My Wedding Dress

Oct. 4th, 2008

I've seen some people sharing their wedding gown lately and it seems like a good idea! I had my heart set on a different dress actually. I saw it in a magazine just after we got engaged and when I tried it on I loved it, but I still had A LOT of time before our actual wedding. So we went back a couple months later to get officially sized and my mom mentioned that maybe I should try another dress on just to be sure.
Well I did and that was it. I KNEW this new gown was the dress for me. I loved the train and the pearl beading. The aisle that I walked down was very long and so I only saw a long train to be fitting. I closed my eyes and envisioned myself in it walking up the chapel. I chose it to be white, instead of ivory to match the choker whites my husband would be wearing on that special day. I also wanted my dress to be truly unique. So we had the seamstress put on a small blue border across the top to coordinate with the "blue jay" blue that my bridesmaids wore.

Here is a picture from the back, just before my dad walked me up the aisle showing the train.


Here's a shot of the aisle. It makes that long, heavy train on my dress appear quite small haha. The chapel holds thousands of people, so my mere 130 wedding guests barely filled it :)

This shows the blue trim across the top

I wish I could wear that dress again. I love it!

From mountains to beaches

Well the time has come. The movers are coming in just days to pack our stuff in preps for our PCS move. This experience I have had in the Pacific Northwest has been so much better than I could have ever imagined. See when I moved here, I came from Maryland. Washington State was a far off place that no one in Maryland really knew much about other than "Oh Seattle, I hear it rains there a lot, good luck!"
Well yeah, it does rain a lot, but really not as much as I'd expected. I also didn't realize how much I would love the mountains here. This place is beautiful. Much prettier than Maryland (on a nice day of course haha). I guess over the past couple of months as my time here has drawn closer to an end, I have learned to appreciate it more. But now I do know what I have here and I know what I am going to miss.
What I am going to miss most is of course the people. Another thing I didn't expect was to make such good friends in only a year. I met people who will go out of their way, and help you no matter what. That's a true friend. I get teary eyed just sitting here thinking about soon it will be when I say goodbye. The end is so near and I am so not ready. I really do love my apartment here and we are settled and I have learned the area. I have so many great memories here.
The funny thing is who would have thought? I cried, actually sobbed, for weeks before I was due to move out to Washington. There was not one part of me that really wanted to be here. I didn't know a single person except my husband and yes he was the one thing that got me here- he should feel special haha! I imagined it would be awful, dreary, cold and rainy. The day I left and said goodbye at the airport to my family before I moved out here I was a wreck. My mom was crying. My dad reassured me it would be okay and though tearful my mom told me it was time. I just didn't see it being time.
But it was time. I loved the independence that being all the way out here allowed me. I was truly on my own, not able to call my mom when I got pretty sick to have her take care of me for example. I guess though I can't say truly on my own. I met some special friends out here, Bry and Lindsay. I saw Bry EVERYDAY that our hubbies were deployed. My husband will not be on the next deployment as we are leaving, but her's will. She often asks what she will do without me? Bry I don't know what I am going to do without you when I leave. I know Ethan won't be deployed, but Bry and I had some great times together. The girl is just like me in so many ways- people often ask if we are sisters. Nope just really great friends.
So here we go in just days to Norfolk, VA. Its only a few hours from where my family lives in MD. And I am super excited about that. I missed every holiday with them while living out here, and that won't be the case living in VA. I'll be less than 30 mins from the beach. I love the beach :) Oh and we had an offer accepted on a house, so barring any obstacles, we will be homeowners!! Everything is looking up for us, but I just can't help but cry when I think about leaving. I am ready, but then again, I'm not. That's the odd part- I cried when I moved to WA and now I am crying cause I have to leave. I know I will meet people in VA. In fact I have a friend marrying a former submariner who lives there. So I know things will be okay, I just have to get there and actually have things be okay.
We'll be driving back east here soon and I'll update as we stop places. We'll be seeing cool things like San Fransisco, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Nashville oh and an awesome friend in CA and also one in OK plus hubby's family hopefully.

Any words of advice from those who have been through a similar and somewhat emotional move would be greatly appreciated. Here we go......
Here's a picture of me and my pup in front of the Olympic Mountains at Hurricane Ridge in WA. I really love it there :)