Emily tagged everyone, so I decided to try it, as I thoroughly enjoyed Lillian's and Emily's. Marriage is a beautiful call, and its always good to remember how God brought about that realization of being called, right? :)
1. Where/How did you meet? My sophomore year at Texas A&M at the student center of St. Mary's. I was dating someone at the time and he was a Methodist checking out the Catholic faith. I came into the Student center one evening after daily Mass and he was sitting in one of the sofa chairs just hanging out. I was planning on going to the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner they had at the end of every semester but I had forgot to RSVP. I asked him if he wanted to go, but he replied that he hadn't volunteered with anything here...but he had staffed any Aggie Awakening. I told him that was enough and we headed to the Dinner where I don't even remember if we sat at the same table. (BTW, Daniel doesn't remember this meeting at all.) Anyway, we were just barely acquaintances after that but had mutual friends. And by the providence of God, I went to his entrance into the Catholic Church at the invitation of one of those friends. That was just before I left for NYC to volunteer for a year and ended up seriously discerning religious life with many visits to convents in the area. When I came back to finish up my last two years at TAMU, we became better friends through our mutual friends and our mutual discernment of religious life. Spending many hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament together and many hours discussing religious life, Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body, and then the vocation to marriage and family, we started dating toward the end of my first semester back at school. We decided you could get married AND be holy, too. That, indeed, the Sacrament to matrimony is a call to holiness!
2. How long have you known each other? 7 years
3. How long after you met did you start dating? A year and a half
4. How long did you date before you were engaged? 1 year
5. How long was your engagement? 7 months
6. How long have you been married? Almost 4 years
7. What is your anniversary? Vigil of Pentecost (June) 2003
8. How many people came to your wedding reception? Around 300 people
9. What kind of cake did you serve? Italian Cream Cake made by my cousin...now that's a story. He made it and iced it in Austin which is an hour away from Fredericksburg. Then he drove it in his un-air conditioned truck to the reception hall in the middle of Texas summer. When he arrived, all the icing had melted off. So he missed the actually wedding Mass as he was running to the store, buying more icing ingredients, and redecorating the cake. He did a wonderful job, the cake was great, really moist (all that extra icing melted in), I loved it.
10. Where was your wedding? St. Mary's Catholic Church, Fredericksburg, TX
11. What did you serve for your meal? Meat and cheese trays, rolls, fresh fruit, punch, coffee, and beer.
12.How many people were in your wedding party? My sister and Daniel's brother were the official witnesses. Both my parents walked me down the isle as did both his. My brother, then Deacon Brian witnessed the vows while Fr. Brian McMaster (my spiritual director at the time) and Fr. Michael McDermott (a friend and one of Fr. Brian's teachers at the seminary) celebrated the Mass. We had semarian friends and a CFR friar for servers at the Holy Altar. My brothers Brent and Bradley were ushers along with a cousin and two friends.
13. Are you still friends with them all? Yes, as most are family.
14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? No, but not for lack of emotion...just a little too scared to cry in front of all those people. Ok, he said he did after receiving Holy Communion.
15. Most special moment of your wedding day? All of it, especially the wedding ceremony and Mass.
16. Any funny moments? I wore cowboy boots and my dress was long...so long that while dancing the first dance and Daniel trying to show off his spinning skills which we had never practiced in full attire, I lost my balance quite a few time. We were only saved by Daniel's ability to turn my falls into dips.
17. Any big disasters? None that I remember except for the almost disaster of the cake mentioned above. Well, and I did slip up while saying my vows and when my brother tried to help me say it correctly, he said it wrong, too. I got it right by just starting from the beginning. That's what I get for being stubborn about memorizing them instead of just repeating them.
18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? Galveston, TX to his family's beach house
19. How long were you gone? A week
20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change? Nothing...it was perfect.
21. What side of the bed do you sleep on? Whichever side is closest to the kids' bed next to ours and the bathroom when I'm pregnant.
22. What size is your bed? Queen size, now. We get whatever has been donated down here in Honduras.
23. Greatest strength as a couple? Definitely our Catholic faith and our desire to live simply and be dedicated to raising our kids to be the saints they are called to be.
24. Greatest challenge as a couple? Supporting each other in the “mission field” where the presence of like-minded families or married couple is few.
25. Who literally pays the bills? We're supported in our missionary life by benefactors, mostly our family. But when it comes down to going to the bank here in Honduras, Daniel or the friars do it.
26. What is your song? “Forever and ever. Amen” by Randy Travis
27. What did you dance your first dance to? Same as above
28. Describe your wedding dress: White satin, ballgown, jewel neckline (I just had to look the previous two terms up as I'm not the savviest on my gown terminology), with simple beading on the bodice above the waist...maybe some on the bottom of the skirt, too, but I can't remember.
29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? For the altar, red, orangish, and yellow roses (Flame colors for Pentecost), I carried white roses, the reception tables were decorated with mixed bouquets of “wildflowers.”
