My Journee of a Thousand Smiles: Five Years Ago...

Friday, 10/22/10, my hubby and I celebrated five years of marriage. It still doesn't seem possible that five years have flown by so quick. It is amazing what life can bring about in five years. In many ways, we are not that same two people who started out on this journey together...we have grown, evolved, and in some ways my hubby has adapted to my ideas and way of thinking and in some ways, I have done the same. I was the ultimate "Miss Independent" when I married him. I had been out on my own and supported myself near the Big City for some years. Mostly, I had been independent all my life. I will say that being so independent in some ways was a very good thing going into marriage, but in others it was a detriment. Five years later, that Miss Independent is completely gone. No, I'm not a clinging Nelly, but I have grown to depend on my husband and thrilled to be known as his wife.

When we said our vows, the odds were stacked against us. He came from a broken home and absentee father and Lord knows, my parents have had their share of ups and downs including a sabbatical. Add to that, he was raised completely different than I was and our personalities are very opposite. Hey, they say opposites attract right? Thankfully, we had several things going for us: God in our lives for one thing, we both believe that marriage really means "until death do us part," and good old stubbornness. You didn't expect the last one? Well, stubbornness doesn't always have to be a bad thing. In our case, we know that by all accounts, we should be included in the divorce statistics; we are stubborn enough and our minds are made up that we won't be and we are beating the odds by investing in our marriage and by the grace of God.

My wedding day was the happiest day of my life. A lot of stress, worry, and work had gone into my wedding day, but it was well worth it. God really does work some things out. We had a very small budget for our wedding. Looking back, I'm glad I did. A lot of weddings are all about the party at the reception instead of the ceremony which really is the most important part. Ours was all about the ceremony, but I did get the dress of my dreams and the wedding photographer I wanted along with several other things that I thought would make my wedding perfect.

There is a story about The Dress. I had made up my mind my wedding dress was going to be made by my great-aunt, therefore, to cut down the cost, but we wanted to go try on a couple of different styles to see which looked best. My best friend drove down for that day and so Mom, Mamo, my great-aunt, and I set up to try on dresses. We went to a couple of different stores and I wasn't liking anything. We decided to try one last place before we drove home. I was browsing and wasn't really impressed with what I was seeing when this lady came to help me. I didn't tell her we weren't going to be buying a dress, just that I was looking. She ushered me into a room and gave me two dresses to try on which I didn't like. Seeing that, she looked at me and said, "You know, I have the perfect dress for you." She then comes back with this gold and ivory wedding dress. You should have seen my face! Gold and ivory??! I am not into gold at all. However, I willingly tried it on. I stepped out of the room, walked to their big mirrors, and the looks on the faces of my family confirmed what I already felt: This was my dress. I had the moment every bride dreams about when they find their Dress. One big problem: It was designer. When I finally reluctantly went into the fitting room to take off that wonderful dress, my mother told the lady that we weren't prepared for the cost of that wedding dress. Come to find out, the lady was the top partner of the designer and I later found out she actually designed my dress. Of course, she knew who would look good in that dress! Before we left, she told my mom and I that if we were to order the next day, she would knock off like 30% of the cost. Needless to say when we got in the car, it was quiet. I was depressed thinking I had just found the dress of my dreams and there was no way I would ever wear it. My best friend knew how I was feeling and she said, "I'm going to pray that you get your dress. That dress was made for you." I said okay, but I have to admit my faith was pretty small. However, the next morning I woke up to the news that miraculously, the money was there to go order my dress. We went to church that morning and then left to order my dress. This was just one of the many ways God answered prayer for my wedding!! Later, my mom told me that my dress was one she saw in one of my numerous Bride's magazines and had insisted that was the dress style I needed and I said I didn't like it (I was seeing gold and ivory!). We went and looked and well, mom knows best: here is my wedding dress in that magazine.

I ordered it in all white although everybody said that being a redhead, I could have totally gotten away with the gold and ivory. I waited for months for my creation to come in and was so happy when I finally got to try it on and pose on the store's beautiful staircase!

One week before the Big Day, I had to wear it again for my great-aunt to make some minor alternations. It was an effort to take it off again and wait for my wedding.

The Wedding Day finally arrived. What a day! I was up way too early, but I was too excited to sleep. Here are a few pictures from the day I became a wife. The wedding pictures are courtesy of Tonia Barrett Photography from Turlock. She was awesome! I loved having her as my photographer and she blended so well with all the proceedings that she wasn't noticed and I have something like 400 or 500 photos from my wedding. I highly recommend her to any bride! She was also kind enough to let me post them as all wedding photos are under her copyright!

Happy Bride (toniabarrettphotography)

The Happy Groom arriving at the church (toniabarrettphotography)

Our Favorite Photo (toniabarrettphotography)

Feeding each other (toniabarrettphotography)

A funny moment: My uncle who was my DJ and my pastor clowning around at the reception. Those two were quite the entertainment! (toniabarrettphotography)

Our pastor did a great job performing our wedding. Every anniversary, Justin and I watch our wedding video just to re-hear the preaching because our pastor said some very awesome things about marriage and clinging to each other and God when times get rough. Five years later, he is still our pastor and we are happy to serve under him and his lovely wife. :)

Three veils: Blusher, mid length, and cathedral veil - It is a wonder I didn't get a headache from all that weight on my head. (toniabarrettphotography)

(toniabarrettphotography)

Looking at my Prince Charming (toniabarrettphotography)

My aunt snapped this and I have always loved it!

I have heard it said before: "They had a beautiful wedding, but what about the marriage?" This wasn't said about us, but there is such truth in that statement. So many young couples focus so much on the wedding these days and they forget to prepare for the marriage. My hubby and I have had our fair share of struggle, but I can honestly say I'm more in love with my husband than I was five years ago and he is my equal and "helpmeet." I can't say I married my best friend because I didn't think about it that way, but he is my best friend. He has seen all sides of his wife and although there are some he doesn't favor (laughing), he still loves me for me. He doesn't judge me when I have a "down day" and when I get to feeling we have had more than our fair share of hard knocks, he always encourages me by saying, "Babe, everything will be okay." You can't predict how somebody will be when you go through hard times and times of struggle, but it is with some of those times, I have fallen in love with him even more for his compassion and gentleness. There have been many times in the past two years that my hubby has literally helped me to keep going; he held my hand when heartbroken we lost the child we so badly wanted, he comforted me before I was healed of fibromyalgia, and it is times like those when you see the true character and measure of a man.

Some memorable moments of five years of marriage: