Our Fabulous Wedding

I love weddings! My little sister Bethany is getting married this year, and has started planning her day. She doesn't want to have the reception at an ordinary function centre, or in a chapel rec hall. I was looking online at wedding venues and ideas, and I started of course to think back on our wedding. It was a pretty fabulous event.

I woke up on a beautiful Friday morning (23rd November, 2007). I went out to the kitchen where members of my family were running around cooking, sewing and getting things ready, and was shooed into the shower. I spoke on the phone to my Grandma Taylor, ate 2 profiteroles for breakfast, then straightened my hair:




The photographers (deep grey)arrived and started taking photos of us getting ready. I got dressed and Mum drove me up to the temple.

We then got married in a Temple Sealing at the Brisbane Australia Temple. This was the most important and precious part of the day, and was witnessed by a few members of our close family and friends. By getting married in the temple we are sealed for Time and all Eternity, not just 'till death we part'. Because we believe that families who are sealed can be together forever, it is hugely important for us to participate in this kind of marriage.

We got some photos at the temple:




We got some photos across the road from the temple, at the city lookout:


We drove in James' uncle's car to the Botanical gardens and had a picnic lunch:

Then we walked around the gardens for a while for photos:










In Brisbane city there's a giant outdoor stage right on the river, in the botanical gardens. Lots of outdoor concerts are played there, and I've actually performed there in an orchestra. It's called 'Riverstage', and Mum (who should be a wedding planner) had the brilliant idea of hiring it for our wedding reception!

Mum organised chairs and tables, plants, screens, beautiful flower table centrepieces, and did all the food. This was in addition to the wedding dress, bridesmaids' dresses, and a million other tasks! She did everything on the tables - the candles, special pens, place setting cards, programs, everything! It all looked beautiful:





The reception started at 5pm, on the roof of Riverstage, with hors de oeuvres and a string quartet:

You could see the temple across the river from the roof:

We then went down to the stage and after Uncle David explained the temple sealing, we exchanged rings. We did this because James' family aren't members of our church so couldn't attend our sealing in the temple.


After that we had dinner and some speeches. There were no photos taken of the gorgeous table where the amazing buffet was set out, but it was beautiful and incredible! In the photo of Jonny speaking you can sort of see one of the flower arrangments...


Then started the surprises for the evening.

Mum thought it would be special to have some things about the wedding that we didn't know were going to happen. The first one James knew about, as it was him, singing me a song! He has a fantastic voice, but I had no idea he planned to sing at our wedding! He sang 'Always and Forever', by Luther Vandross, and his mum and Tammy sang back up. He made me sit on a chair in the middle which was a bit awkward, but it was 'so romantic!' :) You can tell from my face that of course, I loved it!



Then we cut the cake (I knew this was going to happen):

Next was our 'first dance'. We had planned a fun first dance to a Lional Richie song (we love Lionel :), and had it choreographed. What we didn't know, was that Mum had organised to have boxes of rose petals showered over us as we began!! It was such a beautiful surprise!! (You can see the food tables a bit more in these shots...)



Then we danced with my parents, then James' parents...


Followed by everyone dancing...

...until we were all upstaged by the surprise entrance of Elvis!!! James' Koro (grandfather) loves Elvis, and does all of his songs, in his special Elvis suit Nana sewed for him!! Mum organised for him to pull out an 'impromptu' performance in the evening. He was a HUGE hit:



At the end of the night, as we left, the last surprise was that everyone attending the wedding lined up on both sides of the driveway with sparklers, so that we went through a pathway of them. It was beautiful and fun!!

Sadly the photographers had left by then, and I don't have any photos of it, but it was a beautiful finish to a beautiful night.

In summary, Mum did a beautiful job, and thought of everything. Many friends and family helped her to make it special.

