Anniversary

Seven years ago on a very, VERY hot July day, I made my whole wedding party take outside pictures, stand on a stage for a very long ceremony (there was a lot of music and several readings), and then I didn’t even give them a party afterwards! I had a church wedding with a church reception (Baptist church, mind you, so there was definitely no dancing or booze). I’ve been to some great weddings where the music was loud and the wine was flowing, but I have to say, our wedding is my favorite wedding I’ve ever been to. And even though everything was done exactly to my liking and every detail was attended to, the guy waiting for me at the end of the aisle was my most favorite part. He’s my favorite person in all the world, and I am happy that we’ve reached year seven.

As I reflect on our actual wedding, I appreciate how he let me choose the music but put his spin on it at the end with some James Taylor. I appreciate that he let my preacher give a message of faith to us and to everyone in attendance, but he asked his dad to actually officiate the ceremony making it one of the most special parts of that day. I appreciate that he let me choose the decor for the reception but that he still insisted we have pigs in a blanket to eat. (And for all you people thinking that’s tacky-those were the first things to disappear at our reception.) I appreciate that he let me have the readings I wanted during the ceremony and then he asked some of the most wonderful people to read and selected some of the most moving passages to be read. It wasn’t just MY day as a bride. It was our day as a couple. It was a beautiful day.

I thank God everyday that He gave me Paul to love in this life. It’s so evident that God puts people together for a reason, and that there really is one person for you to spend the rest of your life with. God knew I needed him. And God knew he needed me.

Thank you, Paul, for taking me in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, loving me and cherishing me for richer and for poorer. I am immeasurably blessed.

I tell you, Ian did not want any part of this wedding. Not even the pictures. And those of you who’ve seen Grace, Ian, and Alex lately…they were just babies here and are so grown up now. 🙁 The dress Grace is wearing is one of my Easter dresses when I was little. My Aunt Sharon made it for me, all by hand.
My favorite picture of my girls. I remember everyone telling Ian something about Superman in order to get him to take pictures. They’re probably plotting the best way to talk Paul out of marrying a psychopath that would make them stand out in the July heat to take pictures in tuxes.Roo Doo always making him laugh.
Sweet Mason 🙂Granddaddy getting him to smile. I wonder what Grace just said to Christy. Probably my favorite picture of the whole day. I don’t know what we were arguing about, but I know it was something. What’s that line in The Notebook? “Well that’s what we do, we fight… You tell me when I am being an arrogant son of a bitch, and I tell you when you’re being a pain in the ass. Which you are, 99% of the time. I’m not afraid to hurt your feelings. You have like a 2 second rebound rate, then you’re back doing the next pain-in-the-ass thing.”-Noah  That sums us up in a nutshell. 😉 Seriously didn’t think Ian was going to do it. So proud of him! Our brothers. Ben wrote us a song and performed it. He also played and sang another song during the ceremony. My forever favorite picture of Trawick and me. Sport! Those pigs in a blanket, y’all. They really were the biggest hit.Happy Anniversary, babe! I love you!

Author: Elizabeth Norman

I'm a home grown Alabamian who ventured away for a while, but now I'm back! Follow along with me on my journey living the Norman life. View all posts by Elizabeth Norman