August 9, 2020

General, Milestones 3 Minutes

Today marks twelve (12) years since the joyous day when Elliot Johnston and I said our wedding vows to each other. Life looks so very different now from what we envisioned twelve (12) years ago and sometimes it’s hard to believe that so much time has passed!

Please indulge my trip down memory lane in celebration of this milestone …

Elliot and I were married in the sanctuary at the First United Methodist Church of Downtown Orlando. We didn’t color code our wedding colors with the flag behind the alter, but it worked out quite well! Our church had a restriction on photographers, so our photographer had to take pictures from the balcony at the back of the sanctuary. When you get a shot like this, you know that the photographer is an artist.
Yes, I’m the absolute shortest person in my family. Nothing is as clear as a picture like this to see just how much shorter! Yes, I’m the eldest of 6 and all of my siblings are in this picture.
Elliot’s Dad has been in a nursing home since 2005 and it was a challenge to get him physically to the wedding; at the same time, you can see how happy he is to be there and to be celebrating the wedding of his son.
Elliot doesn’t have as many siblings as I do, but each one of them made the effort to come to the wedding.
After the beautiful ceremony and before the reception, Elliot and I paused to take some pictures.
Just a quick re-enactment of the kiss to seal our vows!
It wasn’t super easy to surprise Elliot since he was part and parcel of all the wedding preparations, but the one surprise I was able to pull off was the horse drawn carriage ride for the few blocks between the Church and the site of our reception, the Ballroom at Church Street Station. Yes, it was hot on August 9, 2008, but the breeze helped!
You can’t see the cake topper at the this angle, but I was able to get our initials in sparkly rhinestones to top our delicious cake perfectly. The red rose petals were also scattered across each table with a gorgeous candle centerpiece on top of mirrors to extend the twinkling and flickering lights of the candles as the sun set.
Just a quick break to scarf down a few bites of food in the middle of glad handing and dancing and drinking!

The day after our wedding, we drove to Cape Canaveral and got on our first cruise with Royal Caribbean. That started our tradition of cruising for each anniversary, which we recently reprised with a Disney cruise with the boys over Spring Break in 2018. Cruising suits our personalities perfectly where we have the choice of many different options to socialize, participate in activities, see new countries, have new experiences, and yet have a room to retreat to whenever we need alone time. Plus, the added bonus of cutting us off from social media and electronics for a time.

Elliot and I recently ventured out for a socially distanced dinner at The Melting Pot, one of our favorite restaurants, for his birthday and Father’s Day. We often forget to take pictures of the two of us, so we made sure to document the event, especially since it’s been so many months since we’ve ventured outside the house to eat!

Neither of us look the same as we did twelve (12) years ago and so much has happened in that time. The things that haven’t changed are the foundations we build our life and marriage on — love, respect, loyalty, commitment — thanking God for that strong foundation that has weathered so much.

Here’s to the next twelve (12) years, may they be much less interesting and eventful.

My anniversary present to Elliot this year is a pictorial representation of the words and concepts that define who we are and what ties us together. Check out Melanie’s work, you’ll be happy you did! She handles most of her communication via Instagram and she also has an Etsy shop!

Published by Abigail Johnston

I'm a daughter, a wife, a mother, and I've been living with Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer since March, 2017. All of the words I publish are my own.

Published

59 thoughts on “August 9, 2020”

  1. So beautiful, Abigail! Congratulations on this milestone, thanking God for your beautiful testimony to the power of love and commitment! 🎊💕🥰

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  13. What a fabulous post Abigail. I love the wedding photos. You and Elliot are such a handsome couple and your commitment to each other is beautiful. By the way I love the banner behind you in the church! X

    Liked by 2 people

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  19. What a delight it was to travel a bit down your personal memory lane! Thanks so much for sharing this peek with us. You’re a lovely couple, and I wish you many more joyous occasions—and a lot of plain old uneventful, unstressed hanging out.
    🌈💕

    Liked by 2 people

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  28. Thank you for sharing your beautiful experience. Your wedding was beautiful! The colors, the cake and everything came together so nicely. I’m so happy to see that time may have changed your appearance but not your love. A beautiful marriage is truly a gift from Jehovah God.

    Liked by 2 people

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