Archives | Ten Years Ago

...on December 15, was one of the most wonderful days of my life.

Brian and I had begun dating each other on July 11, 2003 and by October he had asked my parents for permission to marry me. During our dating time, we saw each other several times during the week (okay, almost every day), and he would spend most of Saturday with me and pretty much all day on Sunday.

We also spent a lot of time with our families, hanging out with my family, his parents, and with all of us together. When we weren't with each other, we were on the phone. In fact, we spent so much time on the phone that my parents made me get my own phone line (people would ask my parents if something was wrong with their phone because they couldn't get a hold of them- oops!). Our telephone time did give us a great foundation in communication, and we reached the point early in our relationship where we would finish each other's sentences and knew what the other was thinking because our communication skills had been well sharpened.

I had a feeling that Brian might propose to me on Christmas Eve, so I bought a black velvet skirt and top with silver glitter to wear for that evening (everyone knows that diamonds look stunning against black velvet!).

I had it all planned out.

At the beginning of December, I sent home a note with my students asking their parents to send them to school on December 15th with a red, green, or white shirt/top because we were going to take a Christmas picture as a class. I decided that I would wear my Christmas Eve "proposal outfit" for our picture as well. I asked Dad to meet my class in the church sanctuary (I was teaching at our church's academy at the time and Dad was on the church staff) to take the picture.

Everything was set.

On the evening of December 14th, my mother asked me to paint her nails. We sat down in the breakfast nook, and I began taking her polish off and repainting her nails. As I was working on her nails, she began to smudge her nails on mine. She asked if I wanted her to fix my nails, but I was tired and decided that I would just clean off my nails and go to bed. If you didn't know my mother, she was persistent. She was not deterred and did everything she could to convince me to do my nails over. However, I decided to just go to bed.

Little did I know...

The next day, I took my black velvet outfit with me to work and made sure that everything was in order for our class Christmas picture. Our principal told us during our morning devotions that we would be having a fire drill that morning sometime between 9:00 and 10:00. No problem, I thought. I will be back from our picture in time for the drill, and I'll make sure that my students are wearing their jackets since it is cold outside.

Oh, the conscientious teacher that I was!

We had two cameras at home. One worked, one didn't, and neither were digital. Faye insisted that she needed a camera that day as well, and I wasn't sure which camera I had been left with. As soon as all of my students were accounted for, I took them over to the sanctuary, and we took our pictures. Dad watched my students as I changed back into my school clothes from my black velvet, Christmas Eve proposal outfit.

I knew that the fire drill was coming, so I didn't begin any lessons with my students. I had them doing their seat work while wearing their jackets so we would be ready. Then at 9:30 a.m. I heard a fire engine siren, and then the fire alarm went off.

That is odd, I thought. Maybe the fire department hadn't been alerted that this was only a drill.

We made our way down the stairs and to my surprise, there was Dad video taping us. My analytical mind began working. Maybe he is taping us so that the teachers can see what areas we need improvement in during fire drills.

And then, as we walked outside, there were fire trucks in the parking lot.

In case of a real emergency, there would be fire trucks in the parking lot. This is great practice for us to learn to maneuver through the emergency vehicles.

After the alarms were turned off, all of the classes were called over for a fire safety presentation. This is the best fire drill we've ever had! I thought. A fire safety presentation after the fire drill. What better way to reinforce this to the kids! (me and my analytical mind)

One of the fire men asked where the 4th grade class was, and my students and I raised our hands. Wow! No one ever thinks of 4th graders! They either cater to the K5 group or the older kids! The fireman asked for my name and then asked the students if they wanted to see me dressed as a fire man. Of course, they said yes!
 

The fireman (who was not dressed in his gear) called over one of the firemen, who was in full gear, because he was closer to my size and asked him to take off his mask so I could put it on. His mask got stuck! So they took him behind me and turned me to face the students. The fireman beside me began asking the students some fire safety questions, and then it happened.

The fireman in full gear came around to my side. I looked at him and thought, "My word, he looks so familiar." I kid you not! It was one of those moments when someone is not where they are supposed to be (like work), at a strange time (fire drill), and they are dressed in a uniform that does not fit their job description (Brian is a telephone technician not a fireman) so you don't recognize them.

One of my students yelled out, "It's Mr. Ladouceur!" My mouth dropped open as I suddenly realized why he was there.

He got down on one knee, opened the ring box, looked up at me, and said, "Will you marry me?" I was in shock!

