Our wedding!!

A couple days ago was Valentine's Day.
The day before that was our 7 months anniversary.
So I figured it's a good week to write about our wedding. :)

I'm a stereotypical girl to where I've been planning my wedding since I was little. A lot of things were different but I was still very pleased with how everything turned out.

Let's start with the date. July 13, 2012.... FRIDAY, July 13th.
Choosing this date goes back quite a few years. My aunt and uncle were married on a Friday the 13th only it was in August. Then my dad and mom were married on a Friday the 13th, in August. With that lead, my other aunt and uncle wanted to get married on the same date. Theirs didn't hit on a Friday though. It was a Monday. lol.
Then we jump quite a few years. My older sister was married on Saturday, May 16th. (pretty close to 13). My oldest sister was married Saturday, June 13th. And my younger sister got married on Saturday, April 26th. (13 plus 13)
The number 13 may seem unlucky to some but it works for us! This year those anniversaries will be 47 years, 42 years, 40 years, 15 years, 15 years and 10 years. We're in good company.
I chose July for a reason too. If you look back at those months we have April, May, June and August. July needed to be in the running too. I would have gotten married even if it didn't land on a Friday but I feel it's pretty neat that it did. :)

There were a few other things that I wanted that were unique. One thing that was very important to me was our programs. I wanted to be like a little book. It told the order of ceremony and who was a part of the wedding party, of course. But it also told our story of how we met and our engagement story. We had the words of the songs in there as well.
Here's Our Story and Our Engagement as it was in the program:

Nate and Amanda first met in High School freshman year when Bridgewater/Fontanelle and Greenfield joined schools.  They never dated but were friends.  Nate played football, and Amanda was a cheerleader.  Ironically, Amanda wore Nate’s football jersey for her Powder Puff game their Senior Year.

         After High School, life led them down different paths.  However, they seemed to run into each other at several community events.  At one point, Nate had heard Amanda was back for Christmas and called to see if she wanted to hang out.  Having been in a car accident and not feeling well, Amanda declined the offer.

         Nate and Amanda ran into each other again at a friend’s funeral.  Amanda had moved back to Greenfield so Nate got her involved with planning their ten year class reunion.  During that time Nate and Amanda started becoming friends again. February 24, 2009, Nate gave his life to Christ by accepting Him as his personal Savior.  That change in Nate made his and Amanda’s friendship open up even more to the point of becoming best friends.  They were together often over the next year.

         February 5, 2010, Nate and Amanda went on their first date as more than friends.  They had a wonderful time eating at Amanda’s favorite restaurant, Olive Garden.  Then they went miniature golfing and showed their competitive spirits.  They ended the evening by just talking together at Starbucks.

         That was the beginning of their relationship. They’ve spent a lot of time together doing things they both love… watching football, being outdoors, leading youth group, and so much more. They were even able to take a trip to Boston with Amanda’s parents and aunts and uncles.

         They’ve always strived to do things as a family with Brady and Noah. They love going to the pool together, riding bikes together and having a family outing to the zoo with their friends. April 20, 2011, Nate took Amanda to Meadow Lake and tried to teach her to skip rocks as they had done on many occasions.  When Amanda turned toward Nate expecting him to give her another rock, he was down on one knee.

         Amanda said, “Are you serious?  You’d better not be joking!  Are you being serious?”  Since she wouldn’t let Nate get a word in, he just held up the ring.  She then covered her mouth with her hands and whispered, “Sorry!” feeling like she had ruined Nate’s moment.

         Nate was finally able to ask Amanda to marry him.  Of course, she said, “Yes!”

         They will forever remember that moment.

        Now today, July 13, 2012, Nate and Amanda will become husband and wife –

                                    Mr. & Mrs. Hilpipre.

Now that you have the background of the date and how we met... let's get to the best day of my life. :)

We were having an evening wedding so I didn't have to get up too early. I had my hair done and then headed to get ready at the church in the early afternoon. 

