Ten Years!

Ten years ago on Thursday, Mike & I got married. I seriously can't believe it's been 10 years! In someways, it only feels like three or four years. In other ways, it feels like we've always been married. It's hard to explain.

So, since we've been married for ten years, I thought I would tell you a little about our wedding day (what I remember about it at least--it's all kind of a blur).

I remember I woke up really early that morning & got ready. Then I went to the salon to have my hair done up. While I was sitting there at the salon, I started to get really nervous. I don't know what it was. I wasn't nervous about marrying Mike. I knew I wanted to marry him. I knew it was right. There was no doubt in my mind about that. I think it was just the reality of it all. I was getting married!!! That's a huge life change...to say the least. And, those of you who know me well know that I don't deal with change very well.

Once my hair was all done, my mom picked me up & we drove to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. We were a few minutes late. We walked in, showed them our recommends, & told them that I was there to get married. The little old man that was at the front desk looked at the list of sealings for the day & said, "Ah yes, Sister Skousen. Brother Storrs will be happy to know you're finally here. I think he was starting to get worried that you weren't going to show up. He's waiting for you in the lobby." Okay, so maybe we were a little more than a few minutes late. :)

I walked back behind the front desk to the sitting area & saw Mike sitting there. He looked so great! He glanced up, saw me & he got this huge smile on his face. I will always remember the way he looked right then & there. I rushed over to him, gave him a big hug, and made some joke about how "good things come to those that wait." I was still extremely nervous. In fact, Mike noticed that my hands were shaking. I blamed it on being cold. I'm pretty sure he knew I was lying.

We went through all the paperwork stuff with the temple staff & then I was rushed off to the brides' room where my mom & a little temple worker lady proceeded to do the 2,376,289 buttons that went up the back of my dress.

Once I was ready, the temple worker took me to the Celestial Room to meet Mike. She noticed that my hands were still shaking & asked me if I felt okay. I told her I was fine...just a little nervous was all. When we got to the Celestial Room, I saw Mike & we sat down on one of the couches. The temple worker told Mike that we should sit there for a few minutes & talk. Then she added something about how I "may need a little reassurance to go through with this"...or something to that effect. Thank you lady...thank you very much.

Mike took hold of my hands, noticed they were shaking, and asked me if I was sure that I wanted to go through with this. He told me not to do it if I wasn't 100% sure it was the right thing to do. I looked in his eyes & knew 153% that it was the right thing to do. I just couldn't shake the nerves for some reason. We sat there talking for a good 30 minutes or so. I don't know if it was because our sealing room wasn't quite ready or if was because the temple workers thought I was going to bolt at any moment. :) Either way, we sat there for awhile.

Finally, the little old lady came back & asked us if we were ready. Mike looked at me & said, "I'm ready. Are you?" I was ready...nervous, but ready. We were off.

Sadly, I don't remember much about the ceremony itself. I know...that's the most important part & it's all a blur to me. I do remember that the sealer explained that after he read the vows, we were to reply with a simple "yes" or "no." Why do I remember that? Because I had my heart set on saying "I do." I was totally bummed! Anyway, so as we're kneeling at the alter (with my hands still shaking uncontrollably), the sealer says the wedding vows & turns to me. I replied with "Yes, I do." The sealer looked at me like I had just dropped the F-Bomb or something. So, I quickly replied, "Um, sorry...I mean 'yes'." Everyone laughed. Yep, I totally screwed up my own marriage ceremony! I looked at Mike mortified. He just had this huge grin on his face & tears in his eyes. At that point, all my nerves instantly left me. It was the craziest thing ever! I think it was because it really hit me right then & there how wonderful he was. I had just made a HUGE faux paux & he LOVED me for it! I was marrying the man of my dreams & all the sudden, everything was right with the world! Cheesy, I know. But, that's how I felt.

After the ceremony, we of course went outside to take a million pictures. It was FREEZING cold, but I was bound and determined to take pictures in my wedding dress. I wasn't about to be one of those brides that wears a coat over her dress for pictures. Everyone kept coming up to me & offering their coats. Fashion FIRST people...fashion FIRST! I am not about to wear your ugly burgundy wool coat over my beautiful wedding dress! Okay, so I didn't say it like that, but that's pretty much what I was thinking. Haha! Actually, I wasn't all that cold...despite the frigid temperatures. I think it was all the adrenaline or something. Everyone else was shivering up a storm & I felt pretty good in my short-sleeve wedding dress.

