Twenty years ago today, Laura and I celebrated our wedding with our family and friends!
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the happy young couple - Thecatguy and Laura |
We were married in Laura's home town church, in rural Indiana. Being creative and non-conformist people, we didn't want a traditional formal wedding. We wanted something that uniquely represented us, so we crafted the service to be a Christian worship service that had a rite of marriage in the midst of it.
We've never been much for formal, so we made sure the wedding was casual. Laura's cousin made her dress and my mom hand knitted my sweater. And you can't really tell in the faded photo, but I'm wearing jeans!
The tapestry in the background was handwoven by my mom. We gave her an idea of what we were wanting and she worked her magic on the loom! The candlestick holders were handcrafted by Laura's grandfather.
The theme of the three birds signifies the Holy Spirit leading us onward. Looking back, I love that we put a prayer from Saint Francis of Assisi on the cover of our program. He had such a love and respect for animals and the natural world at a time when such respect was not necessarily the norm.
I look back on the choice I made twenty years ago today, and I rejoice and celebrate as it was certainly the best choice I have ever made. Laura is an amazing woman, having her in my life is the greatest gift I could ever dream of.
And can you believe that I chose to marry Laura at a time when she didn't care for pets? At the time I was a crazy dog person and she could take or leave dogs, although she was more on the leave side. For years I tried to talk her into getting a little dog, but we never did. Now, as I look back, I'm thankful she stayed strong and resisted. Knowing us, if we had a dog, we wouldn't ever have gotten a cat, and then I would've missed out on the joy of cats!
Today, twenty years later, we are celebrating this awesome milestone with a lovely trip to Vermont! We both love Vermont, it's beauty, lack of industry, and history are good for the soul.
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The Lyme Inn, Lyme, NH |
Even though the temperature is quite chilly outside, we are staying toasty warm in the Lyme Inn, which is over 200 years old! My picture didn't turn out that great due to the sun, so take a look at the picture of this place from their website (they must have photoshopped out the electrical wires!)
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The view of "downtown" Lyme from our window |
It snowed on Monday as we were making our way here, but sun is forecast for our entire stay! The fresh coat of snow makes everything look fresh and pretty. What a blessing.
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This is the sitting area of our gorgeous suite! |
The suite we're staying in is huge! We both think the square footage of the suite is actually larger than the first floor of our house! The wide plank flooring, cozy fireplace and spaciousness of everything is delightful! And there are seven huge windows in our suite!
Breakfast is included and is served in the beautiful enclosed in front porch. Each table has fresh flowers, which is amazing as it seems we might be the only ones staying here at the moment. Amazing too how well insulated this place is. I figured a massive room with three walls of windows and the outside temperature hovering around 10°F (-12°C) would be cold, but it was perfectly warm.
I ordered the cinnamon roll french toast with berries and maple syrup made by the inn's owner! I so love real New England maple syrup - yum, yum, yum!!
I love that we are celebrating in such a lovely place and yet it's aways sad being away from the kitties. It does help to know they are being well cared for. We boarded Buddy so he could have people keeping a close eye on him in case his health turns for the worse and we also boarded Bert so Oliver could have the room he's been occupying.
My friend Kathleen, who takes care of the boarded animals, sent me these photos of Bert and Buddy.
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Bert photo courtesy of Kathleen |
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Buddy photo courtesy of Kathleen |
Thanks for celebrating with us!!