My mom and my friend were very big in my getting ready process.

                         

My other friend was a big part of my day as well!!

I show you this picture so you can kind of see the back of my hair. I had been growing it out but it wasn't as long as I had hoped. I couldn't do an updo or a veil because of my headache so I chopped my hair a week before the wedding. I have naturally curly hair so we kept that going in the back. 

I LOVED IT!!!

Those three ladies were the ones who kept me calm and relaxed before the pictures and ceremony began.

OH WAIT!! lol

I had always thought that I'd do the pictures after the ceremony because I wanted the first time my husband saw me was when I walked down the aisle. As I got older and experienced more weddings, I decided to change that and go ahead and do the pictures beforehand. But we still had a moment to ourselves of the first time he saw me.

I loved his reaction although a picture could never capture it fully. :)

Thus began a couple of hours of picture taking.

This is our bridesmaids, groom's attendants and ring bearer.

We also had a Miniature Bridal of our 14 nieces and nephews!!

This was something else unique that was important to me. I love kids. I love my nieces and nephews. I knew that they wanted to be a part of this day as much as I did. I loved the way they looked and it all turned out!

Our first family picture.

My Family

Nate's dad's side Family

Nate's mom's side Family

My sisters and I are very close. I loved having them share in this special day with me. I will always treasure this picture.

I now have another sister. Nate's only full sibling. :)

I wanted to incorporate so many areas of my life. These are our youth group boys. They were our ushers and sound guy. I'm not sure they were thrilled to have to dress up and be a part of our wedding but we enjoyed having them there. They're a good group and this picture describes us pretty well.

The ceremony was in our chapel. My dad and brother-in-law (the electrician) figured out a why to make my vision a reality. The lights were strung up over wire and plugged directly into the lights. The light bulbs were loosened so that when the switch was turned on only the Christmas lights turned on. This was so that our only lighting was the fancy lights AND so we didn't have a bunch of extension cords hanging around the walls.

It was great!

All the prelude music was instrumental Disney songs. The processional music was also all Disney. The grandparents and parents walked in to So Close from Enchanted. The nieces and nephews danced in with That's How You Know from Enchanted. The bridesmaids and ring bearer walked in to Can You Feel the Love Tonight? from Lion King. And my dad walked me down the aisle to I See the Light from Tangled.

During the ceremony we had two songs. Bless the Broken Road by Selah and When I Say I Do by Matthew West. Those are the songs we had the words to in the program.

The recessional was more upbeat music. After we were introduced to the audience, we walked out to I'm a Believer by the Monkees. Then the next song connected us back to the Disney theme. It was Ever Ever After from Enchanted sung by Carrie Underwood.

My two favorite men! My dad and husband!

We had the honor of having my dad officiate our wedding.

Our reception was in the newly refurbished Opera House. We were the first wedding event there. My dad has been highly involved with this project for years and so it was great that it was finished in time for us to do this!

There were several things about our reception that was unique and again, important to me.

I LOVE chocolate so we had a dessert reception. 

Cupcakes for everybody's choice of flavors...

with little signs that connected the Disney theme.

There was a Candy Bar.

And notice that it's not all chocolate for those crazy people that don't like chocolate. ;)

And a chocolate fountain!

I actually had a three of these.

One with milk chocolate, one with dark chocolate and one with white chocolate. 

What are we waiting for here?

Our chocolate ice cream and Pepsi float!

We also had a more traditional fruit punch/sprite mixture for those people who aren't very daring and are no fun! lol. JUST KIDDING!

Our float actually was a hit! :)

M&Ms are my favorite candy so our wedding favors were in our colors.

Our cake covered with perfectly symmetrical M&Ms.

Again, since I love kids, knew there was going to be a lot of kids attending AND that they'd be on a sugar high, I had paper covering the tables and crayons in little jars to keep them entertained. :)

One other table had a picture of each of our grandparents' and parents' weddings. 

