Adios!

Last night, to get ready for our honeymoon in Mexico, RJ and I went out for.... Mexican food.  We're tricky like that.

Margaritas as big as your head = stomachache.

Just kidding, there's actually only 2 good restaurants in Vicksburg, and this happens to be one of them. 

We are off to Puerto Vallarta, hope everyone has a lovely week, talk to you fools when we get back!

One of the few trips that I actually enjoyed packing for!  Doesn't this skirt just scream "Honeymoon in Mexico"?

Ten Truths

 1. Yesterday afternoon I had an impromptu "interview" at the Vicksburg School District Central Office.  When RJ got home from work I was showered, dressed, primped, and ready to jet out the door.  (We are still sharing a car).  If you could have seen RJ's face when he walked through the door... you would have thought I switched bodies with Heidi Klum or something.  His face lit up and he looked me up and down and said "wow" and "you look great" like 5 times.  You guys.  It's not like I spent 3 hours getting ready.  I didn't look that great.  I couldn't figure out why he was so enthralled with my appearance.  But then I realized...  this was the first time he had come home from work and found me completely dressed and showered, with hair and makeup done.  The surprise practically gave him a heart attack, I tell you what.   

2.  RJ always says he thinks I'm prettiest right when I wake up (WTH?).  But I think the above event may challenge that statement a bit....

3. Just in case you need it summed up, the moral of truth number 1 is this: ladies, if your man isn't doing a good job complimenting your appearance, here's what you do: have him come home from work to find you in a big t-shirt and no make-up for a month.  Then one day, when he's least expecting it, switch it up.  Shower, put on nice clothes, and do your hair and make-up.  Works like a charm.

4. My "teaching interview" consisted of Dr. P shaking my hand, confirming that I was certified, and then saying "well, let's go get you on that list".  She walked over to personnel with me and put my name on the sub list, and asked the secretary to email it out.  Such a nice lady.  And it was the easiest/fastest "interview" of my life.

5. I hadn't even gotten home yet and my phone already rang with the first sub request for today.  Four more calls came last night, and two this morning.  Here's the problem: I DON'T HAVE A CAR.  I could give RJ a ride to work, but it's a 45 minute drive each way.  So that is over 3 hours of driving, for a 60 dollar work day.... probably not worth it.  So I had to say no.

6.  For some reason, saying no to my first sub requests really depressed me.  I was SO bummed.  Really, really disappointed.  RJ could tell how sad I was, and was really nice and supportive, even though I was kind of rude to him and told him it was all his fault.  (I also may have mentioned something like- "this was probably your plan all along, to keep me an oppressed housewife".)  But even though I was being semi-crazy, he was sweet and rubbed my back, and then convinced me to go for a run with him, and after that, I did feel better.

7. In addition to the six calls for sub requests, I have also received FOUR calls from different principals asking me to call them back so we could discuss a permanent position.  I'm not sure what I am going to say, so I'm giving myself until noon to call them back.  Apparently having a valid teaching certificate makes you a HOT ticket item in Vicksburg, Mississippi.  In case anyone is looking...

8. I really thought it would take longer for me to get on the sub list and start getting calls.  From turning in my application, to getting my first call, it was six days.  Oops.  I sort of have the worst timing ever because this week I have no car, next week we are on our honeymoon, and then I am in Seattle from October 15-23.  Had I known it would be this fast, I would have waited.  I hope people don't give up and stop calling.

9. My phone has rang more in the past 12 hours than it has the entire last month combined.  I told RJ I need a "work phone".  He rolled his eyes.

10. RJ is having trouble finding a car he likes.  He drove an old Saab for the past three years, so this time he wants to get a nicer car, that he enjoys driving.  The trouble is, he's really frugal and hates spending money.  So it's a bad combination.  He wants a BMW.... yet claims every single one he finds is "over-priced".  I told him maybe it's just that BMWs are expensive, and he might find them all to be "over-priced".  He replied that he won't be taking any car advice from me.  RUDE.  But the good news is, he starts his classes the Monday we get back from our honeymoon, and will be on the same schedule as one of his work buddies who lives in our apartment complex.  So he can get a ride to work until he finds a car.... which means... come October 7, FITTY AND I ARE REUNITED!!!!

