10 stinkin' years...


i spared you from any pictures from 2003 or 2004, because i liked this square layout the best & it only fit 9, most of those photos are all in print & not in cyber world (man i miss those days) and well... you know, who really wants to see us 10 years ago riiight? if you were there... you remember. lots of fake tanner & not husbands best hair years. anyway though, here are some shots of us starting in 2005 through 2013... i'm hoping to take a million tonight on our date & that will be our first "only the two of us" picture in 2014, hooray!

okay so... ten years. i'm not even sure where to begin. firstly, i feel so thankful that i have been with the love of my life for TEN YEARS already, what an honor to be able to say that at my age, or any age for that matter. high school, college, 4 years of marriage, 5 cities, 3 pets, and a baby later... i'm happy to be the mrs. to his mr. & i'm so very proud of us. i know that ten years is not twenty years or fifty & i'm certainly not so naive to think that there won't be challenges that we face down the road that may weaken what we have going on right now, but i'm still so proud of us to be standing here beside each other today after our  T E N . unfortunately, i feel like we live in a world where marriage & relationships aren't valued the way they once were or could be. marriage is a contract you can get in or out of depending on how you are "feeling" in that season & the significance, the sacredness, the commitment & all of the hard work are looked over in today's society. i'm also not so naive to think that there aren't circumstances where marriages shouldn't go on. i just think it's so sad & unfortunate. especially after seeing my mom fight so hard to keep my dad around & to lose him, without a choice. it's heartbreaking. 
i love being married. it is absolutely work. every single day it's a choice & there are definitely days where we mess up & have to apologize & choose to try harder & do better tomorrow. i am thankful for a husband who values me and our marriage & makes our family his first priority no matter what. 
i am beyond blessed by chris. i love the way that he looks at me from across the messy, toy covered room with so much love in his heart, & like we're the luckiest people in the world. i believe that we are. i love the smile lines around his eyes & the way he hugs me. i love that we still do so many of the silly things we did when we first started dating, like three squeezes means 'i love you' and if we are walking & are split by something we click our forearms together to cancel out the split. he knows when i just need a hug & for him to let me cry. i love to my core that he really knew my dad & i fell in love with him a million times over when he spoke at his memorial. i love that together we made abel. he's by far the best thing we have ever done together & i'm still blown away that we couldn't have made him with any other person in the world. he's the greatest dad & when i see him in action, i can't even deal... i just want to go make more babies with him right then and there ;)
he's my best friend in the world & there will never be enough words to describe our love...
so happy 10 years to us!
we are celebrating tonight at the melting pot (neither of us have ever been)! he made me the most adorable, personalized invitation, in addition to the most beautifully written card that made me ugly cry like never before on Christmas morning. i am so excited! maybe i'll actually post about it... since you know, i've been so great at that lately ;) here's hoping!
chris, happy ten years. i can't wait to see what the next year & the next ten & twenty after that bring. i love dating + being married to you.

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