Two years ago today, T. and I were at the Artisan Hotel in Las Vegas getting married. We had been engaged for a whopping two weeks, dating for a whopping two months. The big two and I had met his parents in early October, and his parents flew with us to Nevada while the kids stayed with my parents and went trick-or-treating.

Some people don’t like to admit it, but we met on the internet, a dating site. We talked for a month or two before going on our first date. He was living in Topeka at the time, and I was going to school there a couple nights a week, so we decided to meet at the World Cup coffee shop after I got out of class. I remember it being slightly embarrassing to tell my dad that I would be late coming home because I had a date. Okay, “slightly” is an understatement. But he was very cool about it. We went miniature golfing on our second date, and the guy working there had to tell us to leave the parking lot afterward because they were long closed and he had to shut the gate on the parking lot or something. After that, we went bowling a couple of times, went out to eat several times.

On my birthday two years ago, he cooked me enchiladas and s’mores and asked me to marry him. He even bought real, cloth napkins for the occasion, which we still have. I think for a few days, we toyed around with the idea of a traditional wedding. But the night before Henry’s third birthday, we decided to elope and started looking at plane tickets and various wedding packages. Do you know how many different ways there are to get married in Las Vegas? We could have gotten married in a helicopter over the Grand Canyon, on a roller coaster at a casino, inside an aquarium with sharks.

We decided on the Artisan, the “only non-gaming hotel in Las Vegas”…every wall and ceiling was covered, literally covered, in art. It was kind of dark and rich-looking, very cool.

We arrived early on Halloween…and let’s just say, if there’s any place that’s EXTRA crazy on Halloween, it’s Las Vegas. We saw the Beatles “Love” Cirque Du Soleil show, which was really good. Next time you see T., ask him about that show…

I had never been to a casino before that trip, and all I have to say is that it’s like a whole new world, but they all look the same on the inside! And, I don’t have very good luck. 🙂

The next day was the BIG day. The Artisan had their own indoor and outdoor chapels….the weather was beautiful, so we chose to do it outside. They had a wedding “package” and did everything for us except get the marriage license. I didn’t have to do much, but I had a lot of fun picking out my dress! I loved it. For a fun, spontaneous wedding, it was perfect (especially with the red shoes).