So that's my last 24 hours.  It's funny, despite getting six calls for sub jobs, and four semi-job offers all before 8 am, I still find myself in my pajamas, blogging, and watching Married to Jonas at noon.  Maybe it's my destiny to be a loser?  :)  Ok, I'm off to go call back those principals.  Oh, and make my week 4 picks!  Here's to another victory week... :)  Hope everyone has a great day!   

Football has taken over my life

Growing up with a dad and two brothers, it was inevitable that football was on ALL. THE. TIME.  Had my mom not been around, they might have trapped me in their clutches and made me a tomboy.  But Andrea kept me from going over to the darkside, and when the football takeover descended upon us, we would escape upstairs and watch some quality shows on Bravo or E.  Despite our best efforts to be immune, their passion for the Seahawks was transferable and we DID break our football strike to cheer on the Hawks.  I have good memories of watching the game every Sunday with the fam.

But it always stopped there.  I never understood why football needed to be on every second four days in a row.  And I still don't.  Go Hawks!  (And Saints).  Now let's watch something else. 

Unfortunately, my loving husband is not on the same page.  Between Thursday night football (when did that start?), college football, and RJ's lovely new interest in HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL GAMES ON ESPN (apparently he's "scouting the talent"?? WHAT. THE. HELL.) football has officially taken over my life.  I am lucky if we get two nights a week without it.  But don't worry.  We have Madden and NCAA 13 to get us through those times.  Oh, and let's not forget the ever present football commentary on ESPN.  If RJ's not watching football, reading about football, watching football documentaries, or playing football video games, he's talking about it.  To me.  Also, don't get me started on the emotional roller coaster we go through every weekend.  Damn you Fantasy Football.  I told him that too much of anything is a bad thing, and he's ruining "my love of the game" with over-exposure.  I think he just tuned me out.

I used to be able to fight the football obsession by going into work for a couple hours on Sunday, or with strategic "Sunday girl time". But now that RJ is my only friend, it's a lot harder to fight.  And I find myself slipping to the darkside.      

Case in point:

Somehow he Svengali'd me into making football picks with him each week.  I know.  The things I do when unemployed and bored.

At first, I planned to study the games and read things on NFL.com.  But two articles in, I quickly realized how boring that was.  So I stopped, and instead I chose my picks based on a few other key things:

1. Is the quarterback cute?  (I don't care if the Raiders "suck".  Matt Leinart is hot.)
2. Which city would I rather visit?
3. Are their costumes cute?  Do the colors go well together? 

**The best way to passive aggressively annoy your husband during a football game is to call the uniforms "costumes", and personal fouls "Rude Tackles".  Thank you Andrea Lund.  It started as a joke, but now the terminology has stuck.  And is spreading.  

Also, it should be noted that choosing the hot quarterback over the slimy quarterback theory totally worked- Steelers vs. Raiders?

I DID factor in some of the knowledge I've picked up from the 24/7 football coverage at our house, but that was the fourth consideration.

At the end of each week the person who has the most picks correct gets to choose whatever they want.  Probably within reason, but I plan to push it as far as I can go.

As with everything, this little bet brings good and bad.

The bad?  I find myself following all the games and watching the scores.  I've been sucked into the football trap.

The good?  Oh, I don't know.... how about WINNING.  That's right.  I won more games than RJ this week.  Ha. Ha.  He spends so much time reading about the defenses, and player match-ups, and blah, blah BLAH.  And I chose based on costume color.  And WON.  Life is good.

We each had 6 wins, and it came down to the final Sunday night game, the Patriots vs. the Ravens.  (We don't bet on the Seahawks).  I picked the Ravens, DUH, because Tom Brady is a jerk who left his pregnant girlfriend for Gisele Bundchen, and damn if I ever vote for him.  Bastard.  RJ picked the Patriots.  Rookie mistake.  The first rule of football is to never pick teams whose quarterbacks have bad karma.  Everyone knows that.  (Steelers anyone?)

For my prize this week I chose a massage from RJ, but next week I'm going for something that costs money.  I've had my eye on this, and I'm thinking it has "victory week 4" written all over it.  I plan to extort my way through this football season, thankyouverymuch.

