3 Years Ago

3 years ago I married a man that I thought I loved. I thought it was a good idea to promise to spend the rest of my life with him, through thick, through thin; through richer, through poorer; through sickness, through health.

I thought he was the one who would stand by my side through everything & I thought I wanted to do that for him too. I thought I would love him for the rest of my life & we would be able to take this journey through life together for the rest of our lives.

I had no idea that 3 years later I would not love him like I loved him that day. That I would not trust him like I did that day. That I would not mean those vows the same exact way I meant them that day, standing next to him in front of the Pastor, in front of our friends & family.

Mr. & Mrs. Eddi Girl

The truth is, I love him more than I did the day I said yes to his proposal & more than I did the day I stood next to him & made promises to him. I trust him more than that day. Over the last 3 years I have grown even more in love with him.

As I have watched this man take on the responsibility of all of these children, grow as a parent to them & not only that, but actually love them as his own, I've fallen even more in love with him. When we got married, we had the pastor do a Family Prayer & all 8 of us held hands in a circle while Pastor prayed over our newly formed new family. In that moment, this bachelor decided he would not only love 1 woman for the rest of his life but also parent this family with her.

The card. 

The flowers hubby had
delivered to me at work.

Hubby is an amazing man & truly is the other half of me. He gets me in a way that no one else does. With one look, he knows what I'm thinking--& not just the Eddi Look that says "I'm beyond annoyed, you better fix this situation." He knows more about me than anyone else in the world & still loves me.

I am so happy that I have found that True Love that everyone talks about. There was a time I didn't think it existed & when I was least expecting it, & definitely not looking for it, it appeared right in front of me. We were meant to be together & each day our love grows & our relationship is stronger than the day before. Even the evil ex, being pathetic with her attempts to tear us apart, only makes us stronger & appreciate each other more. When you find the one you're supposed to be with, nothing can separate you.

We celebrated our Anniversary on Tuesday & I can't believe it's been 3 years. We have been through so much in that time, but it still feels like we just got married. Thankfully, I'd do it all over again. Thankfully, because life would suck if I didn't feel that way. And actually, I'd love to put my wedding dress on again & walk down that aisle again, & say those vows again. I wouldn't mind being a bride again & having my dream wedding again...as long as hubby was the one waiting at the end of the aisle again. It'd suck if we renewed our vows & he didn't show up 'cause he got cold feet. Hmm...something to think about when I plan our Vow Renewal.

"You were supposed to smile."

"I know what you're doing."

"That's still not a smile."

"Stop making me laugh."

Last night I asked hubby, "If I was paralyzed & unable to speak, would you know how to do things for me?" He asked me what I meant. I said, "Like, if you had to tuck me in just how I like to sleep." He said, "In the fetal position, with your Comfy Blanket, feet uncovered." I asked him if I wasn't able to talk, would he be able to tell someone things like my 3 favorite colors ('cause the first 2 are easy), my favorite meal (he gave me 2 answers, based on whether I'd be able to chew or not), & it's these little things like that that mean the most to me. These little things that tell me he cares to know them.

My Maid of Honor

Another person that knows me so well is my Maid of Honor, who helped me so much with our wedding. She was the one who, after I met hubby, predicted I would eventually break down & quit saying I wasn't ever getting married again. She was ecstatic but not the least bit surprised when I texted her a picture of a diamond ring on my left hand. She was the one that I went to with, "What do you think if we do this?" questions & she always said, "It's your wedding! You get to do whatever you want to do!"

When unexpected things happened that looked like it would turn my wedding into a nightmare, she was the one I called crying. She was a total rock & calmed me down with, "This is what we will do. It'll be okay, I promise." And it was not only okay, it was better than I imagined. When others said or did things that threatened to upset me on my big day, she was the one that took over so that I didn't even know what had happened until months later.

When I told her I was making the bouquets, boutonnieres, & corsages, she didn't say, "But you have no idea what you're doing, you're crazy!" She said, "Awesome! When are we going shopping for flowers?" When we went shopping & all I knew was that my colors were purple & brown, what kind of flowers I wanted in my bouquet but not the others, & that I did NOT want roses anywhere, she didn't even bat an eye. Just patiently sorted through flowers, helping me put together bouquets, until I found exactly what I wanted. When I surprised her by putting her favorite color in the mix, she got teary. She knows I'm not particularly a fan of her favorite color but I found a shade of orange that I loved & worked great with the purple & browns we picked out.

Ginger Girl with the bouquets.
(Ginger Girl walked me down the aisle, 'cause
what's better than 1 red head walking down an aisle?
2!)

My bouquet.

A Mother's corsage.

This picture of hubby saying his vows is one of my favorites of the ceremony. 

"I do."

A friend took this picture by sneaking a
peek around the pillars just before I
walked down the aisle & I love it! 

I love this next picture because it shows that I could not get that smile off my face, no matter what. That's our wedding coordinator I'm talking to...or actually the woman that the venue owner decided would be our wedding coordinator & I didn't know about her existence until the night before at our Rehearsal. She had some very odd ideas of what should happen & did not listen to any of the things I had planned, without her help, for my wedding. I did not like her or her pushy attitude & she was the last person I wanted (or expected) to be appearing at my side, out of nowhere, to talk to me seconds before I was to walk down the aisle. Even that couldn't get to me that day, because I was beyond happy.

Us 6 months ago
(yeah, our 2 1/2 Anniversary 'cause
we're cheesy like that.)

I love to think back on our wedding & look at the pictures constantly. With all that 3 years brought us, I am excited to see what the future brings us. It's never dull around here & I expect that that won't change.