10 Years Ago...

Ten years ago, on this very day, Darrell and I got married at Christ Episcopal Church in Covington, Louisiana. It was a cool, almost a bit chilly, day in the 60's, yet my bridesmaids and I both wore short sleeves. Only in Louisiana could you plan a wedding in February with short sleeves! I chose red bridesmaids dresses and flowers because I had loved my Aunt Cathy's wedding, which had the prettiest red velvet dresses. Back then, they wore those neat little hats with veils coming over the girls' faces (just slightly). And the short white gloves made the finishing touch.
My bridesmaids wore A-line dresses with red velvet at the top and red crepe at the bottom. They had short white gloves and carried red roses and white anthyriums. Our groomsmen and ushers wore traditional Southern attire that even my parents wore back in 1969 at their wedding. They had long grey morning coats with pinstripe pants and a striped ascot. The short gray gloves weren't the favorite of the guys that day, but I thought they looked great.

I wore an off-white A-line gown with beading and pearls at the bodice. I had a nice puffy petticoat and a cathedral-length train. My veil was a result of the creative work of my mom and I. The bridal salon at the New Orleans department store, Maison Blanche, was closing, so we found this beautiful and very long veil with small pearls here and there. There was a gorgeous lace applique with beading and pearls. It was a large triangular applique, so we then realized that it was a mantilla, which is a veil that is worn over the head without any extra head piece. We found the perfect head piece at Baltazor Fabrics in Metairie. My mom's neighbor made the mantilla into a detachable veil with the applique at the back, on the floor. The funniest thing was, though, is that when we put it on at the church, we didn't think about whether or not the veil was upside down. When I walked down the aisle with Dad, I was getting caught in the carpet and then we realized... it was upside down, so the beading and pearls were getting caught. But no one but Mom and I even noticed!

We had the best time on our honeymoon in Cancun. We spent a week there at the Moon Palace, which was a brand new resort at the time. We met some great people, ate and drank the entire time, went snorkeling for the first time, and visited the Mayan ruins of Tulum. There was always something to do, even if it meant lying by the pool with a waiter bringing you drinks with little umbrellas and fresh fruit sticking out. That was heaven!

Darrell and I rented this adorable house (more like tiny cottage) in old Metairie- 155 Hesper Street. It had only 1 bedroom, a tiny office with a homemade closet, no central air (we had units) and no central heat (we had oil heaters). The washer and dryer were out in a shed in our tiny driveway that could not fit any car up past the front of the house. It was a really narrow one. But I loved that house because it was ours. I spent so much time in the garden and it was beautiful in the spring. That was really a great little house.

Darrell was still in law school at the time, but about to graduate in May. I was working as a speech pathologist at an elementary school in Covington, so I had the reverse commute to the northshore. Driving that causeway every day was so boring! Darrell had accepted a job starting in August in Washington. It was a 2-year temporary position working for an administrative law judge with the Department of Labor. I was offered a job at Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland. We were excited to start our new lives together. It meant we were moving 1100 miles away from home, but we figured that if we didn't like it, then we could just move back after the 2 years. That was 10 years ago and 2 apartments, a townhouse, a house, and 2 children later, we're still here!

Darrell asked me what we should do for our big anniversary. On our 1st anniversary, we spent a weekend in a historic inn in Annapolis. It was beautiful and the shops and harbor are amazing. We drank a bottle of Dom Perignon we got from our bridesmaids at my shower out of our Waterford Millenium Collection flutes we got as another present (that we toasted with at our reception) and enjoyed the top layer to our wedding cake. It was delicious. We went back there again on our 5th anniversary, too.

We thought about going out for dinner or something similar, but decided that we wanted to include Libby and Drew because we are so grateful to have them in our lives 10 years later. Our family is complete with them! So, we thought we'd drive up to Baltimore, go to the aquarium on Saturday, and spend the day at the Inner Harbor. We thought it would be a nice day to spend together. But....
Mother Nature appears to have other plans. We have been snowed in with over 2 feet of snow! It's still coming down in blizzard-like conditions and it's definitely the worst storm we've seen since we've lived here. I wonder how we'll dig out of this one and when schools will reopen because it is DEEP. So, although we're not at the aquarium, at least we're all home together. Let's just hope that cabin fever doesn't set in and we all drive each other crazy! ;)