5 Years

There aren't many of our wedding pictures that turned out just right. It wasn't anyone's fault, our photographer was great and so many people, especially our great families, worked so hard to have everything just how we wanted it. Which we're still grateful for. But, certain circumstances happened that prevented me from getting the perfect wedding picture.
When we were married on November 28, 2003 it was so cold and the wind was blowing so hard that I couldn't wear my dress outside to get pictures in front of the temple. The pictures we do have are of me in a grey skirt and black jacket and Justin in his suit. Justin and I, and everyone else, are smiling but we all look very, very cold. When I look at the pictures of our reception the next day, I notice the dated backdrop and how my hair went flat after just a few minutes. We had black ribbons hanging on the backdrop that look like horns coming out of Justin's Dad's head in a few of the family shots. We even have a killer picture of Justin and I dancing but it's not in the middle of a beautiful dance floor surrounded by lights and family. It happened after everyone had gone, in the middle of cleaning up, on a basketball gym floor and there are folded up tables in the background.
I had a lot of dreams and plans about my wedding and reception. BIG plans. Some of them happened, a lot of them did not. But, when you look through my wedding album, you'll see me smiling in every single picture. And not a posed, lovely demure smile. No, I'm grinning ear to ear, the kind of smile that shows too much of my teeth and makes my cheeks look huge. And that's what makes me love those pictures.
I was so happy that day not because I had a perfect dress or reception, but because I was marrying Justin. And I'm smiling and laughing in all those pictures because that's what he does for me. He makes me smile and laugh all day long. Our wedding wasn't the perfect storybook wedding, and we haven't had the perfect storybook marriage. But being with Justin has made me not only overlook the imperfections, it makes me love them. Our marriage has been a lot like my wedding album. Nothing is perfect, there have been problems and trials...

but I still can't stop smiling.