How does it feel to be married?

How does it feel to be married? Does it feel any different? The first time I was asked those questions was on the limo after the ceremony heading to the reception with a beer in my hand. The only thing that felt different at that point was the ring on my left hand. That following week we combined our checking accounts, and that made it a little more different and then today Emily officially changed her name to Emily Tyler and got her new driver’s license: that was exciting. Those are the physically things that have changed in our lives. So: that is the broad answer to what is different. But, how do I feel, what is different with me is a much bigger answer.

These past few weeks I have been thinking about what it means to be married, to have a wife, to take those vows that we took. It means so much more to me than just the ring on my finger, having a combined checking account and sharing a last name. (It means she has half my stuff). Stan, who leads the bible studies that I attend, told me that when you get married that is when you become a man. Now, for those guys who don’t get married you are S.O.L. ; you will stay little boys forever. But I think there is a certain about of truth to his statement. I don’t think marriage made me a man; it just made me a different man; a man with whole different set of priorities and a different outlook on life. Emily is no longer just a roommate who I share a bed with, she is my wife, and that takes on an entirely different light. She is the future mother of our children** , someone who stared me in the eye and promised to love me until death do us part. When I stood up there, in front of my closest friends and family and as God as our witness told Emily that I will love her until death to us part, it took on a whole different meaning on seriousness and commitment. I feel very blessed to have found a woman that is willing to and apparently wants to; spend the rest of her life with me. And that is something that I never want to forget nor take for granted

John King said during the ceremony that he wants to take the time to encourage us separately, and that will be the last time we are encouraged separately, we are one now. What I do affects Emily and visa versa. And that is a thought that never really crossed my mind before, although maybe it should have. It is not just Josh and Emily out there, it is the Tyler’s, and if the team doesn’t move together, it will fail. That is the profound difference to me: We are a team and we must move together. We no longer make decisions that are good for Josh or Emily, but for Us. And once we figure that out, this whole marriage thing will be a breeze!


**for those of you wondering when we are going to have kids: We are going to “talk” about it in a year. Not have kids in a year, just sit down and talk about it.**

Wedding Pictures

Click the picture to see all the wedding pictures courtesy of Dana Rose Photography.

User name is Emily&Josh and the password is 14599

The Wedding Dance

Thank you to Marino Video Productions for the video of this dance

Thanks again to all those who made this day possible!!

Ahhh...married life.

Well, as most of you now know: We made it!! The wedding went off without a hitch. We really feel that it could not have been more perfect. Norah did such an amazing job as our flower girl, John King brought tears to people’s eyes, Justin speech at Rehearsal was, as expected, great! I have been trying to reflect on the whole experience of getting married, the preparation, the build up, the Rehearsal, the ceremony and then the reception; and I think the best thing that sums it all up was precisely what we were going for: Simple, yet Elegant.
The anticipation and the stress of everything caught up to me on Thursday night at Rehearsal and I got sick. I was nervous about my speech, which is odd, being a communication major and in sales most of my life. What made me nervous was: 1. not wanting to cry and 2, making sure I said everything that I wanted to say to Emily. I felt this was my one shot to publicly build up Emily and let her know how amazing I think that she is. I think I accomplished what I sat out to do, but I did tear up at the end.
I think Mom and Justin did a fantastic job on Rehearsal! It went with the whole theme, it was very nice, yet people were able to have a good time. Fanny Pack Elvis was a great thing that set the tone for the rest of the wedding. Thanks so much Mom for everything that you did, you just don’t know how much it means to Emily and I!
Emily asked me what was on my mind when she first walked into the room. I was really thinking all about her and what she was thinking. This is the moment that she has been waiting for. The music starting, everyone stood up and for 2 minutes, all eyes were on Emily, and only Emily. She looked absolutely stunning walking down the isle. I was so taken by that moment that I forgot to go down and get here. John had to nudge me.
I have said it once, and I will say it again: John King really made the wedding special. To have someone who means so much to Emily and I marry us, I can not think of a better person. It was worth all the hard work to find a place that would let us bring in John King.
After that point, I know we said I do, and then it was a blur of talking to people. Our dance, which was 5 minutes, seemed like one minute. Months of hard work and it was over in 5 minutes. The band was amazing. Trilogy band if anyone is wondering.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who made the trip to St. Louis, who helped with the wedding, reception, rehearsal, or were just there to help out and make sure Emily or I didn’t loose our damn minds!
As soon as we get some more pictures, I will post them up. Check out the new survey and vote.

