10

Today James and I are celebrating our 10th anniversary.  I use the word celebrate because it really is something to celebrate.  Not everyone makes it 10 years and I am happy (and not surprised) that we did.

We are celebrating our family and friends that supported us on our wedding day and, more importantly, during our marriage.

We are celebrating the family that we have created together.

We are celebrating the house that we have made a home.

While we would love to celebrate with all those who came from near and far 10 years ago, we will be celebrating just the two of us in San Francisco.  

In honor of our anniversary I took a stroll down memory lane and pulled out a few of my favorite shots and believe it or not this is one of them.

This photo was taken on our wedding day at 6am.  I love how I woke up in the house that I still call home today while James slept at his parents house in the room he grew up in.  I love that I have my trusty water bottle with me.  That rain forest bottle was with me for many years.  Just ask my university roommates.  I  love that this is one of the last photos taken of me as a single woman.

This is also one of my favorites taken in the middle of my kitchen.  It was the calm before the storm.  There was a kitchen table just out of view of the photo filled with food and champagne that me and my maids had devoured before getting dressed.  Yet this photo shows none of that.

When I was originally preparing for our wedding, I felt like the ceremony was just a formality, and that the real fun would happen at the reception.  I was wrong.  The ceremony was full of emotion and very powerful for me.  To enter into a room filled with everyone that was important to you, from all aspects of life.  It was overwhelming.  Too see James standing at the end of the aisle... overwhelming.

James entered into the church with both his parents.  I love that he opted to this.  While some guys choose to enter with their groomsmen, I was so happy that he wanted his parents to be a part of the ceremony.  I hope that my boys will give me the same honor one day.

While many brides tear up at some point during the ceremony, I was cool and collected with a large smile plastered on my face.  I was excited and happy to become James' wife.  No tears here.  I proudly had both my parents walk me down the aisle. What did surprise me was how emotional my Dad was.  I have always loved this photo. When I look at my face I see the anticipation and excitement in my nervous smile.  If you look closely, you can see one tear that settled on my Dad's cheek.   This picture shows all the raw emotion of the day.

This is the very first photo of us as Mr and Mrs R as we walked down the aisle.  I wanted to to play the song I Feel Good as we left but that was apparently against the rules of the church.

This was one of my favorite photos of James.  He looked so grown up and sophisticated.  Looking at it now he looks like such a baby.

While we have a few traditional photos, what I loved about our photographer was her ability to capture the moment.  There were 2 items that I wanted to splurge on, the dress and the photographer.  At the end of the day, those are the only 2 things you walk away with.  That, and a husband.  We paid what seemed like a lot at the time for our photographer, but we got some great pictures considering it rained all day.  Not rained, poured.  Intense rain from sun up to sun down.  I've never heard that rain is good luck on your wedding day so many times in one day.

Thankfully we did have a backup plan and had our photos taken in the garden area of the building James worked in at the time.  I don't know what we would have done otherwise.

Here is one of my faves of our group.

I'm proud to say that these five ladies are still my best friends today.  I remember when choosing them there wasn't a doubt in my mind that  I would still be friends with them 10 years later.  I've known one since Kindergarten. I lived with two in university.  One lives just down the street from me currently. And the other used to have many sleepovers after a late night out.  Bonus points if you know which friend did what!

While the girls were busy hugging, the boys dropped their pants, literally.  I still can't believe they did that.

One of my favorite things on our wedding day was the train ride.  The day we met with Heritage Park to confirm our wedding details they asked if we wanted to rent the train for $500.  I said we'd think about it and James said yes we wanted to do that.  The first executive wedding decision that the groom to be had made.  

You see, James and his family went to Heritage Park all the time growing up and Nana now takes our kids there on a regular basis.  It is their thing.  Come to think of it, James brother got married at HP a few years later.  Many many memories.....

I digress.

When we booked the train, I had never been on it, or even to the park for that matter.  I decided that I would ride the train for the first time on our wedding day.  Well, with the rain that day, you couldn't even see out the windows!  Our wedding guests were such good sports about running in the rain with or without umbrellas to ride on the train.  I think it made our day that much more special.

I couldn't not post this picture of James.  A smile/laugh doesn't get more genuine than this!  If I remember right, this was during the toast to the groom.  James was sick on our wedding day. And we all know how men are when they are sick, James included.  I remember asking him part way through the day what he was most looking forward to and he said 'going to bed', in a non-consummating way.

This has always been my favorite picture of myself from our wedding day.  It was taken upstairs at the Wainwright hotel.  While the party was in full swing downstairs, she pulled James and I away for a few last photos.  I love the lace, I love the way she made me stand, i love the way my dress fit in perfect with the venue.

This, my friends, is my favorite picture of James and I, not only on our wedding day, but of all time.

This is the only outside photo we have that day.  We had access to all of HP and it was raining so hard that we only got this one photo.  And it is my fave.  For our 10th anniversary our family will be having our photos taken on this exact porch outside our wedding venue.  I hope to recreate this exact shot.

I remember our wedding day like it was yesterday.  There are very few days that I wish I could relive but September 10th, 2005 is definitely one of them.  As much as I loved James on that day, I love him more now.  I wouldn't change a thing about the last 10 years because that is what has made us the people, and couple, that we are today.  And I like things just the way they are.

Happy Anniversary James!