5 YEARS!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Justin and I are celebrating our 5th anniversary today. I can't believe it's been 5 years since we married, and about eight and a half since we got together! I was thinking earlier today about how we've spent a third of our lives together already... crazy.

We got married very young - at just 19 years old. I've never regretted that decision.

My husband and I have always had so much fun together. I often wish we had our own camera crew that followed us around, because the best moments are when no one is around, we're both just being ourselves and enjoying each others company.

We're best friends. I tell Justin everything. He knows me better than anyone else in the world, and I'm pretty certain I know him just as well.

We've had our ups and downs in our relationship, but looking back I see more ups than downs. And in a society where the divorce rate is skyrocketing, I know we're lucky. 2008 was rough at times, and definitely was a year that tested our dedication to each other. But I know we're good together. We work. And so when we're in the middle of a down, I know an up is on it's way back around and that this time we're a little bit stronger, older, and wiser.


When Justin and I were in high school together, we didn't like each other for the first couple years. Justin thought I was annoying and silly (which I was). I thought he was a nerd (no comment). When Justin joined the theatre crowd, we slowly became friends.

After a few months, we were great friends. Soon, we started thinking romantically about each other. Suddenly, we were very much in love. I think our strong friendship that came before our romantic involvement has much attributed to our successful marriage.



We knew well before graduating high school that we were going to get married. At first we said we'd wait until we were 24 or so. Then we said maybe we'd wait until a few years into college. But it got harder and harder not to LIVE together, so we bumped up the date to January 3rd, 2004. (After the proposal, that is.)

Some people thought we were crazy. Some people were pretty dramatic about it. Some people told my mom she shouldn't "let us" and said, "Don't they know they have their whole lives ahead of them? They're so young!" My mom wasn't worried. She knew us...

Of course we knew we had our "whole lives" ahead of us! Who better to spend it with than with each other?

No marriage is perfect, and I won't pretend we don't have our challenges. We have our fights, our disagreements, character flaws, and our selfish moments - of course we do. We have moments where we drive each other crazy, yep! But I love Justin and I have a lot of fun with him. I couldn't ask for a better father to my daughter. And we balance each other.

And you never stop growing, either. You never stop learning about each other. These days when I hear about people getting engaged after only a few months of dating I worry a bit for them. Because nearly everyday I learn something new about us, and we started dating over 8 years ago.

When I was little my mom used to tell me often, "I pray all the time for your future husband... and that he's blessed and a good person...." I used to roll my eyes and blow that off.

But looking back, I know God heard my moms prayers. And He granted them.
Here's to five years. Here's to many, many more.