A Married Life for Me! And Duncan!

(That's a play on A Pirate's life for me... just in case you didn't get it. I forgive you.)

*Disclaimer: This post was started WEEKS ago... I've updated some glaring inconsistencies, but this will most likely be my last blog on this current site. You can find me with my husband, here.

It's official, Dunc and I are married. More than a month! That's like forever, right? Most of you who read this were there, but just for the sake of consistency (we all know what a consistent blogger I am) or thoroughness (and we all know how thorough I am in this blogging game - super, right?) I can't really let the occasion pass and not blog about it. It's not every day that you commit to spending the rest of your life with your best friend, the love of your life, and share the moment (or weekend) with your family and closest friends. So there. 

Said best friend and love of my life is also much better at blogging than I am. We are currently in negotiations for shared ownership of a blog. I think he might win. Case and point. It only took him 11 days to blog about our big day... *And he did it again... so yeah, negotiations complete. I'm joining him.*

It all started back in 2003 when Dunc and I met on a stairwell landing in McCarty Hall. Hilarity ensued, adventures were had and in the end, or the beginning, we fell in love.

Dunc is well aware of this fact, but I fell pretty hard for this crazy husband o'mine during our freshman year. I tried to play it cool - you know, act like the totally composed, successful, single college lady I was - but I pretty much failed. Like the morning after I met him, he walked into Anthro 101 and I jumped out of my seat, waving and yelling "DUNCAN!" in front of 200+ undergrads. I am the epitome of cool.

Regardless of how cool or uncool we may have been or continue to be, we have spent nearly 7 awesome years together - not nearly awesome years, they've been totally awesome, but we are nearing 7 years. We had planned on getting married on our 8th/2nd dating anniversary, February 29th, 2012 - but we're impatient and in love. And thus, I give you our wedding weekend:

In the late morning on July 9th, Dunc and I headed down to Tacoma with Oly in tow. When we hopped in the car, "Going to the Chapel" was playing on the radio - okay, we were married in the courthouse and not the chapel, but stiiiilllll, it was a good way to start the day. We arrived in T-town, met up with Dad & Thonky, compared all the Hauenstein signatures, Dunc napped (he was super relaxed like Lin on her wedding day), I walked around the park with friends and family and then we got ready.

Some of you may know that Dunc and I aren't really traditional on many fronts and our wedding day was no different. We got ready at my Mamz's house together, we saw each other before the ceremony, heck, Dunc even saw my dress months before the wedding, but we wanted each other nearby and wouldn't have done it any other way.

A little pre-wedding noogie for good luck.

Ashley on hair duty. The queen of hair, wait 'til you see the haircut she gave me post wedding.
*Most have you seen it...*

Sarah, who made my veil, also was on makeup patrol. She's a makeup artist/stylist extraordinaire.

Okay, I need to pause here to just say how thankful Duncan and I both are to have such awesome family and friends. Whether you were taking a bajillion photos, doing hair or makeup, making flowers, picking out adorable serving plates, making us cry with your tender words, brewing beer, baking cake, hosting events, or just generally being loving and supportive, we seriously would not have had the wonderful wedding weekend that we did. 

And we were off to the courthouse!

A little wedding pre-performance nerves. It totally felt like getting ready for a race or musical theatre.

The Future Sailors prepare to get hitched.

We spent a lot of time hugging and talking loudly outside the courtroom. Sorry Judge Orlando!

Then the whole gang moved into the courtroom. I think we may have had the most well attended courtroom ceremony, because we definitely took the judge and staff by surprise. Go giant family! GOOOO!

And then, bam! MARRIAGE!

We did it!

More hugging commenced + tears! 

After one hundred hugs and ten thousand tears of joys, we all headed out of the courtroom and the party moved to my wonderful sister, Katy's home. Dunc and I went off on our own married route. We checked into to our fancy "honeymoon" hotel, Hotel Murano. En route, a bike courier drove by us at a light, turned around and asked us, "Did you guys just get married?" After we responded with a resounding "YES!" bike dude proceeded to congratulate us. Dunc and I always appreciate a good, random interaction with a kind stranger and immediately concluded that being married is AWESOME! 

Finally, after snagging our fur child Napoleon, we made our way to the party that was well under way.

The grand pizza and bread stick entrance.

And then more hugs and tears, which seemed to be the theme of the weekend (this is where I wrap it up, because Dunc already talked about all of this). The major tear moments:

Thanks Logan!

Thanks Momlette! 

We love the CDs and book: one of the best gifts ever. Thank you all for contributing your love and words and your voices to such a fantastic weekend. Both Duncan and I felt so loved and the whole weekend just radiated with it.

LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Peace. See you on the Hauenstein Blog.