Every so often, in moments when I least expect it, an overwhelming sense of gratitude kicks me in the chest.  Because for the rest of my life, I get to be married to this man.  Not the man who sweeps me off my feet, not the man who can’t live without me, not the man who’s full of big romantic gestures, not the man who puts me on a pedestal.

No, I get to be married to the man who is my very best friend, my very favorite person, my equal, my soul mate, my perfect match despite all our imperfections.

I am a lucky girl.

-Jess

The houseboat on the Mississippi River in LaCrosse, WI used to be our annual summer group getaway, but we’re starting a new tradition this year.

Perhaps it was the cost of the houseboat that drove us to a new locale, perhaps it was the ridiculous hike up and down the sand dunes for volleyball games that has caused us to set our sights elsewhere.  Either way, we’ll be in Okoboji, IA in just about a week.

I’m sure I’ll have 4 days full of Best Day stories, but before I flood dashboards with tales of sunburns and midnight debauchery, how about you all take a chance to share YOUR Best Day.

-Jess

Can I tell you about the happiest day of my life? It isn’t what you expect. It isn’t the day I met my husband. Nor is it the day we first got together, the day he proposed, or the day we got married…though I have written quite a bit about that day.

No, the happiest day of my life was New Year’s Day 2007 in Glendale, AZ. I was at the University of Phoenix Stadium witnessing the greatest football game (if not the greatest sporting event) of all time between Boise State and Oklahoma.

My brother was a red-shirt freshman at Boise State. All year long, it was fun watching Boise win game after game and we were so excited for him when they made the Fiesta Bowl. I still remember watching the game that clinched it while I was up visiting my boyfriend’s (now husband’s) family in East Grand Forks and immediately calling my parents to start making travel arrangements to Phoenix.

Plans were made, flights were booked, and next thing we knew, we were staying in the gorgeous house of my mom’s friend, and whooping it up New Year’s Eve with thousands of football fans on Mill Street as we watched drunk Vanessa Carlton entertain.

The next day, getting to University of Phoenix Stadium proved to be a bit of a challenge with all us back seat drivers, but once there, we whipped out the beer and the obligatory Tostito’s chips and just soaked it all in. We apparently parked in the middle of a bunch of Oklahoma fans, but everyone was just there to celebrate and have a good time, so we made fast friends with everybody around us.

When the game began, I was shocked to feel like Boise had the game in the bag. I mean, they were KILLING Oklahoma in the first half. How could Oklahoma ever come back from that kind of deficit in a bowl game? Boise was the Cinderella team and Oklahoma didn’t stand a chance.

That is…until the second half.

I spent most of the second half biting my nails and until that hook-and-lateral pass at the very end, I was certain our team – my brother – would be robbed of the sweet victory we so deserved. When we saw that pass though, nothing could bring me down. Oh wait…you know what could bring me down? Adrian Peterson coming out of nowhere (he had been rendered useless most of the game) in overtime and scoring right away for Oklahoma. I sat down, just totally in despair.

But then it all changed. Right in front of my eyes, on the 20 yard line (which was right where I was sitting, a dozen rows up) came the most beautiful two plays I have ever seen. You all know the story. You all know what happened next. I know you do. But let me tell you – the two plays to win the game in overtime were effing incredible. And they happened RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY EYES. Halfback pass? Check. Statue of Liberty pass? Check. Elation? Check.

There aren’t words to describe how happy I was. I immediately jumped up on my seat and started scanning the field for my brother. He saw all of us and we were screaming as loud as we could. I don’t know how long I stood there and screamed – but it was long enough for Ian Johnson to make the greatest marriage proposal ever to his girlfriend right in front of me. I screamed through that too.

I stood on that seat and laughed and screamed and cried for what may have been at least an hour and was just so happy. I don’t know how any day can ever top that one.

Certainly things of more significance will happen to me. I’ve gotten married, I’ll probably have kids and watch them grow up and all of that moving and emotional crap. But I don’t foresee anything even coming close to the happiness and the pride I felt the day I watched Boise kick ass in the Fiesta Bowl.

