And They Lived Happily Ever After...

No...not the couple above!

No...this couple is almost half way there...

YES...this couple above have begun their journey to "Happily ever after".

Massey and I were lucky enough to witness their very emotional and touching wedding. A girl I work with married a guy I used to work with (so the story goes) and they locked the ball and chain (I mean tied the knot) last weekend.

Here's one of the bridesmaids (Peppermint Patty) beaming after catching the bouquet and telling (Cinderella) "Better luck next time, Beeotch". Needless to say they both work with me (I think the cartoon nicknames clear that up).

Lucky for Peppermint Patty and Cinderella, they both have awesome men in their lives so neither one of them has to worry.

The Bride was absolutely gorgeous...the little old lady next to her, not so much!

She creamed him with the wedding cake right after he so sweetly held out a bite for her to nibble from. Hey...that kind of sums up what happens to a man once he asks you to marry him.

He thinks he is just giving you one little ring, what he DOESN'T know is that our little wheels are already spinning the minute he says "I will" and "I do".

Brides need to record those two words to remind them of years down the road we like to call "Honey-do Circle". They start out constantly saying they will and often do hop right to it.

Twenty years down the road it 's "I'll see" and "I'll try".

I call it Honey-do Circle because it just goes round and round...it's the never ending road to "Happily Ever After".

Men and woman are so polar opposite...it's no wonder we are attracted to each other, if the old saying is true.

Marriage is give and take. Unfortunately sometimes you have to give more than you get but other times you get so much more having put forth little effort. That my friends is "Love".

It's not all sweet smelling flowers...sometimes it can be downright stinky Do-Do, but how would you ever know how lucky you can and sometimes are unless life gave you a few shots to the ribs or reality checks along the way?

The bad times make the good ones that much sweeter.

"The bad times make the good ones that much sweeter" is a very good theme for this wedding.

It was originally planned for late in February...had to be moved up because of health problems with one of the parents. This parent is going through a bad time...which made them being a part of this wedding that much sweeter.

They could have spent over a year planning this wedding and it could not have been more perfect. Everything flowed as beautifully as the bride's stunning gown. The reception was at Mama Lucia's...great choice since they both worked there at one time or another and all their friends were able to attend whether they were working or not!

I can't think of a more deserving couple. They are both honest, wonderful hardworking people who found each other, fell in love and started their life together surrounded by friends and family.

Of course I took my side kick, Massey and we both had a ball.

The wedding was held in a small but beautiful church off the town square in Newnan. Massey and I sat with a couple of guys from work. Well, kinda. One is our wine distributor and considered a good friend even though I only met him when I started my new job almost a year ago.

He was sitting next to a former manager of mine who used to work at the Western Sizzler I worked at for over 13 years until they fired me for being too pretty and too efficient at my job. (Not really but that line made me really chuckle and it's taken me almost a year to get to that point so I thought I deserved the laugh). Actually he was gone from my store several years before my fall from grace and is hands down one of the best bosses I ever worked for.

Massey knew them both and we had to quiet ourselves several times...it's just so much fun being around friends at happy occasions. Massey picked lint off my bachelor friend's suit for him and I shook my head at Massey and said "Thanks baby, he ain't got a girlfriend right now, bless his heart. Some body's gotta do it for him".

We all chuckled when we heard the Flower Girls lining up to come in. It sounded like the lunchroom in an elementary school on Pizza day.

There were only three attendants but what they lacked in attendants they made up for in Flower Girls...it was precious!

Five little flower girls...traipsing one at a time determined to get those petals in all the spots the others missed. There should have been six but that's another Blog another time.

I think if I ever did it over again I would do the same..highlight my wedding with the highlights of all my closest friend's lives, their children.

All in all it was a fabulous uplifting day. It reminded me of when I married Tim, gained a step son and started our lives out as a new family together.

It's almost 23 years down the road, we added two more children and then three more dogs. The kids are almost all grown, the youngest is fifteen.

In three years I will be saying to myself (and Tim if he's still listening)

"When we weren't looking a quarter of a century blew by. There were good years and there were bad years but they are all behind us. Good memories and a few bad...but at least we both have them. We raised three kids and even though they all three gave it a good shot they didn't kill us. Anyway, the older they get the smarter we seem. Our life has been good".

To me that makes for "Happily Ever After".

Life isn't a guarantee and makes no promises. Live for today and hope for tomorrow.

That's why we call it the present..."It's a gift".

Til next time...COTTON

PS Massey made all these pictures...not too bad for a beginner!