The Best Day of My Life

Well, for anyone who's interested, here's the story of the best wedding day of all time.

(Preface:  Just a small shout out and thanks to everyone in my life who made my wedding day the best and easiest thing in the world.  I'm lucky enough to know people who took photos, decorated spaces, got flowers, and made our cake for us and with our best in their hearts.  This day wouldn't have been perfect if it wasn't for those people.  You know you are. ;) xoxoxo)

It started off early.  Really early.  I was tired because I should've gone to bed earlier.  Not that it would've mattered, I didn't really sleep anyways.  6:00 AM came with excited, anxious jitters for the day ahead.  Megan and Tilo came by to finish off my hair and bringing my future husband with them.  The amount of butterflies in my stomach from seeing Nathan on the day of the wedding almost made it hard to eat the breakfast he had made.  But who can resist a man who cooks for you and your friends?

11:30 AM came too quickly and we rushed out of the house ready to face the day ahead.  The schedule called for non-stop wedding action until 9:00 PM at night.  I was constantly crossing my fingers that nothing would go wrong.  We didn't have much wiggle room.  

The opportunity to go through the temple and be sealed for time and all eternity was a moment I will never forget.  As the two of us sat in the celestial room waiting to meet with our sealers I couldn't stop smiling.  This was it!  This was the day that I had been waiting for since I was old enough to understand what Happily Ever After was!  And I was lucky enough to have found my prince charming sitting right next to me, loving me and always treating me like a princess.  (Sorry for the sappiness, but it's true).  Walking into the sealing room surrounded by friends and family and the love of my life truly was a little piece of heaven.  

After the sealing, I changed into my wedding dress a married woman!  Everything was perfect.  Outside of the temple were all our friends and family waiting to greet and congratulate us.  It was so fun!  Words cannot describe how grateful I was to all the people who came to see us.  We had friends  cross oceans and states to come celebrate with us.  It was amazing.  One of my favorite things was the missionary cut out my family got of my brother.  He wasn't a huge fan of the idea, but I'm glad he's in the photos.  Plus, my friends had WAY too much fun carrying him around from the temple to the luncheon and at the reception.

After more photos and video footage we were whisked away to the luncheon.  Delicious Italian food, a classy environment, friends and family and endless Diet Coke is basically what my own slice of paradise would look like!  And that's exactly what I got.  All of our friends sat at our head table which was lovely.  It gave Nate and me the chance to hang out with our friends that we haven't seen in a long time, and it was so perfect.  

After the luncheon we took a small break, checked into our hotel, and went to the Ivy House where our reception was held.  (And when I say small break, I mean REALLY SMALL.  We only had time to check in, drop off our bags, hit the bathroom, and run back to the car to get to the reception.  Nothing else. ;)  )   

The reception hall was set up and decorated beautiful.  It was a gorgeous space on it's own and adding our own little flare made my the image inside my head translate to reality.  It was perfect.  We took even more photos and got ready for the reception.  The amount of people that showed up made us feel so very loved.  The outpouring of support as we started our life together definitely made us feel special.  

We tossed a bouquet, I did a surprise hula, we cut the cake (I got it smashed in my face), and we danced until no one wanted to anymore.  (Which wasn't very long. lol)  As we headed out to a sparkler and (surprise) silly string send off, I couldn't have wished for a better day.  If I could pick one day in my life to relive over and over again, it would definitely have been this one. 

This is my life now.  There's 2 of us which means I'm driving in the carpool lane.  Or at least Nathan's driving and I'm sitting very comfortable in the passenger seat, soaking up the fast lane.

All by Myself

To most who know me, it's no surprise that I like to do things with people.  When a social opportunity presents itself, I'll most likely accept.  But there usually is a condition. 

That condition is this: DON'T MAKE ME GO BY MYSELF! 
The most reliable person I know could guarantee that they would meet me at said hypothetical social gathering at a specific time in a specific place, and I'd still suggest/beg that we go together.  There's this fear that if I go by myself, they won't actually be there.  Or that I'd be early, or they'd be late.  The fear that at some point in time I would be by myself, I wouldn't know anyone, and it would be awkward.  And that just can't happen.   Most of the time if I have to choose between going alone with the potential of meeting up with people I know or sitting at home, I'd end up at home on my couch...alone.  My fear of being alone in a social situation is literally that much greater than my fear of missing out. 

But I promise this post isn't about my sad reliance on other people.  Keep going. :)

With my fear of going places alone sort of explained, can you imagine my anxiety when I couldn't find anyone to go to Comic Con Fan X with?  This had to be my biggest FOMO/Fear of being alone debate to date.  I had been excited for MONTHS about going to Fan X.  Every guest announcement, event announcement, and facebook post made me more and more excited.  I had saved money for months in order to splurge on this, sure to be, expensive event.  It was all going to be SO worth it.  But would it be worth it if I didn't have anyone to share the experience with?

A week before the event and I still didn't have tickets because I still didn't have anyone to go with.  I almost talked myself out of going all together.  Until one morning I read an article on Buzzfeed about things you should do by yourself. It was a silly list, but it struck a chord with me.  I had never done any of these things by myself.  Go out to eat, take a trip, go shopping, go to the beach!  I'd always had someone to go with me.  So I bought tickets and made a commitment - I was going to go to Fan-X all by myself, and I was going to have a good time.

The day came and I was still nervous about going by myself.  But I walked down the street, boarded the bus and headed to the Salt Palace for Fan-X.  On the bus ride there, I wanted to turn back.  I wasn't sure if I could do this.  I walked to the Salt Palace, stood in line with the hundreds of people to get their passes, and had an epiphany.  I wanted to be there!  With or without someone there, I was having a good time just standing in line!  I was excited!  So I got my pass, inside I went, and the fun began.

I went to panels, met celebrities, took tons of pictures, and had a great time BY MYSELF!  It was a miracle!  By the end of the day, my feet hurt from being on them all day, I was tired, my bank account had taken a severe hit, and I was happy.  So so happy!  I couldn't wait to tell my parents and my boyfriend about my adventures.  And at the end of the day, I had another epiphany.

As much fun as I had, I would've had more fun if someone else was there with me.

That's my lesson learned.  I now know I can do things by myself and I won't let my fear of missing out rule my life.  But if I have someone else there to share my adventures with, I know that will make me happier too.  It's no longer about having someone there that I rely on in order to have fun, it's about having someone there to share those fun moments with.

I like driving in the carpool lane.  But I'm glad to know I can drive in the single lane, all by myself.