Our family and where we come from is very important to us.

We were whisked away to a honeymoon in the Dominican Republic!

That's it! That's our wedding! People seemed to have a good time and we got a lot of compliments on a lot of our unique touches. It was a wonderful day and a beautiful beginning to our life together.

10 years

10 years.
A decade.

What happens in that time?
Think about 10 years ago.
What were you doing? How did you act? What were your priorities?

Ten years ago I was 23.
Last Sunday we were talking about getting older and age. We were saying what age we'd like to be again. I said I'd love to be 23 again BUT with the knowledge and wisdom I have now. I don't want to relive those 10 years but if I could keep what I know now, I think those years would have been a lot different.

What's significant about my age of 23?

That's when my headache started. 10 years ago this month.
Every February I spend a lot of time rethinking when my headache started. Can you imagine having pain for 10 years?!? I can barely imagine it and I'm going through it! haha.

At the age of 23, most people are graduating from college or starting their career. Some are married and having kids.
Me?
I was starting something that would change my life forever.

When I think about all that's happened with just my headache, here's what I come up with...
It started horrible. Of course, at that time, I had no idea that it'd be a constant pain. One that would never go away. I was going to doctors constantly. I was barely functioning. Work would send me home quite often.
To add to just the pain, I was on lots of medications. Some that affected my brain.. like not remembering how to tie a shoe.
That was 2003 and it continued to 2004.
During that time, I was trying more extensive things like going to our state's best hospital and going to Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. I was on more medications. Some that made me act drunk and say things that I would NEVER say in my normal mind.
Those two years were the worst, as to be expected.
2005 wasn't so bad... as far as my headache. I had some life issues that year but we'll get to that.
I didn't have to go to the doctor as much that year. Well, I should rephrase that. I plain didn't go to the doctor. After so long, you realize that medicine is not fun and want to just learn to manage and live with the pain. This is all with God's help of course! Couldn't do any of this without Him!
As it turns out, it was good I didn't go to doctors for my headache in 2005 because in 2006, I applied for health insurance and they didn't consider my headache as a pre-existing condition since it had been a year since seeing a doctor. I had other conditions they didn't cover but my headache wasn't one of them!
I wouldn't realize how big that was until 2012.
In 2006, I went through a really bad time of having an actual migraine for weeks. I would stay in the dark as long as I could and if I was around light, I'd have my sunglasses on. I moved like an old person and had no energy. People that hadn't heard about my struggle prior to this were really concerned with how I looked and acted. I gradually got better.
From 2007 to 2011, I don't remember anything significant as far as my headache. I'd have good days and bad days. Over that time, I'd learn what my triggers are and how to live life. I'd learn how to put a smile on my face and keep getting out of bed. The bad days are still bad, but it's a mental battle as much as a physical one.
The only testing I remember doing during that time was a sleep study. I also tried acupuncture and other things along those lines. OH! I tried braces as well to correct my jaw. I could pull out my HUGE medical file and look but that just depresses me. :)
Jan 1st, 2012 wasn't fun. I had a migraine. Little did I know at that point that I'd be going to doctors all over again. I went through testing and medications again. I was getting dizzy and losing my balance. For a time, I wasn't driving because it would not have been safe for me to be behind the wheel. I went through all of this until about May or June. Then I decided I had had enough and started to wean myself off all medication.
The rest of the year went better with my headache. But I had a lot of stomach issues. I don't know if all the medication is connected or not. I've always known that I carry my emotions and stress in my stomach but I'm not handling it as well as I used to. In October I got a pain in my side that I still struggle with. I found out in the middle of December that it was the makings of a ulcer. The hole isn't there yet, but I was working on it. I still have to watch what I eat and drink and am still on medication. I only connect that with my headache because like I said, I don't know if all the medicine in the beginning of 2012 made my stomach weak.
OR maybe all the medicine I've taken for 10 years has made my stomach weak!

