5 Years Later

January 6th, 2007 we were married. In an old house, surrounded by old friends. No big wedding party, no fanfare, just us. It was standing room only, we had a pianist and a fire in the fireplace, cocktails and heavy hors d'oeuvres. It was simple and beautiful and perfect in pretty much every way, even down to the date. Did you know in Father of the Bride (my favorite movie of all time as if you didn't already know that) Annie and Bryan were married on January 6th? Oh yeah they were - and don't fool yourself into thinking this is a coincidence.

And he still married me, folks.

(also, did you know Steve Martin and I share a birthday? We are soooo kindred spirits!)

So yeah, pretty much perfect except for three things:

#1. It rained. You would think for a January wedding you could expect a nice, beautiful blanket of white snow. I mean, come on Ohio. Can't you at least be dependable enough to deliver some good old fashioned winter weather? It's what you're known for! And while we're on the subject - even in Father of the Bride they got snow on their wedding day and that was California! (and yes, I realize it was a movie and not real life, but still). Good gravy.

#2. I puked my guts out the whole day. Call it the flu, call it nerves, call it whatever you want. I don't know what I had that day but it wasn't pretty. I puked all day. I puked from sunrise to sunset. I puked all my makeup off (after having it professionally done), I puked once we got to the venue and after I was already dressed. I barely pulled it together enough to make it down the aisle. I really thought for a minute there we were going to have to send everyone home. But alas, after some serious mouthwash and a pep talk from my dad, I made it through the I Do's and started feeling alot better. I never did taste any of the food that night though, but I hear it was delicious. The only thing I tasted was one bite of the wedding cake for the obligatory feeding-each-other-cake picture. And speaking of pictures...

#3. The pictures. This goes down as one of my all time greatest regrets of life. It's seriously that bad. We did not, I repeat, did NOT get one single good picture of Josh and I together. How is that even possible, you ask? Well, Josh does this thing where whenever you're taking his picture he looks anywhere but at the camera. Anywhere in the room will do, just not at the camera - never at the camera. Also, the pocket square he was wearing in his jacket that day seemed to have taken on a life of it's own. It can be seen in most pictures, leaping from it's proper position against his chest, out into the room, as if to attack me or any other standerby in it's path. Well, no one noticed. Josh was too distracted (obviously) and I was focusing all my energy on not throwing up on my new husband (talk about killing the romance) or passing out. There was no room left to worry about pocket squares. We often joke that the pocket square actually married me that day and not Josh. And believe me - it was awhile before we could joke about this. I'm still fairly traumatized by the whole thing.

But despite these imperfections, our wedding was exactly as I had hoped it would be. And that's all you can do, give it your all and hope for the best. Imperfections come with life and nothing is ever perfect. Luckily, it was just a wedding. Just one day in a lifetime of days. What really matters is the marriage. All those days that come after the wedding. And that, well that has been even better than I could have imagined. Imperfections and all. In five years we've traveled the world, rode camels past the great pyramids of giza and watched the sun rise over the nile. We bought our first house and turned it into a home. I graduated college and we both got our first, real, grown up jobs. One cold day we stared at each other in disbelief over a positive pregnancy test and realized we were going to be parents. In summer we had a son and two and a half years later, we gave him a brother. In the five years since that kiss and those two little words, we've seen mountains and oceans, skyscrapers and giant redwood forests. We've watched our babies grow. We've watched our life unfold right before our eyes. And the best part? There is so, so, so much more to come.

Let the adventure continue.

I love you, Josh

Happy Anniversary