Posts Tagged ‘vow renewal ceremony’

Day 365… What a Year! Is This The End Or Just Another Beginning?

Posted: September 10, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Friday, August 5, 2011

So, all good things must come to an end and our second honeymoon is no exception.  Wait!  Did I call it good?  Sorry.  Make that great!

It was so amazing to share this time with someone who I’ve known and loved for years, and yet in the context of a “new” relationship.  It was truly some of the most blessed days imaginable.

Our room was terrific, as always.  All the rooms have kitchens and we always bring a lot of groceries and do a lot of cooking and relaxing while we’re there.  They also have several great restaurants on site, so we took advantage of that as well.

It was extremely hot all week, so when we weren’t indoors, we were usually either in the lazy river or in one of the several swimming pools.  We also went canoeing in the early morning on the lake and took walks in the evening around the resort.

Tonight we drive home and tomorrow morning, we get up early for our 62 mile Tour De Cox.  Today is 365 days – exactly one year from the day we woke up after our separation and started over on the day we had planned to ride our first Tour in 2010.

Tomorrow, after the Tour, we will welcome family and friends from near and far who will come to share our vow renewal ceremony.  After that?  Well, it will officially be the end of the Restoration Tour, but it will only be the beginning of the rest of our lives.

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Day 357 and Counting… An Extra Night On The Airline’s Tab

Posted: August 27, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Thursday, July 28, 2011

One more little adventure cropped up before we could we could get back home.  We flew from San Francisco to Denver, where we were supposed to connect with our flight to Springfield, but there had been a delay and we couldn’t make our connecting flight.

While this was causing quite a bit of grumbling from people on schedules, we were quite happy to accept the vouchers for a free meal and a free night at a nice hotel in Denver.  It just extended our vacation by another day, and we didn’t mind in the least.

This morning, we flew back home, and the restoration tour is nearly complete.  We have a few loose ends to tie up, but nothing stressful.  All the work has pretty much been done and we are ready for our honeymoon, the Tour De Cox and our vow ceremony!

Day 346 and Counting… The “Poofiest” Dress

Posted: August 14, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Well, my wife bought her dress for the ceremony.  It’s bright orange (yes, I know Alice wore a blue dress in the movie), and I don’t know any other way to describe it except, “poofy.”  We also went around and found a variety of accessories to go with it and it should be a dress that no one will forget!

We ordered the cake pops and I think the preparations are pretty much good at this point.  They kind of have to be, since we leave for California tomorrow!  Then we come back for 2 days, head to Big Cedar Lodge for our second honeymoon, come back home and the next day is our ceremony.

Hard to believe it’s been almost exactly a year.  On the one hand, it’s been the longest year imaginable.  On the other, it’s gone by so fast it seems like last week that we were getting back together.

 

Day 334 and Counting… More Ceremony Plans

Posted: August 2, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Friday, July 8, 2011

Planning continues for our ceremony.  We’ve picked out some songs we want played and worked on a few of the other details.  I asked my friend Joe if he would play and sing “Marry Me,’ by Train, but he said the guy’s range was way too high and he could never pull it off.

We decided we can just play recordings and picked up a few cd’s.  One of them is by Brandi Carlile, who we had only heard of because of church.

Around Easter, they did the song “The Story,” which was played at the end of the movie, “The Lucky One.”  When they sang it in church, we were amazed by the lyrics and my wife immediately leaned over to me and said, “I want this song for our ceremony.”

We found out that a bridezilla has booked the entire building at Nathaniel Greene Park on the day of our ceremony for her own wedding, so we’re looking for plan B.  I’ve always only envisioned having it there, but we’ll figure something out.

My friends Joe and Kevin are both going to speak, as is our daughter, Angie. We’re not going to have a preacher because we’re already legally married and we don’t know anyone in that capacity who knows us well enough to really be part of this.  We’re also going to write our own vows and say them to each other.  I still haven’t figured out what I’m going to say, but I’m not worried about it.  It’s not a matter of not being able to think of anything.  It’s a matter of wanting to say way too much and needing to get it down to what’s really important.

