9 years ago today...

was the absolute best day of my life. I became Clayton's wife in a little courtroom in Raleigh, NC. We had just finished final exams the day before and it was the first day of our Christmas break while at NC State. Our close friends John Moore and Leslie Boone were there as our witnesses. Clayton and I were poor college kids so we couldn't afford a lavish wedding. Our families were all spread out too which made things even more difficult. I couldn't imagine arranging all the airfares that we would need to buy to get his family to NC. His Mom/Jack would have flown from Worland, WY, his Dad/Sandy would have come from Omaha, NE, his sister would have flown in from Cheyenne, WY, and his brother would have flown in from somewhere in PA. It was just too much for us to get everyone together so we decided to go it alone with our 2 friends. My family was miffed because I wouldn't allow anyone to join us that day (they all live about 1.5 hours from Raleigh in Archdale/High Point/Trinity). It just wouldn't have been fair for them to have been there when Clayton's family wasn't. Since we didn't have a ceremony, my family threw us a wedding reception that following weekend. We got tons of much-needed things and it was alot of fun. My Aunt Judy went all out and made us a pretty cake (she used to be a professional cake decorator). She also made my hubby his own groom's cake.

My parents gave us a fabulous honeymoon cruise. We took off just after the new 2000 year and it was a blast. The airline gave us first class tickets so we really lived it up. I don't think that we had ever had so much fun together. We got back to Raleigh the day before the Spring semester began so that was a bit hectic but we managed. I wish we could go back and do it all again. We will hopefully take the kiddos on their first cruise within the next year or so. It won't be as romantic but it will be just as much fun. :)

Tonight we will go out to eat and drop the kiddos off at our local drop-in childcare center in Fort Collins. That place rocks because we can drop the kids off anytime and do what we want by ourselves. The boys have lots of fun there so we don't have any guilt leaving them in their care. Heck, they don't like leaving when we go back to get them, lol.

If you are interested in reading our story about how we got together or to see a few pics from our younger years, read my post from 2005 about us HERE.

Happy Anniversary to my sweetheart! I love you more than anything!!
~~Just so you know, you only have one more year to save up to buy me an awesome band for my diamond ring. Remember, the big 10 is now just a year away. ;)