Happy Anniversary to me!

Today is Josh and my 5 year anniversary!! It has been a great five years. We have had our ups and downs and joys and struggles along the way but I can honestly say our love is more mature than it was five years ago. It really does not feel like five years, but it feels like we have been together forever at the same time. I feel so blessed to be married to Josh. He is a great husband and a wonderful father. He is giving, kind, sensitive, caring, and a hopeless romantic.

I can remember this day five years ago extremely well. I was a nervous wreck, but so excited. I had not slept much, if any, the night before. I got my hair and makeup done and went to the Miller Chapel to put on my wedding dress where my bridesmaids (Desha, Christy, Chass, Jamie, and Jayme) were waiting for me. Josh and I had decided to see each other before the wedding. It was just the two of us and our photographer in the room when we saw each other for the first time. It was one of the sweetest moments of the entire day. The intensity of that moment can not be put into words. We were overwhelmed by God's goodness to us. We both cried! During those brief moments,Josh gave me a string of pearls to wear with my dress. We also prayed together and over the bread and grape juice we were using for communion during the ceremony. Then...we headed out to take some more pictures when the unthinkable happened and Josh spilled a tiny bit of grape juice on my wedding dress. He was SO upset and I was remarkably calm. My florist/wedding planner Paul (who reminded me of Franc on Father of the Bride) swooshed in to save the day. Did you know Sprite takes out grape juice? It does!!

The wedding was beautiful. We began the ceremony with worship songs led by my Mission Year teammates Hope and Steve. My grandfather who was an incredible man of God married us. It turned out to be the last wedding he ever performed because he was killed in a tragic car accident the next month. My photographer took some great pictures of Bro. Parmer that day that Donna was able to order. I was so thankful Josh and I chose him to marry us. After lighting the unity candle we shared communion together, which was another incredible moment. We had our reception close by at the Herrington House. Some of my favorite pictures came from the reception. We had a great time visiting with friends and family during the reception. We did shove the cake in each other's face and I am pretty sure I started it ;-)! After the reception was over we changed clothes and ran outside where we were bombarded with birdseed thanks mostly to Desha and Steve, Christy, and Julie. We had birdseed everywhere. (A year later we were able to repay the favor when Christy and Lon got married! We filled up water pitchers full of bird seed!) My dad had gotten us a limo to take to Dallas where we were going to stay the night before headed out to our honeymoon in Lake Tahoe. It was a WONDERFUL Day! There is not much I would have changed about that day..mostly ticky tacky stuff. At the end of the day, Josh and I were married and all that stuff did not matter anyways.

Now five years later we are a family of four! Josh and I love being parents to Ethan and Eliana and look forward to see what the next five years holds for us.

Josh and I on our wedding day, January 10, 2004