Angela and Jason's Princess 1/2 Memories VR

[Mama_Dis]

So. . . yeah.

DH and I are planning a Memories Vow Renewal during our trip to WDW to run the Princess 1/2 marathon!

Backstory:
Jason and I met in late 1999 while I was in high school. Our first dates were not very romantic seeing as we were so young, so there is no great "swept me off my feet" type of moment. We just clicked.

Being young and having way too much of the "It won't happen to me." attitude, I got pregnant in 2000 at 16. I had my son just after my 17th birthday and moved in with Jason and finished high school on time. The next few years were tumultuous as is expected for the two of us trying to make it work as a family and a couple. We got engaged on my 18th birthday (again, he won no prizes for the most romantic engagement, cest la vie) Finally, in 2004 after our son's open heart surgery, I agreed to a wedding date on June 18, 2005. We had been through so much and I was ready to make the commitment.

I wanted THE wedding- everyone celebrating with us, flowers, cakes, big dresses the whole thing and I got it on the stringiest of shoestring budgets. We had looked into a Disney wedding, but it was laughable at the time, there was no way we could have done that! My son (4 then) walked me down the aisle and it was as perfect as any wedding day could be. A few pics:

In July of 2006, baby #2 came My oldest started Kindergarten and life was pretty good for the next few years. We went on our belated honeymoon in 2007 to St.Lucia which was RIDICULOUSLY AMAZING. Seriously, if you are looking for honeymoon spots and love quiet secluded places where you get to mingle with locals- St.Lucia baby:

View From our private plunge pool:

OK, so fast forward to 2009. I've successfully converted Jason into a Disney lover, he's converted me into a Star Wars lover, we are renting a house on a dream farm. We've got the two horses, two dogs, two kids and one on the way. Life is busy. Jason has a new job that requires lots of travel. It wasn't supposed to, but it does. Now I'm at home taking care of "the farm" while he's gone 75% of the time. Resentment brews, troubles start, blame keeps getting put on pregnancy hormones and shoved away.

In October of 2009, our daughter is born!!! We're so excited we can't even see straight. Our princess is here and now we get to experience this side of parenting. Our family feels complete.

But the travel goes on. In December 2009, our marriage comes to a breaking point. Marriage ending secrets are discovered and the world as I knew it stopped turning.

In February 2010, the fog lifts and we start trying to reassemble ourselves, our family and our marriage. I took my vows very seriously and was committed to doing what I could to save our marriage before throwing in the towel.

After a year of weekly individual and couples counseling, the deep wounds are now scars. Scars that still hurt on occasion, but scars that speak more to our healing than our pain. We are doing more and connecting more as a couple. One of those things being running. We've started training for the Princess Half Marathon and it will be our first adults only trip to Disney.

We have decided to take this time to recommit ourselves to our new life and new marriage. It will be just Jason and I and we're both ok with that and are looking forward to spending some alone time reconnecting in the happiest place on earth.

I know this is ridiculously long winded and most assuredly not the typical "OMG! I have Prince Charming and we are going to get married and live happily ever after for the rest of our lives in fantasyland" type of PJ, but it's about as real life as it gets.

*disclaimer, I have NOTHING against the aforementioned types of PJ's, they are great and I love sharing the excitement vicariously with the peeps on this board

So, more to come, dresses, rings, flowers, all that good stuff.

 

[wiserabbit]

You and your hubby definitely DESERVE the VR !!!! Can't wait to follow with you as your plans develop

My hubby and I are having our 30th this year with an Escape VR - and we also went through times that sound pretty similiar to yours - so I completely understand what you're saying.......The VR will be a wonderful way to celebrate the triumph of the two of you being together - I think it is way romantic

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

i can't wait to read more about your plans. i love that you didn't sugarcoat your story because it's true--not all of us live a fairytale everyday... we certainly don't in our house... but in the end, we love each other more than anything. your pictures are great! happy planning!!

 

[K80K]

Sounds like you and Jason have come a long way together. I think a VR after all the rebuilding and growin you have been doing is fantastic. And as a huge running fan I like your timing.

