Life Isn't Always Pretty

There were a lot of beautiful moments at our wedding.

This, however, wasn't one of them.

Eek. I know. Not a pretty sight.
But of all the incredibly precious moments experienced over that weekend, this was one of my favorites.

Unlike me, Bob is not comfortable -- at all -- with being the center of attention. As we got closer and closer to the wedding -- even days before -- he started getting pretty nervous at the thought of so many people focusing their attention on us.

We wrote our own vows, and saying them was one of the things he was most nervous about. We planned to practice them the day before the ceremony, but didn't want to do it at the actual rehearsal, as we wrote them ourselves, and wanted them to be a surprise for our family and friends -- especially for Michelle, as she was quite prominent in them. So, we were supposed to practice them with each other away from everyone else. But, we never managed to get away from everyone, as we were running around doing stuff all day, then had the rehearsal, and then had a "rehearsal bbq" at Mom's house. By the time everyone left that, of course, we were exhausted, and we went to our separate "homes" -- I stayed at Mom's, and Bob stayed at The Redwood in town.

Though we certainly didn't stick closely to many wedding traditions, we did stick with the "can't see each other until the ceremony" one. Bob, though, was getting more and more nervous about being the center of attention, and especially about the vows, so we came up with a plan for practicing them without seeing each other.

Bob had to come up to Mom's that morning to pick up some aspen logs that were going to be used to outline "the aisle" up at the ceremony. There is a guest bathroom on the ground floor of Mom's house that has a tiny window high above the sink. I figured that would be the perfect spot to practice our vows together without being able to see each other. It would also afford a little privacy, away from all the chaos of all the girls getting ready. So that's what we did. When he was done loading the logs into the truck, he called me on the phone -- cell to cell, he, right outside the house, and me, inside -- and told me he was ready. I went into that guest bathroom, climbed up onto the sink, and opened that little window. Bob stood outside, on the porch below the window, and we took turns saying our vows.

I had just gotten out of the shower, hair soaking wet. I was getting ready to have Faith Hysell (miracle worker, by the way!) do my hair and make-up, and was wearing a big, comfy Pendleton shirt of my dad's. It was perfect, not only because I wanted my dad with me, but because it snapped up the front, so could be taken off without messing up my hair when I was ready to put on my dress -- which, thankfully, I could step into.

But, yes, the shirt, wet hair, no make-up, perched on a bathroom sink, talking through a window...

Not pretty.

But hearing Bob's voice...hearing him relax, and say those words to me...both of us vowing to love each other and the family we were bringing together, forever?

Life has never felt more beautiful.