Our temple sealing is everything, but we had a wonderful time in the beautiful, elegant and fun reception Mum and others did for us. Thankyou Mama!!! :)

...and now I'm really excited and can't wait to help with whatever we do for Bethany!! :)

Fantastic Relief Society Fireside!

On Sunday night I went to our Stake's Relief Society Anniversary Fireside, which was probably one of the best firesides I've ever been to. I got a lot out of it. It was about finding 'Joy in the Journey'.

First a member of our Stake Relief Society Presidency spoke about how sometimes our life's journey takes unexpected turns. She has a son who has special needs, and she quoted another sister who has children with special needs who described what it was like. She said that it was like you've planned a trip to Italy your entire life, and you're very excited. You plan tours, you learn some Italian, you go to the Travel Agent and discuss plans, you save, you book your flights, and finally you're on the plane. When you land, the air hostess says "Welcome to Holland!" - there was a change in the flight plan and they didn't let you know.

So you have to holiday in Holland, and although it's not what you expected, it's beautiful. It's not as exciting, but there are beautiful tulips, and there are windmills, and the people are lovely. So although your trip is totally different to what you expected, Holland isn't a bad place, but it can take some getting used to. You have to learn a different language, read different travel books, book different tours.

There were 7 sisters who are in different life situations who spoke: A YSA, a young mother, a single mother, a single adult, a mother of teens, a carer, and a widow. Each sister spoke about the challenges she faces, but talked about the blessings that have come to her, specific to the situation she was in.

I loved the young mother's talk, because she spoke about how crazy it is every day with her 3 girls under the age of 2 (twins!), but she spoke about how each day is full of moments of pure joy amidst the chaos :)

I liked in the single mother's talk (B!) how she said how much closer she is to each member of the Godhead, because she feels as if they are there helping her teach and raise her sons, every day, because she can't do it alone.

I liked all of the talks. Some of the sisters spoke about how they never imagined themselves in the situation they're in, but they were all uplifting and positive and understanding :) It was a wonderful fireside and I was grateful to be there.

Remember When?

Remember when I posted that nursery 'before' picture? Well, it's finally done, and here's the 'after'!

I hope it looks like a panoramic view sweeping the room, left to right!







These are the pictures I stressed over painting lol. I think the ribbons are cute - thanks for the idea, Mama!

Maggie

I did it!!! I had a baby!!! As I've mentioned labour's terrified me my whole entire life, so I feel like I've conquered Everest!! :) Maggie is sooooo beautiful, I can't believe she's ours and we get to keep her and raise her! I had a long labour, but one of the first feelings I remember having after she was finally born was that I would do it all again - they're right about that euphoric feeling you get :)

It is pretty exhausting keeping up with our tiny newborn, we have had a wonderful week! My milk came in (much to my surprise - I was scared I wouldn't be able to feed), and she was back at birthweight within 4 days and is growing every day, very healthy and strong!!! It hurt a lot to feed her especially at first, but it's getting easier!

Last night I was feeding and I looked down at my ankles and realised they are ankles again, not kankles!!! They are fabulous - they are so skinny (compared to the times by ten size they were before) I feel like I need to be careful or I'll snap them lol. I am surprised how quick my recovery's been - I guess it's the first baby thing.

James has been wonderful getting up and helping with putting Maggie back to sleep after feeds, and she adores him.

I've started a private blog so I can put pictures and details up about Maggie and not worry, so if you're interested and not a random, let me know your email address and I can invite you to read about her.

It's the most wonderful feeling in the world, we feel so blessed!!! :)

The Glad Game - Maggie

I'm now 38 weeks pregnant, which is a little bit exciting! I have enjoyed being at home now that Christmas is over and James is back at work, cooking dinners and cleaning and washing and ironing (baby clothes, yay!) and just doing normal day-to-day things! I also sleep, a lot.

The Glad Game:

I am glad to be having our baby now, instead of when we first got married over 2 years ago when we wanted so much to have a baby, for the following 'Glad' reasons.

