Today marks a year since JR and I got married. We look a little unsure about that decision in the photo above.
Disclaimer: I need to get this out of the way. We got married on 7/7. We picked the day because that meant our venue would be $3,000 cheaper, and it was a date we figured we couldn’t forget. We could not have anticipated the police ambush in downtown Dallas that killed five officers. There was a palpable sadness weeks after. Half of the newsroom was in attendance at our wedding and though I know there were grumblings that it was a dry wedding, they would thank us later, and it would make for one heck of a story later.
Outtakes
The photos look gorgeous, but the stories behind them are better. When I woke up the morning of the wedding, I was coming off of Benadryl. One of my maids of honor had dealt with my mother in the wee hours of the morning because she couldn’t find my brother. Another bridesmaid was trying to hide that the flowers we put in the hotel fridge the night before had frozen. JR was playing stage manager at the rehearsal and was stressed out beyond belief. Meanwhile, I was getting my hair and makeup done, and stressing the entire time because I had no clue what was going on. At some point, our cake arrived partially melted, but I didn’t find that out until much later.
We have quite a few wedding regrets. JR is still a little bitter that our mariachi was late. I was in tears because of an argument with a family member. Planning big parties gives me major anxiety. I would’ve preferred eloping out of the country in Seoul. But alas, the wedding is just one day out of a lifetime covenant, so I’m not trippin’ about it. Our friends came through in a clutch.
A year later
It feels strange to be celebrating a year of marriage because we’ve been together for almost six years now. One year feels like a very small unit of time in comparison to the experiences we’ve had together throughout our relationship. As the pastors would say though, “new levels, new devils.” We’ve had to learn how to live with each other, which was much easier than I thought it would be. I think we’ve found our groove for now.
As we were getting ready for work this morning, I posed this question to JR:
How has your life changed the most since getting married?
It was a spur-of-the-moment question. JR says I had more sleep than him, so therefore my answer was better, but I disagree.
- Me: “I understood (finally) what sacrificial love meant.”
- JR: “I realize my role in your life is more valuable than I think it is.”
Awww. We’re not always this sappy. I think we’re dorky 50 percent of the time. But in a year of marriage, we’ve cried, argued, struggled, laughed, and created memories. Here are a few:
- Weirdest moment: A week after our wedding, we attended his groomsman’s wedding. We were told we would be put up in a hotel for the night. The “hotel” ended up being rooms nuns at the local Catholic church used to live in. The building was also next to a Catholic graveyard. I teased JR endlessly about being greeted by the ghosts of disgruntled nuns slapping us with rulers.
- An actual quote from my spouse: (As I’m styling my bangs) “Don’t burn your eyebrows! You don’t have much to work with.”
- An actual quote from me: “Is there a reason why these cookies look like pancakes?”
- Our finest moment: When we’re talking to each other in the morning as we get ready for work, half asleep at 4 a.m. We usually don’t make sense.
- New traditions: Praying before meals. Spanish practice with vocabulary words. Just last week, we made up a Spanish song about setting the table so I could practice.
And there’s more to come! We’ve got a date at the Dallas Museum of Art to see the Mexico 1900-1950 exhibit before it ends next week. Though I know today will be a solemn day in Dallas, we’re going to do our best to make it a happy celebration.