Memory Lane

Many of you attended our wedding/reception, so you know just how wonderful it was (and if you don't think it was wonderful, don't ever tell me because I want to continue with my illusion of the perfect day:)). Everything about that day- just 4 years ago- was fantastic. Truly, I could not have asked for a better day!

Because I am from Seattle and Ben is from Denver, we decided to get married in Bountiful, UT. Not the most ideal choice, we realize, but it made the most sense because it allowed the greatest number of our friends and families to attend. It was actually kind-of nice planning a wedding from a state away, however, because I couldn't stress out about everything. I simply sent pictures to the cake person and the flower person. The cake was perfect, the flowers I didn't love, but, I couldn't worry about it- and that part of it was nice.

Of course, there were some complications. We were quite worried that it would be terrible weather and people wouldn't be able to come. Obviously, by the pictures, you can tell that the weather was perfect- we could not have planned it better! We flew into Salt Lake on Thursday, and had to get our marriage license on Friday, and then the wedding was on Saturday. That did add a little stress, but everything turned out fine- it was just the worrying about it! If I had to do it over again, though, I wouldn't change a thing!

Anyway, here are some memories of the day:

(You knew I had to sneak in a smooching picture somewhere)

We decided to get married in the afternoon. I know some people like morning weddings, but I wanted to be able to relax, sleep in a little bit, and not be stressed. And that is totally how it was- I was totally relaxed and stress-free all day. It was awesome!

What I remember most from the sealing (we call it "sealings" in our church instead of ceremonies because we believe we are literally sealed to each other and to our families not just in this life, but forever) is just being so incredibly happy. I had the biggest smile on my face the whole time and I just couldn't stop smiling- I felt like the luckiest person in the world to be committing my life and all eternity to this amazing man- who wouldn't be happy about that? I don't know what Ben remembers most-probably the sealer saying he could give me our first "legal" kiss...

One of our running jokes is that Ben was late to our wedding (he went out for a big breakfast with his family). My memory tells me that he was about 5 minutes late from when we were supposed to meet with the people officiating the wedding. His false memory tells him that he was right on time, and I was just early. I am pretty sure I am right...
My veil would not stay in my hair- it kept falling out, and was rather annoying. My sister Stephanie was put in charge of veil watch. She did a great job!
After the wedding, we took pictures for a couple of hours. We were STARVING by this point, so we stopped at Arctic Circle with my parents for a late lunch. This turned out to be not a great move, because then we weren't hungry for dinner- and the dinner was amazingly good! We had a "formal" dinner as our reception at this historic building, The Lion House, in downtown Salt Lake. Everything was catered, and absolutely DELICIOUS!!! But, unfortunately, everybody got totally stuffed and couldn't eat the cake. So, we had tons of cake leftover. I still don't know what happened to it...

The best part, of course, was being able to share our special day with so many wonderful friends and family. That was the BEST- it was like a huge party just for us, and we loved it!

After such a wonderful day, it was time to say "good-bye." Ben won't let me tell you the really funny story about how he locked us out of our hotel room and he had to run down and get another key, but I will just say- it's a really funny story!!!!

Really, though, I can honestly say that was the best day of my life- and I am grateful every day that I get to spend forever with this hunk of a man! Am I lucky or what?

You may ask, "how are you going to celebrate your anniversary tonight?" Well, it is quite exciting- I have a church meeting, but I will think about him while I am there. Then when I come home, we will watch The Office because that is our favorite show. (We are going to celebrate tomorrow night instead- I'll fill you all in later with our crazy getaway adventure- WITHOUT Audra!! Yippee!!!)

The New Blog!!!

I finally decided to start a blog, and I decided that I should start from the beginning! Four years ago tomorrow Ben asked me out on our first date- to go see The Prince and Me. I couldn't believe what a gentleman he was, and we absolutely hit it off- I think even from just our first date, we knew this was something different and better than either of us had ever experienced.
On January 15, 2005 we were married in Bountiful, Utah, and we have been enjoying wedded bliss ever since! I feel like we are the luckiest people in the world, and we certainly could not be happier. He is such an amazing husband and father!