In most fairy tales, the line "happily ever after" signifies an end to the story. For us, it is just the beginning. Everyday is a dream come true for us as we get to share in each other's lives, enjoy each other's company and grow old together. We truly believe the best is yet to come.

We currently live together in a nice one-bedroom apartment not far from where Kathy teaches. Our living room is decorated with images and figurines from Disney's Beauty and the Beast as a carry-over of our wedding motif. Kathy will always be Matthew's beauty and Kathy continues to bring out the best from beneath Matthew's sometimes-gruff exterior. These pieces help to serve as a reminder of our everlasting love for one another.

For our first wedding anniversary, we were able to return to the place where our marriage began - Disneyland. Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings offered us the chance to stay in a suite at the Disneyland Hotel and have a re-creation of our wedding night dinner sent to our room. It was really nice to be able to taste how good our meal really was without the whole experience being a blur. Since the first anniversary present is supposed to be paper, Matthew arranged to have his and Kathy's silhouettes done at the Silhouette Shop on Main Street U.S.A. When everyone in the shop heard that the silhouette was our first anniversary gift for one another, they all let out an "ahhh."

The Mouse that brought us together still plays host to us on our frequent "Date Nites" enjoyed at the Disneyland Resort. Living close enough to Disneyland, we will often drive down to the park for the evening, enjoying the atmosphere - and the company. As annual passholders, we are able to enjoy our favorite place in the world without having to pay admission each trip. This affords us the chance to enjoy a nice dinner and do some shopping.

We were lucky enough to be at the resort on one of our Date Nites when the walls surrounding Downtown Disney came down. It was fun strolling through the new area of the Disneyland Resort before many of the stores and restaurants even opened. We were also able to look around the new Grand Californian Hotel, which is a beautiful addition to the area. We decided to take a day-trip to the resort the next week, which resulted in StartedByAMouse.com's first preview feature. We had such a good time - and heard the good time being had by the people in Disney's California Adventure preview - that we upgraded our annual passes to the special Two-Park passes.

February 3, 2001, the first Annual Passholders' Preview, was our chance to sample the new park before it officially opened later that week. It truly is a gorgeous park. We wanted to get down there early enough to get a FastPass for what we had heard was the best attraction - Soarin' Over California. The park was supposed to open at 8 a.m. but they actually began letting guests in at 7. We ran over to Soarin' and enjoyed it twice before any line even formed. It really is an incredible experience.

After work on February 8, 2001, we were settling in at home for a nice evening. We had already eaten dinner, were doing some laundry and had finished watching General Hospital (Kathy's favorite Soap Opera), on tape when we saw a shot of Disney's California Adventure on a TV weather spot. Kathy said, "The place looks empty," and Matthew agreed. Opening day of the newest Disney theme park was too much of a temptation to pass up. After checking the hours online, Kathy and Matthew hopped in the car and drove down to the park. We were still expecting crowds but thought we'd brave them if it meant that we could be part of the opening day. Strangely enough, there really were no crowds, as Kathy noticed on TV, and we were able to really enjoy ourselves. We got some great opening day merchandise and souvenir guidebooks and can forever tell our kids and grandkids that we were there on opening day.

We value each day that we get to spend together and find ourselves lucky that we are each other's best friends. We will be celebrating 10 years with one another at the end of this year, so we know how time flies. Kathy has started keeping wonderful annual scrapbooks of all of our adventures so that we can look back at all of the fun we've had. Like we said before, everyday is a new beginning for us and we have so much to look forward to in the coming years. We intend for everyday to be our "happily ever after" and we thank goodness that we were started by a mouse too!

- Story and Photos by Kathy and Matthew Walker
Posted February 14, 2001.

E-mail Matt at matt@startedbyamouse.com, discuss this article in the StartedByAMouse.com Disney Discussion Forums or use the Talkback feature below.

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