HAPPY 9 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TONY!

Yes, it's true...on this very day nine years ago, I married the love of my life. It was a very cold March day, but fun nonetheless.

Tony and I have fun and frightful memories of our wedding day. We were blessed to have two pastors marry us, Pastor Dave (long-time pastor and friend) and Pastor Rob (long time youth pastor, friend, and counselor). After crying all the way through the rehearsal ceremony (Pastor Rob said that was OK!) I made it through without crying during the real one. (If you don't count when I walked down the aisle with my dad!)

Other than the tears during rehearsal, everything else the night before was wonderful! The yummy food (thanks Belinda!) and the fun Newlywed game (thanks Kyna)! I couldn't have asked for more!

As for our wedding day, our family and friends were there to help us celebrate and we appreciated that so much! The ceremony was fun! Little Dallas (who isn't so little any more) kind of hop/skipped down the aisle as the flower girl. She'd drop a petal and then delicately hop over it. Too cute!

It was also a riot to speed off after the ceremony in mom and dad's Monte Carlo and run through McDonald's drive-thru. (Thanks Mom and Dad--oh, and Robby for driving!)

I do have to thank my bridesmaids too. You girls were so brave to wear those flower-child headbands, and empire style dresses! You rock!!!

Thanks to our parents who endured all the planning and stress. Vegas was a much better idea!

There WERE two frightful parts to that wedding day. Wait, frightful might not be the most accurate adjective. Maybe irritating. The first was that our photographer was really more of a portrait photog, so it took her a blue MILLION years to take our pictures. Note to self, research photogs before getting married again (hehe, kidding honey!) Seriously, we were so late to the reception, my dad was hot, and our guests were leaving!!!

The second was when that, man of God, Pastor Rob, pulled a practical joke on me! He came to me just minutes before the ceremony and said that he was looking at the marriage certificate and found a mistake. He said they had misspelled my middle name (for those of you who know it, you know WHY this would be common). Between my nerves and personality, I immediately became panicked! I said, "Well, what do we do? Does it matter? Can we get it changed?" He calmly replied that no, we couldn't change it because the courthouse was closed on Saturdays. He said we could go through with the ceremony, but we wouldn't legally be married until it was corrected.

I think at this point, he saw the color drain from my freshly made-up face and the tears start to well-up in my eyes. It was at this point he said, "GOTCHA!" and I nearly fainted! Oh, Rob, you won't know when or where, but I WILL get you back!

All of the memories aside, this day, as hectic and dramatic as it was, was the best day of my life. It was the day I truly married my best friend. I am more in love with Tony today than I ever was.

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Tony,

You endured my moods and craziness all through high school. You worked hard throughout college to help establish our lives. You had a plan: college, house, marriage, family. Your plan worked. We grew, and grew-up together. I cannot imagine life without you.

I admire you for your integrity, your love of God, family, and friends. I respect you for your hard work and determination to be the best husband, father/Baba, son, friend, and employee you can be, and for just being you. You challenge me to do and be my best. I want to make you proud. Thank you for sharing the last nine years with me. I am so blessed to be your wife. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

I love you.

Rett