Happy Anniversary!

Garfield and I have been married 6 years today.

July 29, 2000 was a wonderful day. After three years of knowing who I wanted to marry, I finally got to become Garfield's wife. We knew then that our vows were going to last forever; there was no other option, nor did we want there to be. Our ceremony was beautiful and worshipful, and is still vivid in my mind.

The reception was, well, a bit overwhelming. I didn't get to thank nearly enough of the 300 people that had come to witness our marriage. I didn't get to eat nearly enough of the food that I'd spent so much time choosing. I didn't get to dance long enough, or take enough pictures, or spend enough time telling my dear friends and family good-bye. It was all very surreal, and being the first of my circle of college friends to get married, I didn't have a clue as to what to do. But as usual, it worked out. Fun was had by all, backflips were performed by the groom and his groomsmen, Garfield and I even got to do a little tango and riverdancing.

But I think I'd have to say the part I'd most like to relive would be the honeymoon in Tahiti. There's alot I'd do differently about our wedding, but I wouldn't change a thing about our trip to the South Pacific. It was absolutely perfect. No postcard can do justice to the beauty and serenity that surrounded us. We had a romantic overwater bungalow that looked down onto crystal clear water, filled with coral and fishies of all sorts. The fragrance of the plumerias greeted us each time we headed outside. The tropical peaks were lush and green, with no buildings to mar the view. The Tahitian island of Moorea is very sparsely populated, and it doesn't get oodles of visitors, so we sometimes really felt like we were the only people around.

One evening we rented a tiny little red car to drive to the other side of the island. From there we saw a Tahitian sunset, and Garfield got to choose my wedding gift: three Tahitian black pearls to have set in earrings and a necklace upon returning home. It was neat to hand-pick pearls from huge piles. They all had their own little markings that made them imperfect, yet they were all so beautiful.

We found several little open-air restaurants that we loved. (Come to think of it, I don't remember there being any enclosed restaurants on the island. Everything is very casual.) One of them had our favorite wine, another served food we recognized...ah, the joy of spaghetti and Coke after days of Polynesian food! Yet another served fresh coconut ice cream out of a coconut shell, and we managed to hit that place several times.

I could go on and on about the snorkeling, shark-feeding, stingray petting, and more, but someday you'll just have to come visit and ask me to pull out our honeymoon album. This was before the times of digital pictures being the norm, so instead we took 17 rolls of pictures in 8 days!

Garfield, maybe one day we'll go back like we talk about doing. In another season of life, perhaps. But for now, I'm perfectly content being your wife and helpmeet, raising your children, and caring for your home. We never could've guessed all the different directions these six years have taken us, but we know we'll enjoy the ride together. For life.

(The pictures above are of our fifth anniversary last year, and our sixth one this year. If anyone had told me I'd be pregnant two summers in a row, I'd have laughed!)