The Beginning of Our Happily Ever After

  Welcome to the beginning of our family..

& The start of Blake and I's Happily Ever After..

I have always dreamed of someday finding my prince charming who I would fall madly in love with and have to marry because I couldn't live without..

 And who would first and foremost be able to take me to the temple..

 

& although my "plan for my life" had always been to serve a mission for my church, finish school, and get married probably 4 or 5 years later..

Something that I have learned through life 

[& have been reminded of recently more than ever..]

 Is that our Heavenly Father has a different [obviously much happier thought out] plan for us..

& I know that this great man was in His plan for me.

Blake is in every way my prince charming, my best friend, my happiness, and the person that makes me want to be better everyday.

And boy.. am I forever grateful that my Heavenly Father loves me enough to have this plan for me.

It really was one of those days that my face hurt.. because I had so much happiness and love for everyone and couldn't believe how extremely blessed we were to be in this moment at this exact time. 

 

& since [until I met Blake and realized that I couldn't live with out him and be happy] I had never planned my wedding in my head, on pinterest, or in any other way before..

It couldn't have happened without my sweet family and dear NEW family..

 I can't express how grateful I am for the love that they have and the selfless sacrifices they made.

 & Being able to have such amazing people become my family was one of the best feelings of all..

This is my sweet new NIECE Daphne..

Who not only is the cutest girl in the world.. 

But also the sweetest and explained that we BOTH were the princesses today.. 

Thank you Daph.

I am so grateful for that day that we had to be princesses.

 

So.. I feel like first I should start at the beginning our wedding day..

 which definitely started in rain.. absolutely no parking spots.. 

and a very very late husband to be.

One of the kind temple workers (who yes.. was about 80)

Informed me that if Blake didn't show up HE would be taking his place..

 

& I laughed of course and told him "okay.. perfect!

Then as Blake.. didn't come.. didn't come.

I'm like guys really. he IS coming..

This is really what he wanted!

haha..

Then the cute elderly temple worker started following me around and explaining that if we were to be married we had to get to know each other better!..

AND then FINALLY [luckily] Blake decided to attend our wedding..

:)

& After we assured him everything would be okay and calmed him down,

 the rest of the day was just an explosion of endorphins and happiness and 

honestly just flew by..

Through everything I was so happy that our families got along so well together..

[After Blake and I flew back to New Jersey they were still going to dinner and hanging out together.. without us.. haha

& I can't explain how much joy that filled my heart with.]

& Reallly none of these sweet loved ones.. are even originally FROM Salt Lake..

Most of the people that I have grown up with can not go to the temple and my extended family and my friends through school mostly weren't Mormon..

 So I couldn't describe the gratitude I had for Blake's family and our friends from Idaho driving from Idaho that morning to our wedding and then back the same day.

Now that is love. [& a lot of driving.]

& This is my beautiful grandma..

Who not only prepared to come to the Temple to watch us be married 
[which meant the world to me..]

But also traveled with us both to Idaho and New Mexico for the receptions and even thought it necessary to bring presents to both!
I love you Grandma. Thank You.
[& Thank You to my sweet Aunt Sheila, Jeri Gay, Aunt Stella and Anna for making it possible]

These cute people right here completely have my heart.

 They have taught me how to love unconditionally.. and I wouldn't be the same without any one of them.

How lucky it is to have the hardest thing about getting married be wanting to make both of our families live in one big house with us so that we could see them all the time.

How cute looking are my brother and sister..

:)

& These here are my cute new in laws.. who really have been the BIGGEST blessing to me this last year while I was so far away from my family..
They spoiled me and fed me and loved me.. & have really made me feel like I have always been part of their family.
I'm SO grateful that it's finally official and I get to be with them forever.

Nic Kirsten Daphne (and the soon to be born baby Ari at the time) flew all the way from Denver the MORNING of our wedding..

 
This is Nic..
Blake's oldest brother.. who Blake looks up to SO much..
& I love to watch how excited he is when he is talking about him or to him..
I  know that Blake would be a completely different person without his older brother.. & for that I owe him the world.

My sweet maid of honor.

I love you Mar.

:)

My Mother is an angel.. & stayed by me ALL day helping with anything I could ever need..

[AND best of all.. she only had to tell me to use my quiet voice like.. TWICE..

 I'd say that was a success.. 

and it could very possibly be that my mother in law doesn't have an inside voice eiiiitthhher..  so my Mom may have given up..

But it most likely was that I was very lady like and behaved.. :) ]

& Surprisingly [especially to myself]..

I really wasn't nervous all day..

& If I had been the temple workers definitely would have taken care of that..

We got married on a Thursday so there wasn't hardly anyone there.. and they just spoiled me to death.. literally waiting on me hand and foot..

Helping me dress and get ready.. never leaving my side and not only bringing me everything that I needed but the whole time also exclaiming how beautiful everything was and definitely being an assurance that everything was going to be perfect no matter what..

& I think that's the thing about weddings..

It's important to remember that no matter what happens or goes wrong..

The thing that truly matters is..

This [good looking] person that you have decided you want to spend the rest of your life with.

The loving family that you are bringing together..

 

& The good friends that you have beside you..

And for me.. really focusing on that 

[how BLESSED we are as well as the people not the things.. 

and what may or may not be perfect for everyone..]

Is really what made it happy and not stressful.

All of the news reports said that it was supposed to rain on the day of our wedding..

Which in the morning obviously they were definitely CORRECT.

We were all scrambling to get to the temple in rain..

So
 [just in case heaven forbid it rain all day]..

We got matching umbrellas just to be safe.

& luckily once we got out of the temple the weather and temple grounds were BEAUTIFUL..

& the Umbrellas were just a cute reminder of how LUCKY we were for the beautiful weather..

& By the end of the day I had 3 new BEAUTIFUL sisters.. that I love..

[Yes.. those are all of the flowers that I put together and complained about for the last few months.. ta da!]

3 new Brothers that definitely make my life much more entertaining..
 

And.. one husband that completely makes my heart stop on a regular basis..

Blake is the most genuinely GOOD person that I have ever met in my life..

He never judges anyone, he makes me laugh constantly, and he reminds me of what is most important through all of the busyness of life.
 

He reminds me to pray and read my scriptures everyday..

& More specifically he reminds me to pray for OTHERS, to say thank you, and to find the good in even hard circumstances..

I am SO grateful that he picked ME.. and is willing to be patient with me when I am selfish and moody and imperfect.

Blake you make me happier than I thought I ever deserved to be.

& I can't believe  all that I would have been missing out on if I would have been stubborn and stuck to what I thought I needed to be doing..

 You add a richness to my life and a happiness to the day to day things that I wish I could share with everyone.

Thank you for waiting for me.

Thank you for taking me to the temple..

It was the most beautiful experience I've ever had..

& I truly know it is the house of God.

You are everything that I have ever wanted and waited for..

Forever will never be long enough my sweet husband.

& To my sweet loved ones.. I am so grateful to be able to start this new chapter of my life with you..
From the bottom of my heart I am so grateful for all that you have done in making this day so special.
I love you all forever.