Wedding Wednesday

    Ah, wedding Wednesday. One of my favorite blogging days of the week. hehe. Instead about posting about a certain topic, I'm going to take this time to congratulate my dear friends, Alex and Natasha ...they're getting married tomorrow!!! I'm so excited and happy for them. I just wish I could be there (in MAUI!!!!) to celebrate with them. Congrats you guys! Happy Wedding Day tomorrow!!! :D

Happy Days :)

   Ok, it's been awhile, and I apologize for this, but there has been A LOT going on. Thursday was Tyler's and my 2 year anniversary, so we spent it where we got married, at Angel's stadium in Anaheim, CA, watching the Angels kick some Mariner ass, haha.

   Friday I picked a friend up from the airport, picked up my wedding dress and got ready for the "wedding" on Sunday. Saturday we had a rehearsal in the morning (because there was a wedding at the location that night), and then had a lovely brunch at a local country club.

Some of the people at the Rehearsal Brunch. Look at all the rainbow colors! hehe

   This past Sunday, I got to re-marry the man of my dreams, my hubby, Tyler, in Our Celebration of Marriage. It was so much fun! Everyone looked great, it went basically without a hitch, the food was amazing, the pie was delicious and everyone looked like they had a good time. We also lucked out and got some furniture for free! The company who rented the furniture to the couple who had a wedding there the night before,  forgot to come and pick it up, so I could use it. Win. At this beautiful outdoor location, not only did we have lots of food a drink (lots of wine of course), we had a great DJ and lawn games. Yup, you heard me right, we had lawn games...croquet, horse shoes and corn hole (aka bean bag toss). I didn't tell many people about this (just family), because I wanted to be a surprise, even for the wedding party. People loved them! If you have an outdoor location with some space, some games might just be the thing you're looking for.I finally got the day I had dreamed about for so long. I got to walk down the aisle, have dances, wear a gown etc. It was one of the happiest days of my life. :)
   Anyway, here are some pictures via friends and family from that day. Professional pics should be available in like 2 weeks! Enjoy. :)

Wedding Party

Here I come! hehe

Kiss

Apparently something was funny in the ceremony haha.

Father/Daughter Dance

Parents :)

First Dance. :)

   I felt good in my dress until I saw a few pics of how unforgiving my it was. I couldn't wear spanx, etc. because you could see the lines, yes, even the ones that were seamless. Maybe I just should've worn them anyway. I thought that I looked pretty good, but some pics I feel I look like a fat cow or pregnant. I'm not either, though it would be interesting to find out what people think of me, like, do people consider me to be a "bigger" person? I know everyone said I looked gorgeous, beautiful, etc., but I just wonder, ya know? No, I am not fishing for compliments here...ha; I'm just a HORRIBLE critic of myself. Who isn't though? Well, I'm one of the worst I know. Le sigh. Ah well. I did get angry that all my working out and eating better apparently didn't pay off. Ok, ok. I guess it did, because I learned to enjoy working out. Sorry to vent, I know I did look beautiful, and I did love that dress. :)
   Saturday night, my throat started to hurt, but on Sunday, I was able to ignore it for the most part until we got to the hotel Sunday night. Oh man. My nose started acting CRAZY. Ugh. Of course. Worst part is, I still have it! I think it started as an allergy thing, but now is more of a cold. Ugh. So, it's Wednesday night, and I think I'm still jet-lagged. Also this cold thing doesn't help with the energy level.

Celebration of our Marriage

   This summer, Tyler and I are renewing our vows and celebrating our marriage. We will be doing this Sunday, July 10, 2011, 2 years and 3 days from the first time we got married July 7, 2009. Now, we could've waited for our 5 year anniversary, 10 year anniversary, etc. but at this time in our life, we decided to do it now.
   Around April/May 2009, Tyler and I decided to get married in early July he was set to deploy to Afghanistan and that was when he would be home on leave before the deployment. We just wanted to get married in the courthouse and have a picnic with those who could be there after because there wasn't much time to plan anything bigger, and most locations were already booked for the time he would be home in the summer. Then, Tyler's parents suggested doing it at Angel's Stadium since they were going to an Angels game anyway. A couple days before the big day, one of my best friends decided to throw me a bachelorette party with lingerie given as gifts. I loved it! It was so much fun...we had appetizers, dinner, LOTS of drinks, some fun games, followed by a slumber party :).
   On Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at 6:05 in the evening, we were married (by my Uncle who is a pastor in the San Diego area) in a suite at Angel's Stadium in Anaheim, CA.