As a side note, every Sunday in the fall, when I watch the Vikings play and cheer on Adrian Peterson, I always have a little smile and think, “dude…Boise State totally kicked your ass…”

- jess

I’ve been saving my best wedding memory for last.  One of the reasons it’s my favorite memory is because it’s not even really about the husband and me at all.

As centerpieces, we decided to use bowls of grapes.  We wanted something the guests could munch on as they waited to be served dinner and using food was cheaper than using flowers anyway.

Well of course, being ever so mature, I decided to start a grape toss during dinner.  I started throwing grapes at my friends at a nearby table and a couple others started throwing grapes at each other as well.  Just some harmless fun, no major food fights.

Suddenly, my brother-in-law kicked things up a notch.  He decided he was going to throw a grape about 20 feet, over the tent draping, and into our friend’s mouth.  We didn’t think there was a chance in hell it was going to work, but we all watched excitedly anyway.

The moment this photograph captures is the moment we all saw our friend catch that grape in his mouth.  It was the most incredible toss of all time, the most incredible catch of all time, and pretty much the defining moment of our wedding.  This picture is my absolute favorite picture from the whole wedding.

I love that even on such a big and important day, a day that’s supposed to be about love and maturity, we could toss aside convention and just have the same kind of fun we’ve been having all these years.

- jess

One way to describe by 27th birthday: Awesome.

I coerced all my friends to dress up like 80s rock stars and we went to see an 80s tribute band.  Since it was my birthday, of course we just had to get to the front row. There was a group of gel/meanie heads with their hoochie girl friends standing up at front, but being the easy going group that my friends and I are, we weren’t looking to step on any toes, so we found a teeny little opening at the front corner and got our jam on.

Anywho, apparently the gel/meanie heads thought we were getting too close to them and all of a sudden one of the hoochie girl friends start yelling at my friend. Being ever the non-confrontationalist, I’m all like, let’s get out of here and I try to retreat to the back.  But I cannot get through because, what’s that, one of the gel heads literally put his arm in front of me and would not let me pass, even when I politely said, “Pardon Me.” He just said, “No.” I couldn’t believe it. So what did I do then? What any rational person would do: I threw my drink in his face (and probably messed up his gel hair, too) and walked away.

Well of course, they told the bouncer (narcs), and when I explained what had really happened the bouncer was super nice to me and let us stay, of course… since we didn’t do anything wrong!

In a nutshell, it was the best day ever because not only did I get to wear a hot pink tutu, but I got to wear a hot pink tutu while feeling totally empowered for standing up for myself.

- Julie

Lets talk a little more about the wind on the wedding day, shall we?

Part of the beauty of having the wedding out at my parents’ place was that we’d get to take pictures down by the St. Croix River.  I was raised by water and so naturally it’s something I wanted captured in my pictures.  There are few things I find more beautiful than water shots.

The beach was busy that day so rather than try to clear everyone off the beach, we decided to take some shots on the dock.

I should mention, that when I was little my parents’ owned a marina.  I spent 7 years as a child running up and down floating docks where the only thing keeping them above water were a few large chunks of styrofoam that muskrats used as chew toys.  As a result, the least stable dock rarely even phases me.

So we all file onto the dock and immediately everyone starts getting nervous.  The wind is blowing everyone around, creating white caps in the river, and the huge boats that cruise around aren’t helping anyone at all.  I teased everyone for being scaredy cats and bravely jumped around, but the dock shots didn’t last long.

We only got a few shots of the water, but what we did get wound up looking pretty cool.  And no one shoved me off the dock for suggesting the locale, so I’d call that a huge success.

- jess

Ok, ok, I know it’s not technically wedding day related, but allow me to tell the story of our engagement (a day that did, after all, directly lead to our wedding day).

The husband and I went shopping for rings in early summer.  He knew I was kind of a brat about the ring I wanted and that if I was going to be wearing the same piece of jewlery for the rest of my life, it better be something I loved.  He tried getting an idea from my best friend about what I was looking for and she sent him pictures of Tiffany’s rings I had admired but she recommended he simply take me with him to look for rings.

We were all set to go to Tiffany’s, but then I realized that as much as I love that little blue box, I love bang for my his buck more.  We went to Shane Co. (because they have the least annoying commercials) and were immediately overwhelmed.  After a lot of confusion, I picked out three rings I loved and waited to be surprised at a later date.

