A Dream come True- Duke vs. St. John's!

I have always been a BIG fan of Duke Basketball. Lucky for me, I married a man who loves Duke Basketball, just like I do. In fact, my mother-in-law got her Masters Degree from Duke! My Uncle Bob{grandfather's brother} came up to me at our Rehearsal Dinner and hugged me bye and said "When you and Alex get back, email me, I've got two tickets to a Duke basketball game for you"! WHATTTT!!! I was flippin' out and wasn't going to tell Alex and surprise him but I was TOO EXCITED! I told him. We were both ecstatic. We picked Duke vs. St. John's on Saturday January 28! The game was at noon, so we decided to drive up to Durham friday night and spend the night there. After four hours in the car, we were both starving. Mexican was on my mind! 

This Cellar was next door to the place we ate! Never too Far from Home! 

Delicious!

The next morning, we left the hotel around 9:45 am and started heading towards Duke! Alex actually lived in Durham for a short time and had been to Duke before but was too young to remember how to get there or anything about it. We drove towards Duke, and of course we drove around not knowing where in the world to park. After trying to mapquest parking for Duke games, we remembered we had NO CASH{Alex's fault! :)}. We made a quick{not really} detour to find an ATM and made it back to campus by 11:15, parked and headed to CAMERON INDOOR!!! AHHH!

CAMERON INDOOR!

We made it to our seats and took in the fact that we were actually in Cameron Indoor about to watch Duke play basketball. The place was going crazy. The Cameron Crazies{the students} were cheering and loud as could be! It was CRAZY!

     

 

We had a great time experiencing our first Duke Basketball game together! Hopefully, one day we will be back! Thanks Uncle Bob!

Honeymoon in Jamaica- Yeaaa Monnnn!

Like most catholics, we got married on a Friday night. Because of Alex's family living in another continent than us, we wanted to spend as much time with them as we could. We decided to spend Saturday with them and leave for our honeymoon on Sunday morning. We headed to Charlotte saturday night and woke up bright and early sunday morning to catch our 6:30 am flight! We stayed at Whitehouse Sandals Resort in Whitehouse, Jamaica. We got to our resort at around 2:00 pm and checked in. Jamaica roads were about the size of one lane in the US and I was scared out of my mind. The resort was an all inclusive resort and you guessed it, after we checked in, we went to check out the bars. All in all, we had a great time relaxing and doing whatever we wanted without having to worry about going to work or anything else. It was a blast!

Paradise!

Our fav bartender!

Yes, I brought my own sheets and made sure they didn't touch!

Our view from our room!

Personalized menus at our Candlelight dinner!

:) 

my handsome Husband!

YS Falls

Appleton Rum Factory

Ziplining at YS Falls

We had a great time in Jamaica but we were definitely ready to get back home and start our routine.  P.S. All inclusive resorts are definitely the way to go! 

Our Big Day

After 10 months of waiting and planning, our wedding day was finally here!! I have never been so excited or ready for anything, like I was for our wedding. From the time I can remember, I have always wanted to get married, and believe it or not I wasn't nervous. That was until, I took two bites of food at my Bridal Luncheon and I couldn't take another bite. All of the sudden, it hit me, in less than 12 hours I was going to be a married woman. To start the day off, we headed to Rosso where my aunts hosted a Bridal Luncheon. It was great to sit and relax and enjoy time with my best girls! Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from the luncheon. Oops! After the luncheon, me and the bridesmaids headed to my parents house, where we got ready and hung out. When Alex and I got engaged and knew Watson would be our Ring Bearer, I begged Amy to let him wear a tuxedo{tails} just like the big boys were wearing. Although she wasn't a big fan of her 2 year old little man looking so big in the tux, she allowed it and he might have been the cutest little guy I have ever seen! 

Such a happy Camper! 

Aunt Kat getting our littlest Ring Bearer ready! 

Casey, Suzie, and Kristen

Champagne to calm the nerves!

It was time to head to the church, so we headed to the church in hopes of NOT crossing paths with Alex and his groomsmen. We got in the downstairs area to hang out before the ceremony. 

The Family before the ceremony

Love this!

