five years ago today…

Five years ago today, my life changed – and all for the better.  On July 16, 2005 I married my wonderful and amazing husband, Justin.  We’ve had a rough time the last 3.5 yrs, but it has only made us stronger together and made me love him more.  He is sensitive and caring and always there for me when I need him.  I only hope I am the same for him.  We have a long road ahead of us, but I can only hope that come February we will have one more reason to celebrate together and fall in love all over again.  I love you Justin, and I can’t imagine my life with out you!

We did our pictures before the wedding, so this is shortly after we saw each other for the first time that day, all dolled up.  We got a bunch of great shots of the actual moment, where we twirled each other around, but I won’t bore you with those 😀  Doesn’t my man look amazing in a kilt??

We got married at the camp I had grown up next to, gone to as a camper and worked at my whole life.  It is a beautiful location and I was so happy to have my special day there.  Of course, it was the middle of July in Minnesota, so it was 98 degrees outside with about 80% humidity!!  Don’t believe Minnesota gets hot??  Come on up in the summer time!

My amazing bridesmaids: Best Friend Susie, my College Roommate Kiersten and my Niece Nicole.  They were all great!  The dresses we picked out didn’t come in junior sizes so I had my friend Kate recreate the dresses in a smaller size for Nicole – and it turned out beautiful!  Kate also made the flower girl dress and of course, my dress!

The groomsmen: Justin’s brother Josh, his Friend Chris, and my Friend Josh.  They were all good sports and agreed to wear kilts as well.  There was a lot of sexy man leg around!  Not only all the groomsmen and the groom, but both of our pastors wore a kilt and a number of our guests wore either kilts or man skirts.  It was great!

Justin’s family and my amazing In-Laws!  Brenda has been the best mother-in-law and is always supportive of both Justin and I.  Josh and I can talk in movie quotes all day long.  Since the wedding the family has grown to include Josh’s wife Jenn and their 2 kids Logan and Bella.

My family:  Dad-Nevin, Mom-Debby, Me, Sister-Robbin, Sister-Shannon, Bro-in-Law John, and niece Nicole.  Since then we’ve also added my niece Hannah!

One of the best shots of the whole wedding!  Sadly, my friend Kiersten got cut out mostly.  It was a lot of fun to do these shots though, and this is the one that turned out the best.  Look at those Twinkle Toes!! 😀

Our Ring Bearer Glen and Flower Girl Sophie – aren’t they just adorable!  There was a downhill slope to where the wedding was, and they ran the whole way down!  I was so afraid they were going to fall and do summer salts down the hill, but they made it!  Glen was great with little Sophie and held her hand the whole way so she would go to the right spot.

Justin and I walked in down the aisle together.  I never liked how people only stand up for the Bride – it was Justin’s day too and I wanted people to acknowledge that.  Of course, I think we just ended up confusing them and NO ONE stood up for us!  I guess I should have had the pastors instruct everyone to stand when we came in!  There were 2 aisle down to the front, then we met in the middle and continued the rest of the way together.  I loved it.

Our pastors Bob & Tripp.  Bob was my boss/pastor at the organization I worked at when I was in Lutheran Volunteer Corps and is a ELCA Lutheran Pastor.  Tripp is a wonderful friend of both Justin and I and had just gotten ordained into the ABC/USA (American Baptist) right before our wedding – this covered both Justin & I 😀  We also had Justin’s cousin, Andy, a Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor do our blessing.  I think we’re covered on most fronts (we know a lot of pastors)!  They all had stoles made out of the same material as Justin’s kilt.

My parents, checking to see if the pulled pork is ready to go for the reception!  Since the camp where we got married is literally right next door to my parents house, we had the reception there in the brand new shed my dad had just finished building that summer.  Really – I helped him put in the last bit of concrete 2 days before the wedding!

Our cake.  My sister Shannon and her husband John made and decorated it.  It was very pretty and fit in so well with everything else!  Also…yummy sheet cakes to go with it.  We of course, forgot to actually do the cake cutting at the reception (come on, it was hot, I just got married…you expect me to remember something like that).  We saved the top and froze it to eat on our first anniversary – yeah, I think it’s still in my parents freezer in the basement…

The reception was perfect, exactly what we wanted!  Low key, cheap and fun!  It was “catered” by a friend of my families.  By that I mean, Buster made all the food and dropped it off, but it was a serve yourself kind of thing!  It was great to have all of our friends and family together all at once, and to see different groups of friends come together for the first time.

Our first dance.  It was supposed to be to Norah Jones – Come Away With Me (the lyrics were perfect for the long distance relationship we had for 2 yrs), but I couldn’t find my CD and the DJ forgot to bring the song.  So it ended up being to Alison Krauss – When You Say Nothing at All (which was also perfect).  In the background you can see our keg.  Nothing but the best for our wedding! 😀

It was the perfect day with my perfect man.  I’m glad I have the pictures to help remind me (do any of YOU remember your wedding day exactly?).  Even though we’ve had heart break and tragedy, we’ve had each other.  We’ve journeyed together down this Long and Winding Road, and I’m looking forward to another 50-55 yrs more!