Love Story - End of the Beginning :)

Winter of 2007 was the coldest winter I remember experiencing... there might have been one year in Halifax when it was just as bad, but Winter '07 in Toronto will forever stand out in my memory! There was hardly any snow - it was that cold. Bitter bitter bitter biting wind. It was dreadful. Our theme song of the winter was "Baby it's cold outside..." ;)

It's easy to sum up those first few months... I was staying with a family who lived not far from My Man's place, so he picked me up bright and early every morning - actually it was dark and early... felt like midnight every morning around 6:40am when I stepped outside to face the bitter cold. We took the Go-Train downtown every morning for work. I learned my way through the underground path and only came up for air the last 5 minutes of my walk to work. brrrr I worked long hours at a PR agency - definitely not my favorite job, but worked closely with 2 great girls out of the crew. The evenings seemed short - My Man and I usually grabbed supper, and hung out a bit before parting ways to fall into our beds -- starting the cycle all over again the next morning. I felt blessed to be able to see him almost every day... it was a very rare occasion when we were unable to spend some time together.

I think it was late February or early March when My Man decided it was time to look for a house... he had been renting a this point. We drove around, he looked at some on his own, and took me through a few. For me it was SUPER awkward... he was asking my opinion, trying to gage what I liked, talking about what it would be like to live there... yet he had not asked me THE question yet. How was I to respond when I didn't have the security of having been asked to be his wife? To him it was assumed and the question was just a technicality to get to. For me, while yes it was pretty much assumed, being officially asked wasn't just a technicality... it was security and proof that he really did intend to keep me with him forever.  Until then, it felt downright uncomfortable to tell him what I liked and didn't like in a house that he would be purchasing. aaahh

It didn't take long, and he bought a house we both loved... He knew I was excited, yet I'm sure he was slightly frustrated that I was guarded with my excitement... but until he asked *the question*, I wasn't going to act as if I had any rights on the house... maybe I was being petty... but the forwardness that I showed starting our friendship/relationship was uncharacteristic of me, and this guarded protection of full-fledged dreams was more like the real me...

At some point at Christmas time, My Man had given indication he would likely be asking me *the question* in March... I forget his reasoning, but I had March stuck on my brain... come March 1st I was eagerly dissecting every word, action, facial expression - anything that might give me a clue that he was going to pop the question... one week went by, nothing. Second week went by, nothing. Maybe it was the lack of sunshine and summer warmth, but my insecurities were piled on big time. Maybe he had changed his mind?? Christmas was a long time ago, and we had spent more time apart then together in our relationship... maybe now that he's been around me so much, he's having doubts?? AAhh... the enemy loves to play mind games with us, and I let him. I wasn't doing very well with hiding my emotions, so one afternoon we had a heart to heart. The poor guy... he was all but forced to reassure me that he intended to ask me to be his wife!  (There... you're getting the ugly side of me!)

His boss gave him a gift certificate to this incredibly fancy and expensive restaurant for his work on a project. My Man booked Thursday,March 22 as the night to go... ah ha! This was it - it had to be. He wouldn't waste such an event in the month of March... would he?  I work all day, stomach in knots for what the evening might hold... the clock ticked by SO slowly. Finally I was able to leave... I met My Man - looking so handsome waiting there for me... we had some time to kill before our reservation, so he suggested a walk down to the waterfront... I smile. This had to be it. So down the street we go, walking hand-in-hand... we pass the restaurant where we had our first official date the August before... it was a bit chilly as we walked, but the sun had come out. We get to the water and he sits down on a bench and pats the spot beside him. Oo Oo Oh.... this HAD to be it.  My Man starts talking, with his arm around me - pulling me in close... he says all these sweet things and makes me feel truly like his one and only... my heart pounded. Oh how I loved this man. He pulls out a beautiful solitaire ring and asks the question as simply as he asked that first question the previous August ... and I breathlessly hug him saying "Yes, yes... I love you!"  I couldn't wipe the smile off my face... for days. ;)  All those years of my life when I wandered into jewelry stores gazing at the diamond rings, imagining what it would be like... well, when this day finally came, I realized that while I L.O.V.E. my ring, it was the question that mattered the most. I would have said the exact same thing had he been holding nothing in his hand... I loved him, and I wanted to spend the rest of my days with him... wherever he was - I wanted to be there.

The rest is a whirlwind of working, planning a PEI wedding from Toronto, and realizing he had more opinions than I thought he would... ;)  I would have joyfully eloped, skipping all the stress... but in the end, when *The Day* finally arrived, it was a beautiful wonderful day.... and then I was glad we didn't elope. But I was thrilled we kept it as small as we did (112 people) with mainly family and a handful of friends across Canada and one American (my NJ Girl friend doesn't count - she married a Canadian!)... :)  The Lord blessed us with perfect weather and I can truthfully say we had fun on our wedding day.

Minus my walk down the looooong outdoor aisle... I thought I was going to die. Literally. Even seeing My Man wasn't keeping my imminent death away... it wasn't until dear Mr. McIlwaine, performing the ceremony, cracked a joke to make me laugh... then I relaxed and realized it was a *great* day to be alive!! :)

Here are a few pictures from the day...

 

I think this is after Robert made me laugh... :)

I love this of my parents and my brother... 

But my parents look just a little too joyful to be handing me off... 

Socializing after the ceremony... thankful that the rain stayed away once the ceremony started!

At one point we were posing for the guests... I had to post this one for a certain someone... 

Not sure how she was wanting us to pose?! ;)

Before the ceremony, we did almost all our pictures... 

Here are just a few from our photographers - Alex and Kate MacAulay:

You can see more of their incredible work here

Note the difference between the Vancouver Boys and the Island girls in this next picture...

There's really no end to this Love Story... Our God preserved us for each other and drew us together in His timing... He alone could have pulled this off -- bringing My West Coast Man and this East Coast Island Girl together.   This is just the beginning... :)

I might do one more post on our honeymoon, because really - how many couples start off their life together driving a U-Haul for 20 hours??