Otter's Way: The next chapter of our journey together.

For those of you wondering how Saturday's vow renewals went (thanks so much for the lovely wishes), read on. And yes, there are pictures. Otherwise, you'll have to wait til the next post! :)

Saturday turned out to be a very interesting day. While it rained everywhere else in WV, it did not do so in out little corner of the earth. It was perfect weather for walking up the "hill" (aka mini-mountain), to visit three special places, the last of which would be where we'd renew our vows.

My handpicked bouquet of daisies, buttercups, and lillies of the valley.

The comparisons between this day, and 5 years ago were amazing. For one thing, my beloved had to cut his hair, or his mother threatened not to attend the wedding.

If you look at it now, it's much, much longer. He's currently pondering cutting it a might bit shorter (still long enough to tie back) to donate it to locks of love. At least, that's what he said he'd do the day after.

It's still long though. I'm fine with it either way, as I adore it long. I think it's quite sexy. ;)

Our first wedding consisted of a ton of people, a struggle because we "had" to invite people we didn't really want there - you know how familial politics go. At the time, we just wanted to please everyone. It was one huge party, followed by another party. There were LOTS of people. There were also a few dramatic incidents at the first one.

Though the first wedding did have a lot of "us" in it the first time around (people still talk about it), this one was all "us". Both weddings, however, were just right for the places where we were/are in our lives. This time around, we wore our hair as we pleased (he wore his tied back this time, and mine was loose). We created our own ceremonies and spoke from the heart. We spent it with 3 of our dearest friends.

We arrived in the afternoon, unloaded our stuff, and began to set up. Some things didn't work out as planned, but it was for the best. When we were ready, the men and the Pook went off to feed the chickens; the women headed up the hill to do our own thing. We smudged, we gave thanks, we spoke from the heart, we asked blessings upon the floral wreathes my one friend had ordered for us to wear in our hair, and we scattered rose petals to the winds. We thanked the mountain for letting us celebrate upong. When we were finished, we called the men with the drum.

You can imagine Pook's surprise as we greeted her with flowers in our hair, and her delight, when we donned her with her own wreath of flowers to wear. My one friend commented about how the first time it was I who came to hubby, and now, he was coming up to meet me.

The week before we wrote down things that we wanted to release, things to create, and what we wanted to transform in our relationship. We invited the others to write their own things down. Pook had even colored a few.

Fire is the element of transformation, creation, and passion. We then honored the fire with our offerings. The fire responded by quickly lapping up our bits of paper. And as they burned, you could almost feel the burdens being lifted, and a change happening in each of us. It was a serene and tender moment for all.

Perhaps it was psychological, maybe it was magic. But it was a tender offering from us, a transformation we wanted to happen before we recommited to each other.

With that completed, our little caravan

headed down the hill to music and drum to our third location. Pook had long decided that she would be carried around to each place by this point. She wouldn't be with anyone other then Daddy. (She'd already told him how cute he looked.)

Being surrounded by all the green was invigorating. There was something symbolic about the journey we were all on. I mean, that's what marriage and life are, aren't they?

A Journey.

Each person seemed to be pondering this, though there was chatter here and there, and laughter. Always a good thing.

The third location was extra sacred to me and the others. In it was the Grandfather Oak tree, who watched over the valley. Watching over Grandfather Oak, was the Happy Buddha.

The Happy Buddha is a statue who stands, or rather almost dances before the Oak. His smile is contagious, and that day, it was even more so. We gave him a flower for each hand, and let our precious flower girl scatter rose petals about him.
Yes, this is said flower girl, and Happy Buddha. Our precious little Pook looking very fairy-bohemain as she tenderly scattered each precious petal, before dumping the rest out of the basket.

We took a moment to play a song from our wedding, and describe the scene for our friends, whom we didn't know at the time of the first one.

Then, each one told us us what they wished for us.

Harmony, Gratitude and Playfulness, but the one that touched me most was Kindness. "There will be times when you won't feel like being kind to each other, but be kind anyway. Always be kind to each other and others. And teach your daughter kindness as well." -GH

We then stood before Grandfather Oak, holding a rose quartz heart (from our honeymoon) between our palms. Our one friend stepped forward, wrapping our hands in red ribbon. In Asian cultures, red reprents happiness, and is the traditional color worn by brides. She spoke from her heart blessings of love, joy, harmony, kindess, and a plethora of other things spoken so beautifully, my words don't do justice. Our other friend stepped forth with a ribbow of gold (I wore this in my hair for my 30th birthday bash) and more beautiful words.

And then, everyone put their hands on top of ours.

That moment, our dear friends witnessed our own heartfelt words to one another. Which, I don't remember because they were short and sweet, and everyone (save hubby and I, for our hands were tied and I held Pook in the other), began a game of "who's on top" seeing who's hand could get to the top and try to stay there. It was fun, and joyous. We had to take a picture of it.

Which, was funny, because last year, we ended up taking a spontaneous picture of our feet, while cooling them in a pail of water. Figured I'd place it hear for the full effect.

I think next time, we'll be going for the elbows. :)

After this, hubby and I shared a tender kiss. We then played our song, and began the descent back to the house, where we toasted with sangria (we didn't drink alcohol at our wedding, though we did after) and ate homeade bread.

For those who don't know, wine represents passion and creativity (to us anyway), and bread is the sustance. We toasted our dear friends who are both of these things to us. (Yes, we were all laughing at the Catholic connotations here.)

As with most receptions, one usually takes a picture of the tables. We had one very vibrantly decked out one.

We dinned on eggrolls, dumplings, and General Tso's chicken with rice. Nummy. Hubby and I danced to our song in the living room. (We made a CD for our friends with songs from our first wedding, songs that meant something to us, and songs that reminded us of them.)

And then, we all hung out side listening to the birds, breathing in the fresh mountain air and absorbing the green, before we came back in for hot tea, and to cut the cake. Our wedding cake was 4 tiers with sugared flowers. This cake was a 1 tier, homeade chocolate cake with a cream cheese icing that perfectly complemented it. And, real flowers decorated it instead of sugared ones.

Looking back, I can find symbolism and meaning in all of the day's events. But either way, I'm looking forward to another 5 years, and 5 years after that, and 5 years after that, and... (you get the picture) with my mate, my beloved hubby.

We've been through a lot in 5 years. Neither of us are the same people who started on this journey. Sometimes I look back and laugh at my expectations for both our wedding day, and the marriage.

And I don't know what the next 5 will bring. Although, the fairy card we drew when we got home was the vacation card. I can deal with a 5 year vacation. What I do know, is that I want to spend them with him. Weekend mornings of spooning until the Pook comes in, tender kisses, the greatest hugs (he's got a reputation for excellent hugs), late night chats, snuggling during the movies, and the tender excitement he gets when he's able to get me a surprise. What can I say? I love him...