Three.

Today is our 3rd Anniversary.

After our wedding, I took the cards with the vows that we wrote to each other, a little worn, a tear drop smudge on mine, and framed them.  They hang on the wall of our room, in a shadow box with the dragonfly pin that was on my bouquet.

I remember toiling over the words that I would write to him, the perfect words that would capture the giddy excitement, the agape love that we shared, and the fear of how we would face the unknown.

I remember holding his hands at the alter, distracted by the lip gloss stain on his suit that I had left after kissing his shoulder when I finally reached him. We were both a little shaky and anxious to hear what the other had written.  He went first...

Katelin,
I love you. Your smile, your laugh, the love you have for life, and the light you shine on me every day; there are not enough words to say how thankful and how blessed I am. With this covenant, from this day, until the day I leave this world, I vow to love you with everything that I am, to be the man and the husband that I am mean to be. I will love, honor, encourage, and inspire you. I will listen, I will hear, I will shower you with affection. I will love you on the good days, and love you double on all the others. I promise to be your best friend, your one true companion. Here, I give myself to you, you and no other. Mind. Body. Soul. Forever, Katelin. I am yours. 

and then me...

David James,
I promise and covenant, before God and our family and friends, to walk alongside of you as we build this life together. To share in all that God has in store for us. To cherish you and set you apart, to be faithful and true to you, always. To love you in weakness as much as in strength. I promise to gently care for your heart and your mind and give you a firm place to stand. To face moments of despair as fearlessly as moments of success. And most of all, I promise to uplift and support you in becoming everything God created you to be. I will love you with all of my heart, body and soul, every day as long as we both shall live. 

I treasure these words and I'm so glad that we decided to write our own vows. I think one of the biggest challenges and blessings that marriage brings is the need for vulnerability, that invitation for someone to see those innermost parts of us and trusting one another to handle our fragile spirits delicately.  I love that we started our marriage with vulnerability and openness.

Thank you, David James, for your words. For sharing and living them out every day.  I love you, for all my days, no matter what.

Two Years Later...

I must apologize for the break in writing. The reason being, the brand new digs! I'm so excited to share the new look of Huckleberry & Lime!  Major thanks to my beautiful and incredibly talented friend, Amanda Tobin, for simplifying and refreshing this little space and making it feel more like home.  

Last week, Dave and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary with a trip to Boca Raton, Florida (feel free to scroll through the wedding post and the 1st Anniversary post).  My sweet Nana has a little condo there, that she let us take over for the week, so we only had to pay for airfare and food. Budget-friendly vacay? Check.  We had 2 sunny days and the surf was too rough to swim, so we spent a lot of time at the community pool and reading on the screened in porch, listening to the rain spray on the palm fronds. By the way, I'm slightly addicted to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. Historical fiction.  Riveting suspense.  Not to mention a kilt-wearing, sword-swinging, Gaelic-speaking Scottish hottie.  Yes, yes, most definitely yes. I digress...

 We celebrated our Anniversary with a shopping trip to Mizner Center, where I discovered Francesca's and immediately set up a tent inside in hopes they would let me live there...kidding. But I did end up spending much too much mula on earrings and dresses, one of which I wore to our fancy schmancy dinner at CHOPS Lobster Bar. Pricey, but it was one of the best meal's we've ever had, and the service was out of this world. It was pretty dark, and I wanted to be completely unplugged during our dinner so I didnt take any photos, but just imagine a two pound radiantly red crustacean, and then imagine me slipping into a melted buttery dream with every blissful bite. And let's not even discuss the banana creme pie... TO. DIE. FOR.  It was a perfect celebration of the past two years, complete with clinking wine glasses and reflection on what we've accomplished in our marriage thus far.

That said, there are miles to go before we sleep. (I mean, it's only been two years, we have at least another hundred to go, right? ) That's one of the things I love about marriage.  The idea that there is so much yet to learn about each other and to experience side by side.  I'm learning that we are not supposed to be in control of everything, and have our lives completely figured out. It's such a comfort to know that God has my life safely in the palm of His hands and my story has already been written. I think that also holds true for building and refining a marriage as time speeds by, goals are accomplished, hearts are broken, and simple joys are celebrated. We aren't supposed to know how it works right away.  This marriage thing is hard work. Almost like when you plant sunflower seeds in the ground and you guess how high they will grow.  We can't predict the potential that comes out of our own growth, but we can muster up enough strength and grace to go through the life sucking droughts and seemingly unceasing storms.  There will be sunny days, and water to drink.  There will. And someday we will be able to cut those sunflowers and put them in vase from Anthropologie and realize how those storms and droughts helped make these flowers so beautiful.

I can't imagine planting this garden with anyone else.

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 The next day, in between downpours, we were able to go over to the Gumbo Limbo Wildlife Center, where we were fortunate enough to watch a turtle scarf down a HUGE salad, that would probably cost $15 at any restaurant, not including a mid afternoon cocktail. We also made friends with the biggest parrot fish I've ever seen, who should probably star in a toothpaste commercial.

