It's About Freakin' Time! {We Tied the Knot}

On Friday, May 30th, 2014, I finally married my handsome love. While he was a cadet at the Air Force Academy, he wasn't allowed to have any dependents... and since he graduated on May 28th, we didn't waste much time!

I'll post all about his graduation parade, commissioning, and actual graduation later, but I wanted to show off some of the pictures people took from their phones during our ceremony and reception on Friday.

We won't get our official photos back until the end of the summer, but that's okay because we're leaving for a six week honeymoon VERY soon anyway! :)

The weather was NOT as nice as it had been all week, and that was kind of a bummer... but Mother Nature did her best to take care of us, and it didn't start raining until the ceremony was complete! We were able to dodge the weather for pictures as well, and everything fell into place.

Our guest book! We will add a photo from our wedding when we get them back and hang it in our house each time we move. It'll be a nice piece of stability wherever we go. It's BIG! 

My little brother walking me down the aisle... he looks so proud!

Our ceremony was a blast! We had so much to laugh about, and I was SO giggly! 

Seriously. Our officiant (and friend) made us laugh several times.

I had an AMAZING time during our ceremony!

We sealed up a bottle of wine that we made together along with love letters that we wrote to each other from separate places the night before our wedding. The plan is to open it on our five year anniversary, but if we have a big fight before then and need to remember why we got married, the box will always be there! 

I felt 100% triumphant as I slid that ring onto his finger!

You may now kiss your bride! (and he did... a few times!)

Feeling on top of the world as we walk away!

Happiest we've ever been!

I love this one because it's so candid. His tongue is out, and I'm smiling ear to ear!

Of course we had a saber arch! I can't wait to see the real photos from this moment! We had six AMAZING friends do this for us, and we couldn't be more thankful that they all agreed to. 

One of my coworkers and friends made all of these cupcakes for our guests... and a cake to cut on top for us! (And you can KIND OF see the groom's cake to the left... it had a Thunderbird (Air Force jet) on it, and Dan was so surprised.

Cutting the cake with the saber - such a fun moment! 

Three amazing friends and fellow wives of USAFA grads came to watch us get married... so here we are in year order showing off our rings! Danielle is married to a 2010 grad, Ellie to a 2011 grad, Lizzie to a 2013 grad, and me to a 2014 grad!

We made 120 bottles of wine ourselves to serve at our reception. They were a BIG hit! A friend of a friend designed the labels for us, and they are ADORABLE! I can't wait to share a better picture when we get them. 

This is the "Fab Five" from high school... the five of us ALWAYS hung out together and had a lot of fun eating Chinese food and making prank phone calls... and they came out from Washington, Kansas, Florida, and Missouri for my big day! Love them!

I sat on the Best Man's knee while my groom fished out my garter with his teeth... awkward but so much fun!

Dan called up the entire Air Force Academy Flying Team (the team he was a part of until he graduated), and they serenaded me Top Gun style with "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling"... and it was SO MUCH FUN! A friend posted video of it already, and it's great. I'm so glad those guys (and gals) were able to make it! 

I feel AMAZING right now. Our wedding day was definitely the best day of my life, and I can't get over being called "wife", "bride", and "Mrs." - so fun!

Graduation Gifts for Friends

This week is graduation week at The US Air Force Academy! It's a week I've been waiting for for FIVE years!

Tomorrow is commissioning, where the cadets have their cadet rank taken of of their shoulders and pin on 2nd Lieutenant. Wednesday is the actual graduation day, complete with 5+ hours inside Falcon Stadium and a performance by the Thunderbirds!

It'll be an exciting week for sure, and there won't be much downtime. Because of that, we got together with Dan's (and mine now) closest cadet friends to all celebrate and spend time together one last time before they all head off to different bases this summer.

Since I have gotten to know them so well over the years, I wanted to give them something personal as a "YAY, CONGRATS; YOU MADE IT THROUGH USAFA" gift. After much deliberation, I decided on making them a collage with photos of all of them together. I made four identical collages, one for Dan, one for Aaron, one for Lindsey, and one for Kaylon! I am so proud of all of their hard work, and they will be amazing officers in the Air Force for years to come.

These four have been together since they were in the same squadron at the USAFA Prep School from 2009 to 2010. They have an amazing friendship, and I'm super sad that we won't be near ANY of them after this week. I will miss them for sure, but we'll definitely visit!

• Have you ever been blessed with AMAZING friends at a base?
• Any tips for staying in touch regularly?

Another School Year Bites the Dust

Yesterday was my last day teaching at the school my heart will forever be with.

I spent my last two years teaching retained 8th graders. They came to us SUPER low. Our job is to get them up to grade level so they are ready for high school.

That wasn't the toughest part of the job, though. Loving on these kids and trying to get them where they need to be socially was.

Most of them threw out language like a sailor and didn't know how to be socially appropriate for their age.

Those kids are who my heart is with. Those are the kids I long to work with. Those are the kids who need help the most, and those are the ones who NEED it and DESERVE it the most.

I will be hard-pressed to find another school that fits me better, but maybe one day I will.

Because I am leaving to move to Ohio with my soon-to-be hubby, I wanted to make something special for my co-workers. They are amazing, and I will miss them a lot!

I had our awesome students come up with as many adjectives as they could think of to describe each staff member a few weeks ago. They knew it was a big secret for a gift for the staff members, so they kept their mouths shut for TWO FULL WEEKS. I was so impressed, and the adjectives they came up with were pretty stellar as well.

I blurred out the school name, but you get the idea.

That one is mine. My name changed ONE WEEK from today! Ahh!

• What was your favorite job ever?
• Do you hate leaving a job when you move too?

Honeymooning Isn't Good for Blogging

As my last post stated, I am getting married NEXT FRIDAY! We will be leaving shortly after for a long drive to drop our cats off with a family member. Then, we're heading to a friend's wedding in another state, and finally, we leave for our HONEYMOON!

After graduation from the Academy, fresh 2nd Lieutenants get 60 days free from all military duty, and we are definitely living it up during that time!

We'll be exploring many different European countries this summer (and even a special surprise - for one week, I have NO IDEA what we're doing or where we'll be, and I can't wait to see what my handsome man picked out for us!)

Due to being out of the country, I will not be blogging... but please don't leave me! I'll be back at the end of July and will be posting regularly again. Hang in there with me... and I MAY schedule some posts for this summer so I'm not just falling off the face of the earth.

• Have you ever been to Europe?
• What's your favorite place to visit?
• Where did you go on your honeymoon?

A Wife Next Week

Is this real life? My wedding is NEXT WEEK. Oh my gosh. I am thrilled, elated, and SOOOOO happy!

We have waited for five long years while Cadet Lovemuffin has been at the Air Force Academy.

You see, they are not allowed to have dependents (be married) while at the Academy... OR live off base!

We are SUPER excited to finally be "normal" soon. Living together will be amazing. Being able to call him my husband will be wonderful. Spending lots of quality time with him this summer will be fabulous.

I simply cannot wait to be his wife! Next Friday will be here before we know it!

Any last minute suggestions for not being overly anxious the night before? I want to be able to get a good night of sleep!