Sound of a Bird: Anniversary & Stories.

I was in the limo with my mom, niece, my two bridesmaids and my sister, my maid of honor. I kept telling myself to hold off on throwing up because I felt like it would happen any minute. I kept myself busy by taking pictures of my niece holding her teddy bear on the way there. Ha! The drive felt like it took hours and I desperately wanted to get there. It was raining and that worried me because the wedding was outdoors and we didn't have a plan B. I had a thousand things racing through my head!

We finally made it and the sky had cleared up with a few clouds lingering. September always seemed like the perfect month out of the year because the weather starts cooling off and it just seemed like a good month to get married. We were right.

The judge got into the limo to go over a few things about our vows and the ceremony in general. I loved her! She made me feel at ease.

Through the window I could see Jack standing at the end waiting. I'm sure he was feeling just as impatient, excited, nervous as I was and I wanted to cry. I held my tears, held my dad's arm and started walking down the isle. We had a guitar player as I walked down. My throat was in knots! I could see he was holding back tears too and I tried looking away to not start right there with him but I couldn't. I looked at him the entire time. He looked so handsome in his tuxedo! As soon as I got to him and held his hands, all stress and anxiousness went away. I wasn't nervous anymore, just excited that in a few minutes I would be this man's wife.

We said I do, kissed and the ceremony was over! It was time to party! Before we get to the party, let me backtrack all the way back to our engagement.

We had already been looking at rings for a while so that Jack had an idea of what I liked. Might seem completely unromantic but it's important! I feel like it brought us closer together because we knew this commitment would happen. The ring would just seal the deal.

I had never been to Vegas. We planned a trip to go there. Just us. We got there and checked into our hotel then went upstairs to our room to rest and shower to start the day. I was so excited! I showered and then I realized I had forgotten a brush. With long hair that's a necessity!! Jack pointed to a drawer and asked if I had looked in that drawer to see if by any chance there was a brush there and I said yes I had already looked then walked away out of the bathroom. He had to resort to plan B. Finally I had blow dried and curled my hair, all I needed were some accessories. I took a bag with all of my necklaces, earrings and bracelets in it. I was taking them out, trying them on and asking Jack if they looked good. He kept saying no and when I was getting to the last of the accessories I was a little confused. I then looked in the bag and saw a shiny little object in there that I didn't remember packing or having for that matter.

I took it out and immediately gasped. He grabbed it from my hand and got down on one knee. He was doing it! This was happening! Never had I any idea that he would do this on this trip. He said he couldn't really talk because we were both choking up and he said "but will you marry me". Oh my gosh, I dropped to my knees with him and said yes! We both started crying and looking at the ring. It was perfect. Everything was perfect. I didn't want that moment to end. Turns out he had initially put the ring in that drawer he had pointed to for me to find and that I had already checked in for a brush. :)

We cried for a while then he told me the story about what he had to do because he had forgotten he was carrying the ring in a little bag in his pocket and freaked out when going through aiport security. He thought the alarm would go off and I would find out. Nope, never even crossed my mind. At another point when we were already in the hotel room, he said he was so nervous he took the bag out of his pocket and was playing with it right in front of me. Never noticed! Since I was not expecting it, I was oblivious to it all.

He also said that he had asked my dad for my hand a couple of weeks before and that's when I lost it. You see, that had always been so important to me. It's a tradition in my dad's culture and regardless of that, having his approval and having Jack go and ask for his approval meant the world to me, and the fact that he knew that and made it happen meant even more to me. This man couldn't be more amazing.

We immediately went out to celebrate, I mean, we were in Vegas! That trip couldn't have been more perfect. Now back to the party.

The reception was fun, relaxing and beautiful. Our first dance was to the Everly Brothers' "Let It Be Me" a beautiful song that our guitarist played and sang for us. My dad hired belly dancers and they put on an awesome show. My family and friends were there, I was with my husband. It was perfect. The things I stressed out about during the wedding planning seemed petty and I almost kicked myself for even stressing out so much in the first place. Everything magically fell into place that day and nothing mattered but Jack and I, it was our night. Drinks were flowing, people were dancing, and everyone was enjoying the beautiful night.