I told RJ I would help him with his picks for week 4 if he wanted.  I also told him he should probably factor in costume color coordination, and quarterback karma a little more.  He put me in a headlock, but I think that's his way of saying "You're right".
 
And now... I grant you... my WINNING football picks.  That's right.  Week 3 belongs to ME.  I only had seven picks correct, which isn't that great, but it's better than RJ's SIX.  Haha.

I dripped water all over the packet about 30 seconds after it was handed to me.  RJ got all hurt, as if I was "disrespecting" the bet.  "Can't you be more careful?" he whined.  "I spent all this time making you a packet, and you spill on it within a minute." I guess sometimes I forget how much effort goes into printing and stapling papers. 

"There's no time for love when the Seahawks are on."

**This post is dedicated to Rick Lund, the first man to bring me to the football darkside.  I'll never forget watching Monday night football with you and eating Banquet Chicken Pot Pies, because that was the night mom went to school.  I quickly realized that if I watched the game and pretended to like it, I would be allowed to stay up until half-time, which was past my usual bedtime.   Thanks for teaching me how to "like" football.  :)

I love fall

When I moved down south, fall quickly became my favorite season.  Every year there seems to be a magical day where you step outside, and suddenly the air has turned cool and crisp.  The cloying humidity has disappeared and you find yourself wanting to be outside again.  This lovely time of year seems to have arrived, and I am more excited than ever.  There is something so enchanting about the thought of leaves changing color, carving pumpkins, drinking apple cider, and curling up with a blanket watching football.  And let's not forget the cute outfits.  Hello boots!  Maybe it's because I am an unemployed loser have more time on my hands this year, but I have all these "fall resolutions" that I want to fulfill.  Last night I made a list and showed RJ.  He wasn't quite as into it, minus number 7, but I think he'll come around.

FALL TO-DO LIST:

1. Go apple picking

2. Have an outdoor picnic (preferably in a field surrounded by trees whose leaves are changing colors)

3. Make a fall mantle

4. Go to a pumpkin patch  

5. Have a pumpkin carving party

6. Make this apple cider at the pumpkin carving party

7. Go to a football game

8. Have people over for dinner and make this

9. Buy these and wear them enough to make the price worth it

10. Make apple crisp

11. Visit a corn maze

12. Take lots of fall pictures- especially at Gonzaga during Fall Family Weekend

13. Go to Greenbluff when in Spokane

14. Make these and these

15. Find an amazing couples Halloween costume.

16. Get invited somewhere for Halloween so we can wear our costume out of the house.

17. GET A JOB!!!

I started my to-do list already, and tackled number 3! (My favorite number).  We don't have a mantle, so I am using the shelf in our entry-way as my "seasonal mantle".

Isn't fall the best?  :)

What is on your fall to-do list?


 

This week's pictures

I skipped last week's edition of iPhone pictures, so some of these are old.  My phone finally got a break from only taking pictures of food, things around the house, or RJ when he's not paying attention.  Thank you New Orleans for making us (sort of) cool last weekend!

Pool time!  NOT naked pool time, though it may appear to be that way.

Go Dawgs! Or something like that.  I've never been a huge Husky fan, even though my family is.  However, RJ wants to go to law school there, so I am hopping on board!

Fun night!

Soulmate!

RJ's first day of drill.  This uniform is not quite as hot as the Top Gun one, but he's still very cute, wouldn't you agree?

Somehow we got a picture together where RJ is smiling, and I don't look dumb.  Miracle!

Thanks for the great date friends!  And for supporting this blog!

Weirdo

The Bulldog

Love her!

"You're just going to put this in your blog."  Why yes, yes I am. 

RJ's amazing aunt, who spoke at the DNC.  She was incredible! Youtube Simone Campbell, and you will see what I mean.

Being a good house-husband, and making me a fancy drink

Operation "stop using plastic water bottles" is underway!  I presented them as a gift, so he is more inclined to use them. :) When RJ saw this he loved it all, especially the picture frame, which is a major victory, because whenever I buy frames he always makes a face, and says he "doesn't care" if we have pictures displayed around the house.  WTF?  But after he thanked me for the gifts he goes, "Do you think I need reduced fat cheeze-its?" with a concerned look on his face.  Heehee.

Now that fall is making an appearance, we have been enjoying dinners on the deck!

