Hey Ketters! It's Been Three Months!

Most of you know by now that my best friend Meredith married her husband J.R. in a surprise wedding ceremony on Sept. 11th...making today their 3 month anniversary. I remember me and the hubbies three month anniversary. We were settled into our 520 square foot Virginia apartment, and I was learning what it meant to live with a BOY! The smells, the dirty laundry and the morning routine of not being able to find anything himself ("seriously...how can you lose something in a 520 square foot apartment?!" I would ask myself everyday).

But back to Meredith and J.R.

So the big surprise was that J.R. had invited all of their close friends and family to a surprise engagement party at the Yacht Club in Marble Falls. There he was going to pop the question to Mere and we would all be there when she said yes. When J.R. told me the news, I almost cried. I thought..."he knows Mere so well...of course she would want everyone there...how romantic...how thoughtful...how Meredith! And the YACHT CLUB! Way to go J.R.!" I emailed him to see how we could help. If I should bring champaign or sparklers or a CAKE that says SHE SAID YES. I was so ready and willing to help keep this secret a SECRET (which is no easy feat for me). This went on for months. MONTHS!!!!

Until one day.

When I received an early morning phone call from the supposed clueless bride-to-be.

"I found the ring," she whispered on the phone.

"WHAT?" I said, trying to act like I knew nothing about a ring.

"Yes...J.R. hid a big, diamond ring in his boot this morning and I found it."

"MEREDITH...PUT THE RING DOWN. PRETEND LIKE YOU NEVER SAW IT."

"I just can't," she squealed. "I'm driving into town and I'm going to pick you up for lunch and show you."

"WHAT! DO NOT PUT THAT RING ON MEREDITH. DO NOT RUIN THIS!!!!!"

click.

Sure enough she showed up at my office, wearing a diamond ring. I was furious with her. But then something happened...something that caught me completely off guard.

In the middle of my lecture, telling her how marriage takes work, and you can't just spoil every thing because you are impatient...blah, blah, blah...she handed me a pink card. I noticed the pink card had her and J.R.'s picture on it. And then I read the card, and what did it say?!

Surprise! Meredith and J.R. surprised their friends and family with a secret wedding ceremony...

So the plan was to tell all their friends and family J.R. was popping the question, when in reality, we were all going to show up not to an engagement, but to a WEDDING! Britney Spears style.

Lucky for me, Meredith couldn't hang on to the secret any longer, and she needed some serious help with all the last minute details, including getting the Twins to sing a very specific song. Since I live down the street, I was the logical choice. It was such a fun time, and a great time seeing everyone's face at the wedding.

So my gift to everyone today, Dec. 11th, Mere and J.R.'s three month anniversary, I give you a few pictures I managed to take of the pre-wedding festivities. Let me stress the word FEW.



Here we are on our way to the final fitting of The Dress.



Meredith posing while she is taking The Dress out of the bag.



This was a very important moment. The Dress was nearly impossible to lace up the right way. We had a couple of trial runs, but this is the best pic of what it was like getting this thing on her.



Here is the then beautiful bride to be.



Here we are on the actual wedding day, before anyone knew what was really going on.



Here are the twins when they found out that we were singing at a wedding, not an engagement!



And here is the hubs and I at the reception.

Mere and J.R, we are so glad to be your friends and your neighbors. We love you both and Meredith, I personally wish you many many years of dirty laundry, empty toilet paper rolls and smelly softball socks. I look back at our years at Tech and can't believe that we are both married, and thank God that we were blessed with amazing men that put up with us. I can't wait to see what the next decade has in store for us!