30. Are your wedding bands engraved? Yes, mine has DANIEL inside it and his has MICHELLE.
31. How old were you when you got married? 23!
I tag Marcela.
1. Where/How did you meet? My sophomore year at Texas A&M at the student center of St. Mary's. I was dating someone at the time and he was a Methodist checking out the Catholic faith. I came into the Student center one evening after daily Mass and he was sitting in one of the sofa chairs just hanging out. I was planning on going to the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner they had at the end of every semester but I had forgot to RSVP. I asked him if he wanted to go, but he replied that he hadn't volunteered with anything here...but he had staffed any Aggie Awakening. I told him that was enough and we headed to the Dinner where I don't even remember if we sat at the same table. (BTW, Daniel doesn't remember this meeting at all.) Anyway, we were just barely acquaintances after that but had mutual friends. And by the providence of God, I went to his entrance into the Catholic Church at the invitation of one of those friends. That was just before I left for NYC to volunteer for a year and ended up seriously discerning religious life with many visits to convents in the area. When I came back to finish up my last two years at TAMU, we became better friends through our mutual friends and our mutual discernment of religious life. Spending many hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament together and many hours discussing religious life, Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body, and then the vocation to marriage and family, we started dating toward the end of my first semester back at school. We decided you could get married AND be holy, too. That, indeed, the Sacrament to matrimony is a call to holiness!
2. How long have you known each other? 7 years
3. How long after you met did you start dating? A year and a half
4. How long did you date before you were engaged? 1 year
5. How long was your engagement? 7 months
6. How long have you been married? Almost 4 years
7. What is your anniversary? Vigil of Pentecost (June) 2003
8. How many people came to your wedding reception? Around 300 people
9. What kind of cake did you serve? Italian Cream Cake made by my cousin...now that's a story. He made it and iced it in Austin which is an hour away from Fredericksburg. Then he drove it in his un-air conditioned truck to the reception hall in the middle of Texas summer. When he arrived, all the icing had melted off. So he missed the actually wedding Mass as he was running to the store, buying more icing ingredients, and redecorating the cake. He did a wonderful job, the cake was great, really moist (all that extra icing melted in), I loved it.
10. Where was your wedding? St. Mary's Catholic Church, Fredericksburg, TX
11. What did you serve for your meal? Meat and cheese trays, rolls, fresh fruit, punch, coffee, and beer.
12.How many people were in your wedding party? My sister and Daniel's brother were the official witnesses. Both my parents walked me down the isle as did both his. My brother, then Deacon Brian witnessed the vows while Fr. Brian McMaster (my spiritual director at the time) and Fr. Michael McDermott (a friend and one of Fr. Brian's teachers at the seminary) celebrated the Mass. We had semarian friends and a CFR friar for servers at the Holy Altar. My brothers Brent and Bradley were ushers along with a cousin and two friends.
13. Are you still friends with them all? Yes, as most are family.
14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? No, but not for lack of emotion...just a little too scared to cry in front of all those people. Ok, he said he did after receiving Holy Communion.
15. Most special moment of your wedding day? All of it, especially the wedding ceremony and Mass.
16. Any funny moments? I wore cowboy boots and my dress was long...so long that while dancing the first dance and Daniel trying to show off his spinning skills which we had never practiced in full attire, I lost my balance quite a few time. We were only saved by Daniel's ability to turn my falls into dips.
17. Any big disasters? None that I remember except for the almost disaster of the cake mentioned above. Well, and I did slip up while saying my vows and when my brother tried to help me say it correctly, he said it wrong, too. I got it right by just starting from the beginning. That's what I get for being stubborn about memorizing them instead of just repeating them.
18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? Galveston, TX to his family's beach house
19. How long were you gone? A week
20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change? Nothing...it was perfect.
21. What side of the bed do you sleep on? Whichever side is closest to the kids' bed next to ours and the bathroom when I'm pregnant.
22. What size is your bed? Queen size, now. We get whatever has been donated down here in Honduras.
23. Greatest strength as a couple? Definitely our Catholic faith and our desire to live simply and be dedicated to raising our kids to be the saints they are called to be.
24. Greatest challenge as a couple? Supporting each other in the “mission field” where the presence of like-minded families or married couple is few.
25. Who literally pays the bills? We're supported in our missionary life by benefactors, mostly our family. But when it comes down to going to the bank here in Honduras, Daniel or the friars do it.
26. What is your song? “Forever and ever. Amen” by Randy Travis
27. What did you dance your first dance to? Same as above
28. Describe your wedding dress: White satin, ballgown, jewel neckline (I just had to look the previous two terms up as I'm not the savviest on my gown terminology), with simple beading on the bodice above the waist...maybe some on the bottom of the skirt, too, but I can't remember.
29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? For the altar, red, orangish, and yellow roses (Flame colors for Pentecost), I carried white roses, the reception tables were decorated with mixed bouquets of “wildflowers.”
30. Are your wedding bands engraved? Yes, mine has DANIEL inside it and his has MICHELLE.
31. How old were you when you got married? 23!
I tag Marcela.
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