I'm baaack.

I feel like I've been gone forEVER. AJ & I just got back from our honeymoon yesterday and our house is still a HUGE mess (pictures later), so that's been our 24/7 job since then. But, back to the wedding.

I swear the wedding went by sooo fast. I got up around 8:15 & got in the shower & Kris (my hair/makeup lady) showed up like 20 minutes early. It took her about 2 hours to finish up with me, and then she moved on to my bridesmaids & flower girls. She had just started the flower girls when it was time for us to head out, so we headed on down to the country club. (Just a cute side note, I rode down there with my BM Katie, and every time she had to slam on brakes or someone else did something stupid like pull out in front of us, she would throw her arm out to hold me back, just like a mother does for her young child. It was cute.) 

We got to the country club as the photographer was with the guys, outside, taking pictures, so we had to do some fast trickery to get into the clubhouse without AJ seeing me. We sipped a little strawberries & champagne, took a few pictures, caught  couple of comments from the 80 year old dirty golfer men, etc.

AJ's childhood pastor (the one marrying us) came in to make sure we each still wanted to go through with it. It kind of annoyed me, but I guess they all do that? Oh yeah, and a really irritating side story/bridezilla moment: when my brother dropped out of the wedding, that left us with 1 BM, 2 GM, and 1 usher. So, AJ and I decided that his dad would escort his mother in. Then Rhett (our usher) would escort my mother in since 1. it's her son in law and 2. my dad would be with me. We just liked the way it worked out, and that way Rhett wouldn't be going down the aisle, running back, and going down the aisle again. We told AJ's pastor this. He says "Ok." and we rehearse it. Then he walks up to me and says, "We're going to change it to Rhett escorting both mothers because that's how it's traditionally done." Um, slap in the face? We're changing it? Who's we? You mean you? I was momentarily stunned, but I watched us rehearse it the way he wanted to do it. I didn't like it, so I was telling my mother & our Napolean-complex, Jenny (she helped us with EVERYTHING) about him changing it, so AJ's standing beside me, marches me over to his pastor & says, "We're changing it back." And we did. So, it was a little less bridezilla & a little more, "If you don't like it, you TELL him!" but anyway...

We had a couple minutes of panic because our videographer was supposed to be there at 1:15 and at 1:20, there was no sign of him. A little background story about that one: We used Hart to Heart, a company started by a guy I used to go to church with. My sister's wedding, 9 years ago, was his first wedding, so my mom swindled a deal out of him. The guy that was actually shooting was supposed to be a guy that I grew up with, named Caleb. Well, like 2 weeks ago, Caleb cut his hand up with a rotary saw, so he obviously couldn't run 2 cameras with one good hand. Two days before the wedding, my mom and I stopped by H2H to make the final payment, and I asked the owner about Caleb. So, he tells me that instead of the Caleb I grew up with, another Caleb would be filming our wedding. A certain Caleb that I swear hates me. I dated his best friend Stewy like 4 years ago. And when we were hanging out, it was clear that Caleb did NOT like me, and there was nothing I did to him! I didn't even speak to the kid other than "Hey, how are you?" I could go on for like 5 more minutes on things he did that made me think he hated me, but I'll spare you. So, perfect, our videographer doesn't like me. That's not going to be awkward... but, he showed up, ended up acting really nicely, and was super professional. Maybe he changed his opinion towards me since the three of us (he, Stewy, and I) are all married now? Who knows. BUT, it all went smoothly.

The ceremony was awesome. I can't wait to see the video so I can watch it. I realized like halfway through that AJ had a mic on his shirt for the video. So, these comments will be on the video:

"AJ, I poured sand into the communion cup!"

"Are we supposed to take the crackers too, or are they just for looks?"

"My parents names are Mark & Carrie!" to AJ's pastor, because he couldn't remember them when he called them up to pray for us.

"AJ, my dress is dragging the aisle runner." Yeah, the lace on my dress didn't agree with the fabric on the aisle runner. I took it with me, down the aisle.

It should be funny, though.

I did have someone ask me if I had had breast implants. No, actually, I haven't, haha.

I flat-footed with my mom, dad, sister & one of AJ's super drunk college buddies.

We Cupid Shuffle-d. Oh yes, we did.

I had like 10 glasses of champagne. Celebrate, much?

Someone decided that since we had oysters at the reception that we must be a kinky couple. Hah.

It was fun & the awkward dances were totally worth it. Our cake lady threw in a Clemson groom's cake for free. It was too cute. And one of AJ's buddies stole a golf ball off the 18th hole of a major tournament they were having. We got a not-so-nice tourney rep's lecture. I will post pictures as soon as I get them. Our photographer took over 1000 pictures, so it could be a while.

We left for our honeymoon at 7am the next morning. It took 12 hours in the air & about 20 hours of travel time combined to get there. Our hotel was right in the middle of the action. It definitely wasn't what I expected. I thought we'd be laying on the beach sipping cocktails 24/7. I swear it's like the Myrtle Beach of Hawaii though. There's SO much going on. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory & then hit up the Bruce Irons Volcom store. Those two combined are pretty much the highlight of our trip. We climbed Diamond Head. We didn't get a chance to surf. We checked out Pearl Harbor & the local's flea market, where you can get all your souvenirs and bargain them down to dirt cheap. It was pretty sweet.

I think I'm allergic to Hawaii though. On our 2nd day, I broke out in a rash that I kept until the day we left, and my eyes itched the entire time we were there. It was crazy. But, after an entire night spent on 3 airplanes, we're home. To our complete mess of a home. And the weather is more beautiful here than it is in Hawaii. I love it.

Oh yeah, we're laying in bed, watching tv (because Hawaii gets all the good shows in the morning because of the time change), when we flip it to CNN. And there's my hometown. On CNN. Wildfires. Perfect. They were on the other end of town, so everyone I know is okay, and the couple of people I know from that area are doing okay, as far as I know. But national news? Crazy. We tried to see the damage from the airplane, but we were sitting on the wrong side. But there are about 100 people who lost their homes & it's super sad.

I'm sorry this was so long, and I will update with pictures soon, I promise!