Happy 6 Years!

Saturday marked our sixth anniversary. We did not do much in terms of celebrating - a quiet evening at home with Chinese take out after putting the kids to bed is what we both needed. Last year, I wrote about how wonderful my husband is. And he is still wonderful. This year, as we came upon our anniversary, I thought back to our wedding day. I remember waking up and thinking this was going to be the best day of my life. What I did not realize then that I see now, is that the days just get better and better because I am living with God's unique best for me. Is it always easy? No. But it is better, much better, than it was 6 years ago.

Last year when I blogged about our anniversary, a friend commented that she wanted me to share details of that day. So, I thought I would finally honor her request and go back in time a bit. If I have to use one word to describe our wedding, I would call it "FUN!" We wanted it to be fun and it was!

My best friend picked me up that morning in her minivan along with a couple of other bridesmaids and we all went to get our hair done first. My hair dresser at the time had a huge bridal breakfast spread, complete with mimosas, and I partook in one, or two or three...you get the drift. I just needed to relax a bit. From there, we all headed to the church to start getting ready. My bridesmaids did an incredible job of making me feel special that day. We got to church early, so we hung out, laughed, cried a bit, ate some food and then before I knew it, it was time to get ready. My seamstress delivered my dress and I was ready to go!

Kan and I opted for pictures before the wedding (one of the best decisions of the day). Those 20 minutes of just us, getting our pictures made, were the only 20 minutes we had to ourselves until we left the reception. It was sweet and a precious time I will treasure. We did all of our pictures beforehand so it felt like a huge party with family and bridal party members floating in and out of the church. The guys had two TV's in their room and were bringing round the clock football scores to those who were in the church (Tates Creek Presbyterian Church, Lexington, Kentucky). It was very relaxed.

Finally, 6:00 came and it was time to march in! I remember they lined my bridesmaids up and left me in the bridal room by myself and I started to tear up, so my maid of honor came back and waited with me. It was time. I was excited and so nervous...not about marrying Kan...but just nervous. You think about this day your whole life and then it is finally here and you are like "Oh my goodness. This is it." I walked down the aisle to "Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee" and as the congregation stood up I simply was overwhelmed with how many people were there. So many people from so many different parts of our lives were there to celebrate us and encourage us. It truly was unbelievable.

Our ceremony was short and sweet - 20 minutes - not kidding. We walked down the aisle and hopped on a trolly and rode with our wedding party to the reception at The Red Mile Clubhouse. I loved the trolly! It was so fun to have everyone on it. We got to the reception and as we walked in to "Rocky Top" (yes, that is how much I love my husband) I knew it was going to be a fun night. We went through the things you have to do pretty quickly - cut the cake, toasts, first dance (Harry Connick's version of "It Had to be You,") dance with Dad (Keb Mo's version of "Isn't She Lovely" - if you have not heard of Keb Mo, go check him out - he is fabulous and Kan introduced me to him on an early date), and the dollar dance. Ok, so you do not have to do the dollar dance, but we did and considered it our receiving line. From there, Kan and I split ways for the evening - he went downstairs and watched football with the guys and I switched from heels to my ballet slippers to enjoy live music with G Funk and the All Stars. I think he came up for one or two dances, but for the most part it was me and whoever else wanted to join me on the dance floor. And, I was totally ok with that. I LOVED our reception. I had so much fun. I danced all night. I did not worry about not talking to every single person. Maybe that is rude, but I had my own personal G Funk party. I was not going to spend 3/4 of it talking. I gave my parents the duty to talk to their friends, and I called it a night! G Funk is my all time favorite band from my college days so needless to say when I found out their costs were within my band budget, I jumped on it. They did take a 10 minute break, long enough for me to play "Brass Monkey" and "Come on Eileen" on a CD, but they played for three hours and it was so so fun.

Last call came and it was time to go. We totally forgot our food they had prepared for us, which I was pretty disappointed in because I did not taste anything and heard it was fabulous. Instead I had a hamburger via room service. Oh well. At least my folks enjoyed it the next day. From there, we ventured off on our honeymoon to Antigua for a week of rest and relaxation. The only detour on our honeymoon was a weather delay on the way, which caused us to spend one night in Puerto Rico on our way. Turns out it was a Monday night, which meant Monday Night Football, and it was on a huge screen in the casino of the Ritz Carlton. It was Kan's lucky night - Peyton Manning and The Colts were playing. I think he knew he married the right girl when I agreed to have beer and wings and watch The Colts while staying in the Ritz.

So, yes, it was a very very good day in my life. However, it was not the BEST day, because the days with my partner in crime simply get better and better with each passing year. Here is to many many more...