To recap: Together 8 years. Finally set a date post-heart attack. Planned low-key, low-budget affair on NYE. Small guest list. Anti-stress.
      Our rings arrived about a week before the wedding (i.e. two days before Christmas) and despite agonizing over the sizing – they were both huge. Replacements were re-ordered via Amazon and arrived in plenty of time, but I should have seen it as a sign. I really should have.
      Mom arrived on the 27th and I cannot even explain how I glad I was to see her. It had been almost a year since I flew back to WA to see the family and meet my nephew, Malakai, and I missed Miss Judy like no body’s business. She truly is and has always been my best friend.
      She finally got to meet Mark’s mom, which was a long time coming, as well as his Dad, Sister, Brother-in-Law and three nephews. Everything went swimmingly with the mingling of families! Of course, it helps that my mother is TEH AWESUMZERSIEST and Mark’s mother is pretty freakin’ spiff herself.

      See how cute they are? You can hardly imagine that Mark was- well, that’s a tale for later. The title of this snapshot was “A Thorn Between Two Roses”, a play on the fact that when I stood between Mark and his Pops (as my Mom called him) one of Mark’s aunts said – “Aww, look. A rose between two thorns”. I think it was Aunt Pam, but it might have been Aunt Karen. Either way, those two lovely ladies (John’s sisters) and Maggie (Mark’s cousin’s daughter) were all in attendance.
      Mark’s brother and his wife could not make it, sadness. But, his sister, Angie, was able to be there, along with her husband, Chris, and their three boys: Micah, Caleb and Noah.
      Events conspired to keep most of our guest list away – but hey! We knew that was a distinct possibility when we scheduled a NYE Wedding. Plus… it was a ‘dry’ wedding on the biggest party night of the year. C’est la vie.
      Angie & Linda were really world-class wedding champions; they prepared all the food and Mark & I got to relax while the whole family pitched in to line up chairs, fill-up the punch bowl, decorate the tables. We had opted not to do a big fancy cake – since neither Mark nor I are big cake-fans – and instead, they made his favorite dessert, Graham Cracker Pie, and my favorite dessert, Cheesecake, plus a fantabulous Raspberry Jam Cake for the cutting. There was a hot dip bar, lots of crudité, hors d’oeuvres, niblets galore! I’m sure it tasted amaazing.
      Alas, Mark & I didn’t end up getting to taste much of anything.
      Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I had more or less fully recovered from the vomitous funk Mom brought with her from Washington and was feeling beautiful as she curled and pinned and twisted my frizzy ginger locks into retro-wedding-glory. Mark was red-faced, but we all chalked it up to cold feet (not really) and having endured several days of my Mother & I being dorks the way we do.
      Fully made up and looking totally spifftastic, with our dress & tux neatly tucked away, the three of us set out to the West Shore to check into the suite some awesome friends (Shell, I’m looking at you!) reserved for us.
      This may be too much info, but hell, its my blog I’ll type what I want.
      We rode the elevator up, the three of us, with complimentary NYE Noisemakers in hand, and checked out the room. It was lovely and smelled so clean! I used the restroom briefly – nervous stomach on my wedding day, or the lingering effects of the CRUD? Who knows? – and Mark flung himself backward onto the big ol’ bed to test it out.
      That was all the use that poor bed would see that night.
      *sniff*
      Tune in next time for the rest of the story!