Happily Ever After

So a WHOLE BUNCH of people I know have been getting married lately--including my very best friend in the whole world, SHOUTOUT to Ally.  :)  Anyways.  I was lucky enough to be part of her big day--from the temple ceremony at 9:00 a.m., to the end of the reception at 10:00 p.m.  It was so beautiful, and so fun, and so Ally!  I loved it.  I loved every minute.  It was so perfect for her.

And I found myself getting just a little bit jealous.

I know, it's silly, but everything about her reception was just so...perfect.  From the colors to the cake to the background music (Disney songs.  If you know Ally, then you know why).  It was beautiful. 

I found myself kind of wistfully wishing I could re-do my own wedding, my own reception, make it perfect, make it personal, make it mine.  (Except then I reminded myself that my wedding reception actually was all of those things already; it just happened before everyone else's.  Or at least that's how it felt.)

And then I started noticing these newlyweds posting pictures and videos from their weddings and saying things like "I wish I could just go back to this day!" and "I wish I could relive this day over and over again, it was so perfect!"  And I was kind of right there with them, thinking I wish I could go back to my wedding day too, because it was so beautiful, and so perfect.

But I stopped myself.  "Why would you want to go back to that day," I asked myself, "when you can make every day of your marriage perfect and personalized and beautiful?"  (Please don't think I'm crazy, because I promise I understand that every day can't actually be like that, but bear with me.)

There were so many things that made that day special, and perfect, and wonderful.

There are so many things that make every day special, and perfect, and wonderful.

The way that he's looking at me in some of our wedding photos. 

The way that he looks at me now, when I make cheesecake for him (or try to) because it's his favorite.  Or when I write silly fantasy letters to our oldest niece.  Or when I try so hard to be a worthy opponent at tennis and I really just suck, so badly, at it.

The way that I felt when I looked across at him and just knew, with every particle of my being, that this was right.

The way I still feel, when he finally collapses into bed with me at 7:00 a.m. from working the night shift.  Or when I look over and watch him, brow furrowed and biting his lip, working out this months' budget.  Or when I ask him to make me lunch to take to work with me, and he knows exactly the right amount of pickles to put on my sandwich. 

The way that I watched him interacting with my family and knew that he was one of us, even though he's different than we are.

The way that he still wants to go outside and play catch with my little brother.  Or bought movie tickets to see whatever stupid dance movie came out last year because he knew my sister wanted to go with me and that I would never spend money on a movie like that.  Or how, every time we eat dinner at my parents', every single time without fail, he compliments my mother on her cooking and thanks her for it.

There are a million tiny things, every day, that make every day perfect. 

The way he plays with Lucky when we let her inside at night.  The way he can never seem to put Mufasa--the cat--down, even though he was a little anti-cat before I brought him home.  The way he'll gripe and moan if I ask him to do the dishes but do them anyway because he knows they are the bane of my existance.  The way he tries to explain something to me in a way I'll understand (nevermind the fact that I already know whatever it is he's trying to explain).  The way he gets SO EXCITED about ice cream now, or the way we have an unspoken agreement to never watch an episode of "Chuck" without the other person, or the way he watched "Cowboys and Aliens" because I begged him to and actually ended up really liking it.  The way he's teaching me, slowly, how to play tennis and how to not suck at chess.  How he makes popcorn for me when he knows I've had a crappy day.  The way he lets me cry on his shoulder if I need to, and tries really hard to be a good personal trainer (you know, for the twenty-four hours I'm motivated enough to work out). 

A MILLION TINY THINGS, EVERY SINGLE DAY.

So here is my advice to the young newlyweds out there.  Don't wish you could go back in time.  You can't.  Maybe every day won't be the day you are sealed to your sweetheart, and wearing the dress you've been dreaming of since you were five.  But something you can do is try to bring a little bit of the magic of that day into every single other day of your married life.

If you find yourself reminiscing about your wedding day, and having a hard time feeling content, try this for a few days.  You might be surprised at how every day can be just as perfect and beautiful.  :)