To sum up the past 10 years of my life with my husband/partner/love/best friend and not bore you to death might be kind of hard. I mean I married him when I was 16, we practically grew up together. Well not exactly 16, but we did do a lot of growing up together. I'm still waiting on him to grow up.  !0 years ago on May 22, 2004 our wedding was held at the church I worked at and the reception took place following at the Tea Room in Norris Dam. The whole thing cost around $2000 and my wedding pictures were taken with film. (Side note, I went too cheap on the wedding photographer. Please learn from my mistake and hire a professional!).  We were both still in college. I was studying for finals, finishing up wedding plans, and working. We could have waited, but life is always full of stuff and reasons to wait. I had prayed and prayed about this decision to the point that I just don't think God wanted to hear me anymore. I was at peace so we moved on with it. The first year of marriage was the worst for us. Adjusting to me being a saver and him a spender, but both of us very poor. I wouldn't change a thing. We've had very challenging times. Love and marriage don't come easy, but most things in life don't come easy. At the same time it was never so hard that we had to give up. Or even thought to give up. We live in a society where everything is disposable. I'm not saying a divorce is bad.  Sometimes we make mistakes and that's the only cure.  For Travis and I we went into this with no other decision than this is going to work. Til death do us part, via I may have to kill you if you screw this up. (Please understand I can be sarcastic and I'm still working on making sarcasm it's own mandatory font.) My husband was always switching jobs after college, trying to find his place. Running marathons, biking, hiking, trading vehicles, boating, and what other flavor of the month he got into. It's exhausting at times keeping up with him. Luckly I'm a little more stable. I had two jobs after college. I did go back to college for my Masters, which of course he soon followed suit. Seemed like something cool to do to fill our time and resume. Then four years ago, we started trying the whole family thing. I guess we'd reached the point in our relationship to add new people to it. That was a bumpy time. You think "trying" to have a baby is easy.  Bunny rabbits and spring flowers. Not for some folks. Fertility is such a sensitive issue and I had no idea the toll it could take on you as a person and on your marriage. (I'll share my fertility story with anyone going through the same stuff, just ask). It turned out to be one of those things that if it doesn't destroy your marriage it will in fact make it stronger. I didn't know that my husband had it in him to actually fully care for another human being. Turns out he's pretty good at it. I had no choice, but to fall in love with him again. Stuff and the crap we buy each other every year will fade, but our love grows with each hurdle and bump. Life is different for all of us. It's not easy, but it's shouldn't be hard to love someone on a day to day basis either. I think if I believed in soul mates, I would say I'd found mine.  Instead I'll say I truly have a wonderful partner/best friend for life and the best person for me. There are times when we get on each other's nerves. Just throw the empty box away! BUT in fifty years, that empty box on the counter won't mean a thing. All the fun and loving moments will outlast. 

May you the Lord Bless your life as he has mine! 

Happy 10 Year Anniversary Honey! I LOVE YOU! You are my favorite. 

Photo by John Shim Photography