Eight is Great

today, mr. man and i celebrate 8 years of wedded bliss. you better believe we made it through year 7 without one single itch! no big thang! since i'd been waiting 6(!) years already, our engagement was a whirlwind. luckily location was a non-issue because my parents had a park for a backyard, complete with pond, pool, and basketball court (the dance floor, of course).

oh man, that weekend was not without drama (big shocker, huh?!). the afternoon before our wedding, a huge summer thunderstorm (totally normal for NM/west TX) rolled through. awesome. it came and left in a hurry, but not before knocking down trees, fences, and blowing tons of leaves all over the yard and pool, ruining all the prep we'd already done. grrrrr.

so, naturally, i became a basket-case worrying whether we should move the wedding indoors, or just leave it as is. what if there's another storm? where would we put people if there is? what do we do? what do we do? that's when a dear friend grabbed me and slapped me made me focus on what the wedding of my dreams looked like. so, i climbed off my crazy train, kept with the original plan and hoped for the best.

after that weekend, i won't ever discount the power of prayer. an angel friend raked leaves during our rehearsal dinner (without us knowing). my family set up tables and chairs before getting ready for the wedding. some friends made sure the tables were decorated, while others scooped leaves out of the pool. and, we prayed and prayed and prayed. and that storm gave us a lovely day of low 70s, after days (and days) in the 90s. the bridesmaids in black dresses and all the boys in monkey suits breathed a sigh of relief!

that outpouring of love was only the beginning of the love we felt on our wedding day. we were surrounded by amazing friends and family who love us and knew us as a couple. and, the compliments we got throughout the day of how much love everyone felt were so humbling.

i couldn't wait for that man to ask me to be his wife (6 years, remember), and i wake up every day thanking God that i get to spend the rest of my life with him. in my sister's toast, she said she hoped that we'd look back on our wedding day as the day we loved each other least, and you know what? we do - i love him more today than yesterday, and i'll love him more tomorrow than today.

happy anniversary, mr. man. i love you. i love you. i love you.