Errands Day- Idiots need not apply

Yesterday I ran errands for over 5 hours.  This is what happens when you share a car with your husband who works 7-5.  The errands stack up....aka... never get done.  I was a cantankerous monster on Tuesday night, ranting about how cooped up I felt, and how much I needed to do, but couldn't because I never have a car.  So RJ took the day off and let me have Fitty allllll day!  Yelling works.  And I love him.

It was so nice to spend time with him yesterday, I don't think I would be quite as motivated to get a job if I could just hang out with RJ every morning.  We woke up and drank tea on the porch together and read our books.  Then we made eggs and watched Kathie Lee and Hoda, and RJ told me that he had never watched the TODAY show before.  Can you believe that?  I have obviously failed him for the past 3 and a half years if this was the first time he had ever seen the Today show.  After about 15 minutes he goes, "They're really annoying, don't you think?"   Oh RJ.  He didn't seem to get it when I told him that their annoyingness was part of their charm.  "It's what makes them endearing,"  I said.

#timeswhenbeingumemployeddoesnotsuck.... Also, The Night Circus is a really good book.  If you're looking for a new one to read, I recommend it!

After we were lazy, I left for my errands day.  This town makes it just delightful to run errands, let me tell you.  EVERYTHING is within a 5 mile radius.  I had 7 different places to go, and nothing took more than 10 minutes to get to.  It's also impossible to get lost here.  And I can get lost in my own backyard.  I've actually diagnosed myself as a directional dyslexic.  If I'm not sure where I am, and my sense of direction says to turn one way, you best be turning the other way.  I am always wrong.  Every. Time.  But I haven't gotten lost here.  Not once!  Vicksburg is a directional dyslexic's paradise.

I will spare you the boring details of my errands, but a couple of the highlights included:

• Picking up my license from the "DMV".  Apparently they left off the apartment number on my address so I had to go pick it up, as it was "undeliverable".  Under normal circumstances an extra trip to the DMV would be SO annoying.  But in this town everything is so easy to get to, there is always parking, and never a wait... so I wasn't even annoyed. 

I am officially a Mississippi resident.  I like that it's the "Hospitality State".  How nice.  It's also fun to see "Erika Alexander" :)  This also marks the first time in 5 years that my license, car registration, and insurance are all from the same state.  Pat on back self.

• Fulfilling my civic duty and registering to vote as a Mississipian.  I tried to register at the DMV, but apparently, you have to actually go to the courthouse to register in Vicksburg.  Again, normally I would be all "heck no, I'm not making an extra trip downtown to go to the courthouse to register...", but in this case the courthouse is only 30 seconds away from the DMV, so it wasn't too bad.  And it allowed me to see this little gem.  So it was totally worth it.

Idiots are not qualified.  The best part is the grammatical error in the "Qualified to Vote" section.  Do you see it?

After my day of errands, I came home and "made" Eggos for dinner.  RJ was not so thrilled, but I LOVE Eggos!  How can you not?  AND they were whole wheat, so it was a healthy choice! 

Now I'm off to go put this in the crockpot to make up for the Eggos dinner last night.  I'm also going to make these, I'll let you know how they turn out.  Hope your day is great!!  

Nerd

RJ is making me such a nerd, seriously.  Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE how smart he is, and like that he teaches me new things.  His intelligence is super attractive, and may just be the number one thing I love about him.  Living with RJ is kind of like living with an encyclopedia, I kid you not. 

BUT.... it might be getting out of control.  Case in point, here was our Saturday afternoon and evening: 

RJ called me into his "man-cave/office" and asked me if I had ever played Sim City.  I told him no, but I think I may have played the Sims once.  He then told me he just got Sim City 4000 and thinks we should play together.  I've never really been one to play computer games, but I like hanging out with him, so I said ok.  Besides, I figured if I played the game with him, I wouldn't feel bad whenever I said "Ah, HECK NO, I will not be playing Madden, or NCAA 2013 with you."  Here's the thing though,  I actually really LIKED Sim City 4000.  It's so fun!  You get to create your own city from the ground up.  RJ and I named our city "Alexandria" (his choice), and our mayor "Queen Lund" (my choice).  We ended up playing for over THREE HOURS.  I know.  I'm basically a gamer now.  Alexandria was an amazing city of course, and my mayor rating was top notch.  They even built a statue in my honor.  RJ and I then decided to create competing cities, to see which one would turn out better.  Obviously Taylor-ville (a city in Taylor Swift's honor) will kick the crap out of "Manhattan".  So unoriginal.  He already loses with his lack of creative name.

