#TheRahmWedding

It's officially wedding season!  After 2 weddings in 3 weeks, there is no denying it now.  {I'll get around to blogging my BFF's eventually, there are still tons of photos to sort through}  I was so grateful to be able to finally take a trip with my husband.  It was a much needed break vacation trip.  I hesitate to use break or vacation because it wasn't really either of those things.  We hadn't spent much time with Jason's family over the past 2 years so we squeezed in every possible second with everyone while we were there.   Long past our bed times (I'm talking 3-4am) we sat around in the hotel lobby telling stories and catching up. Getting less than 7 hours of sleep during our 48 hour trip was totally worth it. (I say that because we took Monday to do absolutely nothing but recover on the couch)

The highlight of the weekend for Jason was finally getting to meet his nephew!

Is he not the cutest thing EVER?!?  We love him!  We can't wait to live near him and watching him grow.  {In case it isn't obvious, Jason picked out his outfit for the wedding}

The bride and groom could not have asked for a more perfect day.

Jason & his grandfather rocking the bow ties.

The bride looked absolutely incredible, as always.  She works in fashion so I knew her dress was going to be phenomenal and it was indeed.

LT & MRS RAHM!

Jason's brothers, their wives, and baby Liam.

Being that it was Memorial Day weekend, and a military wedding, it was only fitting to have a toast in remembrance of those who never made it home.  Some people were upset and offended that people were celebrating on a weekend that is dedicated to honoring heroes that made the ultimate sacrifice.  I understand that sentiment but for me, every day is Memorial Day, every day we remember and honor those men and women who never returned home, every day is dedicated to them.  Every day my husband puts on his black metal bracelet and we remember.  Every day I see photos of friends who are raising children with out their father.  I guess what I'm saying is, I don't personally have a problem with a wedding over Memorial Day weekend (on Memorial Day might be a LITTLE strange, but who am I to judge). 

Congrats LT & MRS!  We're so happy this day finally come for you both and we could be there to share it with you.

Oh, and on the way home, we flew out of Indi the day of the Indianapolis 500 and before our flight boarded there was a little commotion in front of our gate.  Turns out Leann Rimes, who had just sung the National Anthem at the race, was on our flight back to LAX.   Once we landed in LA, I had to make a stop at the bathroom and almost ran into her coming out of a stall.  She had left her water on top of the toilet paper rack so I carried it back out to her and she was most gracious about it.  I tried not to make a big deal out of it, but it was sort of neat to interact with someone so famous.

30 Days of Thankfulness {Day5}

Each day this month (except weekends) I'm joining up with Katie to share with you the many things I am thankful for.  I'd love to hear what you're thankful for this month.

Day 5:
I'm thankful for my family.  I miss them all so much right now and would give anything to be back in Cincinnati with them, especially during the holidays.

My brother and his new wife recently received all their photos from their wedding.  Even though I was incredibly sick the whole weekend, it felt so good being surrounded by so many people that I love.  All of these photos are courtesy of Patrick Banfield Photography.

My sister and I helping the bride into her gown.

 

My beautiful sister-in-law and me.

 

This photo cracks me up.  If you look closely at all of the faces, 3 of them are almost identical and they are me (about 6 o'clock), my brother, Brad (about 10 o'clock), and my brother, Craig (about 12 o'clock).  I'm sure my sister would have been making the same face if you could see her (she's just peeking over around 2 o'clock).

 

My handsome hubby and baby brother.

 

My brother is a lucky man.

 

These guys.

 

My other sister-in-law did a fantastic job arranging rose petals in the aisle.

 

Me, walking down the aisle.  I'm so happy you can't tell how many drugs are in my system at this moment. (all legal/prescribed)

 

Funny story.  This is the same guy who married Jason and I almost 6 years ago at our official ceremony.  They had no idea they'd chosen the same guy.

 

My heart bursts with love for these people.

 

SISTERS!  All of us, officially now!

 

My siblings and I.  I have no idea how I got so lucky.

 

My brother is a horrible actor, but this is still adorable!

 

Perfect end to a perfect day!

Wedding Day {Brad+Jamie}

Y'all my baby brother is MARRIED!  Part of me cannot believe it and part of me almost feels like they've been married for years already.  Jamie has been a part of our lives for over 7 years, almost as long as Jason and I have been together.  In fact, she's at more of the same family functions I am than my brother is because of his work schedule so it almost feels like she's family and my brother is marrying into the family.  Anyways, Jamie is awesome, my brother is totally lucky to have snagged her and we're lucky to have her in our family, officially now!