A month or two later, the husband’s mom had us over for dinner.  It was a Friday night and I was crabby from a long week and I just wanted a stiff drink and a good meal.  When we arrived at his mom’s house, no one was home.  I went into insta-bitch mode.  What kind of person invites people over to their house for dinner and doesn’t even bother sticking around for the arrival?  After a quick phone call to see what the hold up was, the husband explained to me that his mom and step-dad got tied up buying a new pontoon and we should kill time by taking the old pontoon for one last spin.

I was hungry, I was in need of liquor, and the husband’s never-ending nostalgia was irritating to me, but I agreed to go out.  We putzed around the lake for a while and then all of a sudden he stopped the boat.  My annoyance heightened and I told him I wasn’t in the mood to sit in the middle of the lake while I was all dressed up on a hot day.  He claimed he saw something in the water and just wanted to grab it.

He leaned over the side of the boat in front and when he came back up, I seriously could not have been more irritated.  It was then he whipped out the ring box and began telling me how much he loved me and asked me to marry him.  Except I’m pretty sure I grabbed the ring and said yes before he even asked.

I was crying, I was screaming, and I immediately called everyone I knew to tell them the good news.  The husband claims I began calling my parents before he even finished his proposal.

The husband’s mom secretly stocked the boat with some roses, a bottle of champagne, and a little piece of cake so the husband and I proceeded to have one of the most romantic evenings of our life.

I may have been a raging bitch that day, but it says a lot about the guy that I could be such a buttface and he could still want to marry me.

- jess

When the husband and I first got engaged, I was all about planning a wedding on the cheap.  “I will not be a part of the evil wedding machine!” I said to myself.  I was determined not to buy any of the generic wedding magazines that regurgitated the same cliches month after month.

Of course, my magazine addiction won out over my righteousness.

I bought every wedding magazine known to man.  I couldn’t get enough.  Hell, if it was socially acceptable for me to continue buying wedding magazines today, I would.  THAT’S how deep my magazine addiction runs.

Anyway, one month I was flipping through my InStyle Weddings and I came across a shot where all the bridesmaids had white parasols.  I decided that was something I simply HAD to have.  “It will be pretty AND practical!” I told myself.

I excitedly found a website that sold white paper parasols for dirt cheap and bought enough for everyone.  I was absolutely giddy over them and couldn’t wait to take pictures with them.

While I had a lot of brilliant ideas for the wedding, parasols was not one of them.  The parasols were, in fact, one of my worst ideas.  As I’ve mentioned before, there was a hurricane seemingly descending upon us that day so the wind was out of control.  Several of the bridesmaids sustained injuries from parasols knocking into each other and scratching up arms, and I was nervous that a couple of the smaller ladies were going to catch a gust and get swept away.

Sure, sure, the parasols did result in some of my favorite pictures (see below), but they’re definitely not an element that I’d incorporate if I knew then what I know now.

Luckily, the injuries have healed, and all of us can look back on this debacle and laugh…while shaking our fists at the parasol relegated to the dusty corner of the room.

- jess

The husband and I are firmly opposed to Public Displays of Affection.  You will never see us so much as hold hands in public, let alone kiss in public.

One of the things that was always in the back of my mind was all the kissing that would be required during the wedding.  Kissing on command is awkward enough, but when the two of us were so unaccustomed to kissing in front of other people, I was convinced it was going to be this horribly awkward and uncomfortable thing to watch.

Turns out that it’s easy to get swept up in the romance of a wedding.

Before the ceremony, the kissing we had to do for pictures was definitely forced and unnatural (especially those pictures where we were kissing and the entire wedding party had to look at us).  Once the minister said “Kiss the Bride”, it was a whole different story.  We didn’t mind the kissing pictures after that.  Our love had already been on display for all 300+ of our nearest and dearest to see, so what was a few kisses compared to that?

Don’t get me wrong — I’m happy that the glass clinking was kept to a minimum (obviously our guests knew us well and knew how obnoxious we’d find that), but when we did have to stand up and kiss, it was full of love rather than full of embarrassment.

- jess