The city of Alexandria... And yes, that is RJ's computer screen.  I know.  So excessive.

After we "gamed", I made us spring rolls and we watched Indiana Jones.  Not that nerdy, right?  EXCEPT.... sometime during the movie I asked RJ why so many people think nuclear power is dangerous, and a risky form of energy.  I will spare you the details but it turned into AN HOUR long conversation about how nuclear power works, and this diagram being drawn:

I won't lie... I still kind of don't understand.  It's very complicated.  But I CAN tell you this: Nuclear power cleans up the river water!  And gives us lots of energy.  :) And it kind of looks like a robot.

Understanding nuclear power requires a base knowledge of energy and radiation.  So RJ started quizzing me about my knowledge of protons, neutrons, electrons, and radiation, and THIS ensued....

Just a little journey back to high school chemistry...  I correctly remembered the charges of protons, neutrons, and electrons (I know, I know, as RJ says, BFD), and named three out of the four types of radiation.  I did NOT know that Neutron is also a type of radiation, nor did I remember the masses of protons, neutrons, and electrons.  Tell me- is this common knowledge?  Because SOMEONE was rather judgy when I told him I had no idea what the mass of a proton is.  (It's one).

At the end of the lesson I told him to quiz me on everything we had just gone over.  I passed. :)

Just another Saturday night in the Alexander house.  Should I be worried?   

Likes and Dislikes

Great news team!  Last week was a lovely week in Vicksburg!  I almost couldn't think of any dislikes....just call me Positive Polly.  But then I was able to think of one thing, so I guess Negative Nelly is still alive.

Here are some highlights from the week:

• I updated my resume, wrote 3 cover letters, and applied to sub positions in Vicksburg, Clinton, and Jackson.  Employment is becoming a light in the distance, and I for one, am ready.  Yesterday I realized I hadn't put on makeup or gotten dressed in something other than workout clothes or sweats since we were in New Orleans.  Yikes.  The other morning I was doing dishes while RJ was making breakfast, and he looked over at me and said, "Do you have something against pants or something?"  I mean please, he should know me by now, but still... it's obviously time to get a job.

• RJ bought these as a surprise for me!  I showed him them one morning and told him I wanted to get two to hang above our couch.  I want to put pictures of New Orleans in one, and pictures of Seattle in the other, you know, our two loves?  But they were forty dollars each, and I may or may not have already spent 200 dollars on frames for our wedding pictures/things around the house... so I had promised RJ I was DONE spending money on frames.  I told him I would just wait and maybe get them as a Christmas present.  But a couple hours later he told me he bought the two frames for us, because he thinks they would look really good and he liked the idea.  RJ-Bear is a GREAT husband.

• I got to talk to some of my old students on the phone last week and it made my day.  I miss them SO MUCH.

Missing these knuckleheads every single day...

But the number one GREAT thing that happened in Vicksburg this week was...

I FINALLY MET PEOPLE/MADE FRIENDS!!!!  Two friends actually.  I met them at the ghost pool, which has now been down-graded to semi-ghost pool.  One is a teacher in Vicksburg and she is going to help me get a sub job at her school!  The other lives in our apartment complex with her husband, who is in the Coast Guard, so he and RJ should get along great.  We exchanged numbers and talked about doing dinner/going for walks so I feel very hopeful.  They were really nice, and I am excited to get to know them both!  :)

So as you can see, major progress was made this week in "Operation Stop Being a Loser With No Friends".  I almost hate to bring it down with a dislike, but the name of this post requires it.  SO, here's something that's NOT OK:

Vicksburg is not an "online city".  Very few businesses have websites, or are even on Yelp.  You just find out about them through word of mouth, or when you drive by them.  On the one hand it makes for a very exciting day when you discover a gem, like frozen yogurt, behind the Walgreens.  It's like every day is a scavenger hunt, with a treasure to be discovered.  But on the other hand, sometimes you just want to Google something and find a company website, you know?  I need new running shoes, why are there ZERO sports stores with websites in Vicksburg?  Do I just have to drive around to find one?  And yesterday RJ and I wanted to get wings for the Seahawks game.  We know Vicksburg has a wings place because we've driven by it, but when I went to find it online... nothing.  No website, no menu, and I had to search the yellow pages to find a phone number.  So when I called I had to ask a million questions about the menu before I was ready to order.  Who enjoys that?  I'm going to ask some of these stores if they want to pay me to market for them, because the businesses in this city could use some of that, believe you me.

