Its our anniversary

4 YeARs Of BeInG MaRrIEd

Dean and I were married on the 7th August 2004. It was a Saturday and it was wet, but not so much as to be bothersome. We had the ceremony in the Temple at 11.30am Dean picked me up that morning from my house and we went together. Later that day we had a reception at the Koromatua community hall, this was a last minute venue as our original had been canceled. However the hall ended up being better. We had around 150 guests. Given that I had only just returned from my mission and Dean was still a student we had to keep it a very modest affair, which it was as far as weddings go. My dress cost $25 from the salvo's, mum bought my flowers from pak'n'save, a lady in the ward gave us a good price for the catering, mum arranged a couple of her friends for the band and another friend to make the cake. The cake was yummy, Dean and I saved ourselves a whole tier and ate the whole thing the following day with some help from Pita and Tasi. The whanau did all the decorations in the hall, with gaylynne at the helm. Dean and I had a great time and never wanted to leave, after all the guests except whanau had left we sat down and opened all of our presents it was really fun.

Honeymoon in Cairns

Dean and I headed off to Cairns for our honeymoon, the beaches were beautiful the water was warm and the weather was perfect. A friend loaned us his station wagon for a couple of weeks so we were able to do a bit of exploring going up north to the rain forests and heading inland to visit various lakes and reserves. We also visited a couple of wildlife parks, but we saw the most interesting animals in the wild. We had the best of both worlds really as we could drive out into the country side and do some exploring then come back to town and eat takeaways, watch movies, play tennis and hang out on the beach. Cairns was great I hope I can get back there sometime soon.

Deano the Perfect Hubby

The first time I saw Dean was at a church 'dine and dance' for some reason he had come dressed in a seventies suit, which was very tight on his bottom, and was initially wearing an afro wig, I assumed this was some sort of dare as he soon removed it. He was also the only guy to arrive with a large group of girls, he never had an adequate explanation for this, but I'm assuming its the reason why he has no recollection of me at the dance at all, admittedly we didn't talk or interact in anyway, but I decided that I liked the look of him. The first contact I made with him was several months later, I had just returned from a spell working in Sydney. Pita was not long back from his mission, and had befriended Dean in my absence. On my return we had a movie night, Dean was there and this time I made sure I didn't go unnoticed.

In the four years that I have been married, I have had the opportunity to do some pretty amazing things including:

• A trip to the Philippines to visit Pita and catch up with Rose
  
• spend 3 months in Taiwan visiting Rose and working part-time
• A great trip to Tonga, this time with Dean.
• A holiday to the middle-east to spend time with Pita and Tasi, then on to London
  

One of the first things that attracted me to Dean was his obvious sensitivity and emotional openness which was mixed with just the right amount of mean to be manly. Dean knows how important it is for me to be able to see my family and has always made it possible for me to see them when they have been far away. Without Dean I couldn't have afforded any of these trips, and most of them have been without him as he has usually been too busy to come, but he has always supported and wanted me to go even though he couldn't. I don't think there are many husbands who would let their wives go away for so long and as often as he does, as well as indulging my wants when I am at home. He is the perfect man.

SoPpy LoVe SOng FOr DEan
Gravity by Bic Runga