And the outfit I had planned to wear for my engagement was upstairs in my classroom!

It took me a second to shake myself out of the shock I was in, but I managed to say "Yes!"

And that is when we had our first hug (we saved our first kiss for our wedding). Suddenly my mother, Brian's parents, my aunt Elsa, and my cousin Lisa appeared out of nowhere. They had been hiding in one of the buildings waiting for the moment.

Out of complete nervousness, Brian put the ring on my right ring finger. He had held my left hand the entire time he was proposing, but when the moment came, he took my right hand and put the ring on. Because we were both so cold and the nerves were going, we couldn't get the ring off!

It was a good thing that my students were wearing their jackets because we ended up staying outside for a while after every one else went back to their classrooms.

It is such a wonderful memory.



No, the class picture never came out (I had the bad camera). No, we never did any of our lessons that day (my head was somewhere other than my classroom all day), but I did wear my outfit for Christmas Eve, and the ring looked beautiful against it.

Brian, thank you for asking me to marry you. I am so proud to call myself your wife.

Lost!

In front of our county courthouse

Our county is a pretty fair size. Our particular area has three different "town" names, each giving the hearer an understanding of where in our county you actually live- "B" being the rural, original area of development with large properties of land and cattle ranches, "S" being the center of everything with shops, restaurants, and lots of churches, and "W" being the outskirts of "S" and a little more rural yet not as rural as "B" (hope that makes sense).

One of these three, "B", actually played a small role during the Civil War and has an historic past- not one that you will read about in the history books, but those in our community who actually care about it make a huge deal of it.

The historic part of "B" and the center of the town where our court house is measures maybe 1 square mile. And it is in this 1 square mile area that my children and I were lost for an hour and a half while trying to get to our Valentine's party.

One of the crafts we made on Valentine's Day

For the party, each child was to bring a Valentine treat for all of the other children at the party. We had our candy labeled and ready to go. I had volunteered to bring a box of juices and cupcakes as well. When we purchased our cupcakes, Addie was in such an all fired hurry to help me put everything on the check out counter that when she picked up the cupcakes I heard a noise. The cupcakes came out of their holder, the perfectly placed icing was smeared all over the clear plastic cover, and sprinkles were dancing everywhere inside the container. That should have been a sign to me of how this whole thing would go.

At home, I went onto Google maps and put in the destination I needed to get to. It spit out some directions for me, and at 1:00 p.m., we headed out. I put all of our stuff on the floor of the back seat on Ian's side of the car since I knew it would be safe there and would make for easier maneuvering for me once we arrived at the party.

The directions from Google sent me onto some obscure road (where I saw some of the most beautiful homes), so I called my husband to see if he could help me out. He was in the middle of a difficult and intense job at the time, so I called my father (I do not have a smart phone yet, so I could not find the directions for myself. This incident changed all of that, and I will be getting one, Lord willing, when my phone contract is up in June. At least something good came out of all of this :) My dad did his best, but his phone could only give him a general location and not anything specific.

Brian called back a little while later and told me to call his office to see if the secretary could help me out. He then mentioned, "I think it is the church up on the hill."

Hill? What hill? The only hill that I know of in town is the hill that the traffic light is at the top of, and there is no church there.

Addie named her "Val" because of the Doc McStuffins show

The secretary gave me great directions..... but here's the thing. I was mentally stuck within the confines of the "main part of town" limits. I wasn't letting myself think outside that traffic light at the top of the hill that leads outside of town.

I eventually came across a fire/police department (after Addie asked me if we were still in Florida), and I decided to go inside. I unbuckled the kids and had Addie climb over Ian's chair to come out the same door I was at since it had started raining.

And then I heard it. The sound of a plastic cupcake container being crushed by a size 10 shoe. Addie had stepped right on the cupcakes. Was I mad? Absolutely not! I started to laugh! Oh well. These cupcakes were meant to get to their destination smooshed and imperfect.

The police officer was absolutely sweet as anything and gave the kids candy, and his secretary was a doll. A woman, who also worked there, walked in and saw the address of the location of the party and said, "That's the big church at the top of the hill. I can't believe you missed it!"

What hill is everyone talking about?!

I left with my printed directions and followed them to the T...... and there, outside of town, up on a hill was a big (HUGE, ENORMOUS) church where the party was being held.

