Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Sweet Simplicity: Our 7 Year Vow Renewal



When Hunter and I got married seven years ago, we had already decided that every seven years we would renew our vows. Getting married on 07.07.07 makes "Seven" a {Lucky} number for us. We have always talked about doing each renewal different with a different theme...beach theme, farmhouse theme, cheesy-Vegas theme (ha! Yes, I want to get married by Elvis, just once!). However, I feel like this first one took on a different theme altogether. We did have the sunset waterfront as a beautiful background, but it was made especially memorable because we only had our family present. Just the parents, two close Aunts, our beautiful children and ourselves. It was beautiful in its simplicity. It was moving to not only exchange and renew our devotion to one another, but our family also spoke beautiful words of encouragement and blessing over us.

The whole day was just a sweet reminder of our commitment to one another as well as to our family. Hunter's parents opened up their home for us to have dinner. My parents took pictures. My Aunt Karen wrapped our bouquets, His Aunt Sharon decorated the dinner settings....everything was just beautiful in it's simplicity.

Perhaps it was because we had the HUGE 350 person wedding the first time. I had the big dress with the cascading train. We had a full meal with appetizers and the DJ played all night long. Perhaps it was that we already did the BIG, everything needs to be perfect day. Perhaps it was knowing all the stress that goes into that big wedding that it allowed us to really appreciate what a day like that is really about. Perhaps it is just that that after that one big day, my focus shifted to what really matters, and its all the days that follow. It's the switch from wedding to marriage mentality.

I met a wonderful lady at Publix today. As I was in checkout, she was behind me loading her things on the conveyor belt. She noticed the bouquet of flowers and small bouquet of Baby's Breath that I was picking up. She said how beautiful they were. I told her about what Hunter and I were doing today and the significance behind it. It was such a {Lucky} encounter because it was also her and her husband's 9th anniversary. I guess I didn't notice her tell the cashier that she wanted to pay for my small purchase. The cashier began to ring up her items and I was like "Sorry sir but the cantaloupe isn't mine!" He then told me that she wanted to pay. I was so touched, I just turned around and gave her hug and asked her name. I decided to wait and walk out with her. We continued to talk on our way to the cars. She was older lady and she told me that this was her second marriage. Her husband's first wife and her first husband had both passed away within two days of each other. She and her current husband met shortly after that. She said that "Second-time around' vows are so much different. It made her glad to see young people today renew there commitments after some time. She said she knows from experience that when you have actually been married for awhile, you understand the meaning behind the vows and they seem to "carry more weight." Our chanced encounter really meant a lot to me. One brief five minute conversation with a stranger really summed up how I had been feeling the entire morning.

The vows that I wrote this time around (as opposed to repeating after a minister) meant more because I understand the weight they carried. "For better or for worse" didn't mean as much until I had actually lived in "the better" and "the worse." And "for sickness and in health" means a lot more when you are up night with your husband because he caught a stomach bug, or you husband is cleaning up your vomit during your first trimester of pregnancy. Your vows mean more because your love grows as your relationship grows.

My love for Hunter has grown so exponentially over the last seven years. I can only imagine what it will be in 70 years. And yes, we will make it there! It is one of the things that our families talked about at the renewal. Hunter and I both come from a legacy of loving marriages and close families. We have always said that divorce is never option. It's not even in our vocabulary. Neither of us have ever experienced it, nor do we want our children to. Do we have a perfect marriage? Heck no! We have disagreements and fights just like the best of them. The only difference is we know at the end of the day we are still going to be married so we might as well work through whatever is bothering us.

Oh there have been days....let me tell you, THERE HAVE BEEN DAYS when it all just doesn't seem worth it. But when you take the D word off the table, you remove it from your marriage vocabulary, you are only left with two options. 1.) Stay mad, stay miserable, & stay together, or 2.) Work it out, be happy, and stay together. Both options lead to staying together, so we choose to be together  AND be happy.

In a world where the phrase "Seven-year-itch" is so prevalent to define where some marriages go wrong, I feel so {Lucky} that at our seven year mark it's like we are just getting to the good stuff! Two beautiful girls are walking this earth as a physical representation of our love for one another. When I wake up every morning and my husband pulls me close to snuggle in bed...well there are no words that can express my gratitude to God for this life/path that He has placed before me. I feel so extremely blessed by it.

Below are a few pictures of our wonderful day. Hope you enjoy the memories as much as we enjoyed making them.

Till next time,

Katrina







We Exchanged Our Vows






My Sweet Girls, my {Lucky} Clovers!




 

 


 My sweet mother-in-love Cylle and long-time family friend, "Aunt" Sharon decorated the dining room with small mementos from our wedding day seven years ago. We gathered at Hunter's parents house for dinner and dessert. If you have never had Sugar Boogers cupcakes from the local gourmet bakery than I suggest you stop in a grab you one (or 16 like we did!). They are amazing!




Sweet Treats, Sweet Family, Sweet Memories...Sweet Simplicity!












7 comments:

  1. Love, love, love this! Congrats you two <3
    Gina

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  2. Beautifully written. I am so proud of you and Hunter and the beautiful family that you have become. Congratulations <3

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    Replies
    1. Thank You Terry! Your family has and always will have a special place in my heart as well!

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  3. Katrina this is so beautiful! You almost had me in tears. What a perfect description of the new meaning vows can take as the years go by. We love you and your sweet family. Love, Kristen & Nick P.s. Can we please be invited to the Vegas renewal?!?!? ;)

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    1. Love Yall too! And Yes you WILL be in Vegas with us! This renewal was all about faith and family, I'm thinking the next should be Friends and Fun! Just Let Nick know that Hunter wants to rent the ugly 80's style Tuxedos like in Dumb and Dumber hahaha!

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