With my sister-in-law and mother-in-law

Our photographer{Liz} wanted to get some pictures of me with the girls in front of the church before the ceremony. We headed over to the church and all of the sudden I see little penguins walking from a far, then I see my dad running in front of them, "What are ya'll doing? Alex is right here!!!" We rushed over to hide and let the boys walk in the church. Anywho, the time had come and it was 6:20 pm! The nerves started kicking in and I was pretty nervous. Most of you that know me, know I DO.NOT.LIKE.ATTENTION! When people would ask me if I was nervous about getting married, I'd always respond, "I am not nervous about marrying Alex, just nervous about everyone looking at me".  The doors closed and it was just me and my dad{and our wedding directors}. With their hands on the door handles, they kept saying "Okay, are you ready, are you ready?" as they kept backing up as if they were about to open the doors. Then through the cracks, I saw everyone stand up! The DOORS OPEN...I look at Alex, then I look at all three of my sisters, they were crying so I had to look away; then I saw my mom, she was crying so I had to look away; I looked at my mother-in-law, she was crying and then finally I looked back at Alex and didn't look anywhere else. To say the moment when the doors opened and I got down to Alex, was surreal, that is an understatement. Our wedding was everything I have dreamt of and more. It was a night we will both remember forever and it was perfect! 

First Dance-{Have I told You Lately}

Daddy/Daughter Dance-{My Little Girl} 

Giving my parents their surprise 30th Anniversary speech/song

One of my favorite pictures from the night

Whoa, that was a lot of typing so excuse me if you just want to see the pictures! Ha! Our wedding day was perfect, Alex and I were happy to have all of our family and friends celebrate such a happy time in our lives. I am still trying to remember alot of the day. Hopefully, I will have some of the professional pictures soon and I can post a couple of my favorites. 

{pictures by my sister! Thanks Kat!}

The Rehearsal/ Rehearsal Dinner

Most of our wedding party(if not all) probably thought I was the biggest Bridezilla ever when it came to the times I gave them to be at every place. Our Rehearsal was scheduled to start at 5:00 PM sharp on Thursday, not 5:05, not 5:15 but 5:00! The one thing I was worried about throughout these two days was people being late to anything and everything. To avoid anyone being late, I told everyone to be at the church at 4:50(about 2 months in advance). The time was then moved to 4:45 the closer we got to the actual day and finally I decided 4:40, paranoid was an understatement but Monsignor made it clear he likes to start on time! Lucky for me, everyone made it to the church by 5:00 and we got the party started, or just the Rehearsal. 

Me and Aunt Amanda

The Bridesmaids 

The Groomsmen

My Handsome Groom

The Wedding Party..our Wedding Director- Mrs. Rushman and her assistant- Rebecca did great!

Dad and Watson taking it all in

The sweetest thing...Our {not so happy} Ring Bearer and Our {surprisingly happy} Flower Girl

Everyone did great and we were out of the church by 6:10 ready to head to Carolina Park for the Rehearsal Dinner. I wish everyone could have seen the way Carolina Park looked when we got there at 8:00 that morning. It was nothing. Tables, with no chairs. No decorations. Pretty boring. When Alex and I arrived after the Rehearsal at 6:30, we were BLOWN away. The place looked completely different. It was beautiful. I wanted our Rehearsal Dinner to be elegant and some what dressy. With Alex's family being in another country, it was difficult for them to plan our Rehearsal dinner and we got the go ahead from them to let Amy plan away. I was worried about it and my sister knew that, and she took over. She transformed that place into a place that I can't even describe. It was amazing. These pictures do not do this place justice but just know when I say it was a completely different place, believe me. Ask anyone. 

Our Table with our Immediate Family

Guests arrived and we enjoyed our last night together before we became husband and wife. Some pictures from the night.

Mom and Grandmama Sheheen

Sisters

Mom with her 4 girls

Sam and David

such a typical picture of these two

Jo and Grandmama Watson

Family table

cutting the Grooms cake{ignore both of our faces, HA!}

The Kubas boys with the Canelli girls

And that right there was our night. It was the most perfect Rehearsal Dinner we could have asked for. We can't thank the people who made this happen enough. Thank you to my sister, Amy, who made every decoration and planned this evening, despite having three little ones at all times. We owe you big time and couldn't have asked for a better night. Thank you to my parents, who helped set everything up and got everything prepared. Thank you to my in-laws for helping set everything up and providing a Rehearsal dinner that neither Alex nor I, will ever forget. Thank you to Ritchie McQueeny and Jerry Oates, for cooking some AMAZING food, for providing tables and chairs and everything else you did to make this night happen. Thank you Kat, Joanna, John, Aaron, Carleen, Debbie, Lee, Doug, Julie, and anybody else that I might have forgotten about. We truly couldn't have had this dinner without the help of our family and friends.