We got out of the car and into the church just in time for the group picture. Our leader is super sweet and made an announcement for all of the kids to be sure to give Addie a treat for her box and then to take one of her treats for their box too. I was so glad because I knew she was looking forward to that..... and I had spent an hour the night before writing "My friend" and "Addie" on each of those 60 little candy packets!

Ian's feet, Addie's hands

Throughout our entire adventure, my kids were troopers! No one fussed, not even my little guy who is still rear facing in his car seat. Sometimes, Ian would say "Mum? Mum? Mummum?" and Addie would say in her "little mommy" voice, "Shhh, Ian. Don't talk to Mommy right now. She's trying to find the party."

We got home (in 20 minutes!), but when we found out that Brian would be getting home late I took the kids back out to pick up their McDonald's happy meal and fries. I went through the drive through since it is easier that way and placed my order. I passed the Happy Meal back to Addie and drove off. When we were almost home, Addie let me know that there were no chicken nuggets in her Happy Meal.

After the day we had had......that sounded about right.

This will definitely be a Valentine's for the books.

The Story: Our 6th Anniversary... A Look Back

They say time flies when you are having fun, but I cannot believe how fast it flies.  Today is our 6th wedding anniversary.  Six years ago today around 12:15 p.m. I received my first kiss ever from the man I am married to.  Here are some photos and some specific memories from that wonderful day.

  

Once my bridesmaids, my dad, and I drove off in the limo, we were surprised to find ourselves back at the door to our home.  My father, who performed half of the ceremony, forgot the little book that had all of the lines that he was supposed to say!  And who says the father of the bride doesn't get any nerves that day!

Brian and his father, who we lovingly call Pops, are very close.  When it was time for Brian to decide who his best man would be, he didn't hesitate to ask his father to be the best man.   

After being walked down by our fathers, our mothers proceeded to light the candles beside the unity candle.  Mom had a little problem, though.  Her lighter would not start!  She was such a cutie!  Eventually, she figured out the problem and the wedding continued. 

The song we never heard.  That is what we ended up naming the song that was sung at the beginning of the wedding.  The words on the sheet music were beautiful, and the tune on the soundtrack was sweet, but for some reason, we never actually heard the two together!  Oh, well.

The moment every bride waits for... to see the look on his face when he sees her in her wedding dress for the first time.  It was a priceless moment.

I wanted a beautiful story read at my wedding.  It was an analogy about purity. Because many of my students were present and had known that Brian and I waited to kiss each other for this special day and because I had sewn Brian a cross-stitched picture for our home of a young man and woman going on a picnic, I had the story read because all of this tied together.  The story took me only 5 minutes to read to myself... I happen to be a fast reader.  When the story was read aloud at the wedding, it took 20 minutes!  It has come to be known as the longest story ever read.

As was mentioned, this was my first kiss.  As Brian was given the go ahead by my father (who ironically had let him know that I was saving my first kiss for my wedding day when he asked for permission to date me), he said, "It was well worth the wait, Baby!" 

My mother had sold her Princess House silverware in order for us to have a horse and carriage.  As part of the service she was told that there would be a red carpet leading to the carriage for us to walk on.  The bridal party was told during the rehearsal that they were to line the red carpet for us to walk through.  When the doors opened after the wedding, we were left looking at a red bath rug! If it weren't for moments like that, where would the memories be?

Neither of us had gotten to see the wedding band that the other had bought until we put them on each other, so we took a moment to just look.

Because I was having two receptions (one small cake and punch one at the church for those who had come to the wedding but were not coming to the main reception), I had my bouquet toss from the carriage so that my students could participate.  And wouldn't you know, one of my students did catch the toss bouquet!

Our limo drove us to the entrance of the community that we were having our reception at.  The horse and buggy were waiting for us to take us to the clubhouse.  It was a wonderful 20 minutes that Brian and I had to finally be alone. 

Food.  I'm sure there was lots of food.  I'm sure the food was delicious.  Unfortunately, we never got to enjoy it.  From pictures, to greeting our guests, to more pictures, food was the last thing we got to have any of. 

Our cake was very nice.  All I got to enjoy was the bite used for the pictures.  However, we did get to enjoy our cake a year later on our first anniversary.  Brian and I had discussed before hand that we would not do any cake smashing.  We had shown each other so much respect during our courtship, it would seem disrespectful to let it all go now.  We politely fed each other our one piece of cake before being rushed away to another round of greetings and pictures.

And so began our wonderful life together.