Day 317 and Counting… Planning for our Ceremony

Posted: July 18, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Things are in full swing for the culmination of the restoration tour.  As we count down to 365 days, or one full year of restoration, pieces are starting to fall into place.

I’ve known since August 7th of last year that we would spend a year restoring our marriage, then ride the Tour de Cox and hold a ceremony in which we would renew our vows on August 6 of this year.  To that end, we’ve talked, loved, visited, revisited, and trained, all with the goal of healing the past hurts and building a strong and brighter future.

What hasn’t been so sure is what that ceremony is exactly going to look like.  It’s been more a vague concept than anything actually planned until more recently.  I’ve known that it would happen, but the how, when, where, etc. was kind of left up to chance.

That’s not like me at all.  I’m a planner who wants to know all the details of a thing before I take it on.  In this case, it was all part of the vision God gave me and I’ve just known that it would come together and that it would be beautiful.

Over the weekend, Ceecee and I were at Nathaniel Greene Park.  It’s a large area in south Springfield and the south creek trail, where we often run and cycle, runs right through it.

We went around to the back side of the artificial lake, where we’ve never been, and discovered some small, secluded playgrounds back there.  One has a teeter totter that’s made like a dragonfly.  Another has cement tables and chairs that are painted like bright, exotic mushrooms.  This is where we were sitting when the inspiration hit.

I made the comment that it felt like we were sitting in wonderland.  Ceecee immediately picked up on the idea and said that maybe we could have a Mad Hatter’s tea party theme for our ceremony.  I quickly agreed and we began scoping out the park for more ideas.

We also went to a consignment dress store downtown she could shop for an “Alice” dress to wear.  We found a few ideas and I have some thoughts about dressing up as the Mad Hatter, as well.

Today is the official first day of summer, although we’ve been celebrating the summer of restoration since June 1.  Yesterday we went to the Kansas City Zoo and to a tapas bar with Rachel and her boyfriend Ryan and had a great time.  Ceecee said she “felt whole.”

Tonight, we’re having Kevin, “the marriage guy,” and his wife over for dinner.  I’m going to ask Kevin if he will be part of our ceremony.  I’d like him to speak a few words, especially as related to the advice he gave me and the way he helped support us while we were separated.

Day 300 and Counting… Restoring the Medical Mile and 5K

Posted: June 27, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Saturday, June 4, 2011

What a good idea we had at art walk last night!

We haven’t really done a lot of planning for our vow renewal ceremony, but we know we want it to be fun, casual, and only include some family and a very few close friends – those who have stood by us and would really understand what this means. Last night at art walk, they were giving out free samples of cake pops and they had them in a bunch of different fun flavors and colors. We both thought they would be perfect to serve instead of a cake at our ceremony, so we’re going to look into pricing and flavors!

This morning, Ceecee ran the medical Mile and 5K, just like last year.  Well, other than her getting second place in the mile in her age group for the second year in a row, it was nothing like last year.

Last year, our marriage was going down the drain and she was making plans for a life without me.  This year, we were together and very much in each other’s hearts and minds.  This is just one of many restorations to come this summer!

Later today, we’re going to my Dad’s to celebrate his 81st birthday.  Hard to believe we’re 300 days into the restoration tour.  It’s all seeming to happen so fast now, but I’m making sure to document and savor it as much as possible while it happens.

Day 288 and Counting… Letting Go of the Second Job

Posted: June 18, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Monday, May 23, 2011

I finally put my notice in at Macy’s.  I haven’t needed the job for quite a while, but the extra money has been nice.

My getting that job was also a key step in getting my wife back because it showed her I was willing to be unselfish and sacrifice to make things better.  It was easy work, but it’s time for it to end.

In fact, my wife has wanted me to quit for some time now because she’d rather have me home than get the extra paycheck.  Our last day of school is this Thursday, and I’ve decided that I’m not going to work during our summer of restoration.

I’ll wrap up this weekend and then I’m done.  We’ll have all of June and July to complete the remaining steps on the restoration tour and then we’ll be riding the Tour de Cox and having our vow renewal ceremony on August 6th!