - June 25 (Part 1)

Our wedding day was absolutely gorgeous! Perfect. The way you dream a day in June should be...sunny, blue sky, not too cold (so the girls don't freeze in their sleeveless dresses), and not too hot (so the guys in their tuxes don't overheat).

Lizzy and I woke up bright and early to begin our day. We got all ready to go, and Lizzy, Elisa, and I headed off to get my hair and make-up done at a salon (hurray for friends that give that as a wedding gift!). All went well (other than the fact it took about an hour longer than it was supposed to), and my hair was just how I wanted it. Half up...curls...sparkly rhinestones...and my veil. My good friend and wonderful "personal assistant," Megan, came to see how my veil was put in. We then zipped off to church where I hopped into my dress. Then I headed upstairs into the sanctuary to see Ryan for the first time that day.

I was excited and a tinsy bit nervous as I walked up the aisle to greet my groom who had his back to the doors. I tapped him on the shoulder, he turned, and we saw each other for the first time that day. :)

We talked for a minute or two, and then we headed outside to pile into the church bus with the rest of the bridal party. Then off to do pictures at a park near the river. We took a whole bunch of pictures...some really nice ones, and some funny, silly ones. I mean how boring would it be to have all "nice" pictures...or maybe I just am around kids too much, "You can do a silly one after you do a nice, serious one." Don't get me wrong, I love the classic, nice pictures; they are priceless and precious. But the funny, silly ones, make for some fun memories, smiles, and laughs. So the moral of the story is...do both! ;) (I will put some of these pictures up later.)

We drove back to church, where we took family pictures. Then everyone got some food and relaxed for a bit before it was time for the wedding to start. It was fun to "bump" into a few people before the actual ceremony began.

The Week Before Our Wedding

So, I'm going to pause from the honeymoon stories (which are almost done), and I'm going to tell you about the wedding itself! :)

I must go back to about the week or so before, when family started arriving from out-of-town. My Grandpa and Grandma drove in a week early so they could be at my parent's surprise 30th Anniversary party (hurray for parents going to CA for my cousin's wedding a week before mine!). We put them to work folding wedding programs and such things.

Then on Tuesday morning, I drove to Chicago to pick up my cousin, Lizzy, from the airport. Then I think it was late that night we all hiked back to the airport to pick up my CA family. Thursday, the rest of the VA cousins arrived. It was great to have everyone there, and nice to spend time with them before the wedding! And it was extremely helpful to have them all there to make food, help me move things, and do other pre-wedding getting ready! We also had some fun too!

One of the funniest, but very helpful things was when my cousin decided which of my Grandmother's handkerchiefs I should use. I'm sure you know how I have such a difficult time deciding things. Well, I had narrowed down my choices for handkerchiefs, and I just could not decide which one to put around my bouquet. In walks my 6-year old cousin, Simon, and I asked him which one I should use. He looked at them, and then picked. And yes, that is the one I went with.

Friday, Lizzy and I got our nails done, and then we went and checked out the almost-completed set-up for the reception. Everything looked so wonderful (thanks to my sister-in-law, Heathre, and all who helped her)! It was also nice to be able to see everything set up before there were a couple hundred people in the room!

Then it was off to the rehearsal...

And then to dinner at Traverso's, a tasty pizza place that we like. Then we all headed to home to get a good night of sleep before our special day...

Our Honeymoon - Wednesday Wanderings

Wednesday, we spent the day in Gaitlinburg, the nice, cute touristy town. (As opposed to Pigeon Forge which was extremely gaudy!) The very first place we went into was a store that sold plaques and pictures with Bible verses, hymns, or good sayings on them. It was very cool! The beams in the store had hymns carved into them. We spent a lot of time there just looking around. We really appreciated the strong emphasis on biblical things in the midst of all the tourist traps, with shirts and whatnot that were not all as wholesome. We decided that we would come back at the end of the day and get one or two things for our new home. :)



What we ended up getting (sorry the picture isn't that great).

We continued wandering about town, and saw lots of fun things...