10 years is a big milestone. So as I think back through these years, I don't want to just focus on the roller-coaster of my headache. I want to think about where I've come from, how I've changed, and maybe how my headache positively affected me.

Last month my family and I were playing a game called Oh Really! It's a great game that we love to play with all sorts of different crowds. It's a game about priorities. There's five words that you have to put in order of how important they are to you. Everyone else is trying to guess the order that you'd put them in. You really learn a lot about people playing this game.
When it was my turn for everyone to guess my priorities, one of the words was 'Pain'. Hmm.. interesting that that word came up for me. I had to think about it for a bit. I honestly can't remember what the other four words were. Sometimes the words are as silly as 'Spoons' and other times they're big ones like 'Faith'.
I decided to put Pain on the top or close to it. My sister was surprised by that but my dad wasn't.

Pain is important to me. It has shaped my life over the last 10 years. Some of it negatively.. sure. But there's positive things as well.

Let's go back to 2003...
Actually, I need to start in 2002 just briefly. That year was a hard year on my family. We went through 7 family deaths including my sister's miscarriage. During that time, I had made the decision to move with my friend where she was going to go to college.
I had tons of fun living with her and loved the job I had while there. But I also struggled a lot with staying on track with God. We didn't go to church regularly and when we did it was to a mega-church that was more to just say we went than to be held accountable to anybody... especially God.
The very day we moved was my first migraine. That was September of 2002. It didn't become constant until February.
I can completely and confidently say that my headache brought me back to God and moved me away from there. I decided to go back to college. I had quit college saying I would never go back there. My headache changed that.
It's a small college and when I went back on the first day one professor was shocked to see me. He pointed out that I had told him I would never be back. I had the opportunity to explain to him what had caused my attitude to change.
My headache.
Those two years were hard dealing with this new pain and also trying to do school. There were times I had to drop classes and figure out how I was going to graduate. This was a Bible college and they were VERY supportive for me during this time. I wouldn't have gotten that grace anywhere else.
In 2005, I graduated. This was the year that I mentioned I didn't have much problems with my headache but my life had some ups and downs. A guy that I thought I would marry broke up with me BUT I moved into a house with a great group of girls. Most of whom are still my best friends. I had slight carbon monoxide poisoning and also was in a car accident. It was an eventful year but my headache took it all in stride. I think that year proved to me that my headache didn't control my life. Life is life and that's that.
Early 2006 is when I moved back home. It took a little bit to find my place here. I was working at a bank when I got that migraine that didn't leave for weeks. I ended up losing that job because of it. BUT because of that, I started babysitting in my parents' home later that year.
Now look at me.
I have a very successful business of doing something I love! People think I'm crazy to watch kids when I have a constant headache but they don't take into consideration two things.
1. God. God gives me daily strength. It's impossible to give Him all the credit He deserves.
2. I LOVE kids. Kids are what cheer me up! They make me laugh and smile and just enjoy my day. We have days where they aren't so great to be around but that would happen whether I had a headache or not.
What else has changed in my life?
I'm married to a wonderful man who takes care of me when my headache is bad. (ironically, he just came home from work with a really bad headache) He and the boys have seen me at my worst where I can't move or open my eyes because it hurts so bad. This man, even though he'll throw up if he sees or smells it, comes into the bathroom even in the middle of the night while I'm getting sick. My husband keeps me on track when I get discouraged and cheers me on when I'm having a good day.
My headache affects my life in a lot of ways. It doesn't control my life but it's part of what keeps me on track. It keeps me daily leaning on God where otherwise I may get foolish and think I'm in control.
I have gone from saying "I have a bad headache" to "My headache is bad".
I'm not sure if I'll ever not have a headache. And I'm fairly confident that even if I didn't have daily pain, I'll always be sensitive to lights and sounds and needing sleep.
That's okay because I have God and 10 years of training.