What a whirlwind few weeks it has been. Really, the last few months have been a crazy ride. And honestly, the last several years too. Anyway, we made it safely to our new home in the Texas Hillcountry. We have been here for ten days, so we are pretty much unpacked and mostly caught up on sleep. It was a rough couple of days after we left Ohio. It was a lot of miles with a huge dog in a hot truck. We drove straight through from Columbus, Ohio just three days after our wonderful, family wedding in the rain. Joseph is back to work now and this home is starting to feel like a sweet home. This life here is starting to feel like the real life we waited years to make.
The week before the wedding I had been in Alabama hanging out with my sister and her family, meeting new baby Max Daniel. Who ever in a right mind schedules herself to be out the town for a week the week before her wedding? It was a nice distraction, just cake baking, sprinkler playing and so much baby snuggling that I didn't think too much getting married and moving the following week. On Wednesday, April 11, I flew from Montgomery, back to Columbus. A few hours after I arrived, Joseph arrived in from Austin. And then, it was all systems GO! The next days his family started to arrive from east and west. Thursday evening, the boys (3 Higleys, 1 Marsh) went out for a Bachelor Steak Dinner and the ladies had a quiet evening out. Friday, the rest of our siblings arrived in town, we had a Going Away/Pre-Wedding Party at my Mom's house. It was lovely, lots of good food and yummy drinks, great conversations, introductions all around, laughter, congratulations and goodbyes. It was much better than a rehearsal dinner and the perfect way to start our Wedding Weekend!
Then we woke up Saturday and it was WEDDING DAY! Joseph and I spent a few quiet hours together at home and then went our separate ways to get ready. Oh. My. Goodness. The excitement! The weather forecast had changed daily for the 2 weeks leading up to this day. I had pretty much accepted that I could do nothing about it, therefore wouldn't waste energy worrying or stressing about what happened in the sky on April 14. That turned out to be a blessing, because there was nothing we could have done to prevent the 12 solid hours of POURING RAIN. As much as Joseph and I (and Robin, bless her heart) wanted it to be a warm, sunny spring day to fully enjoy the beautiful yard in all of it's Marsh Landscape glory, the soaking wet, grey, chilly day was not a disappointment at all. It was somehow more romantic. We huddled close under a tent on the deck, with 16 of our very dearest looking on, a mom and a dad looking down through the clouds and my brother leading the way, and we exchanged simple, heartfelt vows. I am completely biased, but it was truly the sweetest, most intimate wedding ceremony I could imagine. We laughed, we cried, we promised. Then we toasted!
After the ceremony we went to a nearby restaurant for a delicious family style Italian feast in their wine room. We ate, drank, laughed, took pictures and enjoyed being all together. My dear Erin made our cake for us, and although the top layer didn't make it home for us to save, it was the best, most beautiful wedding cake ever... Made by my best friend, who happens to be the best cake baker I know. After the reception we went back to Robin's house to keep the celebration going. As the night wound down, Joseph and I looked around in awe at our families together and the rings on our fingers. We were finally married!
Enjoy a few photos from our wedding day.
