Nine years and the dress

This past week, Mirza and I celebrated nine years together.

Here we are at  7 months into dating...about 18 years old...

So young and fresh! I still remember taking these photos like it was last month...not 9 years ago!!

And now, 9 years into life..26 and 27 (it was my birthday on the 17th)...

We are the luckiest people in the world to have each other.

This will be the last year we celebrate our anniversary as just a "dating" couple...next year, it will be as wife and husband! And we'll have a new anniversary: October 20, 2012. But I know that February 22 will always hold a special place in both of our hearts.

...which leads me to the DRESS.

I found it! I found the one.

I almost went back to the previous bridal shop with horrible customer service, but my friend/coworker and I decided to look at a different place one day after school.

And I am so glad that we did!  The customer service was excellent. Without going into too much detail, this dress caught my eye even though it is totally different than the one I almost purchased. It is clean and timeless. I love it, and I never thought I would say that about a dress. It was the first one I tried on, but we used the big, poofy skirt underneath, so it was almost too much dress for my petite stature, so I tried on about 10 more dresses. All were beautiful, but always lacked something. I almost left with no dress, feeling defeated again. However, this particular dress was also on a mannequin outside the dressing room, so every time I came out, I saw it. Always catching my eye. The style was different than all of the other dresses I had been trying on that day.

 I decided to try it on one last time...

I loved it. It made me happy on the inside. Even if it wasn't what I had expected, or worried what other people expected to see me in...this.was.it. I felt beautiful and timeless--those were my qualifications! I don't care what people expect to see me in, or what people expect out of a small, garden wedding. It it my wedding. I will only be married once. I want to feel like a bride!

I knew it was the one because my friend actually cried! And more importantly, I did not want to take it off!