For our “honeymoon” after we renewed our vows, we took a family vacation to Disney World. Keaton and Justis were so excited. It would be their first time on an airplane. And their first time to Disney World.

However, the morning after the renewal, I was really starting to reconsider my decision to drink peppermint schnapps the night before. Lots of peppermint schnapps. On the rocks.

I don’t remember what time we had to leave for the airport. But I do remember it being way earlier than I would have liked. When I had a hangover. Lee had to basically push me out of bed and in to the bathroom to get showered and ready to go.

My head was pounding so bad and my stomach was sour. I laid on the floor in the bathroom using my towel as a pillow, willing the room to stop spinning. Lee banged on the door, “Are you in the shower yet? I can see you laying on the floor.” So I dragged my sorry butt off the floor and got ready for the airport.

Once we got to Florida and checked in at our hotel (the Wilderness Lodge), we walked passed the hotel bar to get to our room. I almost hurled right there on the carpet ’cause I could smell the peppermint schnapps from the bar. It was a rough trip.

But once I got some sleep (and drank lots of water) I was feeling much better. And we had a fantastic trip. Watching Keaton and Justis get so excited as they dragged us to the next ride or when they saw another Disney character who’s autograph they could add to their autograph book was the best sight ever. It took me back to my first trip to Disney World when I was a young teen.

We went to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom and Blizzard Beach. Keaton and Justis were very brave at just 4- and 6-years-old. They rode all the rides I thought were scary; including the Tower of Terror and the HUGE drop slide at Blizzard Beach. Keaton was disappointed when he discovered he was too short for some of the rides. He wanted to do it all.

At Animal Kingdom the boys each got a big dinosaur toy. One day when we came back to the room after a long day at one of the parks we found the dinosaurs in the bathroom. The maid staff had strategic placed the dinosaurs with toilet paper strung around the toilet and in the dinosaurs’ mouths. It was hilarious. And a great surprise. All Disney employees sure know how to make little boys’ dreams come true.

And then we all lived happily ever after…or something like that.

At 7pm on Saturday, November 14, 1998, Lee and I stood before our family and friends, at the altar of the church where I was baptized and confirmed, and renewed our marriage vows.

During the ceremony the pastor read 1 Corinthians 13:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Keaton and Justis joined us to light the unity candle. It was such a sweet moment that I will cherish forever.

We said traditional vows …till death do us part… and then exchanged our new wedding bands.

After the ceremony we headed over to our reception. It was a traditional wedding reception in this huge party room behind a popular bar. We had a big head table with all of the wedding party. There were purple and silver balloons all over. And purple candle centerpieces.

There was food. And lots of it. Since our renewal was at 7pm we didn’t have a meal per say. Instead we had lots and lots of hors d’oeuvres.

Of course, there was dancing. Lee and I danced to LeAnn Rimes’ How Do I Live for our first song.

And there was definitely cake. Thankfully Lee and I kept it clean. We didn’t shove the cake in each other’s mouths.

Plus there was tons of alcohol. Oh WOW was there a lot of alcohol. I was really hurting the next day when we were catching our plane for our “honeymoon.”

When we renewed our vows we had a much bigger wedding party. Necole was still my Maid of Honor. And Dave was still Lee’s Best Man. But we also got a bunch of other friends to join us on our special day.

My childhood friend Laurie was my Matron of Honor. Laurie and I met in elementary school. She was (still is) a year older than me. She lived in a house right behind my apartment complex. We were best friends and inseparable all through elementary school. Right until she moved to Illinois with her family. I was devastated. But, miraculously, we stayed in touch. We wrote letters. We called each other a few times a year. And now, with all this new fangled technology, we’ve connected on instant message and Facebook.

Lee’s sister Tana was a bridesmaid. Lee has two sisters on his mother’s side. And a brother and sister on his father’s side. But since he was raised by his grandmother and have very limited contact with his parents he didn’t meet any of his siblings until he was an adult. Back in the mid-90s Lee’s mom sent us Tana’s wedding picture. We framed it and put it on the wall with all of our other photos. One day Necole and her then husband Kyle were at our house and saw the photo. “That’s Al,” said Kyle. He was friends with Tana’s husband. So Necole and Kyle set up a dinner date with all of us shortly after we got married. And that’s how we all met. We were so happy to finally have a relationship with Lee’s sister. And to be able to include Tana in our wedding.

