So we eloped last Friday...
Right now I'm writing this from the beach in Texas, just the two of us on a little vacation, and I won't make this post too long but I wanted to finally share the news with everyone! I hope my friends will forgive me for keeping the news a secret, but we've had so many big and exciting things happening in our lives these last few months it just seemed overwhelming to call everyone individually and explain so I decided to tell only my immediate family and share some of my thoughts here. So I hope this makes up for the surprise!
If you're not much of a reader, feel free to just scroll through the photos. No hard feelings!
So if you weren't aware, Hunter and I are expecting a sweet baby girl next April. We plan to name her Eleanor Blythe Phillips and call her Ella Blythe (yep, a two-name first name) and we have been very happily anticipating her arrival ever since we found out she was on her way.
Now, if you know much about me, you might know that I'm a very private person. I hate talking about feelings, and I prefer to keep details about my life to myself, but I think this might be a good time to share as I'm sure there are lots of other people who have found themselves in a sort of "nontraditional" life situation and I think it's important to talk about all of the amazing things that can come from letting go of your own ideas of how your life is supposed to play out and happily embracing what comes along. Or at least I just feel the need to share how happy I am.
I first met Hunter on the rooftop of the art museum at one of those Art After 5 events in June 2012. He was by far the liveliest guy in our group and for a couple weeks I couldn't decide if I thought his energy was incredibly attractive or so annoying. All I remember is that my friends and I left the museum that night talking about him and he was all I could think about for the next few weeks. We started dating shortly thereafter and were together for a while until we broke up mid-2013. Boy was that tough. We moved on with our lives separately, dating other people but we always kept in touch. Then we started dating again this year and well... Ella Blythe :)
I say all of this because I don't feel like I express just how much I love this guy enough in actual words and this lays the whole foundation for why we decided to get married. I love him and I've loved him for a really long time. I remember when I was in high school and I had a dream that I was getting married and EVERYTHING at my wedding was going wrong but I had this completely calm feeling because I knew the guy I was marrying was the right guy and in the end, all I wanted from my wedding was to be married to him. That's the best way I can think of to describe my feelings these last few months and how I felt the day we eloped. Hunter is just that guy to me. He is the most charismatic, fun and full of life person I've ever met. I knew that the first night we met and I know the same thing now.
So that's what this day and these pictures are all about. I love this guy and we decided to elope, which was never in my plans but turned out to be one of the best days I've ever had. The day was freezing, my hair which always curls well wasn't curling right, the wedding chapel turned out to also be the place where people go for drug testing (??!?!?) in Oklahoma, I am SIX months pregnant and trying to squeeze in a cute dress and it was still so incredible. I was still so happy to be marrying Hunter and so at peace with the feeling that I am exactly where I should be.
So that's what this is. My family spent the morning with me getting ready, Hunter and I went downtown and made it official then took pictures with a sweet friend of mine, we stayed at a beautiful suite in the Colcord and now we're wrapping up the holidays together on the beach. I didn't plan any of this, but it's better than any of my plans and I am so unbelievably happy.
Love you all and wishing you a very merry Christmas with the ones you love!
Side Note: We'll be having an actual wedding celebration in about a year, so we'll celebrate together then ;)