After pictures, it was off to the wedding luncheon at Magelby's. We did the normal Skousen tradition of passing a mic around the room so everyone could give us some "marriage advice." Oh, and of course, my dad had to do his tradition of reading "phone messages" that were received during the wedding. It's basically just his way of making fun of the bride & groom by reading supposed "phone messages" from random people in their past...ex-boyfriends & girlfriends, professors, the guy at the McDonalds drive thru (those of you who remember Mike's motorcycle accident when we were engaged will get a chuckle out of that, etc.) It's actually a lot of fun & my dad does a great job with it. It was a great luncheon...or so I thought.

The reason I add that last part is because, apparently, something Mike ate didn't sit too well with him (or maybe it was that he actually realized he was stuck with ME forever--Haha). He got sick...really sick. He was throwing up the rest of the day. He would come stand in line by me for a few minutes & then run off to the bathroom to throw up. We fed each other cake & then he ran to the bathroom to throw up. We danced our first dance & then he ran to the bathroom to throw up. It was so sad! But, in true Mike-fashion, he was more concerned about ME than he was about himself. He felt like he was ruining the wedding for me & kept apologizing over & over again. So sweet!

Once the party was over, we headed out to the car that was decked out head to toe--thanks to Mike's brothers & friends. It took us a good 10 minutes to pull crap out of the car before we could even get in it. Once we were able to sit down, Mike put the top of the car down (in like 17 degree weather) and we were off. In case you were wondering, he stopped a few blocks later & put the top back up...such a showman.

I'll spare you the rest of the day so your eyeballs don't catch on fire. But, I will tell you that Mike eventually started feeling better a few hours later & well, I'm sure you can figure out the rest.

It was such a great day! I really wish I had written about it earlier when it was all fresh on my brain, but I didn't. I've obviously forgotten a lot over the past ten years, but I will never forget the feeling I had when I looked across the alter at Mike (right after I screwed EVERYTHING up) and all the nerves left me. It was the best feeling ever! It was just perfect!

A few years back, Mike & I decided that we were going to go on some exotic vacation for our ten year anniversary. Well, it didn't end up happening...having a wife that is almost 7 months pregnant & a backyard that is going to cost almost $10,000 to landscape & fence will do that to a 10-year-anniversary vacation. So, that trip has been postponed...maybe for our 15-year-anniversary? All I know is that when it does happen, I'm NOT going to have a bowling ball attached to my midsection...thank you very much!

Instead, we just went out to a nice dinner at The New Yorker in downtown SLC. Soooooo yummy! We both highly recommend it! Unfortunately, we forgot our camera so we were trying to take pictures with our blackberries. Have I mentioned that blackberries are not known for their cameras? Take a look for yourself...


I'm pretty sure that takes the cake for worst picture EVER! Plus, my hair looks HORRIBLE! I promise it looked perfect when I left the house. I have no clue what happened!

We ended up getting a four-course meal. We started with an oven baked goat cheese with tomato, caper, & black olive sauce with grilled french bread (LOVED IT), then moved on to a tomato, mozzarella, avocado & basil salad (loved it too). For our main course, we both got the filet minion with dungeness crab béarnaise sauce (I gave my crab to Mike, so you KNOW he was in seventh heaven)...


And then for dessert, I got a Tahitian vanilla crème brûleé, and Mike got the black turtle sundae. They were both delicious! We were stuffed beyond stuffed! It took us over two hours to get through the four courses! We literally ate for 2 hours straight!

It was such a fun night! We had a blast just sitting there & talking about the past 10 years. We realized that we have been married for almost 1/3rd of our lives! It doesn't seem that long! They have seriously been the best 10 years of my life & I'm looking forward to what the next 10 years will bring!

I love you Mike! You are my everything! Thank you for treating me like a queen every single day. I don't know how I got lucky enough to marry you, but I'm sooooooo glad I did! I can honestly say that I've smiled & laughed everyday of the past 10 years because of you! Thank you so much for marrying me! You are the best!!! --Lindsay