I value my sleep too much these days to get up a 3:00am and watch the Royal Wedding but I have to admit, seeing pics of Prince William and Kate's first public kiss on the balcony got to me this morning. I'm a sucker for happy endings.
I appreciate the world making a big spectacle of something happy for once. And it makes me feel good to witness two people so in love making a commitment to one another. But more than that, it makes my heart flutter as I remember how I felt on my own wedding day. My favorite moment was just a few minutes before this photo was taken - Andi and I met at the top of the Guthrie Theatre hilltop for the first time. He turned around, we locked eyes and I knew everything in the world was right.
My own royal kiss
I may not be a princess, but I sure felt like one that day.
One year + one day ago today, all I could think about was getting married. Like a love craze had come over me, everything I thought about, talked about, dreamed about was getting married.
And then on January 23, 2009, one year ago today, it happened. Andi asked me to be his wife. We decided to take a little weekend getaway to Duluth, Minnesota - something we usually do about once every six months. Andi booked all the plans and hotel reservations (which is pretty customary in our relationship) so I didn't think much of our spur-of-the-moment weekend trip. I was however, hoping and praying that this maybe the moment. You know, the ONE. Although, when all you think about, talk about and dream about is getting engaged, a lot of moments feel like they 'could be the moment.'
We drove into Duluth late Friday night. Andi stopped at a rest stop just on the edge of town (a rest stop that happens to overlook the entire city of Duluth). "Could this be the moment?" I asked myself. "Oh, God, please don't let this be the moment, we're at a rest stop." It wasn't. And who knows if it'll even happen this weekend, right?
We pulled up to the Beacon Point Resort on the banks of Lake Superior. Andi asked me if I wanted to run in with him to check in. I said no. He came out a few moments later with our room key and we started to unload the car. Meanwhile, my mom was calling me about some photos she wanted help uploading to Walmart.com. "Err, just give me a minute to do this for her," I said to Andi. As I opened my laptop in the hotel room, Andi mentioned something about us being in the wrong room and going downstairs to ask for a different one. "Yep, ok, whatever," I said.
He texted me a few minutes later saying we were in fact in the wrong room. "Come to room 204" he said. I loaded up our bags and went down the hall to room 204. The door was propped so I went inside and sat there for a minute. It was quiet, no one was in there and all the lights were off. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on. Then Andi came into the room and said "oops, I meant 203." I followed him inside room 203, a suite overlooking the lake, and found candles, chocolates, cheese, wine and crackers. Andi said he wanted to do something nice to celebrate my upcoming birthday a little early. We talked for a while, drank some wine and looked outside at the water. Then Andi said, "do you want to go to dinner or open your birthday present now?" Naturally, I said PRESENT! We grabbed our drinks and Andi led me into the bedroom where a tv was cued up. We sat down on the bed and he played this:
Did you notice something special at the end? A shiny new sparkly diamond on my left hand in that picture? At this point, my body was shaking and my mind racing. Was this really happening? Yep, I think so. OMG. Andi said something about our life together and sharing more memories together for the rest of our lives. Truthfully, neither one of us can really remember what he said. The only part I remember is "will you spend the rest of your life with me?" And I said yes.
Marrying Andi is the single best thing that's happened in my life. I'm so thankful for all the special things he does for me each and every day. Thankful for all the unconditional love he shows me. Thankful God has partnered me with my absolute soulmate. I'm the luckiest girl in the world.
A few photos from our engagement weekend:
Calling my parents a few moments after we got engaged
The view of Lake Superior outside our window
That's steam coming off the lake - yep, it was that cold
Lake Superior
The day after we got engaged
Beacon Point Resort
My engagement ring / wedding band - which I love love love
ps...a few funny notes about our engagement.
1) My mom had no idea Andi was proposing. A few weeks earlier at Christmas time, Andi asked my dad for my hand in marriage. But my dad never told my mom. She just randomly called ten minutes before we got engaged to ask for help uploading those photos. Which in the end, was the perfect ruse to keep me preoccupied.
2) Andi had arranged with the hotel to put us in the wrong hotel room when we checked in. In his plan, he would tell me he was going down to the front desk to ask for different room, but actually he would go to our real room to set up the candles, cheese and wine. Texting the wrong room number to me afterwards, however, was not part of the plan. When Andi text room 204, he actually meant 203. I'm not sure who's room I was sitting in that night or who the door was actually propped open for, but good thing no one was there or that could have been very awkward!
3) In hindsight, Andi's probably very, very sorry he ever decided to propose with that video montage. It took him two month to make it (before he had his handy-dandy Mac where making videos is child's play) and now I insistently make him watch it ALL. THE. TIME. It's no secret I love video montages, especially if they're about me.
4) The weekend bartending job Andi picked up a few months before he proposed was actually part of his plan to pay off the engagement ring. Sure, now that makes sense, but at the time I was more than annoyed as Andi was, oh how did I put it? 're-living his college glory days.' Foot officially inserted in mouth.
5) And finally, after all those months of painstakingly waiting be be proposed to, it goes down in my book as the best marriage proposal of all time. I learned later that the wedding ring was tucked away deep in our basement for months ... way before I started badgering Andi about getting married. Guess good things come to those who patiently wait, and those who nag about it too.
Our wedding reception photos are finally here! I posted a few photos here and a few on Facebook so not to drive my frequent followers to tears of boredom with the never-ending slideshow that is Andi and Heather's life...
On that very, very cold day of October 10, we went to downtown Saint Paul's Rice Park to snap a few photos before the party. Andi and I are obsessed with photography and I would venture to guess we have waaayyy more photos of ourselves than most normal couples do. We take advantage whenever we can; these are a prime example. I think these photos turned out cute, but wish it wouldn't have been so frickin' cold that day! As smiley as we might look, we were absolutely miserable from the blistering wind.
Love this photo b/c it reminds me of my childhood ... and a tree in my grandpa's backyard
These photos were taken in a wine shop in Saint Paul. We stopped in and asked if we could snap a few photos.
We held our reception at 526 Gallery in Saint Paul. Since we had a small wedding ceremony in July with only our parents and siblings, this was a chance for us to share our wedding day with our friends and extended family. We displayed photos of our wedding day and served cocktails and desserts. Andi and I were so very thankful for all our friends and family who came to celebrate our marriage!
I love how candid our photos are of that night. When I look back at these images, I'm taken back to that night and how much excitement and energy filled the room. The perfect wedding photos in my opinion!
My dad & I
Andi's aunt and uncle Mike and Marilee, and Andi's dad Jim
The Flandrick's - Laura, Taylor, Mia, Kylie, Ellie and Shaun
Ellie, Andi's aunt Judy and his dad Jim
Claire and Mike
My mom & dad (next to their favorite piece of artwork!)
My cousin Jen & I
Andi and I were soooo honored Jen and Zach came up to Mpls to celebrate with us
Mason
A few people have asked me how I feel now all the excitement of the wedding's over. I can honestly say I'm happy. We had an amazing wedding and reception - exactly what we'd dreamed of - and now we're onto bigger, better things in life ... celebrating our marriage everyday and always.
