Memories....Part 2

***OMG long..... don't say I didn't warn ya~

Where did I leave off? Oh yeah, the night before... well I slept in my sister's room since I was not allowed to sleep with Eric. In the morning, a bunch of us went to our favorite place for breakfast and had a relaxing morning. After eating WAY too much, we made our way back to the hotel, changed into our suits, and went down to pool to hang out until it was time for the ceremony. It was so fun! I think at one point there were about 45 people just sitting around, talking, drinking and having a great time. Laura even painted my toe nails while we were sitting there.Plus, we were able to watch them set up for the wedding! But, alas, the fun needed to come to an end. There was a wedding that needed to happen! The girls and I went up to the room and got ready. I remember some of the hotel employees brought me the bouquets and we were able to breathe a sigh of relief. We ordered all of these 'things' without really seeing them since we were in a different country. The flowers were beautiful. Everything was beautiful.

Our wedding

Our wedding beer steins. Mine says Chunky-monkey and his says PMFB (Paul Mother f******* Bunyon). The shot glass in the middle was our wedding favor. It says: I drove all the way to Rocky Point and all I got was this lousy shot glass. Nothing but class here folks...

The cake (which we could so make now)

This is where the reception took place

This is our wedding crew before the ceremony, hitting up the hotel bar:)

Mary, Eric and Lynn

My dad and bro listening to the info

I remember being irritated at this point- odd i know.

When the ceremony was about to begin, I remember just standing there with my dad, looking at all these people that came to Mexico to be with us on our special day and was overwhelmed. And then, my dad tried to take my arm, THE CORRECT WAY, and I was not having it- I couldn't hold my flowers the way I wanted if I did it the right way- so yes, as we are walking down the aisle, I was arguing with my dad. Being the great father that he is, he just went along with what I wanted. All the girls were barefoot, the guys had on sunglasses, shirts were untucked. I walked down the aisle to "I'll Be" and met Eric at the end with a huge smile.

Mimi and Nanny with Josh

Melinda with Josh- he just kept running back and forth. What a good brother!

Mom and Josh

Daylen and Kaylie. Poor Daylen- he was so tired and sun burned from being on the beach all day!

Ronny and Court

Kevin and Danielle

My handsome daddy and me

The ceremony was beautiful, but far from perfect. Which is what made it incredible. During the ceremony, people were setting off bottle rockets and it sounded as if bombs were going off around us. An ultra lite glider flew right over us making a lovely noise and a waiter decided that our guests needed beverages during the ceremony and was taking drink orders. Yes, my friends were shooing him away quickly, but not before ordering a margarita or a beer- and I think that is awesome! I am just sorry we missed out on that! We were pronounced husband and wife right as the sun was setting. It was magical.

My family with my new husband

The men

Laura, me and Courtney- been friends since high school and still are super close

Ami, Sarah, Me, Anabelle, Mary- my teacher friends. (btw girls, I think we need a picture like this now with all of our kids:)

The reception was just as wonderful. My dad decided to dedicate a song to Eric and what better song lyrics to mark the occasion than those of Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher". We immediately broke into some danced that people assumed was choreographed, but wasn't, it was just us. That's how we roll. The night was filled with dancing! My dad had been threatening me since the day we were engaged that he would dance to Shakira's "My Hips Don't Lie" at our reception and I have to admit, I did not think he would do it. Well pin a rose on my nose, because Daddy busted a move like he was in a club! Shocking! But that's why I love him so!

Our first dance- Kenney Chesney's "Anything but Mine"

The Father/Daughter dance- "I Loved Her First"

I can't listen to that song without crying.

Hot for Teacher.... there we go....

Still going

Oh yeah

Gotta love him

We rocked it!

Classy couple

Daddy breaking it down

His hips don't lie

Melinda and Daddy....

We ate cake, we had a lot to drink, and we partied- which is what we wanted. We didn't do conventional things such as the dollar dance, the bouquet toss or even have traditional champagne glasses, instead we had beer steins that are engraved with nicknames.... two beers didn't even fill those bad boys half way up! We didn't have table numbers, a garter toss, hell we didn't have a DJ that spoke English, but it was so Eric and Nicole. It was awesome!!!
I will forever be thankful to those who were there to celebrate with us. I will forever be thankful to my parents. And I will forever be thankful for Eric.

Eric- you are the chocolate to my milk, the butter to my toast. You have given me an amazing life and I will love you forever and longer. Thank you for being you and being the courageous man that are meant to be.

I am amazed how fast time goes and different things are. Here are some then and nows to look at:

Kaylie and Eric

Me and Eric

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.............