Tuesday, May 22, 2012

8 Years!

**all pictures come from the past year of our marriage**


Today is one of my favorite days of the year.  Today, I get to celebrate the absolute BEST decision of my life - marrying my best friend!  By all practical purposes, our marriage should not have worked.  We got married SUPER young (I had *just* turned 20 at the beginning of the month, Matt had just turned 24 the month before), I was still in school and had a LONG way to go (3 year!), I had not really *dated* a ton and Matt was my first really serious boyfriend.  I was the first of my friends to get married and didn't even know anyone else who was engaged.  Needless to say, my parents were not too pumped about us getting married.  Add all of this to the divorce rate in our country, statistically, we should not have worked.  


7 Year Anniversary - May 2011

Date Night - June 2011

Family Pictures - July 2011



We both really knew that we were "right" for each other and decided to listen to our own hearts and not follow anyone else.  8 years later, I can tell you that I made the best decision of my life.  I LOVE that we are so young, yet we've already celebrated so many years together as a married couple.  Don't get me wrong, we have definitely had our fair share of valleys and have really struggled really hard up the side of mountains to get to the top.  It has NOT always been easy, and, in fact, most of the time it isn't.  Our marriage is work.  Every day.  It's not something that we can just ignore and everything just works itself out.  But just like parenting (which is also WORK), it is work that I gladly do day after day.  Simply because I get to have the biggest joy of living my life side by side with my best friend.


Vacation on the Suwannee with the Rays - August 2011

Downtown Farm Days - September 2011

Couples Baby Shower - October 2011


If you haven't met my husband, or if you don't know him very well, let me tell you a few things about him:

  • He loves Jesus.  I will credit this as the number one reason that we have made it this far in our marriage.  Without a relationship built on Christ, I have no idea how people make it.  
  • He is extremely loving.  He is a man who LOVES to tell me how much he loves me.  You hear of men who say, "I told you I loved you the day we got married - I'll let you know if anything changes.". That is NOT my husband!
  • He talks to me.  I feel so blessed to have married a man who will both listen when I need to talk, and talk TO me about things.  I would not function well with a man of little words, and Matt is definitely not one of those men.  
  • He is super goofy and funny.  I typically am a more serious person, so I love that he keeps me lighthearted when I need to be. He also keeps me laughing.  I think laughter is one of the key ingredients to a good marriage.
  • He is a great father.  Seeing him as a Daddy makes me fall more and more in love with him every day.  This is also something that is extremely rare in our world, and I know that LL (and Baby C!) will one day realize how special it is that they have this kind of Daddy.
Aflac trip to Atlanta - November 2011

Christmas Tree Farm - December 2011

Date Night - January 2012


Honestly, I can say that this has been the best 8 years of my life.  Looking back, there were some years that were not so good.  But we struggled through them, fought TOGETHER, and come out on the other side a lot stronger.  Looking back on this past year together, I can honestly say that it was the toughest year we've had.  We lost a baby, had a few really rough times a work (for both of us), battled with really hard feelings, etc.  But, even though it was our most trying year, I can also look back with so much pride about the fact that this was one of our best years as a couple.  We clung to each other so tightly and made it though on the other side.  This was NOT one of those years that really tested our marriage or our faith.  I look back on this past year and see and journey that we walked through together - and I am SO proud of us for that.

Lorelai's 3rd Birthday - February 2012

The Azalea Festival - March 2012

Easter - April 2012

I have an amazing husband who I am proud to walk through this life with.  I can't wait to see what the next 8 years bring.  I know there will be some really good times and some really bad times, but I can also tell you one thing with 100% certainty - I'll walk through them all with my best friend by my side.  :)

8 Year Anniversary - May 2012



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2 comments:

LC said...

Happy Anniversary!

Amanda McD said...

Happy anniversary! Y'all are too cute!