December 28, 2021 felt like it was never going to arrive. All the planning. All the postage and ordering and calling. All the stress and worries. All of it paid off. Our day was bedazzled with a bit of rain and an unbelievable chill, but that didn’t stop me from winning the title of reigning Ice Queen. You bet your sweet, sweet buns that I did my darndest to keep patrons outside in the frigid air for cocktail hour while the wedding party slurked around rosy-faced and shivering. You bet I threw my bouquet down on the stage like a boss (so unlike my timid, quiet character) to get the party train going. You bet I enjoyed every second of a night I’ll never forget.

We laughed. We danced. We made speeches like we were attending the roast of all of our guests. We drank. We made smores. We ate our favorite Christmas treats and a super expensive wedding cake (worth every cent). I won’t say I looked like a princess - because I am WAY too modest for that - but, Mr. Know-it-All looked dapper in his custom fit suit that Men’s Warehouse somehow missed the mark on what “fitted” meant. I mean Mr. Know-it-All could pull off anything, even as he did a little dance routine with his mom that blended the old with the new quite perfectly.

All of my favorite people were there. My sister even attended through the mega projector to make me cry with her kind words. It was - and this was verified amongst our guest feedback - a pretty perfect and seamless day. My family did a phenomenal job assisting with decorating, DJing, and putting out fires when they needed to. My new in-laws helped to make the day as wonderful as could be, as well, and I am forever grateful to now call them family.

But when the lights came on after my failed attempt at throwing the bouquet (in my defense, I was told to aim high, not go for distance) at the ripe hour of 8 p.m. and guests trickled out, we cleaned up the venue and drove over an hour back to our humble abode. After getting virtually no sleep, we left for the airport early enough to get on a 6:00 a.m. flight to Fort Myers, Florida so that we could spend our short honeymoon exploring Captiva Island.

Our honeymoon was fantastic … except for the fact that Ubering was insane, traffic was not ideal, and apparently I had COVID the entire time and didn’t know it. Oh wait, let me backtrack.

We enjoyed the sun, walked to experience new restaurants, drove a red buggy to the neighboring island, and just reveled in the fact that we could spend uninterrupted time together without worrying about paying the caterer or the florist or the photographer. It was a great reprieve from society and responsibility. Boy, was that short-lived.

On January 2nd, when we were destined to make it home at a reasonable hour, we were instead met by the most insane series of unfortunate events. And, it all began with an Uber ride to the airport way too many hours before our 3:00 p.m. flight to Charlotte, NC. We made it through security and sat and watched our plane hang out at the terminal for 3 hours. Five minutes before we were supposed to board, the lady at the desk said, “Sorry folks. But boarding is delayed because we need to replace a fire extinguisher. The maintenance manager is on his way, and this flight should be off in no time.” And here ladies and gents is the beginning of the end.

No time turned out to be forever, because 45 minutes later, the maintenance guy was still sitting in his vehicle outside the plane, the two women working the desk were hiding in the hallway leading to the plane door, and the flight crew was exiting the plane with all of their gear.

In short, the flight was delayed until 9:40 p.m. Our connecting flight to Harrisburg from Charlotte was a no go because, hello, the plane did not leave in “no time.” Mr. Know-it-All was running back and forth from security to the main ticket window (yeah, explain to me why this airport has security at each gate and that’s it) to try to get us on another flight. Their response: “Sir, we don’t have anything until Tuesday.” I’m sorry, but we both have jobs that we need to get back to; so, we are getting home today or tomorrow.

After hours had passed - Mr. Know-it-All had a few panic attacks, I sent some frantic emails, I was told my grandfather had COVID after attending my wedding and had to contact everyone who attended, and I managed a hodgepodge lesson planning adventure - we somehow were put on standby for a flight leaving at 8:30 p.m. for Charlotte. We boarded, and it was the most anxiety inducing flight ever. I straight up thought we were going down, and the same gross mask attached to my face that definitely smelled like things I won’t even go into detail mentioning was not helping the situation.

When we finally touched sweet, sweet land again, smelling like the inside of a dumpster lit on fire, we got into our last Uber ever. This man almost got into an altercation getting us, so it was a wild ride, to say the least. But, my lovely parents came to our rescue, and we made it back in enough time for me to confirm that my sniffles and “allergy-esque” cough were in fact COVID. Needless to say, I spent the remainder of that week working from home, until I could return again to the chaos that is my life right now.

It’s not all chaotic, but at times the school-life balance gets a little skewed. But, I’m learning. And now my husband and I (still a little weird for me) are trying to remember what “normal” feels like. After a pandemic planned wedding and a COVID ridden honeymoon, all we can ask for now is some peace and quiet to just enjoy the great gift that we find in each other.

Mr. Know-it-All is officially my soulmate, my dude for life, and I couldn’t be happier with how our wedding photos turned out. I’m grateful for the memory etched in ink because without it, I’m not sure how much of the night I’d remember. It was a blur of happiness I’ll hopefully remember for eternity. Here’s to the new Mrs. Thomas. Until next time …