Happiest Day of My Life

Three years ago today I married my soul mate. I have never been so happy or had so much fun and I'd do it all again in a second if I could.

We got engaged unofficially sometime in March - unofficially as in, I decided we were getting married (we'd been talking about it since our second date on Sept 7, 2001) and I wanted to do it before law school started, so I called our church and country club to check on room availability over Labor Day weekend. This snowballed into full blown wedding planning and sometime in May JP finally proposed with my beautiful ring, just in time for engagement pictures to be taken before I jetted off to Europe for 4 weeks. The day after I got back we moved to Chicago, I flew back to Houston a month before the wedding to get my wisdom teeth out and complete the preparations, JP flew down to marry me, and we drove my car up to Chicago together two days after we got hitched. Looking back, that should have been a very stressful summer, but I had a blast. I loved wedding planning - even with only a few months, a very limited budget, and no help (not that I wanted any). I don't understand all the articles I read about women freaking out during the planning process or getting depressed once the big day is over - it's a day, a great day, but it's only the first one of your life together. Have fun, enjoy your friends and family, and as long as your minister/priest/rabbi/officiant knows what s/he is doing, at the end of the day you're going to be married, and that's pretty much the point. And if you're lucky, like we were, you'll also get to be the star of one hell of a party.

My first year of marriage is difficult to characterize. It was one of the hardest and most stressful of my life thanks to 1L at a school that brings new meaning to the word "rigor," but at the same time I can't help but smile when I think back on it. I was just so happy with JP. We were 1,000 miles away from anyone else we knew and quickly learned to rely on each other and ourselves more than we ever had before. I loved coming home to our little loft in downtown Chicago, loved our walks around the city at night, and loved the little ways we made time for each other in the midst of our first years of law school and investment banking. We had dates at crazy times and in crazy places, but we always had fun. There were nights I couldn't sleep because I was just so freaking happy, I'd lay in bed and kick my feet under the covers like a little kid.

Actually, sometimes I still do that. Happy Anniversary babe!