8 years

I hate this picture. I also love it. This was taken one week before our wedding. I had done a trial run of hair and makeup the day before to see how long it would take. The next day was Sunday and Husband showed up rather early to pick me up for church. I hadn't showered yet, and my hair was a mess of hairspray and slept-on curls. I hadn't put in my contacts, hadn't brushed my teeth, and basically looked like I'd just woken up. Because I had. My mom wanted a picture, I did NOT. Husband held me in place for the picture, and my mom presented the print to him about a month later. He placed it in a frame on our desk for all to see. He protested every time I tried to replace it with a better picture. I finally asked him why he was determined to embarrass me by displaying this picture? He told me that when I opened the door that day, he still found me beautiful, and he was glad that he still found me beautiful when I wasn't all done up. So I hate this picture, but I love it. We have been married 8 years today. I wouldn't change a thing. We've had our ups and downs just like everybody else, but I always know it'll work out. And it always does. Thanks for being my husband, Husband!

One other funny story. I have always meant to write this down, I figure why not now.

The morning we got married Husband was nervous. Duh. Who isn't? Ok, I was actually not nervous at all. Which was a good thing. His morning was not very stress-free, and he was a little frazzled by the time he got to my house. There were something like 27 people at my house that day. The chaos of all that did not help, either. As we drove to the temple, he wasn't in that great of a mood. As we went into the temple and stopped at the desk to make sure all of our paperwork was in order, he wouldn't hold my hand when I reached for it. When the temple workers came to escort us to the separate dressing rooms, he didn't really even say goodbye. He was somewhat irritable. But I knew it was just the stress of everything else, so I wasn't offended. I knew he would feel better once he had a moment to himself in the temple. So the sweet ladies in the temple helped me dress in my wedding gown and placed me in front of the mirror. They told me I looked beautiful and asked if I was ready. I said "I guess I'll go marry the ornery bugger." I was kind of muttering it to myself, but I guess everyone else heard. The temple workers all got very concerned looks on their faces, as well as the 1 other bride that was still getting ready. I was right, though. They allowed us to sit in the celestial room by ourselves while our family was still being seated. He was calm, and back to his normal self, just as I knew he would be. I never intended for him to know what I said just moments before we got married, but my mom thought it was too funny and spilled the beans about a year later. He still teases me about it, and I still call him an ornery bugger when he does.