^{September 15th, 2002}

Tomorrow marks mine and my husband’s 17th wedding anniversary.

CRAZY!!! How has that much time passed? How do relationships even last this long? How do you really wrap your mind around so much time with the same person?

^Babies!

We met July 1, 1999 in the lobby of the Hotel Beacon in New York City. At the time I was leading 24 day cross county bus tours through the USA, Canada and a touch of Mexico. He was on his first overseas trip, having left his home in Australia to end up on my tour! We were both just 24.

^{First photo: Savannah, Georgia}

Falling in love while traveling is a bit of a whirlwind. All of your firsts get remembered not only because they are your firsts, but also because they happened in different towns. 🔥 😉 Our first kiss was in Orlando, first dance Memphis, first movie date Dallas, he got me a bouquet of flowers in Gallup and dropped the “L-bomb” in Anaheim.

^{Cutting a rug on Beale Street.}

But, the tour eventually ended. He went home and I was back on the road. We spent the next three years dating long distance. I would fly to Australia, he would fly back here.

^{Riding camels on an Australian Beach.}

We got engaged June 26th, 2001 while visiting the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, Australia. It was just us on a red bench next to a pond. There were hundreds on giant fruit bats in the trees overhead!

^{Our engagement party hosted by his parents and the bench where we got engaged.}

My future husband came to the US for a month the December after our engagement. Then we didn’t see eachother again until AUGUST! In some ways it was a bit like entering our own arranged marriage. Looking back now, it is insane to me how little in person time we had from meeting until wedding.

Kids do the darnedest things! 😄

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Wedding Day 👰🏻 🤵🏻

^{Best man, ushers and bridesmaids.}

On our wedding day, we met at the chapel early for photos. One of my favorite parts of the day (besides getting married) was having all the people I loved in one place. Family, childhood friends, sorority sisters, people my parents had grown up with... it is a powerful thing to see your people all together.

^{The fam minus my future mother-in-law.}

^{Bride and Groom-ing it up!}

^{Two happy nuggets.}

^{Walking down the ailse.}

^{I have always liked this photo. Maybe the black and white makes it seem fancier?}

^{Unity candle lighting.}

^{Villa Academy Sacred Heart Chapel}

^{Sealed with a kiss. 💋}

^{You can’t hear it, but we walked back up the aisle to Star Wars music. 😄}

^{Making it legal.}

^{Exiting the chapel.}

^{Sweet ride to our reception.}

^{Reception at the Seattle Tennis Club. We had a bit of a travel theme with globes, maps and postcards around for decorations.}

^{Photos at the club.}

^{My most beloved grandparents.}

^{The table of boyfriends past. My bridesmaids are all married today, but not to any of these fellows. 🙃}

^{Peeps cock-tailing it up.}

^{Family and friends who are family.}

^{All the traditional things.}

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Next came REAL life!

A lot goes down in 17 years. We’ve moved across the world (twice for me) and changed jobs innumerable times. We bought a house, went on lots of vacations and attended hundreds of concerts. We tried to have babies and ended up with fur babies. We made friends, let go of friends, fought, laughed, disliked one another, played like kids, gone to bed angry, been lazy about chores and have carried eachother through heartaches, sorrows and health issues. Through it all and despite some stuff, we are still trucking 17 years later.

So what is our secret?

No f-cking clue. 😄

If I had to give any advice, the secret to staying married is literally just choosing to stay married. Making this choice is easier if you avoid being a d*ck and your spouse does the same. Do whatever you can to stay friends. Your friendship will hopefully carry you through the rough. And most importantly, avoid choices that soothe today’s woes but will make bigger messes later on.

Every day is a work in progress. ☺️

^Now.

There is a song by Death Cab for Cutie called I’ll Follow You into the Dark. It’s basically about a couple who have been together for many years, but they remain side by side as the light of their lives start to fade. The song is melancholy but also hauntingly beautiful.

I have posted about the song before here saying:

It is beautiful to witness another person’s life and to share in building their dreams. If you are able to get to the end with someone, to be there, looking back at your time together with a sense of satisfaction at a life well shared - you are lucky. I hope to be so lucky.😍

^{GO Bruins! 😉}

Here’s to the start of year 18!

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Professional wedding photos from Dani Weiss Photography. All negatives and right to reproduce photos owned by @dfinney. Several photos have appeared previously on my personal Instagram, Facebook, Steemit and MySpace. 😉

Post originally published on Narrative.

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