My Best Friend by Tim McGraw

I will never forget the day my Mom and I went shopping for Wedding gowns. It was a magical day! She flew in from Houston (where they used to live) and we headed to Dallas where all the Bridal shops were. What we thought would take hours and hours and possibly days and days, took about ten minutes. I had imagined this day my whole life so I knew in my head the dress I wanted. Strapless, long train, beaded bodice and nothing but tulle on the bottom. As I am searching the racks, I see one and decide to try it on. My Mom found a few others, so the lady helping us, gathered them all together and we headed for the dressing room. Of course I chose to try on the dress I had found first and as soon as I had it on, I knew. When I walked out of the dressing room, my Mom said "Oh Mandi. That's the one." Yep! I tried on ONE dress! Sometimes you just know!

(One of my bridal portraits. My mom was making me laugh!)

If you have read any of my blog posts from my old sites, I have shared a lot about childhood and how God used it to mold and shape who I am today. Things were hard when I was a child, very hard. I never believed I would have a normal life or that I would ever find someone that truly loved me. My youth pastor always told me, "Mandi, God has big plans for you. BIG PLANS!" There have been "old tapes" I play in my head over and over again from when I was a kid, things I wish had never been said to me. But thankfully I play that "old tape" of Larry, my youth pastor, telling me God had big plans for my life. And Larry still tells me that to this day so I believe with all of my heart that the best has yet to come.

Statistics would say that someone like me would never have a chance at marriage, especially being a Mom and if I did do one or both of those things, I would be a huge failure. At times, I do feel like a failure but I think we all do so I try not to dwell too much on those feelings when they come from time to time. Jeremy and I both came from pretty crazy childhoods so the work we put into our relationship is a lot. If you know us, you know we are total opposites. He's quiet, I'm loud. He's shy, I'm not (so not!). He's a country boy, I'm a city girl. He likes Hank Williams Jr., I like Keith Urban. He is obsessed with Discovery Channel, I'm obsessed with Bravo and pretty much ALL reality TV. HE ABHORS REALITY TV! Thank goodness for Tivo! He's a morning person, I am a major night owl! But, we seem to come together on important things like parenting, morals, beliefs, politics and FOOD! Food is pretty important! My country boy taught me how to fish and this city girl taught him how to eat sushi. Actually, sushi is one of our favorite meals. And of course a good steak or Japanese food at a hibachi grill. Oh and Mexican food, how could I forget Mexican food!? We also love to watch the cooking channel. He never complains when I watch cooking shows and I never complain when he watches Bass fishing shows.

Jeremy has always been and always will be the healing balm in my life. Just the other night I sat on the couch next to him while he was laying down, asked him to push pause on the tv so I could tell him about a problem I was having. He listened and then told me exactly what I needed to do and that's exactly what I needed. He's the most stable person I know, so I trust him completely to guide me in the right direction and He always, always tells me to pray about it. God continually uses him to speak to me, love me and teach me. He truly is the healing balm in my life. I've had lots of hurts in life, I was a damaged little girl when he met me. But, he's turned me into a princess. :)

In the song I wrote to him and sang on our Wedding day, there was a line in the chorus that was oh-so-true. "I never thought this dream would come true, but this day I do." That's the truth. I never thought I would stand before a man, in a beautiful wedding gown, and pledge my life to him. I truly felt like it was all a dream and still to this day when I look around at what God has done in my life, I'm in shock. I still can't believe I'm here. I can't believe I broke free from the past and have this life. Now the only thing I have got to work on is feeling like Jeremy is blessed to have me. That's a hard one. :)

Thank you Babe for making my dreams come true. I still think about our wedding day and how incredible it was. We decided we wanted a worship service and boy did we have one! God showed up and it was the most incredible Wedding ceremony ever! We did good. We are still going good and look at these kids! I love you so much and I will never forget the night you told me you loved me. It still gives me chill bumps. You are my best friend and I love you madly. This song truly says everything that I feel. It came out when we were dating and it will always mean so much. Remember those first days dating? They were dreamy! :) And you are still dreamy.