The Wedding Week Has Finally Arrived!

The long-awaited and much-anticipated week has finally arrived! To say that I am excited would be a huge understatement. With the help of many wonderful friends and family members, the last-minute details are coming together well and we are very busy, yet not really stressed or overwhelmed. I am treasuring every moment with my precious family and overjoyed to begin a new family as the wife of my beloved husband.

Monday and Tuesday will be filled with around-the-house projects and baking for the coffee and dessert buffet we are hosting on Friday night for our out-of-town guests. We plan to have one last family movie night on one of these nights and watch our favorite annual Christmas movie, "Home Alone". I have been given a gift certificate to get a facial on Wednesday, followed by having my nails done (all of this is quite luxurious for a girl who was just gutting chickens a few days ago!), and then I am picking Stephen up from the airport! Our out-of-town friends and relatives begin arriving in Richmond on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, Stephen and I will get our marriage license in the morning and then head to Richmond where Mama and I will meet for coffee with two long-time friends who are flying in for the wedding. A crew of great friends also arrive on Thursday to help set up the farm for the reception and work on some of the cooking. Friday is an Afternoon Bridal Tea for my bridal party, the wedding rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and dessert buffet. Saturday, of course, is the wedding!

I am embarking upon what is likely the most packed and exciting week of my life!

When I was a very little girl (and, well, actually into some of my teen years...) I was well known within my family for being "Ailment Annie", as they liked to call me, because I was very dramatic when it came to the smallest afflictions. The latest ailment was always quickly dismissed by my parents with the phrase, "You'll get better before you get married!" I would promptly debate that this stubbed toe was absolutely unbelievable and was certainly going to be with me until the grave. Needless to say, I did outgrow that (and am feeling quite well today), but it has come to my attention that, at this point, this phrase may not be true any longer. I keep revisiting the scene from the Brady Bunch episode where Marcia's nose is accidentally hit by a football and, even as I pull cookies out of the oven, I worry that I'll get too close and end up with a big red burn across my face on the wedding day!

We are so thankful for your kind words and prayers. For those of you who have been kind enough to ask what specifically you can be praying for; we ask that you pray that our week will be low-stress and God will bless our efforts as we complete every last detail. Above all else, please join us in praying that our wedding day will be honoring to God and that our new union will glorify Him for all of our days.