Beauty From Chaos

Five years ago today my life drastically changed for the better.

Five years ago today I was married.

I can’t believe it has been five years already. I’m shocked at how fast time has flown, and guess what? We still love each other. Amazing, I know.

I thought I’d share a little story about My wedding day, starting with a bit of background info for those of you reading who don’t know us.

We met online, after talking on IM for several months we started talking on the phone. 16 months from the time we met online we met face to face. I took a bus from Maine to North Carolina and stayed with his sister for a week. By the end of the week we knew we were supposed to get married. That was in January of 2002.

I finished up the school year, and my commitments to work at a summer camp that year and in August of 2002 I packed my bags, and moved to North Carolina.

October of 2002 he proposed.

Yes, it was a public proposal. We were actually in a small band, and we “just happened to be playing” at the youth club we worked at. After we played the set, Matt (the guitarist/singer/song writer) said there was one more song. I was confused, because we hadn’t practiced any other songs…

Yah, The love of my life put himself out there and sang “I want to Grow Old with You” to me, before getting on one knee to give me a ring. Of course he changed the line “put you to bed when you’ve had too much to drink” to “get in the same bed even when your feet stink” how romantic.

Looking at the pictures I wished I had dressed up a little bit more.

Anyway, We started making plans to get married in August of 2003, but nothing was working out, so to make things “fair” for both of our families we decided to just get married November 29 of that year. Since none of my family could get down from Maine we decided no one but our mothers would be there (and the pastor and her daughter who took all the pictures). We had a little wedding, it got the job done and saved lots of money! We did have a small reception for whoever could show up at the youth club that night.

Looking back now as the more mature adult that I am, I realized I should have let whoever could be there be there, but at the time the way we did it made sense. And everyone has forgiven us for it I think

We flew my mom down from Maine so she could be there, and went to pick her up the morning before the wedding. Since it was a small wedding I didn’t have all the stress of spending hours before it getting prepared. I found my dress on sale at Belk for $99, it should have had alterations done, but we didn’t have time for that.

My mom made my flowers, and I did my hair and make up. Walmart took care of the cake for us and his sisters (despite the fact they were mad at us) chipped in and brought some food.

The day itself was kinda rushed, on the way home from the airport my car broke down and we were stuck about an hour away from our house. Luckily his sister was nice enough to come rescue us and bring us back home. We then had to spend the rest of the weekend with the three of us (my mom, Eugene and I) crammed in the front of his old truck. It was great.

Anyway, we managed to only have to move the time of the wedding back about 45 minutes- one of the advantages of not having guests waiting for you!

There’s the Kiss the Bride shot- of course no wedding is complete without it.

Here is us with all our guests

Happy Anniversary hunny!

Before you there was no assurance that love would be mine. Now I know that God has heard and answered my prayers by giving me a man who is perfect for me. Five years ago as we stood before our mothers, I made these promises to you, today as we raise our daughter and go through our daily tasks, I make them again.

I promise to love you faithfully and fully no matter what comes our way; through trials and rejoicing, through paina nd joy, through the happy times and the sorrowful times. I promise to love you when it’s easy and I promise to love you when it’s hard. I promise to stand by your side holding you up with the strength God gives us.

I promise to be a friend, to laugh with you and cry with you, to be your shoulder to lean on and your ear to listen. I promise to stand there with you when the rest of the world walks out.

I promise that no matter what we go through I will stand true to these promises I make to you today. I promise to never walk out or turn my back on you. When struggles come our way I promise to take them to God with you, sitting down and working through each one. I promise to never give up on your, our marriage or the promises I am making. I love you, now and forever.

I love you more today than I did five years ago. I want you to know I meant every word I said in my vows to you, they mean even more today than they did when I wrote them. Have a great day hunny.