Any GREAT/NOT OK things happening in your neck of the woods?

Until next time! xoxo

     

Wedding Weekend!

It's been one month since RJ and I got married.  Actually, it was one month on Tuesday, but I felt it was insensitive and narcissistic to blog about my wedding on the anniversary of 9/11.  And then the past two days I've actually been quite busy with trying to get a job.  One updated resume and three cover letters completed!  I feel so accomplished.  :)  I'll keep you updated on whether anyone wants me or not. 

So it's three days late, but in honor of our one month wedding anniversary, I thought I would post some of my favorite moments from our amazing weekend in New Orleans...

The best part about the weekend (besides actually getting married) was spending time with all our friends and family.  We had so much fun wandering around the city, taking in the sights, and eating great food with all our favorite people.

Great look bro!

What? You don't have random, overweight stuffed bears hanging out on your mall benches?  Weird.

Showing Britt the sights!  With an Abita in hand of course.

Favorite day with some of our favorite friends!

Best souvenir ever: A BOURBON STREET PONCHO of course!!!  A little rain won't stop us from sight-seeing!  All the girls bought ponchos, and the all men decided they were manly enough to handle the rain.  Whatever.  Somewhere out there there is a group photo of everyone in their ponchos, and whoever has it I would love a copy please. :)

Typical

Welcome to New Orleans!

Cute!

RJ's commissioning ceremony was one of the most special parts of the entire weekend.  We set up shop right in the middle of Jackson Square, without any permission.  Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, right?  But no one was annoyed.  In fact, by the end of the ceremony there were about 30 people we didn't know who had gathered around to watch.  One lady said she felt honored to be able to witness something so special.  Isn't that sweet?  Afterward, all these strangers came up to RJ and shook his hand, and thanked him for his service.  It was a day I will never forget, and I was so proud of him.

Swearing in.  See the strangers in the back taking pictures?  We were a tourist attraction that day.

Tradition

Awww

Love this

Proud.

<3

After the ceremony we headed to Antoine's, a famous restaurant in the quarter.  They were just featured in Bon Appetit, as one of their top ten restaurants.  More importantly, they went above and beyond to make the lunch so special for RJ.  They gave us an amazing private room with a balcony that looked down onto Royal street.  We had two personal waiters that were INCREDIBLE (yeah Derrick and Charlie!) and they made RJ a special dessert, their famous Baked Alaska, that said "Thank You Ryan".  And you can't beat 25 cent martinis!  Next time you have a nice dinner or lunch for a group of people, Antoine's is the way to go!

The Capitol room.  Thank you Antoine's!

SO NICE! And it tasted great too!

Favorites!

We had so much fun taking pictures on the balcony.  Of course, Tom got so many amazing shots!

RJ's dad and sister

Love this!

Friday night my friends treated me to a wonderful bachelorette party.  Britt made sure it happened, and brought all the fun "bachelorette goodies".  She is the best.  We started in the room with champagne, and everyone was graced with a lovely penis straw, even my grandmothers.  That's how you know your grandparents are down with it.  After champagne we went to dinner and had a great time.  I also ate my weight in chicken strips.  Maybe not the best idea the night before your wedding, but whatever.  One of my favorite parts of the night was when we went around the table and those who were married gave their best marriage advice.  It was a really sweet and thoughtful moment.  After dinner we headed out!  We made a pit-stop at my favorite place EVER, Cafe Beignet, to hear my favorite singer, Steamboat Willie.  It's been said I have a slight obsession with him, but I prefer to call it a "healthy admiration".  He called me up and sang "Do you know what it means, to miss New Orleans?".  Best moment ever.  Then we went to Pat O's piano bar, (so fun!), and requested gems like Wilson Philips "Hold On", and "My Girl".  We ended the night being harassed as we walked down Bourbon Street, with a quick stop in "Club We Don't Belong".  Perfect night!

