Three Months Till the Wedding!

After looking at a couple of nice places in Tulsa, Alex and Mauricio ultimately decided that the ranch would be the best place for them to say "I do." It's where Alex grew up, and it just feels like the right place. We cross our fingers that the weather on the evening of the wedding is as peaceful as it was in this photo...but we aren't going to hold our breath. It's Oklahoma, after all. Wheeee!

Alex, Paige, Mauricio's mom, Martha, and I took a day last fall to shop for wedding dresses in Dallas. We had appointments at three different stores, and wound up cancelling the other two, as Alex found the perfect dress at the first spot! I have seen all those scenes in movies where the mom cries the moment her daughter finds "the" wedding dress and I never thought that would be me...but someone must have been chopping onions in that bridal shop, because I'll be darned if I didn't tear up!

Alex and Mauricio love to dance, and together they found an amazing band that will play a mix of all their (and their families'!) favorite kind of music. The wedding will be outdoors under an open tent, so there'll be plenty of fresh air and hopefully lots of stars in the sky! I hope I don't split my dress doing the Gator. And if I do, I hope the photographer isn't anywhere near me.

Putting together the guest list for a wedding is always a process, and since this is the first wedding in both our and Mauricio's families, this one is no different. It's pretty equally distributed among Alex's lifelong friends, Mauricio's lifelong friends, their friends they have together, our family, Mauricio's family (many of whom live in Mexico)...oh, and cowboys. (And they're pretty much family, so it makes sense.) Oh, and I invited the entire cast of Cobra Kai, but I haven't heard back from them yet...😂)

While our little eight-room hotel won't house everyone that's coming to the wedding, it helps a little bit! But there are also bed and breakfasts in Pawhuska that family and friends have booked, as well as rooms in the Frontier Hotel, which is right next to The Merc. Mauricio and Alex are actually hoping everyone keeps dancing out on the ranch all night to the point that they won't even need a bed to sleep in...ah, to be young and able to stay up past 11:00 pm again! I wonder how late my feet and I will make it?

But I haven't tried it on yet. I'm too frightened. But I will, because guess what? I have started exercising and eating less, which I've heard can maybe result in slimming down? I'm not sure if that's just a rumor or not, but I thought I'd give it a shot. All kidding aside, I'm just being a lot more mindful of moving my bod all throughout the day, and I'm also being more mindful of not eating so much cake. I'm feeling confident! (Don't worry, mother-of-the-bride dress sitting alone in a box in my closet: I'll come introduce myself soon.) I wish I could just wear yoga pants...

I'm so excited for these two. I have loved watching their relationship grow, and it makes me happy that through all of it, the thing they do most consistently is laugh together. We couldn't love Mauricio more, and we love his family, too. The only obvious challenge I see the two of them facing together is that they both love dogs a little too much, and Alex might forget she doesn't live on a ranch and start welcoming dozens of dogs into their house. (It's okay, I'll take the overflow!)

We are so excited for Alex and Mauricio's wedding, and we're ready for whatever comes—even if it's an unplanned thunderstorm as they exchange their vows. Having the wedding outdoors will mean pretty scenery and plenty of fresh air, but it will also mean being ready for whatever comes. And I think that sums up where everyone is right now. What a year. I sense from speaking to friends and family—and just hearing from people through my blog and social media—a collective exhaustion from all the pain, change, chaos, upheaval, and loss. But I'm also starting to see a collective HOPE ❤️that things will get better sooner rather than later...and I'm embracing that feeling. Sending you all lots of love!