11 years ago today, my dad and I walked down the pathway towards a pond, across the bridge to the floating gazebo out on the water.  My eyes met with the man that I love as my dress and veil whipped in the wind. My dad gave me over to Ryan, the man I was to marry.  We said I do and kissed and were happy to start the rest of our lives together!  This, of course, was one of the most exciting and important days of my life!  The day that I married my best friend!  We've had poorer and we've had richer, we've had sickness and we've had health.  We've had good times and yes, there were some bad times, too, but I can't say that I'm sad that I made the decision to marry this wonderful man! 

We got married in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  I was 19 and he was 20.  We basically eloped, but took our family with us.  Ryan's parents, my parents, my grandparents and my oldest sister and her husband were all there to enjoy the day with us.  We ended up staying the first night at Lake Lucerne (the place where we were married) in a beautiful little cabin, the next night we went to Branson, but then the weather took a turn for the worse, so we headed south to San Antonio, TX for the rest of our honeymoon.  We enjoyed the beautiful spring weather while we were there, carelessly spending what little money that we had.  Oh...how young we were and how naive we were!  Yes, we've learned a lot in the past 11 years!  I'm so thankful that God has blessed me with the love of my life, my companion and friend, Ryan.  We have grown a lot together.

Today, we got to celebrate that wonderful day!  My parents watched the 4 kids while Ryan and I went to Tulsa, OK for the day.  We got to go shopping and ate out twice and enjoyed just being together, alone, peaceful.  We weren't interrupted once and we were able to say our complete thoughts without having to get up and do something else.  It was a day to just focus on each other.  On the way back home, we stopped by a lake and walked around in the beautiful spring weather.  I'm looking forward to seeing what the next 11 years has to offer, to see how we grow as a couple and a family in the Lord.  I LOVE YOU, RYAN.