"Wedded Wednesday"

I'm going to try some new things on here including (an occasional) "Wedded Wednesday". This is because I love weddings but even more I love sharing about marriage and I want to talk about these things through the lens of who am I today and what my life looks life now. (I'm also going to do (an occasional) "Foodie Friday" where I write about delicious new recipes, eats in my area that I love or celebrations I'm enjoying; maybe even "Motherhood Monday"--don't worry, I won't take the alliteration over the top!).

My sister-in-law, Mary Austin Wolf, is getting married this summer, on her birthday no less! I wrote about her getting married and her precious birthday celebration from last year here. Remember--birthday candles on a wedding cake? James is pumped about this...

We had the joy of kicking off our Christmas trip back South with some wedding dress shopping with Mary at Ivory & White in Birmingham, AL--(ask for Molly there, she's awesome).

Interestingly, this was my first time wedding dress shopping. How you may ask, since I am married and clearly wore a dress to my wedding? What seems like a lifetime ago, I modeled wedding dresses for a big bridal expo shortly after Jay and I got engaged (truly not as glamorous as it sounds--think me in a big carriage, holding a cage of pooping white doves that I had to release to kick off the show). Anyway, everyone at the show thought one dress in particular looked absolutely perfect on me, and since I have never had a real love for clothes, I thought, sounds good, I'll take it! Moreover, it was a sample, and they gave it to me at a discount--done and done!

Then, when Jay's first sister to marry, Sarah, got married in December of 2008, not only did I not shop for wedding dresses with her, but it was unknown if I would even be able to make the trip back South for the wedding. Since I would have been a bridesmaid, they parked my wheelchair on the front row and gave me a bouquet to hold that was the same as the bridesmaids. It was really special to be there, but that whole time in my life was pretty sad. We got through it, though, and this time I got to enjoy this 1st step of wedding bruhaha!

Getting to share this experience with MA was truly so special and joyful, by far the best shopping experience I've ever had. She is so kind and sweet, there's nothing like seeing a bride in the true, almost Biblical sense of the word (versus the pervasive "bridezilla" types that are so prevalent).

Despite the temptation of wanting to show some beautiful pics of the lovely bride, I will withhold for now, keeping the surprise and building the anticipation--

Andrew, you are going to be wowed--can't wait! Don't worry I'm sure there will be lots of pics from the big day on here after.

***Also, I did not send an email out about this last posting, BUT PLEASE READ THE POSTING BEFORE THIS ONE AND DONATE ON THE WOLF WEBPAGE -- "A Stroke of Giving"!!! Consider sponsoring a $20 charcoal-efficient stove (upper respiratory infection is the #1 cause of death in children living in 3rd world countries largely due to smoke from traditional open fire cooking). Even cooler, this initiative sponsored by The Adventure Project will email you an ID # for the stove so you can track when your stove was built and where it went. Yet again, the internet being used for good--love it!