Memories....Part 1.

5 years. 5 years ago  we were in Rocky Point, Mexico with 70 of our closest friends and family for our wedding! I can hardly believe it has been that long! I decided to post a bunch of pictures from that crazy day because who knows how long I will blog?? So sit back, relax, have a margarita or Tecate and take a walk down memory lane with me, won't you?

 Eric and I met in 2004- Meet Your Teacher night to be exact. It was my first year teaching and I was so nervous! That fated evening, Eric walked in with Daylen (and his ex) and I assumed they were married. He talked to me for awhile and I was polite, just making conversation. Eric told me that when he left he called his friend Ronny and told him that I had a nice butt (to this day he remembers what skirt I was wearing). I like that little detail. Fast forward to Saturday, after the first week of school. Let me make something very clear. First year teacher + first week of school + first graders= one teacher who is READY to let off some steam! We headed to our favorite bar, The Cactus Moon, and my awesome friends, also teachers, bought me a shot. As I put it to my lips, Eric walked up and said, "Hi Miss Kelley". I was MORTIFIED. Here I am in a less than modest shirt, with tight jeans, heels on about to take a shot like a champion and one of my NEW parents is about to witness this sinful act! Yikes! I come to find out that he was NOT married and thought he was pretty Darn hot! BUT, as his son's teacher, I knew better. Plus, I never wanted to date anyone with kids again- been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Every Saturday the girls and I would go the Moon and I would secretly be anticipating 'Mr. Mikkelson's' arrival (I didn't actually know his name, I had to look on Daylen's emergency forms to find out). We would dance once or twice through out the night, harmless- he is an awesome dancer.Then one night in December, we decided that we didn't want to wait until Daylen was out of my class to date, so we began our "secret relationship".

This was our first picture (Thanks Mary). We are at the Moon of course!

Our first party- even though we were in 'secret mode'. (It's a picture of a picture, sorry)

James, Sarah, Ami, me and Eric at our Red and Black New Year's Eve party!

Mary, my roommate and fellow teacher, of course knew and so did all my close friends,as well as my parents. Daylen never knew. He would sometimes ask if I saw his dad at the Cactus Moon and once he even told me that I should marry his dad. Fireworks were going off inside my belly!! It was hard, but we did it. After Daylen finished the first grade, Eric asked Daylen and Kaylie if they would mind if he asked out Miss Kelley and they didn't hesitate with a positive answer. Thus began the relationship- for real. I ended up moving in to his house because I needed to know if I could handle being a step-mom before we got married. Eric talked to the kids about getting married and even talked to my parents, to which my father said, "No returns". Then one day while I was reading to my class (I was teaching kindergarten then) the song "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain came on the loud speaker, followed by "I Wanna Grow Old With You"- you know the one. The one Adam Sandler sang to Drew Barrymore on the airplane in "The Wedding Singer". And then, Eric came into the room (he had been hiding in the bathroom) and got down on one knee and proposed to me in front of all my kinders and friends.

Eric waiting in the bathroom

I was shocked!

And completely irritated that I had my glasses on!

Kaylie was there for the whole thing, Daylen, sadly, was home sick

The kids were able to spend the rest of the afternoon at recess:)

 Of course the kinders were excited! One of them asked if I was having a baby and that's why were getting married. Hilarious! From that moment on the wedding planning started!

Growing up, I always wanted a HUGE wedding, with the big, flowing dress and tons of people. One thing that I was certain about was having my wedding INSIDE.  I never understood why people would want to take the chance and have it rain. So imagine how surprised pretty much everyone was when we decided to have it in Rocky Point, on a beach. Eric and I went to Rocky Point a lot when we were dating. It was always such a good time and we wanted it to be a party. So six months after we got engaged, we were of to Mexico! A huge caravan made their way to the border and on into Puerto Penasco. When we arrived at the hotel, we all checked in and then headed across the street to a small restarautn and had a blast! We must have have like 30 people there, just hanging out.

The morning we left!

That eveing, instead of tratitional rehearsal dinner, Eric and I decided to charter the Rey del Mar, which is the Pirate Booze Cruise there. Just the people that were there for us went! I was so excited!! I couldn't wait.

Boarding the ship... too bad it couldn't have just stayed docked!

Some of the girls

Me, my bro, my sis

Me and my Mimi

Holly, baby Josh, and Eric rockin the beads

Out on the open sea, starting to feel a little queasy

Kaylie was a champ! She played this game where she had to run in circles and back and forth- maybe it was musical chairs or something, all I know is it made me want to puke just watching her.

Tom, Stacy and Dad- watching the horizon.

Eric, Ian, Emilio, and Uncle Trev sitiing with chairs. Magic I tell you!

 Turns out, my family and I get a tad sea sick. And by a tad, I mean chumming for sharks off the back of the boat. Who knew?? The majority of the people had fun. The pirates had games for us to play and music, but I was just really ready to be on dry land. Good lesson. The rest of the evening was spent having some crazy adventures and fianlly resting, knowing that the next day... was THE day.

Stay tuned.............