Two Down, Forty Eight Or So To Go!

Today Mike and I celebrate two years of marriage. It is hard to believe that it has already been two years and at the same time it is almost impossible to believe that it has only been two years. At this point I really cannot imagine my life without him in it. We've been together just over 4 years total (1 year of dating, 1 of engagement and now two of marriage) and in that time our lives have changed so dramatically.

When we met I was working in school fundraising, living in my little starter house, I had a dog and a cat and I enjoyed the occasional cosmo or other fun martini. Mike was living at home, he had never taken a drink, and he worked for a state organization. Now we live together in a different home, have mine as a rental, have 2 dogs and a cat, I work at Starbucks part time and Mike does polka music full time (with a few website clients on the side), he only likes my family's vodka slush recipe, but otherwise still doesn't drink, I can't remember the last time I had a martini of any type and we are parents!

So I am totally copying Nettacow and posting some things about us and our wedding in honor of our anniversary!

1. Where/How did you meet? We met through e-harmony. Yes, we are like all those couples you see on TV, only none of them feature accordion players. I never would have guessed I'd meet my husband on-line, but it has worked out pretty good! Our first in person meeting was at the Olive Garden.

2. How long have you known each other? Our first date was on November 6th, so that is almost exactly 4 years. We had been e-mailing and chatting for a few months before that.

3. How long after you met did you start dating? We were obviously actively looking for a mate, so it was always pretty serious.

4. How long did you date before you were engaged? Just under 14 months. We had booked the hall already, but he didn't pop the question officially until Jan 1st of 2007.

5. How long was your engagement? Almost exactly 10 months. Jan 1st-Nov 3rd

6. How long have you been married? 2 years

7. What is your anniversary? TODAY! November 3rd.

8. How many people came to your wedding reception? I know I gave the hall the exact number (which they had never had happen before). I believe it was about 187 adults and then some kiddos for our Saturday evening reception. We also had a Sunday afternoon polka reception and I have no idea how many people came. Probably another couple of hundred.

9. What kind of cake did you serve? We had a tiny little cake for cutting that was decorated with a wedding couple that stood on my parent's wedding cake, my Grandparent's 50th anniversary cake and my Great Grandparent's 50th anniversary cake. The 'real' cake was an amazing creation of yellow cake with a cream cheese and fresh strawberry filling. The whole thing was frosted with the whipped cream type frosting. This cake is the specialty of the hall we used and is a big reason we had it there. It is unbelievably yummy. It was just going to be a layer cake and not even seen, but the owner/baker decided to make it special when he saw that we had wedding photos of our parents and grandparents on the cake table. He put a huge tree on it and used their wedding dates...like a family tree of weddings. This cake is still talked about by family members in other states. As in, can you bring that cake with you when you visit?

10. Where was your wedding? At St. Sebastian's church. Very beautiful church with not very great people. We quickly moved parishes after the wedding.

11. What did you serve for your meal? We had a buffet line. There were huge turkeys, roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans with almonds, corn, an awesome pasta salad, veggie tray, bread, and fixings. And the cake.

12. How many people were in your wedding party? We each had 4 attendants, 3 ushers, 2 flower girls and 1 little accordion carrying ring bearer.

13. Are you still friends with them all? YES! We don't see a few of them often enough, but they are great people.

14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? Not really. I choked up a bit a few times and boohooed my way down the aisle.

15. Most special moment of your wedding day? How could there be just one? We had such an amazing weekend!

16. Any funny moments? The flower girls (our twin nieces who were 3) kept running up and down the aisle with each couple. They looked like little fairies and brought lots of laughs while the procession was happening. The speech my sister gave turned into a bit of a threat (jokingly) and one of the larger groom's men stood up and said he'd take on my brother-in-law. Got quiet the laughs! There was lots of laughing!

17. Any big disasters? The rehearsal lasted for over 2 hours (seriously, not the best people at this church). The recording we were making of the mass didn't happen and we were SO disappointed! The musician played the wrong instrument during the procession, the only song we were specific about. But really, overall they were not disasters just disappointments.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? To the best cabin in the world. It resides in Cherryville, Missouri and everyone should go there. It is beautiful, romantic, and in our case led to our little guy!

19. How long were you gone? A week. Could have stayed forever.

20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change? Would have changed churches and begged to still be married on that day. Probably would have considered a professional videographer.

21. What side of the bed do you sleep on? I'm on his left.

22. What size is your bed? Queen

23. Who pays the bills? I do the budget, he pays some of the bills on-line, he earns most the money.

24. What is your song?/25. What did you dance your first dance to? "Can I have this Dance?" Ann Murray...we did a real waltz to it.

26. Describe your wedding dress: Read about it here.

27. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? How about a picture? These were mine.

And what my girls carried.

The mom's carried little bouquets of fall colored roses and the boutonnieres were roses like mine and other flowers. I made all the flowers the for the girls the day before and the boutonnieres the morning of the wedding. Everyone thought I was crazy, but I loved doing it and they turned out great!

28. How old were you when you got married? I was just shy of 32 and Mike was 28.

This is so much fun! I'm going to share more stories in the coming days, but more than anything I just want my sweet husband to know how much I love him! He is such a wonderful guy and I am grateful that we found each other. They say the first year of marriage is the hardest and I slept through the first 9 months of it (being pregnant wears me out). We sailed through that one pretty easily! They number two has been filled with parenting our little guy, focusing on Pint Size Polkas and just being a family. All in all it has been pretty smooth sailing too! We always joked that we were in this for 50 years and then we'd reevaluate. (Who knows, I'll be 82 then...maybe I'll be ready for an even younger man?) So, we've got 2 down and 48 to go and I'm looking forward to them! Thanks for choosing me.