Newly Wed

It's official! I'm now Mrs. Eric Schneider. The December to Remember was unbelievably perfect. I finished the daunting task of my student teaching portfolio, said farewell to those wonderful MHS seniors, graduated from Kansas State University, and became a licensed teacher. (a license that will hopefully serve me well this fall)

I then watched my brother marry such a wonderful woman, now Mrs. Katie Lewis! My new sister-in-law is talented, kind, and fits in to our family perfectly. My brother is pretty lucky! Their wedding on the plaza was a fantasy! My favorite memory was waiting on the trolley with Katie and the other bridesmaids to walk down the aisle. She was so ready to go, and the time seemed to stretch on forever. We all stared at her, as she stared at the church doors and the clock. After the wedding, as the we got on the trolley to go take bridal party pictures, a light snow began to fall. It was a beautiful evening. It made me anticipate our night that would be in two weeks.

The two weeks in between then and New Year's Eve are a blur to me now. But the night Eric and I had been anticipating for so long came even faster than you all warned me. Everything just went perfect that day. So many people travelled from so many different places to celebrate with us.

Best moment, you ask? Definitely has to be the one we all dream about. I took my Dad's arm as we waited outside the sanctuary doors. My fingers were ice, my palms sweaty, my teeth dry from my permanent smile as we approached the double doors inside. I heard the drums build as the wedding planner asked me, "Are you ready?"

I looked at my dad. He was shaky with tears in his eyes. I nodded my head as she fixed my train. The ushers opened the double doors.

There he was. Standing at the foot of the alter that I had seen so many times. This time it looked like all my Sunday morning day dreams... ONLY IT WAS REAL!

We began to walk slowly down the aisle. I really don't think anything was going through my head. I just had this blurred tunnel vision. I only saw Eric. And as we got closer I saw the tears rolling down his cheeks. My groom, now husband, has the biggest heart a man could have.

And I committed my life to him. I do! and I will.

We are writing the rest of the story together now. Being married has been very surreal for us. As comfortable and normal as it feels, I have those random moments where I still think it's all a dream. But then I wake up to the sound of his razor, and remember that it is REAL! It is a fun, unpredictable, but the best adventure I've had yet.

The honeymoon in Negril, Jamaica was a bit of a roller coaster. Eric got the nasty flu that had been going around. Basically, our second night of marriage was spent with Eric over the toilet all night. The next morning I held an IV above him as the doctor tried to figure out what other drugs he could take. Once we recovered from practicing "in sickness and in health", the trip was actually pretty spectacular. The beach was warm, the water beautifully blue, and the people mainly Canadian;) We made some great memories our first week of marriage!

I have really just been enjoying life this last week in Manhattan. I started my new job as an ESL para, which will be challenging and rewarding. I will hopefully be getting another part time job to get the bills paid too. I love all this new free time I have too! I love reading my wonderful Kindle, spending more time with the Lord, decorating our little home, and watching movies with my husband. I'm working on my love of being domestic :)

This semester is like a new blanket of snow... I want to build a giant snowman and a fort to store snowballs in. But I can't do that without getting some tracks on the ground.

So here goes putting some steps in the freshly fallen snow!