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Thank you for sharing your wonderfully candid story with us. I know from bitter experience that relationships are very hard work and there is often as much heartache as there is happiness. Surely, the fact that you care enough about each other to work on getting things back on track is testiment to how you feel about each other!!!
Congratulations and welcome. Enjoy every moment of your planning - you certainly deserve this happy time!!!

 

[Torrance]

Hi Angela! A vow renewal sounds like a really wonderful way to celebrate your relationship - and making it through the ups and downs. Thanks for sharing with us... I'll be following along :

I hope training for the marathon is going well so far.

 

[LaurenM]

Hi Angela! Love the pictures and your story, you both deserve this VR more than anyone. I am also a memories collection bride(but not a VR yet lol) We also have a little boy that was born January of 2010. I am looking forward to following along. BTW LOVE your pics!

 

[KristiLyn]

Thanks for sharing!!! I really loved looking at your pics. Can't wait to hear more of your plans!

 

[Mama_Dis]

Thanks for all well wishes friends! I still feel like it's a little surreal. We aren't really telling anyone IRL as his half of the family would be hounding us and wanting to go and whatnot and my half. . . well, they would be far less excited than I'd like, so they can just stay out of it. I did tell my sister who is a huge Disney fan, so at least I got to tell someone!

Between the last post and this one, I have been working on my ring. I knew I wanted something custom as I'm going diamond free this time around. I love sparklies, but am unimpressed with the diamond industry as a whole. So, I am getting a simulant for my center stone and then the rest of the ring will be white sapphires and aquamarines (my birthstone).

This is my original wedding set that I still have, but no longer wear:

So the ring has kind of set the tone for the colors- I think I'll be doing off-white and light blue. Not that there is much to color coordinate in a 2 person VR except flowers and ties, but

Here is the pic of the ring I'm having made- this one is in white and black diamonds, but anywhere there are white diamonds, they will be white sapphires and where there are black diamonds, there will be aquamarines (including those "hidden mickeys" on the sides =) I will also be having a contoured wedding band made to sit flush with this, but can't decide if I should get the white sapph or aqua's. Thoughts?

 

[princess_ariel_85]

hiya & thankyou for sharing your story. You both deserve the VR and it's a testament to you both and the strength of your marraige.

Your photos are beautiful, you look stunning.

I've subbed into this PJ and can't wait to read more x

 

[elle1024]

Hi Angela! Just joining in, and I love your story. Like you said, its as real as it gets. Don't feel like your alone, as pp have mentioned all relationships go through the ups and downs (including those who chose not to write those in like myself) but the important thing is that you chose to work things out and are now going to renew your vows. Congratulations for being able to overcome the hardships and commiting to your partner all over again! I will be following along for sure.
By the way, love your pictures. You have a beautiful family. The ring you designedus also really gorgeous. Can't wait to see more.

 

[Mama_Dis]

Hi to my new friends on this thread!

Lots happening here. DH was just offered a position in the central FL area and we are moving in the next few months!!!!!!! I am FREAKING out! There is so much to be done and it's so overwhelming!

But, I still had time to have some ring drama After I posted the ring I was having made, I was looking at the listing created for me and the jeweler had put up a different ring as the "model". Same style, but the prongs were huge and kind of. . . ugly.

So, I have been back and forth with her for about a week trying to figure something out. She said the ring I wanted, they are no longer making with the small prongs because too many people were losing stones, so she wasn't comfortable with making a new ring in that style (the listing is up to get rid of the ones they still have) but I REALLY did not want those gaudy prongs overshadowing my stones. How do you tell someone that you thing what they have made is ugly without hurting their feelings? BAH!!

However, today we finally came to a happy medium where I'll be having the stones all pave set instead of prong set which is actually probably a little better as I'm pretty rough on jewelry. This will help minimize lost/damaged stones, and the offset is that I will lose some of the sparkle as less light gets all around the stones. But since I'm not a huge "bling" type of girl, I'm much happier with this arrangement.





So more when I can- did I mention I'm moving EEEEEEEEEKKKKKK

 

[Jilian]

What a great PJ so far, I think your honesty is great. We have a lot of similarities! I also have 3 kids (and had my first daughter in 2009!) and a little boy with a CHD who had OHS; that alone is enough to rattle the strongest of marriages. We're also having a VR in 2012. I look forward to following your PJ and hearing about your plans. It sounds like you and your H are really committed to making things work.