Way Back Wednesday

I've mentioned before that I made a local blog friend here in St. Louis (Melissa @ The Life of a Sippy Cup Mom). She, along with a couple other great bloggers are starting a little meme called Way Back Wednesday. You can get more details here, but the gist is taking a trip down memory lane. I've been married for over a decade now (11 years-HOLY COW HOW DID HE NOT KILL ME BY NOW???-) and so it is really fun to reminisce! The topic this week is "What are your favorite memories from your wedding?" Seeing as how my 11th anniversary has just been celebrated, I thought I would join in and share some of my unique, funny memories. And let me just say that some are extremely unique. Such as the backyard barbecue reception we had. Literally. In my backyard! It was EXACTLY what I wanted!!

Complete with burgers, hot dogs, and Mom's Swedish Meatballs!

My dad built a gazebo shortly before the wedding out behind the house I grew up in and it was just gorgeous! Check it out! Dance floor and benches, under the shade of the trees, surrounded by beautiful flowers.

People tell me to this day that my wedding reception was one of the funnest ones they have ever been too!

Dancing with my dad...to Butterfly Kisses...

Then having the pleasure of dancing with my Pappaw, who went to be with the Lord just over a year later. I will forever cherish this picture!

And what would a big event in my life be without a somewhat odd, amusing story? Here is the picture to set the stage:

You like my Men In Black limo driver? Well, he's not the crux of this story, but he did play an integral role.

Kris and I were in the limo on the way to our overnight destination when we realized that one of our friends had left to head back to St. Louis, with all of Kris' essentials in his car (we were in my hometown in Indiana for the wedding). Shoes, deodorant, toothbrush, etc...and we weren't going to have a car until the next day, so obtaining these items was going to be problematic. The limo driver overhead us talking and told us he could swing by Walmart if we wanted. Did we WANT to? Not really. Were we willing to be the crazy people who did it? Of course!

The limo pulls up outside one of the only stores in town to supply our grooming needs. Our choices in this semi-small town were Walmart and Kmart. I'm not even sure if Kmart was still open at that time of night. We get out and we proceed to go about our business, fully decked out in wedding attire (minus my veil). Shortly after walking in, I heard a little girl say "Mommy look at that girl!"

As we were checking out, the young kid at the cash register said "Did you just go to prom?" I said "Um...no...we just got married." How do I look like I went to prom? Who wears a wedding dress to prom?? It was funny anyway. We got back in the limo and were driven to our destination. And now, almost every year on our anniversary we go to Walmart, in whatever town we happen to be in. It's kind of our thing. It's just what we do. Some years we wind up taking 2-3 trips to Walmart! Very classy...