Image courtesy of ThenAndAgain via Flickr Creative Commons

I apologize profusely for my lack of blogging lately. A lot has been going on and I simply got away from the computer when I wasn’t at work (that is NOT the time or place to blog). Side note: I am now mentally checking and correcting my grammar and, more importantly, my punctuation when I write now thanks to Tanya Sylvan’s “Grammar Police” post a few days ago. Agggh! I’m still going to be me, but now I’m freaking out at her watchful eyes. And her dad’s!

Back to us. The last thoughtful post was the night before my birthday..eve of 38..where I talked about looking forward, not back. And how this year was already the best year of my life, due in large part to growing in myself, with the love of my life, and loving who I am and where I am RIGHT NOW. Wow, had I know how the next two weeks were going to play out, I would have written more.

My birthday was amazing. It was a Friday and I spent the day working and received a delicious Edible Arrangement from Daniel. That night we went to the birthday party of our dear friend and See Jane Write Fearless Leader, Javacia Harris Bowser. After visiting with the birthday girl and her million friends, a few of us headed to dinner. I had the most delicious birthday dinner at Bettola and fell in love immediately with the cocktails and the cuisine. I had never been there before and was glad it exceeded my high birthday expectations. After dinner it was off to see a show at Al’s on Seventh. They were kind enough to reserve a table for us and I felt like a queen. After the show we realized we still had some energy to burn off so headed to the Quest for some after-show dancing. We spent the next few hours dancing in a trance and just living in the moment. We definitely danced off the extra energy and tumbled into bed about 3 a.m. It was a PERFECT night. Saturday was spent relaxing and then off to a joint birthday brouhaha with the fabulous Jen West. I rode Elektra over to introduce her to everyone and we spent hours in the park playing games, riding bikes, hanging out with the Birmingham Pedicab, friends, animals, children, and great food. It was a perfect picnic and just the party we envisioned. Then Daniel and I got ready for dinner – just he and I at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Or so I thought. When we arrived, I was greeted by a huge group of friends in the back room..a surprise party! I had no idea and was touched beyond words. That man of mine is amazing. We shared stories and got to know each other over margaritas and tacos. Another perfect dinner. After that we were off to Theatre Downtown for a comedy show and play. Perfect end cap to a wonderful birthday weekend. Sunday was a rest day (I had planned it that way), but I woke up itching to get on Elektra so I took her out for a few hours. The rest of the day was spent relaxing with Daniel, catching up on our shows, magazines, and writing.

Picnic at Avondale Park for Jen West and myself

That brings us into Valentine’s week. Daniel and I knew we were headed to Mobile that upcoming weekend to see our friends Paul and Sara. She is pregnant and they invited us down to visit and also join them as they found out the sex of their baby. Let me back up a bit to Thanksgiving weekend. They came up from Mobile to spend the weekend with us. During the long weekend, we let them in on the news that we were engaged. Right before they left to head back to Mobile on Sunday, they found out they were pregnant. It was a weekend of celebration and happiness. In keeping with that sharing, they asked us to go to the ultrasound visit with them. We were delighted and honored. As the weekend got closer, Daniel and I started talking about what kind of wedding we really wanted. We didn’t want any stress so the less people who knew about it, the better. We knew we wanted to get married at the beach in a very simple ceremony. We were going down to the coast to celebrate with our friends anyway…why not share our own special moment with them again? We called them to propose the idea and they were ecstatic. Daniel and I went to the courthouse the day before Valentine’s Day and got our marriage license and headed down to Mobile that Friday after work. Saturday morning we headed to their ultrasound appointment in Pensacola. We found the perfect coffee shop next door to the office called The Drowsy Poet and bought the largest coffee mug ever to commemorate their baby and our wedding day. I also found this sign in the shop that perfectly expressed how I felt that day:

Wedding Day Find

After the amazingly touching – and funny – ultrasound visit, we went to a nearby seafood place and I had my favorite food..crab legs…with some of their family and Malcom, the little man growing inside her. We said our goodbyes to her family and headed back to Mobile. We detoured down to the coast to find a perfect spot for the wedding. After we crossed the state line, we found a beautiful stretch of beach in Perdido/Orange Beach. We piled out of the car, high tailed it down to the sunny, but very windy, beach and Paul set up the video camera. We had the ceremony on the beach, full of love, jokes, and Mulligans. It was exactly what we wanted and a true reflection of us. After the ceremony, Daniel and I walked down to the beach for a few moments of quiet time and reflection.

You may kiss the bride!

Then we all piled back into the van and headed back to their house. I think we were all pretty tuckered out from such an amazing day. We rested for a few hours and then went out for dinner to celebrate. I couldn’t stop telling everyone I saw. It was nuts. That night, after dinner, we recorded a crazy video on Paul’s green screen to tell everyone the big news. Sunday we posted it and the sweet wishes started flowing in. They haven’t stopped since. We are so grateful to Paul and Sara for asking us to come down to share their special moment with us. We also can’t thank them enough for being a part of our day and capturing it perfectly. We love you.

That brings us to now. It’s been a week of telling friends and family, changing my name (Sherri Ross Walters…I still have to ROSS people obviously), and basking in the newlywed glow. We are definitely still doing the large Birmingham Bash at some point in the future and will go all out for it. Right now though, since quite a few people have asked to celebrate with us, we are going to piggyback a wedding celebration potluck picnic off the next Birmingham Dance Walk on 3/30 at Avondale Park. The Dance Walk and Easter egg hunt will be at 2 p.m. They are both free events, open to everyone, and there are 144 eggs to find after. Please please please come, bring your baskets, and help me find all these eggs. Later on, at 4 p.m., we will have our potluck picnic and we invite everyone to come by and say Hi. We had so much fun at the birthday picnic that we thought it would be a perfect way to celebrate us, you, and Birmingham. The invitation is below and we hope you can come:

Potluck Picnic Wedding Party invitation courtesy of the FABULOUS Sarah Miller

That’s all for now, folks. It’s been a busy few weeks…but the most amazing of my life. I can’t thank you all enough for the birthday and wedding wishes. And please pray for Daniel…he now has my birthday, Valentine’s Day, and our anniversary back to back each year in February. JACKPOT!

Love yourself.
Find peace inside.
Share happiness.