Britt's first hurricane!

Flowers in the hair!

Love you Sal

Serenaded by Steamboat!  If you know me, you know what a HUGE deal this is.  I've been waiting my whole life for this moment.

Thanks for a great night my loves!

Saturday was so lovely, and I actually felt really relaxed all day!  RJ and I ate breakfast together and then went and chatted with Simone about the ceremony.  She also gave us some pre-marriage counseling.  :)  Then I spent the afternoon with all my favorites!  We got our nails done, I got my hair done, and we got ready at Sally's while we listened to Taylor Swift and drank champagne.  Does it get any better than that?  My friends were SO good to me that day.  Britt and Sally went and got all the flowers, and Britt made the corsages and my bouquet!  She is a florist in disguise that girl!  Meg went with me to get my hair done and brought me frozen yogurt.  She also did my eye makeup.  I seriously have the greatest friends in the world, and I wouldn't have wanted to the day to go any differently. 

Perfect engagement gift!

The actual wedding was incredible.  It was a little hot and humid (ok probably more than just a little), but I think it was totally worth it for the perfect sunset, bright green scenery, and the cicadas singing in the background.  Best of all, I married the love of my life!

Seeing RJ-Bear!

Pretty

Couldn't have asked for a better backdrop!

Vows at sunset.  I planned it that way by showing up 15 minutes late.  You're welcome.

I love him so much!

After the wedding, we went to my very favorite restaurant in New Orleans, Atchafalaya.  They too went above and beyond for us.  The room was perfect, they made special menus, and the owner gave a really sweet toast at the end. When I think back to the night, I just get a huge smile on my face, it was so special and perfect.

Love this moment

The food was TO. DIE. FOR.

Best brothers a girl could ever ask for

Our amazing, (and famous!) officiant.

ALL of the speeches were so great.  But there were too many to show all the pictures here.  So I'll just show you Steve's which made me laugh so hard, and then cry equally as hard.  I'm really lucky to have such an amazing brother.

Tony, the owner, and his lovely speech.

One of my favorites!

It's official!  Or so we thought...

After dinner we went out to Grits for a little shaking of our groove things!  RJ didn't really want to go, he says he hates Grits, but I refuse to acknowledge that because I really don't understand how anyone could hate Grits.  I mean, honestly.  But since he's the best husband ever, we went for an hour or so, and despite the look on his face below, I know he had a GREAT time!

Haha this picture totally sums up our experience at Grits.  I am loving it, RJ wants to GTFO.

Married!

Honestly I could go on, and on, AND ON, about how amazing the weekend was.  But this post is already 2 million years long, so I'm going to reign it in.  I'll end with just a couple more highlights...

When we got back from Grits on our wedding night, there was a fruit and cheese plate and champagne waiting for us from the hotel.  It was amazing.  After I had a moment with the cheese, RJ and I drank champagne and talked about our favorite moments from the night.  It was perfect.

Le Pavillon was so beautiful, and everyone there was so friendly and kind.  I can't wait to go back for our anniversary!

Every night there were bottles of water and two delicious peanut butter and jelly cookies waiting for us in the room.  It always hit the spot, and the cookies were really good!  If you click on the picture, it should be big enough to see the recipe.

The day after the wedding we all went to Domenica for lunch.  Delish.  You can also find them featured in a very famous magazine, Charcuterie by Rick. ;)  At lunch my mom found one of the luminary bags in her purse and passed it around for everyone to write a note to us.  Some of them were really funny like,  "Love is letting your brother-in-law sleep on your couch when he can't find a job", and "Love is eating it, even when it tastes bad".  Please.  Like that ever happens.

The amazing wedding box my grandpa made.  Notably absent?  The wine.  My bad.  But it's ok because it has turned into a memory box for all the wedding things from that weekend.  It's one of my most special treasures.

Looking at all these pictures makes me SO happy, but mostly it makes me wish we could go back and do it all again.  It was a perfect weekend, and I loved every minute.  Lucky for us though, being married is pretty cool too.  We've had a great month of marriage... so far I'm a fan.  I'll keep you updated as we continue on this little journey.  :)