Happily Ever After

My little sister Natalie got married this last weekend. It was a great weekend. We all adore Mark, and he is a beyond perfect match for her. We had a great luncheon with family. The reception looked beautiful (may I add that the walk way totally made the reception perfect; yes we're awesome). The food was fantastic. The photographer was amazing; which is ideal because that is how they will remember everything about this day. It was so much fun to have so many friends and family at the reception, and we all had a blast talking to everyone. The music set the stage well, and made the feel of everything just right. She looked beautiful of course (she does resemble me a little), but it was much more than that. She was radiating happiness. She was so excited for everything that marriage brought.


Nostalgia set in. I remember so well how excited I was for everything that marriage brought. Luckily I have pictures to remember it all. However, I had NO idea what marriage brought. No one does really when they set out on this venture. (If Ernie had been aware of my 3 surgeries all within a year, it might have been a deal breaker :) I hoped it would be wonderful and happy, ect. but I had no idea what any of those things were yet (even though I thought I did).


Wait, I will now shock you all..... marriage hasn't been perfect, there have been a lot of hard times. (sorry, I know at least our marriage seemed perfect to you all) But that is what has made all of our good times seem that much more incredible. I had no idea that I had the ability to love as much as I do. My best friend has become an even better friend. I can't believe that it has been over 8 years since our wedding day. It seems like a long time, but I know it's not very long at all. At the same time it makes me so excited for the adventure of the next eight, and the eight after that, and the eight after that, you get the idea. And things are usually perfect, at least they make me perfectly happy. The hard times are obviously not ideal, but they have made us lean on each other and strengthen each other.
I know this is a rather sappy post, but I am so grateful and excited for Natalie and Mark. If they have a chance at even half of what I have been able to experience in marriage, they will have an amazing and exciting, and euphoric journey ahead of them.