The Marriage Meme

In honor of our anniversary today, I'm posting this marriage meme that I snagged from Chris.

Happy anniversary, honey!

1. Where/How did you meet?
We met at Charity's birthday party in November of 1998. He had a woman, I was dating... well anyone, really. He scored an 8 on the dateability scale, since he had awesome eyes and gorgeous lips. And he made lots of fun of Ronnie. Poor Ronnie. Good sport, that one. We were instantly friends, making it to the level of best friends shortly thereafter. I loved hanging out with the guy, what can I say. That and I may have had a little crushy-poo on him.

2. How long have you known each other?
8 years and some change

3. How long after you met did you start dating?
2 years and 2 months.

4. How long did you date before you were engaged?
3 weeks. Well, we decided we were gonna get married, then he proposed to me a week later.

5. How long was your engagement?
1 month and 3 weeks. Look, when he finally relented, I was bound and determined to marry him before he changed his mind.

6. How long have you been married?
6 years

7. What is your anniversary?
Today!

8. How many people came to your wedding reception?
No idea. We didn't do invitations. I'm guessing around 50?

9. What kind of cake did you serve?
White sheet cake from Costco :)

10. Where was your wedding?
Pacific Baptist Church in El Segundo, CA. The reception was in the basement.

11. What did you serve for your meal?
Lasagna. Yeah, it's hard to eat lasagna in a beautiful white dress. I ate bending over.

12. How many people were in your bridal party?
1 matron of honor, 1 best man, 1 flower "man" (I wanted my stepdad to be a part of the wedding somehow), 1 flower girl (my ham of a goddaughter, Megan. She made it halfway down the aisle, dropped the basket, and just started smiling and waving at people. LOVED that.)

13. Are you still friends with them all?
Well, my matron of honor was my mom and the flower man was my stepdad, so yeah. And still friends with the best man. Still the flower girl's godmother, though only in an honorary position.

14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony?
No. We were having too much fun to let it get too sentimental.

15. Most special moment of your wedding day?
I think lighting the unity candle. I love that symbolism. (TMI alert!!!!!!! I think the fact that we were each others "first" that night is EXTREMELY special, but I had to warn y'all about the TMI factor first.)

16. Any funny moments?
Nah.


Okay, so I MAY have gotten an uncontrollable fit of the giggles during my vows. And then Drew MAY have turned around as if to ask the audience "What's so funny?" And then I MAY have stumbled a little bit walking back from lighting the unity candle. You'll have to decide if that was funny.

17. Any big disasters?
Nope. Well, if I had been someone different and super obsessed with details, I maybe would have had a few panic attacks at the things that weren't "perfect" (and there were many things that weren't perfect), but I just wanted to get married.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Down the road to the Hacienda Hotel. My parents were all in town and I hadn't seen my dad for years, I wasn't gonna go running off. We went to Vegas a month later.

19. How long were you gone?
4 days

20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change?
I would have waited a little while longer so all of my family and friends could have been there... and the walls would have been painted. I would have hired professionals to do the videoing and photography. The video was done by a 12-year-old, as evidenced by the shot of my boobs at the reception. The photographer was an amateur, and he did a mostly good job, but ran out of battery before our dance and left... Good thing my mom had a camera.

21. What side of the bed do you sleep on?
As you look at the bed, I'm on the right.

22. What size is your bed?
California freakin' King. Nobody around here makes beds that size, so we're having to order our headboard and footboard for my new grown-up bedroom online.

23. Greatest strength as a couple?
We are best friends. There is nobody I'd rather hang out with than my husband, and I never have as good of a time without him as I do with him. We trust each other completely and there is no jealousy or insecurity. Oh, and he's hot.

24. Greatest challenge as a couple?
We definitely don't encourage each other as much as we should in our respective pursuits of optimal health.

25. Who literally pays the bills?
Drew (*gasp!* you mean you're a stay-at-home-mom and you let your husband control the finances?! You are so oppressed.)

26. What is your song?
"Valentine" by Martina McBride.

27. What did you dance your first dance to?
I believe it was "Bust a Move" by Young MC, at a karaoke bar in Metairie. I could be wrong. Oh, you mean at our wedding? See #26.

28. Describe your wedding dress.
Long, satiny, sleeveless, big bow in the middle with rhinestone accents. It was luverlee. I'm glad Terri made me go into one last store at Del Amo that day.

29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding?
I can't remember. I'd have to smell them to tell you. I loved the smell of my flowers. I wanted to get them preserved, so I kept them in the fridge at work. I think that wherever that fridge is today, it still smells a little like that.

30. Are your wedding bands engraved? What do they say?
Drew's is... it says something like "ACS *heart* SJB 3-15-01." The only engraving in mine is of the diamond variety, baby.