As I told you before, Justin proposed to me on September 19, 2008, the day after he graduated from basic training. When we went to tech school, I started planning our wedding. The original plan was for him to graduate tech school in late November, which he did, take leave in route before going to his first duty station, and for us to get married in December before we went to wherever the Air Force told us to go. Well, plans don't always go the way you want them to now do they? About a month into the wedding planning and his schooling, he called me and told me that he had gotten his orders and knew where he was going. I could tell in his voice that he wasn't happy with his assignment. Then he told me...they were sending him to Okinawa, Japan and if I wanted to go with him, we were going to have to get married ASAP. My initial reaction was a full blown freak out. I flat out told him that there was no way that I was moving to the other side of the world and that the wedding was off, etc. Of course, I didn't mean a word I said and Justin knew that. I was so upset but I knew as soon as I got off the phone with him that I was going to go with him to the land of rice if that's what it took to be with him. The next day, Justin called me after school and said "Wanna go to Japan with me?" I had calmed down and thought through it all and my answer was "Sure". I remember that conversation so well. So, that weekend, my mom, sister, grandmother, and future mother in law rented a van and drove 16 hours to Wichita Falls so I could marry my Airman. Needless to say, my family was less than thrilled that we had to cancel the wedding and at the way we had to go about things. But eventually, they got over it. Anyway, we left late Thursday evening and drove all night. We finally got to our hotel in Wichita Falls around 8 or 9 in the morning which gave us enough time to get primped, pick up Justin, and head to the courthouse to get hitched! When we picked Justin up outside of the gate of the base and I saw him for the first time in a month, I feel in love with him all over again and the whole world, the whole mess all of a sudden felt right. We got to the courthouse, got our license and sat there waiting impatiently for the Justice of the Peace to see us. Believe it or not, I wasn't a bit nervous but I could tell that Justin was, even though he was trying to hide it. I was so afraid that we were going to have a boring, run of the mill, in and out courthouse wedding with a dull judge. But once we walked into the judges chamber, it was way better than I imagined! The judge was the sweetest, funniest woman and she had a big arch that was decorated with flowers. The vows she had us recite to one another were so personal and I don't think we could have written them better ourselves. She incorporated the military and the flag into them and it made them that much more special. And then, she finally pronounced us husband and wife and before she even got the full sentence out of her mouth, I kissed my husband for the first time! I was the happiest girl in the world. But we had no time to celebrate right then. We had to rush to the base and do all the post wedding mambo jumbo. After all of that was done, we finally got to go back to the room and relax...well, not totally relax ;) I was on my happy cloud again...this time with my husband! The next day, we had the entire day to spend together...and with my mom, sister, grandmother, and new mother in law. I never wanted that day to end but it did. I had to say goodbye to my husband of 2 days and be away from him for another month. Needless to say, I was bummed for a while after we got back. But I realized that I'm not only married to the love of my life and my best friend, but to the Air Force as well. They own him, and now they own me too. If I wanted to be with him and make my marriage work, I was going to have to suck it up and get use to being second and being away from him. Do I like the fact that we didn't get to have a wedding? No. Do I like being away from Justin a lot? No way. Do I like my family being owned by the government? No freaking way. But I knew what I was getting myself into when I married a U.S. Airman. I wouldn't change one thing about the way we did things or our crazy life together. He is amazing and I love him more now than the day we said "I do".
And that's the story of our "wedding" :)
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