the three of us are gathered here today...

i didn't want a big "to do." chuck had spent the past few weeks making sure that i didn't and i'm grateful he cares enough to be sure, but i genuinely didn't. i didn't want to spend the money nor the planning time. so...

i left work at 12:15pm on my wedding day.
i went home, chuck was asleep on the couch. knocked OUT.
i took my time getting ready. he did too.
we laughed about what to wear.
mr: "baby, you're not gonna like WAY dress up are you?"
mrs: "no sir"
mr: "whew. that would just be too over the top, don't you think?"
mrs. "yes. fo sho."
i laughed to myself at how relieved he was. i guess miss big hair and 4 inch heels could have been percieved as liking to make a big deal - i really didn't want to.
as i donned my favorite nine west sandals, "i gotta wear heels. i hate it for ya, handsome. i gotta."
he just laughed and shook his head.
dang, he looks good. he IS handsome. so much more, but i was focused on the handsome part.
i took his picture.

we were ready. dressed for a friday night date night out, not our wedding.
it was almost like we weren't doing anything at all.
but there was an underlying feeling of not talking about it so that we wouldn't freak ourselves out.
i kept being all giddy and repeating "we're doing this! we're really getting married!"

we drove to the courthouse and the same secretary-esque lady who let us apply for the license took our forms and $20 cash.
we sat in the "mauve thrown up everywhere" waiting room. it was hear a pin drop silent. we giggled a lot. smiled real big at each other. it was like a dream.
all we could hear in the background was her on the typewriter filling in our boxes...
a few minutes later she popped up with a folder and said, "ok, y'all follow me."
i realized walking down that hallway that i had absolutely no idea what to expect.
(would this even be like a real wedding? where are we going? what is she going to say?)
we walked down a short hallway, passed a fella raising his voice to his lawyer, a group of three men (judges?) standing together and then she interrupted the questions firing off in my mind with, "y'all come in here."
we went into a room that was a conference room. for a split second i thought, "really?" i don't know what i expected, i had no expectation, but this wasn't it. it looked like a slightly better version of our current conference room at work. "aw, someone left thier bouquet!" she exclaimed. "look, i don't remember who it was. what was their name?" she was thinking out loud and sure enough, there was a plastic-ish bouquet on the bookshelf at the back. it dawned on me that people probably do some ridiclulous stuff in this room with her. people who have chosen not to have a wedding try to have a $20 wedding in this conference room.
chuck and i just stood around not knowing what to do, where to stand. we had rings. i still didn't even know if she would say regular wedding stuff. i walked forward like i knew what to do. i like to pretend that i ALWAYS know what to do next, even (especially) when i don't.
"where do we go?" chuck asked me "i dunno." i whispered. i didn't want HER to know i didn't know.
"i usually marry people over here in the corner. come right here. and face each other. hold hands, now. how do you say this name, fawsee?"
she practiced, got it right and said our given names, christen and jason, and i didn't even think to correct her.
"y'all ready?"
we nod.
"do you have rings?"
i hand them over.
"oh good. okay, here we go..."

then it happened. it hit us both. while we stood in a conference room in the anderson county courthouse...we looked into each others' eyes and realized fully what we were doing. and that it was exactly what we wanted.

"the three of us are gathered here today to marry jason faasse and christen campbell."
(three of us?! hilarious. jason and christen? or chuck and chrissy...ok, chrissy, focus.)
do you, jason, take christen, to be your wife? do you promise to love her and be faithful to her for as long as you both shall live?"
"i do."
"and do you, christen, take jason, to be your husband? do you promise to love him and be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?"
"i do" (and i choked up.)
i honestly can't remember what other vows were said, at least not exactly, i'm confident that "with this ring..." was in there somewhere. but as we said whatever those words were, i tried not to cry because i wanted to appear strong and sure, but i couldn't help it. standing there looking at the man God gave to me, i knew that however i said them wouldn't compare to how deeply they were rooted truthfully inside of me, but i wanted to try. i've never wanted anything on earth and been sure of anything like i am this man. this life.
and while i looked at him, when he said them to me, in his quiet special way, i saw him fight back tears, too. and i knew, all over again, that he meant those words like i did. two people, with a lifetime of pain, who only want to make whatever time God blesses us with rich, full of Him, full of each other, full of LOVE, encouragement, forgiveness, trust, and just. plain. fun.
she even said, "you may kiss the bride" and he did! and that was it.
we thanked her and she shared that her son was getting married this year and she was having a hard time not being emotional and we were sweet. after that whole bouquet dabocle i had to comment, "boy, i'll bet people do some STUFF in this room." "oh yeah, absolutely." and she said a few other things...
we walked out, hand in hand, grinning from ear to ear.
and was so surreal.

we went to olive garden, simply bc we were starving and had recently seen an olive garden commercial. So we had been craving it ever since. then we went to walmart.

walmart.
walmart on my wedding day.
(but i needed CDs for chorus!)
and then, we went home, together, as husband and wife. mr. & mrs.
what God has joined together, let no man put asunder. AMEN!