Marriage and Texas: A new chapter
I am officially married, moved and employed. Ok, so I am not getting paid to perform in an ensemble but I am teaching private clarinet lessons!
The past month has been nothing short of a whirlwind. The wedding was amazing. Having nearly all of my closest family and friends were there to help us celebrate. We had a brass quintet made up of LSU and CCM friends and Marti played the organ. Rachel, my old roommate from Cincinnati, played solo violin during communion, which was gorgeous. I had my three closest girls by my side, Candy, Stephanie and Rachel. My dress looked wonderful. The alterations that were made to my mother's wedding dress were fantastic. It looked like an entirely new dress and was still appropriate for a summer wedding. I couldn't have bought a dress like this. Plus, Great Grandma Compton, who I was very close to as a child, made this dress for my mother 31 years ago. My something old rocked!
I have no words for when you look into the eyes of the one you love dearest and tell them that you love them and will continue to all the days of your life. I seriously worked to hold myself together the entire service. I only cried once; when we turned around at the end of the service to look at all the family and friends that were there to support us in our marriage. It was then that I lost it. Knowing you are loved and seeing that love in the physical manifestation of your loved ones presence is overwhelming.
The reception was a blast! The jazz combo we had made up of Army Blues guys was a huge hit with everyone. Nobody really danced but instead clapped at the end of nearly every tune. It was so good to see folks appreciating the music. The food turned out wonderfully and so was the cake.
Speaking of cake...Only one thing went horribly yet hilariously wrong. When we went to cut the cake, Mark wanted them to move the table a bit for better lighting. So one of the caterer's helpers went to move the table. Instead of picking up the table a bit to move it, he pushed it from behind and the table gave out! The cake slid forward but luckily stayed on the tablecloth. We were able to get the cake back up (slightly tilted) for the cake cutting photos. We just laughed about it and cut the cake. Mark is fixing those photos in post editing. =P
Everything else from our first dance together to the garter and bouquet toss went smoothly. We got to have the last dance together ("I could have danced all night") and cheered as we left the church in a rather silly looking decorated car.
We went to a lovely bed and breakfast in Orange, VA called Chestnut Hill B&B. It was owned and run by a wonderful couple and is a historical site. The actual house had to be moved over several hundred feet so it wasn't in the original location. Kathleen and Troy did a really nice job of restoring the house. All of the fixtures and fireplaces were is the style of the one original fireplace in the main room. The entire atmosphere was elegant and classy with a friendly touch. And there was an open bar (no extra charge!). We went wine tasting a King's Family, Veritas and Prince Michels Vineyards and even watched a polo match at King's Family. I have a whole new respect for Virginia wines, and a whole bunch of new wine glasses!
Richard surprised me with a hot air balloon ride really early on our last morning there. Virginia in the early morning looks gorgeous. Nothing like being up before the sun is.
Our honeymoon was only two days due to both of us having military band auditions four days after the wedding. Richard had the Army Band and I had the Air Force Band. We both made the semi-finals but didn't advance. He got nervous and I just screwed up Pineapple Poll. Seriously, I could have won that job and I let one of my best excerpts get the best of me. But for the first time, I'm not nearly as upset because I still have a husband, a job, and a house to live in.
The move to Texas took two days. We managed to get Richard back in time for the first full week of classes at UNT. I spent the first week hunting down cheap furniture and cleaning the house. We have a three room house that was definitely built in the 1930's. The sink in the bathroom is rather small, round and has separate faucets for hot and cold! Think of the sinks in the movie The Green Mile.
Job-wise, I am teaching in the Hebron Cluster at Killian and Creek Valley Middle Schools in Lewisville ISD and at Boswell HS in the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD. They have all these different independent school districts down here in Texas. It's strange and quite a pain going through different isd's with all the paperwork and jumping through stupid hoops. I'm sill not teaching at Creek Valley. Luckily, I am teaching at Killian and Boswell. With all three school, that gives me a total of 38 students. I'm sure I will loose some and hopefully gain some more. The kids are such a joy to teach (well, most of them.). I am very thankful that I have a job here. Quite a few folks aren't so lucky.