Growing up sucks

Since 8th grade I have always had my ears pierced. I remember when guys were finally allowed to wear earrings to school, and my brother rushed out and got his pierced, but I had to wait until I was older. I have had 2 in my left and one in the top right ear, just one in the left, and then about 6 years ago I pierced my right one, and have worn an earring in each ear since. In college I kept thinking that one day I will take them out when I get a “real” job, but I have yet to have a job that requires that I take them out. I asked a friend when is too old to have earrings, and she told me that they look good on me, they are my style and that most guys my age couldn’t wear them. But, I also don’t want to look like that old guy who still tries to look cool and hip wearing earrings and saying “Gnarly” to all the high school kids.
I did meet with a job recruiter last Friday and I did take them out for that, which was the first time in years that I took them out. So, I started thinking about leaving them out for good. The marriage seems like a good point in my life to look more professional. A good turning point, get married, buy a new house, think about a family, take earrings out. But low and behold I put them back in Friday night. Emily likes it better when I do not wear them: but she also is not a big fan of tattoos, long hair and beards. So I figured since I no longer have long hair, nor my beard (oh how I miss you so); 2 out of 4 is a great comprise. After all, she won’t shave her head like I want her to. Ha.
So, as I look for jobs I am coming to the realization that I might actually find a job that will make me take them out, and I would have to do so.
So, what do you think? Am I that old guy who needs to grow up, or are they “my style?”

We are all in (that's what she said)

We are all moved in and 95% unpacked! I will say that paying movers was the best thing we did for the move. When you move next, use www.emove.com; it is owned by Uhaul. You rent your truck and the movers showed up, moved and then drove the truck over to the new house. $40 an hour for 2 movers can’t beat that deal!
No major complications with the move, nothing was broken, nor misplaced. It’s the un packing that really sucks. Just trying to figure out where everything goes, and attempting to get all the damn boxes out of the way. I did make the mistake of not being involved in un packing most stuff: I was in charge of moving stuff in from the garage and Emily and her Mom unpacked. So, I have no idea where half my stuff is; it took me 20 minutes this morning to find my damn gym bag. I feel like a small child just wondering around the house looking for stuff.
Over all we love the house, it is everything that we need, plus way way more. We spend most of the day Saturday and Sunday just floating in the pool, trying to relax after the long month we have had. We are very excited to have people over, so feel free to come over and hang out, this is why we got a big house, no kids, but our friends can be our kids. Ha
It has started to sink in that we are getting married in 11 days. WOW. 11 days. The past month has been spend getting ready for the move, dealing with the loan, moving and un packing, (oh yeah, one of our employees walked out, so that has been fun) that we have not had a chance to think about how close the wedding is.
We have 99% of the wedding done and planned, just finishing up the small details, programs, etc. I am not nervous, nor scared about the “Big Day.” The anticipation of the wedding is actually fun and has added to the day. I do get teary eyed when I think about seeing Emily for the first time coming down the isle, taking her hand from her Father and looking her in the eye and saying I Do. I have tried really hard to make this day the best possible for Emily, I know that the moment the music starts and the entire chapel turns to look at her, that is the moment she has been dreaming about.
Just a quick update, I still hate Truman, in fact I think a little more each day. And, we assume that Noodle is still alive, I have not received any new pictures of him, so we hope for the best.

Noodle in Orlando

I was real happy to see Noodle get a vacation! I will get to see him this weekend at my Bachelor party!

I am at an hour that I should be sleeping, but instead I am up wondering if we are going to close on our house tomorrow. Because of the wonderful mortgage crunch, we have had to jump to through so many damn hoops to get our house and now we just sit and to see when we can close. Saturday we have our bedroom set being delivered, Monday the Culligan guy comes to hook up our water softener, cable is being hooked up and the movers come, so we have a little bit of a dead line.
Our wedding is 22 days away, and seems to approaching faster each day. I did wear my wedding ring for a few hours the other day, it felt weird, but looks good. The ring is a combination of two rings that my Father had given my Mom, and she melted them down and made a white gold/yellow gold ring for me. I used to wear it on my right hand until I broke that finger 5 years ago and had to get it cut off. They fixed it and sized it for my ring finger and have not worn it since. So, I am pretty excited to be able to wear it again: it has a lot of meaning.
Emily has been setting up her new classroom this whole week: she starts meetings the 11th, and class starts the 18th. She is very excited to have her own classroom.
Friday morning we head off to a Lake House in Camdenton for my bachelor party (thanks to Bear for getting it organized)! 15 great friends, adult beverages, golf, slip and slide and the Lake...what could go wrong? If only we can find a piece of Styrofoam.
Well, I am off to lie in bed and count sheep. Good Night and Good Luck!