Nine years ago today, Joseph James Mountjoy married me on a misty mountain morning. We gave our friends and family only 7 weeks notice but still had about 150 guests brave the ridiculously long and muddy drive into the middle of the Evergreen forest to share in our ceremony of love and commitment to each other and to our families. There were piles of pearls, tears, root beer floats, a costume box and rain. It was a magical day. I am honored to be loved by so many and thankful that they shared in the experience with us. And I am indebted to Julie Harris for photographing our wedding so that I may treasure these images for the rest of our life. My mother spotted my pearl necklace in a Flea Market and shared the pearl earrings she wore at her own wedding. The beautiful flower head piece was discovered in my great grandmother’s sewing box and I had been treasuring it for many years, unsure of what I would find to do with it. This is my gorgeous mother and my handsome step-father watching me come down the rainy aisle. I could not consider getting married inside and the rain let up just a bit for our ceremony so it was perfect- at least for me! If you know me at all, you know my dog, Obadiah would be present at our wedding. That was a non-negotiable when looking for our venue. We rented a private home for the weekend so Obadiah basically just did his thing the whole time and popped in to observe a bit of the ceremony, to the amusement of all. What a gorgeous lot!! This is one of my favorite images of all time- all of our siblings (minus two of my beloved brothers, one of whom passed away many years ago and the other was stationed in Iraq.) My best friend and I brainstormed a super fun plan: costume box in place of a guest signing book! We had SO many fun photos of everyone, including this one of Jay and his brothers! My wonderful mommy cut all the flowers for our wedding from her exquisite garden. AND she made our little wedding carrot cake! I just wanted one for Jay and I to share and then we had a whole table of desserts for everyone else! Jay’s gift to his groomsmen were handmade replicas of famous warriors’ swords and letters to each explaining why he thought they were similar to the warrior he picked for them. My dear friend Chara shot this image as we were leaving and it is a treasure.

And we are living happily ever after!