8 Years

Eight years ago today, on a Friday, Seth and I got married. Some days it feels like 80 years.



We had been in AZ for 3 years then. Seth had "proposed" in August of '99. We didn't really have a plan, but after being Maid of Honor for my sister, who had 6 attendents, I decided I didn't want a wedding. The added stressing thoughts of where to get married when you're families are 1,5oo miles apart was more than I wanted to deal with.

I don't even remember why we picked the day we did. There is nothing significant about the day. We both managed to get the day off, along with Seth's mom, who was our witness. We were going to go to the Mesa Wedding Chapel, no appointment necessary. It sounded easy enough. When we got there a sign on the door said they were closed. There was a couple looking at the sign, they had made an appointment, but apparently it was closed for good. Most people would think this was a bad omen. Not me.

We went home and started looking in the yellow pages for a Justice of the Peace. Finally we found a place, it was the Justice Court. The lady on the phone said come at 4:45, the judge will marry you after 5:00 bring $50 cash. We got there and waited. There were a few other couples there too. We only had one witness, we needed 2, so a lady who had gotten married before us signed as our 2nd witness.

After that we went out for dinner with a few people from Seth's family.

Flash forward eight years. Two houses, two kids, one dog and two cats later. I'm still glad we eloped. I don't regret it at all.