August 13, 2012

Before you go any further, I have to warn you. I understand that it is socially unfavorable for people to be outspokenly mushy and lovey-dovey on public social sites.

Well, it's my anniversary, so I'm going to do it.

I'll try not to bore you or make you gag.

This post isn't about how perfect my marriage is. It's also not about how perfect my husband is or how perfect I am. We fight. We are selfish. Occasionally I even raise my voice. As my husband put it best, 2/3's of our first year of marriage was good. The other 1/3... well, you get the point.

Marriage is hard, and neither of us ever expected it to be easy. Although we have had our ups and downs, our marriage has caused me to grow in so many unexpected areas over the past year. A lot of people said that we were too young, hadn't known each other long enough, and needed to have more individual experiences before getting married. I understand where those views stemmed from; but one year later,  I can honestly say that getting married on August 13, 2011 was part of God's perfect plan for us.

Now for the mushy. I'll try to make it quick.

On this day, August 13, I am exactly 715 miles away from my husband. Max likes normal. Max loves stability. When we discussed Cirque Du Soleil, there was never a moment that he shut down my dreams- even when it meant 3 months or longer of long distance marriage. Not only did he encourage me to pursue this dream, but he made it possible. Emotionally, he is the one consistently encouraging me. Financially, he is the one consistently supporting me. Spiritually, he is praying for me. He's given me the best gift that he could by urging me to chase after my dreams even though they might be at the cost of his.

One last story.

Yesterday, our fish died. His name was Gill, and he was our 4th family member. I have a very strange obsession toward our pets. Max accidentally dropped Gill down the drain at the beginning of the summer, and I immediately got angry with him and started crying. Yes, crying. Long story short, Max had to tell me that Gill died yesterday. I cried, and few hours later, Max sent me a picture of our new fish: Gill 2k. That's the kind of wonderful man that I married: he didn't call me psycho when I cried, and he even bought us a new fish.

Our first picture together

Annapolis, MD during our senior year of college

The Christmas we got engaged!

Our legal wedding in Columbus. That's Santa back there.

The beach in Puerto Morelos where we were married by my brother.

Morning after photos by JS Grey

Our early anniversary celebration at Barcelona's

Mackie, thank you. Thank you for loving me even when I am totally awful. Thank you for believing in me when I begin to doubt. Thank you for being my backbone. Thank you for trusting in the Lord and for leading our marriage. This first year has been a true gift. I'm looking forward to year two. "And Mizpah, for he said, "May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from the other." Genesis 31:49

Don't count the moments; Make the moments count.

I love you all the blue.