James and me reasons:

1. A phone conversation James and I had when we'd been married a couple of months:

Abby calling James...
Abby: James, I'm about 5 minutes down the road from your work, and I have a flat tire!
James: Oh ok - there's a spare in the boot.
Abby: Excuse me?
James: What's wrong?
Abby: Um, I have a flat tire... I'm near your work....
(pause - confusion on both ends)
Abby: ...and it's hot.
James: Yeah... hey look I'm really busy, but there's a spare in the boot, okay? I'll see you here soon!
Abby: Um.. sure.

2 minutes later, James calling Abby...
James: Hey, are you okay? You sounded kind of upset before.
Abby: Not really - I'm on the side of the road, 5 minutes away from your work, and I have a flat tire.... and I'm hot.
James: Yeah but I'm at work - and there's a spare in the boot!
Abby: I can't possibly change a tire!
James: But I showed you how!
Abby: But you have to be strong! And I wasn't watching! Why would I need to know how to change a tire??
James: Um...
Abby: I'm just down the road - can't you borrow a car and come and rescue me?
James: But I'm at work!
Abby: But I'm on my way to pick you up! You finish in 2 minutes!!!
James: Um.. I'll see what I can do. You really can't just change it yourself?!
Abby: (Silence)
James: Okay. I'll try and come.

After a few minutes James came and changed the tire. Both of us were a little shocked with each other lol. Now we know waaaaaaay better :) And now we have RACQ.

2. When we first got married, James couldn't believe how emotional and 'girly' I was. It drove him crazy if I ever cried, (maybe once in a blue moon) and couldn't understand it at all. In the last nine months I have cried every other day or so - not for any hideous reason, just the hormones going crazy. It took a couple of months but now James knows better than to ask me 'why' I'm crying, and especially to try to push the point! - He generally checks if there's a reason or if I just want a hug, and gives me a hug lol. He doesn't try to understand it anymore, and he's better at picking the times when he can laugh at it, and when laughing at it will result in bigger floods of tears. If I had actually been emotional at the beginning of our marriage, we would have gone crazy, and he may have left me (I'm sure he wouldn't have, but he may have been tempted..).

3. Basically James grew up around guys and is not used to anything or anyone being a 'girl'. He couldn't believe how much of a 'princess' I was (I kept telling him he was lucky he didn't marry someone who actually was really girly!) and I couldn't believe how 'mean' he was sometimes. We had a lot of learning to do lol. Now we're having a baby girl - hahaha :)

It feels it's just gotten better and better between us though, and now it feels perfect, but I'm sure it'll just get better. James is so understanding and kind and nice to me, and he's all squishy when it comes to Maggie lol - I predict some serious finger wrapping.


Financial reasons:
I was going to drop out of my final year of uni and have our baby. But I finished, then worked for a year, and now I unexpectedly qualify for maternity leave. As my Dad said upon hearing that news: "You can't say you don't get blessings for paying your tithing". James is not a citizen, and studying full time he's not making a heap of money, so this is huge for us. We didn't really know what we'd do financially, but Heavenly Father sorted it out.


Spiritual:
Maybe I needed to learn patience. Or have it be reinforced that the Lord works in His own ways in His time, and that he knows what's best. Maybe we also needed to pray really hard for something for a really long time and to finally have that prayer answered, and know that it's an answer to prayer.


Education:
I got my degree!! And maybe at times while I'm 'Mum' over the next few years I can study by correspondence and get some post-grad qualifications. Now that I'm qualified, and especially since I've worked a whole year, I can always go back if I need to.


There are other reasons to be glad that I won't go into now, but I'm sure there are kazillions.

Oh one more shot at being glad.

I am glad to be an obese whale who can't touch her toes or barely roll over, because it is a good contraception for obesity. I will never get unecessarily fat, and will even try not to get as fat next pregnancy.

Oh, I'm also glad because it means we get to have a baby.

xo