More on Texas to come in my next entry.
The past month has been nothing short of a whirlwind. The wedding was amazing. Having nearly all of my closest family and friends were there to help us celebrate. We had a brass quintet made up of LSU and CCM friends and Marti played the organ. Rachel, my old roommate from Cincinnati, played solo violin during communion, which was gorgeous. I had my three closest girls by my side, Candy, Stephanie and Rachel. My dress looked wonderful. The alterations that were made to my mother's wedding dress were fantastic. It looked like an entirely new dress and was still appropriate for a summer wedding. I couldn't have bought a dress like this. Plus, Great Grandma Compton, who I was very close to as a child, made this dress for my mother 31 years ago. My something old rocked!
I have no words for when you look into the eyes of the one you love dearest and tell them that you love them and will continue to all the days of your life. I seriously worked to hold myself together the entire service. I only cried once; when we turned around at the end of the service to look at all the family and friends that were there to support us in our marriage. It was then that I lost it. Knowing you are loved and seeing that love in the physical manifestation of your loved ones presence is overwhelming.
The reception was a blast! The jazz combo we had made up of Army Blues guys was a huge hit with everyone. Nobody really danced but instead clapped at the end of nearly every tune. It was so good to see folks appreciating the music. The food turned out wonderfully and so was the cake.
Speaking of cake...Only one thing went horribly yet hilariously wrong. When we went to cut the cake, Mark wanted them to move the table a bit for better lighting. So one of the caterer's helpers went to move the table. Instead of picking up the table a bit to move it, he pushed it from behind and the table gave out! The cake slid forward but luckily stayed on the tablecloth. We were able to get the cake back up (slightly tilted) for the cake cutting photos. We just laughed about it and cut the cake. Mark is fixing those photos in post editing. =P
Everything else from our first dance together to the garter and bouquet toss went smoothly. We got to have the last dance together ("I could have danced all night") and cheered as we left the church in a rather silly looking decorated car.
We went to a lovely bed and breakfast in Orange, VA called Chestnut Hill B&B. It was owned and run by a wonderful couple and is a historical site. The actual house had to be moved over several hundred feet so it wasn't in the original location. Kathleen and Troy did a really nice job of restoring the house. All of the fixtures and fireplaces were is the style of the one original fireplace in the main room. The entire atmosphere was elegant and classy with a friendly touch. And there was an open bar (no extra charge!). We went wine tasting a King's Family, Veritas and Prince Michels Vineyards and even watched a polo match at King's Family. I have a whole new respect for Virginia wines, and a whole bunch of new wine glasses!
Richard surprised me with a hot air balloon ride really early on our last morning there. Virginia in the early morning looks gorgeous. Nothing like being up before the sun is.
Our honeymoon was only two days due to both of us having military band auditions four days after the wedding. Richard had the Army Band and I had the Air Force Band. We both made the semi-finals but didn't advance. He got nervous and I just screwed up Pineapple Poll. Seriously, I could have won that job and I let one of my best excerpts get the best of me. But for the first time, I'm not nearly as upset because I still have a husband, a job, and a house to live in.
The move to Texas took two days. We managed to get Richard back in time for the first full week of classes at UNT. I spent the first week hunting down cheap furniture and cleaning the house. We have a three room house that was definitely built in the 1930's. The sink in the bathroom is rather small, round and has separate faucets for hot and cold! Think of the sinks in the movie The Green Mile.
Job-wise, I am teaching in the Hebron Cluster at Killian and Creek Valley Middle Schools in Lewisville ISD and at Boswell HS in the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD. They have all these different independent school districts down here in Texas. It's strange and quite a pain going through different isd's with all the paperwork and jumping through stupid hoops. I'm sill not teaching at Creek Valley. Luckily, I am teaching at Killian and Boswell. With all three school, that gives me a total of 38 students. I'm sure I will loose some and hopefully gain some more. The kids are such a joy to teach (well, most of them.). I am very thankful that I have a job here. Quite a few folks aren't so lucky.
More on Texas to come in my next entry.