They were married on a golf course in Indiana so of course we had fun riding around in golf carts taking photos.  This was my 1st time driving a golf cart and I may or may not be a very good golf cart driver...

Some of the guys wore Bill Murray t-shirts under their tuxedos.

Brad and Jamie are both die hard baseball fans, so their wedding had a fun baseball theme to it.

Complete with a NACHO BAR!  This would have been the best wedding food ever if we hadn't had a Skyline bar at our wedding (wink, wink). 

So happy and in love!

Their first (and only) dance.  I love that her dress swallowed him up!

 Sisters, officially now! (photobombed by my awesome brother)

 That's better.  I could not have hand picked more awesome women to call my sisters!  I love these girls!

 My siblings and I, we're kind of awesome!

 I love this man!

 Then their wedding was crashed...by Mr. Red Legs!  They had no idea he was coming, 2 of Jamie's cousins (the co-maids-of-honor) set it up and to say it was a huge hit would be an understatement.

 He pretty much consumed the rest of the evening.

 There was a bit of a dance off between Mr. Red Legs and one of my brother's best friends.

 He even got the bride on the dance floor.

 Jason even did the wiggle dance with him.

Then I cried because my throat hurt so bad and I was so tired I just couldn't stay awake any longer.  Then we realized our car wasn't there so we couldn't leave so my awesome mother agreed to leave a little early to take us to our car.  AND THEN we got to our car and my husband (that guy up there doing the wiggle dance with the Cincinnati Reds mascot) realized that our keys were in my brother's car back at the reception venue so I choked him thought about choking him but didn't have the energy to do it.

This illness was one of the worst of my life and it could not have hit at a worse time.  Luckily it has mostly passed now and my voice is almost back to normal.  Hopefully that was my one and only bout with bronchitis!

Speechless at my brother's wedding

For the first time ever in my life I was left speechless last week.  Literally.  Unable to speak a word.  IT. WAS. TORTURE.

So I woke up last Tuesday (the day our HHG were delivered) to a sore throat that I just knew was going to turn into something more.  I had no idea exactly how much more it was about to become.  I struggled through the delivery of all our stuff

before I passed out for a 4 hour nap while my AMAZING husband began the agonizing process of unpacking.

I woke up long enough to cook dinner and go right back to sleep.  The next morning, I left to fly back to Cincinnati for my brother's wedding.  Traveling while sick might be one of the worst things EVER but there was no way I was going to miss this flight.

OJ, water, and pretzels helped me survive the flights.

I immediately went back to sleep the moment I arrived at my girlfriend's house, not the reunion either of us had hoped for but a necessity for sure.

The next morning was go time!  Wedding prep was underway with or without me, so I joined in as best I could.  A relaxing mani/pedi with my mom, sister, and sister-to-be definitely lifted my spirits, if only temporarily.

 Then my husband's flight arrived and he sure did his part to make sure I had a smile on my face even though I felt like I was dying.  We found this bunny suit and he insisted on wearing the head around.

 Then we rehearsed...

and had fun doing it.  (that water bottle in my hand did not leave my side for an entire week except for the 20 minutes during the actually ceremony)

 After business was taken care of we went back to their house for dinner and they gave gifts to the wedding party.  All the groomsmen got jerseys, I was wicked jealous! (except my husband chose the dirty wings!  BOO that!)

We didn't make it long after dinner, that's when I really, really started to feel bad and I knew I had a long day ahead of me on Friday so we punked out early.  I'm going to skip the wedding, that will get it's own post tomorrow but that's the day I lost my voice.  Not being able to talk the day I saw most of my family for the first time in over a year was torture.  Good thing my sister is awesome at reading my lips/mind and understanding my gestures/sign language.

First thing Saturday morning I was at urgent care being diagnosed with sinus bronchitis, I let my sinus infection (I was almost certain that's what was wrong with me) go untreated so long it turned into bronchitis.  Not cool folks, not cool.  Don't let a sinus infection go untreated!  I definitely learned my lesson.  With an antibiotic Rx in my pocket I decided not to cancel my scheduled dinner plans with my best girl friends and I'm so glad I didn't.  It might have been difficult communicating with no voice but it was just nice to be in the company of women who love and support me.

I tried my damnedest to enjoy my weekend with friends and family despite feeling like crap.  I wish I could have been a bit more myself (ie. talkative) but it was nice to just be in the company of these people.  For a brief minute I felt a little sad that we didn't choose to move back to Cincinnati.  I miss the people so much it hurts!

Come back tomorrow for a recap of the wedding.  There were some amazing surprises you're going to want to see!