After the brief words and exchanging of vows, we met some of the Angels staff, including Rex Hudler and the communications director. Then we had delicious Angel's style BBQ, watched the Texas Rangers beat the Angels and had some good cake.

   The next day, we went to Disneyland with some of my family. On the 9th, Tyler and I drove up to San Francisco for a few days there, followed by a trip to Ukiah, CA, to see Tyler's great uncle and aunt who have a vineyard there

    When we were married, we were only together a short while, then he had to come back to Germany and I went back to my internship and back to school. Right before he was deployed in November, he got to come back home for a few weeks. Some marriage, huh? Then I didn't see him again till March, again, only for about 2 weeks. Then, I didn't see him again till November when he was back from being deployed. In our first year of marriage, I saw him maybe 2 months, if that. For the first year and a half I think it totals to about to about 4 months.
   Now, why do we want to renew our vows, and why do we want to do it so soon? It's not that we've forgotten the vows we made to each other on that day in a suite in Angel's stadium, it's just, well, we've been apart for so long, and we want to recommit to each other in front of God, friends and family. We also want to celebrate our marriage with all of those friends and family. When we were married, there were only a  few family members and friends in the suite with us. I, I guess selfishly, want to have the wedding celebration you dream about with all of our friends and family (those who can make it out anyway).  In our "first" wedding, there was no real walk down the aisle, no first dance, no father daughter dance (no dancing at all actually...silly baseball game), no garter or bouquet toss...there were some toasts and a cake cutting at least. I didn't even wear a wedding dress, I wore a white cocktail dress from Target, which is cute, but not what you think of. I want to wear a real wedding dress, have a first dance, a father daughter dance...
   Later, in August 2010, my sister did throw me a bridal shower, in my home town of Dallas, since I never had one. It was so cute! I loved it.
   Am I being selfish in wanting another wedding? Maybe. But so many people are renewing their vows or having "another" wedding with the same person, I figure, why can't I? Many people in the military do this as well. So again, why can't I?
  According to theknot.com article about Wedding Vow Renewal: How to Retie the Knot, they answer the question why renew? Their answer, "To celebrate. Perhaps you've made it to 10, 25, or 50 years together and you want the world to know that you'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. Maybe you want to reaffirm your commitment to each other after a rough period in your relationship. There's no wrong reason to renew." Exactly why we want to do it...to reaffirm our commitment to each other and to celebrate with friends and family! :)

   I have gotten some crap for wanting "another wedding" and have been called selfish. Some have said it's not fair, why should I get two weddings? What's not fair is that for the first year of our marriage he was in Afghanistan for basically all of it. What's not fair is that some people didn't acknowledge or remember I was married because he was never around, I still lived in a dorm room and they didn't see us get married, what's not fair is that people stopped inviting me out because, "oh...I didn't know you still wanted to go out being a married woman and all." What does that even mean?
   Most of those close to us have been supportive of our decision to have this "celebration of marriage" and are really excited about it! It's a time to have fun and finally celebrate our lives TOGETHER with friends and family. Having the wedding I've always wanted doesn't hurt either. Well, I can't say always wanted, because I did want to get married by a castle or something like it (hahaha...not kidding unfortunately). If I had millions of dollars to spare? ha.
  All in all, I'm really excited about this upcoming event! And I can't wait to spend this special day with friends and family close to us :) 

Here's some info about our upcoming Celebration of Marriage...
Location: Walnut Grove
Website: http://www.mywedding.com/tylerandbethberryswedding
Food: California BBQ
Dessert: Pie :) 
My dress: Can't share that yet. Tyler may stumble upon it, and he's the one who doesn't want to see or know anything about the dress until the evening of July 10th. Cute, huh?
Tyler's outift: He'll be wearing his Army Dress Blues
Bridesmaid Dresses: In the color of midnight
Groomsmen: Will be wearing tuxes from Friar Tux.

Days 21-26: wishes, a favorite or two and love

Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget
There are many things in my life I'm sure I wish I could forget, but would that make me the person I am without them? Who knows. Not really sure of one specific thing that I wish I could forget, so I'm going to move on...

Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at
I wish I was better at a lot of things...I mean, I'm decent at many things, good or even great at some, but if I had to pick just one thing to be better at, I think it would be dancing. :) 

 

Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book 
As you can probably tell, I’m not very good at the “favorite” questions. I dunno, for some reason I just don’t like to pick favorites all the time. It’s hard for me to pick my favorite books, but I’ll try and pick some I enjoy :)
"The Bible"…why? Well, being a Christian woman I like it and believe in it, but from a book perspective, I just think it’s a great collection of stories.
"Twelfth Night" - why? It’s hilarious and I do love me some Shakespeare
"Pride and Prejudice" - I do love me some Jane Austen. Strong female character, great love story…need I say more?
That's just a taste... :) 

Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change
See day 21...but I guess if I could change one thing it would be to not be as much of a pushover. Good news, I have been getting better...slowly. 

Day 25 - A picture of your day

Image from Google Images
 My day was full of cleaning and being lazy haha. I mean, I did just get back from a weekend trip...

Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you
I mean lots of things mean a lot to me...my life, my husband, my family and friends...Then I could go into the material stuff that means a lot to me...but eh. 
But, if I have to pick one thing, it would be love...love of my husband, friends, family...love. What is life without love? 
“Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring.”
- Oscar Wilde

Image from MeHeartWeddings

Day 14: Can't live a day without you...

Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without

Yes it's my wonderful husband, Tyler. I know, I know. I've been posting about him sooo much. Sigh. But it's true, I can't imagine my life without him. 

Days 10 to 12: Love

I'm choosing to skip the next two days...
Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the most ****** up things with AND Day 11 - A picture of something you hate. I don't like those two questions, so on to Day 12! :) 


Day 12 - A picture of something you love

I love lots of things, and most of you are probably expecting me to post a picture of my husband, my family or my friends. But that's too obvious, and clearly I love them, so I'm going for something more non-traditional.  Wine and Dogs :) 

via site

via site

How I Met Your Mother and Real Life

   One of my favorite TV shows How I Met Your Mother. Tyler is really the one who turned me on to this show, it's his favorite currently airing show. Anyway, I've only really be religious about watching all of this past season, season 6. Other then that, I just catch How I Met Your Mother on re-runs. I recently decided since Tyler has all the seasons, why not start from the beginning. I realize as I'm watching them that I haven't really seen a lot from season one. Then I remember something. WARNING! SPOILER ALERT! I remember an episode where Lili and Marshall aren't together and she has to move in with Barney. But, in season one they get engaged and are planning their wedding, how can this be? They're like the Corey and Topanga of this show! They've been together 9 years and are finally getting married. Well, Lili wants to see if she's any good at her art so applies for an art fellowship in San Francisco. Her and Marshall fight and she breaks it off and leaves for San Fran. I bawled.
   Now, you may be asking yourself, why I am telling you about How I Met Your Mother? Well, here's the thing. Lili had been freaking out about getting married. She was saying stuff about how she hadn't done all the things she's wanted to do yet, how she's only ever really been with Marshall, should she date other people, etc. etc. I myself remember freaking out about similar things before tying the knot, but my conclusion was different then Lili's was at first. I realized that, why would I give up the love of my life for chance? Maybe isn't a choice. Sure I would love to grow and find myself, but why can't I do that with Tyler? Why can't I do any of these things with Tyler. I love him. And that's all I needed. Don't worry, Lili and Marshall get back together and she realizes he's the only thing she really wants and wants to do things with him alone, blah blah.
   Freaking out before you get married I feel is completely normal. It is a HUGE commitment. Things don't magically become perfect or better just because you get married...things take work, love, trust, hope, faith, commitment, etc.
   Part of the reason I may have freaked out even more was because I was so young. Yes, I will be one of the first to admit it. We were both 21, he was off to A-stan and I was entering my senior year of college. When I look back, I do not regret getting married that young, heck, I married the love of my life, why should I? Sure we spent a year apart, which sucked if you wondered, but I still don't regret it. Some may say that I was married to young, I should  have waited, I should've have moved to Germany, but I don't think any of those things are true. Yes, I could've have waited, and while I agree I was young, I don't think it was a mistake. I also don't think moving to Germany was a mistake either. I JUST graduated college May 2010, many people travel and take breaks after they graduate. What do you think I'm doing? I'm living abroad and traveling. Bonus is that I get to do it all with my wonderful husband, Tyler. When else am I going to have to awesome opportunity to live in another country and travel all over Europe? Sometimes I think, man, what would life be like if I would have stayed in California...what job would I have? But then I think, who cares? I'm with Tyler, in Europe! Awesome. I can worry about a career later. I mean, I don't honestly even know what I want to be or do.
   Thus, I digress. People, including myself freak out and worry to much. It is natural to do, especially before big moments in your life. I'm trying to not do it as much, but it's hard. Just a work in progress, much like life. haha.
   I hope everyone has a great day! :)