My Gluten Free Wedding

Originally posted Feb 2012, when I originally started this blog.
Blog Do-Over, starting with: My Celiac Journey: Where It All Began---Osteoporosis

​Poor health affects our lives. Good health affects our lives. Good health that follows poor health gives us an appreciation for life. My quick improvements gave me a lot to appreciate----and it brought a lot of change. With good comes bad and with bad comes good. Life is a roller coaster.

My failing marriage finally ended a couple years into my gluten free journey. Life happens. It was a difficult time, but when we're at the bottom of a hill we either settle or figure out how to climb back up. I went back to school and started setting goals for myself. I was going to (and did) finally get my education degree.

My kids and my friends eventually started to ask when I was going to start dating. "Dating?"
I didn't know how! haha  It was very-----awkward. I hadn't dated in over 25 years! So I went outside my comfort zone and joined a dating site. eeek!  

I went on several first dates (with no follow up.) My girlfriends teased that I was too picky.  But I was NOT going to force something that didn’t feel right. I wasn't looking for a husband. I was fine on my own. I had a goal and a need to be independent. I didn't want to find someone I could lean on. I didn’t need a boyfriend. But of course, sharing my life with someone else would be nice. So I had fun dating.

I finally reached the point in my education where I had to quit my job as a teacher’s aide in order to start the 2-year Early Childhood program. My contract was about to expire on the dating website I was on, so I was going to let that go for a while and just focus on school. But then I got an email from Steve. So, unenthusiastically, I agreed to meet him. The chemistry wasn’t immediate, but it was there by the end of the date. And we’ve been together ever since (except for that time when I broke up with him – for about 4 hours---I must have been glutened, haha).

I was hesitant to commit, and avoided any talk
about long term, but it was obvious we were
in it for the long haul.  
He proposed on New Year’s Eve 2006
(or actually after we rang in 2007).   
And of course, I said “yes”  …. But…….

---

I wanted to finish my education first. I was facing a semester of student teaching before graduating that May. And  I wanted to get a job and settled into it ---which I did. Yay me! 
That all fell into place nicely (for a few years, anyway – until the whole state budget issues, blah blah blah – but that’s a valley and this is about a peak!).

​And on
Sept. 27, 2008,
we got married!

We made the invitations, did all the decorating (thank you to all the kids for all their help!), the flowers (which I couldn’t have done without my daughter), the cake (OK… so we made the topper a bit too big, but I’m not a cake decorator or florist), Steve's son was the D.J. – We did it all!  ​

My son walked me down the aisle. Such pride, I cannot even explain!

So touching to have such love and support from my girls

Our 2 boys - Very funny in their overly dramatized speech. We all got a good laugh.

Toasting in our new life together, with speeches from our 4 kids who have been nothing less than supportive and accepting.

And I made all the food! Completely gluten free, of course! Tons of mini French bread rolls, baked and then frozen, ready to pop in the oven. Texas potato casseroles premade and frozen. Several pounds of thinly slice ham (OK... I didn't have to make that, haha)  The chicken came frozen from Sam's - bags and bags of frozen precooked wings - EASY and yummy! Mini cheesecakes of all sorts and mini brownie bites, all made ahead and frozen with crusts from crumbled gf cookies (K-Toos, vanilla and chocolate). Cake layers, both white and chocolate.  
Not fancy, but it was good (and we kept the cost down :)

And we partied
and danced
for hours! 

​Food prepared for 100 (although I'm not a caterer so not great with portion size - so we had a ton of food leftover! :)

Thank goodness for girlfriends who heated and served the food while I was busy getting married - and then cleared it, bagged it all up, and even clean up when everyone was done! Amazing!

Ham, chicken, potato casseroles, green beans, French bread rolls and salad.

Just some homemade cakes all dressed up. My daughter came over the night before so we could figure out the flowers - which all turned out nicely!

Gotta say - I was pretty proud of how these turned out! Between these and the bread rolls, my mini muffin pans got a real work out over the weeks before the wedding.

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