My husband with his ice cream cone

 

Herbie!!! :)

Then Ryan wanted to go up the mountain on a tram, called the Ober Gatlinburg. It went wayyy up, and then we took a ski lift even higher up the mountain (well, really to the top).



The tram that we took.

 

My opinion of the ski lift.



Me & Ryan on the ski lift (okay, it wasn't too bad, just a little scary).



Pretty view

In between the tram and ski lift, there was this touristy place which we didn't do anything at, but they did have an ice rink. On the way back down the mountain, the Zamboni was out! :) (How come zambonis are so fun?!)


Our wedding rings.

Thursdays adventures will be next...

Our Honeymoon - Smokies Game

"It's a beautiful day for a ballgame, a ballgame today. The fans are out to get a ticket or two, from Walla Walla, Washington to Kalamazoo. It's a beautiful day for a home run, but even a triple's okay! We're gonna cheer and boo, and raise a hullabaloo at the ballgame today!"

We arrived at Smokies Park, and purchased our tickets. We were able to get them buy-one-get-one-free! Woo-hoo! Our seats were nice and close to the field on the first base side behind the Smokies dugout.

We saw several players whose names I recognized thanks to my dear cousin! For my fellow Cubs fans, be listening for some of these names in future.


McNutt

 

Ryan Flaherty

 

Brett Jackson

We also saw a couple other guys (Kyle Smit and Mr. Struck), but those pictures didn't turn out very well. Now this guy was super funny. Well, maybe not the guy himself, but what the fans did was funny. Ever time he came to bat, they would yell, "La-la-la-la-la-lalli!" I wish I had gotten a video, but alas, I did not.


Mr. Lalli

And this guy's name was also just kind of fun, especially since we were sort of in the southern part of the US.


Rebel Ridling



For my Father-in-Law

This was actually a very fun game with lots of runs scored on both sides. There was even a grand slam for the Smokies, which they tried to call back. (That was very silly, because it was obviously a home run.) The final score was 11-10, Smokies. Ryan and I were delighted when they started to play Go Cubs Go after the Smokies won!

All in all, a very fun night, and we even had gorgeous weather for our baseball game!

Our Honeymoon - Tuesday's Happenings

Tuesday, we drove to a place in the Smokey Mountains called Cades Cove. It is a giant driving loop in an area where people used to live at farms, and whatnot. We stopped to see this rushing waterfall/rapids.

We saw a whole bunch of deer (a momma. baby deer, and some daddy deer) and a couple of bears. The valley was beautiful, and there was a lady that was painting a picture of it.

We had supper at a pizza place, and then we headed off to see the Cubs AA affiliate Tennessee Smokies...

Our Honeymoon – Hike to the Falls

Monday, we went on a driving loop in Gatlinburg. We were told at the visitor’s center that we should go on the hike to the water fall on this driving loop. So we decided to do that. We got out of the car, and we saw our first wildlife! ;)

We got to the start of the trail, and the sign said 2.7 miles. We thought it was a little longer than we wanted to hike, but, oh well, why not? Let’s just do it. So off we went. Well, you know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, this is a picture of what the trail looked like.

The whole path was straight uphill on rocks and roots. Quite the fun adventure! :) It was neat to be able to feel the temperature gradually get cooler as we climbed up the mountain. After hiking for over two hours, we got to the destination! Hurray for the waterfall!

It was worth the hike, even though I got some scrapes on my feet and Ryan got wet and a bit muddy.

Other wildlife of the day... 

Snail



We saw a mama bear with her three cubs that were about 30 feet from the car. Very cool!

And to have a lovely end to the day, we ate a delicious dinner at Texas Roadhouse. :)

Our Honeymoon - The Secret Destination

I really haven't forgotten I have a blog. Life has just been rather busy, and it makes it fun when you only use the internet once or twice a week because you don't have it at your house yet. ;)

                                                                     ~~~~~~~

After our wonderful wedding, which I will share about once I get all of our pictures, we drove to and stayed in Lafeyette, IN. Sunday, we headed off to the Smokey Mountains.

We winded our way up one of the moutains to the wonderful cabin where we stayed between Pigeon Forge and Gaitlinburg.

Our adorable little cabin. :)

More to come...