"Divine Romance"

Brian & I have had quite the adventure since saying "I do" 5 years ago.  We've been blessed with four different places to make home, three very fun & rewarding jobs, two precious gifts of life and have established ourselves as one unit.  Truthfully, we've had very few trials and a lot more wins than losses in 5 years.  Our love has grown deeper and we've continued to push one another to become better people.  God calls us in marriage for many reasons, but one is because the two are better as a unit than we are as individuals.  I know this is true for us.

I am so thankful for a faithful husband who leads our family day in and day out.  I envy Brian's ability to have such balance in his life and feel he challenges me and rounds me out.  One of my cast members asked me if the first 5 years were difficult to which I replied, "Not really.  If anything it's been way easier being married than dating."  She was shocked by this response (I guess dating is more fun?) and inquired more.  I explained to her that when you are on the exact same page as your spouse, life is just the best it can be.  We share the same faith which molds all of our thoughts & our actions.  We have the same passions, the same goals, we share our hurts & we share in one another's joys.  We delight in our children and are sharing in the journey of learning how to be good parents.  We try our best to maximize on the little time we get together and both of us have complete confidence in the sincere love of the other.  I was so in love with Brian the day we said "I do" and didn't understand when people said I'd love him more as time passed.  It's not a "more" type love; but one that's so much deeper.  A love whose roots have strengthened and a love that is bathed in respect.  5 years later I again say, I've never been more in love...I couldn't be more in love.  But as another 5 years will soon pass, I'm sure I'll be saying that again.

Due to the nature of our wonderful jobs we are so grateful to have; we rarely have holidays & celebrations off together.  We were fortunate to have a day off together a week prior to our anniversary and took the opportunity to spend the day celebrating.  Although we would have loved some time alone; with my full time hours I've been working recently, I didn't want to be away from my kiddos another second.  So, we had fun celebrating as a unit.  I'll let the pictures speak for our day.

May 22nd I arrived home from work to a lovely dinner.  I got to put both kids to bed that evening and cried while I prayed for each of them.  How is it possible that God has blessed me with such a beautiful family?  What have I done to deserve such ease and such joy?  Our home, our jobs, our health...what else is left to desire?  With tears streaming down my face, I walked into our bedroom to see a warm bath surrounded by candles.  Brian and I talked about our wedding, like we do once a year, and talked about how different that day would be if we were getting married at 26 rather than at 21.  I was finally able to let go of the hurt I have from that weekend by accepting that we were just too young to have the ability to unite two very different families.  We talked about our favorite part of our wedding day...his favorite part was seeing me from a distance for the first time even though he wasn't suppose to see me yet...and my favorite part was walking down the aisle. We talked about how that day set the tone for so much of what was to come and shared in great memories from our honeymoon. I hope the next 5 years are every bit as great as these past 5 have been.