Lee’s friends Chad and Dustin were groomsmen. Chad and Dustin are two of Lee’s best friends. Lee has a lot of friends he’s known practically his whole life. They are a tight knit group. Chad and Dustin went to a different school, but lived in the neighborhood just across the street from the neighborhood Lee lived in. [The school lines are a little tricky here in our city.]

Lee’s friends Jaasen, Trent & Troy were ushers. Jaasen, Trent and Troy are some friends Lee’s known his whole life. They all lived in the same apartment complex and went to the same school as they grew up. Trent and Troy are identical twins.

From left to right: Back row is Troy, Chad and Trent. Middle row is Dustin, Me, Lee, and Tana. Front row standing is Laurie, Dave, Necole. Front row kids and kneeling is Kyria (my sister) Justis, Keaton and Jaasen.

My little sister was our flower girl. Kyria is 16 years younger than me. So at our renewal in 1998 she was just 7-years-old. I also have a brother Le who is 12 years younger than me. I asked him to be in the wedding too, but, at 11-years-old, he was too shy at the time to partake.

Keaton & Justis were ring bearers. They were sooo adorable. They were just 4- and 6-years-old. They had matching suits. And matching ring bearer pillows. And they held hands as they walked down the aisle together. They also lit the unity candle with Lee and I. It was too cute for words.

Once we got home from our honeymoon, I had almost a full year to plan for our vow renewal. But you know how I am with procrastination…

I was never one of those little girls who played wedding with my friends. I never sat around dreaming up all the details of my perfect wedding. I never cooed over bridal magazines or bride shows on TV. I always planned on getting married, but never really thought much about how the wedding would look. Or what I would wear. Or what our colors would be. Or any of that stuff.

For our Vegas wedding I didn’t even pick out colors. My maid of honor and best man wore whatever they wanted. All I asked is that they dressed up. The church put our flowers together without any real input for me. And that was ok with me.

So when it came time to plan this big church wedding (vow renewal) I didn’t really know what to do. I really looked to my friends for help. My maid of honor (Necole) had a sister that was a florist. So I reached out to her to create some bouquets. And I let her pretty much whatever flowers she wanted to in the bouquets because I know nothing about flowers. She did a great job. The flowers were beautiful.

As for colors, I decided to go with deep purple and silver. Purple was Lee’s favorite color. I HATE pastels. So deep purple sounded good. And I couldn’t think of any color that went with purple except silver. But the colors turned out nice and really complimented each other.

For bridesmaid dresses, we found some nice (but simple) deep purple dresses. My matron of honor was pregnant so I didn’t want anything too tight. Babies need some breathing room after all. And I wanted her to feel comfortable. So the dresses had a strip just below the breasts and flowed out from there. Very nice.

I wore the same dress I wore to the Vegas wedding. But for our renewal I wore a veil and a long detachable train. The dress also came with some, um, I don’t know what to call them…sleeves that don’t attach or gloves without the glove part?!? They had elastic that held them up at around my bicep. And then came down to my wrist. But they seemed, well, odd to me so I scrapped them.

As for a photographer, caterer, and DJ, I didn’t really interview people like I think you’re supposed to. I didn’t even ask for suggestions. I just pulled out the phone book, turned the yellow pages, and hired the first person that answered the phone. I didn’t even haggle over price or try to find the cheapest. Clearly I’m a total pro at all this. If you are looking for a wedding planner I’m totally available.

But I did spend a lot of time on new wedding rings. Since Lee lost his ring it was my opportunity to really spice things up. I took several trips to the jewelry store trying to find the perfect rings.

I found this gorgeous band with five or six rubies going across the band. I thought it would really accentuate my engagement/wedding ring. So I bought it.

But after a few weeks I decided it set up too high and would never look right together with my other rings. And I’d never be able to get it soldered with the rest of the rings.

So I decided to call that ring my “anniversary ring” and where it on my right hand instead. [You didn't really think I'd return jewelry did you?] And Lee and I went in search of new bands.

After some thought we went with regular gold bands. Lee was so tough on his hands (and ring) with his job, it didn’t really make sense to get something fancy with diamonds and the works [again]. And I wanted my ring to match his. So now he has a gold band. And I have my engagement ring and wedding wrap soldered together. Plus a small gold band from our renewal (which I never did solder to my wedding ring anyway).

So all the deets were set. All that was left was to renew our vows.