Chapter 1: The day I became Mrs. Montgomery [+video]

A month ago today I married my best friend :) I walked down the church aisle & felt like the happiest woman in the world because after 5 years of a long distance relationship, I was finally marrying the man of my dreams. As my dad gave me away, I couldn't help but smile. While my husband & I exchanged vows I had to hold back my tears.... tears of joy, tears of relief, tears of love. When he asked me to marry him on September 18th, 2010, saying "Yes" was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my entire life. It's quite overwhelming to look back on our relationship & see the journey that we took to get to where we are today. All the trials & tribulations have helped mold us as a couple. We've had to say more "goodbyes" than the average couple because of our long distance relationship. We've faced many challenges & obstacles that most couples don't have to deal with. When my husband joined the Navy a little over 3 years ago, even more challenges were presented to us, but somehow we managed to roll with the ever-changing tide & we've come out stronger because of those experiences.

Today was an extremely good day because besides the fact that it marks our 1 month of being married, it's also the day that my husband came home from being underway for about 1 1/2 weeks. After spending time with him a week before our wedding, during our honeymoon, & me moving out here to Florida just 3 days after he left, I got a little spoiled, so him having to leave so soon after I just moved here was pretty torturous! How was I to enjoy "The Newlywed Life" without my husband? As he went out to sea I was left to try & make our new place a home as best as I could with what little we had. There's a lot of things we still need shipped here from California & I'm looking forward to having more than 3 pieces of furniture =P But I digress...

I know I can speak for both of us when I say that our wedding day was one of the happiest days of our lives! It was the day when we were finally joined by God as husband & wife. We were able to celebrate our love with as many family & friends that were able to attend. I cannot describe how special it was to have our family & friends together under one roof, because a wedding is the ultimate "welcoming" into each others' family. That is when everything becomes official! I had family & friends travel from Hawaii, Southern California, & 2+ hours away just to make it to our wedding & it truly meant to world to me that they traveled so far just to witness 1 special day in my life. Although we had 150+ guests at our wedding, unfortunately a lot of family & friends couldn't make it. However, only some seemed to have a good reason for not attending. My wedding was not only a day for celebrating me & Robert's new chapter as husband & wife, but also a day for me to realize who my true friends are. I am forever grateful to God for bringing these special people into my life because they were there for me, no ifs, ands, or buts :)

Besides saying, "I do", one of my favorite moments of our wedding was surprising my groom with an original song that I wrote :) One of my best friends accompanied me on guitar while I sang. My cousin/our MC did a great job at improving! He called us both to the dance floor & sat us down in two chairs for a "surprise". He pretended that there was a singer out back that was going to perform for us. While Robert, sitting to my right, was all wide-eyed with curiosity waiting to find out who this "surprise singer" was, I couldn't help but grin as I stood up from my chair & grabbed the microphone from my cousin. I explained how I wrote this song for him & the only time I sang it to him was the day before he deployed. It's one of my most favorite songs that I have ever written because of the subject that it was written about.... my husband. It's a very special song to me that I hold dear to my heart & I wanted to share it with our family & friends, as well as surprise my husband by serenading him. I can't wait to get the DVD from our wedding videographer because I'm anxious to once again see the loving look on his face as I sang to him :) It was priceless.

Our wedding was a dream come true.... literally. Who knew I'd end up marrying my 3rd grade crush? Well, actually.... I did. You can even read my old diaries ;) Lol. Ok, ok, no I couldn't predict that we'd get married—I'm no psychic! But I did hope that we would. What can I say? I'm a true hopeless romantic & I know what I like. Or perhaps... who to like? My crush on Robert stuck with me & I just couldn't shake him. I couldn't get rid of him & I'm glad I didn't, because I can't picture myself with any other man but him. I suppose that's where the term "soulmates" comes in. Destined to be together. & you know what?! I wouldn't have it any other way... We're still young, so we have a lot to learn & a lot of growing up to do, but we're looking forward to doing it together. We're excited to finally start our lives together & see what God has in store for our future ♥

Credit: Major Diamond Productions

Credit: Onelove Photography