On Friday, the sun finally emerged and the rain stopped long enough for me to get to go to Butterfly World, a magical place where butterflies flutter around and land on your hair, or nose, or tooshie, and hang on tight while you walk through the actual Garden of Eden.  Seriously, if you ever have the chance, do your inner child or your actual child a favor and go. I'm certain that there were fairies napping peacefully in that dreamy sanctuary.

Our week in Boca was filled with rest, revival, laughter, lobster, hand holding, and butterflies. I'll take it. 

Here Comes the Sun: Our Wedding

So I'm thinking this should have been one of my first posts, due to the fact that it was one of the most significant days of my life, but alas, here we are half way into 2012.  This is going to be UBER photo heavy, so I thought that I would prepare a mood/playlist that you might want to build for yourself on Youtube or Spotify or something.  I'll give you a minute to compile:

• Here Comes the Sun by Yo Yo Ma and James Taylor  (Our first dance song) 
• I Will Not Take My Love Away by Matt Wertz ( Our good friend, Brian played this song during the ceremony)
• Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Stevie Wonder (The quartet played this as our processional. B.A.) 
• Say Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti and Spearhead (Our entrance song into the reception)
• I Was Made for Sunny Days by The Weepies
• You Are the Best Thing by Ray LaMontagne
• Dela by Johnny Clegg
• Crayola Doesn't Make a Color for Your Eyes by Kristin Andreassen
• You and Me by Dave Matthews Band 
• This Will Be (An Ever Lasting Love) by Natalie Cole

I had trouble sleeping the night before Sunday, May 29th, 2011.  I didn't have cold feet, but I was completely consumed with thoughts like, "This is it. After a year and half of planning and waiting, it's here. Today is my wedding day. The only wedding day I'll ever have.  Am I ready for this?" At 6 a.m., I decided I needed to get out of my little room and get some air, luckily I passed my mom on the way and she came down to our hot tub with me.  I soaked and breathed in my mom's comforting words and soothing voice.  I was going to be just fine.

The girls and I got our hair and makeup done, the flowers arrived, and it was finally time to put on my dress:

Gosh, I loved that dress. It was the first one I tried on. I loved the cotton fabric, the delicate appliques, the buttons,THE POCKETS! Oh, the pockets! It's really a tragedy that you're really only supposed to wear a dress that gorgeous for one day.   

One of the most unforgettable moments for me that day was when my dad saw me for the first time. It was absolutely perfect.

Before we left for the church, we hurried outside for some group photos.  Seriously...how stunning are these girls!?

 Meanwhile, the boys were already there, getting ready and looking quite dapper.

 

Quick pause for some details of the ceremony at Fairview Presbyterian Church.

It was go time. After some prayers and group song (seriously, how can you NOT sing "Going to the Chapel" with your bridesmaids at the top of your lungs minutes before you say "I do"?), we all lined up to walk down the aisle. 

The girls walked gracefully to "While Sheep May Safely Graze" and then it was my turn.  The doors opened, "Canon in D" started, my dad gave my hand a final squeeze and off we went...

We did it!

Except for the unity candle that wouldn't light, it was a perfect ceremony. I loved the imperfection. It was so personal and so us.  It was such a blessing to have our family and friends play a role in the ceremony.  My Nana read from Colossians, my Aunt Karen played "Come Thou Fount" on the piano, our friend Brendon and his quartet played throughout, and Brian played an acoustic version of our song, "I Will Not Take My Love Away." 

After some quick family photos, we took off to the Welkinwier Estate for the reception!

We had a few minutes to snack on some delicious hors d'oeuvres and blueberry mojitos, before we went down to the ruins to take some group shots:

We had a spectacular meal, accompanied by great toasts by my dad, one of my best friends and the greatest Maid of Honor in all of history, and David's best friend Paul.

It's true when they say that you don't eat at your own wedding.  Soon enough David and I went back down to the fields below the house.  (I'll spare you and just post some highlights.)

It was finally time to party!  I couldn't wait dance with my new husband and all our friends and family.  Spoiler alert: It was the greatest night of my life.

And all too soon, it was time for us to say goodbye. The night had come to an end.  I remember feeling so incredibly happy to finally be married.  To leave with my HUSBAND. But I was so sad that it was over.  But I couldn't dwell. There were extra long sparklers to light!

I can't say thank you enough to my parents, the Breitmayers, and our entire support team of vendors.  You gave David and I a perfect wedding.  It's so important to have vendors that you trust, and that really care about you and your event. We couldn't have asked for better.  Here they are:

Photographer: Nicola Herring Photography

Florist: Laurie Sasko Designs

Hair: Avante on Main Street

Bridal Make up: Michaela Parlett

Church: Fairview Presbyterian Church

Quartet: Shaw Strings

Reception Site: Welkinweir Estate

Caterer: Bause Catered Events

DJ: Silver Sound Entertainment - Michael Kane

Favors: Madison Ave. Confections 

I'll close with the verse that Nana read at the ceremony because I think it sums up what we continue to strive towards as we build our marriage, even a year later.


Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.  Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.     Colossians 3:12-17