I made it!!

In the last four weeks, I moved out of my parents' house and into an apartment, became a wife, and started teaching high school English. And I survived it all.

Since the exterminators sprayed inside and outside the apartment, we've had no more spiders inside our place. We still see them outside when it's hot at night, but we haven't had any crawling around our living room or hanging out in our bathroom, thank GOD.

We're really enjoying our apartment. It's quiet -- incredibly quiet. I think we're the loudest people here. It's a great environment for lesson planning! It's also nice that it's isolated enough that I can walk around the place in my underwear during the day. That's always a plus.

I really couldn't have asked for the wedding to go any better than it did. I spent the morning cooking a pasta lunch for the bridesmaids (really, it was just something to keep me busy so that I didn't pace all day). My hairdresser was nice enough to come to my parents' house to do my hair! She did an amazing job. It took her an hour and a half and 51 bobby pins to do my hair, but I was so happy with it. She also did a great job with Laura, Christie, and my mom. I couldn't get over how grown up my sister looked. It was tough to not get choked up looking at her.

We did our wedding photos before the ceremony because a) we looked our freshest before all the crying and b) we were a bit worried about losing light since the ceremony was at 7:00. I'm really glad we chose to do it that way. Honestly, seeing Bryan before the ceremony made me feel so much less nervous. I think everybody in the bridal party and in our families felt more relaxed since we spent the majority of the day together. We had the photos taken at the arts center downtown, which was an unusual location and not one the parents were entirely happy about. However, Bryan and I loved the contrast of the formal tuxedos and gowns against the urban background. Luckily they turned out so well that both our families ended up loving them.

The ceremony was beautiful. It was short and sweet. We worked closely with the pastor on the wording, and we were both really happy with the way it turned out. We wrote our own vows, and amazingly, we both got through reciting them without bawling. Beforehand, I truly thought I was going to be a mess thorough the whole thing, but I really only cried as we exited the church together. That's when it really hit me. Before then, it felt like an elaborate dress-up game or a dream or something.

We had about 110 guests, and most of them stayed for the reception. Four of my kids from student teaching came to the ceremony (aww), and I convinced them to stay for the reception too. It was downstairs in the church hall -- desserts, some dancing, and lots of mingling with fun people. I liked that it wasn't anything too formal, because it really suited the personalities of our guests and families. I couldn't believe how quickly the time went by though! I didn't get to talk to nearly as many people as I wanted to.

Cutting the cake was painfully awkward. I've been to only one other real reception, so I wasn't totally sure what to do. It's funny how we rehearsed just about everything BUT that! The actual cutting of the cake went fine, but then Bryan and I just stood and smiled at each other for a while. Nobody gave us directions of what to do next, so we just waited for something to happen! After that, we moved on to our first dance, which was equally painful. I'm so glad we picked a short song. We danced to "For You," by Duncan Sheik, and even at two something minutes, it felt like an eternity. I'm sure that to the guests we looked like we were whispering sweet nothings to each other, but we were really discussing how embarrassed and awkward we felt with all eyes on us!

I'm sure that from Bryan's point of view, the highlight of the evening was receiving a Nintendo Wii as a wedding present. I swear -- I've never heard him shriek like that. It was priceless. Luckily he's been nice enough to let me play it too!

We went back to our apartment afterwards, sweaty and exhausted. The weight of the event really hit me the day after, when we sat surrounded by piles and piles of gifts in our living room. I was overwhelmed by our friends' love and generosity. I've never felt so blessed in all my life. Between having such a supportive family and big-hearted friends and an incredibly loving husband, I am one lucky girl.

We wrote and sent out our thank-you cards, but I don't feel that a piece of paper can ever really say how grateful I am for how much everyone -- especially my immediate family -- has done for us. We are so blessed.

School is going well so far, although I'm too tired to get into detail tonight. I have my first cold of the school year, and I really just want to take a warm bath and go to bed early.